Premier League
Iwobi’s Everton’s 69-year top-flight run hanging by a thread
Everton have spent more years in England’s top flight than any other club and have not been outside it for 69 years, but that pedigree will count for nothing and relegation will look almost inevitable if they lose at Leicester City on Monday.
Thursday’s 4-1 home defeat to Newcastle United left Everton 19th on 28 points after mustering one win in 10 games. Their only realistic hope of survival is to claw their way above two of Leicester (29), Nottingham Forest (30) and Leeds (30).
Defeat at Leicester would pile on the pressure for their remaining fixtures against Brighton (away), Manchester City (home) and Wolves (away) so that by the time they host Bournemouth on the final day, it might already be too late for another great escape.
Last season a late surge hauled them to safety, with the team inspired by raucous support from the Goodison Park fans.
They were at it again to create a great early atmosphere against Newcastle but the passion drained alongside the paucity of performance and by the end the ground that has hosted more top flight games than any other was half empty.
How it has come to this is something of a mystery for a club which has spent an astonishing 700 million pounds since being taken over by Farhad Moshiri seven years ago. Although the David Moyes era of regular top six finishes seems ancient history, Everton still finished seventh, eighth and eighth from 2017-19 and were 10th in 2021.
The club’s recruitment strategy has seemingly been to target middling players not deemed good enough by their Premier League rivals, who then fail to flourish at their new club.
The goals of Brazil striker Richarlison played a key part in keeping them up last season but after the club were forced to sell him to stay within the league’s financial rules, the failure to find an adequate replacement has been the number one factor in their struggles.
ONE GLIMMER
Forward Neal Maupay has scored one goal in 26 games, to the surprise of nobody at his previous club Brighton where he was considered surplus to requirements.
Everton’s leading scorer is attacking midfielder Demarai Gray with six and the team’s total return of 25 in 33 games is comfortably the worst in the league.
The one glimmer of hope is the return of injury-ravaged striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but even if he plays, his uninspired midfield team mates look woefully ill-equipped to provide him with the chances he needs.
Everton fans had hoped that, under Sean Dyche, at least their defence would hold up, but even that has crumbled in recent weeks, reaching a new low on Thursday as Newcastle’s pacey attackers made Ben Godfrey look like a Sunday league pub player.
This is not what supporters of Everton are used to. Founder members of the Football League, they have spent only four seasons outside the top flight – 1930-31 and three in the early 1950s.
Only Arsenal (1919) have a longer unbroken run in the top flight and in the mid-1980s the Toffees had a legitimate claim to be one of the very best sides in Europe.
However, the last of their nine league titles came in 1987, their last trophy was the 1995 FA Cup and since the Premier League began in 1992, they have finished in the top four only once.
Even against that decline, however, relegation would still be a huge blow for such a distinguished club, and could not come at a worse time as they prepare to move to a new 700 million pounds stadium in 2024 while simultaneously fighting off a probe into their finances.
“At a club like Everton the stakes should be high, that’s what the players need to remember,” Dyche said of the Leicester game.
“If we take on the game and win then it creates a different atmosphere and the belief floods back in very quickly. It’s strange how quickly it can turn around.”
-Reuters
England and Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has been handed a 15-month suspended prison sentence by a Greek court over a 2020 incident in Mykonos, Sky Sports reported on Wednesday.
In 2020, Maguire was found guilty of repeated bodily harm, attempted bribery and violence against public employees after his arrest in a brawl in which two police officers were assaulted.
Maguire, who was detained for two days following the incident and denied any wrongdoing, was handed a suspended prison sentence of 21 months and 10 days but was granted a full retrial after appealing against Greek court convictions on multiple charges.
In accordance with the Greek judicial process, the filing nullified Maguire’s conviction before a full retrial in a more senior court. His retrial was postponed many times.
Maguire faced allegations of non-serious assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery. The 32-year-old was convicted on all three counts but will face no prison time. His legal team will appeal against the guilty verdict, Sky Sports reported.
Maguire’s brother Joe and friend Christopher Sharman were also found guilty of offences related to the incident and received suspended prison sentences in 2020. They also denied any wrongdoing.
-Reuters
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Arsenal maintained control of the Premier League title race as they chiselled out a nervy 2-1 win over London rivals Chelsea to open up a five-point lead at the top of the table on Sunday.
Jurrien Timber’s 66th-minute header from a Declan Rice corner ensured Arsenal took three precious points, but it was a nervy afternoon in north London.
Mikel Arteta’s side moved to 64 points from 29 games, with Manchester City, who have played a game fewer, on 59.
Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber celebrates scoring their second goal with Gabriel Magalhaes REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Defender William Saliba had given Arsenal the lead in the 21st minute from a trademark corner routine.
But it had looked as though an own goal by Piero Hincapie just before halftime would prove costly for the hosts until Timber came to their rescue.
Chelsea, whose six-match unbeaten league sequence under new manager Liam Rosenior was halted, ended the match with 10 men after Pedro Neto was sent off for a second yellow card.
-Reuters
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Premier League
Manchester United climb to third in Premier League table with come-from-behind win over Palace
Manchester United produced a stirring second-half comeback to defeat Crystal Palace 2–1 at Old Trafford on Sunday, with captain Bruno Fernandes inspiring the turnaround that lifted the hosts into third place in the Premier League standings.
Trailing inside four minutes after a dominant start by Palace, United responded through a Fernandes penalty before his pinpoint free-kick was headed home by Benjamin Sesko to seal victory against the 10-man visitors.
The win extended interim manager Michael Carrick’s unbeaten run to seven matches since taking charge in mid-January. United now have 51 points from 28 games and are unbeaten since the January 5 dismissal of Ruben Amorim, climbing into third for the first time since May 2023. Palace remain 14th on 35 points.
“It feels like a big result, we were behind and had to show some character,” Fernandes told Sky Sports. “There are a lot of games to go still, and it is important that we don’t feel that we are in the position that we need to be. We need to make as many points as we can.”
Palace, under Oliver Glasner, were electric in the opening half hour, capitalising on sluggish United play. Defender Maxence Lacroix powered home a header from a corner after muscling past Leny Yoro, scoring the earliest goal United have conceded this season.
The visitors nearly doubled their advantage when Daniel Munoz latched onto an Ismaila Sarr through ball, but goalkeeper Senne Lammens produced a crucial save.
United gradually found their rhythm before the break. Sesko forced Dean Henderson into action with a header from a Fernandes cross, and the Palace keeper also tipped a Fernandes free kick over the bar.
The turning point arrived in the 57th minute when Fernandes converted from the penalty spot after Matheus Cunha was dragged down by Lacroix. Following a lengthy VAR review, Lacroix was shown a red card, reducing Palace to 10 men.
Eight minutes later, Fernandes’ delivery again proved decisive as Sesko rose highest to nod home the winning goal.
United pushed for a third, with Casemiro’s volley drawing a diving save from Henderson and substitute Amad Diallo testing the keeper from distance in stoppage time. Joshua Zirkzee saw efforts blocked, while Kobbie Mainoo’s fierce strike drifted narrowly wide.
Carrick praised his team’s resilience. “The biggest thing for us to take from the game is really the first time that we have been in that situation going in at halftime,” he said. “Being in that position and how we react and showing that personality and belief… to then come back as we did in the second half is the biggest thing for me today.”
Palace pressed late but could not find an equaliser. Glasner admitted his side had let the game slip. “It feels like there was more possible today. A great first 30 minutes, but the red card changed it completely. The second goal just happened too quickly.”
For United, the victory reinforces growing belief under Carrick that a top-four finish—and a return to Europe’s elite competition—is firmly within reach.
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