Skiddle's open goal: A weekly roundup of football news and events
Here's the latest news from the football world.
Date published: 20th Mar 2023
We had a bumper weekend of both Premier League and FA Cup action that gave us plenty of talking points to go through on Open Goal this week. Starting with the Premier League, Newcastle showed their Champions League credentials by coming from behind to beat Nottingham Forest.
It was a brilliant display from striker Isak that gave them an advantage in the game, his quick movement causing the defence nightmares. There's no doubt that Newcastle have a talent on their hands. There was a stunner down in Southampton as Tottenham came down for a visit.
Spurs took the lead through Porro just before half-time, with the Saints replying moments after the second half had started. Spurs thought they had won it thanks to goals from Kane and Perisic before they capitulated completely, with a Ward-Prowse penalty levelling the score in the dying moments.
Antonio Conte's post-match comments may be some of the best in Premier League history as he went off about the ownership's lack of ambition, their lack of winning mentality and labelled his players as selfish. Never has a manager been asking for the sack so badly, it is a miracle that he is still Tottenham's manager as the relationship seems completely poisonous.
Down in the relegation fight Wolves hosted Leeds in a must-win game for both sides. The home side have improved in recent weeks but were slow and lethargic here as Leedfs found themselves three goals up. Goals from Jonny and Cunha set up a potentially tense finish before Jonny was sent off for a high challenge.
Leeds grabbed a late goal to secure a 4-2 win with Wolves being furious after the game and unused substitute Nunes even being sent off too. Leeds climbed out of the relegation zone, just one point behind Wolves now. Bournemouth didn't have a fun afternoon away at Aston Villa and remain in the relegation spots after a 3-0 thrashing.
Everton got an unlikely away draw at Chelsea after Ellis Simms scored a dramatic equaliser to help drag them slightly up in the table but still very much in trouble. Arsenal continued to make the league look easy by thrashing a sorry Crystal Palace side. It was quite harsh of them to sack Viera given that they have a favourable run of games coming up.
The narrative was master vs apprentice as Vincent Kompany's Burnley visited Guardiola's Manchester City in the FA Cup. It was more like boys vs men as City dismantled their opponents completely in a 6-0 win. Burnley may be dominating the Championship but the gap in quality was absolutely staggering.
Fulham denied themselves a win over Manchester United after they went ahead but soon capitulated after Willian handballed on the line when he could have easily chested the ball to safety. He was sent off by VAR and then Mitrovic got his marching orders after pushing the referee and then Marco Silva was gone too.
The Londoners might have had a result but were far too emotional and acted entirely unprofessionally, handing United a free win once they were down to nine men. Brighton convincingly sent Grimsby packing, the League Two side's impressive journey coming to an end.
In a match that went back and forth, Sheffield United got the better of Blackburn eventually thanks to late goals from McBurnie and Doyle. They now get the honour of facing Erling Haaland in the next round as Brighton will host Manchester United. For more football action take a look at the events below...
When: Monday 10th April
Where: Hanley Town Football Club, Stoke On Trent
Hanley Town are playing Macclesfield over the Easter weekend and they're expecting it to be a sell-out. The away side are top of the league, so any kind of result that the home side could get would be amazing and a highlight to help end the season with.
Pre-match Legend Meal LFC vs Nottingham Forest
When: Saturday 22nd April
Where: Hotel Tia, Liverpool
Liverpool will be out for revenge in this match as they take on Nottingham Forest who got the edge over them earlier in the season. Every match is huge for Liverpool now and you can enjoy the perfect build-up at this event where you'll be treated to an amazing three-course meal.
Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.
