A brace by Portuguese Pedro Neto led Chelsea to continue returning to the right track, when it inflicted its host Everton's first loss of the season with two clean goals, in the seventh round of the English Premier League, on Saturday, but lost its Argentine goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, who was out injured.
The Blues corrected their slow start with a second successive victory after a victory over Bournemouth (5-1), after a bad start that witnessed two losses away from home against their neighbor Arsenal (1-2) and Brentford (0-3).
Cole Palmer's colleagues killed two birds with one stone; They succeeded in breaking up the partnership with Everton, which had a superior goal difference before the match, raising their score to 13 points in fourth place temporarily, and emerging with a clean sheet for the first time in 23 league matches.
As for the Liverpool City Club team, it suffered its first loss, after a series of draws. He came away with one point in four matches out of five before Saturday's match.
Unusually, the Spanish team, Xabi Alonso, entered the match without playing matches in the middle of the week, due to its absence from European competitions due to its disappointing tenth place in the league last season.
At Hill Dickinson Stadium, the rough encounter had a technical surprise start; The first 25 minutes witnessed only decent chances, before Everton's attacking awakening, through a header from German Merlin Rolle (26), and a dangerous shot by its star Jack Grealish (30), executed brilliantly by goalkeeper Martinez.
The London club almost scored against the course of play, through a missile shot by Ecuadorian Moises Caicedo (40), which was blocked by the crossbar.
As for Neto, he alerted the “Toffees” with a strong shot at the end of the half, which was blocked by Jordan Pickford (45 + 1), before he opened the scoring in the first minutes of the second half with a low shot that went under Pickford following a cross from the Dutchman Jurel Hato.
The guests' joy was spoiled when their goalkeeper, Martinez (75), left the field on a stretcher after a long intervention by the medical team, following a strong collision with Garrad Branthwaite.
Neto secured Chelsea's victory in the last minute of regular time, taking advantage of a shot that the opponent's defense missed.
Spaniard Rafael Khodar defeated Russian Danil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4, in the second semi-final of the Shanghai Tennis Tournament, a victory that strengthened his ninth place in the season rankings that determine the eight finalists to the final Masters tournament in Turin (November 15-22).
Khodar's victory paved the way for an all-Spanish final for the Chinese championship, after his compatriot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina ousted world number one German Alexander Zverev earlier, on Saturday.
If Khodar wins on Sunday over Davidovich, he will rise three places to occupy sixth place, ahead of Medvedev.
The final title match will be an all-Spanish encounter for the ninth time historically in the 1000-point tournaments and the first since 2017.
Khodar, who has an exceptional first season on the ATP Tour, will play his first final on Sunday in a tournament of this size.
As for Davidovich, he is competing in his second final at this level, after losing in two sets to Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2022 in the Monte Carlo 1,000-point tournament.
The two Spanish players have so far only won 250-point tournaments, in Marrakesh (on clay) for Khodar, and in Mallorca (on grass) and Chengdu (on hard courts) for Davidovic.
Peter Schmeichel, the former Manchester United goalkeeper, expressed his remorse for the way he conducted his television interview with Argentine defender Lisandro Martinez after one of the team’s matches, describing the interview he conducted for CBS Sports as “confused,” after it became clear that he was not aware of the full context of the statements the player had made minutes earlier.
According to “The Athletic” network, Schmeichel had spoken to Martinez following a controversial interview the Argentine defender conducted with the British “Amazon Prime” network, during which he described Manchester United’s defeat against Atletico Madrid as “a mirror that reflects the state of the club,” stressing that he was “expecting more” from Manchester United’s technical director, Jason Wilcox.
The 62-year-old former Danish goalkeeper, who previously played ambassadorial roles for the club after his retirement, was widely criticized for the way he dealt with Martinez's statements.
His critics considered that he did not realize the seriousness of what the Argentine defender said and the extent of his criticism of Manchester United's management, but rather it seemed as if he was trying to go beyond those statements and move the conversation to other topics.
During the interview, Martinez said: “As a club, I expect more. I will not remain silent. “We need greater ambition.”
Schmeichel explains what happened behind the cameras
Schmeichel came out to defend himself during his appearance on “The Overlap” program, explaining that conducting an interview with Martinez was not planned in the first place, and that he was not aware of what the player said in his previous interview.
He stressed that he understood the Argentine defender's speech as a call for Manchester United players to improve their level and assume their responsibilities, and not a direct criticism of the club's management.
Schmeichel said: “Martinez was not on the list of players I was going to interview.”
He added: “His interview ended, and he was then directed directly to my interview. "At that moment, I didn't know what he said."
He continued: “During his interview with me, he continued to talk about the same ideas, but I did not know that.”
“Because he was talking to a former player, I thought he was saying that, as players, we should do much better,” the former goalkeeper explained. “But I didn’t know what he was talking about specifically, so my interview with him was a bit confusing.”
“I would have asked completely different questions.”
Schmeichel admitted that if he had been aware of the details of Martinez's previous statements, the nature of the questions he asked him would have changed.
He said that he would "certainly have asked different questions" if he had known the full context of what the Argentine defender said.
At the same time, Schmeichel expressed his objection to the content of Martinez's statements, stressing that he does not believe that players should make such statements that criticize those responsible for managing their clubs.
The former Danish goalkeeper believes that the criticism directed by Martinez towards the leadership of Manchester United went beyond what the player should say publicly.
Martinez apologizes after meeting with Carrick and United management
In a later development, Lisandro Martinez apologized on Thursday for the television interviews he gave.
The Argentine defender revealed that he held a meeting, which he described as “very positive,” with Michael Carrick, the coach of Manchester United, and club officials.
Martinez's apology came after the controversy sparked by his statements regarding the club's level of ambition and his criticism of technical director Jason Wilcox.
A results crisis doubles the pressure on Manchester United
Martinez's statements come at a time when Manchester United is experiencing a results crisis under the leadership of Michael Carrick.
The team has not achieved any victory in its last five matches, while its last victory dates back to September 10, when it defeated Sabah, the champion of Azerbaijan.
Manchester United achieved only one other victory during the current season, which came at the expense of Ipswich Town, newly promoted to the English Premier League, at Old Trafford.
The Carrick team is preparing to return to competitions next Sunday, when it visits Leeds United in the English Premier League.
While Manchester United is trying to emerge from its crisis on the field, Martinez's statements and the controversy that followed revealed the extent of the tension surrounding the club, and raised questions about the limits of players' criticism of their club officials in front of the media.
