EFL

Sunderland go top of Championship despite late draw with Millwall

By Sports Desk November 23, 2024

Sunderland leapfrogged Sheffield United back to the top of the Championship table after their 1-1 draw with Millwall on Saturday.

Aaron Connelly had given Sunderland the lead just 10 minutes in, benefitting from a clearance to beat Lukas Jensen on the volley and claiming his first goal for the club before the players were taken off the field for half an hour due to two medical emergencies in the crowd.

Millwall were a different side when they came back out onto the pitch, with Anthony Patterson having to pull off a string of fine saves to preserve Sunderland's lead.

The hosts eventually got a deserved goal in the 93rd minute though, as Femi Azeez stabbed home Aidomo Emakhi's cross for his first Millwall goal.

It is a fourth consecutive draw for Sunderland, who sit above Sheffield United on goal difference, while Millwall stay eighth.

Elsewhere, Middlesbrough moved back into the playoff places with a thumping 6-2 victory over Oxford United.

A hat-trick from Emmanuel Latte Lath, a double from Finn Azaz and another from substitute Tommy Conway saw Boro score six goals in an away league game for the first time in 64 years.

Greg Leigh had given the hosts a surprise lead, and though Dane Scarlett halved the deficit with his second-half goal to make it 4-2, they could not mount a comeback, leaving them 18th in the table, while Middlesbrough jumped up to fifth.

Meanwhile, Luton Town eased some of the pressure on manager Rob Edwards with their 1-0 win over struggling Hull City to move out of the drop zone.

Mark McGuiness scored the only goal of the match in the 33rd minute, brilliantly volleying his maiden Hatters goal in to help Luton move up to 16th.

Hull could not find a winner, despite Joao Pedro hitting the post in the first half, and they dropped into the relegation zone as their winless run extended to eight matches.

Norwich City are on a run of seven games without a win after playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with West Brom.

Emiliano Marcondes and an own goal from Torbjorn Heggem gave Norwich the lead after Mason Holgate's early opener, but Josh Maja's 10th goal of the campaign cancelled out their lead just before half-time to earn them a point. 

Related items

  • 'I love where I am,' says Simeone after 700th game in charge of Atletico 'I love where I am,' says Simeone after 700th game in charge of Atletico

    Diego Simeone said he is "calm and at peace" at Atletico Madrid after his side edged Deportivo Alaves 2-1 in LaLiga in his 700th game in charge of the club. 

    Atletico went behind through a Jon Guridi penalty in the seventh minute, but Antoine Griezmann drew them level from the spot in the 76th minute. 

    The winner came via Alexander Sorloth in the 86th minute as Atletico moved four points behind leaders Barcelona. 

    Simeone, who has been in charge of Atletico since 2011, is the first coach to manage 700 matches with the same LaLiga club.

    "I live in the present, we are having a good time, the boys are working very responsibly," Simeone told DAZN. 

    "I am calm and at peace. I love where I am and that's it."

    He managed Atletico to LaLiga title triumphs in 2014 and 2021 and also helped Los Rojiblancos win two Europa League titles in 2012 and 2018.

    The game against Alaves was Simeone's 492nd LaLiga match in charge, and the Argentine has also managed the third-most games with a single club in the Champions League (109), after Alex Ferguson with Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

  • AC Milan 0-0 Juventus: Bianconeri maintain unbeaten start after Rossoneri stalemate AC Milan 0-0 Juventus: Bianconeri maintain unbeaten start after Rossoneri stalemate

    AC Milan and Juventus shared the spoils following a dour goalless draw at San Siro.

    The Bianconeri maintained their unbeaten start to the Serie A season, but missed the chance to go second behind leaders Inter after a game lacking in quality and chances.

    With the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik out injured, Juventus began the game without a recognised striker, as Teun Koopmeiners and Weston McKennie led the line.

    Koopmeiners hit the side-netting from a tight angle after 10 minutes, while Kenan Yildiz grazed the post following a fine individual run midway through the half.

    Alvaro Morata had Milan's best chance at the other end, but the former Juventus striker could only head wide from Rafael Leao's free-kick.

    Opportunities did not fall as freely in the second half either, and both teams left the field to a chorus of boos on the referee's final whistle.

    Data Debrief: Stubborn Juve take clean sheet tally into double figures

    Juve are the first team to register 10 clean sheets in their opening 13 matches of a Serie A season since Roma (also 10) in 2013-14.

    The Bianconeri have also kept five clean sheets in their first six away league games in a campaign for only the fourth time, also achieving the feat in 1967-68, 2004-05, 2023-24.

    Meanwhile, Thiago Motta is only the fifth Juventus manager to go unbeaten in his first 13 league matches in charge (won six, drawn seven), after Jesse Carver, Cestmir Vycpalek, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.

  • Manchester City 0-4 Tottenham: Guardiola's champions humiliated in fifth straight loss Manchester City 0-4 Tottenham: Guardiola's champions humiliated in fifth straight loss

    Manchester City's losing streak stretched to five games across all competitions as Tottenham stunned the Premier League champions with a 4-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium.

    On his 28th birthday, James Maddison scored twice in the first 20 minutes as Ange Postecoglou's visitors caught out their hosts on the counterattack.

    Maddison was found unmarked at the far post by Dejan Kulusevski for his opener, then exchanged passes with Son Heung-min and dinked a fine finish over Ederson for his second.

    City continued to dominate possession but struggled to find a killer pass, and their hopes of a second-half fightback were dashed when Pedro Porro – who spent three years as a City player between 2019 and 2022 – capped another lightning break early in the second half.

    Erling Haaland clipped the crossbar but that was as close as City came to making it competitive, with Brennan Johnson completing the rout following fine work from Timo Werner, as the worst run of Pep Guardiola's managerial career continued.

    Second-placed City could now find themselves eight points adrift of the summit after Liverpool’s trip to Southampton on Sunday.

    Tottenham, meanwhile, climbed to sixth in the table, four points behind City.

    Data Debrief: Uncharted territory for Pep

    City have now lost five straight matches in all competitions, including two versus Tottenham after they were also beaten in the EFL Cup last month.

    They are the first reigning top-flight English champions to lose five games in a row since Chelsea did so in March 1956.

    This is the worst losing streak of Guardiola's glittering managerial career, with City last losing six in a row under Stuart Pearce in 2006.

    Should their dismal run continue at Liverpool in eight days' time, their title defence may be in tatters before the festive season has even begun. 

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.