Premier League
CHELSEA’S TOP 4 FINISH HOPE DEALT WITH A MAJOR BLOW
Sheffield United dealt a major blow to Chelsea’s chances of a Premier League top-four finish by thrashing the Blues 3-0 at Bramall Lane, while Liverpool’s long winning run at Anfield came to an end in a 1-1 draw with Burnley on Saturday (July 11).
At the bottom of the table, Norwich were relegated as Michail Antonio’s four-goal blitz fired West Ham to a thumping 4-0 win that should seal the Hammers’ top-flight status for another season.
Sheffield United have long since achieved that feat in their first season in the Premier League for 13 years and the Blades are still eying the top four themselves as they moved within five points of fourth-placed Leicester.
Chelsea remain in third, but could end the weekend down in fifth if Leicester and Manchester United beat Bournemouth and Southampton respectively.
The Blues have already reinforced their attack for next season with the signings of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, but Frank Lampard was again shown it is at the other end his side desperately need to improve.
David McGoldrick’s long wait for a Premier League goal came to an end when he was quickest to react after Kepa Arrizabalaga saved Oli McBurnie’s deflected shot.
More slack defending from the visitors then allowed McBurnie a free header to double the hosts’ lead.
Lampard sent on Antonio Rudiger at the start of the second-half, but the German international did little to improve Chelsea’s defending as his attempted clearance from Lys Mousset’s cross only teed up McGoldrick to score his second 13 minutes from time.
Chelsea will expect to get back to winning ways when Norwich visit Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, but then face Liverpool and Wolves in a tough final week of the season to leave their prospects of finishing in the top four in the balance.
LIVERPOOL HELD
Liverpool will still be motivated to beat the Blues despite already clinching the title as Jurgen Klopp’s men now need to win their remaining three games to be surpass the record total of 100 points in a Premier League season set by Manchester City two years ago.
For the first time since January 2018, the Reds failed to win a Premier League game at Anfield as an inspired performance by Nick Pope in the Burnley goal and Jay Rodriguez’s equaliser to cancel out Andy Robertson’s first half header gave the Clarets a share of the spoils.
“For moments it was Liverpool against Pope. We did everything right and he made saves but we should have scored more, that’s on us,” Klopp said.
“We didn’t close the game and they took their moment. We were angry with the referee but we have to criticise ourselves first for not finishing the game.”
NORWICH RELEGATED
At Carrow Road, a seventh successive league defeat condemned Norwich to relegation as Antonio’s ruthless display boosted West Ham’s own survival bid.
Daniel Farke’s side are 13 points from safety with only three games left, meaning they are certain to make an immediate return to the Championship after last season’s promotion campaign.
“We wanted to beat the odds again but when the dust settles the outcome is more or less what was expected. It doesn’t take anything away from the fact that we are disappointed,” Farke said.
“When we are 100 per cent we are competitive but when it’s 96 or 97 per cent then it sometimes looks like men against boys. That’s what I expected.”
West Ham’s second win in four games opens up a six-point cushion over the bottom three.
The early signs were ominous for Norwich as West Ham took the lead in the 11th minute through Antonio’s close-range volley.
Antonio struck again in first-half stoppage-time, glancing his header into the far corner from Mark Noble’s free-kick.
He completed his hat-trick in the 54th minute with a looping header and his fourth came in the 74th minute from Ryan Fredericks’ cross.
Watford also moved to the brink of survival as two Troy Deeney penalties beat Newcastle 2-1 to move level with West Ham on 34 points.
–AFP
Manchester United’s under-pressure coach Ruben Amorim will be given the full three years of his contract to prove himself and the club will become the most profitable in the world, co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said on Wednesday.
Amorim was Ratcliffe’s choice to replace Erik ten Hag last November but the Portuguese coach has struggled to turn around the club’s flagging fortunes, winning only 10 of his 34 Premier League matches in charge.
United endured their worst top-flight finish last season since they were relegated in 1973–74, coming 15th, and they missed out on Europe after being beaten by Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.
But Ratcliffe has issued his strongest statement of support for Amorim yet, comparing the situation to when Alex Ferguson struggled in the early years of his reign before becoming the greatest manager in the club’s history.
“I remember the clamouring for Alex Ferguson to be fired in his first two years,” Ratcliffe, who owns 30% of the club and controls the football side of the business, told The Times’ podcast The Business. “You look at (Mikel) Arteta at Arsenal. He had a miserable time for the first couple of years.
“We’re results-driven at the end of the day, but we have to be patient and we have to see through the results. I think there’s lots of good things at Manchester United. We have to be patient and we have a long-term plan. It isn’t a light switch.
“Ruben needs to demonstrate that he’s a great coach over three years.”
‘WE’VE MADE ERRORS’
While the American Glazer family retain majority control of the 20-time champions of England, Ratcliffe rejected suggestions they could instruct him to sack Amorim.
“It absolutely wouldn’t happen because it’s just a good working relationship. They come to the board meetings. We sit down and we talk about things,” Ratcliffe said.
“We’ve made errors. There’s absolutely no question that we’ve made errors as we’ve gone along and we’ve talked about it. But no one’s perfect.”
Asked to confirm whether Amorim would see out his contract, Ratcliffe said: “Yes. That’s where I would be. Three years, because football’s not overnight.”
Despite United’s stock falling on the pitch, off it they recently posted record revenues of 666.5 million pounds ($892.1 million) in the year to June 2025, albeit with a 33 million pounds loss.
Amorim’s squad was boosted by more than 200 million pounds worth of new signings in the summer.
“The better your squad, the better your football should be. So a lot of what we have done in the first year is spend an awful lot of time putting the club on a sustainable, healthy footing,” Ratcliffe, who completed his acquisition of a minority stake in the club in 2024, said.
“If you look at our results for last year we have the highest revenues ever. Profitability, the second highest. We’re not seeing all the benefits of the restructuring that we’ve done in this set of results, and we were not in the Champions League.
“Those numbers will get better. Manchester United will become the most profitable football club in the world, in my view, and from that will stem, I hope, a long-term, sustainable, high-level of football.”
Ratcliffe also said he wants to revive the club’s Academy that once churned out the likes of multiple title winners David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville.
“The academy has really slipped at Manchester United,” Ratcliffe said. “You don’t solve the academy problem overnight. It takes time. We just recruited a new academy director.”
-Reuters
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Manchester United cruised to a rare comfortable home Premier League victory as goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko secured a 2-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday.
With the pressure growing on manager Ruben Amorim after a disappointing start to the season, Mount calmed the nerves around the ground with a fine early finish to break the deadlock.
United continued to dominate, with a spectacular save from Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs preventing Bruno Fernandes from adding a sumptuous second before Sesko netted his first Old Trafford goal after 31 minutes.
Sunderland were awarded a penalty late in the first half, a decision that was overturned following a VAR intervention, but they never really threatened after the break as United eased to a third home league victory of the season.
The result put United in provisional eighth place with 10 points from seven games, two places below Sunderland on 11.
Wins, especially comfortable ones, have been in short supply for Portuguese Amorim since he took charge in November.
United supporters have slowly started to turn on the new manager as a result, with nothing short of victory over promoted Sunderland, despite the visitors’ impressive start to the season, enough to appease the disgruntled masses.
Mount’s superb control and finish was just what the beleaguered boss needed. The fine strike was the earliest United have scored in the Premier League since Marcus Rashford’s goal at Ipswich Town in Amorim’s first game in charge.
It was only a matter of time until the hosts scored again, such was their dominance. From a long throw, Sesko was alert to the flick-on before steering home his second in as many games.
United thought they had shot themselves in the foot as Sesko was penalised for a high boot in his own penalty area, only for VAR to deem it not to be a foul.
The hosts took their foot off the gas in the second half, but still should have added to their tally, with veteran Brazilian Casemiro blazing their best chance over the bar.
Sunderland did manufacture a late gilt-edged chance but Senne Lammens, making his debut in the United goal, stood tall to block, completing an assured performance from the keeper and his new teammates.
-Reuters
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Premier League champions Liverpool dropped points for the first time this season when they lost 2-1 at Crystal Palace in the eighth minute of added time as Manchester United and Chelsea suffered 3-1 defeats on Saturday.
United slumped at Brentford and 10-man Chelsea were beaten at home by Brighton & Hove Albion, who scored twice in stoppage time.
Manchester City thrashed Burnley 5-1 thanks to two own goals and a late brace from Erling Haaland while Leeds United were held to a 2-2 draw after Bournemouth equalised in added time through 19-year-old Eli Junior Kroupi.
There was also a late twist at Tottenham Hotspur when Joao Palhinha struck an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw at home to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
LIVERPOOL SUFFER FIRST LOSS
Liverpool were on the back foot early on when Palace took the lead in the ninth minute through a set-piece when the ball fell to Ismaila Sarr who smashed it home.
Liverpool would have conceded more if not for goalkeeper Alisson while Jean-Philippe Mateta nearly made it 2-0 when he hit the post.
Although Liverpool equalised through Federico Chiesa in the 87th minute, fellow substitute Eddie Nketiah provided late drama when he scored the winner in the 97th minute, with Selhurst Park celebrating the goal twice after VAR confirmed he was not offside.
“The boys are in really good form and think we can win every game and today we showed that,” Nketiah told the BBC.
Palace ended the day in second place, three points behind leaders Liverpool although Arsenal can go second if they beat Newcastle United on Sunday.
OWN GOALS, HAALAND GIVE MAN CITY WIN
Burnley’s Maxime Esteve became only the sixth player to score two own goals in a Premier League game as City climbed up to fourth.
Esteve scored the first when he tried to deny Phil Foden but Jaidon Anthony made it 1-1 with a shot that deflected off Ruben Dias.
Matheus Nunes restored City’s lead with a close-range effort before Esteve’s second own goal came when he looked to stop Oscar Bobb from finding the net.
Haaland struck twice in the dying minutes to hand Burnley their biggest loss of the season.
MANCHESTER UNITED LOSE AT BRENTFORD
Bryan Mbeumo received a warm welcome from the Brentford fans as he returned to his former club for the first time since his move to Manchester United but the reception paled in comparison to the roars when the home side went 2-0 up inside 20 minutes.
Igor Thiago capitalised on United’s high line for the opener when Jordan Henderson sent him through on goal in the eighth minute, before the Brazilian forward grabbed his second when United keeper Altay Bayindir spilled a save right into his path.
United pulled one back when Benjamin Sesko scored his first goal for the club but Bruno Fernandes had a penalty saved by Caoimhin Kelleher before Mathias Jensen put the game out of reach in added time with a rocket from outside the box.
“We didn’t control the game, we played the game of Brentford. We were really confused (on) second balls, first balls, set pieces,” United manager Ruben Amorim said.
“The crucial moments, they were against us. Tough to lose again.”
CHELSEA SEE RED AGAIN
Chelsea had a player sent off for a second time in as many league games when Trevoh Chalobah saw red for denying Brighton a goal-scoring opportunity at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Fernandez had given Chelsea a 1-0 lead with a close-range header but Chalobah’s red card in the 53rd minute reduced the home side to 10 men and Brighton made it count when Danny Welbeck opened his account for the season with the equaliser.
Brighton capitalised again in the 92nd minute when Maxim De Cuyper powered home a header and the visitors sealed all three points when Welbeck scored in the 10th minute of added time.
Bournemouth took the lead at Leeds when Antoine Semenyo scored from a free kick but the home side made it 2-1 when Joe Rodon and Sean Longstaff netted either side of halftime.
With Leeds close to taking three points, Kroupi volleyed home from inside the box in the 93rd minute to lift Bournemouth into a group of three clubs on 11 points.
Sunderland moved to 11 points and fourth place by beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the City Ground to leave Forest’s new manager Ange Postecoglou winless after five games in charge.
Omar Alderete’s first-half goal was the difference between the two sides with Sunderland mounting a staunch rearguard action as Forest laid siege to their goal.
Wolves were seconds away from earning their first win of the season after losing their opening five games in their worst ever start to a league campaign.
They led through Santiago Bueno’s scrappy goal early in the second half but Palhinha guided in a superb finish to send Tottenham to third place on goal difference.
-Reuters
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