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José Mourinho says Chelsea 'can't compete' with Manchester City's cash
José Mourinho: financially Chelsea cannot compete with Manchester City | Daniel Taylor
After a frantic week of madcap events Oxford are back on an even keel | Jeremy Alexander
Swansea's plight not even helped by ludicrous Andy Carroll red card
David Moyes despairs after Stoke sink Manchester United's Europe hopes
Tottenham's draw at Hull City is a point gained, believes Tim Sherwood
Kevin Mirallas free-kick keeps Everton in Champions League contention
Alan Pardew braced for Mike Ashley anger after drubbing by Sunderland
Adam Lallana stakes World Cup claim as Southampton leave Fulham reeling
Fernandinho: I hope Brazil coach will watch Manchester City play Chelsea
Kim Kallstrom move backfires but Arsène Wenger defends deadline move | David Hytner
Arsène Wenger says transfer deadline forced his hand on Kim Kallstrom
West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Liverpool | Premier League match report
Touré's 'terrible' error costs Liverpool
Arsenal 2-0 Crystal Palace
Bayern Munich 5-0 Eintracht Frankfurt | Bundesliga match report
Neil Lennon may quit scouting trips after abuse at cup semi-final
Watford 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion | Championship match report
Nottingham Forest 3-1 Yeovil | Championship match report
Premier League: Sunday's matches - in pictures
Arsenal v Crystal Palace – as it happend! | Ian McCourt
Lionel Messi talks Barcelona and World Cup 2014 - video
West Bromwich Albion v Liverpool – as it happened | Daniel Harris
Tributes pour in for ex-Spain coach Luis Aragonés - video
Manchester United's David Moyes: 'We were the better team' – video

José Mourinho says Chelsea 'can't compete' with Manchester City's cash

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST

• Manager says Uefa fair play rules are 'dodgy'
• Resigned to losing out on Eliaquim Mangala

José Mourinho has admitted it is impossible for Chelsea to compete financially with Manchester City since the introduction of the financial fair play rules.

Chelsea were the biggest English spenders during the January transfer window but their outlay of £45m was more than covered by the sales of Juan Mata and Kevin de Bruyne for a combined £55m. They had aspired to sign the Porto centre-half Eliaquim Mangala but were unwilling to risk their compliance with Uefa's regulations by sanctioning an outlay of around £37m. City are expected to pursue that deal in the summer.

Yet while there is scepticism at Chelsea that their rivals, principal among them City, simply exploit loopholes in Uefa's regulations – Mourinho described it as "dodgy" financial fair play on Friday – they intend to follow the rules even if that means they cannot compete on such fees.

"If City want to make it impossible, yes it's impossible because we are not competing outside what is important for us: the fair financial fair play," Mourinho said. "We are working, thinking and believing that financial fair play is going to be in practice. So there are things that are impossible for us. Financially, no [we can't compete]."

He referred to Roman Abramrovich's arrival at Stamford Bridge a decade ago. "Back then it was a free world. There was no financial fair play. If your club was a rich one, your owner a rich one, there were no rules. It was an open situation."

Asked about Mangala, Mourinho added: "We can't. We signed [Kurt] Zouma [for £12.5m], who is even younger and a comparable figure."

Asked about the popularity enjoyed by City – born of their attractive, attacking style – among neutral supporters, compared with that of his Chelsea team during his glittering first spell in English football, Mourinho said: "In my time we were accused of buying the title, no? Because our owner was Mr Abramovich, just arrived in the country. Maybe now people see City in a different way.

"I don't envy the fact that they have this kind of protection, or whichever word. It's the way it is. No problem. Teams with success, people tend not to like, no? But times change. Many things people considered wrong 50 years ago are something very normal now."Maybe 10 years ago a huge investment in the club was something people hated, but in this moment it's something people accept in a different way. If Uefa goes with FFP until the last consequence, maybe in that moment people will realise that some teams are different to other teams. But it's something I don't think about at this moment."

Dominic Fifield

José Mourinho: financially Chelsea cannot compete with Manchester City | Daniel Taylor

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST

The Chelsea manager aired new and old grievances as he tried to get under City's skin before their clash at the Etihad

There is a chance that, by the close of play against Manchester City, José Mourinho may be reminded about the scathing words he reserved for West Ham's conservatism at Chelsea last week. His own tactics hardly bordered on the adventurous at Manchester United and Arsenal earlier in the season, and when it comes to parking the bus it could be said Mourinho slipped on the handbrake then threw the keys down the nearest drain when his Internazionale team ventured to Barcelona for the second leg of their 2010 Champions League semi-final.

The allegation of possible double standards was gently pointed out before his Chelsea team set off for Manchester and, naturally, there was a look of disdain attached to the response.

"I took Barcelona by winning 3-1," Mourinho said, recalling the first leg of that semi-final at San Siro. "But it should have been four or five. Inter played the best game of the last 50 years. We went to attack them. We knew we played the first game at home, and the second would be very difficult.

"We knew we had no chance if we didn't win at home. So we went with everything we had and we won 3-1. In the second game, when you start 3-1 up and stay there with 10 men [Thiago Motta was sent off after 27 minutes], you put the aeroplane in front of the goal." Inter flew away with a 3-2 aggregate win.

What can be said with absolute certainty is that City's default setting is to go for the opposition. A team with 72 goals from 18 home games cannot be expected to do anything else.

"We play with two strikers, and we have two wingers who are virtually strikers," Vincent Kompany explained in an interview with ESPN a few days ago. "One of our midfield players – and we have only two – is also virtually a striker. Our full-backs are pushing up all the time so, ultimately, out of a team of 11 players we have six or seven always involved in the attack."

City have scored 115 times this season and are near-certainties to beat the top-division record set by Manchester United in 1956-57 of 143 in all competitions. If they were to beat Chelsea and do the same to Norwich on Saturday – a side they have already put seven past this season – it would also mean United being closer in points to the relegation zone than top spot when they face Fulham on Sunday.

Yet it is not United who concern City. After the Chelsea game, the next six opponents for Manuel Pellegrini's team are Norwich (15th), Sunderland (14th), Stoke (11th), Aston Villa (10th), Hull (13th) and Fulham (20th). This is City's chance to establish a position of command before playing at Old Trafford and Arsenal in the space of five days at the end of March.

Mourinho has certainly been trying to get under City's skin. He is very clever in the way he does it, too, mostly because he has so much experience of it. Lots of compliments and almost startled innocence when he is asked why he fell out with Pellegrini in Spain, but enough throwaway lines here and there to manipulate the headlines and be noticed.

Everybody knew which team would immediately be implicated when he talked, without naming names, about clubs with a "dodgy" perception of the financial fair-play rules (clue: not Paris St-Germain this time) and there was a personal edge when he brought up, unsolicited, Pellegrini's error of not realising another goal against Bayern Munich would have meant City winning their Champions League group.

"The first thing to be successful in Europe is to know the rules of the competition, that's the first thing," the two-times Champions League winner helpfully volunteered.

On Pellegrini's part, there has been a look of weary, seen-it-all-before indifference. Some managers prefer to be self-contained, and City's is better described as vacuum-packed. "I never comment on anything Mourinho says," he says.

Mourinho, passing around flutes of champagne and clinking glasses at one recent press conference, is an entirely different beast. What stands out most of all is the sense of grievance he has towards City because of the acclaim they receive. More than once, he has taken exception to it and referred back to the hostilities that accompanied his title wins for Chelsea, in line with Roman Abramovich's rebuilding of the club.

"In my time we were accused of buying the title, no? Because our owner was Mr Abramovich, just arrived in the country. Maybe now people see City in a different way. I don't know. And I don't care. I don't envy the fact that they have this kind of protection, or whichever word it is."

He did follow that up by explaining that maybe super-rich owners were no longer a novelty, but it was all wrapped in the same accusation that Chelsea were taking FFP seriously – so why could others not?

Asked if Chelsea could compete with City, he said: "If they want to make it impossible, yes it's impossible. Because we are not competing outside of what is important for us: the fair FFP. We are working, thinking and believing that FFP is going to be in practice. So there are things that are impossible for us.

"Financially, no [we can't compete]. Back then [his first spell at the club] it was a free world. There was no FFP. If your club was a rich one, your owner a rich one, there were no rules. It was an open situation."

His evidence includes the declaration that Chelsea cannot take on City for the signing of Eliaquim Mangala, the 22-year-old France international centre-half who will be available from Porto in the summer. Jorge Mendes, Mourinho's own agent, is involved in finding Mangala a club, but the price tag is around £37m.

"We can't," Mourinho said. "We signed [Kurt] Zouma, who is even younger and a comparable figure. We have the central defender of the Brazil national team [David Luiz], the centre-half of the English national team [Gary Cahill], and the best central defender in the Premier League 2013-14 [John Terry]. So we're fine."

Rewind there. The best central defender in the Premier League? "I was not expecting it," Mourinho admitted. "Not after the season he had last year. I was not expecting it. I would like to see him playing this way until the end of the season." And the World Cup? "The World Cup is with him and Roy [Hodgson], not with me."

Mourinho was asked which players had impressed him the most for City. "The two midfield players have always played well, so [Yaya] Touré and Fernandinho. I think the third striker is very, very good. [Edin] Dzeko, every time he plays, plays very, very well. The wingers are good, the full-backs … they're complete, they have everything."

Someone asked whether opposition teams were scared of attacking City and he interrupted the question. "But I don't know if they don't [attack] or if they can't [attack]. Maybe they can't. I want to attack them. I can tell you that. But after 10 minutes, people might say I'm not attacking. If I don't, it's because I can't."

He continued: "I don't think a lot about them, to be fair. I'm not going to build my team because they are very good at this or that, or bad at this or that. In this moment, Chelsea are going in one direction. Are we going to play with one striker? Yes. We are not going to play without a striker. Are we going to play with three central defenders because they have two fantastic strikers? No. I want to play with two. I think more about us than them."

His team, though, are in a game of catch-up. "A bit more time. A little bit more players. Just a little bit." City, he readily admits, have to be considered favourites, both short- and long-term.

Daniel Taylor

After a frantic week of madcap events Oxford are back on an even keel | Jeremy Alexander

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:59 PM PST

The name Lewis has connotations with Oxford in more ways than one and now Mickey is hoping to get in on the act

Lewis Carroll wrote of Oxford: "There never was such a place for things not happening." United set about changing that a weekend ago when, after beating Torquay at the Kassam Stadium, Chris Wilder, the manager, said goodbye to his players in the dressing room, apparently confirming the rumour that he was leaving for the Cobblers, and Ian Lenagan, the chairman, accepted it. "I've just looked in his office and he's not there," he said. As a mad tea party it knocked Carroll into a cocked hat.

Order was restored the next day and better than normal service resumed in the subsequent week. Wilder resigned on Sunday and was named as Northampton's manager on Monday. On Tuesday Oxford drew 0-0 at Exeter and on Saturday, at home to AFC Wimbledon, they won 2-1 to remain unbeaten in League Two this year and rise to third in the table. They had not won successive home games for 18 months. The Kassam, with one end open, is no fortress but this looked promising.

Bewilderment soon gave way to dignity and Lenagan gave due thanks to Wilder, whose five years as manager had not only made him the third-longest in the League but ended the club's Conference demise and given them three top-half finishes in League Two. He has exchanged a promotion push on a 12-month contract for a relegation fight on three and a half years.

Lenagan took it in the stride of a man who is chairman also of Wigan Warriors, a currently bigger lot. "Football moves forward very quickly," he wrote in the programme, perhaps oblivious of West Ham's display at Chelsea and a 21st-century manager's inability with infinite resources to overcome it. "In Mickey Lewis and Andy Melville we are very fortunate to have two hugely experienced football men who care passionately about the club." Melville, the coach, had three years as a player in the early 90s. Lewis, for a dozen years after Oxford's top-tier spell in the mid-80s, was a battling midfielder who earned the nickname Mad Dog. Who needs Martin Allen, the early hot tip for the manager's role?

The chairman said he would "not be rushing" to make an appointment. Lewis, previously Wilder's assistant, is in charge. He had an earlier stand-in stint at the turn of the century and has never really been away – a tousle-topped dog that found a home and just stayed there. Oxford have six games in 26 days starting at Bury tomorrow – time to prove himself. He said in his first notes: "The best policy is just to focus on the next game." Unfortunately they were signed off with Wilder's name. That is what happens after five years.

First signs were that Lewis may be more town than gown, certainly a team after his own heart. Wimbledon came at them strongly, especially in the air, and Oxford, without two front-line centre-backs, Jake Wright, the captain, and Michael Raynes, stood up well. "A good three points," Lewis said in his baggy shorts and boots. "We put in a shift." Where the general rallying call was to keep heads up, David Hunt said "we've just got to keep our heads down". Having moved in from right-back to plug the vacancy beside Johnny Mullins, he was caught in two minds, between heading out and nodding back, to let Charlie Wyke in for Wimbledon's goal, the first Oxford have conceded in the league this year, and set up a tense last 20 minutes.

Apart from a header by Josh Ruffels, 20-year-old son of the butcher by the old Manor Ground, Oxford hardly threatened until shortly before half-time when Tom Newey, the left-back, headed in Danny Rose's corner, his first goal for the club.

For all the neat midfield work of Rose, Ruffels and Nicky Wroe, on loan from Preston, it took the arrival of David Connolly, a last-day loan signing from Portsmouth, to fire them into consistent menace. He played for the old Wimbledon before the Milton Keynes hijack and now, at 36, his darts and twists were too sharp for the Dons' defence. In particular he caught Will Antwi flat-footed as he seized on Ruffels' through-ball down the left and flicked home right-footed from 18 yards past Ross Worner's advance. He was an Oxford legend in 11 minutes. Lewis remarked his "clever running behind people". In a single week Oxford United had gone from farce to class. Their season could now be a shaggy dog story.

Jeremy Alexander

Swansea's plight not even helped by ludicrous Andy Carroll red card

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:59 PM PST

The most damning statistic was that Swansea City did not have one shot on target, even after Andy Carroll's ludicrous red card with half an hour left. It will lead to the usual criticisms, that Swansea are soft, that they pass the ball too much and could do with a bit more thrust and, whisper it, some good old-fashioned British blood and thunder.

Yet their plight is more nuanced than that. It is not necessarily the case that Michael Laudrup's side could do with a Plan B, more that they have misplaced their A-game and forgotten what made them successful in the first place.

After losing Carroll, West Ham retreated and ended the match with three centre-backs on the pitch, but Swansea played into their hands by dumping cross after cross into the box. While it might have looked like an alarming betrayal of their ethos, it also suggested they have lost confidence in themselves; the snappy, incisive passing that has earned Swansea so many plaudits was nowhere to be seen.

Swansea badly miss Michu, who could return from injury for the visit of Cardiff City on Saturday, and are sleepwalking towards the bottom three. They have won one of their past 10 league matches and this defeat left them two points above 18th-placed West Ham.

Although Laudrup said that he still believes in Swansea's style, he certainly compromised at Upton Park by selecting Jordi Amat as a defensive midfield shield in order to combat the aerial threat of Carroll and Kevin Nolan. It did not work, though, Carroll creating both of Nolan's goals with cushioned headers from high balls into the box and it meant that there was no place for Leon Britton. Swansea's diminutive midfield orchestrator, the player who sculpts so many of their attacks, never made it off the bench.

"It's not nice," Ashley Williams, Swansea's captain, said. "I don't enjoy it, to be honest. It hurts. It's embarrassing. It's on the TV. We lost again. We lost too many games, too many goals conceded. It does my head in. I'm as frustrated as anyone because we're all responsible. It's the time to look at the table. But it's not nice viewing for us. It's the first time it's been like that since I've been at Swansea, I think. It's not nice."

What also wasn't nice was the way the preposterous Chico Flores got Carroll sent off, flopping to the floor as if he had been felled by a right hook from Manny Pacquiao, when in reality the top of his head had been brushed by a flailing arm. It did not even look intentional but Howard Webb fell for it and Carroll will miss West Ham's next three games if he does not win an appeal against the decision.

Despite that disappointment, West Ham's 10 men were never in danger and showed no signs of fatigue after Wednesday's 0-0 draw at Chelsea. Digging in after having a player sent off has become a feature of Sam Allardyce's time at Upton Park.

"It's all about everybody knowing they have to work a little bit harder and then focus on one major thing, which is not letting the opposition get too many chances," Allardyce said.

"Don't open yourself up too much. And defend in the final third with your life. That's why we've got 11 clean sheets this year, our defending is superb. So just a few more goals and we'll be out of trouble, no problem."

Now there's a man who is never short on confidence. Swansea could take a leaf out of Allardyce's book.

Man of the match Andy Carroll (West Ham United)

Jacob Steinberg

David Moyes despairs after Stoke sink Manchester United's Europe hopes

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:59 PM PST

Perhaps deep down David Moyes has accepted Manchester United will fail to qualify for next season's Champions League. To think anything else may be delusional as this eighth league defeat of an awful campaign came with Juan Mata, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney all starting in what was, the suspended Nemanja Vidic apart, arguably Moyes's strongest XI.

In 2014, United have lost five of their eight games. On this evidence Mata's £37.1m arrival will not solve the lack of pace in thought and execution, or the confidence-deficit again present against a Stoke City team who had failed to record a league win since 21 December.

Moyes is not at the point where he will concede Champions League football is impossible next term. Yet asked if he could bridge the gap to Liverpool, who are seven points ahead, he felt unable to be positive. "All I can do is try to win the next game. There's a lot of games to play and we'll try and do that," the manager said.

Must United win all their remaining matches to qualify for the Champions League? "Well, we'll have to win the next one, so you're not going to get me to say any more than that," Moyes said. "I didn't win that [against Stoke] and I thought that [it] was important so we'll try and win the next one we'll play."

For Chris Smalling there is no doubt. With United having 14 matches left, three points must be claimed in every outing. "Yes, I think that is the case," the defender said. "We've got to go into it as if we need to win every game. We're the ones who have to catch them [Liverpool]. We've not done ourselves any favours with losses like this. Each point that we drop makes it difficult for ourselves. We can only take the next game as it comes and other teams will drop points as well but we need to stop dropping points. We need to put pressure on other teams."

United last missed out on the Champions League 19 years ago. "Obviously we're not in those positions at the moment and that's a worry but there is plenty of football," Smalling said. "Time is running out and we need to make sure we put things right come the next game."

Moyes was left citing the old standby of bad luck, the sign a manager is running out of answers. Jonny Evans's calf injury and a concussion for Phil Jones meant Moyes lost both centre-backs before the interval. More ill-fortune followed when Charlie Adam's 35-yard free-kick ricocheted off Michael Carrick's knee to leave David de Gea stranded as the ball wandered past him for Stoke's opener.

There have also been injuries to Van Persie, Rooney and a host of other players this term, plus other moments when Lady Luck has deserted United. For Moyes it all adds up to the poorest run of his managerial career. "Never as bad as this one," he said. "I'm a football guy and I know how it works and you take it as it comes and goes. I think this has been quite a long sustained period but I don't rely on luck. I believe you earn your luck by how hard you work. You've got to turn it yourself – you can't be relying on referee's decisions, etcetera."

After Van Persie equalised two minutes into the second half, Adam's second was a 30-yard screamer that left De Gea no chance.

Moyes did concede the team are giving themselves too much to do by falling behind in matches. "I agree," he said. "We need to stop conceding goals to give ourselves a better chance of winning."

The vagaries of the Premier League allowed Stoke's win to take Mark Hughes's side to 11th from 16th. As a former United striker who returned to the club in 1988 to help Alex Ferguson lift it into sustained success, Hughes knows what is required to emerge from adversity.

"Obviously there's huge focus on them," he said. "You have to deal with that attention. I used to use that as a motivation. From my point of view it was fear of failure. It was like: don't let anyone have the opportunity to criticise. That drove me on and I would suggest it's drove a lot of United players on. There will be pressure. It goes with the territory. David has been in the game a long time, he knows how it works, but United will give him time. He deserves time.

"He's served his dues and he's been given a fantastic opportunity at a great club to be really successful and I wish him well.

"It's difficult but he's got good qualities as a manager and he's been successful at his previous club. There's no reason why he can't shape the club in his own image and get success."

Moyes said he hoped to have Jones and Evans available for Sunday's visit of Fulham.

Man of the match Charlie Adam (Stoke City)

Jamie Jackson

Tottenham's draw at Hull City is a point gained, believes Tim Sherwood

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:30 PM PST

At face value it has not been a good week for Tottenham. A humiliating first Premier League defeat under Tim Sherwood's stewardship, zero January acquisitions and a maiden donation to Hull's 2014 Premier League points total. Not the stuff of a team harbouring thoughts of Champions League qualification.

Delving beneath the surface, however, all the noises hanging on the Humber sea fret were positive. Numerically disadvantaged, they were unable to halt Manchester City's juggernaut a few days earlier but their high-intensity response to trailing at the interval here further highlighted how they intend to claw back lost ground.

Sherwood rendered it a point gained at a venue where Liverpool were comfortably beaten not so long ago. Significantly, it was also the match that witnessed the return of a raft of internationals. The Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, whose quality finish cancelled out the home debutant Shane Long's early opener, and Jan Vertonghen, the Belgian defender, returned from ankle injuries while France's Younès Kaboul was on the bench. Sandro and Andros Townsend are nearing full fitness.

"They're all like new signings," said Sherwood, defending a dormant January. "When they're all fit we've got loads of numbers and we've got a nice blend. We didn't want to add to it because we didn't think we needed to."

Now is time for continuity. Less than six months ago, his predecessor, André Villas-Boas, assembled a new-look squad with a bounty of £110m. The one thing that Sherwood has invested in, according to those in the dressing room, is freedom of expression.

"He feels the connection with the players and everyone is happy with him," Vertonghen said. "Every manager has his own thing. Tim is maybe a little bit more direct. You never know what the best thing is for the team but I think this is working out quite well."

Sherwood's blueprint for success was certainly not lost on his dugout adversary Steve Bruce, whose skirmishes with Villas-Boas earlier this season saw Hull lose to a "dubious penalty" and then exit the Capital One Cup on spot-kicks.

"Certainly AVB wouldn't have played like that – two up top," Bruce said. "I thought they played four up top, really. They played the two strikers, they played Aaron Lennon high and Christian Eriksen off the front. So Tim's philosophy is: 'We're going to come here and beat you'.

"Good luck to him, if that's the way that he wants to play. It's quite refreshing. [Emmanuel] Adebayor has got a spark and when he is playing like he is at the moment, I don't think there is a better No9."

Statistically, there are few worse front men than the recalled Roberto Soldado, the £26m signing from Valencia paired with Adebayor here. He has scored only once from open play in the league this season, and the lack of conviction in his finishing contrasted to that of his Spanish compatriot Álvaro Negredo, who also arrived in England last summer.

"He's been playing for Man City, hasn't he? So it's not a level playing field," was Sherwood's defence. "To be fair, when you arrive from another country and a different league, it takes a while to get used to. But I am confident he can be a striker for Tottenham for many years and score loads of goals."

Bruce has similar belief that Long – already nicknamed 'the Rat' by the Hull captain, Curtis Davies, for his nuisance value to defenders – and Nikica Jelavic can fire Hull to safety. Long provided the first return on the £14m joint outlay by converting his only chance and the former Everton striker Jelavic peppered Spurs' Hugo Lloris throughout.

"I thought to myself at times, 'I wouldn't want to be playing against those two', because they did everything that they possibly could to score," Bruce said. "We're hoping they'll make the difference for us."

Man of the match Curtis Davies (Hull)

Richard Gibson

Kevin Mirallas free-kick keeps Everton in Champions League contention

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:30 PM PST

Everton have never had cause to doubt Kevin Mirallas's ability since his £6m arrival from Olympiakos. Availability and responsibility maybe but there has been no better illustration that he has remedied both than when the Belgium international lifted Everton from their Merseyside derby depression against Aston Villa.

Mirallas was one of the few to escape criticism in the 4-0 defeat at Liverpool. His reward on Saturday was the arduous task of facing three Villa central defenders on his own in the absence of the injured Romelu Lukaku and Lacina Traoré. As at Anfield, the 26-year-old responded tirelessly for little return. Until the 85th minute when his stunning 25-yard free-kick, a replica of one in his previous home appearance against Norwich City, kept Everton in Champions League contention and broke Villa's seven-season unbeaten run at Goodison Park.

"Anyone can learn the technique to take a free kick," said Roberto Martínez. "But to want the opportunity to win three points and not freeze, you have to be born with that."

Mirallas has accepted the responsibility of carrying Everton through a demanding, injury-hit period. He has also appeared in every Premier League game this season and not missed a league game for 12 months, a somewhat surprising statistic given the stop-start opening to his Goodison career.

The Everton manager said: "When you get players from abroad and a league like the Greek league it will take time to settle in but now you see he is himself. That is him. That is the player you saw at Olympiakos. He brings that star quality when it is needed. On top of that he has a work ethic for the team so it is really pleasing to see him develop. The physicality of this league is unique. Now his body is ready and his mind is ready and he is at the right moment in his career to cope with it."

Mirallas's latest set-piece speciality and Steven Naismith's polished team goal capped an impressive and crucial comeback against a Villa side set up to capitalise on Everton's shortage in attack. In contrast to a cutting display at Anfield a fortnight ago, Paul Lambert played three central defenders, aided and abetted throughout by Leandro Bacuna and Ryan Bertrand at wing-back, to absorb pressure.

The plan to hit on the counter worked to perfection when Bacuna gave Villa a first-half lead but otherwise the visitors offered little in the final third. It was Martínez's team who overcame the psychological weight of the derby, their injury problems and – with away trips to Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea on the horizon – the pressure to take three points. Only in the second half, however, with Steven Pienaar a major influence after replacing Ross Barkley, did Everton find the urgency and penetration required.

"Since the turn of the year we've been in pretty good form," Lambert said. "We came up to Merseyside the other week and did well. Everton have turned over some teams and it's not like they had a comfortable afternoon against us. I think tiredness crept in in the last part of the game and [it was] a wonder goal [that] settled it."

The victory and performance vindicated Martínez's faith not only in his attacking philosophy but in the character of an Everton team who, in fairness, have not exposed themselves to scrutiny on many occasions this season. "It was an exciting performance because it shows we can challenge in the final third of the season," the Everton manager said.

"You don't get a harder test of a team than on the back of a derby defeat, the way that it hurt everyone, and then conceding a goal to be behind like that at half-time. That sort of adversity is going to tell you an awful lot about a group of players and how you are going to finish the season.

"We showed we are not going to accept adversity – we are just going to change it. Even with the anxiety around Goodison we showed we can do what we have to do. For me it answered so many questions about the players and showed that we have learnt from painful lessons. From now on we are going to see a much stronger Everton."

Man of the match Kevin Mirallas (Everton)

Andy Hunter

Alan Pardew braced for Mike Ashley anger after drubbing by Sunderland

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:30 PM PST

Alan Pardew was propped up against a corridor wall but his distinctly edgy body language seemed that of a man traversing a minefield. When the questions came he braced himself. "Is this club capable of making permanent signings?" someone inquired. Newcastle United's manager hesitated. He was being offered a chance to deconstruct Joe Kinnear's tenure as St James' Park's director of football, a period that has seen two transfer windows come and go without a single permanent addition to the squad.

"I've got no comment to make on that one," said Pardew, eventually. Upset as he evidently is at Newcastle's failure to replace Yohan Cabaye, their midfield catalyst who joined Paris Saint-Germain for £20m last week, he knows criticising Kinnear would be tantamount to inviting Mike Ashley to remove him from the manager's office.

Newcastle's owner will be furious with Pardew for overseeing Newcastle's third straight derby defeat against Sunderland but he has hardly helped his manager's cause. At the start of last week, Pardew emphasised that neglecting to replace Cabaye would leave his eighth-placed side "vulnerable". The plea for reinvestment – made both publicly and in private conversations with Ashley and Kinnear – fell on deaf ears and Newcastle's manager has little option but to grin, through gritted teeth, and bear it.

"I'm a professional manager," he said. "If I was in charge, solely, of transfers things might be different but I'm not. I think I've made my opinions very clear this week and all the rest of it is confidential."

The contrast with Sunderland could not be greater. While Gus Poyet's work has been excellent in transforming them from relegation certainties to a side with not only a strong chance of survival but a Capital One Cup final place, the manager has benefited from his owner's unstinting support.

When it became clear Roberto De Fanti had failed as Sunderland's director of football, Ellis Short dismissed him, offering Poyet increased transfer market autonomy. When the manager signalled that signing Liam Bridcutt would be integral to implementing his possession-based manifesto, Short moved heaven and earth to persuade a reluctant Brighton to sell. Sitting in front of the back four, Bridcutt was outstanding on Saturday, his presence reducing Hatem Ben Arfa to anonymity.

Sunderland's owner, like Ashley, has made mistakes but the difference is he has not been afraid to offer corrections – and apologies. Perhaps even more importantly, Short seems to see a bigger picture.

By way of exacerbating Pardew's problems, Poyet's coherent vision contrasted horribly with the Newcastle manager's pragmatic but ill-advised decision to compensate for Cabaye's loss by reverting to a direct approach.

Centred around attempting to hit Shola Ameobi early with long balls, it did not work. "We kept passing it and they just kept kicking it from back to front," said Adam Johnson, who, after scoring seven goals in seven games, must be close to an England recall. "Our aim was to pass them off the pitch and we totally dominated."

Pardew asked Cheik Tioté to mind the influential midfielder Ki Sung-yueng but Newcastle clearly neglected to think about Jack Colback until it was far too late. Liberated by Bridcutt's anchoring presence, Colback shone in central midfield, creating the second goal for Johnson and scoring the third himself.

With Sunderland playing fairly high up the pitch, Poyet's wide players Johnson and Fabio Borini, who opened the scoring from the penalty spot, stifled Davide Santon and Mathieu Debuchy, Pardew's full-backs, preventing them from overlapping. Significantly, almost everything Sunderland did – down to their surprisingly restrained goal celebrations – was beautifully controlled.

Newcastle were rushed in possession. Without Cabaye they made no attempt to play the creative brand of subtle between-the-lines football Pardew has been gradually developing this season. When Pardew replaced Sammy Ameobi, his most imaginative individual, with the clearly far from match fit Borussia Mönchengladbach loanee Luuk de Jong at half-time it smacked of panic.

"Nothing went right for us," said the Newcastle midfielder Vurnon Anita, who conceded the penalty. "It hurts. We wanted to win so badly and it turned into a disaster. Our dressing room is a horrible place. We've let everyone down."

Ashley will presumably blame Pardew for walking – not for the first time – into Poyet's tactical trap but, as someone obsessed with the bottom line, Newcastle's owner should realise he has let down his manager. Badly.

Man of the match Jack Colback (Sunderland)

Louise Taylor

Adam Lallana stakes World Cup claim as Southampton leave Fulham reeling

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:29 PM PST

Perhaps the biggest shame of the controversy that surrounded Southampton and Mark Clattenburg at the turn of the year, when the club reported the referee to the Football Association for having told Adam Lallana that he had become "different now since you've played for England", was that it sullied the player's rise to international level. Lallana had impressed when called on by his country but, because of a supposed "insult", he was being viewed as a man who had let it all go to his head.

A month on from that affair, positivity has fully returned to the debate surrounding Lallana and England. A cloud may have been hanging over his head but the Southampton captain has played like a free spirit in recent games, with his performance in this victory perhaps the most eye-catching.

He scored the opening goal and was the driving force behind their thrilling second-half display. That it was all done in front of Roy Hodgson naturally led to Mauricio Pochettino being asked about Lallana's candidacy for England's World Cup squad. The Southampton manager was in no doubt: his player should be on the plane, even going as far as saying that, on current form, Lallana is good enough to play not only for England but also the World Cup hosts and holders.

"You can see he is one of the most talented players in England," Pochettino said. "He is very special and hopefully he can go to Brazil because he fully deserves it. In my opinion, if Lallana had Brazilian nationality or Spanish nationality, if he were another [Juan] Mata or Oscar, he would be going with their national side. I truly believe that."

That may be pushing it somewhat given Lallana has played only twice for England, in November's friendly defeats by Chile and Germany, but the 25-year-old has undeniably shown for club and country that he has the capabilities to perform at the highest level, and Pochettino was not wrong when he went on to describe the midfielder as "the type of player that is hard to find in other English teams".

This, after all, is an Englishman who is comfortable with both feet, can dribble with the ball out wide and centrally, and create chances as well as take them. Lallana has five assists and, after Saturday, seven goals in the Premier League this season. From an attacking point of view, he is pretty close to being the full package.

Hodgson will almost certainly select Lallana for England's friendly with Denmark next month and, as he left Craven Cottage, the national team manager would no doubt have been mulling over recalling Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez, both of whom also scored in Southampton's first league victory at Fulham since 1947.

Lambert, having set up Lallana for a low, fizzing drive on 64 minutes, struck himself from close range following good work by Nathaniel Clyne down the visitors' right flank before the striker, who now has 100 league goals for Southampton, set up Rodriguez with a sumptuous long pass. The curled finish that followed was not bad either and in 11 second-half minutes Southampton had blitzed their opponents with a show of swaggering, ruthless attacking intent. That the three main protagonists were English was not lost on anyone.

"There is a special chemistry between them," said Pochettino, before being asked if Lallana, Lambert and Rodriguez could and should play together for their country. "Yes, why not?" he replied.

For Fulham, this was a crushing afternoon. The hosts had started well, in particular the new signings William Kvist and Lewis Holtby, but they failed to take their chances and after the interval were opened up at near will by Southampton. It did not help Fulham's cause that they left themselves far too open at times and showed nervousness throughout at the back. Little wonder the team have conceded 53 goals in 24 league games, and with fixtures against Manchester United and Liverpool to come things are starting to look very bleak for the division's bottom side.

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going," said René Meulensteen, the head coach. "That's what we need to do."

Man of the match Adam Lallana (Southampton)

Sachin Nakrani

Fernandinho: I hope Brazil coach will watch Manchester City play Chelsea

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:29 PM PST

Luiz Felipe Scolari needs to watch Monday's game at the Etihad, says City's midfielder, who will be vying with Chelsea's Ramires, Oscar and Willian for a place in the Brazil squad

Fernandinho has a message for Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazil head coach, as Chelsea visit Manchester City for Monday evening's pivotal title showdown. "He needs to watch this game! Yes, I hope Scolari will be watching. The newspapers in Brazil say that he watched the last [City] game against Spurs on the television so I hope he was impressed. Getting to the World Cup is a big dream for me.

"There has been nothing from him or the Brazil FA yet but I hope it is coming. In February, they do the list for the next international game – against South Africa on 5 March. I keep hoping I will get the phone call but I need to keep working here and believe it can happen."

Fernandinho is the £30m summer buy who has become an instant hit in central midfield alongside Yaya Touré in City's stellar campaign, yet has not featured for Brazil since last year, when he won the last of five caps in a 2-1 friendly victory against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Seven seasons playing for Shakhtar Donetsk in one of the outposts of the European game is often cited as a factor. But with Chelsea sure to field Ramires, his direct rival for an international place, alongside fellow Brazilian Oscar and possibly others in Willian and David Luiz, the contest with José Mourinho's side, who arrive three points behind City, can be billed as a trial for the 28-year-old's World Cup hopes.

"Yes. I am sure about that," he says. "It's a big game. You could say it's like a derby because everyone is talking about it. I am sure the Brazilian manager will be watching because there are a lot of players he needs to see. If I have a good performance, there is no doubt it will open the door for me. That's what I am hoping.

"A lot of my rivals are playing in [the Premier League] – there is also Lucas [Leiva of Liverpool], Paulinho [at Tottenham]. A lot of them are at Chelsea – those are the main guys in the frame for Scolari."

Lucas's knee ligament injury means opportunity knocks for Fernandinho, with it being understood that Scolari is considering calling him up for the South Africa match.

Fernandinho says: "The Premier League is considered the best league in the world. If you are a manager and you have so many players in one game, you must be watching. He needs to know how we are all playing at club level – not just what players do when they go to the national team. I hope he will come to England before the end of the season."

What would beating Chelsea do for City's title hopes? "They are the main rivals, they have good players, a good manager. They are the other favourites for the title," he said. "But if we beat them, we'll be six points ahead. It wouldn't put them out of it because in the Premier League anything can happen in any match."

The City goal tally stands at 115 as Manuel Pellegrini pilots his side towards an unprecedented quadruple. The sight of Fernandinho, Touré, David Silva et al pouring forward can mesmerise and bring to mind Brazil's all-out-attack philosophy.

Yet Fernandinho believes City's style is more akin to the double European and world champions than Brazil. "I think it is more Spanish, the way we play here," he says. "If you remember in the Confederations Cup final last summer, it was 3-0 to Brazil. Spain tried to play the way they always play but Brazil were on top of them. You could say it was typical English football that Brazil played. When Brazil try to keep the ball like Spain, it seems they do not play so well."

Fernandinho is clear that City must win something this season rather than being remembered only for their football. Again, he points to his homeland. "Brazil are the hosts [of the World Cup] and Scolari needs to have a team who can win no matter. You think about past World Cups – in 2006 it was a fantastic Brazil team but we did not do so well that year. In 2010 the same, it did not go far either, only the quarter-finals. But in 94 and 2002 Brazil did not play the best football but won the World Cup; they found a way to win. Back in Brazil they talk about the great teams they had in 82 and 86. Fantastic teams to watch, great players. But they didn't win. You think about those players – Zico, Falcão, you could say they were the best team – but they didn't win. We pray that it won't be [the same for City]. We really want to win trophies and it's important."

Fernandinho has made 30 appearances and scored three times for City. And life away from the pitch is also enjoyable, as he finds a novel way of learning the language. "BBC Manchester. I listen to the Manchester news on local radio. It has helped me learn English. I have it on when I am driving to training in the morning," he says. "I like the radio because it makes you listen. When you are talking to me in a room like this, I look at your lips and try to learn but when you are listening on the radio you can't see but you can hear."

Jamie Jackson

Kim Kallstrom move backfires but Arsène Wenger defends deadline move | David Hytner

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:03 PM PST

It was a gamble to sign the Swede but the Arsenal manager's hand was forced by injuries to key players

According to Arsène Wenger, "we have all played with micro-fractures". Most of the time, the Arsenal manager said, "you don't even notice them." Arsenal, however, have noticed the micro-fracture to Kim Kallstrom's back and the club's lone January transfer market addition will not play for at least four weeks and more likely six. It could be even longer.

The situation is curious, to say the least and on one level, it highlights the craziness of the mid-season window, when so many compromises have to be made. On another level, it invites ridicule. Wenger has moved to address a midfield selection crisis, which has left him without Mathieu Flamini, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey for time scales that range from one or two to about six weeks with a midfielder who will be unavailable for about six weeks.

Wenger's justification was priceless. To paraphrase, and hopefully not too unfairly, he said that his midfielders were always picking up injuries and so when Kallstrom was ready, there would surely be further problems and the Swede could ride to the rescue. Wenger is not planning for this selection crisis but the next one.

Financially, as Wenger was keen to stress, there was no risk. Kallstrom's parent club, Spartak Moscow, have agreed to bear the cost of his wages until he is fit and there was no loan fee for a player who has not started a game since the league fixture against Zenit St Petersburg on 10 November.

Kallstrom has since been an unused substitute twice and an 84th-minute introduction against Rostov on 8 December – Spartak's last match before the Russian winter break, from which the league has yet to emerge. Kallstrom hurt his back during Spartak's warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi.

It is important to make the point that Arsenal's medical department detected the problem after a CT scan. Kallstrom's injury was not a post-transfer window shock which would have been embarrassing. The medical staff informed Wenger, they had warned him and it is not difficult to imagine them saying, "Arsène, are you sure that you want to do this?"

Wenger did wobble. Were he to have had two or three more days to sign somebody else, he would not have taken Kallstrom but it was 5pm on deadline day. What is a manager to do? It was better to take a decent player like Kallstrom for the run-in than to get no one at all. And Kallstrom is a decent player. Nobody wins 108 caps for Sweden by accident.

The story framed the visit of Crystal Palace to the Emirates Stadium but Wenger was simply happy to inhabit a world that was no longer shaped by Sky Sports' Countdown To Deadline Clock, and all of the shouting that goes with it.

Wenger has long since grown weary of the modern football theory that says the chances of trophies are in direct proportion to the number of pounds that are spent on players' fees. Throughout January, he had rolled his eyes, smirked and spoke in Wenger-speak when he was asked about new signings, even though there is always the desire among Arsenal supporters to see him spend some money.

It was very clear that Wenger wanted to say that Arsenal were at the top of the table, with the possibility of a serious title challenge, thanks to a group of players who had done pretty well over the first half of the season and it would be no hardship to soldier on with them. Chelsea and Everton added a couple of signings for the second half of the season but the other top six clubs did nothing.

Wenger often gives the impression that he is an accumulator of technically gifted, attack-minded midfielders – they are his version of a comfort blanket – and with the squeeze on because of Flamini's suspension and the injuries to Wilshere and Ramsey (the latter, a serious one), it was no great surprise to see him reach out for reinforcements. Wenger tried for Julian Draxler but the Schalke prospect was too expensive. He was also injured, although that is evidently no deal-breaker.

It was a midfielder that emerged from injury-induced misery who made the difference against Palace and how could it have been anything else? This was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's first Premier League start since 17 August and what Wenger called, with a touch of sarcasm, "the famous day against Aston Villa". Oxlade-Chamberlain was on the wing back then, when he suffered serious knee ligament damage but Wenger sees the England international's future in central midfield and the 20-year-old offered an illustration as to why.

With Mikel Arteta doing what Mikel Arteta does, namely provide security and not waste the ball, Oxlade-Chamberlain drove forward and he tried to make things happen. There were one or two mistakes from him in the first half but he continued to show for the ball and, in the second half, the shackles came off.

The catalyst was his first goal since December 2012, a beautiful finish from a pass by Santi Cazorlaand, thereafter, he enjoyed himself. There was urgency to his passing; power and acceleration to get away from pressure. The second goal showcased everything that is good about his game. Wenger has his new central midfielder, after all.

David Hytner

Arsène Wenger says transfer deadline forced his hand on Kim Kallstrom

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 01:45 PM PST

• 'At 5pm on Friday it was a case of sign him or nobody'
• Oxlade-Chamberlain justifies manager's 'central' belief

Arsène Wenger has admitted he would not have pursued the loan signing of Kim Kallstrom from Spartak Moscow had there been more time before the closure of the transfer window, with the veteran Sweden midfielder expected to be absent until mid-March with a micro-fracture of a vertebra.

Kallstrom, who has not started a game for the Russian club since 10 November, sustained the damage playing football on the beach during Spartak's warm-weather training break in Abu Dhabi two days before the cut-off. The 31-year-old's medical last Friday revealed the fracture but, with six hours before the deadline at that stage, Wenger deemed the loan worth pursuing to give himself an extra option for the campaign's daunting run-in, with the Swede his only addition during January.

The Arsenal manager, whose team returned to the top of the table by beating Crystal Palace 2-0, revealed that Spartak had agreed to pay Kallstrom's wages for the first six weeks while he recovers, with Wenger taking full responsibility for the deal despite the medical prognosis. "If you've played football, you might have played with a micro-fracture of a vertebra without knowing you had it," he said. "You don't even notice it. It crossed my mind [not to complete the deal] but I would not have signed him if we'd had two or three more days to do something.

"But it was 5pm on Friday night, so it was a case of sign him or nobody. We might need the players in March or April, you know, so it is a security and a free loan. We think four weeks is the best-case scenario; four to six weeks. The injury was an accident. Of course there's a possibility, like there is for every player, that he does not actually play for Arsenal but there is also the chance he scores a wining goal that's vitally important. We will only know if we're right or wrong at the end of the season.

"I made the decision because, across midfield, we have had players who have suffered injuries or suspensions: [Mathieu] Flamini, [Jack] Wilshere, [Mikel] Arteta, [Santi] Cazorla … they've all missed games and a part of the season. Even when they are back, a few of them might miss the next part, too. It's true that we have not sorted out the problem for the next four to six weeks but it was difficult to identify a player of Kallstrom's stature on a free loan and for the short term. You don't want to be locked into a deal for three or four years, where you pay them to do nothing. He has 108 caps for Sweden and played for seven or eight years in France, so I know the player well. I had a decision to make."

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, on his first Premier League start since the opening day of the season, scored the second-half goals to defeat Palace and send Arsenal back to the top with Manchester City to play Chelsea on Monday night. The England international, who scored his first club goals since December 2012 and his first of any kind since his country's 2-2 draw in Brazil last June, operated in central midfield alongside Arteta.

"I always believed he could play wide and central but that his future would be central," added Wenger, who will welcome Jack Wilshere back for Saturday's trip to Liverpool. "He's proved me right by scoring the goals but also in the quality of his performance. He was injured against Aston Villa on that 'famous day', and it took him a while to get back. But it's good to have him back."

Dominic Fifield

West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Liverpool | Premier League match report

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 01:30 PM PST

The abiding image of the afternoon was the sight of Kolo Touré holding his head in his hands in despair. Leading through Daniel Sturridge's 18th goal of the season, Liverpool threw away what could prove to be two costly points after a moment of madness from Touré and, to rub salt into the wound, the man who punished the Ivorian was a former Everton striker who had been on the pitch for little more than three minutes.

Victor Anichebe's second goal for West Bromwich Albion, since arriving from Goodison Park in a £6m deal on deadline day in September, pegged back Liverpool and earned the home team a precious point that they arguably deserved after a much improved second-half performance.

Brendan Rodgers did his best to put on a brave face afterwards. The Liverpool manager mentioned that his side had picked up four points against a club who did the double over them last season and, referring to Touré's faux pas, said: "When you make an error, some teams can go under and you can end up losing that game 2-1."

It was hard to view this as anything other than a missed opportunity for Liverpool, especially on the back of Manchester United losing and Tottenham Hotspur drawing 24 hours earlier. Liverpool remain fourth, two points ahead of Everton and three in front of Spurs, but a chance to put a little daylight between themselves and the chasing pack was passed up.

On a lifeless pitch, which both managers complained about Liverpool looked flat, struggled to play with fluency and threatened only sporadically. That said, the visitors had a wonderful chance to go 2-0 up in the second half and, possibly, put the game beyond Albion. Luis Suárez, of all people, was the man who failed to show a clinical touch in front of goal when it was needed. The striker, who had set up Sturridge's goal with a superb cross, was guilty of shooting too close to Ben Foster when one on one with the keeper just before the hour.

It was a reprieve for Albion and one that they took full advantage of eight minutes later when Touré attempted a square pass to Martin Skrtel on the edge of his own penalty area. Rodgers implied that Simon Mignolet should never have rolled the ball to Touré in the first place but, irrespective of the rights and wrongs of the Liverpool goalkeeper's distribution, it was a suicidal pass for Touré to try to make.

Anichebe, who had replaced Saido Berahino 199 seconds earlier and was afforded the traditional welcome that former Everton players get from Liverpool fans, read Touré's intentions and, after taking a touch, drilled a low shot from 18 yards beyond Mignolet and into the corner of the net. Touré looked as if he wanted the ground to swallow him up.

Pepe Mel, Albion's head coach, viewed the goal as reward for the pressing game that he has been keen to introduce since arriving at the club but which he felt his players had failed to implement during a first half when Steven Gerrard, who was once again deployed in a deep-lying role, had too much time on the ball. "It was high press, [Matej] Vydra and [Zoltan]Gera together, then a bad pass," said Mel, whose side are one point clear of the relegation zone.

The game was not much of spectacle, in particular during an opening 45 minutes in which Sturridge's goal was the only shot on target. The goal was simple in its execution but beautifully created by Suárez.

Philippe Coutinho's measured pass invited the lively Raheem Sterling to escape on the Liverpool right. Suárez picked up possession inside the area and clipped a left-footed cross towards the back post where Sturridge could not miss from two yards.

Toothless in the first half, Albion came close to equalising within eight minutes of the restart, when Mignolet produced a superb one-handed save to keep out Gareth McAuley's header. Then came Suárez's golden opportunity, after Touré's long ball exposed the limitations of Diego Lugano, who was dropped following his dismal display against Aston Villa on Wednesday but introduced as an early substitute here after an injury to Jonas Olsson.

Suárez shrugged his Uruguay team-mate aside, sidestepped the challenge of McAuley but saw his right-foot shot, from inside the area, repelled by Foster's left boot. "I think everyone in the ground thought 'this is a goal' but Ben Foster's a brilliant shot-stopper and he made a good save there," Rodgers said.

Anichebe was nothing like as generous when Touré presented him with the sort of chance any centre-forward dreams about. "It was a gift," Foster said. "How on earth he has failed to see the biggest guy in the world standing in the middle of the 18-yard box, I'll never know."

Man of the match Youssouf Mulumbu (West Bromwich Albion)

Stuart James

Touré's 'terrible' error costs Liverpool

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 01:28 PM PST

• Defender sorry for mistake that leads to West Brom equaliser
• Manager Brendan Rodgers says player is 'devastated'

Kolo Touré admitted he was guilty of the "crazy" mistake that cost Liverpool two points in the race for fourth place, after the defender played a suicidal pass on the edge of his own penalty area to present Victor Anichebe with a second-half equaliser at West Bromwich Albion.

With Tottenham Hotspur drawing and Manchester United losing on Saturday, Touré said that Liverpool had "missed an opportunity" to capitalise because of his "terrible pass". Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, suggested that Simon Mignolet was as much at blame for giving Touré the ball in the first place, but the former Arsenal and Manchester City defender took full responsibility for the goal that cancelled out Daniel Sturridge's earlier strike.

"It was a game we should have won 1-0. It was a terrible pass by me," Touré said. "It's hard because we played well. It was a tough game. I take the call because it was a very bad pass. I haven't seen him [Anichebe]. I should have just played to Aly [Cissokho].

"My pass just put the team in a difficult situation. I haven't seen him and I shouldn't have passed the ball there. You have to make decisions. Today I took a bad one. [Brendan] doesn't get angry. He was just disappointed with the situation in the game. I'm disappointed.

"We have missed an opportunity today but the season is long. We just didn't need to have that kind of mistake. I made a bad decision. I don't know why I have passed it into the middle of the pitch, it was crazy. I've made a few mistakes in my life and you learn every day. I will learn from it."

Rodgers described Touré as "devastated" but refused to be too hard on the central defender. "It is the price you pay when you try to play but he should not have received the ball in the first place," the Liverpool manager said. "It's part of our learning. We are where we are because we have the courage to play football and build the game from behind.

"Kolo is experienced; he knows it was a mistake and he is a really conscientious player, so he is devastated. It was a good finish from Anichebe but unfortunately it has cost us two points. Hopefully at the end of the season we will see the result as a point gained.

"We came here [and lost] and lost at home last year but we've got four points out of six and for us to be disappointed with a point away from home shows the growth of the team."

Stuart James

Arsenal 2-0 Crystal Palace

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 01:19 PM PST

This was a grind but Arsenal, as they have shown regularly this term, are not averse to squeezing out tight, patient victories these days. Arsène Wenger's side are restored to the top of the Premier League and considerably buoyed by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's first goals in 14 months. They will watch the two teams directly below them slug it out on Monday satisfied that their own job has been done.

It was heartening to see the England midfielder drive them on, summoning energy and the opening goal just as anxiety was threatening to grip the home support. This was his first league start since the season's opening day and the celebrations after his clipped effort looped over Julián Speroni were an outpouring of five months of frustration in rehabilitation after a knee-ligament injury. In a midfield depleted by pulls, tweaks and suspension, Oxlade-Chamberlain's was a reassuringly crisp presence in the centre. Arsenal can tap into his enthusiasm over the weeks ahead.

The identity of the goalscorer aside, this contest had followed a prescribed script. Crystal Palace had retreated deep with ranks massed behind the ball, stifling the play and forever coiled to spring up-field on the counterattack. The onus had been on Arsenal to break them down but, while a team who include Mesut Özil and Santi Cazorla in their number rarely lack for invention, there was too much plod in the clutter for comfort. Arsenal have managed only three first-half goals in 10 league games and even Oxlade-Chamberlain admitted he had initially failed in his "duty to make more runs off the ball".

Yet barely three minutes into the second period he had made amends. Cazorla had created one of their clearest early sights of goal with a clipped diagonal pass for Nacho Monreal, whose volley was suffocated by an on-rushing Speroni on that occasion, but the Spaniard was allowed to repeat the pass just after the break. His delivery bypassed Palace's back-line, though they still might have escaped had Marouane Chamakh, back on familiar territory, not dithered and allowed Oxlade-Chamberlain to sprint from his side. The midfielder scuttled into the space behind Joel Ward to reach Cazorla's pass and flick his finish over Speroni.

The complexion of the game was altered and Palace were forced to demonstrate more adventure but, as a result, were vulnerable at the other end. The midfielder's second, 17 minutes from time, was smartly crafted and dispatched, Oxlade-Chamberlain exchanging passes with Olivier Giroud before a low finish across and beyond Speroni found the corner.

Arsenal will take huge comfort in his return, even if Jack Wilshere should be fit at Liverpool on Saturday. Mathieu Flamini will still be banned while Aaron Ramsey and even their loan signing from Spartak Moscow, Kim Kallstrom, remain crocked. The mystifying nature of the Swede's deadline-day arrival will be forgotten if the Englishman continues to make an impact in his absence.

Palace, too, have been here before. Their admirable resistance had been eroded at Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, their relative spirit of adventure unrewarded at Chelsea, in the months since Tony Pulis took up the reins. On those occasions they had threatened as an attacking force but here Jason Puncheon and Yannick Bolasie were erratic in their delivery when they had to be pinpoint. Palace have managed only 15 league goals all season, their best opportunity here thwarted by Wojciech Szczesny's near-post save after Puncheon's cross had been nodded on by Bolasie and headed goalwards by Cameron Jerome.That chance had come 90 seconds after Arsenal's opener and with it went the visitors' realistic hopes of a comeback.The return of Glenn Murray from his own knee-ligament injury, and the additions of Thomas Ince and Joe Ledley, should add to their armoury for the contests ahead, starting with the critical visit of the side immediately above them in the table, West Bromwich Albion, on Saturday. Murray will be included in the club's 25-man squad and is due to play for the development side in an under-21s game at Brighton on Monday night.

"We've got to score more but Glenn has got goals all over him, Tom [Ince] will score from wide and Joe has a good record from midfield," Pulis said. "We want to keep our organisation and resilience and show the spirit we have over the last couple of months but those three should offer us a threat. I'm disappointed because we've played a lot better than that at the other big clubs we've visited and looked a real threat in those games. But at least they kept working hard and showed good togetherness."

Arsenal are doing that at present to maintain their position as front-runners in the title race. There remain doubts as to whether the squad can withstand Manchester City's stampeding presence or Chelsea's knowhow but they have kept things going up to now. "I've faced that question, whether we can maintain it, since the start of the season," Wenger said. "And we are where we are. That cannot be a coincidence. You cannot be lucky over 24 games, that is for sure.

"People point to the fact we haven't won anything for so many years and it's hard to get that out of their brains now. We haven't done it for a while. And we face quality competitors, not average teams. City have scored over 100 goals, so everyone thinks: 'Can you beat this team?' I say yes." For the moment that is Chelsea's problem and Arsenal can sit and watch from the top.

Man of the match Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal)

Dominic Fifield

Bayern Munich 5-0 Eintracht Frankfurt | Bundesliga match report

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 12:59 PM PST

Bayern Munich restored their 13-point lead at the head of the Bundesliga as they cruised to a 5-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

Mario Mandzukic was involved in Bayern's two first-half goals, heading on for Mario Götze to drive into the left corner for the opener after 11 minutes and then making a nuisance of himself in the box before Franck Ribéry fired in the second just before half-time.

Arjen Robben and Dante scored in quick succession midway through the second half and Mandzukic snatched the fifth goal in the 88th minute as Bayern stretched an unbeaten record that now stands at 44 Bundesliga games.

Bayer Leverkusen, in second place despite already losing five games this season, had briefly made up ground on Bayern with victory over Stuttgart on Saturday.

Earlier on Sunday Nürnberg made it two wins out of two in 2014 with a 3-1 victory at Hertha Berlin.

Josip Drmic scored twice for the Bavarians, taking him to 10 goals for the season and four in two games, but the hosts were left fuming by a decision which denied them an equaliser late on.

Adrián Ramos gave Hertha the lead before Markus Feulner levelled and Drmic put the visitors in front but the real drama was reserved for the final few minutes when first Hertha were awarded a penalty only to see the referee change his mind and then give the Bavarians a penalty, from which Drmic wrapped up the win.

Neil Lennon may quit scouting trips after abuse at cup semi-final

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 12:54 PM PST

• Celtic manager pelted by coins from Aberdeen fans
• Told to leave in second half for his own safety

The Celtic manager Neil Lennon admits he is considering aborting his spying missions to Scottish grounds after being pelted with missiles during Saturday's League Cup semi-final at Tynecastle.

Lennon confirmed he had coins and cups of liquid thrown at him and suffered abuse as he sat in the directors' box surrounded by Aberdeen fans, who were watching their team beat St Johnstone 4-0.

Lennon, who was sitting next to the Hearts assistant manager Billy Brown and the Celtic coach Garry Parker, feared for the safety of himself and those around him before leaving shortly after the Dons netted a third goal in the 62nd minute.

Lennon, whose team host Aberdeen in the William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round on Saturday, said: "It was very disappointing, uncomfortable if you want to use the word.

"It was a great atmosphere and I don't want to take anything away from Aberdeen's day; it was a great day for them.

"I think it was drink-fuelled. About 30 minutes into the game a coin whistled past my head and actually hit a gentleman in front of me on his back and he's an Aberdeen fan. I think he was either a member of the board or maybe with the staff because he was sitting in the directors' box.

"Thankfully he wasn't that hurt as he had a big padded coat on. It's just hit him on the back, he's obviously aware of it and he's given the coin to a female steward.

"At half-time we were thinking about leaving, but they said, 'Look, we've got you seats closer to the press box'. So again, you don't mind the abuse, you can take that because you get that up and down the country.

"Then, when the third goal went in, a drink, I don't know what it was or what it was in, flew over our heads and landed in the press box. It hit two journalists and splashed all over their computers.

"We decided [to leave] then. We weren't forced to leave – it was said it was best to for our own safety, and the safety of people sitting around us as well."

Lennon, who did not feel the abuse was sectarian, had thought he would be safe. He added: "It was a neutral game, a semi-final where I'm only doing my job because we're playing Aberdeen next week. I've been at all the grounds – I was at Motherwell the week before watching Aberdeen and I've been up and down the country, and I've never had to put up with that before.

"It makes me think twice about going to games if that's the type of thing that's going to happen. It could have been worse – somebody could have been hurt. I'm not exaggerating it, someone could have been hit in the eye with a coin. It's just not on.

"Eventually you've got to say 'right' and maybe need to look at something else in your life if you can't go to a game and enjoy it when you're out working."

The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), which organises the security arrangements at League Cup semi-finals, apologised to Lennon. Chief executive Neil Doncaster said: "Given this occurred at one of our games, we'd like to apologise to Neil Lennon for this utterly unacceptable behaviour.

"The SPFL is united in its total condemnation of this type of incident, which has no place in a football stadium nor society overall."

Aberdeen earlier appealed for information to identify the culprits. The incidents happened yards above where Lennon was attacked during a game in 2011 by a fan who was later jailed for eight months.

The 42-year-old has been the victim of a number of crimes during his time at Celtic, the most serious of which saw two men jailed for five years for sending him parcel bombs.

Meanwhile, the Celtic fans showed their support to Lennon the following day with a special reception during the 18th minute of their team's 1-0 win over St Mirren.

Lennon, who wore the number 18 as a Celtic player, said: "Fantastic. I can't thank them enough for that.

"It's something we don't hear very often in games where we're so much in control, but I think the supporters felt today it meant a lot to me personally."

Watford 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion | Championship match report

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 11:47 AM PST

Watford did what they could not do against Nottingham Forest in midweek and held on to a 2-0 lead at home to Brighton. Their manager, Giuseppe Sannino, said: "I'm happy for my team because we came from three games where we didn't get what we deserved."

Watford's effective pressing game was a feature of their performance. "I knew that Brighton were the best team in terms of goals conceded away from home and if we score two goals it's because the pressing was very good," Sannino said.

"But [I was also impressed by] the desire of my lads and the effort that we were able to put into the game – we worked our socks off today. We named Troy [Deeney] and [Fernando] Forestieri but all the team [performed] at a high standard, a high level. The little, big man – Cristian Battocchio – played the last three games in a position where if you could record how many kilometres he runs would be amazing. The balance we saw today on the pitch, we have to give credit to Cristian."

Against Forest, Watford had surrendered a two-goal lead and eventually lost 4-2, but goals from Ikechi Anya and Fernando Forestieri on Sunday were enough to see off the Seagulls at Vicarage Road.

Brighton's assistant manager, Nathan Jones, stood in for Oscar Garcia and admitted it had been a frustrating afternoon for his side. "The first [goal] did come slightly against the run of play but they took that, it kind of knocked the wind out of us a little bit and we huffed and puffed without really taking the game to them.

"Then obviously the second goal came at a bad time as well and to rub salt into the wounds with the disallowed goal. All round, we're quite frustrated really."

The Seagulls gave a debut to their new signing Dale Stephens and Jones was pleased with his efforts. "Dale contributed You can see he's bright and busy with what he does. It's just sad really it was in a losing performance.

"today. We're not putting pressure on him because we know what he can do. He's very mobile, a very forward-thinking player and we're very happy to have him here."

Nottingham Forest 3-1 Yeovil | Championship match report

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 11:25 AM PST

The Nottingham Forest deputy manager, David Kelly, lauded the new signing Rafik Djebbour after the Algerian striker scored on his debut in the 3-1 win over Yeovil.

Jamie Paterson and Simon Cox also scored in a workmanlike display as Forest stretched their unbeaten run in the Championship to 11 matches, with Kieffer Moore replying for the Glovers.

"It was a great goal, a striker's goal – off his bum, off his hand and into the back of the net from a couple of yards," said Kelly. "I'm really pleased for him. He'll get better when he gets to know everybody and gets fitter. He's a goalscorer, a goal poacher and it's very early days for him."

Forest started off like an express train, with Henri Lansbury curling wide and Paterson's shot being blocked inside the first three minutes. Sloppy defending, though, almost led to a surprise Yeovil opener, but Moore shot wide.

Sixteen minutes in, though, Forest took the lead when Paterson latched on to Lansbury's through ball and his effort was helped in by the Yeovil defender Byron Webster. Yeovil hit back to equalise 10 minutes later, when Moore beat the keeper Karl Darlow to head into an empty net from Jamie McAllister's cross.

But seven minutes before the break, midweek scoring hero Cox restored Forest's lead. Paterson's effort was parried by Marek Stech to Jamie Mackie, who crossed for Cox to stab home.

After the break, Lansbury had a shot saved by Stech and Paterson fired against a post in a couple of rare chances as both sides struggled to create much going forward.

And after McAllister went close to grabbing a late equaliser, it was left to the second-half substitute Djebbour to bundle home Cox's driven effort to seal the points.

Kelly admitted he was pleased with the result, but played down talk of automatic promotion as they moved to within six points of second-placed QPR.

"It was a brilliant result and we're delighted to have come through a difficult game," said Kelly.

"We created quite a few chances, especially in the first 10-15 minutes and I thought we should have been further away.

"We're not talking about promotion, we really are taking it one game at a time and our biggest focus now is Preston on Wednesday in the FA Cup."

The Yeovil manager, Gary Johnson, was left to reflect on a second defeat in the East Midlands in a week that left the Glovers rooted to the foot of the table.

He said: "Nobody likes losing matches, but we have to be realistic. We started poorly and gave away a soft goal. It took us a while to get going, but once we started passing it I thought we had them worried.

"In the second half we had a couple of chances and until they got their third goal I thought we had them on the ropes at 2-1 down."

The Glovers are now six points behind Millwall who are in 21st place and Johnson added: "We've definitely not given up and heads will not drop just yet. All we've got to do is keep learning and the boys have got to believe in themselves."

Asked if he thought Forest were promotion material, he said: "Yes, I do. They've just got that extra bit of quality and players to win games and that's what we've found with prospective Premier League teams."

Premier League: Sunday's matches - in pictures

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 10:55 AM PST

A quick round-up of the best images from The Hawthorns, where West brom faced Liverpool, and the Emirates, where Arsenal faced Crystal Palace

Jonny Weeks

Arsenal v Crystal Palace – as it happend! | Ian McCourt

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 09:52 AM PST

Minute-by-minute report: Two well-taken goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain took Arsenal back to the top of the table

Ian McCourt

Lionel Messi talks Barcelona and World Cup 2014 - video

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 08:49 AM PST

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi says he is disappointed with his team's defeat against Valencia in La Liga, paving the way for rivals Real Madrid and Atlético to overtake in the La Liga table

West Bromwich Albion v Liverpool – as it happened | Daniel Harris

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 07:27 AM PST

Minute-by-minute report: Will Liverpool keep up their good form of late and beat West Bromwich Albion? Join Daniel Harris NOW to find out.

Daniel Harris

Tributes pour in for ex-Spain coach Luis Aragonés - video

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 07:10 AM PST

Tributes have poured in for former Spanish national coach Luis Aragonés who died at the age of 75 on Saturday

Manchester United's David Moyes: 'We were the better team' – video

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 06:43 AM PST

Manchester United manager David Moyes says his team was more likely to win, despite losing 2-1 to Stoke City in the Premier League

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Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:09

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

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