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Premier League roundup: Man City has a new second place side

By Nicholas MendolaDec 30, 2017, 3:10 PM EST
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For the first time this season, Manchester United will finish a match week outside the Top Two.

[ MORE: Old Firm Derby finishes level ]

Jose Mourinho’s men stumbled to a third-straight draw on Saturday, and rampant Chelsea gleefully leapt over their former boss.

All that and plenty of tumult near the bottom of the table in this Saturday’s Premier League roundup.

Manchester United 0-0 Southampton — RECAP

Chances were there before and after Romelu Lukaku was stretchered off the field following head-to-head contact with Wesley Hoedt, but make no mistake about it: Though United was ascendant, Saints could’ve easily had a lead were it not for David De Gea‘s continued heroics between the sticks for Manchester United.

Chelsea 5-0 Stoke City — RECAP

Antonio Conte saved Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas, Tiemoue Bakayoko, and Andreas Christensen from his usual Starting XI… and still waxed Mark Hughes‘ leaky Stoke City to the tune of 5-0. Davide Zappacosta finished the scoring in the 88th minute after Pedro, Willian, Antonio Rudiger and Danny Drinkwater (what a goal) scored for the now second place Blues.

Bournemouth 2-1 Everton — RECAP

Ryan Fraser likes his doubles, scoring in the 33rd and 88th minutes to give the Cherries a huge win, and end Sam Allardyce‘s loss-free run as Everton boss. Idrissa Gana Gueye scored in the 57th minute to temporarily restore level terms.

Huddersfield Town 0-0 Burnley — RECAP

Burnley missed its fair share of chances but will focus its frustrations on the penalty not awarded when Town goalkeeper Jonas Lossl got a piece of Jeff Hendrick in an 18-yard-box collision. The Clarets could be six points behind the “Big Six” as a result of the draw if other matches go against them.

Watford 1-2 Swansea City — RECAP

Carlos Carvalhal got the new boss bounce, but not before he saw Swansea City go down 1-0 at the feet of Andre Carrillo. The deficit stood until the 85th minute, when Jordan Ayew and Luciano Narsingh scored within five minutes to boost Swans to within sight of safety.

Newcastle United 0-0 Brighton and Hove Albion — RECAP

The Magpies will rue not finding the back of the net against Australian backstop Mat Ryan, who was very good against relegation-struggling Newcastle United. The visiting Seagulls move four points clear of the drop zone with the point, while Newcastle is just one point ahead of 18th place West Ham and 17th place Crystal Palace.

Liverpool 2-1 Leicester City — RECAP

Jamie Vardy took advantage of a rare Joel Matip error to put Leicester ahead, but that man Mohamed Salah scored twice to lift Jurgen Klopp into ecstasy at Anfield. The Reds are now fourth, three points behind Manchester United.

STANDINGS

Team GP W D L GF GA GD Home Away PTS
 Manchester City 20 19 1 0 61 12 49 9-1-0 10-0-0 58
 Chelsea 21 14 3 4 39 14 25 8-1-2 6-2-2 45
 Manchester United 21 13 5 3 43 16 27 8-2-1 5-3-2 44
 Liverpool 21 11 8 2 48 24 24 6-5-0 5-3-2 41
 Tottenham Hotspur 20 11 4 5 39 20 19 6-3-1 5-1-4 37
 Arsenal 20 11 4 5 37 25 12 8-1-1 3-3-4 37
 Burnley 21 9 7 5 18 17 1 5-2-3 4-5-2 34
 Leicester City 21 7 6 8 31 32 -1 4-2-4 3-4-4 27
 Everton 21 7 6 8 25 32 -7 6-1-3 1-5-5 27
 Watford 21 7 4 10 30 37 -7 3-3-5 4-1-5 25
 Huddersfield Town 21 6 6 9 18 32 -14 4-4-3 2-2-6 24
 Brighton & Hove Albion 21 5 7 9 15 25 -10 3-5-2 2-2-7 22
 Southampton 21 4 8 9 20 30 -10 3-4-4 1-4-5 20
 Bournemouth 21 5 5 11 20 32 -12 3-3-5 2-2-6 20
 Stoke City 21 5 5 11 23 46 -23 4-2-4 1-3-7 20
 Newcastle United 21 5 4 12 19 30 -11 3-2-6 2-2-6 19
 Crystal Palace 20 4 6 10 18 32 -14 3-3-4 1-3-6 18
 West Ham United 20 4 6 10 22 38 -16 3-2-4 1-4-6 18
 Swansea City 21 4 4 13 13 32 -19 2-2-6 2-2-7 16
 West Bromwich Albion 20 2 9 9 14 27 -13 1-6-3 1-3-6 15

Struggling Atleti in unfamiliar territory under Simeone

Photo by Oscar J. Barroso / AFP7 / Europa Press Sports via Getty Images
Associated PressJan 24, 2020, 9:11 PM EST
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MADRID — This is uncharted territory for many Atletico Madrid fans.

Few other times in recent years have they seen their team struggle so much under Diego Simeone.

[ VIDEO: Haaland has played 59 minutes, scored 5 goals for Dortmund ]

Few other times have they seen their coach fail so often while trying to put the team back on track.

Atletico hit a new low under Simeone on Thursday when it was eliminated by third-division club Cultural Leonesa in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey. The 2-1 loss in extra time was the team’s worst result in the cup competition since losing to third-tier club Albacete at the same stage in 2011-12.

Two days after that loss in 2011, Atletico hired the then-mostly unknown Simeone to replace Gregorio Manzano, a move that kick-started one of the club’s most successful eras and led to a Spanish league title, two Europa League trophies and two Champions League final appearances.

Atletico did go through difficult moments under Simeone, including when the team failed to advance past the group stage of the Champions League a couple of seasons ago.

“There were always complicated moments in past seasons, maybe after we didn’t make it in the Champions League, or when we lost in the Champions League finals,” Simeone said. “After being at the club for so long, things like this can happen, although they shouldn’t happen.”

There is a greater sense of urgency about the team’s struggles this time.

In addition to Wednesday’s embarrassing Copa del Rey elimination, Atletico lost the Spanish Super Cup final to Real Madrid on Jan. 12, and already is eight points off the Spanish league lead after 20 matches.

[ MORE: Report: Man United’s list of possible new strikers revealed ]

Before, there used to be a notion that Simeone would quickly turn things around and put the team back on track, but this time there aren’t many signs things will improve again soon.

Atletico has yet to impress since undergoing its biggest squad revamp under Simeone at the end of last season, when it lost Antoine Griezmann and other veteran players such as Filipe Luis and Diego Godin. Young Portugal forward Joao Felix, who arrived to replace Griezmann after a transfer from Benfica worth more than 120 million euros ($133 million), has yet to meet expectations.

More concerning, Atletico is not being nearly as effective as it used to be, when it always seemed to find a way to win matches despite not playing well.

The team remains solid defensively — it has the second-best defense in the Spanish league with 14 goals conceded — but it hasn’t been able to do much in attack recently.

“Everything is harder when you can’t score,” Simeone said.

Only seven teams have scored fewer goals than Atletico’s 22 in the 20-team standings.

Diego Costa has been mostly out injured, and Victor “Vitolo” Machin and Alvaro Morata haven’t done much in attack. Morata is the team’s leading scorer with 10 goals in all competitions, and no one else has more than five.

“We have to be humble enough to be self-critical,” Simeone said. “We need to keep working to try to be ready for the challenges that we have ahead of us. We have a very good squad and I’m sure that the results that we want will start arriving soon.”

Atletico biggest chance to rebound will come next month against European champion Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League. The first leg will be on Feb. 18 in Spain.

Mourinho in favor of PL’s winter break, but says timing all wrong

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
By Andy EdwardsJan 24, 2020, 8:20 PM EST
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Jose Mourinho seems to be quite happy that the Premier League will implement its first-ever winter break next month, allowing players a bit of rest and recovery time during a marathon campaign, but says its timing makes the break almost worthless for clubs competing in European competitions.

[ VIDEO: Haaland has played 59 minutes, scored 5 goals for Dortmund ]

The next four weeks will play out as follows for Tottenham Hotspur: FA Cup against Southampton this weekend; PL fixture against Manchester City next weekend; the following weekend off which results in two weeks without a game; PL fixture against Aston Villa the following weekend; Champions League first leg against RB Leipzig three days later.

In Mourinho’s perfect world, that first round of PL fixtures following the break would be held a week earlier, leaving the seven English clubs competing in the Champions League and Europa League with a week and a half between games before setting out once again to chase European glory. Instead, Tottenham, Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea will all have a quick turnaround from PL action to UCL competition — quotes from the Guardian:

“It is what it is. I’m not happy that the break comes in the wrong moment. The break should be before the Champions League and, in the end, before the Champions League we don’t have the break. We have to play Aston Villa on the Sunday, playing [RB Leipzig three] days later. So we don’t really care about the break, honestly.”

Mourinho’s point is a solid one: if the winter break is going to exist — and it should — then why shouldn’t its benefits be maximized? Non-European sides — typically those with smaller squads — would still have the full two weeks between games, while those in Europe are able to better leverage their slightly larger squads with only 10 or 11 days between games — still a lengthy break relative to the rest of the season.

[ MORE: Report: Man United’s list of possible new strikers revealed ]

It’s only the first year of the winter break in the PL, so perhaps hopefully they’ll receive Mourinho’s criticism — and that of any other managers — constructively.

Serie A: AC Milan extends unbeaten run since Zlatan’s arrival

Associated PressJan 24, 2020, 7:10 PM EST
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BRESCIA, Italy (AP) Ante Rebic scored his third goal in two matches, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was superb and AC Milan won 1-0 at relegation-threatened Brescia on Friday to climb into the Europa League places in Serie A.

[ MORE: Report: Man United’s list of possible new strikers revealed ]

Rebic, who scored twice in a win over Udinese last weekend, pounced on a loose ball directly in front of the goal following a cross from Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 71st minute.

Since Ibrahimovic’s return to Milan over the holiday break, Milan is unbeaten with four wins and a draw across all competitions.

Donnarumma produced several difficult saves to deny Dimitri Bisoli and Ernesto Torregrossa.

Also, Milan fullback Theo Hernandez hit the crossbar in the closing minutes.

The Rossoneri moved up to sixth place, four points behind fifth-place Atalanta.

[ MORE: Solskjaer’s transfer update; positive on rebuild ]

“Our goal is to qualify for Europe,” Donnarumma said. “We’ve got to continue like this and not rest for a moment. There’s another big Italian Cup match coming up with Torino midweek and we want to reach the semifinals.

“We’ll take it one game at a time and try to keep this momentum going.”

Brescia was without Mario Balotelli, who was suspended for two matches after protesting a booking last weekend that ended up with the striker being sent off.

Brescia remained one point above last-place Genoa.

FA Cup: Sheffield Wednesday into 5th round; Derby headed for replay

Photo by James Chance/Getty Images
By Andy EdwardsJan 24, 2020, 5:44 PM EST
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Sheffield Wednesday became the first club to reach the fifth round of the 2019-20 FA Cup by beating Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Friday.

[ MORE: Report: Man United’s list of possible new strikers revealed ]

The Owls took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Morgan Fox squeezed his shot past the goalkeeper from a tight angle, and Sam Winnall put the EFL Championship side 2-0 up by slotting the ball home just before full-time. QPR pulled a goal back through Nahki Wells just moments later, but it wasn’t enough and the game finished 2-1.

It’s the second time in three seasons that Wednesday has reached the fifth round after doing so just twice in their previous 17 seasons.

[ MORE: Solskjaer’s transfer update; positive on rebuild ]

Elsewhere, fellow Championship side Derby County, featuring Wayne Rooney who played all 90 minutes, couldn’t see off League Two side Northampton Town and will be forced into the dreaded replay after struggling to a scoreless draw away from home.

The draw for the fifth round will be held on Monday at 2:20 p.m. ET, prior to kickoff of Bournemouth v. Arsenal.