Irish captain Seamus Coleman got his first goal in almost three years when he opened the scoring for Everton at home to Leeds on Saturday. The Toffees went on to win 3-0 and give new manager Frank Lampard his first win. Coleman’s last goal in the EPL came against Burnley, also at Goodison Park on May 3, 2019, their last home game of that season. Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as Manchester City beat Norwich 4-0 to hold on to their nine-point lead over Liverpool at the top of the table. Cork-born Irish international Adam Idah was not in the Canaries match-day squad. Liverpool stayed in touch with the leaders with a 1-0 win away to bottom club Burnley.
Manchester United’s interim manager Ralf Rangnick spoke before Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Southampton about the “obvious” need for the club to bring in a new striker this coming summer and the evidence for that is clear following another misfiring performance. Ronaldo is United’s top scorer with 14 goals this season, but he has hit a barren run of six games without finding the net, his longest period without scoring in 11 years.
Former United star Paul Scholes was scathing in his criticism of the set-up at Old Trafford. He told BT Sport: “It’s really been a bad six or seven months. The sacking of Ole was coming, we all knew that, but we all felt there has to be a plan, there has to be an elite, top coach coming in to revive the football club. It’s Manchester United, they should have the best of everything, and to not have a plan and bring in what is a sporting director; he has coached a team two years out of the last ten. Don’t get me wrong, I like the man, he comes across well, but he looked like he has lacked coaching in the last five or six years. They are a team of individuals, you look at the difference today in Man United to Southampton. Southampton were brilliant, the coaching, methods, passages of play, it was fantastic. You look at Manchester United and they were all over the place.”
Matt Doherty started for Spurs, who were beaten 2-0 at home to his old club Wolves and they now drop to 8th. In midweek Newcastle beat Everton to move out of the relegation zone and on Sunday the Geordies won again, beating Aston Villa 1-0 to move four points above Norwich, who are third from bottom. Shane Duffy was a very late sub for Brighton, who won 2-0 away to Watford.
ERIKSEN DEBUTS
Christian Eriksen was given a great reception by both sets of supporters when he was introduced to the crowd before Brentford’s home draw against Palace on Saturday, exactly eight months to the day since his cardiac arrest during the Euro finals. Brentford’s Danish-born manager Thomas Frank admitted it would be too early to play his 29-year-old compatriot against Palace, but said that the Dane was due to play in a behind closed doors friendly on Monday night and possibly make his debut against Arsenal next Saturday.
CONNOLLY ON TARGET
Galway-born Republic of Ireland international Aaron Connolly got his first goal for his new club Middlesbrough as they beat crisis club Derby County on Saturday. Connolly joined Boro from Brighton on loan last month until the end of the season. The win lifts Boro into 6th place in the table which is still led by Fulham, who won 1-0 away to Hull. Two Irish players Michael Obafemi and Cyrus Christie were on target for Swansea, who beat Bristol City 2-0. Obafemi was booked for a tackle on City goalkeeper Max O’Leary, who went off injured. O’Leary qualifies for Ireland though his Kerry connections and has trained with the squad, but has yet to be capped at any level.
KEANE SAYS NO
Roy Keane turned down the chance to go back to Sunderland last week and the Black Cats gave the job to former Norwich manager Alex Neill on Friday night. On Saturday Sunderland drew 1-1 away to Wimbledon and stay third. Rotherham stay top, nine points clear of Wigan, for whom Irish international Will Keane scored in their 2-1 home win over Charlton Athletic.
CHELSEA ARE CLUB CHAMPS
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel dedicated his side’s first Club World Cup triumph to owner Roman Abramovich after an extra-time win against Brazilian side Palmeiras. A 117th-minute penalty in Abu Dhabi by Kai Havertz, who also scored their 2021 Champions League winner, means the Blues have now won every possible trophy under the ownership of the Russian billionaire. Lukaku opened the scoring for the Pensioners with a header in the second half before Veiga levelled from the spot. Palmeiras defender Luan was sent off in added time.
MACARI FOR DUNDALK
Dundalk have used the loan market yet again to add Stoke City’s Lewis Macari, on a six-month deal. A grandson of former Manchester United and Scotland star Lou, defender Lewis has yet to play first team football for Stoke but the 20-year-old aims to get that experience at Oriel Park. Dundalk had already signed Dan Williams (Swansea), Steven Bradley (Hibs) and Mark Connolly (Dundee United) on loan deals and Macari will stay at Dundalk until the summer, after former Stoke manager Michael O'Neill, a former Shamrock Rovers manager, gave his approval. The Lilywhite lost 2-1 to their County Louth neighbours Drogheda United in their annual pre-season friendly on Friday night. The winners got the Jim Malone Cup, presented in memory of the former Dundalk Chairman and President Jim Malone and it was the first time the Drogs won the cup since 2014.
ROVERS TAKE PREZ CUP
Shamrock Rovers picked up the first trophy of the new domestic season when they beat St Patrick’s Athletic in a penalty shoot-out to win the President’s Cup final at Tallaght Stadium on Friday night. The teams finished level at 1-1 after 90 minutes and the game went straight to penalties where Rovers keeper Alan Mannus atoned for an earlier howler by saving the penalty that won Rovers the President (Michael D. Higgins) Cup before a crowd of 5,426. The Northern Ireland international presented The Saints new signing Eoin Doyle with the gift of an opener on 50 minutes, but Rovers captain Ronan Finn levelled when Pat’s new keeper Anagh fumbled a cross. Mannus denied Chris Forrester in the only penalty missed in the shoot-out. Forrester had also missed for the Saints when they beat Bohemians in the FAI Cup final shoot-out at the Aviva November.
EPL scores:
Brentford 0, Crystal Palace 0; Burnley 0, Liverpool 1; Everton 2, Leeds United 0; Leicester City 2, West Ham United 2 ; Manchester United 1, Southampton 1; Newcastle United 1, Aston Villa 0; Norwich City 0, Manchester City 4; Tottenham Hotspur 0, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2; Watford 0, Brighton and Hove Albion 2.
