Coventry finally found a Premier League win, Manchester United found a new way to lose a two-goal lead, and Sunderland produced a hat-trick that earned them precisely no points. Football has been busy again.
Coventry waited 25 years for win number 100
Coventry City beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 on Saturday for their first Premier League victory since April 2001. Jay Dasilva scored the goal and goalkeeper Carl Rushworth supplied the assist, which feels like a suitably strange way to end a quarter-century wait.
It was also Coventry’s 100th Premier League win. They managed to squeeze a milestone, a clean sheet and 25 years of relief into one afternoon. The Coventry City 1883 T-shirt suits a club enjoying another memorable chapter.
Manchester United turn 2-0 into 2-3
Manchester United led Brighton 2-0 at Old Trafford in the League Cup on Wednesday. By full time, Brighton had won 3-2.
United had not lost a home match after leading by two goals since September 1976. Fifty years is a decent run. Ending it in a third-round cup tie is rather less decent.
Brian Brobbey scores three and leaves with nothing
Sunderland scored three away at Manchester City on Sunday. Brian Brobbey got all of them, becoming the first Sunderland player to score a Premier League hat-trick since 2016.
City won 5-3. A match ball is lovely, but Brobbey probably would have swapped it for a point by the time he reached the dressing room.
Rangers win two Old Firms in eight days
Rangers followed their 3-0 League Cup win over Celtic with a 1-0 league victory at Parkhead on Sunday. That made it two Old Firm wins in eight days and cut Celtic’s lead at the top to two points.
One derby win can change the mood for a week. Two in eight days can make a supporter briefly consider checking the table before breakfast.
Leeds win a corner by standing still
Sunday’s 0-0 between Leeds United and Crystal Palace gave us a rare sight. Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson held the ball for too long, so referee Adam Herczeg awarded Leeds a corner under the eight-second rule.
The corner came to nothing, which was very much in keeping with the rest of the match. Still, a new rule actually appeared in the wild and everyone survived.
Coming up: Croatia, England and 100 away fans
England travel to Croatia in the Nations League on Saturday 3 October. The game in Rijeka was due to be played behind closed doors, but 100 England supporters have been given permission to attend. A hundred people can still make a fair bit of noise when they know everyone else is watching from home.
It is a proper away-day oddity, and the Wonderwall Christmas Time England jumper is now live for anyone already looking ahead to the colder international nights.
Sunderland’s first European away day in 53 years
Sunderland visit Torreense in the Europa League on Thursday 15 October. It will be their first European away match since 1973, which should be more than enough reason for a few passports to receive unusual levels of attention.
The Black Cats opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar. Their Sunderland’s On Their Way T-shirt is ready for the rest of the trip.
Read more about Sunderland’s European return.
That is the week: a 25-year wait ended, a 50-year record went, and a hat-trick somehow lost 5-3. See you next Monday.
