Category: Football (Soccer)

Kieran McKenna branded referee Tim Robinson’s decisions “unacceptable” after Ipswich were denied a penalty and had Kalvin Phillips sent off against Leicester.

The Ipswich manager accused Robinson of taking centre stage when, with Ipswich leading through a fine Leif Davis volley, the official turned down what looked a clear penalty when Conor Chaplin was barged over by Abdul Fatawu.

Defeat at Newcastle latest example of defensive laxity and attacking bluntness that is undermining title challenge

Is that, then, it? On the first weekend of November, is Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge over for another season? Perhaps not quite, because Rodri’s absence and Arne Slot’s inexperience in the Premier League mean this could be an unusual campaign even before the possible consequences of the charges against Manchester City are taken into account. But if Arsenal are to win the league for the first time in 21 years, it is going to take a monumental improvement and, at the moment, they look a side who have lost their way and self-belief.

As a rule of thumb, in this era it takes a minimum of 90 points to win the Premier League. That means teams can only afford to drop 24; Arsenal have already dropped 12 – which is to say half what they can lose with a quarter of the season played. It’s true that the fixture list has not been kind, that they have already played their away games against Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham and Newcastle, but still, their margin for error in the 28 games that remain is extremely limited.

Alexander Isak grabbed the only goal of the game as the Gunners slipped up again

Newcastle get the ball rolling. They’re playing towards the Gallowgate End in this first half.

… but not before a rendition of the Last Post, with Remembrance Sunday upcoming. RIP the fallen. All perfectly observed, applause ripping through the silence at the end.

Declan Rice headed down the tunnel shaking his head and muttering to himself. Arsenal had just forfeited precious ground in the Premier League title race, Mikel Arteta looked incapable of ever smiling again and Rice seemed to be struggling to comprehend his inability to exert any sort of real control over midfield.

With Arteta’s defence incapable of suppressing the excellent Anthony Gordon and the outstanding match winner Alexander Isak on a day when Arsenal made a litany of uncharacteristic unforced errors, Eddie Howe’s team remembered how to be streetwise and reaped deserved rewards. After five Premier League games without a win, Newcastle look upwardly mobile once more.

Head coach is showing he does have a Plan B as his detailed management is at last instilling maturity in a young squad

Chelsea were looking for someone innovative and fresh when they parted company with Mauricio Pochettino at the end of last season. They did not chase a big-name manager past his best. What they wanted was a coach on the up, with the vision to bring order to a talented but sprawling and inexperienced squad.

Enter Enzo Maresca: 44, humble, smart, obsessive about the smallest tactical details. Some might have shied away from the Chelsea job, seeing it as a graveyard for managerial aspirations given the fate of Pochettino, Graham Potter and Thomas Tuchel under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, but the Italian saw opportunity after leading Leicester to the Championship title in his debut season. “I’m interested in the job because I see a squad that can win the Premier League one day,” Maresca said during talks with his potential new employers.