St Kitts and Antigua and Barbuda each scored big wins to close out the latest round of matches in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying on Saturday night.
There were also wins for Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
A Keithroy Freeman double sandwiched around a Rowan Liburd penalty paced St. Kitts and Nevis in a 4-0 win over the Bahamas, meaning the Sugar Boyz finish with a perfect March.
Omari Sterling-James came into the contest as a second-half substitute and fired a long-range shot that kissed off the post and in for the fourth goal at Thomas Robinson Stadium.
Meanwhile, a pair of familiar faces scored the goals for Antigua and Barbuda in a 3-0 victory against the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Veteran forward Peter Byers got on the board in the 26th minute with his long-time Benna Boys teammate Quinton Griffith netting a penalty in the 34th minute and then again from the run of play in the 42nd.
Guatemala also closed out March with a perfect start to qualification.
After Wednesday’s win over Cuba, Los Chapines earned a 3-0 win over the British Virgin Islands.
In the 22nd minute, Darwin Lom muscled off his defender and poked his finish home before the goalkeeper could block it. Moises Hernandez added a second, running onto Nico Rittmeyer’s cross into the box and finishing confidently. The lead was three in the 81st minute with Robin Betancourth getting on the end of a ball over the top and scoring just five minutes after entering the contest.
It was also a perfect start for the Dominican Republic, which topped Anguilla 6-0 on Saturday after last week’s win over Dominica.
Fresh off participating in the Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship, Dorny Romero scored a double, converting a penalty in the 22nd minute and using his left foot to knock in a half-volley in the 27th minute.
Nowend Lorenzo also had a pair of goals, with a goal in each half. Romero turned provider and set up Domingo Peralta for a 65th-minute goal, and substitute Luis Espinal put in the final goal in the 74th minute.
There was also a big win for Nicaragua as Ariagner Smith and Juan Barrera each scored twice for their side to begin its Concacaf World Cup Qualifying campaign with a 7-0 victory over the Turks and Caicos Islands at the Estadio Panamericano in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.
Barrera opened the scoring in the third minute, finishing off a low cross that came in from the right side to give La Azul y Blanco an early lead. Smith’s first came five minutes later, as he finished off a team move to double the advantage.
Despite heavy rain that began to fall as the game progressed, the second half started in the same fashion as the first, with Marvin Fletes scoring from a corner kick just a minute after the restart. One minute after that, Smith added to his debut Nicaragua goal with a second score just a minute later. Barrera got his service from the left side in the 59th minute and completed his brace before making way, as Nicaragua manager Juan Vita made a number of modifications. Two of those changes found the back of the net, with Dshon Forbes scoring on a breakaway in the 78th minute and Matias Moldskred putting the cherry on top in the 87th.
Finally, Nigel Hasselbaink notched a hat-trick in Suriname’s 6-0 victory against Aruba, scoring twice in the first half and once in the second.
Ryan Donk was the last to touch a set-piece before it went in, adding another to his Suriname account after scoring a 3-0 victory against the Cayman Islands to open qualification. Florian Jozefzoon, on his debut for Dean Gorre’s men, and Roland Alberg also found the back of the net in the win.
'Experience counts for nothing' – Guardiola unsure Man City's title race know-how enough to catch Arsenal
Pep Guardiola "would love to be in the position" of Arsenal in the Premier League title race, saying Manchester City's "experience counts for nothing" as they look to catch the Gunners.
City have won the Premier League in four of the last five seasons, but Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side have enjoyed a brilliant campaign to give them a great chance of winning their first league title since the 2003-04 'Invincibles' side.
The Citizens are playing catch-up with the Gunners holding an eight-point lead at the summit, and though City have a game in hand, Guardiola acknowledged his side's vast experience of winning titles may not be enough to overhaul the deficit.
"I would love to be in the position of Arsenal," Guardiola told reporters. "I'd prefer to be Arsenal in the Premier League than the position we have.
"Eight points is a real advantage. Experience counts for nothing. They will not drop many points.
"You have to prove it every day. The past is the past. [The] reality is people tomorrow don't think about what you've done in the past. You have to show it again and again otherwise you have to retire."
City return from the international break when they host Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, with the Reds sitting sixth after running Guardiola's men to within a point of the title last season.
Asked whether a collapse similar to the one Liverpool have suffered could have happened to City if he had left the Etihad, Guardiola insisted a drop-off of that magnitude could happen to any club.
"I never think this won't happen," Guardiola said. "Teams win the Premier League, year after they drop off. [It] can happen to anyone, Liverpool, Chelsea.
"[You are] always going to try to find a solution to avoid it. If you don't do well it can happen.
"What happened with Liverpool can happen, I don't know why it has not happened to us.
"All I know is what you did yesterday doesn't count for tomorrow."
Guardiola feels the pressure is only ever a couple of defeats away, explaining: "I've lived a fairytale history here in Manchester. We have won a lot and that's why the storm is less. [But the] moment we will lose, the storm will come.
"When you win it's safe, comfortable. When you lose, you have to find the solution, have to figure out why you are not consistent.
"When we didn't win one, two, three games it's normal. You can lose, figure out why it happened. [You cannot] always expect to win all the games for 10 years, it's not the reality."
Stellini insists Spurs not in crisis despite Conte exit
Cristian Stellini insists Tottenham are "not in crisis" despite Antonio Conte's acrimonious exit from the club.
Conte left Spurs by mutual consent last Sunday, a week on from a remarkable outburst after a 3-3 draw with bottom side Southampton in which his side squandered a two-goal lead late on.
The former Chelsea boss labelled his players "selfish" and questioned the club's lack of silverware during Daniel Levy's time as chairman in a tirade that ultimately cost him his job, with assistant Stellini taking charge until the end of the season.
Conte becomes the third Spurs manager to be relieved of their duties since Mauricio Pochettino, who led Spurs to the Champions League final, was sacked in 2019, while the club's wait for a first trophy since 2008 has extended to 15 years.
Managing director Fabio Paratici has also stepped back from his role while the club awaits the outcome of his appeal against a worldwide ban from football following FIFA's decision to extend his initial 30-month ban from just Italian football to a worldwide basis for financial breaches while at Juventus.
Yet Stellini, who is now tasked with overseeing the final 10 games of the season as Spurs bid to achieve Champions League qualification, does not agree the club is in turmoil, despite the Tottenham Supporters' Trust describing it as "one mess after another."
"When you take decisions for the best you are not in crisis," Stellini told reporters.
"If you have some matters, we have to stay compact and we have to stick together to move on and play the matches."
It was an easy decision for Stellini to assume Conte's position until the end of the campaign, with the 48-year-old saying: "I spoke with Antonio. The club and Antonio spoke to each other. They take the decision together and they let me know, I was aware of it.
"They call me and say the decision is taken and if you agree with us, you can do it. I had no problem to say yes."
Philadelphia Union v Sporting Kansas City: Preview and prediction
Jim Curtin has promised supporters they will see the Philadelphia Union of old in Saturday's showdown with Sporting Kansas City at Subaru Park.
The Union finished top of the Eastern Conference last season en route to losing the MLS Cup final to Los Angeles FC, but they have made a sluggish start to the 2023 campaign.
Philly have lost three of their opening five matches, including back-to-back defeats against a struggling CF Montreal side and Orlando City in their past two outings.
But with winless Sporting up next this weekend, Curtin is hoping to see a response from his players.
"I think the group will have a good response against Kansas City," Curtin said ahead of Union's first home match against Sporting since the MLS is Back quarter-finals in 2020.
"Win, lose or draw we want to put on a good display to our fans and show that we are still a very good team that had a bad outing last game.
"We have players returning and have had a couple of days with them, so we should be pretty much full strength going into the Kansas match."
Sporting have themselves made a slower-than-expected start to the season, having taken just two points from their first five games.
Like Philadelphia, they enter the game on the back of successive defeats, but experienced head coach Peter Vermes knows how quickly things can change.
"It's easy to think negative things, saying what players can't do, but it's amazing how fast a team can turn that, then you ask 'well how did they do that?'," he said.
"A lot of it is to do with plugging away, keep fighting. I've said it before: we've got a good group here and we'll get there."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Philadelphia Union – Andre Blake
Philadelphia's defeats to Montreal and Orlando came in the absence of Blake, whom Curtin this week described as "the best goalkeeper that our league has".
Joe Bendik conceded five goals across those two matches, but Curtin is hopeful Blake will be back between the sticks on Saturday.
Sporting Kansas City – Erik Thommy
Two goals scored in five games is a hugely underwhelming return for Sporting, even more so when you consider they have had 76 shots this term – only Philadelphia have had as many.
Thommy has been heavily involved in an attacking sense, but he has yet to score this campaign and that quite simply has to change if Sporting are to turn things around.
MATCH PREDICTION – PHILADELPHIA WIN
Philadelphia have clearly lacked the consistency of last season so far in 2023, having lost two MLS games in a row for the first time since September 2021.
The defeat to Orlando last weekend brought an end to the Union's 13-match winning streak on home soil, which was the second-longest run of any side in league history.
But Sporting have really struggled so far, with this only the second time they have gone winless in their first five games, and this seems a good chance for Philly to kick-start their season.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Philadelphia Union - 62.1 per cent
Sporting KC - 14.8 per cent
Draw - 23.1 per cent
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