Hull’s Harry Maguire is dreaming of England, Spurs are better placed than ever to best Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal and Aitor Karanka continues to divide opinionThe Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos In a cartoon history of Arsenal’s ongoing run of springtime top-four escapology acts – the battle, above all, to stay ahead of Spurs – Arsène Wenger would probably be depicted right now wriggling furiously inside a sealed lead trunk, still rattling his padlocks but descending towards the seabed. Tottenham are six points ahead of Arsenal with 11 games to play, to Arsenal’s 12. Tighter spots have been negotiated. But as Spurs beat Everton to take their half of the weekend’s London-Merseyside derby exchange it was hard to avoid...
Striker is now Premier League’s outright top scorer and his brace – alongside his workrate – against Ronald Koeman’s attritional team showed whyTwo minutes into the second half of this tight, bruising, full-body collision of a football match the poor old beleaguered orange ball spun out of a tackle and into a pocket of space between Ben Davies and Séamus Coleman. Both players reacted instantly, flying into that square of green and producing a startling thud, the sound of flesh and bone colliding, that drew a gasp from the crowd on the near side of this steadily disintegrating stadium.It was just that kind of afternoon, a match of 55 tackles, relentless contact and three goals in the last 11 minutes...
Wimbledon’s home game against Everton on this day in 1993 garnered the lowest attendance in Premier League history – but those who were there saw a game to rememberThey used to say of the 1960s that if you could remember them, you weren’t there. The same principle also applies to Wimbledon’s home game against Everton on 26 January, 1993. The reason, however, is nothing to do with intoxication or spiritual awakening. It’s because there was barely anyone there to remember it in the first place. The match boasted a crowd of just 3,036, the smallest in Premier League history.Come the end of the 1992-3 season Wimbledon would finish above Everton, one point and one place higher in 12th position. The...
Alisher Usmanov, who has a stake in Arsenal, is said not to be involved at Everton but the heavy investment by USM, of which the Uzbek-Russian billionaire owns 48%, in Finch Farm has raised questionsWhen Everton’s major shareholders concluded years of searching for a mega-rich owner by selling just under 50% of the club to Farhad Moshiri for £87.5m last February, it was widely assumed Moshiri’s senior business partner, the Uzbek-Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, must be looming large behind him.Usmanov, though, has a 30% stake in Arsenal, the club he harbours an appetite to buy, but where he has been held at bay and arm’s length by the US investor Stan Kroenke, who owns 67% and is buttressed by the...
Wayne Rooney’s goal at Stoke kept José Mourinho’s side near the top for points won in the last 10 minutes of matches but they have also lost seven pointsSir Alex Ferguson may be long gone, but Manchester United’s knack for scoring late goals appears to be alive and well. Wayne Rooney’s equaliser in the fourth minute of injury time against Stoke City on Saturday not only rescued a draw for his side and took him past Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time record of 249 goals, but it also ensured United retained second spot in this season’s table of most points picked up following goals registered in the last 10 minutes of matches, having amassed nine in total.In 2012, a study commissioned...