Soccer

IT IS impossible, surely, that Southampton will dig themselves out of trouble.But at the very least, having secured only their second win of the season and opening three points under new boss Ivan Juric, Saints will not be setting an unwanted Premier League record this season.Paul Onuachu ‘s late winner gave Saints second win of the seasonCredit: PAAribo’s flying volley from a deflected cross came out of nowhere to put Saints upCredit: ReutersLiam Delap equalised in the 31st minuteCredit: GettyOnuachu secured Saint’s first away game of the seasonCredit: GettyIvan Juric and his staff were jubilant, while Kieran McKenna was defeatedCredit: GettyPaul Onuachu stunned Ipswich by grabbing an unlikely 87th minute winner after Liam Delap cancelled out Joe Aribo’s opening goal.As you would expect, Southampton’s fans – having witnessed six successive top-flight losses – were in jubilant mood at the end while Michael Oliver’s final whistle was met with jeers from the home crowd.This means Saints on nine points so are still some way off safety. But over the next few weeks, however bad they might be – and they really are not very good – Southampton will overtake Derby’s embarrassing, record-low tally of 11 points from the 2007-08 season.READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWSIn what has been a terrible season, you can understand why many believed Southampton were going to be crowned worst of the worst.As for Ipswich, this was a really poor result. And, they could not end up getting a complex against south coast clubs. They were leading Bournemouth 1-0 here in December until the 87th minute and they ended up losing 2-1.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSBut this defeat was even worse as it was against a side Ipswich really needed to beat if they were to have realistic hopes of staying up. Kieran McKenna’s team could still do it, but it will not be easy.Liam Delap talks about joining Ipswich Town The problem is that despite their possession, Ipswich have little goal threat, other than £20million summer signing Delap, and while he has struck nine times, he cannot do everything on his own.The other problem is that Ipswich have bungling keeper Aro Muric in goal for the next month due to an injury to Christian Walton.Muric could have done better for both goals in what was a hugely frustrating day for McKenna with Ipswich having failed to win any of their last five Premier League games.Saints took the lead when Mateus Fernandes’ cross took a heavy deflection off home defender Jacob Greaves and it fell perfectly for Aribo. He had arrived inside the area completely unchallenged, something which will infuriate McKenna.Southampton fans sang ‘can we play you every week’Credit: PAKyle Walker-Peters celebrated with the away endCredit: PASaints, who are on nine points, are still some way off safetyCredit: ReutersAribo’s volley took a bounce before Muric made a terrible attempt to keep the ball out and the Kosovan gave the impression he was trying to usher it into the net.Delap, having wasted one chance to equalise, swept the ball past Aaron Ramsdale after overcoming a feeble challenge from Southampton centre-half Jan Bednarke after a superbly-weighted through ball by Nathan Broadhead.Juric replaced Taylor Harwood-Bells at the break for Jack Stephens but the club skipper – who had not played for nearly two months due to suspension and injury – was on the pitch for just 11 minutes before needing to be replaced by Will Smallbone due to a muscle injury.Ipswich will be disappointed at not testing Ramsdale more in the second half although when they did, Delap fired straight at the England keeper’s feet.READ MORE SUN STORIESAnd at the end, disaster struck for the Tractor Boys when Muric could only parry a shot from Kamaldeen Sulemana into the path of Onuachu who was never going to miss.At the end, Southampton’s fans sang “can we play you every week” and little wonder.Kieran McKenna’s side remain in the relegation zoneCredit: Reuters More

ABDOULAYE DOUCOURE created history as David Moyes continued his re-birth of Everton at the speed of sound.But for Ruud van Nistlerooy there was only more misery as Leicester City went down to an eighth league defeat in nine… and on the evidence of this collapse are going down.Everton swept Leicester aside after flying out of the blocksCredit: ReutersAbdoulaye Doucoure found the net with just 10.18 seconds on the clockCredit: AFPOnly 10.18 seconds were on the clock as Doucoure ran on to a whack down-field from Jordan Pickford and waltzed past the wallflowers around him to smash home.The Mali international’s strike was the fourth–fastest ever in the Premier League and the quickest by a home team in the competition.By the sixth minute, Beto had doubled the lead – that blue blur of a start sending the Toffees towards a third successive win for the first time since last April.Beto kept the momentum going two minutes into first-half stoppage time with his side’s third to leave Everton’s fans dancing in the aisles before Iliman Ndiaye tapped home as the clock hit 90.READ MORE ON FOOTBALLMoyes’ entrance as successor to sacked Sean Dyche and a return for a second stint in charge was marked by a 1-0 Goodison Park defeat to Aston Villa.That reverse, a third in a row, left the team that Moyes took over only a point above the drop zone.But they ended this game TEN points clear of third-bottom Wolves before they kicked off their tea-time clash with Villa – and even above Tottenham who drop to 16th – while the Foxes are falling fast again.The Scotsman wouldn’t dream of saying out loud that his return after a dozen years away is now steering the club to safety but he will quietly know that only complete disaster can stop that.Most read in FootballJOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUSEven the fact that the squad has been devastated by injury has done nothing to stop lift-off after that first loss on his return.Dominic Calvert-Lewin is out for ten weeks with hamstring trouble, on-loan midfielder Orel Mangala is going back to Lyon after suffering an ACL knee injury and winger Dwight McNeil is still recovering from knee surgery.‘That’s better than Shrek’ jokes Wayne Rooney as Roy Keane reveals Hollywood star people mistake him for in the streets Another striker in Armando Broja, on loan from Chelsea, faces a further six weeks’ absence as well with knee problems.Yet in Beto, the frontman who Dyche never could get a song out of, he has an alternative suddenly showing the power that persuaded the ex–boss to sign him for £26million from Udinese 18 months ago.The 27-year-old had only scored one Prem goal all season, his minutes strictly limited by Dyche’s preference for DCL.Yet here he was loving it under Moyes, running on to James Tarkowski’s pass and beyond Wout Faes to curve the ball around Mads Hermansen as cool as you like.James Garner, making his first start in four months after plenty of injury problems of his own, then delivered a brilliant, high-precision 30-yard pass and Beto again left Faes and Co for dead.Between those goals, the former Manchester United midfielder also hit Hermansen’s right-hand post.All-time quickest Premier League goalsApr 23, 2019: Shane Long (Southampton) at Watford – 7.69 secondsMar 4, 2023: Philip Billing (Bournemouth) at Arsenal – 9.11 secondsDec 9, 2000: Ledley King (Tottenham) at Bradford – 9.82 secondsFEB 1, 2025: ABDOULAYE DOUCOURE (Everton) v Leicester – 10.18 secondsJan 18, 2003: Alan Shearer (Newcastle) v Man City – 10.52 secondsJan 31, 2018: Christian Eriksen (Tottenham) v Man Utd – 10.54 secondsMar 17, 2001: Mark Viduka (Leeds) at Charlton – 11.90 secondsSep 30, 1995: Dwight Yorke (Aston Villa) at Coventry – 12.16 secondsApr 1, 1995: Chris Sutton (Blackburn) at Everton – 12.94 secondsJan 10, 2004: Kevin Nolan (Bolton) at Blackburn – 13.48 secondsDoucoure should also have claimed his second in the 45th minute but was leaning back when he connected with Vitaliy Mykolenko’s perfect lay–off.All of which tells the story of the Foxes’ first half in which they couldn’t even run for cover.And going forward? Forget it. Veteran Jamie Vardy had been allowed just nine touches when he was replaced by Patson Daka and hour in.Van Nistelrooy would have hoped that the shock 2-1 win at Tottenham last weekend would have inspired his side.READ MORE SUN STORIESYet they were left shell-shocked by that lightning opener and never got over it, Ndiyae adding a fourth in the final minute when Faes and Caleb Okoli ran into each other.Van Nistlerooy, just a dozen games into the job, has won only two of those in the Prem and if he’s not already looking over his shoulder then he should be.Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club.Doucoure was all smiles after the perfect startCredit: GettyBeto got his second and third Prem goals of the seasonCredit: ReutersIliman Ndiaye could not miss as he scored the fourthCredit: RexRuud van Nistelrooy’s side came crashing back down to earth after the win at SpursCredit: ReutersJamie Vardy touched the ball nine timesCredit: ReutersWout Faes was at the thick of the actionCredit: Getty More

EVERTON made history with their record-breaking goal after just TEN SECONDS against Leicester.Abdoulaye Doucoure wasted no time putting the Toffees in front in the huge relegation six-pointer. Abdoulaye Doucoure gave Everton the lead against Leicester in the opening secondsCredit: GettyHe latched on to Jordan Pickford’s long ball upfieldCredit: GettyThere were just 10.18 seconds on the clock when the ball crossed the lineCredit: AFPFrom Everton’s kick-off, James Garner passed the ball directly back to Jordan Pickford.The goalkeeper then punted the ball upfield, where Doucoure pounced on some woeful Leicester defending to chest the ball down, run past the Foxes statues and slide the ball past Mads Hermansen.Incredibly, the official scoreboard had still not even come on the screen on the Premier League’s feed of the match.The official time of the goal was 10.18 seconds.READ MORE ON FOOTBALLThat made the super speedy strike the fourth-fastest goal in Premier League history.But it also was the fastest goal scored by a home team since the league’s reformation in 1992. Shane Long still holds the all-time record, scoring for Southampton at Watford with 7.69 seconds on the clock in 2019.Philip Billing found the net after 9.11 seconds for Bournemouth at Arsenal in March 2023.Most read in FootballBest new sign-up offersSunSport exclusivesAnd the other player to break the ten-second barrier was Ledley King’s goal against Bradford, putting Tottenham in front after 9.82 seconds.Not only did the Doucoure goal etch his name into the record books, but it also gave Everton the perfect start against Leicester.‘That’s better than Shrek’ jokes Wayne Rooney as Roy Keane reveals Hollywood star people mistake him for in the streets David Moyes knew a win would move his side nine points clear of Leicester in the relegation battle.On six minutes, the dream start got even better when Beto beat the offisde, got in behind and buried his finish.And the Guinea-Bissau striker, 27, grabbed his second of the afternoon and third of the season in the league just before half-time, keeping his composure in front of goal after Garner’s delightful through ball.Iliman Ndiaye capitalised on more woeful play at the back from Leicester to roll in an easy fourth and wrap up the points as the clock hit 90. Beto scored twice before half-time to make it 3-0Credit: Reuters More

FANS were left in stitches after spotting where Bournemouth’s injured stars were sat inside Dean Court this afternoon.A few crocked Cherries stars watched their team-mates lose 2-0 to Premier League leaders Liverpool from a seemingly hidden separate stand.Fans were stitches after spotting where Bournemouth’s injured players were sittingCredit: ReutersSeveral players were spotted looking on from a seemingly makeshift boothBournemouth were without nine players against the Reds on Saturday, with Andoni Iraola still in the midst of an injury crisis.However, Evanilson, Julian Araujo, James Hill, Marcos Senesi and Alex Scott all watched on from inside the Vitality Stadium.But instead of sitting up in the stands behind fans, or in a directors box, the players were spotted looking on from a seemingly makeshift booth.Eayle-eyed viewers saw all five players sitting on old blue furniture in an additional setting area, high behind the corner flag.READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWSThe stand looked as though it was makeshift and relatively out of sight.It resembled a balcony seat in a theatre stall.One fan wrote X: “Bournemouth have got so many injured players that they have had to build a temporary stand for them all!”While a second said: “The fact that Bournemouth have a whole booth of injured players and they’re still jugging like this is crazy.”Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSFull-back Araujo sported a grey tracksuit with trainers, while Senesi wore a white hoodie, as everybody looked glumly on.And with reason, too.Liverpool star Cody Gakpo incredibly reveals how close he came to joining Premier League strugglers but left transfer up to fate Liverpool were awarded a controversial penalty after Lewis Cook was deemed to have tripped Cody Gakpo inside 27 minutes.Mo Salah converted the spot-kick – his 20th Prem goal of the season- past Kepa Arrizabalaga after VAR confirmed Darren England’s decision.Sublime Salah then sealed all three points for the visitors after bending one into the top corner in the 75th minute.It was the Egyptian’s 177th Prem goal, going level with sixth-placed Frank Lampard in the all-time top scorers’ charts.It was Bournemouth’s first Prem defeat since Brighton’s 2-1 triumph in November 23.Arne Slot’s men established an ominous nine-point lead over Arsenal at the Premier League summit. More