Jack Ross had played down the sides’ Checkatrade Trophy meeting but nobody eased up in a 4-0 victory that was played amid a fiery atmosphere at the Stadium of LightJack Ross had said he was unwilling to “dress this game up as something it’s not” but neither set of supporters listened to Sunderland’s manager.Deep down, almost everyone accepted it failed to constitute a “proper” north-east derby and compensated by simply pretending it was. Accordingly, within the first 11 minutes there were two earsplitting, giant, bangs made by firecrackers released in the away end and the scent of smoke filled the cool January night air. Related: Gary Crosby: ‘Sir Alex Ferguson called and told me what a mistake I’d made’ Related:...
Nketiah shows rich promise, Chelsea may rue Fàbregas’s exit, things about to hot up for Solskjær and what next for Carroll? Related: FA Cup third round serves up shocks as Barnet, Oldham and Newport shine Related: The Dozen: the weekend’s best FA Cup photos Continue reading...
Referees know they can make a mistake on a bad tackle when they see an incident in a flash and it’s a cop-out not to punish serious fouls on the basis of video evidenceWe all make mistakes. Even us football writers, as difficult as it may be to believe, have been known to drop the odd ricket over the years. I must confess, to my eternal shame, that in the mild panic of a last-minute, potentially deadline-busting goal during my early years of covering Manchester City I managed to type in the wrong name for the scorer, Gareth Taylor, and credit his heroics to, well, this is awkward ... myself instead.The readers of the newspaper I was working for at...
Jürgen Locadia proves his worth, Hart loses out to Heaton, Palace need reinforcements and Arsenal need a defenceAfter Ole Gunnar Solskjær rained praise down on Marcus Rashford, calling him the “catalyst” for Manchester United’s pressing game, Romelu Lukaku might wonder when he will next be given a start. Rashford scored and created Paul Pogba’s opener in the 4-1 win. Asked about Lukaku, who was a late, scoring replacement, Solskjær said: “At times he’s a good target man but if you tell him to be a target man he’ll never face the goal, today he was side on and he’s got the attributes of a top, top striker. We need to work on his fitness but I’m delighted even though he...
Southampton have had an instant new-manager bounce while Huddersfield and Fulham look as if they must spendMaurizio Sarri fell short of accusing his players of complacency, but admitted something strange keeps happening when his Chelsea team appear to be in complete control of matches. At Wolves recently their early lead was overhauled and they were beaten. They had more leeway at Brighton with a two-goal cushion established but still ended a contest, in which they had been utterly dominant, heaving to repel Albion’s late flurry of attacks. Every long ball suddenly seemed a threat, every set piece a route to parity. It ensured what had been an impressive display felt rather undermined at the death. “We are a danger to...