Category: Football (Soccer)

Michael Carrick branded Lisandro Martínez’s red card for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair as “shocking” and said Manchester United may appeal as the defender faces a three-match ban.

If the sending off in United’s 2-1 defeat by Leeds at Old Trafford on Monday night stands, Carrick could be without his two first-choice centre-backs for Saturday’s trip to Chelsea as Harry Maguire may be suspended for a second match. Martínez was sent off after 56 minutes when Paul Tierney, after reviewing the incident on the monitor, ruled it a red-card offence, with Leeds 2-0 ahead.

Carrick said: 'The arm [is] in the face of Lisandro and he is off balance and grappling. He goes to touch his shirt and gets a red card for it.

'It is not aggressive, there is no jolt, no tug. We have got to be careful where the game is going. It is a shocking decision, absolutely shocking. The red card, that is really concerning. I know he touched his hair. There is a difference to really aggressively touching it.'

• ‘A shocking decision’: Carrick fumes over Martínez’s red card for hair pulling

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Chants of “Daniel Farke, Daniel Farke” rang out from the travelling faithful after this seismic Leeds win lifted them six points clear of Tottenham, whose plight darkens further after the visitors pulled off a first league win at Old Trafford since February 1981.

It means Michael Carrick has lost a home game for the first time as Manchester United’s interim manager. His team lacked control throughout, a state not aided by Lisandro Martínez’s silly 56th-minute red card for yanking Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s ponytail, and he is now suspended for three matches, though the club may appeal.

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• Defender thought to have medial knee ligament damage

• Argentine may still recover in time for World Cup

Tottenham’s deepening relegation concerns appear to have been heightened by the loss of their captain, Cristian Romero, for the remainder of the season.

Romero was reduced to tears as he left the pitch after 70 minutes of Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Sunderland, following a coming together with the striker Brian Brobbey that led to the Argentinian clattering into his own goalkeeper, Antonin Kinsky. Romero, it is believed, has sustained medial knee ligament damage that will take around eight weeks to heal.

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De Zerbi looks past Simons, Arsenal fans are not helping their team and Ngumoha can give PSG something to think about

Football is such that, when you’re down, there’s a good chance the game boots you in the solar plexus, and that’s exactly what happened to Tottenham at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland’s winner coming by way of a deflection. But you can also take steps to help yourself and, though Roberto De Zerbi’s midfield setup made some sense – he picked three hard-runners in order to compete with Sunderland’s physicality – even pre-match, it wasn’t clear who would create their chances. It’s true that Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Mohammed Kudus are out injured, but in that context, it is surely even more important a place in the XI, whether in midfield or out wide, be found for Xavi Simons, left on the sidelines until the 85th minute. Simons is not perfect, but of the players De Zerbi has available he is the only one with the imagination and technique to make things happen. He may lack physicality, but what Spurs need more than anything is quality. Daniel Harris

Match report: Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham

Match report: Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth

Match report: Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City

City improve in good weather, says Guardiola

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Rayan Cherki inspired a sparkling second-half performance from City that ramped up the pressure on Arsenal

Match report: Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Match report: Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle

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Nordi Mukiele’s deflected shot sent Spurs even deeper into the relegation mire, while Forest earned a crucial point against Villa and Palace beat Newcastle

And there looks to be a more solid look about the side he’s sent out, with players in their natural positions. In particular, I like the legs in midfield, though I’m still concerned about where the goals might come from – none of the front three can reliably create for themselves, and there’s a lack of wingers and invention around and behind them.

All that said, I’m really looking forward to seeing how Spurs look, having had a couple of weeks to absorb new instructions. I very much doubt De Zerbi leaves things alone for fear of confusing them – I’d expect his instructions to be the pro forma, from now.

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Rio Ngumoha, 17, scored his first goal at Anfield and stole the show in a morale-boosting victory for Liverpool

3 min Both teams have started in a 4-2-3-1 formation as expected.

1 min Fulham kick off from left to right as we watch. The home fans launch straight into a song about Andy Robertson, who announced this week that he will leave the club this summer. £8m he cost.

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The title race was blown wide open as Eli Junior Kroupi and Alex Scott scored the crucial goals against league leaders who looked paralysed with fear

• Read Ed Aarons’ match report from the Emirates Stadium

Managerial contract news: In short, there is no managerial contract news. Andoni Iraola and Mikel Arteta were both asked if either had been in talks with their respective employers during their pre-match press conferences and both men suggested they had not.

Iraola: “I’m sorry, I don’t have any news for you,” he said. “There has been no change on that side of things.”

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Two goals each from Taty Castellanos and Dinos Mavropanos pulled the Hammers out of the relegation zone

Here’s the talk from the managers ahead of the Premier League weekend.

Just wondering how much Danny Dyer we will see this Friday night. Sunday versus Leeds bordered on the overkill.

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