FOOTBALL: Roundup of Saturday games
Emmanuel Alfred
Mohammed Salah got a brace in the Merseyside Derby as Liverpool defeated Everton 2-0 continuing their dominance in the fixture.
The Egyptian’s brace took his Anfield account to 104 levelling with Steven Gerrard and Sir Kenny Dalglish.
The first was from the spotkick after Michael Keane handled the ball in the box. He then doubled the advantage after being set up by Darwin Nunez.
The game saw inconsistencies by referee Craig Pawson as he sent off Ashley Young seven minutes before half-time for two bookable offences but didn’t do same for Ibrahima Konate.
City hang on to edge Brighton
Two first half goals from Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez were enough to secure a victory for Manchester City.
City, who had lost back to back Premier League games for the first time since 2018 got ahead when Julian Alvarez scored from a beautiful cut back from Jeremy Doku after just seven minutes.
Haaland made it two nil by scoring his first goal in three games with a low drive from outside the penalty area.
There was however a nervy end to a comfortable afternoon for City after Ansu Fati capitalised on a poor Manuel Akanji clearance inside the penalty area to half the deficit.
Akanji was then sent off for a second bookable offense at the end but the defending champions held on for a precious victory.
Newcastle too hot for Crystal Palace
Newcastle United produced an emphatic result against Crystal Palace at St. James’ Park and propel themselves to fifth position.
The Magpies put past the Eagles courtesy of goals from Jacob Murphy, Anthony Gordon, Sean Longstaff and Callum Wilson.
United started the match with the intensity Palace couldn’t match and it produced three goals in the first half leading to a fifth straight home wins.
Dalot seals United win with a thumping goals
Manchester United right back, Diogo Dalot scored a thumping goal to give United a 2-1 win against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
United had gone ahead courtesy of Scott Mctominay who continued his goalscoring form as found the back of the net with a low drive.
Mctominay went from hero to villain in just 3 minutes after he handled a cross in the box to give the Blades a penalty which was converted by Oliver McBurnie.
The game was largely lethargic with chances being few and far between before the Portuguese defender scored from 35 yards and earn united a win in a day they lost club legend Sir Bobby Charlton who passed on today aged 83.
Gunners rescue a point with late comeback
Arsenal produced a fantastic late comeback in the game against Chelsea at Stamford.
The Blues had gone ahead after Cole Palmer scored from the spotkick after William Saliba was judged to handle the ball by the Video Assistant Referee(VAR).
Arsenal looked like they were about to lose their first game of the season when Mykhailo Mudryk doubled the advantage for Chelsea.
The Gunners began their comeback when Declan Rice scored after a poor clearance from Chelsea keeper, Robert Sanchez.
They got the equalizer from Leandro Trossard as Chelsea failed to deal adequately with Bukayo Saka’s cross to earn a 2-2 draw in a very entertaining game and preserve their unbeaten record this season.
In the Serie A , Khvicha Kvaratskhelia got a brace in both halves as defending champions, Napoli got a 3-1 victory over Marcantonio Bentegodi Stadium and boost their title defense.
Inter Milan moved to the top of league with an emphatic 3-0 against Torino.
Marcus Thuram, Lautaro Martinez and Hakan Calhanoglu were on target as the Nerazurri cruised to a win.
In the La Liga, Real Madrid and Sevilla played out a 1-1 draw in an ill tempered match where a football fan was expelled for racist behavior.
David Alaba’s own goal bad put Sevilla ahead but Madrid got level courtesy of Dani Carvajal.
Madrid legend Sergio Ramos was stellar after he cleared a goal bound shot by Toni Kroos.
However, the game was married by the expulsion of a Sevilla fan after what was identified as xenophobic slur targeted at Madrid star Vinicius Junior.
The fan was expelled but there was no mention of the real statement he made.
In the French Ligue 1, Paris St Germain cruised past Strasbourg with a 3-0 victory courtesy of goals from Kylian Mbappé, Carlos Soler and Fabian Ruiz.
