Manchester United snatch chaos from jaws of serenity, Nicolas Jackson misfires and Liverpool stay in hunt Jammy, jammy Man United. To be fair, they did find a new way to be hopeless. Instead of the usual mayhem, they were in total control for 70 minutes, barely letting Coventry have a shot. But then, somehow, they snatched chaos from the jaws of serenity. ITV, and all their teatime viewers, couldn’t believe their luck as a cakewalk turned into a classic. United threw away a 3-0 lead, and for a minute, right at the end of extra time, they were 4-3 down – only for the VAR to come to their rescue ..read more

“Painful” is the word Chris Wilder routinely chooses to describe this season but it turned positively agonising as Burnley inflicted more unsightly wounds on his Championship-bound Sheffield United side. No metaphorical plaster is likely to be large enough to hide the psychological damage gleefully delivered as the visitors recovered from a shaky start to play with the newfound belief befitting a side that has lost one of its past seven Premier League games ..read more

Popular winger has died at the age of 71 James scored 10 goals in 54 appearances for Wales The former Wales winger Leighton James has died at the age of 71. James’s former clubs Burnley and Swansea – where he spent 13 years of a colourful 19-year senior career – were among those to pay tribute to a gifted player who won 54 caps for his country ..read more

Two big Wembley meetings await in the Cup, while a desperation derby looks to be in store at Goodison Park There was a distinct end-of-season vibe at the Gtech Community Stadium following Brentford’s recent win over Sheffield United, with Thomas Frank and his players performing what amounted to a lap of honour as they took plaudits from fans relieved that the spectre of relegation had finally been banished from their small corner of west London. Of course only time will tell if the Bees become the first Premier League team to decamp to the metaphorical beach this season and this weekend’s matc ..read more

Adam Wharton shines on Merseyside, Mateo Kovacic displays City’s depth and Erik ten Hag gets tetchy Joachim Andersen was named Sky’s man of the match at Anfield and with good reason. But while the Danish centre-back won header after header and made clearance after clearance, and while the front three of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise caused repeated problems on the break, there was one figure who stood out in midfield for his calmness: Adam Wharton, perhaps the brightest of the hugely promising generation brought through by Tony Mowbray at Blackburn. The 20-year-old moved ..read more

From Newcastle’s forward line to a comical series of own goals, we hand out honors (and dishonors) from the top-flight weekend Arsenal were stunned by Aston Villa 2-0 at home to hand Manchester City the advantage in the title race. If you’re looking for a microcosm of Ollie Watkins’s season, look no further than his goal on Sunday ..read more

Arijanet Muric is on a one-man crusade to bring back football gaffe videos but he might need to pay Bart Verbruggen some royalties, too. Last week, Muric whacked a clearance against Dominic Calvert-Lewin to gift Everton three points and on Saturday he let a meek Sander Berge backpass under his foot to cost Burnley a much-needed victory ..read more

Welcome returns at Liverpool, Arsenal and Villa juggle ambitions and Guimarães’s discipline under scrutiny Should Bruno Guimarães be booked against Tottenham at St James’ Park the Newcastle and Brazil midfielder faces a dilemma. Given that Guimarães is on nine yellow cards, a 10th would trigger an automatic two-game suspension, depriving Eddie Howe of a key player for forthcoming games at Crystal Palace and at home to Sheffield United. Alternatively, Guimarães could make sure he collected a second yellow card, ideally late in stoppage time, and be sent off. In such a red card scenario, the san ..read more

Kai Havertz inspires Arsenal again, Jarrad Branthwaite stands tall and Manchester City prioritise fresh legs If emotion is carrying Liverpool towards a glorious farewell to Jürgen Klopp, then Old Trafford required cooler heads. Harvey Elliott’s point-rescuing contribution as substitute stood out because, for all his energy, he played with intelligence, seeking to progress the ball and tempting Aaron Wan-Bissaka into conceding a penalty. The likes of Dominik Szoboszlai and even usual pass-master Alexis Mac Allister had allowed a red mist to consume them. Luis Díaz, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Núñe ..read more

Everton’s first set of three points in 112 days could be taken away from them this coming week but the impact of a most fortuitous victory may survive nonetheless. Sean Dyche’s team avoided equalling a club record 14 matches without a win thanks to a gift from the Burnley goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and pushed Vincent Kompany’s side closer to the Championship in the process. It was ugly by design, according to the Everton manager. No one knew whether he was joking. Everton’s taste of a first Premier League win since visiting Burnley in December owed plenty to luck and the visitors’ tendency to a ..read more