Category: Football (Soccer)

• A Rodrigo Muniz own goal put United ahead

• Emile Smith Rowe flicked home Alex Iwobi’s cross to level

On the same subject … “So,” says Roger Kirkby, “with most teams now having played two games, only two have won both and only two have lost ’em. If the season carries on in the same manner, we are in for a treat of a season.”

What’s at stake (realistically). Man United are 18th in the table with nul points, so they can either stay there if they lose today, go 16th or 17th if they draw, or leap to somewhere between fifth and ninth with a win. Fulham, currently 14th, can slip a place or two if they lose, stay 14th if they draw, or soar to fifth with a win. All to play for!

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El Casico wasn’t a classic

2 min: Nothing doing on the pitch yet. In the stands, the Forest fans launch the first aural salvo, informing the home support that Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis “does what he wants”.

Palace get the ball rolling. El Casico is go!

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It had been billed as “El Casico”. But after crossing swords with Nottingham Forest at the court of arbitration for sport following Uefa’s decision to demote them from the Europa League, Crystal Palace couldn’t find a way to beat them on the pitch.

Public enemy No 1 in this part of south London after his perceived role in the Cas verdict, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was conspicuous by his absence at Selhurst Park, although a phalanx of beefy security guards accompanied the visiting players when they arrived. A banner that was unveiled midway through the first half made clear the animosity of the Palace fans towards Marinakis.

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Viktor Gyökeres and Jurriën Timber both score twice as the Gunners rout Leeds, though injuries to Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka remove some of the gloss

Leeds get the ball rolling. Arsenal soon take it off them.

… and now the players ready for tonight emerge. Arsenal in their traditional red and white, Leeds in second-choice blue. A genuine buzz in the stadium, a heady mix of first-home-fixture-of-the-season excitement and new-signing thrill. We’ll be off soon, but just before kick-off, there’s a moment of applause in memory of former Arsenal director and board member Richard Carr, who died recently.

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How to rally Tottenham after the Eberechi Eze farrago: turn up at Manchester City and mastermind a dominant 2-0 triumph that takes your side to the top of the Premier League – for a few hours at least.

By doing so Thomas Frank issued a fine calling card regarding his professionalism, and suggested his Spurs project will be as strategic as Ange Postecoglou’s was gung-ho. Witnessing how the visitors caused Pep Guardiola’s men headaches caused one wag to question if Eze might change his mind (again) about which club to join.

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Three home wins in the Premier League on a day that belonged to Coventry in the Championship

Burnley v Sunderland teams

Burnley: Dubravka, Walker, Esteve, Ekdal, Hartman, Bruun Larsen, Cullen, Ugochukwu, Hannibal, Anthony, Foster. Subs: Weiss, Worrall, Edwards, Tchaouna, Flemming, Ramsey, Sonne, Pires, Laurent.

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Police are on alert for Sunday’s Premier League match after Nottingham Forest had a hand in the Eagles’ demotion

Crystal Palace against Nottingham Forest isn’t usually a Premier League fixture that would have the Metropolitan police on red alert. But after a summer spent at each other’s throats at the court of arbitration for sport as well as on social media over Uefa’s decision to demote Palace from the Europa League to the Conference League, to Forest’s advantage, supporters of both clubs are preparing to come face-to-face on Sunday afternoon.

“Forest aren’t our rivals – they’re nothing to us,” says the Palace fan Chris Waters. “But all of a sudden this game has a bitter edge to it.” Sanad Attia, AKA Wolfie, who presents the Forest Fan TV YouTube channel, says: “We’ve never really had any kind of issue with Palace – I was quite happy for them winning the FA Cup. But they have been wanting to blame everyone but themselves. And in particular, Forest and Evangelos Maranakis.”

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Battle between real and fake is an active front in sport and the Newcastle striker transfer saga is vast but strangely hollow

Depraved. Sickening. Toxic. Foul, but also pestilent. The end of days? That last thing wasn’t the end of days. This right here is the end of days.

But is it though? Is it really? Going on a summer holiday is always a bit strange when your life involves staring at sport. Taking a break just as football is preparing to enter its own sweaty, steamy eight-month meat pocket is extra tough. Re-engagement can be difficult. Oh look. There’s football hiding behind a bush in the car park again, frazzled and wired from staying up drinking crystal meth negronis and writing a presentation about merging marketing and sales, all the while gripped with a gathering sense of horror that it’s just not possible.

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Chelsea thrashed the Hammers to pile the pressure on Graham Potter

A big blow for Chelsea / boost for West Ham before kick-off. Cole Palmer has tweaked something in the warm-up, and is out. Estêvão, Chelsea’s new 18-year-old wing sensation, takes his creative brief.

Chelsea will sport their new third kit this evening. Take a quick glance, and you could be forgiven for thinking they’re cosplaying as Scotland. Closer inspection of the commemorative golden disc will however reveal two words that categorically clear up that particular confusion in double-quick time. Chelsea also become the latest club to go retro with their crest, reviving the mid-80s lion sprawled across the letters CFC, as though elegantly wasted on a chaise longue.

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