Premier League
Another disaster averted; Man United held at home by Everton in latest slip-up
Manchester United missed the chance to move top of the English Premier League and needed a late Video Assistant Referee (VAR) call in their favour to avoid another home defeat, as Everton emerged from Old Trafford with a 1-1 draw on Saturday (Oct 2).
Yerry Mina’s late winner for the Toffees was ruled out by a review for offside after Andros Townsend had cancelled out Anthony Martial’s opener for United.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to rest Cristiano Ronaldo from the start will be questioned, as the Red Devils have now won just two of their last six games in all competitions.
A point is enough to move both sides level on points with league leaders Liverpool, who face champions Manchester City on Sunday.
Ronaldo’s heroics deep into stoppage time against Villarreal on Wednesday saved United from having a mountain to climb to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.
But Solskjaer did not risk the 36-year-old with a third start in a week as he took his place on a star-studded bench alongside Jadon Sancho and Paul Pogba among five changes.
Martial’s inclusion was the surprise with Jesse Lingard and Donny van de Beek left on the sidelines.
The Frenchman struggled to impress in his few previous outings this season and missed a glorious early chance when he mistimed his jump for a free header at the back post.
Everton do not have the same depth of resources in attacking areas, as Rafael Benitez again had to cope without his two main sources of goals, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, due to injury.
The visitors still created plenty of chances as Michael Keane flicked Townsend’s free kick just wide, Abdoulaye Doucoure’s goal-bound effort was blocked by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Demarai Gray tested David de Gea in the first half.
However, Everton’s good work before the break was undone on 43 minutes thanks to a moment of inspiration from Bruno Fernandes, as he perfectly teed up Martial to fire beyond Jordan Pickford thanks to a slight deflection.
Everton level after Ronaldo introduction
Solskjaer then called on Ronaldo and Sancho 10 minutes into the second half as he looked to put the game beyond Benitez’s men.
But it was Everton who struck next to expose United’s frailty on the counter-attack.
Gray won the ball back on the left and freed Doucoure into acres of space in midfield, the latter playing in Townsend to fire home his fifth goal in nine appearances for the club.
Solskjaer responded by adding another creative threat in Pogba for Fred.
England manager Gareth Southgate admitted on Thursday that Sancho’s performances since his £73 million (S$134.4 million) move from Borussia Dortmund were not worthy of keeping his place in the national squad despite picking him for the World Cup qualifiers.
But Sancho was the most dangerous of United’s star substitutes as he constantly demanded the ball in search of a winner.
Ronaldo’s only chance to be the hero once more came from Sancho’s reverse pass as the Portuguese blasted across the face of goal.
Pogba then curled wide from another promising Sancho break to destabilise the Everton defence.
Yet, but for a matter of inches, United would have succumbed to a second home league defeat in eight days after Aston Villa’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford last weekend.
Mina tapped home from Tom Davies’ cross, but the Colombian had just strayed offside to United’s relief.
-AFP
Premier League
Ten Hag’s Man United future not my call, Ratcliffe says
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said a decision about under-fire manager Erik ten Hag is not his call, and was reticent about whether he still has faith in the team’s boss amid their worst start to the Premier League season since 1986-87.
“I don’t want to answer that question,” Ratcliffe told the BBC. “I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
“That team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April — Omar (Berrada, CEO), (Sporting Director) Dan Ashworth — they only arrived in July.
“They’ve only been there . . . you can count it in weeks almost — they’ve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.”
Ten Hag’s job was the subject of speculation for much of last season en route to the team’s lowest Premier League finish of eighth. After an FA Cup final victory over Manchester City and an end-of-season review, however, Ten Hag signed a new contract to extend his stay at Old Trafford until 2026.
“Our objective is very clear, we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously, that’s very clear,” Ratcliffe said.
Ten Hag continues to plead for patience from fans with the team languishing 13th in the Premier League table, having lost three of their six opening games. They were headed towards defeat by Porto in the Europa League on Thursday before Harry Maguire scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a 3-3 draw.
-Reuters
Premier League
Saka says this is Arsenal’s year after back-to-back Premier League misses
Arsenal can go all the way and end their 21-year wait for a Premier League title this season, winger Bukayo Saka said after his side beat Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain 2-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Arsenal finished runners-up in 2022-23 and took the Premier League title race to the final day last season before once again finishing second behind Manchester City.
The north London side are in the mix this season, sitting third in the league standings, and their impressive victory over French heavyweights PSG underlined their title credentials, with Kai Havertz and Saka scoring in the match.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on us but I do think that this is the year (that we can win the title),” Saka told CBS Sports.
“I think we’ve been close the last two years and we’re getting closer but this hopefully will be the year.”
Saka, who has established himself as a key player at Arsenal and was their top-scorer in the Premier League last season, said the club’s near misses had left him hungry for success.
“Previous years, I’ve come runners-up a lot. It’s just that spirit in me that I want to win this season and of course, I believe in myself a lot,” the 23-year-old told Amazon Prime.
“With those two things, it helps. We believe in ourselves, we believe we’re a top team. We showed that tonight (against PSG). I did tell the boys we have to make a statement when big teams are coming to the Emirates.”
Arsenal next host 19th-placed Southampton in a league match on Saturday.
-Reuters
Premier League
In ‘Battle of Four Super Eagles’ Aina and Awoniyi are lost in the Forest as Bassey and Iwobi triumph
Four Super Eagles players were in a contest Saturday night in an English Premier League battle that paired two on both sides.
Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi were in the Fulham side that raided Nottingham Forest who paraded the duo of Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi.
It was one of the late Premier League matches of the day. Iwobi and Bassey were in the winning side as Nottingham lost 1-0 at home.
Awoniyi had a good chance to score in the 19th minute after getting on the end of a nice pass. Unfortunately for him, he smashed his volley just wide.
The first half did not see many chances and it ended goalless. Awoniyi had just one shot on goal and by the break, coach Nuno Espirito Santo decided to take him off for Anthony Elanga.
However, that did not give Forest the attacking edge they were looking for.
Rather, just three minutes into the second half, they conceded a penalty. Fulham striker Raul Jimenez made no mistake as he converted with aplomb to make it 1-0 to his side.
Iwobi had a good chance to score in the 61st minute after a nice build-up from the midfield.
But his strike was blocked by a defender. Despite the fact that they were searching for goals, Nottingham Forest failed to create much in the final third.
Aina was decent, but could not do much in the attacking third. On the other hand, Bassey was sturdy at the back for Fulham. After 90 minutes, the game ended 1-0 to Fulham.
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