A website about football in Manchester
MAN UNITED 2, SWANSEA CITY 0
It was all rather routine as Manchester United beat Swansea City at Old Trafford to reclaim second spot in the Premier League that they lost hours earlier.
Goals from Romelu Lukaku – his 100th in the Premier League – and Alexis Sanchez sealed the points in the opening 20 minutes.
WIGAN ATHLETIC 3, OLDHAM ATHLETIC 0 Oldham Athletic’s relegation worries deepened following a heavy defeat at high-flying Wigan Athletic. It had been a miserable 24 hours after Milton Keynes Dons’ win at Gilingham dumped Latics back into the bottom four. And Latics failed in their bid to claw their way out of the drop zone […]
ENGLAND 1, ITALY 1
Former Oldham Athletic player James Tarkowski’s remarkable rise and journey from Boundary Park culminated in a first England cap in the draw against Italy at Wembley.
And the 25-year-old Burnley centre-back did not look out of place to stake his claim for a place in the squad for this summer’s World Cup, though he conceded a late penalty to blot an otherwise flawless debut.
Gareth Southgate’s England may have beaten a Netherlands side that failed to reach a second consecutive major football finals but there are signs of green shoots of recovery after a long winter following the sad debacle against Iceland during Euro 2016.
Almost two years after England failed to perform against Iceland in Nice, Southgate has qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the first of four friendlies will help the young England boss decide who will be on the plane in the summer.
ARGENTINA 2, ITALY 0
Lionel Messi, five times world player of the year, didn’t get to play at Manchester City.
The mercurial Messi failed to feature for Argentina against Italy to the huge disappointment of the 18,000 fans at the Etihad.
Messi was named on the bench but was pictured sat in the stand with City’s injured Argentine striker Sergio Aguero.
And though there were chants of “Messi, Messi” from the fans, there was no way he was going to make even the briefest of cameos.
