Category: Football (Soccer)

The Gunners won a local stramash by two corners to one

4 min: A fairly shapeless start, actually. “The best pints are Thursday night.” Hello Ian McCourt, formerly of this parish. “Or about 1.30pm on a Friday.”

2 min: A mid-octane start to the game. No real shape yet, though it’s obvious that Palmer is prowling the left wing today, opposite to his usual beat.

Maxence Lacroix put Palace ahead before being sent off after conceding the penalty from which Bruno Fernandes equalised, then Benjamin Sesko headed the winner

We will, of course, be updating you on this afternoon’s other early games: Brighton v Forest and Fulham v Spurs, but here’s Carrick.

So where is the game? Well, United will have to adjust a little, given they’re starting with a centre-forward; with Palace likely to defend deep and centrally, a reference-point will probably be a help. I’d expect Mbeumo to step inside on to his left foot and try and pick him out with crosses to the back post, because if he times it, he’s almost unbeatable in the air. Otherwise, I’d expect them to play into Bruno, who’ll slip passes down the sides of the outside centre-backs, with the two wide players looking to hit the space behind the wing-backs.

As the second half began, a banner appeared in the Stretford End that read: “MUFC proudly colonised by immigrants.” If this was a riposte to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s assertion that these shores have been overrun by those from overseas (for which the co-owner half-heartedly apologised), Manchester United needed their own reply to a listless opening period that left them trailing to Maxence Lacroix’s early header.

Eleven minutes after the restart, they did. First came Lacroix’s sending-off, issued by Chris Kavanagh after a pitchside monitor review for yanking over Matheus Cunha. The contact started before the 18-yard line but it continued into the penalty area, so the referee followed up awarding a spot-kick by showing his red card. Fernandes calmly beat Dean Henderson to the left of the Crystal Palace No 1, who guessed wrong.

Antoine Semenyo’s goal in first-half stoppage time was enough for City to close the gap on Arsenal at the top

Here come the teams! Leeds wear white, just as The Don decreed all those years ago. Manchester City in second-choice black, as per their Puma contract. A rare old atmosphere at Elland Road, as there always is, the home fans Marching On Together. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!

Sky have also just flashed up an intriguing stat that we may as well nick bears repeating. As mentioned in the preamble, during half time of the corresponding fixture in Manchester last November, Daniel Farke switched things around, changing to a back three, and nearly pulled off a great comeback …

As rain fell, incessantly, Eddie Howe wandered around the pitch alone. The final whistle had just gone and, with Everton celebrating a deserved win, Newcastle’s lingering hopes of a top six finish were also blown.

Newcastle look shattered, mentally as much as physically, by a Champions League campaign that will soon pit them against Barcelona and their Premier League form is suffering accordingly.

Burnley’s spirited fightback counted for nothing as Mikkel Damsgaard struck in injury time to earn Brentford a dramatic 4-3 victory at Turf Moor.

The Brentford manager, Keith Andrew, looked to celebrate his new long-term deal with a comfortable win amid a mutinous atmosphere when first-half goals from Damsgaard, Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade put the visitors three up.

There were contentious refereeing and VAR decisions aplenty as Evanilson cancelled out Eliezer Mayenda’s opener at the Vitality

• Read John Brewin’s report from the Vitality Stadium

Andoni Iraola: “It’s a team that has played really well this season,” he said of today’s visitors. “Starting from the goalkeeper - he has been very, very good for them. He has a really long kick so it puts you under pressure really early. Every free-kick and every set-piece situation, they put a lot of pressure on you, they manage the situations very well.”

Regis Le Bris: “We are in a tough league – a young team with injuries, suspensions and different events,” said Sunderland’s head coach, upon being asked about his side’s run of three league defeats. “We expected that a bit earlier [in the season]. It is not the best period from a results perspective. We are learning a lot, and it is often in these tough phases that you are learning more.”

Leeds host Manchester City on Saturday while the leaders Arsenal face Chelsea in Sunday’s standout fixture

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Vitality Stadium