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Ghana forward suffered knee injury against Ipswich Maresca to ring changes against AEK Athens on Tuesday Antoine Semenyo has been ruled out for eight weeks with a knee injury, leaving Enzo Maresca short of alternatives to Erling Haaland, who is a doubt for Manchester City’s Champions League game at home to AEK Athens on Tuesday. Semenyo limped off against Ipswich on Saturday and Haaland hobbled off at full time with a foot injury. City are eager to get their European campaign back on track after losing to Paris Saint-Germain last Wednesday. Maresca has said he will make changes and has previously admitted Haaland will require resting at some point. Semenyo would have been the most obvious replacement but Phil Foden and Iliman Ndiaye could be utilised. “To replace Erling it’s always difficult but we have some different options; we’ll see tomorrow,” Maresca said. “To lose Antoine or any player for us is not good. Then in terms of Erling, we said that we can use Antoine as a 9 but also we have different players that we are going to try and to find new solutions.” Maresca witnessed a number of his players limp away from the win over Ipswich: Haaland, Semenyo, Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly, who all featured at the World Cup. Maresca had made six changes, showing the need to rotate amid a hectic schedule of seven games in 21 days in October for City, many of whose players also had international commitments at the start of the month. “We try to manage all the players in the best way, try to keep them fit,” Maresca said. “Even sometimes things happen that you cannot control, like Antoine’s injury. We try to save him, we try to keep him fresh.” The fixtures mean it is difficult for Maresca to get training time as he tries to instil his style. “We try and do what we can on the pitch to go through a few things and tactics before the games,” the defender Marc Guéhi said. “It’s just a lot of recovery, sleep, to make sure the body is right for the next game,. It’s been enjoyable, to be honest; not to train, just playing games, which is fun.”

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Bruised Bundesliga champions hit a supposed rival for six and their flying winger is peaking at a perfect moment When Bayern Munich fail to win for two games in a row, you know what is coming next. Particularly on a Saturday night showcase, against the sort of good domestic opposition that tend to bring the best out of the champions. It had been a frustrating week, domestically and continentally, in two games on the road. On both occasions they had been caught cold, conceding the Bundesliga’s fastest goal at Augsburg and going 1-0 down in less than 90 seconds in Stavanger. Vincent Kompany’s low profile on the Allianz Arena touchline, sat almost motionless in his seat on the bench as his team rattled a flurry of goals past poor RB Leipzig, had nothing to do with any lingering chagrin connected to those slow starts from his team. The sporting director, Max Eberl, who stood in for his coach in the post-match press conference, explained that the Belgian had been ill, not to mention Kompany’s current hip problem that had made the move from dressing room to pitch side slow and uncomfortable. It was good he did not attempt to get up from his vantage point every time his team scored, or he would have been extremely sore in the morning. This was what Kicker referred to as a “ Trainingsspiel in der Allianz Arena ”. Had it not been for the goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt performing creditably, Leipzig’s club record defeat – a 7-0 loss to Manchester City three and a half years ago – would have been comfortably surpassed. This was 6-1 carnage. For Leipzig and their coach, the former Bayern man Martin Demichelis, this was the starkest of reality checks. The media reaction was the same, a sense of disappointment that a supposed competitor to Bayern could offer so little in terms of resistance. Yet there needed to be a recognition too that this was Bayern being their brilliant best; piqued, prickly and poked into action by a potential challenge that they felt compelled to prove wasn’t much of one. This was a furious clearing of frustration on a number of levels; the need to defend Manuel Neuer after his early error at Augsburg, the industrial scale of chances frittered away in that game, the first-half punking by Viking in midweek, the concession of a late equaliser having come back and the red card for Michael Olise (Eberl had memorably called Viking’s captain, Zlatko Tripic, a “scumbag” for systematically winding up the France midfielder to the point at which he picked up two bookings in the blink of an eye, the second for gently lobbing the ball in Tripic’s face, forcing the latter to throw himself to the ground). And how that feeling was expelled from the very beginning. Harry Kane called Vandevoordt into action in the opening seconds, but it was only a temporary let-off for the visitors. Luis Díaz steamed on to a Joshua Kimmich pass to fly through the centre of the Leipzig defence and give Bayern the lead in the 12th minute. The Colombian created a second with a delicious pass for the onrushing Aleksandar Pavlovic just before the half-hour, and just after a stunning collective move finished with Kane carving a chance for Olise to finish imperiously. It was a recital. The move that led to the Pavlovic goal began with Kane steering the ball left from a quarter-back position, maybe 10 to 15 metres in front of his own penalty area. In the second half Díaz fully took centre stage, gathering a Kane pass to chop inside and curl a shot into the far corner, then scurrying the long way around to finish from a central area and complete his hat-trick – not the perfect hat-trick perhaps, but maybe the perfect Luis Díaz hat-trick of centre, from the left and long run around to finish. His first Bundesliga goals since August were scoffed with the demeanour of a famished man. This version of Díaz will be needed against Arsenal with Olise suspended, and the score settling version of Bayern will be the default too, with this the perfect warm up in that sense, even if Leipzig were more compliant than might have been expected. Nobody in Munich has forgotten their first defeat of last season, 11 months ago, when Arsenal stepped up a gear and showed just how good they had become in a comprehensive second-half display at the Emirates Stadium that led to a 3-1 win. “We have memories of that game,” said Eberl, “and we want to translate those memories into energy this Wednesday.” There is a sense of this all just being shadow-boxing, of course, in a league stage that Bayern and Arsenal will be expected to graduate from safely in the top eight. Yet any measure of where they are and where they are headed is useful. Even if this was not a win or go home situation, Saturday’s game could be the season kickstarter for Díaz who, as Kimmich said, is extremely valuable to his team in that he is the most likely to make runs behind the defence; more so than Kane, Olise, or any of their midfielders. “He delivered incredible numbers for us last season,” Kimmich continued (22 goals and 17 assists in Bundesliga and Champions League combined) – and here it was, starting again. Even at this early stage, markers are needed and after Leipzig, Arsenal are Bayern’s next. Bayern ended the weekend on top of the table – ahead of Borussia Dortmund courtesy of, already, a vastly superior goal difference – thanks to previous leader Freiburg’s first loss of the season, on Sunday afternoon at Bayer Leverkusen. Julian Schuster’s side had taken an early lead at BayArena, with the in-form Derry Scherhant concluding a flowing team move but Leverkusen hit back in arguably their first proper test at home. The brilliant Ibrahim Maza quickly equalised and then laid on the second-half winner for Patrick Schick – who has now scored in each of the opening six games of the season – with a sublime assist. Maza explained to DAZN how his escape from a clutch of Freiburg defenders was straight out of his Berlin childhood. “Just playing in the cage, just improvising and going for it.” Level with Schick at the top of the scoring charts is one Niclas Füllkrug, who scored for a fifth game in a row as his brace brought Werder Bremen back from 2-0 down to draw with Paderborn – the third straight game in which Werder have recovered from a two-goal deficit to take a point or more. Daniel Thioune spoke afterwards about how the (maybe soon-to-be-again?) Germany striker is raising the standards of those around him – including the coach himself. “Niclas expects a lot from a coach,” he said. “It’s not just what he does on the pitch, but also what happens in the locker room. Niclas is never too proud to go the extra mile.” Dortmund’s tired performance in a goalless draw with Union in Berlin was a second straight scoreless game but their fellow Champions League participants Stuttgart are in a worse state, glued into the bottom six by a defeat in Hamburg in which they missed a raft of chances. “We’re not a top team right now,” bemoaned Deniz Undav.

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Another round of games and another disappointing draw for Arsenal while Manchester City sit top of the table with a 100% record There would have been hope that the international break could offer the Arsenal players and staff a reset but the same problems reared their head at the Emirates on Sunday in a 1-1 draw with Birmingham. As they have done so often this season, the Gunners dominated most attacking and possession-based metrics – they registered 76% possession, a 2.73 xG and 43 touches in the opposition box – but their profligacy in front of goal and lack of urgency in their play once again came to the fore. Of their 27 chances, they managed just four on target as they toiled against a resilient opposition who understood the playbook. Birmingham set up in a strong defensive structure, protecting their box admirably with numbers to frustrate Renée Slegers’s side, who famously struggle to break down low blocks. In contrast, Birmingham scored with their one shot on target as Océane Hurtré took her impressive tally to six in six. Sophie Downey London City’s impressive start to the season continued as they extended their winning run to four games with a 2-1 victory against Everton. If the match against Tottenham before the break had been an illustration of their attacking power, this was a much grittier performance. The Toffees, who have the joint second-meanest defence in the league (shared with Eder Maestre’s team), proved tough to break down with London City managing just five shots on target despite creating 16 opportunities. Their two first-half goals, however, once again came on transition and were a sign of the deep quality they possess. Plenty has been made of London City’s attack this season but it was their out-of-possession work that shone through. They have now faced the fewest shots on target in the division (12) and the way they handled the slight change of momentum in the second half when Everton switched things up and gained belief was an indication of their growing defensive mettle. SD Charlton may still be pointless six games in, but their second-half performance against Manchester United impressed their manager, Karen Hills. After a rough first half an hour, in which the final score of 3-1 to United was established, the home team held firm. “When we talk about bravery, I thought we took the second half to Manchester United,” said Hills. “If we can do that against a very, very top team like United, then I’m hoping that we can continue on that run. I think you saw that in the first half as well, when we actually got the ball we played some really nice football. It’s a team that’s very aggressive and on the front foot. It was just the moments when we didn’t have the ball that probably cost us today.” Given Charlton only had 23.8% possession in the match, those moments without the ball were many, but finding silver linings when you’re down is important. Suzanne Wrack The 6-2 scoreline looked an unlikely one when Tottenham went into their dressing room at Stamford Bridge at half-time with the score level at 1-1. It had been an assertive first half from the visiting team against an increasingly impressive Chelsea. The Blues did put their foot on the gas in the second half but the Tottenham head coach, Martin Ho, said his team had to do better to not collapse after conceding. “We conceded three goals in nine minutes and then two in six. We can’t completely collapse in those moments. That’s individual responsibility and accountability to defend,” he said. Tottenham have not won in 20 games against top-four opponents. “You can see that, as a young team, we lack a little bit of maturity in these big games. That will come with time.” SW Lauren Hemp closed in on the WSL all-time assist record after setting up two goals in Sunday’s 3-2 win against Brighton. The 26-year-old recorded numbers 50 and 51 within the opening 16 minutes of the game by setting up Khadija Shaw twice. She now sits just three assists behind record holder and teammate Beth Mead, who has 54 in total. Hemp, who has eight goal contributions for the season, said: “I want to keep improving and I want my whole performance across the game to be good and I thought I lost the ball too many times today. So I want to keep pushing for more, keep striving and I still think my best is yet to come. But I’m happy with the contributions I’ve done in games recently.” Emillia Hawkins Aston Villa finally got their first win of the season after a second-half comeback for a 2-1 victory against Liverpool. Villa had managed just three draws from their opening five games before the international break, but doubled their points tally thanks to a second-half strike from Chasity Grant and an own goal from the Reds defender Grace Fisk. It was a positive result for Brian Sørensen, who took over from Natalia Arroyo last month and was this week confirmed as the interim head coach until the end of the season. Sørensen said: “Incredible. Also the manner that we did it in, we were really struggling in that first half and Liverpool were so good, but we made changes tactically but also personnel at half-time and that flipped the game around. Credit to the girls … best day ever!” EH Kelly Gago’s second league goal of the season secured West Ham a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace and their first away win of the campaign. The French international’s goal came from an assist from Oona Siren who capitalised on a defensive error, and Gago fired home a left-footed finish, proving the difference in the contest. Gago joined the Hammers from Everton at the start of the season and is beginning to make her mark in east London. Her contribution offers a boost for a West Ham side looking to build momentum and move away from the bottom end of the table following three consecutive losses prior to the international break. Réshma Rao

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Wiegman says she ‘cannot think of a better job in football’ She can target three Euros wins in a row with Lionesses Sarina Wiegman has extended her contract to continue as the head coach of England’s women for Euro 2029. Her deal was due to expire after next summer’s World Cup and this gives her the chance to lead the Lionesses to three European championship titles in a row. Wiegman, who took on the role in September 2021, also led her native Netherlands to Euros glory in 2017 and has reached the final of the past five major tournaments, twice finishing as a World Cup runner-up. “I am so happy to be able to carry on with this squad and cannot think of a better job in football,” Wiegman said. “Working for a world-class organisation like the FA, and alongside so many people dedicated to winning England teams and the growth of our game, excites me every day.” England will reach the World Cup finals, which are being in held in Brazil in June and July, if they come through a two-leg playoff against Ukraine for which they are heavy favourites. “My main concern right now is absolutely the World Cup, and helping this squad realise their potential in the years to come,” Wiegman said. This is Wiegman’s second contract extension with England and opens the possibility that she could coach Team GB at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles should the team qualify. Wiegman, who turns 57 next Monday, will continue to be assisted by Janneke Bijl, Arvid Smit and Darren Ward. “Sarina is an incredible coach with an unparalleled record in major tournaments and I am so happy to continue to work with her for the next Euro cycle,” said the Football Association’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham. Wiegman had refused to be drawn on questions over her future before England’s two games against Greece during the recent international break, but the Chelsea midfielder Keira Walsh last week said “obviously I’d want her to stay” when asked about the head coach’s future. “Sarina’s the boss, I would never ask her those questions, but I think everyone in England would love her to stay,” Walsh said. “I’ve played a lot of games for her and I really appreciate her as a manager.”

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A goal against PSG is proof on the scoresheet of what can be seen on the teamsheet: At long last, Reyna is getting consistent minutes. For an entire four-year cycle, to write about Gio Reyna was to write about his potential – especially the nagging feeling that it was going unfulfilled. Once hyped as possibly the greatest prospect in US men’s history, a series of injuries kept him from simply taking the field, much less making his mark on it. Since his emergent 2020-21 season, when he logged nearly 2,000 Bundesliga minutes running alongside Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, and Jadon Sancho, Reyna finished each of the ensuing five seasons without even cresting 630 league minutes. “Rotational” became a generous descriptor for his role at Nottingham Forest on loan, and then last season with Borussia Mönchengladbach. Still, Gregg Berhalter and Mauricio Pochettino kept involving Reyna with the US squad based on that pesky potential – betting that, on his day, he still had the raw talent to do what few compatriots could. This year, those days are finally coming with regularity. Since faring well in a contributor’s role at the World Cup, Reyna has moved to France with Strasbourg, and he’s remained first-choice in a youthful squad whose average age of 21.6 more closely resembles a postgrad program than a Ligue 1 roster. Coupled with his newfound status as a two-time World Cup selection, Reyna appears more comfortable as a budding leader than the would-be wunderkind with an unfortunately lengthy injury ledger. Life’s simpler that way. “Keep showing up every day, training, recovering,” Reyna said of his current focus when speaking with reporters during the most recent US window. “[I’m] doing everything I need to prepare mentally and physically for every training and game. I feel good, though, and I’m feeling more confident every time I step on the pitch.” The only player to start in all four friendlies during the September/October international window, Reyna was understandably rotated out of Strasbourg’s first lineup upon his return to France before being restored for Saturday’s visit from Paris Saint-Germain. It ended as most Ligue 1 matches involving PSG do, with the two-time defending European champions doing just enough to claim all three points. But before PSG’s three goals, there was an opening strike from Reyna. Beginning with his attacking-half regain from a bad pass by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Reyna collected the ball and worked a one-two before dribbling into the box. With Lucas Digne in tow, Reyna drifted toward the center before slotting a well-placed shot between a befuddled Filip Jörgensen and his near post. A run to the supporters. A knee slide. A casual salute. At last, Reyna is more relevant for his exploits as a player rather than as a concept – but the reason why goes far beyond that goal. For the first time in his career, Reyna has managed to start eight consecutive games for club and country, with the streak only ending as he was rotated following the window. A month shy of turning 24, his body is finally letting him lean into the promise he’s shown since he first turned heads as part of the New York City FC academy. It doesn’t hurt that he harbors less pressure to carry the team than he previously has. Much like Christian Pulisic, the bombastic arrival of Cavan Sullivan and a host of other young players have eased the pressure of the spotlight, and Reyna can once again act as a veteran voice. To start the window, Justin Ellis said he especially looked up to Reyna during his own academy days in Orlando. Shortly afterward, Ellis opened his US scoring account off of a looping free-kick from Reyna. At last, the US is developing enough players who appear to boast potential to play in Europe’s big five that no individual is seen as the make-or-break piece. Still in the first half of his 20s, there’s plenty of time left for Reyna to put forth a fine career, away from the dueling shadows of his father, Claudio, and the initial idea of what he could be during his Dortmund heyday. At long last in a comfortable position at Strasbourg, he’s beginning to write his own story.

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Florian Wirtz takes on more responsibility in Liverpool’s attack while Pierre Sage is under pressure at Crystal Palace Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s physicality overpowering Bryan Mbeumo in Manchester United’s area at a corner grabbed him a fifth goal in 10 outings for Leeds: a pretty respectable ratio. “I just tried to cause a ruckus,” said Leeds’ No 9. “I make it difficult for the defender. I read the flight of the ball and was quickest to react. I feel really comfortable [here]. I feel the support from the club and the fans and it is a great feeling stepping on to the pitch, particularly at Elland Road.” Of the contenders to be understudy to Harry Kane as England’s centre-forward, Calvert-Lewin may be the lead act – if he can stay injury-free, which has been a difficulty throughout his career. Jamie Jackson After the defeat to Atlético Madrid last Tuesday, Manchester United’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, could at least sit a bit more comfortably watching Michael Carrick’s side battle to a draw at Elland Road. Lisandro Martínez bemoaned, among other things, the lack of squad depth at United in his post-match comments in Madrid, but one area Wilcox did strengthen over the summer was United’s midfield. Carlos Baleba, a £65m arrival from Brighton, started his first game for the club alongside Andrey Santos, a £50m signing from Chelsea, and the pair held their own against Leeds’ combative midfield three. “They’re both young players adapting to life at this football club and I thought both of them were terrific today,” Carrick said. “That’s a massive positive for us.” As for Martínez, he was taken off at half-time with a tight thigh. Billy Munday Florian Wirtz created nine chances during Liverpool’s comeback win against Brentford. The German’s effectiveness grew when Brentford were reduced to 10 men but it was still one of Wirtz’s better games in a Liverpool shirt. The playmaker took on responsibility in the second half. Andoni Iraola was happy and perhaps sees a connection growing between Wirtz and Víctor Muñoz. Both of Wirtz’s assists in the league this season have been for Muñoz, a £34.5m summer signing from Osasuna who hugs the touchline and stretches the play with speed and directness. Iraola plays positive, vertical football. Wirtz could be more dangerous if his passes are hitting speedy wingers such as Muñoz and Bradley Barcola. Jacob Steinberg Ayyoub Bouaddi made his first league start for Manchester City in the win against Ipswich but anyone watching would have thought he was an old hand. The teenager belied his years with a mature performance at the base of midfield, controlling the tempo while keeping things simple in possession and spotting danger when required. The Moroccan cost £85m in the summer from Lille to battle for a place in Enzo Maresca’s revamped side, fighting Enzo Fernández and Elliot Anderson for a spot in the team – and he is looking their equal. “Not bad, yeah?” Maresca joked about Bouaddi’s performance. “I think that the manager is always looking to find minutes and space for good players. Ayyoub is very good. He is very young, coming from France, so we need to help him, not put him under pressure every game. I think he is doing well.” Will Unwin If you were at Craven Cottage on Saturday and didn’t know which three players Álvaro Arbeloa had brought with him from the Real Madrid setup, you would have assumed one of them was Josh King. The 19-year-old has started every league game this season ahead of Emile Smith Rowe in the No 10 position and has already taken on the role of chief creator. King has been in Fulham’s academy since under-nine level and became a regular in the first team under Marco Silva last season. Arbeloa has spoken of wanting to help the youngster raise his level, to help him kick on. “He’s a top talent,” said Arbeloa after King’s all-action performance against Hull that helped Fulham to their first league win of the campaign. “The sky is his limit. He has the talent, the mentality, the character – he has everything to become a top, top player.” B M David Moyes claimed Chelsea got the rub of the green with the two goals that condemned Everton to a first defeat of the season but there was no question it was deserved on the basis of their respective second-half performances. Everton’s response to Pedro Neto’s opener was nonexistent, with Moyes’s decision to introduce a seemingly unfit Christian Nørgaard instead of Hayden Hackney a contributory factor, but they could feel aggrieved about Morgan Rogers avoiding a second yellow card in the 44th minute for leaping into James Garner. With Harrison Armstrong booked for what the referee, Paul Tierney, deemed a reckless challenge on Josh Acheampong earlier in the game, his inconsistency on the Chelsea forward’s tackle was a key moment. “I would love to speak on the referees but I would probably get fined,” said Garner. “All this camera stuff on their heads, you need to keep out of the game. Just let referees ref it and stop making it about them. That’s all I’ve got to say.” Andy Hunter Sven Botman was extremely fortunate not to be sent off for a nasty tackle on Nicolas Jackson as Newcastle lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa, with the excellent Johan Manzambi heading the first-half winner. The rash, high way Botman lunged in on Jackson seemed emblematic of the centre-back’s decline since he suffered a serious knee injury three years ago. The moment has surely arrived for the now under pressure Matthias Jaissle to drop Botman and recall not merely Dan Burn but Fabian Schär, too, in a switch to a more stabilising back three. Newcastle’s failure to keep a clean sheet in their last 13 Premier League games at home – a run stretching back into last season under Eddie Howe – emphasises the need for defensive fortification. Moreover Schär’s ball-playing ability, and particularly his dangerous long diagonal passes, would enhance Newcastle’s pretty dismal threat as an attacking force. Tellingly, Jaissle’s team registered only one shot on target on Saturday, paving the way for Unai Emery’s 100th Premier League win as a manager. Louise Taylor When Arsenal signed Eberechi Eze, it was hard not to be a little suspicious. Though he started his top-level career relatively late, it is rare a player steps up levels at 27 – all the more so given Mikel Arteta is not exactly in love with mavericks and risk. Ultimately, Eze looks better suited to being the main man in a mid-ranking team rather than a cog in a top one which prioritises shape and system above all else. He was anonymous against Nottingham Forest prior to his removal at half-time. Though Arsenal did not explode thereafter, Noni Madueke did offer greater threat, his speed challenging defenders inside and out before scoring a winning goal that, though fortuitous, also reflected the difference he made. There is surely little chance Eze is picked to start Arsenal’s next game, at Bayern Munich, and he is running out of time to establish himself at the club. Daniel Harris Pierre Sage is treading on very thin ice at Crystal Palace after another disastrous defensive display allowed Brighton to equal their biggest win against their arch rivals. A poor start to the season has been marked by Palace conceding 17 goals in seven league matches – the worst in the division. The chair, Steve Parish, admitted during the international break that the Frenchman’s position remains on “high alert” and, judging by the angry reaction of some Palace fans to the 5-0 thrashing at the Amex Stadium, Sage could be in big trouble. But there must be some sympathy given the failure to adequately replace the influential Maxence Lacroix in central defence after he was sold to Chelsea. That is believed to have led to disagreements with Parish, who has shown a tendency to act quickly if things aren’t going his way. It could be a nerve-racking few days for Sage before Thursday’s trip to face Besiktas in the Europa League. Ed Aarons Sunderland’s problems are stacking up. Brian Brobbey’s continued absence with an injury sustained while playing for the Netherlands is beyond Régis Le Bris’ control but defeat at Bournemouth was self-inflicted. The swift journey from the Championship to the Europa League has become a stumble. Kevin Danso’s red card was by no means the only error committed during a performance where cross words were exchanged between befuddled defenders. Granit Xhaka found himself incapable of exerting anything like the influence he showed last season. Instead, Tyler Adams and Lewis Cook dominated midfield. Trips to Poznan, Milan and Anderlecht await for Sunderland but Le Bris’ squad is struggling to straddle two fronts. A horrible performance at the Vitality Stadium came despite five purported first-team players being rested against Torreense. Play like they did on Sunday and a struggle in the bottom half surely awaits. Just about everything that went right last season has taken a turn for the worse. John Brewin

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Getting rid of head coach is not going to solve the problems that led to his appointment. Perhaps it’s worth, for once, doing something different At the final whistle at Elland Road the TV cameras cut to a lingering shot of Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada, looking down pensively from the stands, deciding, it is to be hoped, on a little clemency, a re-sheathing of the managerial shotgun. Here we have the man who hired the man. The man who fires the man. The man who also hired or rehired the previous two men he had to fire. Berrada was poached from Manchester City on the basis of his ability to grow commercial revenue (yes, OK, stop laughing), and appears, like everyone else with any actual reach around here, to exist in a strangely consequence-free bubble. How do you solve what is, on revenue versus results, the worst-run club in world football? By changing the name of the latest patsy on the touchline, of course. For now a hard-fought point is perhaps enough to stave off that pre-programmed emergency response. Stand down the cowboy cops. Call off the blue and white saloons. Although with a run of Bournemouth, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Liverpool next up in the league it will no doubt soon be time to go out there and arrest Lee Harvey Oswald again. What’s that you say? OK, well, dig him up again. Re-arrest him. Whatever it takes. Someone has to stop these lone gunmen, these managerial magic bullet merchants from derailing the Manchester United supremacy. This was a dual-track football match between Leeds United and Manchester United, on the face of it a good, even game between two teams of well-matched players. A 1-1 draw was fair in the end, although Leeds played well and probably should have won. But of course they won’t be the story. Instead this game had already been billed as that familiar thing, a referendum on the future of Michael Carrick. A stay of execution for a week or two. Or another livestreamed firing squad for the Super Sunday cameras. There has been a predictable sense of low comedy about Carrick’s own transformation in the United dugout this season. It was always going to be the case that his widely praised qualities in victory, blazer, T-shirt, jawline, inscrutable sense of calm, would become his fatal flaws in defeat. Where’s the passion, the whirling arms, the range of tailored collars? At Elland Road Carrick simply looked drained in the second half as United were pegged back and overrun at times, the beard a little more ragged, the hair unkempt but still sweeping, the look of a brave, doomed tugboat captain resigned now to the approaching tsunami wave on the horizon. A point leaves United 13th in the league and still struggling to reverse a dreadful start to the season. But it was a good game for two people. First for Carrick, who remains a million miles away from creating the problems afflicting this club, even if you accept that his presence as head coach is one of them. Michael Carrick did not hire Michael Carrick. Getting rid of Michael Carrick is, by definition, not going to solve the problems that led to his appointment. But it might just help to prolong them. Whatever his ultimate ceiling, it is surely worth keeping him just to try, for once, to do something different. This was also a good game for Lisandro Martínez, who went off injured at half-time with United 1-0 up, and who was also vindicated in his allegedly controversial (translation: entirely correct) comments on the club hierarchy in midweek. United’s energetic first-half performance clarified one half of this. The players are committed in support of the manager, at least to the best of their ability. The second half made the other half of the argument, that this remains a mismatched, lopsided, cut-and-paste squad, always likely to be pulled apart by opponents as urgent as this Leeds team, which fully deserves its current seventh place in the table. The problems are so obvious it is barely worth repeating them. But here goes. The third-richest club in the world played a second half with three of its back four out of position. Harry Maguire, signed under José Mourinho, remains the best straight defender. But Maguire is also essentially a man-shaped solid wood armoire in a pair of shorts at this stage in his career, always the slowest person on any pitch, which means you will not be able to cover space, play a high line or counterattack without leaving yourself exposed to the counter-counter. So good luck, guys. And remember Omar, who gave you this whisky bottle and loaded pistol of a squad, will be watching. This was made painfully clear after half-time as Martínez went off and Noussair Mazraoui came on. Leeds scored an equaliser that felt structurally inevitable. They found space down their right side repeatedly. At times they seemed to be constantly peppering the seats behind the United goal, like a group of kids hammering a ball against a garage door. By the end Leeds had more possession, more shots on target and just looked a happier, better structured entity than the travelling heritage exhibit at the other end. The key point here is to accept that all of this is entirely logical. This is not a mystery, a haunted house, a place of bad voodoo. Why do we talk about Manchester United so much? For obvious reasons. It’s a massive part of the English football landscape. Mainly, though, because this is a story of mind-bending waste, real-time elite-level incompetence played out on a weekly basis. Yes, you could sack Michael Carrick. It won’t change much. Let’s destroy Eddie Howe for a bit instead. But the available evidence suggests every single person making executive decisions here is outmatched and outmanoeuvred. There is a reason Manchester United feels like one of those high street legacy chain shops just before it collapses, piles of Quality Street by the door, a rat in the lingerie department, destined to become a pop-up vape shop run by Albanian money launderers. There’s a reason it feels so badly run. This is because: it is. We know the Glazer ownership has zero interest in minding the details, that this has been a wonderful acquisition whatever the performance on the pitch, an asset supremely sweated. We know also that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is pub-level incoherent on the details he promised to fix. Remember when he was going to sit down and decide what the “style of football” would be? How’s that working out? Instead Carrick is left shuffling a first XI acquired by endlessly revolving administrations. Here United had four defenders signed under Erik ten Hag, two Ruben Amorim recruits, two from the mist-shrouded age of Ole Gunnar Solskjær. No players were recruited under Ralf Rangnick, of course. But then Rangnick wanted to sign Erling Haaland, Luis Díaz, and Julian Álvarez, which all sounds far too sensible. An organisation can be built with many hands. But not when so many of those hands appear to be so far from best in class it’s hard to work out which class they’re supposed to be attending. John Murtough, the former Manchester United football director, is currently director of global development at Atalanta, who have a 24,000-seat stadium and almost zero global presence. Meanwhile Berrada, the axeman, seems entirely invulnerable from the axe himself, despite the fact his job seems to orbit around resolving the consequences of his own mistakes. United probably will sack their current manager before the year is out. This is the way this machine has to operate, always looking to buy itself, and those in the executive seats, a little more time on the payroll, an entity that has been hollowed out and allowed to rust, run on buzzwords and brown paper and string. Meanwhile, over to you Michael. We’ll see you next week, and maybe even the week after that, for more of exactly the same.

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Champions so risk-averse Forest were lured into thinking they had a chance, until bench was used to see them off Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Sideways. Square. Backwards. Pass. Pass. Recycle. Pass. It wasn’t much of a spectacle. But in the end, for the second week running, thanks in no small part of their bench, Arsenal won. Fireworks in the autumn are for Bonfire Night; titles require relentless accumulation. Since the international break, Arsenal have won three games out of three despite not being in the lead at half-time in any of them. Hammered at Brighton and having endured a drab first hour at home to Leeds last week, there has been a rare sense, for the first time really since Manchester City dropped points at Everton at the beginning of May, of Arsenal not being quite at their best, needing to reassert their quality. This was not a performance that would terrify any opponent, but it did highlight Arsenal’s consistency and it did demonstrate just how deep their squad now runs. There were long periods when they were extremely flat. In the first half the ball was moved too slowly, too risk-aversely, for Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze consistently to isolate their full-backs. There were very few attempts to play the ball in behind an admittedly well-organised Forest backline. It was all very safe, seemingly predicated more on waiting for Forest to make a mistake than on trying to break the game open with a moment of genius. The breakthrough, ultimately, was delivered by Noni Madueke who, when he got a run at Daniel Múñoz, took full advantage, albeit with a substantial deflection off the thigh of Jair Cunha. It was Arsenal’s only shot on target – and it wasn’t even on the bit of the target it ended up going in. Arsenal may have been working with Germán Castaños, a creativity coach who has worked in handball, in designing TV gameshows and with his local council. By challenging the players and presenting them with unusual situations during the week, the theory goes, he can help them to come up with innovative solutions at the weekend. It must take a lot of creativity to make a team as unremarkable as this. Mikel Arteta is a great believer in the sort of team-building techniques that to outsiders might look like high-performance gimmicks but you dread to think how hard a watch his side would be if their collective imagination wasn’t constantly being stimulated. Castaños got a boxer to fight two opponents and a Japanese football team to play against a side with 16 men. You wonder how a team might prepare to face an Oliver Glasner side in full stifle mode. Running headfirst into a line of three brick walls, perhaps? Or rather, given how Arsenal played for the first two-thirds of the game, running parallel to three walls looking suspiciously at them? For an hour, this was about patience and risk aversion, the only occasional flurries of something approaching unpredictability coming via Saka on the right. The England winger perhaps suffers the curse of those who emerge young, that consistent excellence seems somehow not quite enough, a betrayal of that teenage potential. Familiarity in football often breeds, if not quite contempt, then at least a sense that there could be more. He is certainly not playing badly, and he has scored three league goals, but equally, at 25, he is not the exhilarating presence he was at 21. Perhaps that is simply how Arteta wants his wide players to play, prioritising consistency and efficiency over the spectacular. Perhaps the fears of those who felt Saka was being played too consistently are being realised and he is experiencing an element of fatigue. Or perhaps this is just what regular mature performances look like in the modern Premier League. There was one delightful early turn that drew Neco Williams into a trip that earned him a yellow card, which it might have been thought would encourage Saka to run at the wing-back, but the pattern remained the patient sideways passing. Saka, though, did at least offer more than Eze on the other flank, and it was no great surprise when the former Crystal Palace man was withdrawn at half-time for Madueke. Staying wider more consistently, Madueke did perhaps offer a greater threat but he did have more space for him to exploit as an encouraged Forest began to push forward more. That, in fact, for a long time seemed Arsenal’s best chance, playing with such an absence of threat that it lured Forest into the thought that there was more for them in the game than a worthy clean sheet and a notable point. Leeds, perhaps, might argue they were suckered by something similar last week. As in that game, what turned things Arsenal’s way was a triple substitution midway through the second half. The arrival of Jurriën Timber, Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyökeres gave Arsenal legs and purpose that Forest could not match. Even as Forest were forced out of their defensive shape to chase an equaliser, the bulk of the game was played in their half. It may not have been especially thrilling, but it was enough and it was, in its own understated way, an expression of Arsenal’s strength. Thrills can come later.

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Bayer Leverkusen come from behind to beat Freiburg Noah Cadiou’s second-half penalty for Lorient prevented Monaco returning to the top of Ligue 1 as they fell to a 1-0 defeat in Brittany on Sunday. Monaco are one of four teams level on points at the top of the table as they were joined by Paris FC , who edged Rennes 4-3 thanks to Lassine Sinayoko’s injury-time penalty. Rennes dropped to fifth, a point behind, despite forward Estéban Lepaul’s hat-trick of penalties in Paris. That left champions Paris Saint-Germain, who beat Strasbourg 3-1 on Saturday, top on goals scored ahead of their cross-town rivals and Lille, with Monaco just behind on goal difference. Lyon have a chance to overtake PSG when they host Nice later on Sunday. Marseille picked up a much-needed win as they thumped Angers 5-2 to pull away from the relegation zone. Le Havre remain rooted to the foot of the table as Cameroon forward Danny Namaso’s double helped Auxerre come away from Normandy with a 3-1 victory. Ibrahim Maza and Patrik Schick combined to score two goals as Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to beat in-form Freiburg 2-1 in the Bundesliga on Sunday. After a shock defeat to promoted Elversberg in the season opener, Leverkusen have now picked up 13 of a possible 18 points and sit fourth, level with third-placed Freiburg – who host Bayern Munich next weekend – on points. Rock bottom Borussia Mönchengladbach are still searching for a first point of the season after losing 2-1 at home against fellow strugglers Hoffenheim . Hoffenheim’s Bambasé Conté opened the scoring with his second goal in two games since a surprise call-up to the Germany squad in October. Wael Mohya levelled for the hosts just after the break but Alexander Prass put Hoffenheim back in front shortly afterwards as the visitors, who host Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday, won just their second game of the season. Cesc Fàbregas’s Como ended their three-game winless streak in Serie A on Sunday with a 3-1 victory at lowly Fiorentina . First-half goals by Mattia Liberali and Nico Paz put the visitors in charge, before Marin Pongracic halved the deficit shortly before the interval. Anastasios Douvikas netted early in the second period to put to bed any hope of a Fiorentina comeback and keep the hosts locked in the relegation zone on four points. Milan leapfrogged Como into fourth as they survived a second-half comeback from Atalanta to win 3-2. Goals from Gonçalo Ramos, Adrien Rabiot and Mario Gila put Milan 3-0 ahead after 58 minutes before Atalanta rallied through Gianluca Gaetano and Nikola Krstovic. Lazio travel to Juventus later on Sunday where a win would take the Romans level on 19 points with Inter at the top of the table. Earlier, Lecce won 3-0 at Udinese , with Kialonda Gaspar, Konan N’Dri and Jamil Siebert all finding the net. An early penalty from Ante Budimir and a late Asier Osambela goal from earned Osasuna a 2-0 win against Racing Santander in La Liga while Celta Vigo won 2-1 at home against Alavés . Later on Sunday, Real Madrid host Sevilla , needing a win to narrow the nine-point advantage held by Barcelona.

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The theme before kick-off was blanks. Or, more precisely, whether either team could stop firing them at the City Ground. It is a detail to make Oliver Glasner extremely uncomfortable that his Nottingham Forest team had still to score at their home stadium. Arsenal, meanwhile, had drawn 0-0 on each of their previous two visits to this part of the East Midlands. Forest’s frustrations under their new manager go on. It was another spirited performance from them, bits to like, especially a full throttle performance from Liam Delap in the No 9 position. But, for the fifth time under Glasner in all competitions, there was not a goal to celebrate in front of the club’s home fans. It was a game that came to feel increasingly set up for the famous terrace chant. One-nil to the Ars-en-nal. Or, as the travelling hordes would have it, one-nil to the champions. Arsenal did not play well. They created little, finishing with just one shot of target. How Noni Madueke made it count. On as a half-time substitute, the winger took a pass from Declan Rice in the 80th minute and had only one thing on his mind. To cut inside from the left and unload. The connection was pure and that was when he caught a break, which he has worked to earn after a difficult start to the season. The ball deflected off Jair Cunha and flew past the Forest goalkeeper, Matz Sels. Forest refused to accept the inevitable. Chris Wood, on as a substitute, delayed too long and saw Rice block. Murillo, all of all players, danced inside from the left and curled just off target. And Delap was denied at the death by a thunderous Ezri Konsa block tackle. But it did feel inevitable. Arsenal had not forgotten their previous away fixture – the 3-0 defeat at Brighton. It remains the only blot on their season. Arsenal had kicked off six points behind Manchester City, who have been perfect on the field in the league this season. Will it matter when the sanctions for their rule breaches are meted out? All Arsenal can do is play the situation as it stands and there was a boost for them here when the teamsheets dropped, which was about the same time that Morgan Gibbs-White was driving his Porsche into the stadium car park. Forest’s key attacking midfielder missed out with a calf injury. He was a big miss. Glasner said that shooting practice had been a major part of his training sessions during the week and how the home crowd wanted to see something from their team in front of goal. The game was framed from a Forest point of view by the extraordinary number of openings they had blown in the 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace last weekend; they had eight big chances, according to the statisticians. They were never going to get anything like that number against Arsenal. Arteta’s team hogged the ball. As they were always likely to do. Bruno Guimarães looked to push up at the outset and combine with Martin Ødegaard, who occupied the No 10 position. Rice was the nominal holding midfielder. Arsenal were determined to be patient but it was flat and predictable from them before the interval. The lack of incisive movement was glaring. That said, Forest were compact out of possession in what was a 5-4-1 formation and hard to break down. They were resolved not to give up any easy yards. Arsenal played their patterns. They tried to suck the life out of the home crowd, working on the principle that it is difficult for fans to get animated if their team do not have the ball. The first half drifted by in a lazy Sunday afternoon haze, no shots on target for either side. Delap carried the physical fight; the Forest centre-forward was a willing and direct runner and he won a free-kick off Rice just outside the Arsenal box on 44 minutes. Nico Williams thumped it at Guimarães, who went down stayed down. The Forest support were unhappy at what they perceived as Arsenal’s use of the dark arts. “Are you City in disguise?” they chanted. Could a set-piece provide the breakthrough? It felt like the likeliest route. Murillo headed wide from a Forest corner in the 20th minute and was bloodied into the bargain; there was a whistle for a foul in the mass of bodies inside the six-yard box. At the other end, Kai Havertz headed over from a Rice free-kick on 37 minutes. He had a decent look at the ball and was well-placed. It was a good chance. Arsenal have been a little barren in first halves this season. This was the seventh time in 10 matches since the Community Shield that they had failed to score. It has not been a problem. They needed to raise their levels for the second-half. Arteta’s first change was Madueke for Eberechi Eze on the left wing; an admission that the latter had failed to exert an influence. There was also a triple substitution on 66 minutes, the Arsenal manager sending on Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyökeres for Ben White, Guimarães and Havertz. He needed to shake things up because nothing was happening for his team. It was Forest who pushed after the restart, with Delap continuing to put himself about. He asked questions of Gabriel Magalhães, albeit the Arsenal defender tended to have the answers. The minutes ticked down, the contest narrowing to a fine point and we waited to see whether there could be a moment, one big chance. Ødegaard almost provided it in the 72nd minute when he released Timber with a lovely pass up the inside right. When Timber pulled back, Rice lifted wastefully high. Glasner’s decision to introduce Ibrahim Sangaré for Dan Ndoye shortly afterwards was telling. Sangaré’s mission was to bolster the Forest midfield and yet he was slow to react to a half-cleared ball. When Rice played the pass, Madueke took over.

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Head coach insists ‘we can still have a really good season’ After a week in which Michael Carrick had “the headphones on” to quieten the noise, Manchester United’s head coach claimed Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Leeds “felt like a fresh start” and insisted that the season can still be a good one. Carrick’s team have seven points from seven Premier League games and have won only once in the competition, against Ipswich in August. Sunday’s draw followed the previous weekend’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham. Yet after a week in which United lost 2-0 at Atlético Madrid, after which Lisandro Martínez criticised the recruitment of the director of football, Jason Wilcox, Carrick was relieved at the point against Daniel Farke’s team. “[It’s been] quite quiet inside [the club] – the headphones have been on this week. It felt like a bit of a fresh start today – where we’re at and accepting it and doing something about it,” said the manager. “That didn’t surprise me today. We’re not getting too carried away because we haven’t won the game, but if you keep doing the right things for the right reasons then you get what you deserve in the end.” “It definitely shows that the boys are desperate to do well for each other as much as anything else and how much they appreciate playing for this club, because there was a real purpose to the group over the last couple of days and they took it on the pitch. There was an edge to the game, an intensity. I spoke to the boys this morning about the history and what it means to the supporters, the club, to us coming over here into the territory.” Carrick admitted that United’s league position is disappointing but believes the campaign can still be rescued. “If we keep doing the right things, we can still have a really good season. We’re not accepting it as everything’s great by any stretch, so I’m realistic with that. But sometimes you do struggle,. “We’ve got to find a way through it. We have to be stable enough to keep doing the right things and we’re more than capable of winning matches. I understand the situation doesn’t look too good if you look at it from a certain way, but I have no doubts that we can go on a good run. I’m encouraged by a lot of things.” Bryan Mbeumo’s first-half goal was cancelled out by Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s strike after the break, leaving Farke disappointed not to take all three points. “We took it as a compliment that we have done many things right over the last month that we were seen as favourites against Manchester United,” said the Leeds manager. “But we have earned this. We wanted to prove the comments right. We were the dominant side, but we couldn’t capitalise as we lacked quality in and around the box. It is still difficult in this league to win points. You have to be clinical and be very, very effective, but we have to keep going.”

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Bournemouth’s and Marco Rose’s wait for a Premier League win is over. Sunderland, locked in the bottom three, are becoming this season’s object lesson in travelling too far too fast. Sixth and seventh last season, that both teams have struggled domestically while cruising in the Europa League speaks to a continental drift where talent from mid-range but historically grander clubs is readily picked off by Premier League clubs. Two of Bournemouth’s summer additions came via Benfica and Sevilla, Sunderland bought from Lille and Lyon. None of which is any guarantee of Premier League safety. Once Kevin Danso, on loan from Tottenham, was dismissed in the 17th minute for a blatant denial of a goalscoring opportunity, Sunderland were sunk on the south coast. With a turnaround tight time from Leiria on Thursday, England’s south coast on Sunday and Poznan in midweek, resources are stretched thinly for Régis Le Bris, at a club where the European dream comes against uncomfortable domestic realities. Talk of a possible sale to new investors has not abated, with a boardroom reshuffle placing Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, the youthful majority owner, in charge of day-to-day operations. And to place in pure football terms, Sunderland have not celebrated a league win since August, and lost four in succession. Both managers had selected stronger teams for Sunday’s fixtures compared to Thursday’s. Five changes for Sunderland from Torreense, with Granit Xhaka restored, spelled out Le Bris’s priorities, as did the selection of James Hill, Adrien Truffert and Rayan as Rose likewise made five alterations from beating Sturm Graz at home. Xhaka’s early mistake prefaced the jet-lagged, error strewn performance that followed Sunderland’s first European away match since 1973. Bournemouth began as Rose demanded, high-press from the get-go, vertical when possible. After Lewis Cook dabbed the ball forward, Evanilson, restored to the line-leading striker’s role, seized on a collective muddle between Danso and Omar Alderete. The Brazilian’s reputation for unselfishness was deepened by his next choice of action. Instead of shooting, he laid up a diving Marcus Tavernier to head home. Danso’s exit swiftly followed. Evanilson escaped beyond the dallying defender and clumsiness served as no excuse. Craig Pawson, the referee, and his team, could reach no decision other than sending the Austrian for an early sachet of shower gel. A goal up, a man up represented a challenge to Bournemouth’s presence of mind; they had previously conceded nine points from winning positions. First-half chances piled up, Robin Roefs asked to bail out bungling defenders on repeated occasions. There was audible and visible squabbling within the Sunderland ranks over the blame for Rayan and Evanilson enjoying such space. With pressure piling on, the season lurching, Le Bris might argue he can only fight with the resources available to him. Brian Brobbey, on the bench in Portugal after injury on international duty, was missing altogether. Timur Tutierov, 21, last season loaned to Exeter, played as an increasingly lonesome striker, chasing autumnal shadows before a merciful substitution before the hour. That a Danso header was Sunderland’s final attempt on goal of the first half said it all about the direction of travel. Rose, who revealed this week he had binge-watched Sunderland ’Til I Die on Netflix, kicked every ball on the sidelines. The German’s need for three points was implicit. Patience has been a virtue of the Bournemouth project, but with the Vitality Stadium modernising fast, fans sitting in new-build corner stands as part of renovations, relegation battles cannot be countenanced. The second goal came with a collective sigh of relief, and via more Sunderland benevolence. Evanilson, given nobody else to pass to by Alderete’s brain-fogged back-pass, supplied a hip swivel Rudolf Nureyev might have been proud of to sit Roefs down and slot into an empty net. A popular goal for a popular player, one of many signings the Bournemouth back office have been successful in making. Bournemouth could and should have scored more, raining 29 shots on Sunderland’s goal by the 70th minute, including Rayan’s header being hacked from the line. If thoughts were understandably drifting to Thursday and Milan, seven-times European champions, coming to Dorset in the Europa League, Rose would not allow his players to be distracted. After Sunderland enjoyed a late spell of the game that at last had mackem visitors in full voice, Rose’s team played out the game with admirable calm, Rayan’s dancing feet to the fore as the ball was retained. On this evidence, two clubs facing similar challenges are on very different trajectories.

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What next for Michael Carrick and Manchester United? Game-wise the answer is Wednesday’s trip to Como yet after failing, again, to double the campaign’s league wins tally to two you have to wonder where this already flatlining team are heading. Sunday afternoon’s display was the latest unconvincing outing under the 45-year-old. It featured an odd formation, zero rhythm or control, and the same prevailing sense that the wheels could clatter off anytime. Bryan Mbeumo’s first-half opener was answered, inevitably, by Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s equaliser after the interval for hosts who were not markedly better but did not need to be so fragile are Carrick’s cadre. Elland Road was the scene of Ruben Amorim’s last stand, Carrick’s predecessor reacting to January’s 1-1 draw by demanding his colleagues in the recruitment department “do their job”. The result? Being sacked two days later. For now Carrick avoids a similar fate but for how long? United remain stuck on a solitary league victory – back at the end of August, versus Ipswich – and so Como, in the Champions League, becomes the next must-win fixture. Five days after his scathing diatribe aimed at Jason Wilcox – for the director of football’s iffy recruitment – Lisandro Martínez was selected by Carrick, the defender’s Thursday apology enough to clear the way though his day ended at the interval. Daniel Farke’s team, unchanged for a fifth consecutive game, were roared on by a crowd who delighted in Martínez’s first contribution, a stray pass hoofed out of play. The visitors lined up in an “Amorim formation” of 3-4-3, a lesser-seen Carrick configuration. In this, Bruno Fernandes was fielded as the nominal central forward, curtailing the captain’s ability to pull strings from midfield, though his was a free role. The noise from a febrile home support was dialled up when Carlos Baleba sent Anton Stach to the turf and Darren England saw no infringement. When Fernandes ran though and a clumsy touch caused him to scythe down Tarik Muharemovic, England did act – booking Manchester United’s captain when play next paused, to the delight of Leeds fans. Gabriel Gudmundsson was also shown a yellow card – for clipping Andrey Santos – in a contest that was blood and thunderous but lacked regular goalmouth incident. Gudmundsson, the left wing-back in Farke’s 5-2-2-1, did splay the visitors’ defence with a cross that wrongfooted Harry Maguire but it found no teammate, before Jayden Bogle, the right wing-back, repeated the act as Leeds exerted momentary control. Stach’s free-kick, from the right, had Nico Elvedi flying at the ball to fashion a header Senne Lammens had to be quick to repel. At last, the match was alive. Carrick’s men carved a clear chance when Youri Tielemans dropped the ball onto Mbeumo’s head at close-range but he missed – badly. But next Mbeumo struck via a quick move that sundered Leeds. Along the right Tielamans found Amad Diallo who returned the ball and the Belgian’s cross was slid home by the forward. Martínez’s removal for the second half brought Noussair Mazraoui to the fray as 45 minutes stood between Carrick and a morale-boosting victory. They held firm for five. A Mazraoui header sent Bogle’s cross out for a corner on the right. When this was swung in Mazraoui was bested by Muharemovic whose flick came to Calvert-Lewin: he outmuscled Mbeumo and crashed home. With the crowd propelling them forward, Ao Tanaka boomed a volley just over and Farke’s men pinned back Carrick’s side, who lacked ideas: Baleba’s unconvincing long-range effort summed them up. Better was Fernandes’s turn and shot that spun narrowly wide but he followed this with a weak attempt that the Leeds goalkeeper James Trafford clutched simply. On 73 minutes Farke took off Noah Okafor for Lukas Nmecha and Carrick removed Baleba for Mason Mount but none of the changes could spark a winner.

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At last, Fabian Hürzeler has the scalp that matters most to all Brighton fans, and in humiliating fashion. Diego Gómez’s breathtaking goal-of-the-season contender from the halfway line, à la David Beckham, was the highlight of another hugely impressive performance from the Premier League’s top scorers as they continued their flying start to the season. Not since a 4-1 thrashing here in February 2024 under Roberto De Zerbi had Brighton tasted victory against their arch rivals from up the A23 – a run of four matches. But having been handed the initiative by Jaydee Canvot’s own goal, a stunned Palace found themselves 3-0 down after 10 minutes. It got even worse for Pierre Sage after Brighton extended their lead through Gómez’s wonderstrike and Yasin Ayari, with Charalampos Kostoulas adding a fourth after half-time and substitute Jack Hinshelwood’s late strike matching their record 5-0 win over Palace from 1956 when both clubs were in Division Three South. The concerning news for Sage, whose decision to field the teenager Honest Ahanor and 20-year-old Canvot in defence backfired spectacularly, is that two of his predecessors – Patrick Vieira and Roy Hodgson – were relieved of their jobs not long after losing against Brighton. It is understood that there have been some disagreements behind the scenes since the Frenchman took over from Oliver Glasner in the summer, although it remains to be seen whether Palace’s chair, Steve Parish, will act on suggestions from the gleeful Brighton supporters during the second half that he will be sacked in the morning. It was Hürzleler who was on the receiving end of that chant in February after Palace’s smash-and-grab victory on the south coast. How things have changed. His vibrant side now find themselves in the conversation for Champions League qualification and they have a squad that also looks capable of coping with the demands of European football. The first major trophy in their history could be in sight. There was the usual hostility that greeted the travelling fans after Sussex police had warned they would be deploying extra officers to deal with what remains very much a grudge match. But a torrential downpour before kick-off didn’t dampen Brighton’s desire for revenge. They tore into Palace’s inexperienced defence from the first whistle and Canvot was caught flat-footed as he headed a pinpoint free-kick from Pascal Gross past Walter Benítez. The Palace goalkeeper then could only watch in horror when Olivier Boscagli fed Gómez on the halfway line after Adam Wharton had lost possession cheaply and the ball sailed over his head into the net after the sweetest of contacts. No wonder that Hürzeler has been urging his players to take more shots from long range this season – they were already the division’s top scorers with efforts from outside the box this season with four. Gómez’s strike from 51 metres was the Premier League goal from furthest out since Wayne Rooney scored from 58 metres out for Everton against West Ham in November 2017. Things got even better for Brighton when a flowing move down the right allowed Kostoulas to tee up Ayari to sweep home via a deflection off the unfortunate Canvot. Sage looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. After their exploits in the Europa League at his former side Lyon on Thursday, Palace’s midfield continued to find themselves overrun as Brighton kept up their incessant pace. Ahanor somehow prevented Gómez from adding a second when his goalbound volley struck the Chelsea loanee in the face. Hürzeler made eight changes for Brighton’s Conference League win here on three days ago and – just as they showed against Arsenal before the international break – they are brimful full of energy. The lively Ferdi Kadioglu could have capped an excellent first-half display with a goal had Benítez not been equal to his powerful drive from just outside the box. If Sage hoped things might improve after the break then he was mistaken. It took Kostoulas only four minutes to make it 4-0 after the ball deflected into his path following good work from Gross. To the delight of the Brighton fans, Jean-Phillippe Mateta contrived to hit the crossbar with the goal gaping on his return from injury before Eddie Nketiah also fluffed the chance to grab a consolation. Sage’s assistant, Paddy McCarthy, had to be held back from confronting the Brighton bench, with tempers threatening to spill over. Plenty of Palace fans had already seen enough by then as they made their escape after a nightmarish afternoon. They missed Hinshelwood crashing home to round off the perfect afternoon for Hürzeler.

Premier League·0–1

Arsenal spent the summer trying to by forwards and rightly so: they lack elite attacking quality, and well though they’ve done over the last few seasons, it has unarguably cost them. The best summer acquisition though, was not a player, but the Premier League trophy or, more pertinently, the status of champions, also known as freedom. It meant they didn’t need to fritter money on someone they knew at the time wasn’t of the standard they were seeking in the hope they might contribute a key moment or two which pushed them over the edge. Instead, they could attack the season with confidence and without the desperate pressure of flailing failure, developing a style that could made the eyes bleed into a knowing, aggressive flow. Of course they’re still a magician and matchwinner short but, in the meantime, they’re still much better than they were. These days, a tousing at Brighton can happen to anyone, so what’s of greater significance is the response: a comeback win against a confident and physical Leeds, then a Champions League win with a rotated team. Or put another way, Mikel Smugteta is an even better manager than Mikel Angsteta, and just as freakishly intense. Forest, meantime, have made a confusing start to the season, decent performances at Liverpool and Villa undermined by home defeats to Leeds and Coventry, the latter then followed last week by a gubbing at Palace. They are surely far too good to become embroiled in a relegation struggle, but the possibility will linger as long as the identity of those who are not remains unclear, while only Spurs have mustered fewer than their five league goals. All of which makes for some pure, uncut and concentrated “this league” action; let’s get involved.