Premier League
Awoniyi and teammates getting further lost in the Forest
There is no light in sight for Nigeria’s AFCON 2022 player, Taiwo Awoniyi as his Nottingham Forest are getting further lost in the thick forest of relegation after visiting Manchester United secured a 2-0 win to boost their top-four position this season.
Goals from Antony and Diogo Dalot were enough to ensure that Manchester United capitalised on Newcastle and Tottenham’s slip-ups.
The Red Devils were back to their past at the City Ground on Sunday, earning a massive win that gives them a three point lead in third place in the Premier League table.
Man United so nearly took the lead inside the opening minute when Jadon Sancho latched onto a loose ball in the heart of the penalty area after Keylor Navas failed to punch a low cross clear of danger. Sancho’s subsequent first-time side-footed effort on goal, although it beat Navas, failed to find its way past Felipe, who rushed back to block the ball.
The majority of the opening half hour was very evenly contested after that, with Forest causing Man Utd problems from set pieces and the visitors causing problems from open play.
It would be the latter that’d lead to the first goal of the game when Anthony Martial stole the ball off of Danilo in the final third.
After nabbing the ball and playing a smart one-two with Bruno Fernandes, the French forward would see a low strike from just inside the penalty area saved by Navas, but punched into the path of Antony who was able to slot home the opener with ease at the back post.
Not to be deterred by going behind, the home side pressed forward with intent in search of an equaliser, and came close to getting one in the 43rd minute.
Taiwo Awoniyi, however, was unable to keep his first-time strike from the edge of the penalty area on target – seeing it fly over the crossbar.
A few moments later, Forest were almost made to pay for that missed opportunity when Fernandes found himself unmarked from a Christian Eriksen cross. The attacking midfielder rose well but headed his resulting effort just wide of the post.
Fernandes would come even closer to doubling Man Utd’s lead at the start of the second half, seeing a ferocious first-time effort from the edge of the box tipped onto the crossbar by Navas.
On the hour mark Fernandes once again called Navas into action, this time forcing the PSG loanee to tip a low strike round his post.
Ten minutes later, Martial really should’ve doubled Man Utd’s lead when he rose between two Forest defenders at the back post. The forward was unable to keep his header on target however.
In the 76th minute, Man Utd finally got their second. It would come courtesy of Diogo Dalot, who latched onto a lovely through ball from Antony before expertly side-footing past Navas.
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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