Southampton victory shows José Mourinho’s men have rediscovered their ruthless streak just as a testing month of fixtures loomsFor more than half an hour, José Mourinho sat waiting on the Manchester United team coach outside St Mary’s doubtless basking in the comfort of a job well done after extending his side’s unbeaten run to eight matches. They displayed a callous efficiency and a charming stubbornness in an unforgiving and occasionally ugly performance that earned United victory and a fifth clean sheet in six Premier League matches. Romelu Lukaku, though, was still stationed inside in doping control, and, such is the ruthlessness of this United team at present, they left for Southampton airport without him.Lukaku was ultimately the match‑winner but this was a...
From announcing himself in the 1989-90 season with a sublime hat-trick to his firecracker to send off The Dell, half a dozen of the Southampton icon’s bestIf the early years of Le Tissier’s Southampton career had flickered, the 1989-90 season was when he began setting the old First Division ablaze. Chris Nicholl is generally viewed in Saints lore as an overly conservative manager but, for one year only, a team of tantalising prospects cut loose and finished seventh, scoring 71 times. Alan Shearer was beginning to serve notice of his talent but the star was Le Tissier, whose 20 league goals matched his age at the beginning of term. Related: Golden goal: Matt Le Tissier for Southampton v Newcastle (1993)...
Brighton provide perfect response, Everton are embarrassed, Liverpool have concerns beyond defence and Rafael Benítez sees progress from afarEddie Howe has worked wonders in overseeing Bournemouth’s exhilarating rise but his present task looks rather less attractive. They have yet to win a point and, while a defeat at the Emirates Stadium is not cause for concern on its own, the warning signs are stacking up. On Saturday they lacked initiative, invention, power and presence; it was a non-event of a display and it clearly bothered Howe, whose team have looked flat in all bar the late reverse against Manchester City. “I’m worried by the performance,” he said. “The four performances we’ve had, I’d accept one of them. I won’t accept...
Virgil van Dijk, Philippe Coutinho and Alexis Sánchez are just three of the refuseniks who will have to buckle downA penny for someone’s thoughts seems a ludicrously old-fashioned saying in the era of the £1.4bn Premier League transfer window. But now the whole brouhaha is over it is hard not to wonder what is going on inside the heads of players whose hopes were dashed on deadline day. It is the football world’s equivalent of being stood up for a dream date. Wake up full of nervous expectancy, impossible to think about anything else all day, then the wretched waiting before the bleak realisation that nothing special is going to happen.So what now for Virgil van Dijk and Philippe Coutinho,...
West Brom, even without Jonny Evans, give a masterclass in defending again; Newcastle underpowered in attack; Sadio Mané shows his importance to LiverpoolNathaniel Chalobah had an eventful match for Watford on Saturday. By dummying the ball at the suggestion of Bournemouth’s Harry Arter he inadvertently reminded the world of the subclause to Law 12 which states a player should be cautioned if he “verbally distracts an opponent during play”. The England Under-21s midfielder missed two good chances to score; a header and a one-on-one. He gave the ball away several times. But in only his second Premier League start Chalobah also led the match in both tackles and dribbles. It was his breakaway sprint that proved to be the catalyst...