Premier League

ANTONY scored yet again for loan club Real Betis as he equalled last season’s goal tally for Manchester United in just four games.The Brazilian winger joined his new Spanish club in January on a deal running until the summer.Antony struck another goal for new loan club Real BetisHe has now matched his Man Utd tally from 2023/24 in just four gamesCredit: EPAAntony had been frozen out at United by Ruben Amorim after struggling to fit into his 3-4-3 system.But the £84million flop has hit the ground running in LaLiga.Antony first bagged an assist just 14 minutes into his Betis debut.His performance earned a coveted Man of the Match award.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLAnd he followed that up with a goal in his second appearance under ex-Man City boss Manuel Pellegrini.Antony’s second strike came playing for Betis in the Europa Conference League this week.And today saw him hit his third goal for the Spaniards in their 3-0 LaLiga win over Real Sociedad.Antony struck a sumptuous volley from the edge of the box to give his side a second-half lead.Most read in FootballJOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUSAntony was even hailed by LaLiga’s official X account, which posted: “Antony. What a player.”Indeed, the forward now has as many goals in just four games for Betis as he managed throughout the whole of the 2023/24 campaign for United.Antony shows his excitement as he joins Real Betis LaLiga praised Antony on XAnd fans reckon the Red Devils could do with having Antony back right now.That’s after they were beaten 1-0 by fellow strugglers Spurs, with Amorim having to name EIGHT kids on the bench due to injuries.One fan said: “Looks like United binned the wrong players.”Another declared: “You have to ask what is wrong at United.”One noted: “United are a cursed club.”Another added: “Best thing he did was get away from United.”Antony was also presented with the Player of the Match award for the third time in four games. More

GARY NEVILLE reckons Manchester United’s squad is WORSE than Tottenham’s… despite spending nearly half a billion MORE over the last decade.And he claims just ONE Red Devils player would get into the Spurs XI. Manchester United suffered yet another defeat, this time at TottenhamCredit: AlamyRuben Amorim is struggling to get a song out of his depleted squadCredit: AlamyGary Neville reckons a combined XI would feature ten Spurs starsCredit: EPARuben Amorim’s struggling side were beaten 1-0 away in North London on Sunday.James Maddison grabbed the only goal of the game with a rebound.The playmaker then seemingly responded to criticism from Roy Keane with his modified darts celebration. United were forced to name eight teenagers on the bench alongside Victor Lindelof as injuries ravaged the team.READ MORE ON MAN UTDBut regardless of the current injury woes, Neville reckons the Red Devils’ squad is inferior to that of Spurs – despite the massive gulf in spending. Speaking during the debrief on Sky Sports Super Sunday, the former right-back said: “If you take Tottenham’s best players – Porro, Udogie, Van de Ven, Romero, Bissouma, Sarr, Maddison, Kulusevski, Solanke, Son, Johnson, Tel – how many Manchester United players would get into that Tottenham team if everyone was fit?”I think Bruno Fernandes you would want to have in there.”Maybe Amad Diallo but if you’ve got Kulusevski or Amad, to be honest, I’ll probably go Kulusevski. Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS”My point is, every single Tottenham player bar one if they were all available is better than every single Manchester United player.”That’s not being emotional, it’s not ranting, we’ve gone past that now.Man Utd player ratings vs Tottenham: Hojlund arguably worst No9 in club’s history as Dorgu has nightmare debut”It’s just really sad that that’s where Manchester United are currently at.”Since 2016, Manchester United’s net spend on transfers is a whopping £1billion. That includes the £89m club-record purchase of Paul Pogba in 2016 plus Antony (£85.5m), Harry Maguire (£85m), Romelu Lukaku (£75m), Jadon Sancho (£73m) and Rasmus Hojlund (£72m) all arrived in massive deals.Their biggest signing this season was Leny Yoro for up to £52m.United’s record sale remains Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80m in 2009 so the highest fee received in the period since 2016 is the £73m they got from Inter Milan for Romelu Lukaku in 2019.Ironically, the money banked for Mason Greenwood (£26.6m) and Scott McTominay (£25m) in the summer are among the biggest United sales of all time.United have sold £371m worth of players since 2016 – the lowest in the ‘Big Six’ – to take their overall net spend to just about exactly £1bn. In comparison, Tottenham’s net spend is £580m over the same period.That takes into consideration £995m spent on new signings and £415m in sales. Their outlays this season total £145m on record arrival Dominic Solanke (£65m), £40m on Archie Gray, £25m on Wilson Odobert and £12.5m on goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky who came in during January. Other significant signings include Richarlison (£50m), Dejan Kulusevski (£25m), Maddison (£40m), Pedro Porro (£37.3m), Micky van de Ven (£35m) and Brennan Johnson (£47.5m). Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich at the beginning of last season for an initial £86m.Kyle Walker’s move to Manchester City in 2017 was worth around £50m but the biggest sales this season were Oliver Skipp to Leicester (£20m), Emerson Royal to Milan (£12.8m) and Joe Rodon to Leeds (£10m). Add in the 2015-16 figures to take it all the way back a decade and the numbers are even more stark as Tottenham made a small £13m profit in that season while United were down around £45m. And that means the overall difference in spending is a total of approximately £478m in the last ten years.READ MORE SUN STORIESUnited have won five trophies – two FA Cups, two League Cups and a Europa League – compared to zero for Spurs in that time.But now according to Neville, Tottenham seemingly have a better team and are in a stronger position on the field than his old side.Bruno Fernandes got the nod as the solo United representative in the combined XICredit: GettyNeville admitted it is ‘sad’ and he has gone ‘beyond ranting’ about the state of the Red DevilsCredit: GettyMan Utd ratings v SpursMANCHESTER UNITED slipped to a 12th defeat in the Premier League with Rasmus Hojlund coming under fire again.Here’s how SunSport’s Katherine Walsh rated the Manchester United players against an underachieving Spurs side – who are now three places above them in 12th – in North London.Andre Onana – 3United can’t do anything with him between the sticks. Can’t be trusted to collect anything.His opposite number Vicario showed him a thing or two after returning for the first time since Spurs thrashed Man City in November.At fault for the first goal when he palmed out a relatively weak bouncing shot into Maddison’s path in the 13th minute.Noussair Mazraoui – 5An OK performance. Clever link-up play with Zirkzee but couldn’t get hold of Spence down the left-hand side.Pulled out an excellent cross for the Dutchman’s headed chance late-on.Matthijs de Ligt – 6His clearance stopped an obvious 2-0 before the half-an-hour mark.Harry Maguire – 5A mixed bag. Long ball over the top for Hojlund’s chance in opening 10 minutes and went on a few attacking runs himself in the first half.Did well to stop Dejan Kulusevski from having a go at the edge of the box. But bizarrely stopped in his tracks when a cross came flying into Son later on.Diogo Dalot – 6A difficult afternoon for the Portugal international as Son and Djed Spence left him for dead a few times.Hesitated when asked to shoot from five yards to make it 1-0 but helped Onana out with some clearances too.Patrick Dorgu – 4A Prem debut to forget. He was almost invisible from the left-hand side. And lacked quality when asked to get involved more in the second half.Was stupidly caught offside with Bruno Fernandes offloading a stunning cross pitch pass and booked late-on.Casemiro – 5Looked every bit a player that hasn’t played Premier League football for two months. Unsurprisingly booked for a late one on Son.Bizarrely dropped to the turf asking for a free-kick when nobody touched him. Was forced to play 89 minutes with eight teenagers on the bench. A difficult afternoon, indeed.Bruno Fernandes – 5Interceptions and breaking up play is not a part of the captain’s game. An uncharacteristically poor cross left United open on the counter.Did get back to stop Son from having a shot at Onana on the hour mark and started ticking in attack in the final 20 minutes.Alejandro Garnacho – 4Looked shaky and cut a frustrated figure after blazing over an absolute SITTER from 10 yards to level the scores.A bit of a shocker and looked a completely different player to the one who got United into the fifth-round of the FA Cup last week.Woke up a bit in the second half as Vicario kept him at bay with several superb stops. But the 20-year-old is clearly better off the bench.Joshua Zirkzee – 6The best of a desperately poor front three. There’s a street player in there and he’s great with his touches at times.But curled wide from 23 yards, stuck a header wide in the 70th minute and kicked an air shot in the final five minutes.Rasmus Hojlund – 3Is Hojlund the worst No 9 in United’s recent history?The young Dane, who was unlucky to have a chance saved by Vicario, was second best in every loose ball and kept losing possession.He was even caught offside after a pass from an Onana goal-kick in the first half – how often do you see that happen? More

ANGE POSTECOGLOU fired a warning at Ruben Amorim after Tottenham beat Manchester United.James Maddison’s 13th-minute strike was enough to earn Spurs all three points as they picked up a rare home win.Ange Postecoglou showed no sympathy for Ruben AmorimCredit: GettyThe midfielder had been out for a brief spell due to injury, with Tottenham also welcomed back Destiny Udogie as their injury issues finally eased.That helped them to the win with United also down to bare bones – Victor Lindelof was the only senior player to feature on bench filled with academy stars.Postecoglou had little sympathy for his opposite number given what he has had to deal with in recent weeks, though he did compliment the Red Devils performance.He said post-match: “Man Utd with many injured players? If I check my office, I don’t have any sympathy cards from other coachesREAD MORE ON MAN UTD”He (Amorim)’s had to play players out of position and have kids on the bench. Welcome to my world. It’s one game. Try doing that for two months. “But I thought Man Utd were good today.”United have now lost 12 of their 25 Prem games, the most from their first 15 games since 1973-74, when they were relegated.And pundit Jamie Redknapp believes things will get worse before they get better as he predicted “18 months of pain”.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSHe said: “For what it’s worth on Amorim, I like him. I think he’s got something about him. And I totally get the performances haven’t been good enough.”But I actually like what he’s doing more off the field than actually what he’s doing on the pitch. Because that club needs a change of culture.Spurs fans hold sit-in protest against board and owenrs after Man Utd win”We’ve spoken about how it works. Get people like Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho that have left and one or two others who have had a mention about leaving.”Now, if they’re not going to buy into having a good way of living and coming in and training correctly and being involved and helping the group and create a winning mentality, they’ve got to be surplus to requirements.”I see Manchester United as having still much more pain, even 18 months more pain, because they need to get rid.”Whoever’s been in charge or even managers have gone so far and then they’re panicked and then they’ve gone and bought 30-year-old players that aren’t going to maybe take the club any further forward. I think now they have to take their time.”They’re trying to get… Jermain [Defoe] mentioned getting the best in class. People like Jason Wilcox, they’ve got the guy from Manchester City, the CEO there [Omar Berrada]. They’re trying to do things slowly and I think that’s how they have to do it.” More

MANCHESTER UNITED fans labelled Ruben Amorim a “COWARD” after he waited until “garbage time” to bring on teen sensational Chido Obi-Martin.The 17-year-old was among EIGHT youngsters named on United’s bench for their 1-0 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday.Man Utd fans slammed Ruben Amorim for only bringing on Chido Obi-Martin with minutes leftCredit: ReutersAmorim was unable to prevent United from losing 1-0 at TottenhamCredit: AlamyInjuries to several seniors including Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo meant Ruben Amorim had no option but to call upon United’s kids to make up the numbers.And as a result, the Red Devils boss was reluctant to make any subs as his team attempted to battle back from a 13th minute James Maddison opener.Indeed, Spurs had made all five of their subs when injury time rolled around.By comparison, United had made ZERO changes to their tired team.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLBut in the 91st minute, Amorim decided to roll the dice by throwing on Obi-Martin for Casemiro.The teen striker has been banging in the goals for United’s U18s and has even set new youth league records following a move from Arsenal last summer.However, with just moments remaining in the game against Spurs, Obi-Martin was unable to make an impact on his senior debut.And some fans went online slamming Amorim for waiting so long to make the change.Most read in FootballJOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUSOne said: “90th minute and you sub Chido on? Ruben you are a coward!”Another declared: “Chido Obi garbage time minutes.”‘He’s perfect for Man Utd’ – Neville begs Amorim to re-sign flop strikerOne noted: “Should have been 30 minutes ago.”Another boomed: “Unacceptable from Ruben and sends the wrong message completely.”One decreed: “What was the point bringing him on for three minutes?”Another added: “I can’t forgive Amorim for not making a single sub until the 90th minute.” More

WELL Ruben Amorim wasn’t far wrong when he described his team as ‘probably the worst Manchester United team in history’.They are certainly the worst of the Premier League era, after defeat in ‘Hell Clasico’ plunged them into the bottom six of the table for the first time at any advanced stage of a season.James Maddison celebrated his goal with a ‘shush’Credit: PAMaddison also performed his trademark darts celebrationCredit: PAThe Spurs star fired in a rebound after Lucas Bergvall’s shot was savedCredit: GettyAlejandro Garnacho was guilty of missing chancesCredit: GettyThis was the first time this competition has seen two of its biggest clubs meeting with both in the bottom half during the second half of a campaign.And it lived down to expectations – with James Maddison’s early tap-in settling a terrible match between two sides who did little to disguise their harrowing lack of confidence.For Spurs, it was a second straight league win – although they have been dumped out of both domestic cups since they beat Brentford last time out.Ange Postecoglou’s prospects are looking a little brighter thanks to the return of Maddison and keeper Guglielmo Vicario, who made several decent saves.READ MORE ON MAN UTDBut United, in an injury crisis of their own, continue to flounder – now plummeting to new depths in the modern era.With Vicario and Maddison back in the starting line-up, while Brennan Johnson and Destiny Udogie were fit enough for places on the bench, Spurs were in the novel position of facing a side more depleted than themselves.While Postecoglou was without six senior players, Amorim was missing a dozen – Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo the latest casualties.It meant that eight of United’s nine subs were teenagers who had never previously played for the first team.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSBoth Vicario and Maddison were straight at it.Tottenham’s keeper pulled off two decent stops in quick succession to deny Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho before Diogo Dalot had a follow-up effort hacked clear by Ben Davies.Ruben Amorim makes blunt admission as Man Utd face cash crisis Then Maddison, who’d already lost possession with two back-heels, opened the scoring.A Son Heung-Min shot was blocked as far as Lucas Bergvall, whose drive was pushed out by Andre Onana for the Spurs playmaker to tap in.United’s keeper will feel he should have held Bergvall’s effort but Maddison didn’t care, throwing darts and telling people to shush. Don’t mention the league table, kind of thing.While United were doing much of the attacking, they kept embarrassing themselves.At one point, Casemiro simply fell over in the centre circle and started pleading to the referee, like an upturned pensioner in the street.Then Garnacho, fed by Bruno Fernandes, without a Spurs defender in the same postcode, inexplicably propelled his shot into Row Z.Mathys Tel, who looks very promising, had a shot smartly saved by Onana.For a while, it descended into the funereal sort of occasion we’d imagined. Casemiro was booked for lacking pace maiming Son. Perhaps the Brazilian could tootle around midfield in a mobility buggy.“We are the pride of Europe,” sang United’s fans – their exact levels of irony difficult to gauge from the press box.After the break, Djed Spence darted down the left and centred low but Tel made a hash of his shot.But United were still on top, Garnacho twice forcing fine saves from Vicario.Maddison was withdrawn on 63 minutes, having improved Spurs significantly, and was replaced by Pape Matar Sarr as Johnson arrived for his return from injury.Then, from a Noussair Mazraoui centre, Zirkzee missed a sitter of a header.Amorim was picked out by TV cameras staring lengthily at the ground, pondering his life choices.Casemiro had another fall, this time in the Spurs box, but again ref Peter Bankes refused to play the good Samaritan.Kulusevski shot too close to Onana when he ought to have put the game to bed.READ MORE SUN STORIESBentancur was withdrawn and spotted on the bench with an ice pack on his knee – the latest in a long running sick joke being played out against Postecoglou this season.An unmarked Zirkzee completely missed an attempt at a volley – the Dutchman left looking as if he was playing in clown shoes. More

PUNDITS have been left raving about Ethan Nwaneri after his masterclass for Arsenal against Leicester.The 17-year-old bagged an assist as his side won 2-0 thanks to a brace from sub Mikel Merino.Pundits have lined up to praise Arsenal starlet Ethan NwaneriCredit: APOne has even compared him to the legendary Lionel MessiCredit: AFPNwaneri has now scored or assisted four Premier League goals before the age of 18.That puts him in an esteemed group alongside legends Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Cesc Fabregas.While during the game itself, Nwaneri controlled proceedings with four shots, six dribbles and 32 passes.He even put in a strong defensive contribution with three successful tackles and 12 duels won.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLAnd now, pundits are lining up to sing Nwaneri’s praises.Perhaps the boldest comment came from Joe Cole, who compared the teenager to Lionel Messi.Cole said on TNT Sport: “These touches he produces, in and around the box, tiny little touches.“I don’t want to say it, but it’s like Messi. I’ve said it.Most read in FootballJOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS“I don’t want to put any more pressure on his shoulders. I’m sure he’d deal with it.”Meanwhile, Alan Shearer lauded Nwaneri’s masterclass on Match of the Day.Arsenal player ratings vs Leicester: Ethan Nwaneri excels amid injury crisis but dreadful Raheem Sterling shadow of old selfJoe Cole reckons Nwaneri can handle the pressureCredit: AlamyAlan Shearer feels Nwaneri played his heart out against LeicesterCredit: GettyThe Newcastle icon said: “17 years of age… a potential superstar. He was, without doubt, the bright spark for Arsenal.“Even when things weren’t going for them, which were large parts of the game, he was the one that was probing, he was the one putting crosses in and having pops at goal.“He [Nwaneri] just shifts the ball on to the left foot and he whips it in but Declan Rice can’t quite get on the end of it. “Again, he gets the ball and works it onto his left foot. This time he cuts inside and has a pop at goal but hits the crossbar.“But he can and does also like to down that right-hand side. “If you show him too much room, if you invite him to go down there then that’s fine, he will do that as well. “He was the best player on the pitch today, so lively.” More