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Emery frustrated at missed opportunity

Ű BY GEORGE SESSIONS

team had other ideas with Delap’s superb 72nd minute solo effort enough to ensure the spoils were shared at Portman Road. It denied Villa the chance to go level on points with Liverpool at the summit, but Emery gave his team some leeway. “I think the result was fair and even we could lose the match at the end,” he said. “I am not accepting the result, the point in my idea how I want to raise our level and our demands, but I accept it in our process. “Overall we have 13 points, but we

were optimistic about the possibility to be with Liverpool with 15 points. “We can accept how difficult it is in this League to play against teams like Ipswich. After they are promoted, they are excited, they are motivated and they are playing with confidence. “This is the difficulty we face in 90 minutes, but the first half we played even better than I planned before in stopping their game-plan, in stopping their capacity to push us. “But in the second half, they play like I was planning in the first half. In this moment of course we needed to be

stronger than we were.” Emery had banned talk of Villa’s midweek clash with Bayern – a repeat of the club’s successful 1982 European Cup final – in the build-up to yesterday’s clash. Quizzed about the Bundesliga giants being able to have 24 hours extra preparation, the Spaniard bristled at suggestions his players would be physically drained after an exhilarating draw in Suffolk. “We are going to suspend the match on Wednesday,” Emery joked. “What do we want? We want to play

in Europe? We want to play matches on Sunday and Wednesday? “We want to try to get to the same level they have on other teams like (Manchester) City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle, Tottenham? We want it. “If we don’t want? OK, we are not playing in Europe and we are resting all the week. Fantastic for everybody, but it is the challenge we have; the players, myself, the supporters, even the journalist! “We are going to be tired, but this is the level.” – The Independent

UNAI EMERY acknowledged Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw at Ipswich was a fair result, but had hoped they would end the day joint-top of the Premier League. Villa looked set to warm up for Thursday’s (3am Malaysian time) visit of Bayern Munich in the Champions League with another comeback victory after first half efforts by Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins cancelled out Delap’s opener. Kieran McKenna’s newly-promoted

Tackle never red card: Bruno Fernandes apologises to United teammates after dismissal against Spurs

Slot expects Robertson to be back in training

B RUNO FERNANDES apologised to his Manchester United teammates for leaving them in the lurch after being sent off in the 3-0 defeat against Tottenham, but insisted he was wrongly dismissed by the referee. The attacking midfielder and United captain was shown a straight red card for a knee-height tackle on James Maddison, with the Spurs man poised to surge past him after Fernandes lost his footing. And while he took responsibility for the hosts being unable to get back into the match as they were down a man, Fernandes doubled down on it being a harsh call, saying the official – Chris Kavanagh – should have been told to revisit his decision by the video assistant. “Just (I want) to say I let my teammates down, one man down. I appreciate everything was tougher for them,” Fernandes told Sky Sports after the match. “We didn’t start well 11 vs 11 and they did very well, we conceded more goals (after) but it was difficult to cover all the spaces. “We can take away that the resilience of the team was always there and I’m very proud of them. “Nobody likes to be sent-off and it’s not a good feeling seeing my teammates run a lot trying to get the result; that’s what they did, they tried everything. “I don’t take (the decision) as everyone wants to see it, not with my studs. I take him with my ankle,” Fernandes said of his challenge.

Ű BY JONATHAN VEAL

“He (Maddison) said it’s a foul but never a red card, that’s what he said. You can see it’s never a red card – we have to look at many other incidents, I get kicked and never see the red card coming so quick. “It’s a foul, if he wants to give a

necessary level of performance yesterday, but insisted the red card to Fernandes had a “big impact” on the outcome. “We could have come back in the game, we had chances with (Alejandro) Garnacho and (Joshua) Zirkzee. But the red card changed the game,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports after the match. “I don’t think it’s a red card. We had big chances (before it) and it’s only 1-0 so we could make a comeback. It had a big

Responding to the Man United performance, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp said Ten Hag has nowhere to hide after another wretched showing. “They are going backwards. Ten Hag’s got his team, he’s spent £616 million (RM3.7b). He’s got no excuses,” Redknapp said. “They are rock bottom right now, as bad as I’ve seen a United side. They shouldn’t be producing performances like that. “When you’re the home side you’ve got to take the game to the opposition and they didn’t. They weren’t good enough in any capacity.” – The Independent

LIVERPOOL boss Arne Slot expects Andrew Robertson to be back in training today after he limped out of Sunday’s win at Wolves. The Reds went to the top of the Premier League table after a 2-1 victory at Molineux, but leftback Robertson went off in the 89th minute following a tackle by Carlos Forbs. Slot says the problem is not serious and expects Robertson to be in training as Liverpool prepare for Thursday’s (3am Malaysian time) Champions League tie with Bologna. “I don’t expect this to be a big problem, although you never know, but I think he just got a knock,” said Slot. “End phase of the game, maybe he was a bit tired as well because the guy who came in – Forbs, I knew him, of course, from the Dutch competition – he made it a real fight for him. “He got a bit of a knock but I’m expecting him to be in training… but let’s wait (and see).” Wolves have picked up just one point from their opening six games but have played Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and Aston Villa before Liverpool visited. Boss Gary O’Neil is appreciative of the crowd supporting him. “One point from six, you would expect a boo or cries for the manager to be changed, or some negative reaction from a fanbase,” O’Neil said. “But what you see is them staying behind to clap their team because they see what they give. “They show a good understanding of the situation at the football club, we’ve lost two starting centrebacks this week. “We’ve rushed another back from a hamstring, and we’ve just gone out and showed everyone what we are, the best we can be, for as much of the game as possible.” – The Independent Palmer has six goals and four assists in the first six games of the new term. Yet, the 22-year-old was still not satisfied after missing a huge chance to score his fifth in the second half. “When I missed the chance in the second half, I was fuming,” said Palmer. A 4-2 win over Brighton continued an impressive start for Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca after another summer of turmoil off the field at Stamford Bridge. The Blues are up to fourth, just two points behind Liverpool, but Maresca is also seeking even more from his talisman. “For sure when you score four goals it is a great performance. But I said to Cole he scored four, he could have scored two or three more, so it’s good that he continues to be hungry, ambitious,”said the Italian. AFP

yellow even as the contact is not that strong. If it’s a yellow because it’s a counter attack I agree but I don’t know why the VAR doesn’t call the referee to the screen.” United boss Erik ten Hag acknowledged his players were

impact on the game.”

well below t h e

Man United’s Bruno Fernandes (right) is shown a red card by referee Chris Kavanagh (left) during the English Premier League match against Tottenham yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

PREMIER LEAGUE TALKING POINTS

The Spaniard will miss the rest of the season after suffering a serious knee injury in last weekend’s feisty 2-2 draw against Arsenal. Pep Guardiola promised to find a collective solution for a player he deemed “irreplaceable”. They struggled to assert their normal levels of control at St. James’ Park with teenage fullback Rico Lewis thrust into a midfield role. But Guardiola was quick to point out his side were also missing other key players through injury, who will return to aid their title challenge. Palmer hungry for more Palmer set a record by becoming the first player to score four times in the first half of a Premier League match. The England international shows no signs of slowing down after his breakout campaign last season.

season thanks to a shock FA Cup final success over Manchester City. However, time in the Old Trafford hot seat appears to be running out for the Dutchman after United’s latest humiliation on home soil. Bruno Fernandes’ controversial red card before halftime did not help his manager’s case. But by the time the United captain departed, his side were already 1-0 down and being outclassed by a Spurs side missing their skipper Son Heung min. United sit 12th, having won just two of their opening six League games of the new season, with little sign of Ten Hag being capable of turning things around. Rodri reliance exposed City stumbled on their start to life without influential midfielder Rodri.

TOTTENHAM inflicted more misery on Manchester United with a 3-0 win at Old Trafford as Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League thanks to their impressive start under Arne Slot. The Reds’ 2-1 win at Wolves saw them usurp Manchester City, who were held 1-1 at Newcastle. Third-placed Arsenal needed two late goals to beat Leicester 4-2, but the performance of the weekend came from Cole Palmer who scored all of Chelsea’s four goals against Brighton. Here’s a look at three talking points from the Premier League: Time ticking for Ten Hag Erik ten Hag survived an eighth place finish last