Charlton head coach Michael Appleton praised his side’s response to falling behind as they took a point away from Oakwell in a 1-1 draw with Barnsley.

Adam Phillips opened the scoring in the first half, despite Charlton protesting that the ball left the field of play in the build-up, before Corey Blackett-Taylor provided a second-half equaliser.

Appleton said: “It should’ve been a win shouldn’t it? We felt like we were up against everything today.

“I just hope and I believe, and I know the players believe, that eventually all of a sudden those types of decisions that we’ve seen today will start going our way.”

On the referee’s decision to allow Barnsley’s opener, Appleton said: “I’ve had a few discussions with the referee and I haven’t had much out of him.

“His call was that the fourth official or linesman has to make that call even though he was probably three times further away from it.

“But it’s not a call to make, it’s not close. It’ll be one of them where they’ll show it over and over again. If it was in the Premier League, it’d just cause absolute carnage.

“The main thing is the way we dealt with it and the way the players responded from it was top drawer.”

On his side’s reaction to going behind, Appleton said: “A lot of things went against us. We were asked a few questions and came up with good answers today.

“Even the second half we were on the front foot right from the kick-off.”

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins said: “When you take the whole 90 minutes, I feel we probably edged it with the second-half performance and the opportunities we created.

“Especially considering we went ahead and probably looked the most likely to extend the lead. John McAtee’s chance is the one that springs to mind the most.

“With the players that Charlton have got, they’re a constant threat.

“I thought the team defended it exceptionally well, especially in the second half, but a couple of small mistakes led to their goal.

“I’d love to have been sitting here with three points. The pleasing thing was the performance overall was good and we continued to push on, even at 1-1, where it could easily have gone the other way.

“The team is improving, I think we can see that; we’re sitting six points off second place with a game in hand.”

On Phillips’ goal, Collins said: “Great finish. Hopefully we see more of those goals, I think we will.

“Whether it was in or out, I’ve not seen it yet, but Herbie (Kane) kept going to the whistle which was excellent because it looked like a lost cause, he kept going and brought it alive.”

Morgan Whittaker scored a dramatic late winner as Plymouth snatched a 3-2 result over 10-man Rotherham at Home Park in the Sky Bet Championship.

The playmaker struck six minutes into stoppage time to cause misery for the visitors, who saw defender Daniel Ayala sent off for a second bookable offence in the 55th minute.

Rotherham had taken the lead through Jamie Lindsay but Argyle turned things around with two goals from Finn Azaz, the first from the penalty spot, either side of half-time.

Despite Ayala’s dismissal, the Millers still managed to level through substitute Tom Eaves but Whittaker’s last-gasp strike ensured the points stayed in Plymouth.

It was no more than the home side deserved after twice hitting the post in the first half and putting Rotherham under the cosh for long spells, although it was the visitors who broke the deadlock after 16 minutes following a defensive mix-up in the Argyle penalty area.

The ball fell to striker Sam Nombe, who teed up Lindsay to fire home from just inside the box.

In the 25th minute Ayala was cautioned for a foul on Azaz, resulting in a 20-yard free-kick. However, Whittaker’s superb curling strike around the wall clipped the outside of the post.

Rotherham could have increased their lead minutes later on the counter-attack, but Jordan Hugill headed high and wide from Dexter Lembikisa’s pinpoint cross from the right.

Injuries to Plymouth strikers Ryan Hardie and his replacement, substitute Mustapha Bundu, then caused a lengthy delay which resulted in 16 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first half.

It was during this that Argyle were gifted an equaliser, winning a penalty after a foul on Lewis Gibson by Nombe. Azaz sent United goalkeeper Viktor Johansson the wrong way from the spot.

Azaz, who also saw another effort ping back off the post with the last action of the first half, then put the hosts in front for the first time in the 52nd minute.

Whittaker sent over a pacy cross from the right and Azaz tucked the ball away with a neat side-foot finish at the far post.

Things went from bad to worse for Rotherham just three minutes later when Ayala received a red card for handball, but Argyle failed to make the most of their one-man advantage and the Millers restored parity through Eaves in the 77th minute.

Christ Tiehi’s cross from the left to the far post was headed back across the six-yard box by Sean Morrison to fellow substitute Eaves for a simple tap-in.

Two minutes later Johansson made a brilliant stop with his legs to deny Bali Mumba as the wing-back was put in on goal by Azaz.

But Argyle had the final say when Azaz flicked the ball into Whittaker’s path and he made no mistake, hammering in six minutes into time added on.

Oxford boss Des Buckingham felt getting a first league win under his belt was probably more of a relief for his family than for him after the 3-0 victory over Burton.

Two goals from Ruben Rodrigues and one from Marcus McGuane earned the U’s a comfortable victory and the scoreline could have been double that.

Former Oxford goalkeeper Max Crocombe pulled off a string of saves to keep the score down, and Burton also cleared four attempts off the line in one crazy 10-second spell.

Oxford-born Buckingham said: “I think it’s a relief for my dad and my family.

“The first people that speak to me are my family and my friends… I don’t need reminding from anyone else.

“This week we set up to do something and I started to change things and put more of a stamp on what we are doing.

“The players have been excellent in training this week and I’m extremely pleased with what I have seen today.

“We prepared ourselves as well as we could and I don’t think Burton had a shot on goal.

“With the exception of Max Crocombe in their goal, who I thought had a wonderful game, we could have had a couple more as well.

“I worked with Max when he was the youth-team keeper here – it’s the third time I’ve bumped into him, we also crossed paths in Australia and New Zealand.

“He’s obviously disappointed with the result but I’ve just said to him ‘you can’t be disappointed with that performance you’ve put in’.

“I think they cleared four off the line in the space of 10 seconds. And we hit the post just before that.

“The most important thing is that you keep the control and keep doing what’s got you the opportunities – and that’s what we kept doing.

“It took a very good strike from Ruben for the second, and then it was a wonderful strike from Marcus for the third.

“The work rate that our wingers put in is phenomenal, not just in going forward but in getting back.”

Harris was twice thwarted by Crocombe, but also missed other opportunities.

“The goals will come for Mark Harris,” added Buckingham. “The way we’ve set the team up he’ll get chances.

“He had two wonderful chances today and their keeper’s made great saves. As long as he continues doing what he’s doing, the goals will come – and when they do they’ll be like London buses.”

Burton’s caretaker boss Gary Mills said: “We asked the lads to give everything and I’m really proud of them. They worked really hard and showed real character.

“We wanted them to go out there, enjoy it and show bravery. In patches they showed some decent stuff and the blocks they put in showed real commitment.

“After the match, I thanked the lads for their efforts. I was concerned that Oxford had so many opportunities – they got into our final third too much.

“We didn’t close the ball down enough from a deep line. But they were quality finishes and Oxford are a good side – there’s no doubt about that.

“They’re a big club with big resources and a really good squad. They’ll be challenging.

“We didn’t work the Oxford goalkeeper enough. But this is the start of a journey and while we’re in charge we’ll try and get more players in attacking areas on the pitch with more crosses and more shots.”

Mills has taken temporary charge from Dino Maamria, who departed in the week.

Mills added: “I don’t know how long we’ll be in charge but we’ll try and deliver something that is attacking and enjoyable to watch – something to get the crowd off their seats. But it’s not going to happen for us overnight.”

Luton captain Tom Lockyer is “stable” after suffering a cardiac arrest on the Vitality Stadium pitch during the Hatters’ abandoned Premier League match against Bournemouth.

A statement posted on Luton’s social media channels following the medical incident, which halted play in the second half, said the 29-year-old defender was “responsive” before he was taken to hospital.

An update later confirmed Lockyer will now be undergoing further tests.

It read: “Our medical staff have confirmed that the Hatters captain suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch, but was responsive by the time he was taken off on the stretcher.

“He received further treatment inside the stadium, for which we once again thank the medical teams from both sides. Tom was transferred to hospital, where we can reassure supporters that he is stable and currently undergoing further tests with his family at his bedside.

“We would like to thank everyone for their support, concern and loving messages for Locks.”

Paramedics and staff, including Hatters manager Rob Edwards, immediately sprinted out to the Welshman’s aid when he appeared to collapse near midfield in the second half of what had been a 1-1 draw.

Players were removed from the pitch as Lockyer was being treated, but returned to applaud the crowd after the Premier League announced the match had been abandoned with the clock paused in the 65th minute.

Luton said: “We all hope and pray for our leader and captain Tom Lockyer, who is thankfully responsive and has been taken to hospital.

“We don’t know the full extent of what happened and what the next steps are at this stage, but we thank Bournemouth and the medical staff on both sides for their immediate response, which was absolutely amazing.

“We are sorry to all supporters present that players from both sides were in no state of mind to continue with the game after seeing their much-loved team-mate and friend taken off like that, and staff could not carry on with managing the game in such circumstances having had to deal with the situation.

“We thank everyone for the wonderful applause and singing of Locks’ name inside the stadium at such a difficult time. Now is the time for all of our players, staff and supporters to come together as we always do and give our love and support to Tom and his family. Our thoughts are with him and them all.”

A statement posted to Bournemouth’s official account on X, formerly Twitter, read: “We’re relieved to hear Tom is responsive. Our thoughts will continue to be with Tom and his family at this time.

“We’d like to thank all the medical staff for their quick action as well as everyone inside the stadium for their support and unity during a difficult moment.”

There was some time between the moment Lockyer was removed from the pitch and the announcement of the match’s abandonment, which came via a Premier League statement and over the stadium tannoy.

The Premier League statement read: “The Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Luton Town FC has been abandoned due to a player medical incident.”

Lockyer had surgery to correct an atrial fibrillation in June after collapsing during Luton’s Sky Bet Championship play-off final win against Coventry.

He returned to action for the start of the new season and had made 15 appearances so far in all competitions before Saturday’s match.

Wales posted on X: “Our thoughts are with Tom Lockyer.”

The afternoon had begun positively for the visitors, who took the lead inside three minutes through Elijah Adebayo’s header before it was cancelled out after the restart by Dominic Solanke.

Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens refused to celebrate his side’s two late goals which earned victory at Cheltenham because he was so disappointed with their performance.

Orient picked up their first win in nine games as they came from behind against 10-man Cheltenham, who had Ben Williams sent off in the 18th minute.

Will Goodwin’s penalty put Darrell Clarke’s improving Robins in front in the 68th minute, but an own goal in the 89th minute from Sean Long and Ethan Galbraith’s winner deep into stoppage time turned the game around.

“I didn’t celebrate the equaliser or the winning goal because I am very performance-related,” Wellens said.

“I am happy because of the result but also frustrated because we came here with a game plan.

“You have to give Cheltenham a lot of credit because they are very aggressive and this is a difficult place to come as Oxford, Wigan and Derby have found here.

“We didn’t find any belief of rhythm in the second half because our decision-making was poor.

“I thought the subs were good when they came on and we kept going and showed fight. We’ve played a lot better than that in recent weeks and not got our just rewards, but football is mad.

“I am pleased for the supporters because it’s been a long time coming.”

Cheltenham started brightly, with Long turning Will Ferry’s low ball over the bar in the sixth minute.

The home side had Williams dismissed for two yellow cards in as many minutes, for fouls on Jordan Brown and Ruel Sotiriou.

Orient nearly capitalised as George Moncur saw a volley blocked in the six yard box by Tom Pett and Darren Pratley’s header cannoned off the bar from Theo Archibald’s corner.

Cheltenham regained the initiative in the second half, with Goodwin forcing Solomon Brynn into a diving save with a snapshot in the 62nd minute.

Their pressure paid off when Ferry was tripped by Pratley and Goodwin made no mistake with his penalty.

But substitute Shaq Forde’s shot was deflected into his own net by Long in the 89th minute and Galbraith won it with a shot from 22 yards in the fourth minute of time added on.

Cheltenham boss Clarke admitted it was a tough one to take.

“It’s very raw at the minute,” he said. “We are devastated to come away with nothing.

“With 10 men for such a long period of the game, I thought the boys were magnificent.

“Like I’ve just said to the lads, sometimes in football and in life, it can kick you down. It’s how we respond, but I am very disappointed for everybody.”

Craig Levein was delighted that resurgent St Johnstone were able to mark 16-year-old Fran Franczak’s first start with a 1-0 victory over Hibernian.

The teenage midfielder became Saints’ youngest-ever player when he made his only previous appearance as a late sub away to the Hibees in September.

Levein pitched Franczak in at wing-back for the visit of Nick Montgomery’s in-form side and the manager watched the youngster deliver an accomplished display as Graham Carey’s second-half strike proved enough to lift Saints from 11th to eighth in the cinch Premiership.

“Fran’s performance didn’t surprise me,” said the Saints boss. “He’s been excellent in training, he’s been with the first-team squad since we came in.

“He’s competitive, he’s not a defensive player. He’s more of an attacker. He played that wing-back position like an attacker.

“He was super-cool in his head space, whatever he did. He didn’t get flummoxed or flustered at all.

“Everything that he did was really good. It was his starting debut and I asked the boys to try and make it a memorable one for him, and they certainly did.”

Levein – who took charge last month when Saints were bottom of the table – was pleased with the way his side secured their third win of his seven-game tenure, with Carey’s breakthrough following a misplaced pass from Dylan Levitt.

“We had quite a lot of control in the game, which was important in making opportunities,” he said.

“We scored one but Marsh (Hibs goalkeeper David Marshall) made four top, top saves. We scored one and defensively we were really good.”

Hibs failed to muster a shot on target as they slipped from fourth to sixth in the table and manager Montgomery rued the way his team’s threat was snuffed out by Saints.

“It was a disappointing performance in all,” he said. “I felt at half-time it would be a mistake that would probably result in a goal and we didn’t capitalise on the mistakes they made, especially in the first half.

“We had a couple of opportunities. That pitch was tough at times, people slipping over and missing the ball, but we didn’t deserve to win the game.

“Did we deserve to lose it? On reflection of the whole game, probably not. But we did, we lost the game, and at 1-0, you know they are going to fight for everything.

“What we didn’t have was enough going forward to create a real threat, and that sort of played into their hands.”

Liam Rosenior highlighted Hull’s “complete professionalism” after his side returned to the Sky Bet Championship top six with a resounding 3-0 win at home to Cardiff.

Aaron Connolly gave the Tigers a deserved 1-0 lead at half-time before Scott Twine and Ozan Tufan blew away the abject visitors after the restart.

Rosenior said: “The performance was probably similar to a lot of games we’ve played this season, but we had a ruthless side to us.

“It was a really pleasing day but we have to maintain this way of playing and in this vein of form.

“The first goal was really important – Aaron was in a perfect position – and then Scott Twine scores a free-kick and Ozan’s goal was beautiful.

“I really enjoyed the way we saw the game out. I wanted a clean sheet and it was complete professionalism.

“I always want more but the way we went 2-0 up in the second half and continued to press was magnificent.”

Hull, who claimed an important win at Middlesbrough in midweek, were excellent from the outset.

They could have been 2-0 up before Connolly scored a back-post tap-in off Liam Delap’s low cross on 32 minutes.

Cardiff manager Erol Brulet, so frustrated by his side’s timid defeat at home to Birmingham in midweek, will have demanded much more after the interval.

But Hull remained on the front foot, and doubled their lead after 56 minutes when Twine scored a perfect, curling free-kick from the edge of the penalty box.

Tufan underscored the hosts’ dominance three minutes later when he expertly controlled Tyler Morton’s reaching long ball before lobbing Jak Alnwick.

Rosenior said: “If you press and you work hard, good things happen. I think what epitomised that was Ozan’s performance.

“There’s a good feeling at the club between the players and the fans. There’s a lot of confidence at the club and I’m really happy with the way things are going.

“We’re a team. We win as a team and we lose as a team. For us to get to where we want to be, it has to be a team mentality and every single player does their job.

“I’m sure there’ll be more setbacks to come but the team are showing me a determination and resilience that I’m really happy with.”

Counterpart Brulet feels Cardiff, who have lost three of their last four games, are beginning to feel the pressure of expectation.

He said: “We saw the quality difference between the two teams.

“When you want to be in the play-off positions we have to show much, much more – we are far away from that (reaching the top six).

“We didn’t show anything. Maybe in the past I said we want to be around the play-offs, and maybe that was too much pressure on the players.

“I have to ask myself about that. Maybe it was too much for some of the players.

“I try to get the maximum from the team. Maybe I try to ask too much of the players too quickly.”

Brulet added: “You need to change inside the club or nothing will change today or tomorrow.

“I only have one year and I have to change the maximum of what I can do.

“Maybe we have to put our foot on the break at times. Everyone’s frustrated – me, the players and fans – but in this situation we all together.

“At the start of the season, everybody would accept that our target was to stay in the league, but I do not accept that myself.

“January is coming and the season is not finished yet.”

Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly saved a penalty to help his side play out a hard-fought goalless draw in difficult conditions at St Mirren.

The Scotland international parried away Mark O’Hara’s spot-kick four minutes after half-time, and despite the visitors having four one-on-one opportunities after surviving a close escape, they failed to find the net.

Motherwell’s winless run in the cinch Premiership extended to 14 games and they now occupy the relegation play-off position, while St Mirren dropped to fourth in the table below Hearts on goal difference.

Both teams made one change from their last outing. For the hosts, Keanu Baccus replaced Caolan Boyd-Munce, who failed to make the squad, while Harry Paton returned to the Well starting line-up with Jon Obika dropping to the bench.

Blustery conditions looked set to play a major factor in proceedings and they were evident as Georgie Gent’s cross in the early exchanges swung across the St Mirren penalty box and out for a throw-in.

Saints passed up a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock after 12 minutes when Thierry Small’s low cross broke for Greg Kiltie who sliced an effort that sailed inches too high.

Just minutes later, Kelly, who took the blame for St Johnstone’s goal at Fir Park last weekend, looked uncertain when tipping Jonah Ayunga’s innocuous looking header over the crossbar.

The wind was drastically impacting the quality on show, with neither side quite able to get to grips with the difficult conditions in the opening 45 minutes.

St Mirren were awarded a penalty four minutes after half-time when Stephen O’Donnell was adjudged to have handled Ayunga’s cross.

O’Hara stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick but he was denied as Kelly parried his poor effort away before the Steelmen defence scrambled the ball clear.

Motherwell had yet to work the Saints keeper, though they did have a rare glimpse of goal as Paton’s strike from outside the box flashed wide of the target.

Zach Hemming was finally called into action after 58 minutes as Blair Spittal’s free-kick found Gent unmarked inside the box but he could only head the ball into the grateful arms of the home keeper.

The game was beginning to open up and it took a good save from Kelly to turn Small’s curling shot round the post, before the visitors somehow failed to take advantage of two glorious chances to break the deadlock.

Mika Biereth skipped through the Buddies midfield and released Spittal, who twisted past Alex Gogic before somehow firing wide.

The Arsenal loanee was involved again a minute later after slipping the ball through to Callum Slattery, but the midfielder hit the deck under pressure from Gogic and saw his claims for a penalty dismissed following a VAR check.

Chasing an elusive victory, Motherwell began to look the much more likely to find an opener and it took some smart goalkeeping from Hemming to deny the onrushing Biereth, who had sprung the home offside trap.

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell introduced Theo Bair and Oli Shaw in search of a winner and Bair almost made an instant impact when he found himself bearing down on goal, only for his powerful shot to be kept out.

It was the fourth one-on-one opportunity for the away side and yet again they were unable to find the net as they had to settle for their fifth draw in seven league matches.

Head Coach of Jamaica’s Under-20 Reggae Boyz, John Wall, says senior professional minutes will be the main benchmark for the selection of his squad for the Concacaf Under-20 Qualifiers set for February 23-March 2, 2024 across five venues in Central America and the Caribbean.

Jamaica were drawn alongside Bermuda, Grenada and St. Kitts & Nevis in Group F of the qualifiers. That group will play at the SKNFA Technical Center in Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis.

“What I’m interested in is the long haul and figuring out how these players can become first team players for Jamaica,” said Wall at a Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) press conference on Thursday.

 “It’s been a process ever since March on a monthly basis in except July and September-November. In those months, it’s hard to get access to the players. We’re close to 80 players reviewed since March,” he said. We’re already pretty much fully operative and people are voluntarily scouting for us and providing reports so I’m pretty close to actually delivering the 60-man squad that will be the provisional list sent to Concacaf,” he added.

Wall then outlined that he is using the blueprint of the youth setups of Denmark and Uruguay for how he is selecting players for his squad, mentioning senior minutes played as the main benchmark for those teams.

“I’ve used Denmark and Uruguay as a benchmark. They’re pretty close in terms of size of the nation. Denmark’s U-21, and I’m taking two highest leagues, by October this year, has 21,885 senior professional minutes and a squad market value of 29 million Euros. Uruguay, who won the U-20 World Cup, 18,000+ and a squad value of 28 million Euros. How close is Jamaica to that on a global scale?” he said.

“For me, I have to look at senior professional minutes first and looking domestically, it’s a semi-professional league in JPL so that’s the closest we can get there. Globally, how close are the players to actually playing senior professional football? The margin now globally is that players are getting younger and younger, better educated and kind of pre-selected. Domestically, you’re looking at age groups that were hit the most by Covid and did not play too much at all so it’s been a race to the bottom depletion of the pool. Unfortunately, I cannot relate to schoolboy football and converting that to global football; it’s a different game,” he added.

Once the provisional squad is selected, Wall says the plan going forward is to get some friendlies and try to utilize as many players as possible leading into the qualifiers.

“Moving on, what we’re looking at is in January to play a friendly where we’ll utilize players from Jamaica and North America and furthermore, heading into February prior to the qualifiers, being on a camp and playing an added two more friendlies that are of a high quality so we will be prepared well for the qualifiers. Then we will be able to utilize an even bigger group of players,” he said.

“It’s been a gradual thing, trying to utilize as many players as possible. Speaking of that, we have assessed, we have reviewed, we have scouted and done due diligence prior to all of this. I am human meaning on the selection day there will be one or two players that might’ve been there,” Wall added.

Luton’s Premier League match at Bournemouth has been abandoned following a medical incident involving Hatters defender Tom Lockyer.

Lockyer was attended to by paramedics and staff in the second half, when the score was 1-1 with the clock paused at 65 minutes.

The defender was removed from the field of play on a stretcher surrounded by the medical team, and there was a standing ovation from the crowd.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Luton Town Football Club (@lutontown)

After the players were taken off, the Premier League confirmed the match had been abandoned.

A statement from the Premier League read: “The Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Luton Town FC has been abandoned due to a player medical incident.

“Our thoughts are with Tom Lockyer and all players involved in today’s match.”

Wales defender Lockyer had surgery to correct an atrial fibrillation in June after collapsing during Luton’s Sky Bet Championship play-off final win against Coventry.

The Hatters captain returned to action for the start of the new season and had made 15 appearances so far in all competitions before Saturday’s match.

Wales posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Our thoughts are with Tom Lockyer.”

Manchester City dropped points once again as a stoppage-time Michael Olise penalty saw the Premier League champions held 2-2 by Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium.

City had dominated possession and appeared in complete control after Jack Grealish put them ahead in the 24th minute and Rico Lewis added a 54th-minute finish.

But Palace fought back to reduce the deficit via Jean-Philippe Mateta with just under a quarter of hour of normal time to go, and Olise subsequently converted from the spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time to secure a point for the visitors.

It is the fifth time in six league games that Pep Guardiola’s men have dropped points, having also drawn with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham and lost to Aston Villa prior to last Sunday’s 2-1 win at Luton.

In what was their last match before heading to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup, the result leaves them fourth in the table, three points behind leaders Liverpool, who host Manchester United on Sunday.

Chelsea recovered from a dour first-half showing to beat Sheffield United 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and claim back-to-back Premier League home wins for the first time in over a year.

Cole Palmer continued his fine start to life in west London and was the difference for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, knocking in the opening goal from Raheem Sterling’s cut-back early in the second half before crossing for Nicolas Jackson to make it two.

The first half was instantly forgettable as Chelsea laboured without invention when in possession, before the summer signing from Manchester City enhanced his reputation as a match-winner in a team that remains maddeningly inconsistent in the final third.

Pochettino named Christopher Nkunku amongst his substitutes for the first time, and his return to fitness could not have come at a more opportune moment for misfiring Chelsea. Despite the game being effectively won with 30 minutes to play, home fans were made to wait for a glimpse of the player they hope will be their saviour in front of goal.

Chelsea dominated early but carried little threat. Their first sight of goal was a half chance, Conor Gallagher flattening Gustavo Hamer to win possession in midfield and hitting a swinging effort that was fielded with ease by Wes Foderingham.

The visitors were content for the game to be played in front of them, leaving little to no space behind for Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk to exploit on Chelsea’s flanks.

Mudryk summed up a turgid opening 20 minutes with an audacious nutmeg on Jayden Bogle before spooning a ballooned effort that pitched somewhere near the corner flag.

Djordje Petrovic, on his full Premier League debut, was the first goalkeeper to look truly concerned, the summer arrival from New England Revolution flinging himself at full stretch at Cameron Archer’s ambitious 20-yard effort as it whistled inches wide of the post, as Blades warned of their threat on the counter.

Chelsea had won just once since their buccaneering 4-1 victory at Tottenham in early November, but goals have dried up lately and against Blades in the first half they found their every avenue to goal blocked.

Their preferred route was out wide via Sterling and Mudryk, but when the ball arrived into the box it rarely found a blue shirt. In the centre, Palmer toiled and hunted for the killer pass, yet in the first period was far from his mercurial best with the ball at feet.

Jackson had his side’s best moment of the half, cutting in off the left and beating two defenders before aiming a low shot fractionally wide from the edge of the box. Chelsea had had 80 per cent possession in the opening 45 minutes, from which they mustered a single shot on target.

The goal nine minutes after half-time was greeted more with relief than elation.

Palmer started it, collecting the ball centrally and threading it in to Sterling who stood up his man and, with a burst of acceleration, dashed beyond him.

His cross into the box had pace and whip, and there to meet it was Palmer, continuing his run to knock it past Foderingham for his sixth goal of the season.

Five minutes later it was two, and Palmer again was the architect. A flighted ball in towards the penalty spot caused chaos at the back for Blades, as first Sterling then Gallagher got a touch, the ball spun towards Foderingham who failed to gather, and Palmer cut it back for Jackson to sweep into an empty goal.

Petrovic saved from a Hamer free-kick, diving low to his left to turn the ball behind, that after Sterling had been denied one on one by Foderingham.

Gallagher, influential throughout as the heartbeat of Chelsea’s midfield, drilled one over the bar as the hosts asserted their dominance.

Armando Broja came off the bench and staked a claim for miss of the season, whacking the ball into the Matthew Harding Stand from barely a yard out.

But they had already done enough, as home fans witnessed a victory in the league for just the fifth time in 2023.

Seventeen-year-old Lewis Miley’s first senior goal set Newcastle on their way to a seventh successive Premier League win at St James’ Park as they beat 10-man Fulham 3-0.

The midfielder, thrust into the action as a first-half substitute after Fabian Schar and Joelinton had been added to head coach Eddie Howe’s lengthy casualty list, fired the Magpies into a 57th-minute lead and saw Miguel Almiron and Dan Burn follow suit to clinch a hard-fought victory.

Fulham, who had striker Raul Jimenez sent off with just 22 minutes gone after needlessly careering into and flooring midfielder Sean Longstaff, frustrated the hosts for long periods but eventually succumbed in front of a crowd of 52,035.

Howe had insisted in advance there could be no hangover from Wednesday night’s Champions League exit and his players set about their task with relish in a bid to end a run of three consecutive defeats.

In the absence of the suspended Kieran Trippier, defender Schar took charge at a fifth-minute free-kick and after tapping the ball short to Anthony Gordon, he whipped a curling shot just wide of Bernd Leno’s left post.

However, the visitors, who had scored five without reply in each of their last two matches, had arrived intent on taking advantage of any weariness among the black and white ranks and repeatedly stretched the home defence on the counter.

Bruno Guimaraes fired high over from Gordon’s 17th-minute pull-back after Jamaal Lascelles had muscled Jimenez off the the ball with the striker needing treatment after being caught by a flailing arm.

The frontman was even more aggrieved five minutes later when, after referee Sam Barrott had been invited to review his ugly challenge on Longstaff, the official upgraded the yellow card he had originally awarded to a red.

Newcastle came desperately close to the opening goal on the half-hour when Gordon controlled substitute Emil Krafth’s cross and smashed a left-foot shot against the underside of the bar before Callum Wilson headed straight at Leno from Gordon’s cross.

Burn then did just enough to put Alex Iwobi off as he shot having run on to Joelinton’s loose pass with Martin Dubravka having earlier fielded Joao Palhinha’s long-range attempt.

Leno denied Longstaff after he had run on to Tino Livramento’s through ball and the half-time whistle arrived with the sides still locked together.

Guimaraes drilled a speculative effort straight at Leno as the home side resumed on the front foot but lacking the necessary invention or precision to fashion genuine opportunities until Gordon sent Leno full-stretch from Wilson’s lay-off seconds before Miley tested him with a rising drive.

However, it was the academy graduate who finally made the breakthrough with 57 minutes gone when, after Guimaraes had driven into the penalty area, he fired low across Leno and inside the far post.

The second goal arrived within seven minutes when Gordon’s through ball evaded Wilson and defender Antonee Robinson and fell nicely for Almiron to slot into an empty net.

It was three with eight minutes remaining, Burn bundling home at the far post after Leno had repelled his initial header.

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli will do his best to make amends for their disheartening Champions League exit by guiding the Rossoneri back into the competition through Serie A once again.

Milan are keen to get over the disappointment of their failure to progress to the knockout stages – Wednesday’s victory at Newcastle was only enough to secure third in their group and Europa League football – with a home win against Monza that will help them maintain their pursuit of second-placed Juventus, currently eight points clear.

Back-to-back league successes against Fiorentina and Frosinone were followed by a frustrating last-minute defeat at Atalanta last weekend and Pioli wants a response to both setbacks in Sunday’s lunchtime kick-off.

Pioli said at a press conference: “My big regret is that the team are not making the most of their potential right now, in Europe and in the league, so that’s what I must work on trying to change.

“This squad has so much potential, we created so many chances especially in the Champions League and lacked that bit of determination and quality. With that, we would have been here celebrating Champions League progress.

“Clearly, we can only now try to consolidate third place in Serie A and then try to do more. Our minimum objective is to qualify for the Champions League again, that is the very least we can aim for.”

Davide Calabria is suspended for the Monza clash after his dismissal in Bergamo so Theo Hernandez will be captain as Pioli tries to reckon with a defensive crisis.

Pierre Kalulu, Mattia Caldara, Marco Pellegrino and Malick Thiaw are all out injured, along with goalkeeper Marco Sportiello, and only one of academy product Jan-Carlo Simic and Simon Kjaer is likely to be fit enough to slot into the backline.

For Monza, Argentinian midfielder Alejandro Gomez is only two months into a two-year doping ban, with on-loan Torino defender Armando Izzo and Hellas Verona loan forward Gianluca Caprari among the key injury absentees.

Sunday’s visitors snapped a poor run of three games without a win by beating Genoa 1-0 last time out but away wins have been hard to come by so far for the mid-table side from the Stadio Brianteo.

Monza boss Raffaele Palladino said at his Saturday press conference: “We are satisfied so far but must keep our feet on the ground and improve on many aspects, such as being more effective in front of goal.

“Playing at San Siro is a source of pride. I believe Monza can do well and put Milan in difficulty. We are set up for this, to compete with anyone, anywhere. We must not be afraid of anybody.”

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna declared the long-awaited East Anglian derby with Norwich as a “great occasion” and claimed that his team were better by a “considerable margin” in spite of them drawing 2-2.

His opposite number at Carrow Road, David Wagner, meanwhile, said his first ‘Old Farm’ clash between the two sides – the first for nearly four years – was “exciting” and was what was expected.

Jonathan Rowe struck twice either side of the break for City while Nathan Broadhead and Wes Burns were the Ipswich scorers.

Ipswich dominated the first half and should have been ahead by at least three goals but failed to capitalise on their superiority.

Broadhead spurned two chance to put the Town ahead. The first came when he danced round a couple of tackles to leave him one on one with Angus Gunn in the Norwich goal but he put his shot narrowly wide of the left-hand post.

Moments later he picked up a cross from Wes Burns but fired the ball just the wrong side of the same post.

Town then spurned their third good opportunity to take the lead when Burns smashed his shot over the bar.

McKenna said: “It was a great occasion in terms of the build up and the supporters did the club proud in terms of the atmosphere they created.

“I thought it was a really good performance and we were the better team by a considerable margin, created lots and lots of chances, give away very few chances and there was lots of things that we can build on from the performance.

“Of course the frustration is conceding two goals from hopeful balls that ricochet around in our box, but beyond that there’s so many positives that we can take from the performance.

“Of course, only a point and we would have loved to have given the supporters the victory, but I think the team can certainly take a lot from that game.

“We have been so clinical at home and I think that’s a 3-0 performance in the first half if I’m honest and we go in at 1-1.

“The goals we gave away were disappointing, it’s two moments of concentration in our penalty box and a little bit of fortune in both which can happen.”

Opposite number Wagner felt the game had gone as he anticipated.

He said: “It was exciting and more or less what you expect, what you like to have… a lot of battles, a lot of energy.

“The lead changes during the game as well and I’m absolutely delighted about the shift my players put on the pitch, great togetherness, great working attitude, super fighting spirit and this the reason why it’s a deserved point for me.

“Obviously if you can’t win it you make sure you can’t lose it and this is what the players have done. We take this point.

“You have seen why Ipswich is so good at home and so good in the season in general. This was their first draw, every other game they have won and this makes it a good result for us.

“It was deserved because of the fighting spirit and of the effort which they players bought the pitch and they always believed going and fighting and close the yards in between the lines.

“Technically it was a very, very good game, they are a good side. We take the draw and this is why it was a deserved point for me.”