Offside too complex for simple game
Gabriel Martinelli’s disallowed goal at Goodison Park was another example of an offside law that has become almost too pedantic to function. The decisive action was a square pass from Gabriel Magalhães to Declan Rice that was intercepted by Beto. The ball ricocheted 40 yards in a completely different direction to Eddie Nketiah, who was running away from goal and gained precisely no advantage from being fractionally offside. He knocked it back to Fábio Vieira, whose through pass was finished majestically by Martinelli. The goal was disallowed because Beto’s interception, though deliberate, was not a “deliberate play” under the revised laws of the game. Instead of the deflection being one of the myriad variables that make football so compelling, Nketiah was technically offside. Nobody disputed that it was the correct decision, only the extent to which the law is an ass. When the FA’s Ebenezer Cobb Morley introduced offside in 1863, it was to stop goalhanging, not to give pedants their ikigai. Rob Smyth
Onana sets tone for misfiring United
Will the André Onana billed as a “holding midfielder” in the Uefa technical report of May’s Champions League final please show himself? Manchester United require him, and fast. The Cameroonian shone as Internazionale went down 1-0 to Manchester City in Istanbul. Yet in Saturday’s 3-1 capitulation to Brighton, Onana’s long-range passing was awry, leaving colleagues under pressure as his high balls spiralled down, and his radar was so off that possession – along with the initiative – was handed to Roberto De Zerbi’s team. City’s Ederson is the master of the laser-like delivery that removes four or five opponents and gives the champions one more attacking dimension. The Brazilian hardly ever misses his target. Onana, at the moment, is doing so too often. Given United’s three losses from five games, Erik ten Hag needs his new goalkeeper to start functioning as intended. Jamie Jackson
Wilson still perfect from 12 yards
Callum Wilson has taken 10 penalties as a Newcastle player and converted the lot. “Pressure is for tyres,” said the England striker, who has averaged a goal every two games during his three-year St James’ Park career. “Penalty taking is about practice, repetition and composure,” Wilson said. His latest, albeit controversial, spot-kick enabled Eddie Howe’s side to end a run of three straight defeats by “winning ugly”. Despite failing to capitalise on some inviting first-half chances, Brentford probably deserved a draw but that will not worry Howe as his players head to Milan for the club’s first Champions League engagement in two decades. Newcastle’s manager is so paranoid about the Serie A club spying on his preparations that he has exploited a Uefa loophole and made a special request to train on Tyneside rather than at San Siro on Monday before flying to Italy. Louise Taylor
Blades should heed ref’s comments
The game management of referees, Paul Heckingbottom insisted, is “appalling”. The Sheffield United manager’s specific problem was that his team want to play goal-kicks short but Tottenham were set up to prevent that, meaning his goalkeeper Wes Foderingham had to change his mind but was finding that difficult under time pressure from the referee, Peter Bankes. When he challenged referees about the issue, he had been told to “play long”. Which actually sounds … OK? It probably is true that referees have been overzealous in enforcing the anti-time-wasting guidelines this season, but how long should a team be given to adjust to the opposition shutting down passing options? When a goal-kick is taken, no opposing player is allowed in the box, so a very short pass from the keeper would give a defender 12 yards or so of space. If that isn’t enough for him to initiate a move, maybe going long is the better option. And yes, it was a bigger issue on Saturday because Foderingham had been booked in the first half; but the way to avoid that is not to handle the ball outside the box. Jonathan Wilson
‘Heart’ and ‘passion’ key for Villa
There’s more than one way to skin a cat, as Unai Emery might have said, as he reflected on what helped Aston Villa turn the game against Palace. The Villa manager displayed his tactical adaptability throughout: delighted though he was with the way they dominated the first half, without scoring, he had to change to become more offensive after going behind to Odsonne Édouard’s opener, eventually featuring Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey wide and Jhon Durán off Ollie Watkins up front. He also wanted to practise this shape, which sometimes became 3-3-4 with Boubacar Kamara dropping deep as a third centre-back. Emery admitted eventually he needed three other factors: the 15 extra second-half minutes the referee eventually added; the “connectivity” with the impassioned Villa crowd, who never stopped believing; and finally – it’s good even a master tactician remembers this one – the “heart” and “passion” it helped inspire in his players. Pete Lansley
Vinícius can provide striker solution
Replacing a striker who scored 109 goals in 190 league matches was never going to be easy for Marco Silva and Saturday’s narrow win over new boys Luton showed that the Fulham manager has yet to find the solution to life after Aleksandar Mitrovic. Raúl Jiménez has started all five Premier League games so far this season and laboured in attack after playing for Mexico in midweek, with Carlos Vinícius providing the breakthrough just after being introduced off the bench. The Brazilian has only started 11 times since moving to west London but could be in contention for next weekend’s trip to face Crystal Palace, with Silva hoping both players can push each other as the season continues. “Competition between them is always important for us,” he said. “They have to compete and then it is up to me to decide who is the best striker for each game.” Ed Aarons
City create modern strike partnership
Big man, medium man. Nine-and-a-half to nine-plus. 9*/9-. Whatever the most accurate notation for the attacking partnership of Erling Haaland and Julián Álvarez, it feels like another successful piece of tactical reinvention. At West Ham Álvarez spent most of his 90 minutes just behind Haaland, while also running past him, or wide, or occasionally linking as twin central strikers. This was the fifth straight game Pep Guardiola has started them together. That partnership has now scored or assisted 11 of City’s 14 league goals. Part of the chemistry is that Álvarez is unusually good at the things Haaland doesn’t do. He was impressively creative at the London Stadium in that roving forward role, with two assists, nine crosses, and 67 touches to Haaland’s 22. Álvarez has now completed 192 passes in the league, twice as many as any other advanced central attacker. Together they look exceptionally potent. Having successfully regeared the role of the big man, Guardiola appears to be doing the same for the classic twin-strike partnership. Barney Ronay
Wolves must turn promise into points
Lots of positives but zero points. It is a notion that is becoming all too familiar for Wolves and Gary O’Neil. In their first game of the season they left Old Trafford empty-handed despite being far superior to Manchester United and it was a similar story at home to Liverpool on Saturday. Wolves were superb in the first half at Molineux but faded in the second and the brutal reality is they have three points from five games. This weekend’s trip to Luton already feels a significant game for both sides. Of the Liverpool defeat O’Neil, who began his coaching career in the Anfield club’s academy, said: “They are not the ones we are judged on but we have a big game next week that we look to go and win.” Ben Fisher
Ugochukwu looks comfortable in Blue
Among the collection of expensive central midfield signings that have arrived at Stamford Bridge over the past 12 months, Lesley Ugochukwu has flown under the radar. He joined from Rennes for a relatively paltry – by Chelsea’s standards – £23m fee and might not have expected to see much action with Moisés Caicedo, Roméo Lavia and Enzo Fernández his rivals for a spot in the middle of the park, but the 19-year-old earned his first start in the Premier League under Mauricio Pochettino at the Vitality Stadium. The teenager looked assured against an experience Bournemouth midfield and was not fazed by the pace of the game. Pochettino originally planned to send the midfielder straight back out on loan, but he has clearly made an early impression on the manager. Chelsea’s recruitment team have been scoffed at but Ugochukwu looks like a player who could have a promising long-term future at Stamford Bridge. Will Unwin
Seagulls still flying in the market
Pound for pound, Brighton are one of the greatest teams in English football history. In the past 18 months, while enjoying unprecedented success, Brighton have made a profit of over £150m, and the starting XI that undressed Manchester United in their own fortress cost barely £20m. That’s less than Chelsea reportedly paid for Graham Potter, never mind any of Brighton’s players. It’s like watching a flyweight flatten a heavyweight – again and again and again. Brighton’s victory at Old Trafford was their 12th against a “big six” side in the last 18 months alone. They are defying logic, gravity and the culture of a league that burns money for a laugh. There have been shoestring success stories in the Premier League before, but never with a team that also plays football from the future. It can’t last for ever, so we should all appreciate – OK, Crystal Palace fans are exempt from this – a uniquely charming story. It will make a cracking book one day, especially if they finally reveal their transfer algorithm. Rob Smyth
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 5 | 11 | 15 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 5 | 5 | 13 |
| 5 | Brighton | 5 | 8 | 12 |
| 6 | West Ham | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 8 | Crystal Palace | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 9 | Fulham | 5 | -5 | 7 |
| 10 | Brentford | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 12 | Nottm Forest | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| 13 | Man Utd | 5 | -4 | 6 |
| 14 | Chelsea | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 15 | AFC Bournemouth | 5 | -4 | 3 |
| 16 | Wolverhampton | 5 | -6 | 3 |
| 17 | Sheff Utd | 5 | -4 | 1 |
| 18 | Everton | 5 | -7 | 1 |
| 19 | Burnley | 3 | -8 | 0 |
| 20 | Luton | 4 | -8 | 0 |
