Jose Mourinho’s side had applied incessant pressure on the Foxes from kick-off, and Romelu Lukaku missed a second-half penalty prior to the goals, as they found it difficult to break the steadfast backline.

They finally breached the last line of defence when Rashford converted Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s corner three minutes after coming on.

And then midfielder Fellaini stuck out his knee to divert fellow substitute Jesse Lingard’s drive past Kasper Schmeichel.

United are the only side to have won all three of their opening league games this season and have yet to concede a goal.

United peppered the opposition area with crosses in the first half, but aside from a Paul Pogba strike that drifted narrowly wide, the threat from the wings was comfortably dealt with by the Foxes’ defensive giants Wes Morgan and Harry Maguire.

There was a shift in manager Mourinho’s thinking in the second half as his side began to breach the 18-yard area with shorter balls from a more central position.

That probing should have resulted in the opening goal. Leicester were once again on the back foot in their area before Anthony Martial struck a shot that came off Danny Simpson’s arm. Referee Michael Oliver declared it to be deliberate handball.

Lukaku stepped up to the spot, but his hopes of a fourth league goal this season were thwarted by Schmeichel’s dive to the right.

Leicester continued to come under pressure and eventually succumbed when Rashford’s instinctive shot flew past the Dane in goal in the 70th minute.

Holes now began to appear in Leicester’s previously watertight defence as they went looking for an equaliser.

United capitalised again as substitute Lingard’s low drive was diverted into the net by Fellaini, although replays suggested the Belgian was fractionally offside.

The post Man Utd maintain 100% start with 2-0 defeat of Foxes appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

Referee Michael Oliver had added nine minutes on after a lengthy second-half delay when Skrtel required treatment for a head wound sustained in an accidental clash with Olivier Giroud.

Giroud looked to have sent Arsenal on the way to avenging their 5-1 thrashing at Anfield last season when he put them ahead, Mathieu Debuchy having equalised seconds after Philippe Coutinho gave Liverpool the lead on the stroke of half-time.

But Skrtel, heavily bandaged and with Liverpool reduced to 10 men after substitute Fabio Borini was sent off late on, rose to meet Adam Lallana’s corner in the 97th minute and power a header past Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny in front of the Kop.

Arsenal were desolate but it would have been a real smash-and-grab had they hung on for three points after Liverpool showed most of the ambition and moments of quality in a game high on drama but short on class.

Liverpool supporters rose to acclaim their team’s resilience at the final whistle, but they may actually feel disappointed not to claim all three points against an Arsenal side that were desperately poor for long periods.

Brendan Rodgers’s team moved into the top 10 in the Premier League table, but they are nine points adrift of West Ham in fourth place, while Arsenal are sixth.

What was clear, however, was that these are two sides who will prove an irrelevance when it comes to the title race. Their main business will be contesting a top-four place and trying to ensure they are in next season’s Champions League.

Liverpool kept Raheem Sterling in a central role, from where he scored two goals in the midweek Capital One Cup quarter-final win at Bournemouth, but it was the lively Lazar Markovic who had the best opportunities during a first half in which chances were in short supply.

Szczesny blocked with his legs when the £20m summer signing from Benfica was played in by Steven Gerrard and he should have hit the target from the edge of the area after being set up by Sterling.

Liverpool had been much improved without carving Arsenal open, but the breakthrough finally came on half-time when Coutinho made space in the area before drilling home a low right-foot shot off the post.

It would have given Liverpool a deserved lead at the break, but the defensive frailties that have haunted them this season meant they could not protect their advantage even for a few seconds until half-time.

Liverpool could not clear Alexis Sanchez’s free-kick and, when Mathieu Flamini nodded on, Debuchy got the better of Skrtel to head past the flat-footed Brad Jones.

There was a delay after the break for Skrtel’s head injury, before Lucas fired over the top and Gerrard headed off target from Sterling’s cross, although replays confirmed he had handled the ball around the onrushing Szczesny.

Arsenal showed greater ruthlessness in front of goal to go ahead after 64 minutes, Giroud sweeping a finish past Jones at the near post from Santi Cazorla’s cross.

Rodgers had introduced Rickie Lambert and Borini to give Liverpool the cutting edge they lacked, and it needed an athletic save from Szczesny to turn the Italian’s header over the bar.

But Borini, out of favour with Rodgers, blotted his copybook further with two yellow cards, first for hurling the ball away then lunging at Cazorla.

Despite Arsenal’s numerical advantage, Liverpool continued to press and Skrtel delivered a result that was the least they deserved.

Follow Us

The post Skrtel rescues Liverpool from Arsenal at Anfield appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

There was the threat of an upset as Burnley’s Scott Arfield opened the scoring with a stunner from distance. But Burnley’s lead was short-lived as Costa levelled with a simple tap-in.

Andre Schurrle scored Chelsea’s second after a cute Cesc Fabregas pass and Branislav Ivanovic struck from a corner to put his team in command.

While Chelsea were unable to add to their goal tally in the second half – although the returning Didier Drogba did go close with a volley when he came on as a late substitute – it was a performance which fully justified why many expect Jose Mourinho’s men to be Premier League champions in May.

The club’s problem last season was in front of goal, with the Londoners scoring 30 fewer goals than Manchester City and Liverpool, the two teams who finished above them in the league.

In acquiring Costa for £32m from Atletico Madrid over the summer, the club appears to have addressed last season’s failings. The Spain striker was a dynamic and powerful presence up front and, importantly, more clinical than those who led the line during the last season’s third-place finish.

The only blemish on Costa’s opening display was a yellow card for diving when through on goal after a defensive lapse by Ben Mee.

But it was a harsh decision by referee Michael Oliver as replays showed the sprawled Tom Heaton had made contact with the striker’s protruding leg and, perhaps, the Spaniard should instead have been awarded a penalty.

With the club’s other debutant Fabregas adding creativity to the midfield, Mourinho’s new acquisitions have helped make Chelsea a more potent side.

It was Fabregas’s breathtaking first-time pass which set up Schurrle at the far post for a magical 25-pass team goal.

And the former Barcelona midfielder was again the provider for his team’s third, taking charge of the corner which led to the unchallenged Ivanovic driving home from close range.

Mourinho has also tinkered with his defence, which was the team’s strength last season – they had more clean sheets than any other team and conceded the fewest goals.

The Portuguese said he was thinking of the club’s future when preferring 22-year-old Thibaut Courtois to Petr Cech, the club’s first-choice goalkeeper for the last decade.

While there was a defensive lapse for Burnley’s goal, with the Belgian caught unaware when Arfield struck from the edge of the box to spark raucous celebrations, Courtois did produce a fine reflex fingertip save to deny Arfield another in the second half.

It was not a result for the romantics, who would have hoped for a repeat of Burnley’s feats five years ago when they beat Manchester United under the Turf Moor floodlights in what was their home opener that season.

But a team which cost £5m to assemble will, more often than not, struggle against such big-spending Premier League rivals.

The financial gulf between the two clubs was neatly illustrated by the value of the two debutants on each side.

While Costa and Fabregas were purchased at a combined cost of £59m, the players making their Burnley bows – Matt Taylor and Lukas Jutkiewicz – arrived for a combined total of £1.5m.

Defeat means Burnley’s wait for a first top-flight victory over Chelsea since August 1973 continues but last season’s Championship runners-up will take heart from this performance.

They rattled an experienced defence with their opening goal and refused to cave in in the second half, although Chelsea’s intensity did dip after the break which could be the only slight on Mourinho’s men after an impressive opening victory.

Follow Us

The post Diego Costa scores as Chelsea beat Burnley appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

Jordi Gomez’s penalty put the Latics on course to reach another final, but Per Mertesacker’s late equaliser maintained Arsenal’s hopes of winning their first silverware since they claimed this trophy in 2005.

The teams could not be separated by extra time and, when it went to penalties, goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski saved Wigan’s first two spot-kicks, from Gary Caldwell and Jack Collison, to put Arsenal on the way to a meeting with either Hull City or Sheffield United.

Mikel Arteta, Kim Kallstrom and Olivier Giroud were all on target for Arsenal – while James McArthur and Jean Beausejour scored for Wigan – leaving Santi Cazorla to send the Gunners fans wild with celebration and relief with the decisive penalty.

Arsenal had the better of the chances before penalties, with Wigan keeper Scott Carson twice denying Yaya Sanogo, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hitting the woodwork in extra time.

On a day when Everton moved ahead of Arsenal in the race for a place in next season’s Champions League with victory at Sunderland, this will provide a lift in confidence for Arsene Wenger’s side, despite a largely unconvincing display.

Wigan manager Uwe Rosler can be justifiably proud of his players, who can now concentrate on their main priority of winning promotion back to the Premier League.

Wenger stuck with his policy of replacing Wojciech Szczesny with Fabianski and playing Sanogo in attack, and the youngster almost made the crucial early breakthrough.

Carson, with nightmare memories of Wembley after his error when thrust into England’s Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia, did brilliantly to get down to Sanogo’s header as he met Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross.

He also did well to race from goal to block Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sanogo again, but Wigan grew into the game and Callum McManaman, man of the match in last season’s FA Cup final win against Manchester City, was emerging as a real threat to the uncertain Nacho Monreal.

Bacary Sagna had another good chance for Arsenal when Mertesacker flicked on Arteta’s corner, but his finish at the far post was high and off target.

McManaman was the central figure as Wigan went ahead after 63 minutes, referee Michael Oliver having an easy decision as Mertesacker dived in recklessly in the area.

An injury to Monreal, which required his replacement by Kieran Gibbs, meant almost a four-minute delay before Gomez could take his kick, but he remained commendably cool to beat Fabianski with a perfect penalty.

Wenger needed to react but his decision to replace Lukas Podolski, rather than the struggling Sanogo, with Giroud was met with a loud chorus of jeering from the increasingly anxious Gunners fans.

Arsenal, as they had to do, finally demonstrated a greater sense of urgency, and a frantic few seconds led to the equaliser after 82 minutes.

Sagna had headed against the post and Carson had again saved superbly from Gibbs before Mertesacker arrived at the far post to score with a stooping header from Gibbs’s scuffed shot.

Arsenal carried the momentum into extra time, and Carson excelled once more to turn over a fine rising shot on the turn from Sanogo.

The Gunners had gathered momentum and only the woodwork saved Wigan as Oxlade-Chamberlain’s powerful shot rattled out off the angle of post and bar with Carson helpless.

Then came penalties – and the shot at a trophy Arsenal have waited for since 2005.

Follow Us

The post Arsenal win on penalties to reach final appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.