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Jonathan Cook’s World Game Wrap-Up

Posted on | Posted by Jonathan Cook

City set-up Gunners clash

How quickly the Premier League tide can turn. Arsenal’s stumble against Brentford and Manchester City’s win over Aston Villa has set up a tantalising top-of-the-table clash on Thursday morning.

A victory for second-placed City at the Emirates Stadium would take them back to the top of the table, a position Arsenal have held since November.

The Gunners’ grip on top spot was loosened by Ivan Toney’s controversial equaliser in Brentford’s 1-1 draw on Saturday and City were keen to capitalise.

Goals from Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez gave City a handy lead yesterday before Ollie Watkins scored a consolation for Villa.

Rashford can’t be satisfied

Marcus Rashford is just one goal short of equalling his best return in a Manchester United shirt after heading home in a 2-0 win over Leeds United at Elland Road yesterday

But his manager Erik ten Hag has warned the England striker against feeling satisfied with his work.

“I don’t know when it will stop but if you are satisfied with it, then it will,” Ten Hag said.

“And because satisfaction goes to laziness, you have to keep investing every day.”

Rashford has scored 21 goals this season, just one short of his biggest haul in 2019-20.

Saints sack Jones

Southampton manager Nathan Jones’ last act as manager was to oversee another embarrassing defeat.

The bottom side’s hierarchy acted quickly to sack Jones after Saints conceded twice to 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers to lose 2-1.

Jones had delivered a bizarre rant after last week’s 3-0 loss to Brentford, promising to be tougher on the players in future. Unfortunately, he won’t get the chance.

He was the second Premier League manager in just six days to be sacked after Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch was shown the door last Monday.

Marsch lasted almost a year at Elland Road. Jones survived just three months at Southampton.

No happy return for Howe

There was no happy return for Eddie Howe as Newcastle United could only draw 1-1 with his former club Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium.

Howe spent 25 years as a player and manager at Bournemouth, leaving the club in 2020, and received a warm reception from the home fans.

But the Newcastle boss won’t be happy with a point against the league’s second-from-bottom team.

Despite the improvement Newcastle have made under Howe, they have now drawn half of their games this season with 10 wins and just one defeat in 22 matches.

Mendy magic launches Leicester

Nampalys Mendy’s first Leicester City goal was a thing of beauty and turned out to be the catalyst for an unexpected thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur.

Six and a half years after signing for the Foxes, Mendy thrashed home a stunning leveller, which cancelled out Rodrigo Bentancur’s opener for Spurs.

Mendy’s contribution was the start of flurry of goals for Leicester with James Maddison edging them ahead just two minutes later and Kelechi Iheanacho and Harvey Barnes’ sweeping Spurs aside, 4-1.

There had been concerns about Leicester’s Premier League status earlier in the season, but on this evidence the only way is up.

What a save!

All that was missing was a pair of goalkeeper gloves. West Ham United midfielder Tomas Soucek avoided conceding a penalty despite pulling off a great one-handed save to deflect Conor Gallagher’s goal-bound shot in the late stages of a 1-1 draw against Chelsea.

Referee Craig Pawson apparently didn’t see the handball but it seemed a certainty that the Video Assistant Referee would conclude that Soucek’s collapse onto the ball was a deliberate act.

But there is nothing certain in football and nothing was given. Chelsea manager Graham Potter described Soucek’s action as a “good save,” while, believe it or not, during a post-match interview Hammers boss David Moyes claimed not to have seen the incident.

Fulham take advantage of Forest woes

It does make things a little tough when you lose your two central defenders in the first seven minutes of a match, as Nottingham Forest found out against Fulham on Saturday.

When Willy Boly and Scott McKenna were replaced through injury, it was the earliest in any Premier League game that two players from the same team had been substituted.

Fulham made the disruption count with goals in either half from Willian and Manor Solomon to seal the Cottagers’ first win in four games.

You don’t save those

Spectacular goals from Jordan Bos and Mathew Leckie helped Melbourne City end Perth Glory’s unbeaten streak at Macedonia Park.

Youngster Bos lit up the night with quick feet and an expert finish to put the A-League leaders on their way to a 4-2 victory.

But City, eight points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand, didn’t have it all their own way, despite Glory playing the final 30 minutes with 10 men after Daryl Lachman’s dismissal.

David Williams briefly drew Glory level with 18 minutes to play before Socceroos attacker Leckie’s spectacular overhead kick and a late goal from Florin Berenguer sealed victory for the visitors.

Keepers win mind games

There’s likely to be penalty practice during training at Macarthur and Wellington Phoenix this week after three spot kicks went begging at Campbelltown Stadium on Sunday.

Macarthur keeper Filip Kurto denied Oskar Zawada and Yan Sasse, while at the other end Phoenix’s  Oliver Sail saved Ulises Davila’s effort from 12 yards.

At least Mexican Davila found himself on the scoresheet and the winning side after cancelling out Bozhidar Kraev’s opener for Wellington.

Moudi Najjar scored the winner for Macarthur, which was a first victory for coach Mile Sterjovski.

Another trophy for Real

Real Madrid took a break from their chase of Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga to claim the Club World Cup for the fifth time.

Victory over Al-Hilal wasn’t unexpected, although the fact that the Saudi Arabian side scored three times in a 5-3 defeat was something of a surprise.

Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde scored two goals each and Karim Benzema completed the scoring for Real. Former Villarreal striker Luciano Vietto scored twice and Moussa Marega was also on target for Al-Hilal.

The Club World Cup success was an unwelcome distraction for Real, who fell further behind in the La Liga title race. Barcelona extended their lead to 11 points with a 1-0 win over Villarreal.

Bayern prepare for PSG

Not everything has gone to plan for Bayern Munich this season but they warmed up for a midweek Round-of-16 Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain with a comfortable Bundesliga victory on Saturday.

A relatively straight forward 3-0 victory over Bochum kept Bayern a point clear of Union Berlin at the top of the table.

The win, which came via goals from Thomas Muller, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry, was also solid preparation for the clash with PSG, who were beaten 3-1 by Monaco in Ligue 1.




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