Premier League
AS RACE FOR TOP 4 HEIGHTENS, MANCHESTER UNITED EXTEND UNBEATEN RUN
Manchester United kept up the heat on the top four as the Reds cruised to a 3-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium thanks to another Bruno Fernandes-inspired display. In so doing, the Red devils have also extended their unbeaten run to eight Premiership league matches.
The Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are back up to fifth place with 52 points. A brace form Fernandes, including a second-half volley to round off a stunning counterattack, followed a first-half strike from Mason Greenwood to help to clinch a first win for the club away at Brighton since 1982.
The victory at the Amex means United have now gone 15 games unbeaten in all competitions, including three wins and a draw since the restart earlier this month.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side move up to fifth in the table ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers on goal difference and just two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and only three behind third-placed Leicester City, although both teams have a game in hand.
United kicked-off on the South Coast and quickly set about putting our plan into action, controlling the ball inside the Brighton half of the field. However, it was the home side who produced the first shot of the evening when Dale Stephens fired well over the bar from distance after the ball dropped to the him from a Harry Maguire clearance.
The Reds came close to taking the lead themselves in the 13th minute when Fernandes struck the woodwork with a venomous low effort. Maguire got the move going with a delightful diagonal ball to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, before the full-back worked it to Paul Pogba who offloaded to Fernandes.
As the ball rebounded back off the post Pogba was first to it, but the Frenchman couldn’t keep his follow-up down. Ole’s side continued to build pressure around the box and there were shouts from the United bench for a penalty when Marcus Rashford went down in the area under the challenge of Dan Bunn, but referee Andre Marriner was unmoved – as was VAR.
The onslaught continued and the Seagulls’s resolve was broken by the inspired run of Greenwood on 16 minutes. The young forward burst into the box, danced past Lewis Dunk, who was making his 300th appearance for the club, and stroked the ball left-footed into the bottom corner.
A well-deserved lead might have been doubled when Pogba was brought down just outside the Brighton penalty area following some intense pressing from United, though Fernandes lifted the free-kick over the bar. Maguire too went close soon after, heading a corner back across goal but just wide to bring up the first drinks break.
Any fears that the brief interval may disrupt the rhythm of the Reds was short lived. Luke Shaw broke along the near touchline and drove a cross into the middle that was crying out for an attacker to meet it.
Although the ball was cleared, it was recovered almost immediately and Pogba was able to play it to Fernandes. The Portuguese unleashed an effort from the edge of the area that deflected and flew past Mathew Ryan and into the back of the net to give the Reds a 2-0 advantage.
Five minutes into the second half Fernandes had another. Swift out the blocks once again United had the hosts on the back foot, allowing Greenwood to turn provider and swing an inch-perfect cross to Fernandes at the far post. Having already proved his eye for goal the Portuguese attacker made no mistake, converting on the volley from close range for his sixth goal for the club and certainly the pick of our three on the night.
Although still firmly in control, United were just beginning to let Brighton in around the hour-mark, with Leandro Trossard having a couple of chances. In response Ole looked to freshen things up with a triple change of Scott McTominay, Andreas Pereira and Brandon Williams for Pogba, Fernandes and Shaw on 64 minutes.
David De Gea was called into action for the first time in the match when Aaron Connolly stuck a firm shot towards the top right corner 21 minutes from time, but the Spaniard was alive to the danger and brilliantly tipped the ball over. Six minutes later and De Gea again denied the hosts with a strong right glove to keep out substitute Neal Maupay’s deflected effort.
Brighton continued to press to find a consolation goal but go no reward, allowing the Reds to regain dominance in the final 10 minutes. Substitutes McTominay and Daniel James will consider themselves unlucky not to have added to the goal tally after seeing shots saved by Ryan, but that takes nothing away from a very comfortable display for the Reds which increases our unbeaten run to 15 games.
Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to remain top of the Premier League as Arsenal and Manchester City came from behind to win on Saturday.
City were 3-2 victors over Fulham to stay one point behind Liverpool, alongside Arsenal who saw off Southampton 3-1.
Arne Slot has now won nine of his first 10 games since succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager, but was frustrated that the visitors invited a late onslaught from the winless Eagles.
Jota prodded the Reds into the lead from Cody Gakpo’s cross on nine minutes.
The Portuguese international was then guilty of missing two big chances to extend Liverpool’s advantage.
Palace failed to make them pay, but victory came at a cost for Slot as goalkeeper Alisson Becker limped off with a hamstring injury.
“If you score the second you break them mentally,” said Slot. “All the fans kept believing in a result because it was only 1-0, even though in my opinion we were the dominant team.”
Fresh from a dominant win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Arsenal were expected to sweep aside winless Southampton.
But the Saints shocked the Emirates 10 minutes into the second half when Cameron Archer fired in his first Premier League goal since a summer move from Aston Villa.
The lead only lasted three minutes before Kai Havertz scored for the seventh consecutive home game.
Gabriel Martinelli was introduced after an hour and took just eight minutes to make his mark with a finish on the volley from Bukayo Saka’s cross.
Having set up Arsenal’s first two goals, Saka pounced on a loose ball to score the third himself.
Fulham’s outrageous opener
Rodri’s season-long absence due to a serious knee injury is expected to be a major blow to City’s chances of retaining the title for a fifth consecutive season.
But it was the Spaniard’s deputy Mateo Kovacic who scored twice to turn the game around for the champions at the Etihad.
The visitors had not lost since the opening night of the season at Manchester United and led thanks to Andreas Pereira’s finish from an outrageous backheel assist by Raul Jimenez.
Kovacic’s deflected effort quickly brought City level before a cleaner strike less than two minutes into the second half made it 2-1.
Jeremy Doku then smashed into the top corner from outside the box to give City a two-goal cushion, which they needed.
Rodrigo Muniz gave Fulham hope on 88 minutes, but City held out for a 17th consecutive win against the Cottagers.
West Ham eased the pressure on new boss Julen Lopetegui by ending a run of three home defeats to start the new season.
Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta struck for the Hammers in a 4-1 win over Ipswich, who are still waiting for their first Premier League win 22 years.
There were six goals before half-time as Brentford beat Wolves 5-3 to leave the visitors still rooted to the foot of the table.
Leicester secured their first league win of the season as Facundo Buonanotte’s strike beat Bournemouth 1-0.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag faces a huge match if he is to remain in charge when the Red Devils visit Aston Villa in the pick of Sunday’s action.
-AFP
Premier League
Premier League rejects City request to delay next season’s games after Club World Cup
The Premier League has rejected Manchester City’s request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the U.S., the club’s manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup set to start on June 15. The Premier League’s season will begin in August.
An increasingly packed soccer calendar has been a concern among a growing number of players and managers. A report by global players’ union FIFPRO said some players get only 12% of the year to rest.
The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
City midfielder Rodri said in September that players could be close to strike action over the time they are required to play. A knee ligament injury has since put him out for the season.
“I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year (2022-23)… maybe we’ll play less games,” Guardiola told reporters.
“The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you so much. They don’t postpone these games so that will be the moment of, oh, what do we have to do?”
He said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.
-Reuters
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
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