LONDON: Manchester United’s winless streak extended to nine matches after losing 0-2 to Chelsea, while Manchester City also experienced a nightmare when the English Premier League (EPL) leaders lost 0-1 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, a short while ago.

United were in the better form before the break at Stamford Bridge but their failure to convert chances cost them their place as Morgan Rogers’ goal and Cole Palmer’s second-half penalty piled pressure on manager Michael Carrick.

The poor start to the second half for Carrick’s side was made worse when defender Lisandro Martinez was shown a red card after committing a foul that led to a penalty kick, before Palmer converted in the 64th minute.

United escaped relegation after Nottingham Forest lost 0-2 to Brentford.

However, they will drop into the bottom three if Crystal Palace pick up at least a point against Tottenham Hotspur.

City’s 100 percent winning record in the league was already shattered by Aston Villa last week and their desire to quickly bounce back was also thwarted when they lost to Brighton, who were in third place.

Brighton avenged their defeat to City in the League Cup last midweek with an early goal from Yasin Ayari.

Arsenal will take over the lead from City if they manage to avoid defeat when they travel to Liverpool tomorrow.

City have collected 21 points from nine matches, while Arsenal also have 21 points but from eight matches with Brighton they have collected 19 points.

Coventry City moved out of the relegation zone after recording a 3-1 home win over Sunderland, who are currently bottom of the league.

Bournemouth beat Leeds United 2-0 to move up to seventh, while Forest remained in the bottom three after their poor run of form under new manager Oliver Glasner continued with a defeat to Brentford.

The result saw them fail to record a win in five league matches.

The clash between two teams newly promoted to the EPL ended in a draw when Hull City tied 2-2 with Ipswich Town at home.

LONDON: Liverpool eliminated Chelsea in a thrilling penalty shootout to advance to the quarter-finals of the League Cup, while defending champions Manchester City also edged past Brighton after a 2-2 draw in the fourth round early this morning.

At Anfield, Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool overcame Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea after the two teams were tied 1-1 in normal time before the hosts won 6-5 on penalties.

Chelsea first opened the scoring through a penalty kick by Morgan Rogers in the 40th minute after Ryan Gravenberch fouled Moises Caicedo.

However, Liverpool equalised three minutes later when Cody Gakpo converted a penalty kick after the ball was hit by Wesley Fofana’s hand.

The penalty shootout was full of drama as Valentin Barco missed a chance for Chelsea after his shot hit the post, while Kostas Tsimikas also failed to capitalize on the opportunity to secure Liverpool’s victory when his shot went just wide.

Gravenberch then failed to beat Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders, but Giorgi Mamardashvili saved Emmanuel Emegha’s effort to keep Liverpool in the game.

After Joe Gomez completed the kick for Liverpool, Fofana failed to put an end to Chelsea’s chances when his shot went wide of the Kop supporters’ stands, thus confirming the home side’s progress.

The defeat saw Alonso continue to fail to record a win at Anfield as a manager after also losing while coaching Bayer Leverkusen in 2024 and Real Madrid in 2025.

Liverpool, who have won the League Cup 10 times, now have the opportunity to continue the tradition of reaching the final in their new manager’s first season, as Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot have done before.

Meanwhile, Manchester City were also forced to work hard before eliminating Brighton via penalty shootout after the two teams tied 2-2 at the Etihad Stadium.

City, who made nine changes after losing to Aston Villa in the English Premier League (EPL), fell behind early when Malick Yalcouye saved Georginio Rutter’s attempt in the 30th minute.

Mateo Kovacic equalised for the home team 20 minutes later with a stunning shot from outside the penalty area that went into the corner of the goal.

Brighton were back in front two minutes into the second half when Rutter finished off Jaouen Hadjam’s low cross.

However, City came back to equalize in the 72nd minute when Rayan Cherki’s free kick was deflected by Vitor Reis before the ball went into the goal.

Kovacic missed a penalty in the shootout, but City goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli was the hero, saving Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk to ensure the defending champions progressed to the quarter-finals after a 4-3 penalty shootout victory.

In another match, Bournemouth continued their excellent run when they defeated Aston Villa 3-0 at the Vitality Stadium thanks to goals from Amine Adli, Lewis Cook and Alvaro Rodriguez, thus recording their fifth consecutive win in all competitions.

Crystal Palace eased the pressure on manager Pierre Sage when they beat Fulham 1-0 through Eddie Nketiah’s goal in the 37th minute, ending a five-match winless streak.

Sunderland also recorded a 3-2 victory over Brentford at the Stadium of Light thanks to goals from Chemsdine Talbi, Tymur Tutierov and Malick Fofana, while Callum Wilson and Igor Thiago scored for the visitors.

MANCHESTER: Gary Neville has launched a scathing attack on Manchester United’s squad, claiming they ‘cheated’ manager Michael Carrick and describing the behaviour of some players as “unprofessional.”

A humiliating 0-3 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Sunday followed a heartbreaking 1-4 defeat at Como, marking the end of Carrick’s managerial era at the club.

Carrick, 45, received a warm welcome from the fans at the Stretford End despite his team losing again, while the home fans jeered his team as they left the pitch.

Neville agreed with the fans’ anger, insisting that he had ‘no sympathy for the players’, while claiming that some of them were not following their diet and sleeping habits.

“They were playing him, weren’t they? They were fooling Carrick for months,” Neville said in an audio broadcast on Sky Sports.

“To be honest, Carrick wouldn’t say that publicly because he’s a class act. But I can represent him. He must be disgusted by the performance of those players. Some of them are unprofessional. So, I have no sympathy at all.

“There are those who don’t sleep on time, don’t eat right, don’t think about Manchester United all the time and fail to live up to what this football club is all about – and what it means to be a professional player.”

“Why? Because success has gone to their heads. Some of those players are actually nobody.”

In the match in question, Carrick surprised many when he benched Bruno Fernandes following the club captain’s open statement criticising the team’s tactics in midweek.

In fact, Fernandes was not even put on the field even though the team was trailing.

The decision marks the first time Fernandes has been dropped from the starting line-up for reasons other than fitness since Carrick acted as caretaker manager against Villarreal in November 2021.

For Neville, Fernandes’ bold action in breaking team tradition and publicly criticising Carrick proved that the players had turned against their manager.

“Carrick failed to get the best out of them and now the players are against him. I know about it because if Bruno himself is willing to speak out publicly with such statements, imagine what is happening behind the scenes.

“If the team captain himself says that, imagine what is being said in the dressing room when no one is listening. The situation is terrible,” he said.

LONDON: Manchester United are still undecided about whether to appoint Antonio Conte as head coach as Michael Carrick’s future becomes increasingly uncertain.

Sources with close knowledge revealed that Conte spent 24 hours in the United Kingdom during the recent international break.

However, sources close to Conte insist he has not held any meetings with any United representatives.

Sources in Italy claim that ‘the door is closed’ from United and believe the club will choose a coach with a different profile due to Conte’s outspoken and confrontational attitude.

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler is considered the most promising candidate among Premier League (EPL) coaches by United’s senior officials, but his appointment will require a high compensation package.

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Eddie Howe and Kieran McKenna, who were previously considered by United, are now available after leaving Newcastle United and Ipswich Town respectively last summer.

McKenna was among several managers who held talks with United in May 2024 when the club were planning to sack Erik ten Hag before reversing the decision.

Former United sporting director Dan Ashworth backed Howe’s appointment after Ten Hag finally leaves the club in October 2024.

However, CEO Omar Berrada chose to finalize the deal with Ruben Amorim.

United have failed to record a win in seven matches and have won only two of their 11 games this season, after signing Carrick on a two-year contract in May.

Conte, 57, is now available after leaving Napoli last summer with the Italian coach guiding the club to Serie A title in 2025, while United are boldly aiming to end their Premier League title drought in 2028 in celebration of the club’s 150th anniversary.

Conte has won the Scudetto with Napoli, Inter Milan and Juventus, and was also the last manager to guide Chelsea to the EPL title in 2017.

The former Italian coach spent two years at Stamford Bridge and also won the FA Cup after beating United in the 2018 final.

Conte will no longer manage a team in England since his 18-month spell with Tottenham Hotspur ends in March 2023.

Tottenham qualified for the Champions League in Conte’s first season, but slipped to eighth place the following campaign before the manager criticised the alleged culture at the club.

Conte was actually open to taking over United in October 2021 as the club’s performance deteriorated under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

However, United are reluctant to appoint a coach with a confrontational personality like Conte.

He eventually replaced Nuno Espirito Santo at Spurs after the club lost to United in what was Solskjaer’s final win as manager.

LEEDS: Manchester United manager Michael Carrick took the positive side from his team’s mental resilience during their 1-1 draw against Leeds United in the English Premier League (EPL).

United have now only recorded one win in seven league matches, sinking to 13th place, a far cry from their third-place finish last season.

Carrick admitted that his team still failed to show their true quality, especially when in possession of the ball, but still saw positive developments through the players’ discipline and spirit of togetherness when facing pressure in a fierce clash at Elland Road.

“Perhaps in terms of the highest quality, we haven’t reached the best level that we are actually capable of displaying. With the results achieved before, our game hasn’t been really smooth, but there are still positive things that can be taken,” he said.

For Carrick, what matters more is how his players respond when faced with adversity.

After only drawing 1-1 with bottom-placed Tottenham Hotspur last week before losing 0-2 to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, United’s preparations ahead of the clash with Leeds were also overshadowed by controversy involving Lisandro Martinez.

The Argentine defender had previously publicly criticised the club’s management before coming forward to apologise.

In this situation, Carrick placed more emphasis on the organizational aspect of the game than the style of performance. United were seen as more difficult to penetrate, while the players were praised for adhering to their respective roles and responsibilities in a match that he described as fierce and could favor either team.

“It’s not just about effort. It’s about how you execute it, the planning, the responsibilities and the roles. I think the players execute those responsibilities well most of the time,” he said.

However, the weaknesses that haunt United have yet to be overcome when they give up advantages through set pieces, as well as failing to display enough quality when in possession to control the game.

The situation once again caused Carrick to be satisfied with a draw, instead of the victory his team desperately needed at the moment.

However, after a week that was also overshadowed by developments off the pitch, Carrick insisted that the harmony in the dressing room remained intact.

“I look at the team’s togetherness, spirit and unity. I never doubted that among the players. The way we performed today gives me confidence in the team’s ability to continue moving forward,” he said.

United now turn their attention to Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Como.