Category: Football (Soccer)

• City face crucial games on 13 May, 16 May and 19 May

• Alternative date for Palace game has been chief problem

Manchester City are understood to be frustrated after being left facing three decisive fixtures in the space of seven days next month.

City’s match against Crystal Palace, which was postponed from 21 March owing to their participation in the Carabao Cup final, has been scheduled for Wednesday 13 May. The trip to Bournemouth, originally scheduled for 17 May, had to be moved after City progressed to the FA Cup final to face Chelsea on 16 May, and has been slated for 19 May.

• Brazilian going in the summer after four years

• Interim manager says the situation is ‘pretty clear’

Michael Carrick ruled out any ­reversal of Casemiro’s departure from Manchester United in the summer after the Brazilian scored in ’s 2-1 win against Brentford.

The midfielder’s header on 11 ­minutes was his ninth goal in the ­Premier League, second only for United to Benjamin Sesko, who ­registered just before half-time to seal victory.

First-half goals from Casemiro and Benjamin Sesko took United to the cusp of Champions League qualification

It seems like Benjamin Sesko is now installed as United’s first-choice centre-forward – though full confirmation will come next weekend, when Liverpool visit Old Trafford, as in previous big games, Carrick has deployed Mbeumo through the middle.

Ultimately, though, the club spent all that money on Sesko because the plan is for him to be a regular, so really, they need to build around him, which means better delivery from wide areas; I wonder if we’ll see whoever plays on the left whip balls for him to the front post, though I also think there’s hay to be made with Mbeumo coming inside to swing those in to the back stick.

This swashbuckling victory moved Manchester United to within two points of Champions League qualification and is prima facie evidence of the job Michael Carrick has executed since his appointment as interim manager.

The performance is also a fair ­calling card for the permanent role as United bettered a doughty Brentford by simply being better.

After recent seasons with a defined bottom three, a handful of nervous clubs are aiming to beat the drop to the Championship

• Sign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletter

It was a good weekend for Nottingham Forest, although perhaps not as good as it looked like it might be on Friday night. That evening, when they handed Sunderland their record defeat at the Stadium of Light, winning 5-0, Forest must have been expecting to pull away from at least one of their relegation rivals. As it turned out, though, they ended the weekend where they began, five points clear of third-bottom Tottenham and three clear of West Ham with four games remaining after both the London strugglers also won.

It was a classic Saturday afternoon in the relegation battle, the sort that is rare these days with games so spread out over a weekend. But Tottenham’s match at Wolves and West Ham against Everton kicked off at the same time, which meant that Tomáš Souček’s goal six minutes after half-time not only prompted celebration at the London Stadium but also anxiety among the Spurs fans who had travelled to Molineux. Then João Palhinha put Tottenham ahead with eight minutes remaining and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall levelled for Everton with two minutes to go. Had it stayed like that, Tottenham would have been out of the relegation zone on goal difference. But Callum Wilson scored for West Ham two minutes into injury-time, lifting them back above Spurs and within three points of Forest.

• ‘Heartbroken’ Tottenham midfielder stretchered off in win at Wolves

• Netherlands star faces eight months out after scans confirm injury

Xavi Simons has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and will be out for around eight months. The Tottenham midfielder suffered the injury in his team’s 1-0 win at Wolves on Saturday and will be unavailable for the remainder of the club’s Premier League survival fight. His devastation has been compounded by the knowledge that he will not be able to play for the Netherlands at the World Cup finals this summer.

Simons was stretchered off at Molineux in the 63rd minute after twisting his knee in the turf as he chased a ball towards the byline. It is a terrible blow for him and the club, whose new manager, Roberto De Zerbi, was counting on the 23-year-old’s creativity in the battle against relegation. Despite the victory over Wolves, which was Spurs’ first in 16 league games, they remain 18th in the table, two points behind 17th-placed West Ham with four matches to play.

The current season has become a meme-war without end, an endless rolling wall of gloat and taunt in which players and managers must try to block out the noise

In his new book, Saved, Gianluigi Buffon talks about feeling crushed by nerves even at the peak of his playing career. The day before the 2006 World Cup final Buffon and Gennaro Gattuso walked past the French squad after training and were immediately sent into a tailspin by their opponents’ intimidating size and athleticism.

“We don’t stand a chance,” Gattuso joked, not actually joking. Buffon spent most of the night smoking in the hotel corridor with half the Italy team. At breakfast nobody could speak. They turned up at the stadium already feeling exhausted.