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Gerrard makes winning start as Villa sink Brighton

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Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard celebrates with his players after the match. PHOTO: REUTERS

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard enjoyed a winning start to his reign as late goals from Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings sealed a 2-0 victory against Brighton on Saturday (Nov 20).

Gerrard was taking charge of his first Villa match after leaving Scottish champions Rangers during the international break to replace Dean Smith.

The former Liverpool star saw Watkins and Mings strike in the final six minutes to give Villa their first win in six Premier League games.


Smith was sacked after five successive league defeats,
 but Gerrard made an immediate impact as Villa climbed four points clear of the relegation zone.

Gerrard is the first Villa manager to win his maiden Premier League game in charge since John Gregory in 1998.

Swopping a Scottish title race for the tension of a relegation fight south of the border, Gerrard’s return to the Premier League was trumpeted as a stepping stone to eventually landing his dream job at Liverpool.

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But Gerrard is adamant he is focused on turning Villa into a serious Premier League force capable of qualifying for Europe.

Gerrard’s three-and-a-half year spell at Rangers saw him rebuild the club and end Celtic’s nine-year reign as champions.

For now, he would settle for leading Villa away from the relegation zone in his first taste of Premier League management.

In his first match programme notes, Gerrard promised that “standards will be extremely high” as he made it clear avoiding relegation this term must be a springboard to more productive seasons in future.

One of his first noteworthy decisions was to ban tomato ketchup from Villa’s training ground canteen as he tries to improve his players’ fitness and they showed no signs of flagging against Brighton.

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Gerrard immediately prowled the technical area barking orders to his players and Villa almost responded to the cajoling with an early goal.

Matt Targett’s cross picked out Matty Cash and his header forced a good save from Jason Steele.

Brighton enjoyed plenty of possession after that Villa near-miss, coming close to the opening goal through Leandro Trossard.

Marc Cucurella’s pass dropped to Trossard in the Villa area and his strike forced a fine save from Emiliano Martinez.

Chances were at a premium for Villa but England defender Mings saw a long-range drive deflect narrowly wide.

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Mings went even closer early in the second half when his thumping header was tipped over by Steele.

Gerrard appealed in vain for a penalty when Solly March’s challenge sent Cash tumbling to the turf.

Brighton were holding on comfortably until the 83rd minute when Watkins took possession just inside the Brighton half, surging into the Albion area before curling his shot into the far corner.

Five minutes later, Mings intercepted Adam Webster’s attempted clearance from a corner and fired into the roof of the net to give the Gerrard era lift-off.

-AFP

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Premier League

Amorim will get three years to get it right at Man Utd, says Ratcliffe

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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.

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“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.”

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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.

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“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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Mount and Sesko fire Man United to victory over Sunderland

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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.

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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.

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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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Liverpool, Chelsea and Man United lose on day of late drama

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Premier League - Crystal Palace v Liverpool - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - September 27, 2025 Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eddie Nketiah celebrate after the match Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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