Anthony Gordon betrayed Carlo Ancelotti with a horror show performance as Everton beat Championship strugglers Rotherham United in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Goals from Cenk Tosun and Abdoulaye Doucoure ensured the Toffees’ name enters the hat for the next round, despite the Blues often being at sixes and sevens with no clear cohesion between the heavily changed line-up.

Gordon started well with a promising presence on the left-wing to play Tosun through with a perfectly weighted pass for the Turkey international’s first goal of the season, turning Rotherham’s Michael Ihiekwe inside out on the half-way line to create space for himself.

The talented Toffees product had almost struck his first goal in senior football not long before feeding Tosun after an excellent driven run through the centre, and later baffled the visiting backline with a cleverly disguised pass down the line.

Unfortunately, though, Gordon’s day took on a downward spiral thereafter, with the Liverpool Echo’s Phil Kirkbride noting on Twitter how the 19-year-old displayed poor body language after the break.

Ancelotti did not wait long before hauling Gordon off as the first of his second-half changes to introduce Bernard, and cap off what turned out to be a miserable afternoon for the £4.5m-rated youngster despite the early promise.

Gordon departed the field in the 61st-minute having lost four of his seven ground duels and possession six times, while failing to attempt a single cross or long ball despite recording 22 touches, per SofaScore.

The Liverpool-born talent often registered his touches on the cusp of the half-way line and almost shared as much time spent in the Rotherham penalty area as he did on the edge of Robin Olsen’s box.

Yet despite that, he attempted two shots on goal with one blocked and sending the other off-target, while emerging successful with just one of his two dribbles and playing one key pass from a mere nine successful attempts.

No Everton player attempted fewer passes in total than Gordon (11) during the opening hour of the match, with Olsen even registering 22 efforts in goal for the third-lowest tally ahead of Tosun (12), per WhoScored.

It was a display that will see Ancelotti look fondly on other players should he need replacements for Richarlison anytime soon in the Premier League, even with Andre Gomes often proving an easy target for Rotherham to circumnavigate in the engine room in a disappointing display from the Portuguese.

AND in other news, Marcel Brands must sign “quick” Everton target who “makes football look easy”…

West Brom have been dealt a cruel blow as a result of them picking up their first win of the Premier League season last week.

According to Slaven Bilic, as per the Express & Star, Baggies’ first-choice left-back Conor Townsend has been ruled out for at least four weeks through injury after he hobbled off with a knee problem in their 1-0 victory against Sheffield United.

He said:

“I knew straight away. When I saw Conor needed to be subbed, he is not that kind of guy.

“I hoped it was nothing major and thank god it isn’t but he is going to be out between four to six weeks.

“Knowing he is a good healer and a great character, he will be desperate to come back.

“It is a blow, of course, especially considering how well he was doing. But we were concerned it would be a lot worse.”

The 27-year-old has been in impressive form for the top-flight strugglers, ranking as their third-best player (6.84) behind both Conor Gallagher (6.98) and Matheus Pereira (6.89), which in itself, is phenomenal. That’s better than Grady Diangana, Jake Livermore and Karlan Grant.

Townsend has averaged 1.9 clearances, 1.5 tackles, 1.4 interceptions and 0.9 dribbles per game form his eight starts, via WhoScored.

This blow is compounded further by the fact that veteran defender Kieran Gibbs, who hasn’t been seen since his sending off against Everton in the second game of the season, has only just returned to training and may not be fit enough to feature having tested positive for coronavirus last month.

Bilic added:

“Kieran didn’t train for 20 days because of the injury and corona. We will see tomorrow. He has been training for five days now and we will see.”

The £14k-per-week Albion ace has often had to prove his doubters wrong despite his manager lauding him as a “great worker” and a “great professional.”

A view that has been emphasised by other characters in his career – former Chesterfield teammate Marc Richards claimed: “He’s a nice lad but he’s got a nasty side when he crosses that white line. He doesn’t shirk a tackle” while Graham Alexander believes he’s “really popular in the changing room.”

Without him, there could be trouble brewing.

AND in other news, Bilic must unleash his explosive “total nightmare” on Crystal Palace tomorrow…

MatériaMais Notícias

O presidente do Flamengo, Eduardo Bandeira de Mello, se mostrou satisfeito com o fim da disputa judicial com Ronaldinho Gaúcho. Na última quarta-feira, a juíza Daniela Valle da Rocha Muller, da 9ª Vara do Tribunal do Trabalho do Rio de Janeiro, homologou o acordo entre as partes, no qual o clube terá que desembolsar R$ 17 milhões ao atleta. O mandatário rubro-negro disse que ninguém foi prejudicado na decisão.

– Sehouve um acordo, é sinal que foi bom para as duas partes. O importante é que está resolvido. Isso é importante porque estamos limpando mais um esqueleto do nosso armário. Foi uma contingência que encontramos quando chegamos aqui, em 2013. Graças a um bom trabalho do nosso jurídico, estamos conseguindo solucionar agora – comentou.

O pagamento será dividido da seguinte forma: uma parcela de R$ 5 milhões e outras dez de R$ 1,2 milhões. A verba virá do Ato Trabalhista.

Ronaldinho chegou ao Flamengo em 2011 como uma das principais contratações do futebol brasileiro nos anos 2000. Com a camisa rubro-negra, ele disputou 74 jogos, marcou 28 gols e conquistou o Campeonato Carioca 2011, além de garantir a vaga na Libertadores 2012. Depois de 15 meses, deixou o clube por conta de salários atrasados e acordos não cumpridos.

Manchester United can repeat their Facundo Pellistri masterclass last year by beating Chelsea to the signing of Declan Rice from West Ham in the summer.

What’s the word?

Rice has established himself as a first-team regular starter under David Moyes and is widely considered to be one of the best holding midfielders in the Premier League.

According to ESPN, the Red Devils are reportedly eyeing up a move for Rice which would see them rival Frank Lampard’s side next summer.

However, it’s claimed a move for Rice could be dictated by what happens to Paul Pogba in the summer – despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s insistence that the France international isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The report adds Solskjaer is keen to strengthen his squad at the end of this season and a forward, central defender and a defensive midfielder will be at the top of his shortlist.

Michael Carrick 2.0?

It was only last year that United were embroiled in a transfer battle with Chelsea and Manchester City over the signing of highly-rated Penarol winger Pellistri. He penned a five-year deal with Solskjaer’s side which put paid to Lampard’s hopes of snapping up the teenage sensation.

If Ed Woodward can repeat the same trick with Rice, there’s no denying the fact that it would be a bitter pill for the Blues boss to swallow, as he is known to be a big admirer of the England international.

Despite his young age, the 22-year-old has featured 128 times for the Hammers, and has scored three goals and supplied five assists in all competitions, as per Transfermarkt.

But it is his defensive contributions that cannot be ignored – in fact, in 17 top-flight appearances this season, the Englishman is averaging 1.9 tackles and 2.1 interceptions this season, with Moyes lauding the fact “he could arguably be my best centre half and best midfielder” right now.

Should Pogba depart Old Trafford, his potential departure may create space for Rice in the squad, while there are still questions over Donny van de Beek.

In a similar way to Michael Carrick, Solskjaer could emulate his predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson and deploy Rice as a defensive midfielder who can also play as a centre-back. You could also compare this to Scott McTominay, who was previously deployed in defence by Jose Mourinho during his time at Old Trafford.

West Ham head coach Moyes hailed his young charge after the 1-0 win over Sheffield United last year and said: “He is such an improved player. ‘I really think he is doing a great job as a player and we are building up hope that he will be an outstanding captain.

“The role, his responsibility he takes on the pitch because of his young age, his leadership qualities will build. He has learned from Harry Kane and Mark Noble.”

Whilst West Ham’s demands of £70m for the midfielder could prove to be a major stumbling block, there’s no doubt that he would make a fine addition to Solskjaer’s squad. Get it done, Woodward, before it’s too late.

AND in other news, Man Utd must get rid of Marcos Rojo in January…

A sublime finish from Matheus Pereira wasn’t enough for West Brom to bring any sort of returns back to the Hawthorns on Tuesday night.

Sam Allardyce’s Baggies squad were defeated 2-1 by his former club West Ham, just days after Sam picked up his first victory since he took the helm in mid-December.

Overall, Albion’s performance was satisfactory and gives them some hope towards a brighter future, but they still remain some five points from safety with the worst defensive record in the Premier League – by quite some margin.

There was no return for Grady Diangana either and his absence was really felt on that left flank, especially as he started all four games under Allardyce before injury.

He’d surely have loved to make a point to his boyhood club after they let him leave for £18m in the summer, too.

Instead, Big Sam turned to Kamil Grosicki for a third successive match in all competitions – only this time, it failed to pay dividends.

The Polish veteran has been given a lifeline at West Brom in recent weeks. In the summer, he was seconds away from sealing a move to Nottingham Forest, but as the paperwork was submitted too late, he had to remain at their Midlands rivals.

He’s also been linked with an exit during the current winter transfer window, though for now, he’s still here. But after his display in the capital, the 66-year-old may want to think again.

As per SofaScore, only one other Baggies player was given a worse rating than Grosicki’s 6.4 and he was hugely at fault for the Hammers’ opener, losing his man only for him to serve up a delightful cross for Jarrod Bowen to turn home.

Indeed both Vladimir Coufal and Bowen had the better of the 32-year-old throughout the 70 minutes he was on the pitch – the pair managed 7.2 and 6.6 ratings respectively.

Considering the £50k-per-week ace is supposed to be one of Big Sam’s main attacking outlets, he was wasteful and ineffective at left-wing – per SofaScore, he failed to provide an accurate cross from three attempts, leaving Callum Robinson to feed off very little, and won just one of seven duels (14%).

That only goes to show just how lightweight the winger was against the aforementioned Irons duo and how they constantly thwarted him at either end of the pitch. By comparison, Coufal (six) and Bowen (four) won ten times as many duels.

It now gives Allardyce plenty to think about with an encounter against Man City six days away. If Diangana isn’t fit, then someone else may need to step up to the plate.

Only one other Albion player (who has started two or more games) has recorded a worse average rating for the season than Grosicki’s 6.19 – perhaps the club ought to be looking to move him on after all, even despite once being dubbed “unplayable” by former teammate Jackson Irvine.

If Tuesday’s game is anything to go by, he may well not be cut out for the big time.

AND in other news, Baggies lightweight who lost the ball every 2.8 touches BADLY let West Brom down on Tuesday…

What a strange time this is for Sunderland.

The Black Cats are at the centre of a potential takeover and they have just hired a new manager in Lee Johnson.

However, they now won’t play for a fortnight with their next three games were postponed.

On the chalkboard

Just as the positivity had been reinstalled at the Stadium of Light after their 4-0 win over Lincoln, proceedings in the north-east have become rather depressing again.

Because of an outbreak of COVID-19 within the squad, the Academy of Light has been shut until December 27th with a variety of players now having to self isolate.

Four players have tested positive for the pandemic which has only added to an ongoing list of fitness concerns within the squad.

Denver Hume is currently out injured while Luke O’Nien has a dislocated shoulder and is out until the New Year.

However, they received another damaging blow this week when Johnson revealed that Josh Scowen could miss as many as seven weeks with a shin injury.

It really does feel as though Sunderland players are dropping like flies at the moment.

The solution

Fortunately for the Black Cats, they do have a number of midfield players available to them. With Max Power ruled out against Wimbledon, George Dobson came back into the XI and was paired next to the ever-reliable and ever-consistent Grant Leadbitter.

Though, with Scowen missing they needed to find another midfielder from somewhere.

That happened to be Elliot Embleton, a man who usually prefers to play in more advanced roles. The 21-year-old had a serious hamstring injury last season which meant he didn’t play at all for Sunderland and to this day, he has still only featured on 16 occasions for the first-team.

He’s never truly had a consistent run to establish himself as a regular but now with a host of players out and lacking fitness, his chance could arrive.

It’s unfortunate the youngster never really got an opportunity under Jack Ross or Phil Parkinson. After all, the former held him in high esteem. “Embleton has been terrific since he came back for pre-season. You can see what he can provide in the final third, so I was pleased with that,” Ross commented in July 2019.

Of course, his season was ruined by injury last term but he is now fully fit and has developed nicely.

Against Wimbledon, the midfielder was assured and composed as he completed 88% of his passes, created two chances and had two shots.

If we see more of that, it’s likely Embleton will be in the team more. He definitely deserves a run.

In other news, Johnson must unleash Sunderland talent with “magic feat”…

اختتم منتخب مصر مساء اليوم استعداداته للقاء السودان ضمن منافسات بطولة كأس العرب والمقامة في قطر.

ويلتقي منتخب مصر أمام السودان ضمن لقاءات الجولة الثانية للمجموعة الرابعة من البطولة الدولية.

اقرأ أيضًا | تشكيل منتخب مصر أمام السودان في كأس العرب.. تغييرات بالجملة

شارك في المران جميع اللاعبين، بينما تابعه من الملعب حمدي فتحي “لاعب الأهلي” الذي تغيب عن المران وتم استبعاده من قائمة المباراة تنفيذا لبرتوكول التعامل مع حالته.

طالع | أحمد حجازي: دفاع منتخب مصر غير مهزوز.. وسنحاول إضافة صفحة جيدة في تاريخ كيروش

وكان حمد فتحي قد تعرض لإصابة قوية خلال مباراة مصر أمام لبنان مما استدعى تغييره أثناء اللقاء ومشاركة مهند لاشين بدلًا منه.

وكان منتخب مصر حصد أول ثلاث نقاط، في البطولة بعد الفوز على لبنان في الجولة الأولى بهدف دون رد.

Manchester United beat Everton in a 2-0 win at Goodison Park to set up a semi-final with Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.

Edinson Cavani opened the scoring in the 88th minute shortly before Anthony Martial doubled their advantage with just seconds to spare, with the two strikers working in tandem to break the deadlock.

Cavani will take the plaudits for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side and rightly so but it was Martial who proved to be the difference between the two sides as he finished the game with a tally of one goal and an assist.

However, not everyone in the famous Red Devils jersey were at the races against the Toffees, in particular Donny van de Beek, who badly let Solskjaer down during his 67′ minutes before he was replaced by Martial.

His substitution was likely a reflection of his poor performance overall rather than a tactical decision ahead of the Premier League clash with Leicester City on Boxing Day.

The 23-year-old Dutch international, who earns around £108,000-per-week at Old Trafford, was a complete passenger playing out-of-position on the left wing, as he won just three out of his six duels overall (50%), and was dribbled past twice, as per SofaScore.

It’s fair to say that he struggled to get a foothold in the game, only completing a meagre 23 passes out of 29, which is a rather dismal total, especially when you consider the fact that Paul Pogba himself provided 46 out of his 57 passes at Goodison Park.

This was backed up by The Manchester Evening News’ Dominic Booth, who claimed he was ‘much quieter after the break and replaced.’

Van de Beek, who cost United £35m in the summer, failed to record a single shot on target or register a single assist, via SofaScore.

Having not started in any of United’s past three Premier League fixtures, the stage was arguably set for the Dutchman to make his mark, but now he’s going to find it even harder to break into the starting XI after he let the manager down immensely with his lacklustre display last night.

It’s no wonder Van de Beek was hauled off after half-time and he ought to be wary with both Pogba and Bruno Fernandes impressing in recent weeks whilst Martial and Marcus Rashford featured off the bench.

His seventh start of the season could be his last for some time after that showing, with a tough trip to Leicester City next on the agenda.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Former Hull City striker Dean Smith says Jadon Sancho shouldn’t join Manchester United…

Plenty of Sunderland fans have been blasting the comments made by Harry Kewell after Oldham Athletic lost 2-1 to Lee Johnson’s team in the Papa John’s Football League Trophy.

The Black Cats won the game thanks to goals from Chris Maguire and Josh Scowen after Bobby Grant had given Kewell’s side the lead early on in the first half.

The former Liverpool, Leeds United and Australian star was not happy with several aspects of the match, and voiced his anger in an interview with Oldham’s official website (via The Chronicle) after the clash:

“I’m actually surprised they get away with it.

“Look, we didn’t know there was a chop and a change of the team at the start – which is not right.”

Kewell was referring to the fact that the kick-off was delayed by 20 minutes as the SAFC team coach was held up in traffic, which meant that Lee Johnson and his players arrived at the stadium just 40 minutes before the kick-off time at 6pm.

The Australian also bemoaned the fact that he did not know that Sunderland made a late change to their starting line-up.

Sunderland fan reaction to Kewell comments

These members of the Stadium of Light faithful blasted the comments made by Kewell on Twitter:

In other news, find out why fans are fuming at one Stewart Donald claim here!

تحدث الإيطالي كارلو أنشيلوتي، المدير الفني لفريق ريال مدريد الإسباني، عن إصابة لاعبه كريم بنزيما والتي تعرض لها أمام ريال سوسيداد في المباراة التي جمعت الفريقين مساء السبت.

وتعرض بنزيما للإصابة في وقت مبكر من مباراة ريال مدريد وريال سوسيداد وتم استبداله في الدقيقة 17 وشارك لوكا يوفيتش بديلاً له.

وقال أنشيلوتي في تصريحاته التي نشرتها صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية عقب المباراة: “بنزيما عانى من آلام وإنزعاج ولم يرغب في استكمال المباراة”.

وأضاف: “سيخضع لفحص طبي، ولا أعتقد بأن كريم سيتواجد ضد إنتر ميلان يوم الثلاثاء ولكنه ربما يكون معنا في الديربي يوم الأحد أمام أتلتيكو مدريد”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. مودريتش: لا يزال الوقت مبكرًا للحديث عن لقب الليجا.. وعلينا الاستمرار بنفس الأسلوب

وتغلب ريال مدريد على ريال سوسيداد بهدفين نظيفين ضمن مباريات الجولة 16 للدوري الإسباني “الليجا”.

ويلتقي ريال مدريد يوم الثلاثاء القادم مع إنتر ميلان، في الجولة السادسة والأخيرة لدور المجموعات بدوري أبطال أوروبا، ويلعب الفريقان المتأهلان لدور الـ16، على صدارة المجموعة.

ثم يستعد فريق أنشيلوتي للديربي أمام أتلتيكو مدريد يوم 12 ديسمبر الجاري في منافسات الدوري الإسباني.