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Premier League

Nunez earns points for Liverpool, Man Utd outclass Tottenham

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Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur – Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain – October 19, 2022 Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes scores their third goal that was later disallowed REUTERS/Craig Broug

Liverpool maintained their new-found momentum as Darwin Nunez scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League, but high-flying Tottenham Hotspur suffered a reality check with a 2-0 loss at Manchester United on Wednesday.

Chelsea’s run of four successive league wins came to an end as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Brentford.

Impressive Newcastle United bolstered their place in the top-six with a 1-0 victory at home to struggling Everton.

Southampton eased some pressure on manager Ralph Hasenhuttl with a 1-0 win against south coast rivals Bournemouth to climb out of the relegation zone.

Liverpool’s 1-0 win over champions Manchester City at the weekend looked like lift-off for their stuttering season but they were made to work extra hard by West Ham.

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In the end they were thankful for summer signing Nunez’s first Anfield goal for the club, a superb downward header in the 22nd minute from a cross by Kostas Tsimikas.

Nunez also rattled the post with a ferocious shot but West Ham could easily have taken a point.

Jarrod Bowen’s penalty was saved by Alisson just before halftime while Tomas Soucek and Said Benrahma both had great opportunities for the visitors late on.

Liverpool moved up to seventh with 16 points from 10 games, two points behind Newcastle and three behind Manchester United.

“I don’t stand here thinking it should be an easy game for us, but we got the result and I think we deserved the result,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, who was red-carded during the win over City, said. “Luck hasn’t always been on our side but maybe today we had it, or Ali, however you want to look at it.

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“It is three points more, massive.”

UNITED TAKING SHAPE

After a difficult start Man Utd are slowly taking shape under Dutch manager Erik ten Hag and they added Tottenham to their wins already against Liverpool and leaders Arsenal.

But for a clutch of superb saves by keeper Hugo Lloris, United would have won by more as Tottenham squandered the chance to move into second place with a dismal display.

United rained in 18 shots on the Spurs goal in the first half without scoring, but eventually went in front when Fred’s side-footed shot deflected past Lloris in the 47th minute.

The Reds kept up the pressure and deservedly put the game to bed in the 69th minute when Bruno Fernandes powered a strike into the net after another excellent flowing move.

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Newcastle, who have lost only once all season and are beginning to look like contenders for a European place, edged out Everton with a goal by Miguel Almiron.

The Paraguay international curled a shot from the edge of the box into the top corner just past the half-hour mark to condemn Everton to a third consecutive defeat.

Chelsea kept a fifth clean sheet in succession in all competitions but Graham Potter’s side could find no way past Brentford who enjoyed the better of the chances in the west London derby.

They remain fourth in the standings on 20 points, three behind Tottenham with a game in hand, but already starting to drift off the pace set at the top and facing what is already looking like a tense battle for a Champions League spot.

“They had some chances, we had some, we finished the game stronger, but it was a hard-earned point against a team who make it difficult for you,” Potter, still unbeaten after replacing Thomas Tuchel in early September, said.

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Che Adams’s first-half header earned Southampton victory at Bournemouth — their first win in six games moving them up to 14th place with 11 points.

-Reuters

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

Joe Aribo’s goal not enough to Southampton’s suffering

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Premier League - Southampton v Leicester City - St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - October 19, 2024 Southampton's Joe Aribo in action with Leicester City's Stephy Mavididi Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley

Joe Aribo scored a goal for Southampton on Saturday,but it was not enough to curb the club’s miserable run as they succumbed to a last-minute defeat by Leicester who snatched victory by 3-2.

Leicester scored three second-half goals to come from behind and stun 10-player Southampton, denying them a first Premier League win of the season.

The result means Saints have set a club record for the longest winless run in their entire top-flight history, having failed to emerge victorious from any of their last 21 Premier League encounters.

Inside five minutes, Joe Aribo had crashed a header onto the crossbar and inside seven minutes, the hosts had taken the lead. Kyle Walker-Peters led the charge after a quick free-kick and dropped the ball off to Ryan Manning, who squared for Cameron Archer to coolly slot in and send a wave of both relief and belief around St Mary’s.

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Leicester fight back to clinch 3-2 win and extend Southampton’s suffering

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Jordan Ayew scored in the 98th minute as Leicester staged a second-half comeback to earn a 3-2 win at Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, with the 10-man hosts setting a club record of 21 matches without victory in the English top-flight.

Leicester moved up to 13th in the standings with nine points from eight matches, while Southampton fell to 20th – level on points with Wolverhampton Wanderers, who face champions Manchester City on Sunday

“It’s just unbelievable, that’s why we play football. We didn’t have a good first half,” Ayew told Sky Sports.

“Second half we got ourselves back together and attacked the game properly. It’s just an unbelievable feeling.

“It’s a good step forward to move up the table. We’re going to continue fighting and it’s not going to be easy so well done the lads and everyone.”

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Having failed to win in their last 13 matches in the 2022-23 season when they were relegated, Southampton are without a win in the Premier League since they beat Leicester in the same fixture in March 2023.

Southampton shot out of the blocks and took the lead in the eighth minute when Ryan Manning squared for Cameron Archer to finish a sweeping counter-attack, before midfielder Joe Aribo added to their tally with a side-footed effort.

Leicester defender Wout Faes nearly scored a spectacular own-goal five minutes into the second half by sending a diving header straight at his own keeper Mads Hermansen, who spared the Belgian’s blushes with a deft save.

The visitors grew into the contest in the second half and created some half-chances before pulling one back in the 64th minute.

Buonanotte turned in a cross after a driving run from substitute Abdul Fatawu and the goal signalled the beginning of Southampton’s unravelling.

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Minutes later, Vardy was denied on the line by an excellent Aaron Ramsdale save, but Leicester were awarded a penalty after a VAR review found that the forward was held back by Ryan Fraser.

Fraser was sent off and Vardy stepped up, blasting his effort past Ramsdale to equalise.

Leicester smelled blood and pushed forward in their quest for a winner, which came deep into stoppage time when Ayew’s low shot went through a sea of bodies and crept into the bottom corner, breaking the hearts of home fans at St Mary’s Stadium.

-Reuters

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Manchester United ease pressure on Erik ten Hag with win over Brentford

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Argentinian winger Alejandro Garnacho celebrating after scoring the equaliser in a 2-1 English Premier League home win over Brentford at Old Trafford on Oct 19. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Manchester United eased a bit of the pressure on their embattled manager Erik ten Hag with a 2-1 come-from-behind English Premier League victory over Brentford at Old Trafford on Oct 19.

The Red Devils had come into the match in 14th place on eight points with just two wins from seven games – their worst start to a campaign since 1989-90.

Reports had suggested the United hierarchy, including co-owner Jim Ratcliffe, chief executive officer Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox had a long meeting earlier in the week, with ten Hag’s future on the agenda.

In the pre-match press conference on Oct 19, the Dutch manager accused segments of the media of “creating stories, creating fairy tales, bringing noise, bringing lies” regarding his future.

But things looked iffy for him again when Brentford opened the scoring in the fifth minute of first-half added time, when centre-back Ethan Pinnock lost marker Diogo Dalot and powered in a ferocious header past Andre Onana from a Mikkel Damsgaard corner.

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Ten Hag and Matthijs de Ligt remonstrated with the touchline officials after the defender was made to leave the field before the set piece as blood was pouring out of his head. He had sustained the injury after a coming together with Kevin Schade after 10 minutes.

Ten Hag and his assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy were later booked for their protestations.

But when all was said and done, it marked the seventh time United had failed to score in the first half in eight Premier League matches this season.

The Red Devils’ best chances in the first period had fallen to Alejandro Garnacho.

Once, he forced a near-post save by Mark Flekken, but with his two other opportunities, more could be expected from the Argentinian winger after he was picked out by a lovely cross-field pass from Marcus Rashford and some good hold-up play from Rasmus Hojlund.

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But the 20-year-old Garnacho remained confident and two minutes after the break, he finally found the net to register his second league goal of the campaign.

Rashford produced another excellent delivery for his fellow winger, this time his deep cross found Garnacho at the back post and he responded with a first-time side-foot volley into goal.

It was the marked the start of a second-half resurgence from the Red Devils which kept Flekken very busy.

But he could not deny United their second. United captain Bruno Fernandes played a neat round-the-corner flick to Hojlund, who dinked the ball over Flekken and into goal on 62 minutes.

It was his second goal in three starts this term, after missing the start of the campaign owing to a hamstring injury he picked up in pre-season.

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United could have gone 3-1 up six minutes later, when Onana’s goal kick found an overlapping Dalot bear down on goal, but Flekken managed to foil him.

But in the end, the Red Devils did not need the cushion of another goal as they got their first win in six matches.

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