VILLA PARK — Aston Villa fell flat on their biggest European night for decades and will now have to reach the Europa Conference League final the hard way after losing their home first leg to Olympiakos, who were inspired by Ayoub El Kaabi’s hat-trick on an evening of fine margins and tight calls. A first … Read more
Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham (Chalobah 24’, Jackson 72’) STAMFORD BRIDGE – Ange Postecoglou, almost hoarse, has rarely been such a ball of blistering fury. Given the number of avid Harry Potter fans in the Tottenham dressing room, perhaps it might be time to employ a Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. Or at the very least, … Read more
Tottenham 2-3 Arsenal (Romero 64′, Son pen 87′ | Hojbjerg og 15′, Saka 27′, Havertz 38′) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — When the fourth official flashed the number six on his board at the end of a pulsating 90 minutes, fans of Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City held a collective intake of breath. Arsenal had six … Read more
Ten Hag watched his side struggle to beat lowly Sheffield United on Wednesday (Photo: AFP) Four goals, three points, move on. If only it were that straightforward for Erik ten Hag and Manchester United. It suited Ten Hag to reduce another complicated 90 minutes for his team to a simple abstraction and allow Bruno Fernandes … Read more
Everton 2-0 Liverpool (Branthwaite 27′, Calvert-Lewin 58′) GOODISON PARK — Mikel Arteta scored in Everton‘s last win over Liverpool at Goodison Park, just as Jurgen Klopp was making his name as a young upstart of a coach at Borussia Dortmund. Fourteen years on and he will be punching the air with delight in front of … Read more
EMIRATES STADIUM — At last, with his sixth created chance of Tuesday night, Martin Odegaard finally got the assist a majestic individual performance warranted to put Arsenal 3-0 up against Chelsea. It would have been a travesty if the 25-year-old had ended the Gunners’ 5-0 thrashing of their hapless London rivals without one. Ultimately, he … Read more
Fulham 1-3 Liverpool (Castagne 45+2′; Alexander-Arnold 32′, Gravenberch 53′, Jota 72′) CRAVEN COTTAGE — Trent Alexander-Arnold is closing in on a bit of Liverpool history. His goal against Fulham was his sixth direct free-kick in the league for the club, meaning he is just one behind Steven Gerrard and Jamie Redknapp in the Reds’ all-time … Read more
Everton 2-0 Nottingham Forest (Gueye 29′, McNeil 76′) GOODISON PARK — The financial fair play derby left us with one very important question at Goodison Park: how bad would these teams have been if they had not broken the rules? Less facetiously, goals from Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil wrapped up a win for Everton … Read more
Burnley’s chances of Premier League survival have taken a huge boost as they thrashed bottom side Sheffield United 4-1 at Bramall Lane. Meanwhile, Luton were eviscerated 5-1 by a clinical Brentford side as the Hatters missed a massive opportunity to temporarily escape the relegation zone. This weekend may well be the season’s most imporant in … Read more
When Trent Alexander-Arnold noticed the entire Barcelona defence had switched off, darted to the corner and quickly swept in a delivery that Divock Origi converted, it went down in football folklore. In one fleeting moment, it completed one of the greatest Champions League comebacks, one of the great corner-kick assists, one of the most important … Read more
