Reading, Sheffield Wednesday and (almost certainly) Fulham sealed play-off places, Wigan went down and it’s still tight all round in League Two• Blackburn Rovers took the fight for Championship survival to the final day of the season with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Ewood Park, courtesy of Danny Graham steering home after 54 minutes. The win brought Rovers level with Nottingham Forest, who lost 2-0 at QPR, confirming Rangers’ safety in the process. Both sides have 48 points; Forest host Ipswich in their final game, and Blackburn head to Brentford. Related: Harry Redknapp’s 10-man Birmingham City sink Huddersfield Related: League One finale: what’s at stake in the promotion and relegation battles #EFL media advisory - @leytonorientfc v @ColU_Official...
Faced with the club missing out on Champions League football again, Manchester United’s manager makes the point that it is harder to buy successDoes José Mourinho have a point about power being divided in the Premier League, or is the manager of Manchester United simply trying to get his excuses in early?United still have a job on their hands to crack the top four this season, let alone get back to winning titles, and should a third season in four arrive without achieving Champions League football questions are going to be asked about the effectiveness of his stewardship in the light of all the money spent. Perhaps in anticipation of that scenario, Mourinho has just observed that winning anything in...
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was Manchester United’s match-winner again, Burnley were tormented by Lincoln and themselves, and Arsenal need to pitch in at SuttonZlatan Ibrahimovic was the match-winner again for Manchester United and his late goal against Blackburn Rovers was another fine and composed finish to add to his season’s collection. That made it 24 goals in all competitions and the Swede has now scored in the FA Cup, Coppa Italia, Copa del Rey and Coupe de France. For United, he has been a stellar signing and there is a reason why the prolific forward can get away with statements such as the one after his midweek hat-trick against St Etienne when he declared: “Wherever I went I won, so I am...
Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford are quick off the starting blocks in FA Cup tie at Ewood ParkThe sight of Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford lining up surely thrilled the Manchester United purist. This fifth-round tie was the first time José Mourinho fielded a quartet that could claim to be English football’s fleetest. Factor in the rawness of Martial, Rashford and Lingard, plus Mkhitaryan’s street-wise football brain, and this was a cocktail to quicken pulses by offering a glimpse of United’s future.Lingard threw down a first marker by motoring along the right, leaving Craig Conway a spectator, and finding Mkhitarayan who in turn fed Rashford. He and Lingard were in the XI...
There is little appetite for the FA Cup tie among fans of the Championship club, who are staring relegation in the face under seemingly indifferent ownership“We should be looking forward to an FA Cup tie at home against Manchester United, a dream tie for most clubs with the chance of an upset and reaching the quarter-finals. Yet we are indifferent about the whole thing. The game is meaningless and we’d trade it for three points any day of the week.” – Ian Battersby, a Blackburn Rovers fan for 50 yearsBattersby’s words may not suit BT Sport’s promotion of Sunday’s fifth-round tie at Ewood Park but they capture the depression, resignation and fear that have enveloped Blackburn. Year seven of Venky’s...