The Observer - 25.08.2019

The Observer

25.08.19 15

Football

in brief

Inter move closer to

landing Sánchez loan

Manchester United and Inter will

resume talks tomorrow in an

effort to fi nalise Alexis Sánchez’s

loan move to the Serie A side.

The clubs will stay in contact this

weekend and the key matter to be

resolved relates to the proportion

of the forward’s £390,000 a-week

salary to be paid by Inter. Sánchez

is ready to make the switch to

Antonio Conte’s side but United

want the Italian club to around €6m

(£5.5m) of his £20m-plus annual

earnings. The Italians are holding

out to pay about €3m. There is

expectation that this fi nal hurdle

will be overcome and Sánchez will

join his former United teammate

Romelu Lukaku at Inter this week.

One potential stumbling block is

if one of Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s

forwards is injured before the move

is completed. Jamie Jackson

Leverkusen keep

track of Dortmund

Bayer Leverkusen scored three

times in the fi rst half to win 3-1 at

Fortuna Düsseldorf and join the

leaders, Borussia Dortmund, on

a maximum six points from their

fi rst two Bundesliga matches.

A sixth-minute own goal from

Lewis Baker put the visitors ahead

and Charles Aránguiz added

another goal in the 33rd. His

effort was initially ruled out for a

suspected handball but following a

video replay the goal stood. Kevin

Volland, who was also involved

in the fi rst goal, set up Karim

Bellarabi for their third goal six

minutes later. Fortuna cut the

defi cit in the 82nd with Alfredo

Morales. Freiburg are also on six

points after coming from a goal

down to beat promoted Paderborn

3-1. Dortmund won 3-1 at Cologne

on Friday while Bayern Munich,

on one point, were at Schalke later

last night. Reuters

Bilic calls for

VAR as Zohore

saves Baggies

Slaven Bilic said the introduction
of the video assistant referee (VAR)
in the Championship would pre-
vent penalty decisions from having
a damaging impact, citing how such
judg ments can dictate managers
getting “new contracts, praise or the
sack”, after West Brom and Derby
both suffered from questionable
offi ciating in an entertaining draw.
Kenneth Zohore scored a spot-kick
for the second time in four days to
preserve Albion’s unbeaten start in
the league but their equaliser six
minutes from time came courtesy of
a dubious penalty awarded against
Derby’s Max Lowe, who went to
ground to halt Matheus Pereira.
In the fi rst half the goalkeeper Sam
Johnstone denied Martyn Waghorn,
who gave Derby the lead from the
penalty spot, from 12 yards after
Filip Krovinovic was penalised by the
referee Gavin Ward after his assistant,
Mark Pottage, fl agged for handball
despite Lee Buchanan’s seemingly
harmless cross appearing to strike
the midfi elder’s right shoulder.
By the end Bilic was close to
combustion, with the exasperated

manager sent off late on after the ref-

eree awarded Derby a goal-kick when

Jason Knight superbly blocked Jake

Livermore’s close-range effort to pre-

vent Albion from snatching victory.

“I don’t like double celebrations,

I don’t like disappointment in the

crowd and of the players when a goal

is disallowed, that you have to wait

one minute or two minutes but that

will be cut down – it needs practice,”

Bilic said.

“But at the end of the day what VAR

brings is justice and it’s truth and

it’s fair and in the business of that

scale or stage, when it is so impor-

tant when people are getting new

contracts or praise, the sack or getting

made redundant [ as a result of such

decisions], it is very important. We

need justice and fair decisions. I was

always the fi rst one to say that for the

referees, it is not diffi cult; it is impos-

sible to see everything.”

It was a case of deja vu for West

Brom in more ways than one, with

Zohore striking a late leveller from

the spot as he did on Wednesday

after another sluggish start. West

Brom teased only glimpses of the

style and swagger synonymous with

Bilic’s arrival and it was not until

the Croat introduced the West Ham

loanee Grady Diangana and Pereira

that Albion truly came alive.

Bilic had spent much of the fi rst

half slapping his thighs in anger and

Derby, who travel to Nottingham

Forest on Tuesday, did not do a

lot wrong but squandered several

chances to put the game to bed before

Albion denied Phillip Cocu a maiden

home win.

Jack Marriott and Jason Knight, the

teenager who shone on his full league

debut, missed chances to move out of

sight, with the former skewing wide

in the second half, while Johnstone

dived to his left to keep out Waghorn’s

second spot-kick of the afternoon.

“If he scores the second penalty

I think victory is ours,” Cocu said,

before praising Knight, one of three

Derby academy graduates to impress.

“What’s not to like about him?” the

Dutchman said. “His presence in the

game, just a 18-year-old boy – he’s

breathing football.”

The reality is that justice was served

• but failure to take advantage of a
  gift from the offi cials came back to
  haunt them when Pereira went down
  under pressure from Lowe. “I warned

the lads at half-time, because we got

two penalties, ‘anything happening in

our 18-yard box can be dangerous,’”

Cocu said. “We made a mistake and

they took advantage of it. We gave a

solution to the referee. If he [Lowe]

stays on his feet, what can he [Pereira]

do? Nothing. It’s hard, it’s tough on

us but that’s why we don’t have the

three points.”

1
DERBY
Waghorn 6pen

1

WEST BROM

Zohore 84pen

Ben Fisher
Pride Park

Roos; Lowe, Bielik, Keogh,

Buchanan; Huddlestone,

Knight (Paterson 90),

Dowell; Waghorn (Evans

82), Marriott (Bennett 77),

Lawrence■

Subs not used Hamer,

Shinnie, Clarke, Malone

Johnstone; Ferguson■,

Bartley, Ajayi, Gibbs

(Furlong 21); Livermore,

Sawyers; Phillips (Pereira

71), Krovinovic, Edwards

(Diangana ht); Zohore

Subs not used Bond,

O’Shea, Brunt, Austin

Derby West Brom

Referee Gavin Ward Attendance 26,718

4-3-3 4-2-3-1

West Brom striker Matt Phillips

(left) is challenged by Derby’s

Max Lowe during the 1-1 draw

Roundup

Dallas and

Alioski keep

Leeds fl ying

Stoke’s torrid start to the season
continued as they lost heavily at
home against the leaders, Leeds,
who took advantage of Swansea’s
game with Birmingham being today
to open up a two-point advantage.
Stoke dropped the England
goalkeeper Jack Butland after a
series of mistakes already this
campaign but his replacement,
Adam Federici, was unable to
prevent a 3-0 defeat. Stuart Dallas,

Ezgjan Alioski and Patrick Bamford

were all on the score sheet as

Marcelo Bielsa’s unbeaten team

made it four wins from their fi rst

fi ve matches. Stoke stay bottom of

the table with just one point.

Unbeaten Charlton are now

second in the standings, ahead of

Swansea, after Conor Gallagher’s

goal gave them a 1-0 victory against

Brentford at the Valley.

Bristol City are fourth having

made it three wins on the spin with

a 3-1 success at Hull. Benik Afobe

scored either side of a Reece Burke

own goal for the Robins. Jarrod

Bowen had equalised for the hosts.

Two goals from Lewis Grabban

saw Nottingham Forest win 2-1

at Fulham, who replied late on

through Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Daniel Johnson scored twice

from the penalty spot as Preston

beat Sheffi eld Wednesday 2-1 at

Deepdale. Steven Fletcher headed

one back for the Owls, but Lee

Bullen’s side could not fi nd

an equaliser.

Huddersfi eld, relegated in May

and having sacked Jan Siewert

last weekend, remain without a

win this season

after second-

half goals from

Ovie Ejaria and

Michael Morrison

gave Reading a

2-0 victory at the John Smith’s

Stadium.

Luton won the battle of the two

promoted sides as last season’s

League One champions overcame

Barnsley 3-1 at Oakwell. Goals from

Jacob Butterfi eld, James Collins

and Harry Cornick put the visitors

in control before Mallik Wilks

replied in the second half.

It was also 3-1 at Loftus Road

where Nahki Wells, Eberechi

Eze and Jordan Hugill were

on target against Wigan,

who had led QPR after

two minutes through

Cédric Kipré’s strike.

Middlesbrough

and Millwall

shared the points

in a 1-1 draw at the

Riverside Stadium after

Tom Bradshaw cancelled

out Paddy McNair’s

opening goal for Boro,

while Blackburn versus

Cardiff fi nished goalless

at Ewood Park.

In League One, Ipswich went top

with a 5-0 thumping of fi nancially

troubled Bolton. Both sides were

relegated in May but Wanderers

are in severe diffi culties, fi elding

youth players, and full advantage

was taken, with James Norwood and

Kayden Jackson both scoring twice.

Blackpool, top at kick-off, were held

0-0 at Rochdale and are now second

on goal difference. Wycombe,

Sunderland and Coventry also all

have 11 points.

Exeter are top of League Two

after a 3-2 win at Morecambe,

secured with a late goal from Nicky

Law after the home side had fought

back from 2-0 down. Morecambe

had Sam Lavelle sent off for two

late cautions. Crewe, the previous

leaders, lost 1-0 at Newport while

Plymouth are second after beating

Walsall 3-0. PA Media

SCOTT WILSON/PA

48% Possession 52%

2 Shots on Target 3

9 Total Attempts 12

Ezgjan Alioski scored Leeds’s

second in the leaders’ 3-0 win

at Stoke, who remain bottom