Monday, 11 November 2013

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Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Juventus 3-0 Napoli | Serie A match report

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 03:10 PM PST

Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba scored spectacular second-half goals to help the titleholders, Juventus, beat Napoli 3-0 on Sunday, closing the gap on the Serie A leaders, Roma, to one point and leaving their opponents trailing in third place.

Fernando Llorente gave Juventus a second-minute lead and, after the goalkeeper Pepe Reina made two stunning saves to keep Napoli in the game, Pirlo fired a viciously dipping free-kick over the Napoli wall into the net from 30 yards in the 74th minute.

He was then upstaged by Pogba, who received a pass around 30 yards from goal, flicked the ball up and volleyed in past a helpless Reina six minutes later.

Giuseppe Rossi scored two more goals to help fifth-placed Fiorentina to a 2-1 win over Sampdoria in the evening's other match, taking his tally for the season to 11.

Roma had earlier conceded a 94th-minute equaliser at home to Sassuolo as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by the Serie A newcomers.

Roma lead with 32 points from 12 games, with Juventus on 31 and Rafael Benítez's Napoli on 28 after their second league defeat of the season.


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Paolo Di Canio ridiculed as 'managerial charlatan' by Martin O'Neill

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 03:01 PM PST

• O'Neill angered by Sunderland successor's fitness claims
• Di Canio 'basically ran out of excuses' says Ireland manager

Martin O'Neill has launched a stinging attack on Paolo Di Canio, the man who succeeded him at Sunderland, branding the Italian a "managerial charlatan".

Di Canio was appointed after O'Neill's sacking in March but lasted only 11 games before suffering the same fate. Di Canio was critical of O'Neill's tenure and, specifically, the fitness level of the players he inherited from the Northern Irishman.

O'Neill has now taken charge of the Republic of Ireland in a controversial partnership with Roy Keane. When asked if he was disappointed by comments made about his Sunderland regime by Di Canio, O'Neill replied: "Paolo Di Canio? That managerial charlatan – absolutely, yes.

"Paolo stepped in there and basically, as weeks ran on, he ran out of excuses. I had a wry smile to myself."

O'Neill clearly took particular exception to allegations that his players were not fit. The 61-year-old said: "It's like a 27-year-old manager stepping in and the first thing you do is criticise the fitness of the team beforehand. If you've ever seen Aston Villa play, you'll see the one thing I pride myself on is teams being fit.

"What you'll find interesting is that when he started the team wasn't fit for the Chelsea game. Then the following week when he won at Newcastle, not being fit wasn't mentioned.

"Then about two weeks later they got mauled by Aston Villa, someone asked him about the fitness. Suddenly, he didn't know where to go. Because the team, as it progresses, should be getting more fit.

"And then, at the start of the season, when he lost by a late goal at Southampton, he was asked about the fitness regime, that he was going to have them the fittest team in the league. Suddenly, the fitness wasn't for that game but for Christmas, when the winter months set in. You know, I did have a wry smile at that one."

O'Neill garnered similar amusement from Di Canio's decision to ban various foodstuffs. When in charge of Sunderland, Di Canio explained: "We need to have lectures about why we can't have every day things like mayonnaise, ketchup and Coke."

Speaking after he was officially introduced as Ireland's manager on Saturday afternoon, O'Neill said: "I'm hoping at some stage or another [Sunderland's captain] John O'Shea asks me at dinner table to pass him the tomato sauce and I will dispose of it immediately. But then if I feel you can't win games without tomato sauce I will empty it on his plate, with the chips.

"John Robertson [O'Neill's former assistant] once said that if every team in Italy has pre-match pasta for their meals, how come three get relegated each year? It's an interesting point. Ability might come into it. I'd have loved the opportunity to sign 15 players like Paolo did. I never got that opportunity.

"I was very disappointed at the outcome. I think I would have garnered the five points necessary to have stayed up and [had] the chance maybe to have changed the side."

The phone of Di Canio's agent Phil Spencer was ringing out yesterday.

Ewan Murray

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Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal | Premier League match report

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 02:47 PM PST

In pictures: the best images from the game

Robin van Persie celebrated in the manner of someone who wanted to respond to Arsène Wenger's assertion that he was still, deep down, an "Arsenal man". Yet again he had reminded his former club of his uncommon gifts and this time there was none of the restraint that had accompanied previous occasions. Van Persie was off, running to the touchline to embrace Wayne Rooney and to hell with the modern etiquette of suppressing these explosions of joy against old comrades.

What a valuable goal that could be for Manchester United and what a significant moment for David Moyes after all those settling-in issues as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor and the previous haul of one point from the three other fixtures, against Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City, that act as the benchmark for his new employer.

His team had to endure some concerted pressure and it was unashamed conservatism in the final exchanges when the electronic board went up to signal Marouane Fellaini was replacing Van Persie. Yet United gave everything to hold on to their lead.

At one point Rooney could be seen making a decisive tackle on the edge of his own penalty area. The next challenge was his as well, sprinting 70 yards to chase down a long, dropping ball, punted out of defence. The striker typified United's spirit of togetherness and Arsenal, despite plenty of the ball, just never had the wit to break them down even after Nemanja Vidic had gone off, spitting blood and wobbly enough to necessitate a hospital visit.

The whack to Vidic's head, in a collision with David de Gea, left him in an ambulance. Rio Ferdinand was already missing and, with Chris Smalling deputising for Rafael da Silva, United had to take on the league leaders for the last 45 minutes missing three-quarters of their first-choice defence.

In stoppage time Old Trafford held its breath as the Arsenal substitute Nicklas Bendtner tried to reach Bacary Sagna's right-wing delivery. Yet this was the wrong man at the right moment. Arsenal had played with a strange lack of creativity and it was mildly alarming Wenger talked so much about being inhibited by nervousness. Titles are never won with butterflies.

The mere fact Bendtner was on the pitch tells another story about the shortcomings that will encourage United to believe Arsenal's five-point lead can be whittled down. Moyes's team are now fifth, leapfrogging Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City to bring themselves within a point of Chelsea.

They have not lost for six weeks and their manager should discover that beating the team at the top of the league removes a lot of the crowd's uncertainty.

Arsenal will probably reflect Van Persie's headed goal might have been avoided if Per Mertesacker had been playing. As it was, their most imposing centre-half was missing because of a virus that had swept through their training ground over the last few days. Tomas Rosicky was also on his sickbed and, with other players possibly feeling the after-effects, maybe that contributed to why their usual sureness of touch was not always apparent.

Wenger, however, refused to make it an excuse and probably wisely bearing in mind Arsenal actually improved as the game went on. In the first half he felt his team had been held back by their own apprehension.

Yet these were experienced players. Mikel Arteta could be seen blindly kicking the ball straight to an opponent. Mesut Özil, of all people, tried a pass to the left and knocked it straight out of play. Olivier Giroud toiled away but with little success and, with Arsenal missing their usual refinement in midfield, the outstanding performer during the opening 45 minutes was United's Phil Jones, clattering into tackles, driving forward and fully justifying his selection ahead of Fellaini.

Jones was unfortunate to be booked for the accidental, yet jarring, clash of heads with Wojciech Szczesny and, after Vidic suffered his own Raging Bull moment, he went into central defence alongside Jonny Evans for the second half. United were guilty at times of defending too deeply. Arsenal flooded forward, with Jack Wilshere's introduction providing more thrust, but the new back four refused to buckle.

Smalling had one of his best games for some time, earning some rich words of praise from Moyes afterwards. The same player might have soothed Old Trafford's nerves with an unchallenged header at the other end from Patrice Evra's free-kick. The other outstanding chance of the second half fell Rooney's way, dragging a left-foot shot a yard wide.

Arsenal huffed and puffed but they created few noteworthy opportunities after that moment, 27 minutes in, when Rooney sent over a wonderfully taken corner and the visitors' preference for zonal marking meant Van Persie could attack the ball without anyone following his run.

That extra leverage, accelerating before the leap, was crucial to get above Giroud, who was trying to compensate because Aaron Ramsey had strayed from his position. Van Persie's header flashed past Szczesny and the victory run was very much that of a Manchester United man.

Man of the match Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Daniel Taylor

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Chelsea deny West Bromwich famous win with controversial late penalty

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 02:32 PM PST

• Mourinho home record rescued in 94th minute
• 'Drawing at home with West Brom isn't a good result'

José Mourinho had planted a smacker on Steve Clarke's cheek before kick-off, his former No2 welcomed back to these parts with gusto by home support and coaching staff alike even if, by the end of a contest that so nearly delivered a first home league defeat for the Portuguese, the opposing managers appeared united only in vague agreement that the referee Andre Marriner had endured a miserable afternoon.

West Bromwich Albion left outraged at the late penalty which cost them victory, with Chelsea livid it had even come to them chasing the game. Life is rarely dull in this pocket of south-west London.

And so to the furore. The visitors, ahead through Shane Long and Stéphane Sessègnon after Samuel Eto'o's opener, should have wrapped up a first win here in 35 years well before Ramires bustled into the penalty area with seconds remaining of the 94th minute to stagger and fall to the turf as Steven Reid, charging into the box at an angle, held his own line. There was contact, shoulder to shoulder, but the Brazilian appeared to have been on the descent before feeling the right-back at his side.

Marriner blew instantly, then paused, as if for dramatic effect, before pointing to the spot. "When the whistle went I thought he was going to book [Ramires] for diving," said Reid, who had been making his first Premier League start of the campaign. "Ramires has gone to ground really easily. It felt soft, like I had stood my ground. Looking at the replays afterwards, there has been no raising of the arm, my arms are by my side, so for us it is very harsh."

Clarke agreed, citing penalty decisions that had gone against his team in matches with Southampton and Stoke already this term to cost Albion five points. Howard Webb had apologised for a non-award at the Britannia Stadium though, in that context, this latest setback was greeted more with resignation.

Mourinho, who had watched the recalled Eden Hazard guide in the spot-kick to extend that unbeaten home record to 66 fixtures, felt the award was actually one of the few key decisions Marriner had called correctly. His principal gripe was Claudio Yacob's dispossession of Branislav Ivanovic in the build-up to Sessègnon's second even if, on subsequent viewing, any foul was hardly clear-cut.

"I am in no doubt that there is a big mistake from the referee for their second goal," said the Chelsea manager. "So if someone has a reason to be upset [it is us]. I'm sorry to say the referee made loads of mistakes today, and all of them against us. The biggest mistake was clearly their second goal, but I don't change my opinion. Andre is one of the best in England and Europe. I won't change my opinion because he has one bad game."

As it was, both these teams could draw considerable encouragement from their displays. West Bromwich have such presence and power down the spine of their side that any fear this season could prove a struggle already feels misplaced. In Long, a striker almost shipped out to Hull City on transfer deadline day, they had a player revived.

When he performs with this level of feverish industry it seems outlandish that he might have been discarded, though Gareth McAuley, Jonas Olsson and Youssouf Mulumbu were just as impressive. This team continues to develop. "The gap is getting closer between the middle tier and the top-end clubs," said Clarke. "The league is growing, more money is being spent. That can only be good for the competition."

Chelsea must rise to that challenge, and their refusal to wilt was heartening, prompting comparisons with Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, whose constant probing would often draw late rewards from apparent lost causes. "We threw everything at them so, emotionally, yes, we found a way," said Mourinho. "We could have died with that second goal, but the boys fought for life. Everything we did was because of a strong personality. We had a bad result – because drawing at home to West Brom isn't a good result – but we rescued a point."

Man of the match Shane Long (West Bromwich Albion)

Dominic Fifield

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Despite Joe Kinnear, managers are wise to welcome company of director

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 02:31 PM PST

Clubs must invest some of manager's responsibilities elsewhere and common sense demands installation of director of football

We have entered the November international break, the dull yet dizzying period where football's managerial merry-go-round cranks up and chairmen are more inclined to make heavy-fingered chord changes to their coaching staff. Usually the new men coming in get vast licence – not just with first-team matters but throughout the club – even though there is a reasonable chance that before too long they will be gone and the carousel will have started up again.

Some will think that is how it should be. Last season 43 managers across the 92 league clubs were sacked and the average job expectancy has shrunk to little more than a year. Yet there is an increasing sense that clubs should invest some of a manager's responsibilities elsewhere. On Saturday Crystal Palace appointed Iain Moody as their sporting director with the task of improving their infrastructure and addressing the weaknesses in player recruitment. It is a path one expects others to take.

After all, a manager cannot do it all any more. He cannot be worried about, say, the club's under-15s when first-team results could dictate whether he is out on his ear at the end of the month. And as James Smith, head of performance analysis at Everton, points out, it is not just about a manager's time but his skill-set too. They are theoretically responsible for recruitment, staff, the academy, sports medicine and analytics departments and a whole lot else besides. But as Swansea's manager, Michael Laudrup, put it recently, the Uefa Pro Licence equipped him to be a coach but not necessarily an English-style manager.

Smith, an intelligent and engaging thinker, is a firm believer that having a director of football is the way forward. "The job of a Premier League manager in the old-fashioned sense, where you are theoretically in control of everything, is too big for one man," he said at a sports analytics summit last week. "The weekly cycle of training and matches is all-consuming."

Smith has worked with David Moyes and Roberto Martínez who, he says, are excellent at juggling the different elements of the job and delegating when required. But that is rare in football.

So why is the idea of a sporting director so maligned? Partly it is because what we understand about the role veers into wild caricature: the ageing manager as vulture, resting on a club owner's shoulder, expecting an imminent kill; or the interfering Moneyball obsessive – part Billy Beane-worshipper, part bean-counter. Joe Kinnear's prattlings about Shola Ameobi as "Amanobi" and Jonás Gutiérrez as "Gaultierez" – or the recent allegations that he expressed an interest in Shane Ferguson without realising he was on loan at Birmingham from Newcastle – have hardly helped.

So what should a director of football do? Two things: set up an excellent recruitment department to monitor and chase targets across the globe; and ensure a consistent philosophy and approach across the club – from the academy to analytics to sports science – by appointing the best staff in every position.

The hierarchy also needs to be correct, not confused: chairman, then director of football, then head coach/manager. The director of football should hire and fire the manager but he should never replace him. When Pep Guardiola left Barcelona there was never any suggestion that the club's sporting director, Andoni Zubizarreta, would take over. It was his job to find a new head coach. Yet when Chelsea sacked José Mourinho they turned to Avram Grant.

English managers sometimes moan that a director of football signs players they do not want. But at the best clubs it does not work like that. Instead the cat's cradle of chairman, director of football, coach and head performance analyst should work closely to identify targets based on an agreed budget.And, contrary to popular belief, it can work in English football. Watching West Bromwich's performance at Chelsea at the weekend was another reminder of the strides they have made in the past decade.

Last week the club's former sporting and technical director, Dan Ashworth – who is now the FA's director of elite development – explained how, whenever the Baggies were interviewing for a new manager, that person was told he had to work closely with the technical director, who had independent powers and responsibilities. "The West Brom chairman, Jeremy Peace, stayed strong to his beliefs," said Ashworth last week. "Structure was non-negotiable."

If a potential manager was not happy, then he was told his services would not be needed. It is somewhat of a mystery why other chairmen do not follow the same path.

Such a sea change in English football will not happen overnight. In fact it should not happen overnight. It is almost certainly unwise to change the structure and appoint a director of football when a manager is in situ.

Just look at what happened at Newcastle with Kevin Keegan and Dennis Wise or at West Ham when Gianluca Nani was brought in over Alan Curbishley. The managers felt their responsibilities were diminished so they felt diminished too. Yet over time one would expect that prevailing culture would have to give way to common sense. And that every club would have a director of football, or something similar.

But in English football things are rarely that simple or certain.

Sean Ingle

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Adam Lallana keen to keep feet on ground for Southampton and England

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 02:30 PM PST

• Attacking midfielder sparkles in front of Roy Hodgson
• Third-placed Saints inflict Hull's biggest loss of season

Adam Lallana has enjoyed the best week of his career, but that could soon be trumped as the Southampton captain prepares to join up with England.

The 25-year-old academy graduate has been with Saints from the off, helping them to recover from relegation to the third tier with back-to-back promotions. He is now captain and has played an integral role in the club's best start to a top-flight season, performances which led to him this week being among a trio of Southampton players called up by England.

As if that was not enough, England's manager, Roy Hodgson, was at St Mary's on Saturday to witness the attacking midfielder's man-of-the-match display in which he scored an exquisite solo goal. "Someone did mention [Hodgson was in the crowd] but you have to try and put it to the back of your mind and concentrate on your job," Lallana, an unused England substitute against Ukraine last year, said.

"Every time I play I just want to enjoy my football and play to the best of my ability, help the team get three points. I feel like I am playing with freedom and confidence at the minute, as the team is, and that is one of the main reasons why we are getting these good results."

Asked if the last few days have made this the best week of his career, Lallana said: "I think so, but I just want to keep my feet on the ground and keep working hard. I want to enjoy my time away with England and hopefully, if I get some minutes, try to impress."

Lallana is joined in the squad to face Chile and Germany by his club-mates Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez. They, too, impressed in Saturday's win and will all travel up to St George's Park on Tuesday to link up with Hodgson's squad.

"It has been an emotional week, a very proud week for my family," Lallana said. "It has been a proud week for the club as well, with J-Rod and Rickie also being named in the squad. It just proves how far the club has come forward and it is credit not just to the players, but the management staff, chairman, the scouting and recruitment department, and the fans, who have stuck with us when we were in League One not so long ago.

"We are happy with the way things are going and we just want to keep performing well. Our next game is Arsenal at the Emirates and it doesn't get much tougher than that."

Meanwhile Hull defender Paul McShane felt City did not do themselves justice. "It was very disappointing," he said. "Three goals in the first half has killed us. They are a good side, all credit to them, but I think we just made it easy for them."


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Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge doubts for England against Chile

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 02:30 PM PST

• Both likely to be fit for next Tuesday's game against Germany
• Michael Carrick expects to miss England's friendlies

Steven Gerrard, the England captain, and his Liverpool team-mate Daniel Sturridge are injury doubts for Friday's friendly against Chile at Wembley, and the Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick expects to be withdrawn.

Gerrard damaged a hip in the recent defeat at Arsenal and felt the problem again during a 66-minute performance against Fulham on Saturday. Sturridge suffered a knock to a foot before his 76th-minute substitution.

Carrick has been struggling with an achilles problem, missing three games before United's 1-0 defeat of Arsenal, and was limping when he left Old Trafford. "I have been carrying the injury for a few weeks now," he said. "I was a bit patched up to play. I got through it but it doesn't look too good."

Hodgson is also waiting for an update on Jack Wilshere's fitness from Arsenal. Gerrard and Sturridge will be assessed by medical staff from Liverpool and the Football Association before a decision is made and may have to aim for Tuesday week's game against Germany. Gerrard requires one more appearance to join Bobby Moore on 108 caps.

Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, said: "It is something they are going to have a look at. Daniel hurt his foot and I just have to see how he is with the medical guys. Steven was a wee bit stiff around his hip. Again, he needs to be assessed."

Gerrard said: "I've got a bit of a niggle. It's nothing major and I'll get it seen to over the next couple of days and hopefully I can pull through for the England games."

Andy Hunter
Daniel Taylor

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BT defends big bet on Champions League as customers face price rises

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 02:17 PM PST

'In difficult times people deserve access to sport,' says head of consumer division

BT has defended its lavish spending on international football rights after it dealt a hammer blow to BSkyB by hugely outbidding its rival for the right to screen Champions League matches from 2015, saying it expected consumers to pay for both companies' sports channels.

The newcomer to sports broadcasting said its deal to pay almost £900m to secure the rights to the glamorous European football tournament injected "a welcome element of competition" into the market.

It means the BT Sports channels will become the new home of Uefa's Champions League matches, in the most serious challenge yet to the football dominance of Rupert Murdoch's Sky.

Announcing the deal this weekend, newly appointed BT chief executive Gavin Patterson hailed it as "giving sport back to the fans". But the former telecoms monopoly quickly faced criticism for pumping yet more millions into the rich world of football while its customers brace themselves for price rises in the new year.

At £299m a year over the three years of the deal, BT is paying more than double the £400m BSkyB and ITV are paying for the current three-year contract.

It means BT will be spending £81 a year for each of its 7 million broadband customers on football rights. That includes the £246m a year already spent for 38 Premier League matches and an estimated £25m on FA Cup rights.

John Petter, head of BT's consumer division, defended the deal for the midweek championship matches as crucial to the business and good news for grassroots fans. "These rights are key ones for football fans and determine if they are going to go with your service or not. I think they are pretty important," he told the Guardian.

"It shouldn't be forgotten that Sky is still dominant in premium sport. They have the biggest number of customers paying the most money and we are the new boy. But BT Sport is injecting a very welcome and much needed element of competition into the market. The true sports fan is going to want both services."

BT will have to fend off questions from anxious investors when financial markets open this morning over its gamble that exclusive sport can win it lucrative broadband customers. Experts said last night that there were plenty of doubts around the plan and the broader implications for an increasingly cut-throat battle over sports rights.

Media analyst Claire Enders described BT's deal as an attempted "death strike" on Sky, that could come back to bite it. BT's Premier League deal last year had already inflated the cost of sports rights. There was a real risk of "mutually assured destruction" for the industry, Enders said.

"Sports rights will continue to spiral upwards ... the view that consumers can absorb these massive increases is wrong.

"Exactly what signal are you sending that you have so much money to burn to your customers that face an increase [in their bills] again this year?"

Against the backdrop of the longest squeeze on living standards for generations, BT is raising its broadband prices by up to 6.5% in January. It announced the rises in September, weeks after the launch of its £1bn sports channels presented by Clare Balding, Jake Humphrey and a cast of sporting celebrities including Michael Owen, Matt Dawson and Rio Ferdinand.

At the moment, the sports channels are free to BT's broadband customers and it said recently 2 million out of 7m had signed up. When the Uefa matches go to BT in 2015 a selection will be free on BT Sport, including to homes that have not signed up to the channels. Viewers will have to pay for the bulk of matches.

BT hopes to recoup some of its bold investment with advertising revenues and from business with pubs and clubs. "This service is going to be a must-have because the most difficult time to fill your pub or club is a weekday evening and that is a big revenue market for Sky," said Petter.

Asked whether pumping more money into football was good for the economy, he was sanguine.

"The thing that is good for the economy is to put competition into the market and to reduce the pressure on household budgets," he said.

"In difficult times people deserve access to sport; sport brings people together and has a cohesive effect on community."

BT's coup is a clear upset for Sky, known over its 21 years in British broadcasting for dramatic moves and a determination to triumph in industry battles.

Sky made it clear this weekend that BT had enormously outbid it in the Uefa auction, which unusually did not even make it to a second round.

"We bid with a clear view of what the rights are worth to us. It seems BT chose to pay far in excess of our valuation," said a Sky spokesperson. "If we thought it was worth more, we'd have paid more."

The media group, 39% owned by Murdoch's 20th Century Fox, is now likely to spend its money on other programmes, particularly big budget dramas in the same vein as its well received Dracula, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Much of its sports rights deals are secured for the next few years and it put on a brave face around the Champions League defeat.

"Nothing changes until 2015 and we look forward to 18 more months of live Champions League on Sky Sports," the spokesperson added.

For BT, the bet that it can unseat Sky from the top of the football table is a risky one. Irish broadcaster Setanta's attempt to take on Sky ended in the surrender of its premiership rights and a declaration of bankruptcy.

The big winners may well be footballers. Last year's Sky and BT bidding war pushed the Premier League's broadcast income up 70%.

Again, Petter was unworried. "I don't see a moral problem with it. Football is a successful business because it offers a great service and its customers enjoy it. There are many businesses in which people earn large sums of money for extraordinary talent," he said.

Katie Allen
Juliette Garside

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Sloppy West Ham leave Sam Allardyce needing the lifeline at Norwich

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 02:04 PM PST

The catch was a simple one but West Ham United's goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen dropped it and so Chris Hughton is still Norwich City manager. That is speculation, of course, but sometimes life really is that simple and it is certainly not far-fetched to suggest West Ham's clumsy generosity on Saturday evening helped to keep Hughton in his job.

In the first half the Canaries were abject, their confidence apparently in pieces as strikerless West Ham passed the ball through and round them. Ravel Morrison's goal, created by Mark Noble, Razvan Rat and Kevin Nolan, was the least they deserved and, though Hughton had clearly imparted a greater urgency into his players during the interval, the visitors were still looking comfortable.

Then Jaaskelainen spilled an easy gather and in trying to retrieve the situation made sufficient contact with Gary Hooper for the City striker to go down and the referee to award a penalty.

A few minutes later it was Noble's turn, the Hammers' midfielder allowing himself to be caught in possession by Jonny Howson. Howson thumped a drive against the bar, James Collins barged over Robert Snodgrass in attempting to clear the rebound and Snodgrass picked himself up to curl the free-kick over the wall and past Jaaskelainen. Leroy Fer's third in added time was hardly necessary.

Small wonder West Ham's manager, Sam Allardyce, was even more lugubrious than usual after a result which saw his side slip to 16th, a place below Norwich. "All the research I do means that I know it is not the position in the table that matters, it is the points total you have against games you have played. Our points total is less than the games we have played, which is very, very dangerous," he acknowledged. "We can't keep saying that we are playing well but not getting results. We are paid to win. Everybody in this club is paid to win and we are not winning the games we should be winning."

Hughton, level-headed in victory as in defeat, as always, was not about to claim some sort of vindication. But no, he said, experience did not make the pressure of a bad run any easier to take.

Result aside, what was hugely encouraging for Norwich was that once West Ham had given them a way back into the game, confidence returned quickly. Hughton said he was not surprised. "The players themselves have spoken about how well they have played here, in particular against Cardiff and Chelsea, so I think they always knew that they were capable of that."

Snodgrass, entirely peripheral in the first half and constantly involved in the second, agreed. "There are big characters in the team and they let out their frustrations at half-time but the manager just said: 'Relax, calm down, get hold of the ball and try and pass it. You haven't played the way you can play. You are good players, you need to show it.'

"But he can't wave a magic wand and make everything right – it doesn't work like that. In the first half they were better than us in every department and it was up to us as men, as players who've come up through the lower leagues, to change that. Hard work, that's what it takes." And a little bit of help from a Finnish goalkeeper.

Man of the match Robert Snodgrass (Norwich City)

Richard Rae

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Noisy neighbour Bacuna strikes again but leaves penalty duties to Benteke

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 02:01 PM PST

• Bacuna free-kick ends Aston Villa's 451-minute goal drought
• 'If you take it well, for the keeper it's the same as a penalty'

If Christian Benteke wants some tips on how to rediscover his goalscoring touch, he could do worse than pop round to see his neighbour. Leandro Bacuna, Aston Villa's free-kick specialist, lives next door and has now scored twice since the man who tells him to turn his music down last celebrated a goal – which was back in the middle of September.

Both Bacuna's goals have been exquisite free-kicks which contributed to Villa's two home league wins of the season, and had Paul Lambert bending over backwards to avoid commenting on comparisons with the sort of dead balls David Beckham used to strike. Signed for less than £1m from Groningen in the summer, versatile and only 22, Bacuna is starting to look like a shrewd acquisition on the Villa manager's part.

If it is unclear where Bacuna's best position is at the moment – Lambert has used him on both sides of the pitch and played him as a full-back as well as a midfielder – there is no doubt that the Dutchman possesses a special talent. The free-kick he scored in the 3-2 victory over Manchester City in September ended up in the top left-hand corner, while the 30-yard curling shot that beat David Marshall here found the other side of the goal.

The chances are that Bacuna's card will now be marked by Premier League goalkeepers, although that possibility does not seem to faze him in the slightest, such is the confidence he has in his technique and placement. "People will be watching. But with a free-kick it's difficult. If you take it well, for the keeper it's the same as a penalty – the ball is faster than the keeper," he said.

Bacuna could be forgiven for thinking that it is a matter of time before penalties also come his way, although that may involve a slightly awkward conversation with his neighbour, who has missed twice from the spot this season. "The gaffer makes the decisions and Christian's been taking the penalties. I won't go there and start a fight," Bacuna said. "I was taking penalties in Holland [where he had a 100% success rate], but I only just came to Aston Villa."

This was an important three points for an Aston Villa side who had failed to win in their previous four matches and gone 451 minutes without scoring before Bacuna's effort.

Libor Kozak, a £7m signing from Lazio, scored Villa's second six minutes from time to put the game beyond Cardiff. While Villa are looking much tighter at the back – this was a fourth clean sheet in seven league matches – they continue to struggle to break teams down because of their lack of creativity.

Malky Mackay's side enjoyed a greater share of possession but showed little ambition and seemed content to settle for a point from the outset.

With Manchester United and Arsenal to come in their next two matches, the Cardiff manager may come to regret not being a bit more adventurous against a Villa side who came into the game short of confidence and without the services of four key players.

"We've got a great team spirit – we're enjoying every game and there's lots of positive thoughts going forward," Steven Caulker, the Cardiff captain, said. "We just need to try and score a few more goals and see where it take us, but the mood is good and we did feel we could have got something today. To be honest, we thought we had the legs on them going into the last 20 minutes, but a class goal changed things."

Man of the match Leandro Bacuna (Aston Villa)

Stuart James

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Luis Suárez highlights Fulham's lack of quality, confidence and spirit

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 02:01 PM PST

• Uruguayan striker takes his tally to eight in six games
• 'We need to be tougher and more aggressive' says Jol

Martin Jol should not worry about the gulf in class that Luis Suárez demonstrated between Liverpool and Fulham. That was predictable. Nor should he lose sleep over the gulf in confidence that Suárez typified at Anfield. That was understandable. He should be aghast, however, at the gulf in endeavour that existed between the Liverpool striker and a team fighting for their manager's future on Saturday. That was unforgivable.

Suárez took his season's tally to eight in six games and should have registered a second Anfield hat-trick in succession as Fulham suffered a fourth consecutive defeat that increased the pressure on Jol. Better teams than Fulham have suffered against the outstanding Uruguay international but few will offer such meagre resistance. If there really are six or seven worse teams in the Premier League, as their beleaguered manager insists, Liverpool have not encountered them.

It was shortly before half-time, and Liverpool had the game won at 3-0, when Suárez offered another example of the insatiable appetite that was absent throughout the visiting ranks. The Liverpool striker lost possession to Scott Parker 25 yards from the Fulham goal. Seconds later he was there to collect Parker's loose pass on the edge of the Liverpool area having sprinted back to assist his defence. The contrast with the Fulham performance was glaring.

"That's exactly what we spoke about before the game, matching Suárez's commitment," said Jol, who continued to insist Fulham would not be cut adrift under his leadership after the game. "He has got that eagerness and that ambition and he will use everything, even his teeth, to win and that's what he is doing for Liverpool. He brings that commitment to every game and we spoke about matching that before kick off." Spoke about but never accomplished.

If there was misfortune for Fulham in Liverpool's opening goal, when Steven Gerrard's free-kick hit the head of Suárez and Daniel Agger before diverting in off Fernando Amorebieta, there was evidence only of their spiritless, defeatist performance in the three that followed. Gerrard was involved in all four. Three minutes after his own goal Amorebieta switched off as Martin Skrtel glided past to head home the Liverpool captain's corner. Dimitar Berbatov put his hands in the air when nutmegged by Gerrard near the technical area. They were still aloft when the tireless Jordan Henderson sliced open the Fulham defence for Suárez to convert. Finally the ambling Kieran Richardson was dispossessed by Henderson, Gerrard poked the ball on to Suárez and the otherwise impressive Maarten Stekelenburg offered the ruthless striker his near corner.

"What is nice now is that Liverpool are in the conversation," said Brendan Rodgers, when told of Jol's opinion that he does not expect Fulham to take points at Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. "It was never, ever talked about but our performance and our consistency is making people sit up and take notice. Maybe people are saying: 'They are a decent side.' And we are getting better. I do feel for Martin. It is a tough job at this level here. They have had some decent results against some good teams but here they came up against a team having a real good performance. He is right. He shouldn't be judged on playing against Liverpool at Anfield. We are playing very well."

The only positives for Fulham were that they drained the threat from Liverpool's performance until Amorebieta's own-goal in the 23rd minute and ultimately avoided a rout. Otherwise they offered nothing. Belief, already fragile, evaporated the moment Liverpool took the lead, leaving Jol to lament: "Not very long ago we played Crystal Palace and won 4-1 and then, five days later against Southampton, it was totally different. It is about having that quality as well as belief. Sometimes off the ball, for example, we need to be tougher and more aggressive."

Fulham's manager embodied those qualities not so long ago. At Anfield he rarely appeared on the touchline. When it was all over Jol told his assistant, Billy McKinlay, to send the players towards the suffering travelling supporters and promptly disappeared down the tunnel.

Man of the match: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)

Andy Hunter

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Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton | Premier League match report

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST

Former assistant to José Mourinho to discuss vacancy at Selhurst Park three weeks after departure of Ian Holloway

At last Crystal Palace got a point, the next step is to get clarity. That should happen over the next few days when they hire a manager three weeks after the departure of Ian Holloway. The club have been headhunting with more meticulousness than they scrambled for players last summer when, by their own admission, the frenetic nature of their search led to mistakes being made and Palace becoming anchored to the bottom of the Premier League. This week's appointment will reveal how the club intend to move upwards.

The route is not obvious. Palace must balance two objectives – building for the future while fighting for survival. It is not clear those aims are compatible. The club's co-chairman, Steve Parish, says that the "North Star" guiding the appointment will be a philosophy that embeds a playing style that ensures Palace will be thriving in the Premier League in five years. That is why he will hold talks this week with Aitor Karanka, who worked for three years with José Mourinho at Real Madrid. The 40-year-old has a reputation as a progressive coach and highly promising would-be manager, but he has never worked as a No1 nor in England. It might take him time to adapt and for his ideas to bear fruit.

If Palace have also spoken to Martin O'Neill, who has since taken the Republic of Ireland job, Chris Coleman, the manager of Wales, and Tony Pulis, it is because part of them that believes that a Premier League veteran would stand a better chance of keeping the club up before laying a longer-term plan. Keith Millen, who has been in temporary charge for three matches, is convinced that Palace can avoid relegation and that this week's appointment should reflect that.

"If it was my choice it would probably need to be a Premier League manager that knows this division and with his experience, knows how to win football matches," Millen said. "Because there is an art to it. You look at the managers who survive in this division and find a way of winning matches. That would be the ideal situation. But if that's not the case, then you get the man in who you think will take this club forward."

Over the weekend Palace hired a sporting director to oversee player recruitment, snapping up Iain Moody after his controversial sacking by Cardiff City. That has led to rumours that Malky Mackay, who has previously turned down the Palace job, may soon end up in south London but the club says that is a simplistic deduction.

Millen, meanwhile, maintains that whoever is nominated must share the players' belief that they can avoid relegation, a conviction that the players demonstrated with a determined display against Everton that, with better finishing, would have been rewarded with three points.

"The short-term goal is really to win football matches. However you do it doesn't really matter. You'd like to play good football and in a certain way but you've got to win points. Every manager needs to come in with a philosophy of how to work but in the short-term, you've got to win football matches and experienced managers would know that. You might have a philosophy when you come into a club but if you don't have the players who can play that way, you've got no chance."

Roberto Martínez has a clear philosophy but it seldom looked likely to produce a result against Palace, as the visitors' passing was largely innocuous and their movement uninspired. It was not what the travelling supporters were hoping to see before the Merseyside derby, which is next up, and one irate fan berated Sylvain Distin as the players left the pitch. The centre-back walked over to answer back and later took to Twitter to deny claims that the discussions became ugly.

"I know my English isn't perfect but I found it funny how people try to twist my words," wrote Distin. "And for the record, I was speaking to one single person and he knows who he is as I spoke to him face to face. And then people wonder why players interact with the fans. This is why, because people twist your word and a simple chat turned into fight."

Man of the match: Damien Delaney (Crystal Palace)

Paul Doyle

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Manchester United v Arsenal – player ratings

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 01:45 PM PST

How the players fared in Manchester United's victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford

MANCHESTER UNITED

David de Gea 6

Never really stretched but for a couple of decent punches, and the Spaniard's handling was sound when called upon

Chris Smalling 8

Excellent defensive display, especially in the second half. One wild cross, though, and might have scored with a header

Jonny Evans 7

Distribution was a couple of notches below the quality of his defending, notably in the first half, but a reliable presence

Nemanja Vidic 7

Decent, no-frills defending, doing well in the air against Giroud, but forced off at half-time with a head injury

Patrice Evra 6

The left-back was troubled by Sagna in the second half, with several crosses coming into United's box from his flank

Phil Jones 8

Fantastic first half in midfield, defending well and breaking at times, and good when pushed into central defence after that

Michael Carrick 6

Could not stem as much of the passing as he would have liked but calm, used the ball tidily and broke up play on occasion

Antonio Valencia 6

Involved only in little bursts but his pace occasionally stretched Arsenal and the winger provided a handful of dangerous crosses

Wayne Rooney 8

Muscular, non-stop effort. Not everything worked – he wasted a chance – but set up the goal and never allowed Arsenal any peace

Shinji Kagawa 5

Display of defensive hard work and useful simplicity rather than exhilaration, but faded as the match went on and was substituted

Robin van Persie 7

Well-taken header was the decisive moment against his former club. Much brighter in general play after the interval than before it

ARSENAL

Wojciech Szczesny 6

Could not be blamed for Van Persie's goal and was otherwise untroubled. Reliable when taking high balls

Bacary Sagna 8

Dangerous attacking presence after the interval, providing several good crosses from the right. Defended solidly

Thomas Vermaelen 7

Did well in his first Premier League start of the season, the central defender helping to restrict United from open play

Laurent Koscielny 6

Had to adjust to not having the ill Per Mertesacker with him. Defended decently but passing let him down at times

Kieran Gibbs 6

Did not have the impact of Sagna going forward and a mixed bag defensively. Van Persie's goal drifted over him

Mikel Arteta 7

Accurate passing helped Arsenal to dominate possession in the second half and broke up play at times, but no major influence

Mathieu Flamini 5

Looked the squad player many expected when he rejoined. Taken off, having been booked, as Arsenal sought more thrust

Aaron Ramsey 6

Failed to replicate his usual attacking menace but had two shots – one blocked, one weak – and drifted in search of the ball

Mesut Özil 4

Firing wide when given the chance to set someone up, or hit the target, summed up an underwhelming performance

Santi Cazorla 5

Another Arsenal player who failed to have the expected attacking influence, showing only flashes of his talent

Olivier Giroud 5

Hold-up and link play were below par, though he mostly lacked good support. Partly to blame – with Ramsey – for the goal

Jon Brodkin

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Manchester United's Wayne Rooney gives Arsenal's Mesut Özil run-around | Barney Ronay

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 01:26 PM PST

German leaves Old Trafford overshadowed as England man pulls the strings to inspire a 1-0 win
• Pictures: the best images from Old Trafford

Wayne Rooney has not made a habit of enjoying his professional meetings with Mesut Özil. The horrors of Bloemfontein at the last World Cup may never be expunged fully, while being left on the bench as Manchester United were eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid clearly stung. This, though, was an afternoon of counterattack for English football's own distinct workaholic take on the modern No10 role – and a chastening experience for Özil, who was Arsenal's most disappointing player on what was at times a brutally physical afternoon of distinctly British football. Welcome to Wayne's world.

In the buildup, Özil had announced that Arsenal would be travelling to Old Trafford to "have fun". Özil can say things like this, a player of wide and winning experience who earlier this year ran himself to a sweat-soaked standstill on this ground as Real Madrid won that excruciatingly tight Champions League quarter-final. Özil didn't have much fun here though. It always seemed likely these contrasting leaders from between the lines, Özil the pickpocket who comes to life only in spurts, Rooney relentless in his attempts to batter down the door with guile. And while it will be tempting for some to read too much into this result – this was not the same old Arsenal and they will be far from devastated by a narrow 1-0 defeat – when it came to the match within a match there was only one winner.

From the start Rooney seemed most energised by the challenge of a boisterously alive Old Trafford. It is fashionable to roll the eyes slightly at the Premier League's much-trumpeted straining muscles, but the fact is the challenge is a little different (this is a league where you can still "win" a shoulder barge, as Rooney did twice in the second half). And while Özil is allowed to have a poor game, it is hard to block out the memory of those unkind whispers on his departure from Madrid about his conditioning and stamina. There was a telling moment with 15 minutes left here when Rooney was booked for a full-length late tackle.

Necks were craned briefly to see if it was perhaps his opposite number writhing on the ground. But no. Özil was safely wandering off up the right wing 40 yards away. Work rate, hunger, desire: these things are some way off being everything in football. But they are definitely something.

It is no secret that Rooney loves playing against Arsenal, going back 11 years to the goal that launched a thousand white-Pelé analogies, and he remains that rare thing, an English player openly admired by Arsène Wenger. He was wonderful here, offering the full range of his mixed bag of Rooney-isms: from the lovely attempted scoop pass at the start of the second half, evidence of a man operating with his blinkers off, to his relentless work rate, not just in spurts but in every passage of the game. By the end Rooney had run almost 11km, bettered only by Aaron Ramsey. He did it from centre-forward too, every one of those scampering bursts a work of attacking intent, or above and beyond defensive foraging.

Even the game's only goal was as close as a header from a corner is likely to get to being a moment of instinctive interplay. Rooney's kick was whipped toward the near post, Robin van Persie's run perfectly timed to take him into a kind of between-the-zones region, a Gaza of the Arsenal defensive plan. It looked like a planned move, both in its execution and the pointedly fraternal celebrations between United's two strikers.

For Özil there was only disappointment on the biggest occasion of his Arsenal career to date. He started just behind Olivier Giroud here in a direct match-up with Rooney, perhaps with a view to testing Nemanja Vidic with his speed and lateral mobility. In the event he was largely anonymous in the first half, so much so that as he dropped deeper behind Ramsey it had the air of a withdrawal, of a man taking breath to find some space in the game.

He did better in the second half after moving to the right, having Arsenal's first actual shot at goal after an hour's play, and for a period there were glimpses of the best of Arsenal's record signing, the subtle movement, the constant peripheral awareness Rooney perhaps at times runs around too much. But what a player you would have if you could blend only their respective strengths, taking a pinch of Rooney and wrapping it up in Özil's.

Arsenal, it must be said were far from disgraced, outplayed, or overrun. These Super Sunday-ish collisions are so often presented in a farrago of swirling overstatement – seasons defined, destiny shaped, lives ruined, civilisations decimated – but Wenger will take encouragement from this performance. He is, though, entitled to expect a little more from his chief conductor.

At the end Özil turned and walked straight to the tunnel without even a wave to Arsenal's fans. He is too good not to learn back from the experience – and for once, perhaps, from his opposite number here.

Barney Ronay

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Gunners' forward frailties exposed by Manchester United's 'Arsenal man' | Jamie Jackson

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 12:56 PM PST

Robin van Persie showed his former club just what their title push is missing with his goal at Old Trafford

The old Stretford End song asks, in an ironic and more industrial fashion: "Who are Man United?" The way a certain Dutchman continues to mark this fixture by sticking it to his old club calls for an alternative that questions who the hell Robin van Persie might be.

Twenty-seven minutes were all the former Arsenal hero required to make it 1-0 to United – for what proved to be the winner – and three goals in the three occasions he has faced the Gunners since making the £24m move from north London to the north-west.

Van Persie scored the first in last season's corresponding game, a 2-1 win, before netting the penalty in the reverse fixture at the Emirates that secured a 1-1 draw for his team.

Through all of this, students of Arsène Wenger ponder why the Arsenal manager sanctioned the transfer in August 2012. On Friday, in explanation, the Frenchman said: "I think in the end I had to decide, 'Do I do it or not?' knowing I will get huge criticism for doing it. But I just decided because at the end of the day I felt it was the best thing to do."

For who? As Van Persie went on to be crowned a Premier League champion for the first time and the star turn in United's 20th triumph, Arsenal puffed and panted to a Champions League berth, as had become their recent custom.

Yet the true folly of Wenger's decision was seen as Arsenal motored into Old Trafford as leaders, eight points ahead of United. In their push to claim a first title since 2004 what value a Van Persie for his erstwhile manager, who looks for options beyond the still-maturing Olivier Giroud and sees only Nicklas Bendtner?

Van Persie had entered this contest on the back of an epitaph that cast Wenger as a kind of scorned lover. On Friday, Wenger also said: "Of course it's strange because he is an Arsenal man. We have gone together through very difficult periods and he became a world-class player and for me he is an Arsenal player."

Absent was any mention of the trophyless years endured following Van Persie's substitute appearance in the 2005 FA Cup-winning side who defeated United in a penalty shootout that Arsenal were fortunate to reach. After seven barren years the itch became a sore for a striker who was 29 and had just returned a career-best 37 goals in a season for Arsenal as he signed on for United.

Van Persie had his name sung here by the congregation as the players wandered out, and was booed when he took the opening corner before the Arsenal section.

His goal came through smart work from his partner up front, Wayne Rooney, who placed a corner on Van Persie's head, the finish leaving Wojciech Szczesny no chance.

Of his forward axis, David Moyes said: "The two forwards, their performances merited the title of big players. Great players score great goals in big games and he [Van Persie] is a great player. His sidekick today played great as well, the two of them were fantastic, Wayne made it, Robin scored it."

With his goal, his seventh in nine league outings, Van Persie provided a perfect response to his former acolytes who had begun the afternoon with a taunt of "Eight points clear, Robin, eight points clear".

Not any more. As Van Persie departed the scene five minutes before time, for Maraoune Fellaini, he was given a standing ovation while being heckled by the travelling support. But the bottom line is that United now stand only five points behind Arsenal.

Jamie Jackson

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Manuel Pellegrini needs a cure for Manchester City's travel sickness

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 12:52 PM PST

• Manager perplexed at fourth away defeat in six games
• Sunderland's Gus Poyet hails his best managerial result

Manuel Pellegrini looked puzzled as he attempted to explain Manchester City's persistent struggles away from home but acknowledged this weakness on the road threatens to derail his title ambitions. A 1-0 defeat at hitherto lowly Sunderland represented City's fourth Premier League defeat on their travels this season and the club's Chilean manager seems suitably anxious.

"I'm concerned because we're losing too many points away and that makes it very difficult to try to fight for the Premier League," Pellegrini said. "We must have a reaction, we must improve. It's incredible the way we lost this match. Sunderland played, and defended, really well but their team is not in a good position and they had just one shot on our goal. We had possession, we had chances but we didn't score."

Sunderland's first clean sheet of this Premier League campaign, not to mention their fourth successive 1-0 home win against City, was largely thanks to an outstanding central defensive contribution from Wes Brown, who started his first League game after 22 months sidelined with severe knee trouble.

"Wes was maybe the key," said a delighted Sunderland manager, Gus Poyet, who also hailed impressive displays from Ki Sung-yueng in central midfield and Phil Bardsley, the left-back cum match winner. "Wes Brown was clever, strong and passed the ball well. It's probably the biggest win of my managerial career; we are going to have a good evening."

His decision to re-integrate Bardsley following a couple of serious disciplinary transgressions during Paolo Di Canio's tenure was rewarded by the full-back's second goal in two games. "When I gave Phil a second chance many, many people were doubtful," said Poyet. "But I'm sure a few will change their minds. He's proved he cares and wants to play for the club."

Louise Taylor

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Manchester United v Arsenal: five talking points from Old Trafford | Amy Lawrence

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 12:46 PM PST

Zonal marking in the dock (again), Rooney makes his presence felt, and Arsenal's lack of pace up front exposed

1 Arsenal remain sick of the sight of Wayne Rooney

The Manchester United striker's pre-match barbs were perceived as a sign that for the first time in ages his club saw Arsenal as a relevant danger. He certainly played as if he had something of a personal point he was keen to make – and where better to make it than on the pitch. Rooney made his presence felt all over the big-match stage to pile pressure on United's opponents. His indefatigable work rate, and leadership by example, put United in the driving seat and kept them there. In the end, he wasn't wrong – come the final whistle Arsenal were sick of the sight, once again, of a player who has contributed in a big way to the end of an unbeaten sequence for the third time (twice with United and once with David Moyes' Everton). After a summer of awkwardness, when his relationship with the club was the subject of genuine concern, his name was being chanted with relish by the Old Trafford crowd. Their chief chaser of causes was excellent.

2 Zonal marking under the cosh once again

Arsenal actually had more corners than United – and more possession for that matter – but it was one of United's that saw their two richest talents combine decisively. Arsenal were coping well enough until they hiccupped over a poorly defended set-piece. Rooney's corner was enticingly delivered, and the running leap, as opposed to the more static start of the visiting defenders in zonal marking mode, gave Robin van Persie the advantage to steer his header with unerring precision. United had practised set-pieces as a potential weapon to capitalise on the number of small players in the Arsenal line-up. They must have been pleased to see Per Mertesacker, the organiser, and the glue in Arsenal's defence, out with a bug. It was a substantial loss. There was less cohesion in the back four as a whole without the influence of the giant German.

3 Back with a bang on the big occasion

United, having lost against Manchester City and Liverpool, and drawn a home match with Chelsea earlier in the campaign, knew that any slip against Arsenal would lead to serious questions about their capabilities against title rivals. It was important for them to reassert themselves in terms of serving up a little dose of Old Trafford fear factor as well as the obvious need for a points booster. For a team that was stuttering at home in the autumn, with defeat to West Brom and a draw against Southampton, it feels like something resembling normal service has resumed. The added bonus of dropped points for Arsenal, City, Chelsea and Tottenham has made for a perfect weekend.

4 The new kids on United's defensive block so solid

Phil Jones and Chris Smalling played key roles in repelling Arsenal's attempted second-half comeback. Jones deserves an extra pat on the back because his midfield role in the first half, before withdrawing into the back four to replace Nemanja Vidic, helped to give United the platform to win. Moyes had been conscious of the possibility of being outmanned in midfield, but by pairing Jones, an uber-enthusiastic blocking machine, with the more controlled Michael Carrick in the first half, Arsenal's passing game was restricted. Jones hurled himself at anything that moved in yellow to great effect, stopping half-chances at source. The England man barely seemed to feel the crunching clash of heads with Wojciech Szczesny. He still has his uses for Moyes in both departments, but you cannot help feeling that he will profit from a fixed position eventually.

5 Arsenal need a striker with pace

Olivier Giroud's frustrationwas written all over his face. His pained expressions throughout the game reflected how nothing would stick, chances didn't fall right, 50-50 attempts to win the ball were called against him time and again. He has been crucial to his team's early surge to the top of the Premier League table but the lack of an alternative, or a variant, means that an off-day led to a blunt Arsenal. There were enough glimmers in the second half for Arsène Wenger's team to have snatched something from the game, but when it is not clicking up front, it is useful to be able to look at the bench and think there is a goal or two in reserve. Nicklas Bendtner cannot be relied upon. The long-term injuries to Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski told here. Serge Gnabry, the teenage substitute, showed just how important it is to have an outlet with speed on his side.

Amy Lawrence

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Manchester United's early hold over Arsenal proved important | Michael Cox

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 12:43 PM PST

United's display was structured but too much space was afforded to Bacary Sagna, who was a consistent danger
• In pictures: the best images from Old Trafford

This narrow Manchester United victory demonstrated the fine margins between a strategy being considered successful or naive. David Moyes instructed his side to play extremely narrow, which was highly effective at limiting impact of Arsenal's playmakers, but it afforded space to Bacary Sagna, whose crosses were consistently dangerous in the second period.

Both managers selected cautious starting XIs – Moyes used the tenacious Phil Jones alongside Michael Carrick in midfield, while the absence of Tomas Rosicky forced Arsène Wenger to move Aaron Ramsey wide, with Mathieu Flamini being used in the holding role. It meant both sides played with a double screen in front of their back four, and the creative players were starved of space.

Particularly important in United's triumph was their performance in the opening 10 minutes, when they did not create any chances but enjoyed 67% of possession, much of it inside the Arsenal half. In a match where United were in danger of being overrun in midfield because of Arsenal's superior passing quality, it was crucial United imposed themselves immediately.

Both sides were exceptionally well organised without possession, with Manchester United particularly impressive in the first half. Moyes employed a strategy he often favoured against Arsenal in his Everton days, asking the wide midfielders to drop into deep, narrow positions, cutting off the passing angle into Arsenal's attacking midfielders.

Arsenal have coped well without Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski this season but here they desperately needed some pace and directness out wide.

Moyes is a very reactive manager, assessing the opposition's strengths and weaknesses and varying his team accordingly. His strategy here was also similar to the approach he used as Everton manager last season against Tottenham – who were without both Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon, and therefore forced to cope without any true wingers. Everton packed the central positions and happily conceded space out wide – if Moyes knows the opposition lack width, he will force them to play down the flanks.

Something similar happened in the first half here: with Ramsey and Santi Cazorla both moving inside into central positions, Arsenal's attacks were too predictable. Wenger's side lacked sharpness when attempting intricate passing moves and possession was conceded extremely cheaply.

Arsenal's full-backs were given space, which was a risky strategy from Moyes, considering Arsenal have scored plenty of goals from crosses in recent weeks, but in the first half Antonio Valencia and Shinji Kagawa worked hard to close down Sagna and Kieran Gibbs when the play was switched wide. However, the second half showed the dangers of United's approach.

First Ramsey moved wider, taking advantage of the space down the right, and later Mesut Özil was moved to that flank, making clever runs in behind the defence. But the second half's key player was Sagna, rejuvenated this season and consistently dangerous with his delivery from wide – he has created goals in the wins over Napoli and Liverpool.

The Frenchman crossed the ball seven times after the break, creating two chances and whipping two other fantastic balls in behind the Manchester United defence, into the corridor of uncertainty that begged for Olivier Giroud – or another Arsenal attacker – to provide the finish. The absence of Nemanja Vidic, who departed at half-time with a head injury, was clearly a factor in United's uncertain aerial defending.

Moyes became concerned about Sagna's freedom, removing an exhausted Kagawa and introducing Ryan Giggs, with instructions to shackle the right-back, although the crosses kept coming.

In all it was the type of performance we can expect from Manchester United in big matches this season – structured without the ball, cautious when it comes to throwing men forward and reliant on the front two for goals.

Michael Cox

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Manchester United aim to be top by new year, says Rooney

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 12:40 PM PST

• England striker says defeat of Arsenal is 'massive lift'
• Arsène Wenger says Gunners too nervous in first half

Wayne Rooney described Manchester United's 1-0 win over Arsenal as a "massive lift" after the champions cut the deficit on the leaders to five points, with Robin van Persie greeting his winner by celebrating for a first time against his former club.

It was a good day for United as two of their title rivals, Manchester City and Tottenham, both lost, and Rooney said: "We knew we had to win today at all costs. That was the toughest we've been to break down and we defended really well. We knew we could not afford to lose, we couldn't let Arsenal get 11 points away from us.

"The other results today and yesterday also gave us a boost and we are right back in it now. It's a massive lift, a great weekend for us ahead of the international break. Our aim is to be top or thereabouts at the new year."

Van Persie had scored in each of his previous two United games against Arsenal, but had refused to celebrate. This time, following his 27th-minute header from Rooney's corner, he ran to a section of the home support with unbridled emotion.

Of the Dutchman's contribution, David Moyes said: "Great players score great goals in big games and he is a great player. I have got to say, his sidekick today played great as well, Wayne, the two of them were fantastic, Wayne made it, Robin scored it.

"I always hoped that Robin would show that and he has done since I came here – he has been great. The two forwards, one scoring the winning goal and one making it, their performance merited the title of big players. They really did. In the big game, they came up trumps."

After a difficult start to a first season as successor to Sir Alex Ferguson that has featured defeats by Liverpool, Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion, Moyes described this as the best win. "Yeah, especially in the first half. A resilient job was required in the last 20 minutes but overall it was a good three points against a very much in-form Arsenal team. It's another step in the right direction for us. We have got a lot of big steps to take here. It is going to take a while for me to get it all the way I'd like it to be.

"I don't know if it puts out any statement. Everybody for years has known how good Manchester United have been. My job and the team's job is to make sure that we do that again. We know that we are going to get a few bloody noses along the way."

Arsène Wenger said that with Arsenal not having won at Old Trafford since September 2007 the tension of being in title contention had affected them. "I just think we were too nervous in the first half," he said. "Maybe with the fact we haven't won for a long time here and it was a big game and, once again, it is a tight game that has been decided on a set piece. That is what we will keep from this game. We knew this could happen but after that we had a go and gave everything until the last minute. This team has a great heart. I feel sorry for my players tonight."

The only real setback for United came when Nemanja Vidic was taken off at half-time and went to hospital with a facial injury. Moyes said: "It's quite a horrific-looking one. As far as I know he is OK, he is conscious. We will get a scan but as far as we know, we hope he is going to be OK."

After the furore over Hugo Lloris at Spurs, United's was a sensible course of action though Arsenal risked controversy by leaving Wojciech Szczesny on the pitch following a clash of heads with Phil Jones.

Wenger said: "I listen to the doctor. If he says to me he has to come off, he comes off – no matter if we have seven men on the field, I do it. You have only one life and you have 60 games per year."

A spokesman for the brain-injury charity Headway, which was critical of the decision to allow Lloris to continue against Everton last week, said: "I don't want to get involved in judging the decision of Szczesny – every situation is unique and different and the medical team have made a call. With Vidic they have taken him off after the medical team deemed him not fit to continue. He was unsteady on his feet, there were more obvious signs."

Jamie Jackson

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Swansea City 3-3 Stoke City

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 12:19 PM PST

• In pictures: Sunday's Premier League matches

A thrilling match enjoyed a dramatic denouement on Sunday but left both sides disappointed. At various times both managers thought they had the match won but a penalty by Charlie Adam in added time left them with a point piece from a fractious scrap in which the referee, Robert Madley, came in for deserved criticism.

Stoke, 2-0 up at half-time, believed they were set for their first win in the Premier League since the end of August. In the second half Swansea hit back in stirring fashion to lead 3-2 but, with the stopwatch showing 96 minutes, a hotly disputed handball by Wayne Routledge enabled Adam, on as a substitute, to restore equality and leave the Swans with only one win in their last six league matches and two in 10 in all competitions.

Michael Laudrup blamed the referee, who was poor throughout. Rarely in control when tempers flared, he left all present stunned by awarding the penalty, for which no Stoke player had appealed.

Laudrup said: "I feel so sorry for my players. We scored three goals and it would have been a fantastic win but for a very bad decision. At half-time we were in a very difficult situation, 2-0 down, but in the second half we penned Stoke in their box and scored what should have been the winner. For the equaliser there were seven Stoke players in the box and not one of them appealed for a penalty. Only one man in the stadium thought it was and that was the referee. I have to be careful what I say about him, otherwise I'll get a fine and I don't have £10,000 to spare."

Both teams were in need of a restorative result. Stoke are without a victory in eight attempts in the league, since winning 1-0 at West Ham on 31 August. Here, however, they put those travails behind them, taking a 2-0 lead by the 25th minute.

Jonathan Walters opened the scoring in the eighth minute, Peter Crouch heading on a clearance from Asmir Begovic and the left-back Ben Davies slipping to allow Walters a free run in the inside-right channel, from where he angled his shot across Gerhard Tremmel into the far corner. Apart from Davies going to ground, Walters' first goal of the season was further facilitated by the absence of Ashley Williams, the Swansea centre-half and captain, who was off the field receiving treatment.

Wilfried Bony made a hash of a good chance at close range before Stoke doubled their advantage with a gem of a goal, some lovely interpassing in which Walters and Crouch were key culminating in a smart finish by Stephen Ireland, who drew Tremmel before lifting the ball over him and into the net from eight yards.

Bony's match was typical of his season to date, a mixture of the inane and the impressive. In the first half the muscular Ivorian dithered in the penalty area, enabling Begovic to dispossess him, then headed horribly wide at the far post from Angel Rangel's cross.

It was after 56 minutes that the ugly duckling became a Swan, Bony heading in Jonathan de Guzmán's right wing cross. Stoke were now under the cosh and equality was restored in the 73rd minute when Routledge's cross from the left was headed out by Walters straight to Nathan Dyer, whose bouncing shot from 12 yards beat Begovic to his right.

The transformation from deficit to profit was completed after 86 minutes when Jonjo Shelvey's centre from the left was driven home by Bony for his 10th goal of the season, half of which have come in the Europa League.

The home crowd were in hymns and arias mode, but they started singing too soon. Seconds from the end Adam took a corner on the right and Robert Huth transferred the ball to Steven Nzonzi, whose header hit Routledge at point blank range. It was too close to be a penalty, but the referee disagreed.

Mark Hughes, whose team move out of the bottom three, said: "It was a great game for the neutral, I'm sure. I've seen the penalty incident again and I can understand why Swansea feel aggrieved about it but we're grateful that we've had a lucky break."

Joe Lovejoy

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UN calls Qatar World Cup labour camps 'slum-like dump' – video

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 10:18 AM PST

A UN official calls for changes in Qatar after visiting 'slum-like' conditions at World Cup labour camps

Manchester United v Arsenal – as it happened | Jacob Steinberg

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 10:08 AM PST

Minute-by-minute report: Robin van Persie scored the only goal against his former club to give Manchester United a crucial victory over league leaders Arsenal

Jacob Steinberg

André Villas-Boas told by Spurs' medical team to leave out Hugo Lloris

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 09:35 AM PST

• Goalkeeper omitted against Newcastle after 'impact test'
• Villas-Boas: Lloris was clinically and medically ready to play

André Villas-Boas said that he was told by the Tottenham Hotspur medical department to omit Hugo Lloris from the team that lost 1-0 at home to Newcastle United on Sunday, although the manager added that "clinically and medically" the goalkeeper had been ready to play. Villas-Boas also called for a member of the club's medical staff to answer questions to clear up the confusion.

Lloris, who Villas-Boas said would play for France in the upcoming World Cup play-off against Ukraine, suffered a head injury at Everton the previous Sunday that appeared to leave him disorientated. He was allowed to play on, with Villas-Boas claiming that Lloris had passed the requisite on-field tests at the time. He added during the week that Lloris was fit and he expected him to play against Newcastle.

But the situation changed, according to Villas-Boas, when Lloris underwent an "impact test" on Saturday, which raised concerns among the club's doctors. They told him that Lloris would benefit from a little bit more rest. The player underwent brain scans during the week that Villas-Boas said were clear.

Villas-Boas and the club have faced heavy criticism for the decision to allow Lloris to continue with the head injury at Everton, which has irked the manager. He reiterated the point after the Newcastle game that Tottenham's medics were the same people that saved the life of the Bolton Wanderers midfielder, Fabrice Muamba, after his collapse with a heart attack on the White Hart Lane pitch.

Villas-Boas, though, was defensive when he was asked whether the new test that showed Lloris could not play against Newcastle might now call into question the original wisdom of allowing him to continue at Everton.

"It changes nothing," he said. "I stand by everything completely, 100%. The medical department felt that it was a bit too soon [against Newcastle]. Had the game been tomorrow, he would have played. I expect him to play for France. For them, it was a bit too soon, although clinically and medically, all the signs were that the player was ready to play.

"The test is called an impact test, that they value a lot so I had to stick to what they said. They decided the player wasn't good enough. That test doesn't serve as an evaluation tool for an assessment but they thought so.

"There are different types of tests and probably it is more appropriate that the club allow the medical department to speak and explain to you better. The only thing I can tell you is that the medical department advised us not to use the player. We followed the rules and that's it. In the incident [at Everton], we made everything according to the book."

David Hytner

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The draw for the FA Cup second round in full

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 09:20 AM PST

The Conference team will face the winners of Braintree and Newport's replay, while Cambridge host Sheffield United

Conference high-flyers Kidderminster will be dreaming of a place in the FA Cup third round after being drawn to face either Braintree or Newport County in round two.

The midlands outfit completed a 4-1 win over Sutton on Saturday and will face the winner of the replay between League Two County and Conference rivals Braintree for a place in the hat when the Premier League and Championship clubs enter the fray.

Fellow fifth-tier pace-setters Cambridge will host League One Sheffield United if they overcome Bury in their rescheduled clash while Tamworth, who shocked Cheltenham in round one, host struggling Bristol City.

Shortwood, the lowest-ranked team left in the competition, will play host to Salisbury if they can overcome Port Vale on Monday night while Stourbridge have been handed a tougher test as they travel to Stevenage.

Lincoln City can set up an all non-league clash with Welling at Sincil Bank if they beat Plymouth in a replay while Wrexham will face Oxford or Gateshead and Brackley will travel to Macclesfield if they beat Gillingham at the second attempt.

In the remaining non-league interest, Dover face a tough trip to MK Dons, Grimsby will host Northampton if they overcome Scunthorpe in a replay and Boreham Wood will host Brentford if they overcome Carlisle.

The ties will be played over the weekend of December 7 and 8.

FA Cup second round draw in full

Bury or Cambridge United v Sheffield United

Wycombe or Crewe v Preston

Shortwood United or Port Vale v Salisbury City

Bristol Rovers or York City v Crawley Town

MK Dons v Dover Athletic

Boreham Wood or Carlisle United v Brentford

Macclesfield Town v Gillingham or Brackley

Chesterfield v Southend United

Oldham Athletic or Wolverhampton Wanderers v Mansfield Town

Rotherham United v Rochdale

Peterborough United v Tranmere Rovers

Hartlepool United v Coventry City

Kidderminster Harriers v Braintree Town or Newport County

Lincoln City or Plymouth Argyle v Welling United

Wrexham v Oxford or Gateshead

Fleetwood Town v Burton Albion or Hereford United

Grimsby or Scunthorpe v Northampton Town

Leyton Orient v Walsall

Tamworth v Bristol City

Stevenage v Stourbridge


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Italian team reduced to six men, match abandoned

Posted: 10 Nov 2013 09:13 AM PST

• Nocerina made three substitutions in first two minutes
• Side had allegedly received death threats from own fans

An Italian third-tier match was called off on Sunday after the visiting side Nocerina, having allegedly received death threats from their own fans, were reduced to six men by injuries after only 21 minutes.

The southern derby match at Salernitana had begun 40 minutes late and Nocerina made their three permitted substitutions in the first two minutes.

Over the next 20 minutes, five players went off injured, leaving the team with six players, below the minimum needed to continue the game.

Italian media said Nocerina players had received death threats from the club's fans, had not wanted to play at all and had been persuaded to take the field by security officials. Nocerina fans had been banned from attending the game and Italian media reported that the club wanted to stop the match being played.


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