Antiguan outfit Grenades FC secured their first point of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup as they came from behind to hold AC Port of Spain to a 1-1 stalemate in a lukewarm Group B contest at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain on Tuesday.
Shackiel Smek Henry (21st) put AC Port of Spain in front, but that strike was cancelled out by Sean Tomlinson (90+5), who ensured Grenades FC registered their first point of the campaign.
AC Port of Spain remain third on two points behind the Dominican Republic duo of Moca FC and Cibao FC, both on four points each. Haiti’s Ouanaminthe sit fourth on a point, while Grenades remain at the foot of the five-team standings.
With both teams coming of losses in their previous encounters, it was anybody’s guess where the points would go. However, AC Port of Spain being the more illustrious of the two, coupled with the fact that they were at home, was slightly favoured to notch their first win of the campaign.
They seemed well on their way to achieving that feat when Henry pounced on a loose ball and fired home from close range.
Though they were forced into substituting goalkeeper Denzil Smith, who was replaced by Marvin Phillip, AC Port of Spain were still in safe hands. This, as Phillip immediately impacted the contest when he denied Quinton Griffith from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute.
Duane Muckette should have doubled AC Port of Spain’s lead from the penalty spot on the hour mark, but his tame kick was kept out by Zaieem Scott in goal for Grenades FC.
That missed opportunity would later haunt them as Tomlinson injected tempo in the latter staged of the contest for Grenades. He should have pulled them level in the 85th, but muffed his effort in a one-on-one situation with Phillip, who left his line well.
However, Tomlinson made amends on the final play of the encounter as he expertly headed home Keanu Barrett’s weighted cross, giving Phillip no chance at a save in time added.
With the point set to serve as a morale booster, Grenades will be hoping to convert it to a win when they square off against Ouanaminthe FC in Dominican Republic next Tuesday, while AC Port of Spain will host Cibao FC on the same day.
Martial set for AEK Athens move after Man United exit
Former Manchester United forward Anthony Martial is set to complete a permanent transfer to Greek Super League side AEK Athens.
Martial, who left United earlier this year following the expiry of his contract, will arrive in Greece later on Wednesday and sign a deal reportedly worth £2.5million per season.
The Frenchman's contract will see him become the Greek side's top earner and surpass former Tottenham man Erik Lamela, who joined the club in July.
Martial arrived at Old Trafford in 2015 for £36m, with his move the highest transfer fee paid for a teenager.
He marked his debut with a goal in a 3-1 victory over Liverpool, and went on to score 17 goals in 49 appearances in all competitions during his debut year with the Red Devils.
Martial enjoyed his most prolific campaign in 2019-20, registering 34 goal contributions (23 goals and 11 assists), but subsequently struggled to regain his goalscoring touch.
Over the next four seasons, the Frenchman netted 19 times in all competitions, and played just 629 minutes under Erik ten Hag last term.
Martial ended his United career with 90 goals in 317 appearances along with four trophies, including the 2016-17 Europa League.
He will join a number of former Premier League players at AEK, including ex-Watford stars Roberto Pereyra and Nordin Amrabat, as well as former Brentford goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha.
Ja's Cavalier condemned to first defeat by Haiti's Real Hope in Caribbean Cup
Jamaica’s Cavalier FC suffered their first loss of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup campaign as they were stunned 2-1 by Haitian counterparts Real Hope FA in a keenly contested Group A encounter at the National Stadium on Tuesday.
After taking an early lead through Dwayne Atkinson in the fourth minute, the reigning Jamaica Premier League (JPL) champions lapsed in concentration in the second half and Real Hope capitalised through Rikanel Chery (60th) and Steeve Mondestin (66th) to secure their first win of the tournament.
Despite the loss, Cavalier remain atop the standings on six points, two ahead of Real Hope, who inched up to second on four points. Mount Pleasant (three points), Police FC (one point), and Arnett Gardens (zero) complete the group.
Knowing a victory would put them one step closer to the semi-final, Cavalier started spiritedly and quickly broke the deadlock when Atkinson fired home from Shaquille Stein’s pass after a tidy buildup on the left channel.
The score remained unchanged at the break as both teams created a few half chances but failed to make them count.
Though there was a lengthy delay to the start of the second half, due to a section of the Stadium lights going out, Real Hope were unflustered and pulled level at the hour mark when Chery got on the end of Jeudy Jhonson’s through ball and fired home from close range.
The Haitian club found the lead six minutes later when Mondestin converted from the 12-yard spot after being awarded a penalty.
Still, Cavalier found a fresh wind at the backend of the contest and almost secured a share of the spoils, but Kaile Auvray’s well-struck effort was cleared off the line by Peterson Pierre five minutes from time.
Real Hope will seek to maintain its momentum against another Jamaican outfit, Arnett Gardens, next Wednesday at the same venue, while Cavalier’s next assignment will also be against the ‘Junglists’ on October 3.
Everton ‘nemesis’ must be corrected, says Dyche after cup exit
Sean Dyche is hoping Everton can find their clinical edge upon their return to Premier League action having been dumped out of the Carabao Cup in midweek by Southampton.
Everton were beaten on penalties by the Saints on Tuesday after seeing Abdoulaye Doucoure’s goal cancelled out by Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
The Toffees ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.54 compared to Southampton’s 0.53, but could only manage four shots on target, the same as their opponents.
Taking opportunities in front of goal has been a persistent problem for Everton this season, with Dyche acknowledging his side must improve when they travel to face Leicester this weekend.
“Yet again we’ve created golden chances, and you’ve got to score those chances and that changes the whole game,” Dyche said.
“There’s been times we’ve scored goals and looked like we can score goals, but you’ve got to kill games off. If you’re not keeping clean sheets, you have to kill games off and we’ve not done that.
“That’s a nemesis for us. It’s been here a long time, and we’ve tried to correct it and tried to find those moments, but that’s the hardest bit as a manager.
“We’ve got in some amazing positions again tonight, with one on ones, but we haven’t scored a second goal. Obviously, the work continues.”
Leicester, meanwhile, had to settle for a point in their controversial 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace last time out as Jean-Philippe Mateta’s penalty shared the spoils at Selhurst Park.
Foxes head coach Steve Cooper was left wanting answers from decision-makers at the Premier League following the award of Palace’s first goal, having seen it initially ruled out for offside, only for VAR to overturn the decision.
However, Cooper insisted he was pleased with his side’s display against the Eagles, saying his players must keep going in their quest to get their first three points on the board.
“There was so much good in the performance, particularly in the first half, but I'm not going to shout that from the rooftops because of obviously how we're feeling about the results,” Cooper said.
“We come up against a team who have invested over a number of years and put a team together and been in the Premier League for a long while.
“It's a pity that we conceded the goals in the way that we have because I don't think that really typified the mentality that we showed, but we have to own it, and we have to keep going. We have to stick together, be positive, and that's what we'll do.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Leicester – Wilfried Ndidi
Ndidi has assisted three goals in his last two Premier League appearances for Leicester, as many as he had in his previous 62 games combined in the top-flight.
He is only the second Foxes player to assist three goals in their opening four Premier League games in a season, along with Marc Albrighton in their title-winning campaign of 2015-16.
Everton – Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Calvert-Lewin has scored in 14 Premier League defeats for Everton, including in his last two games against Bournemouth and Aston Villa.
That’s the most games scored in and lost for the Toffees in the competition, one ahead of Duncan Ferguson who lost 13 times when scoring for Everton.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Both sides head into the encounter at the King Power Stadium in search of their first three points of the season, but Leicester have struggled against the Toffees of late.
The Foxes have won just one of their last seven Premier League meetings with Everton (D3 L3), a 2-0 away win in November 2022.
And for only a fourth time, Leicester have failed to win any of their first four Premier League games in a season (D2 L2) – in all three previous seasons in which they’ve won none of their first four, they were relegated, in 1994-95, 2003-04 and 2022-23.
However, Everton failed to win any of their first five league games in both 2022-23 (D3 L2) and 2023-24 (D1 L4). In Premier League history, the only team to fail to win any of their opening five games in three consecutive seasons is Sunderland, who did so in four in a row between 2013-14 and 2016-17.
Dyche’s side have been 2-0 up in each of their last two Premier League matches but gone on to lose both 3-2 against Bournemouth and Aston Villa, becoming just the second team in Premier League history to lose consecutive games from 2+ goals ahead, after the Cherries in November 2022. No team has ever failed to win in three games in a row when leading by two or more goals.
But 16 of the 34 Premier League meetings between Leicester and Everton have been drawn, the highest percentage for any fixture to have been played 30+ times in the competition (47%).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Leicester – 38.5%
Draw – 26.3%
Everton – 35.2%
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