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Premier League

Man United show future is brighter without Ronaldo

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Premier League – Manchester United v Newcastle United – Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain – October 16, 2022 Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after a goal he scored is disallowed REUTERS/David Klein/File Photo

Manchester United may not have won their first game since banishing Cristiano Ronaldo from the squad but Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea seemed to confirm the belief they are better off without the individualistic superstar.

Although they needed a 94th-minute strike from Casemiro to rescue a point, United were dominant for large parts of the game and looked far more cohesive without the five-times world player of the year.

Ronaldo, who has been ordered to train alone by coach Erik ten Hag since leaving the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur early, has only started two Premier League games this term, the 4-0 thrashing by Brentford and the 0-0 draw with Newcastle United.

In United’s most impressive victories of the season against Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham, the 37-year-old played a grand total of 36 minutes.

His only decisive moment came when he scored the winning goal in the 2-1 win at Everton after Ten Hag was forced to turn to him when Anthony Martial came off injured.

It was his 700th goal in club football and the type of clinical finish few of his team mates are capable of.

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Ronaldo’s moments of brilliance, however, are getting ever rarer. Even in the Europa League, where he has started all four matches against mediocre opponents such as Sheriff Tiraspol and Omonia Nicosia, he has only scored once, and that was a penalty.

Ronaldo was United’s top scorer last season with 18 of the team’s 57 Premier League goals after returning to Old Trafford amid huge fanfare, 12 years after his trophy-laden spell with the club.

However, they also suffered a series of humiliating defeats such as losing 5-0 at home to Liverpool and 4-1 to Watford and finished sixth in the Premier League. In the season before he arrived, they finished second and scored 73 goals.

RUTHLESS TEN HAG

Ten Hag’s predecessors Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick did not have the authority to leave Ronaldo out of the team frequently but the Dutchman has been ruthless with him and United must now decide what to do with their famous forward.

They received no serous bids for him in the summer and although offers could arrive in January, the best way to ensure he leaves is to rescind his contract, which would cost the club around 10 million pounds, according to media reports.

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One argument against cutting Ronaldo loose is the lack of other attacking options, with Martial being so injury prone, Marcus Rashford missing a glut of clear chances lately and big money signing Jadon Sancho still failing to deliver.

But if they want some advice they could look to Arsenal, who in January took a financial hit to part ways with former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after he fell foul of coach Mikel Arteta’s disciplinary code.

Arteta, who also kicked Mesut Ozil out before his contract was up, has guided Arsenal to the top of the Premier League and there is now a tangible atmosphere of togetherness at the club.

United are showing signs of a similar revival under Ten Hag and it is becoming clearer that the best way to reach their potential is to rally behind the coach, not their decorated yet diminishing striker.

-Reuters

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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

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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Premier League

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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