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BETIS BEAT ALAVES IN LA LIGA THRILLER

Real Betis rallied from two goals down at home to defeat Alaves 3-2 in Spain’s La Liga on Monday, staying in the fight for European qualification spots.

Betis’ fourth victory in a row moved them within three points of fifth-placed Real Sociedad and six points behind fourth-placed Sevilla.

Joselu opened the scoring on 11 minutes and Edgar Mendez made it 2-0 for the visitors on 24 minutes.

But Betis got back into the game on the hour when Ruben Duarte brought down Nabil Fekir and striker Borja Iglesias converted the penalty.

Joaquin equalised nine minutes from time with a header and it seemed struggling Alaves would have to settle for a point.

But on 88 minutes Emerson fizzed a cross into the area and Iglesias met it with a bullet header to seal the win.

“I’m very happy to help the team,” said Iglesias.

“I have a lot of confidence at the moment. We all believe in ourselves and that showed with the way we were able to come back into the game.”

Betis visit rivals Sevilla in the Seville derby on Sunday.

It was the fourth straight loss for Alaves who remain second last in the 20-team standings, two points from safety, having only claimed victory once in their last 12 league games.

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Bayern Confirm Interest In Dortmund Striker Haaland

Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich confirmed their interest in Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland as manager Hansi Flick admitted a transfer is ‘very much possible’.

Haaland has emerged as one of the hottest commodities in Europe, and put it on full display against Bayern at the weekend.

The Norwegian international scored twice in nine minutes to stun Bayern into an early deficit.

Bayern manager Flick was asked about Haaland one day replacing Lewandowski, with a deal far from out the picture.

He told Sky Germany before the game: “Very, very much is possible in life, nothing can be ruled out.

“But that is a long way off. He has a long-term contract in Dortmund and is an option for many top clubs.”

Bayern prized Lewandowski away from their rivals in 2014, having also done the same with Mario Gotze and Mats Hummels.

But Gotze and Hummels both ended up returning to Dortmund.

Bayern are not the only ones interested in 20-year-old Haaland, who improved to 19 goals in as many Bundesliga games.

Manchester United last season failed in a move for the forward, despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer meeting with the player.

And now United are joined by City and Chelsea in the pursuit for the serial goalscorer.

Real Madrid are also linked with Haaland, with the view of replacing frontman Karim Benzema, 34.

Haaland’s contract expires in 2024, but a £65million release clause is understood to come into play two years beforehand.

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RICHARLISON HEADER EARNS EVERTON THIRD STRAIGHT WIN AT WESTBROM

Richarlison continued Everton’s Champions League charge in a 1-0 win at West Brom.

The striker’s second-half header lifted the Toffees into the Premier League’s top four following a third straight win.

Victory ended the plucky Baggies’ mini-revival to keep them nine points from safety as theThe Toffees continued to improve after the break but did allow Diagne to nod over after Kyle Bartley glanced on Darnell Furlong’s long throw.

Everton’s extra quality had started to tell though and Gylfi Sigurdsson made an instant impact after coming off the bench to set up the winner after 65 minutes.

The midfielder’s first touch was a corner which was cleared back to him and he produced an excellent delivery with his second for Richarlison to steal ahead of Bartley and head in from four yards.

Albion now had to chase the game, but Everton, marshalled by the outstanding Ben Godfrey, held firm after a late scare in stoppage time.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ cross found Diagne and he turned to fire in, only to be ruled marginally offside.

Mbaye Diagne’s stoppage-time goal was ruled out for offside as Sam Allardyce’s side remained second bottom.

Everton moved into the Champions League spots, at least until Liverpool and Chelsea faced off later on Thursday night, after Richarlison’s fourth goal in four games.

They rode their luck at times against the energetic hosts, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side secured another win and third successive clean sheet.

Yet, buoyed by a three-game unbeaten run, it was the Baggies who started brightly and Jordan Pickford clawed away Diagne’s hanging header after three minutes

Purposeful and aggressive, Albion ensured Everton remained on the back foot and Conor Townsend seized on Andre Gomes’ misplaced pass only for Diagne to eventually shoot over.

While the Toffees were sloppy the Baggies forced them into mistakes, but when Pickford collided with Michael Keane they could not take advantage.

After just three wins in their previous 26 games, Allardyce had long admitted the Baggies were in must-win territory and his team had responded, yet the longer they failed to make their dominance count the stronger Everton became.

While their final ball had been awful, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin starved of any service, they did come to life in the final seven minutes of the half.

That it took the Toffees 38 minutes to carve out their first chance was a tribute to Albion’s efforts, but the hosts survived a scare when Calvert-Lewin slipped in Richarlison and his strike deflected narrowly over.

It was a warning and Calvert-Lewin let the Baggies off the hook three minutes later.

Pockets of space had begun to open up, but when the ball deflected into the striker’s path he hesitated and shot straight at Sam Johnstone from 15 yards.

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LEMINA STRIKE EARNS FULHAM 1-0 VICTORY AT ANFIELD

Fulham went level on points with Brighton & Hove Albion as Mario Lemina’s strike earned a 1-0 win that extended Liverpool’s losing run at Anfield.

Josh Maja twice went close for the visitors early on, first shooting wide from Kenny Tete’s cross before being denied by Alisson at point-blank range.

Ademola Lookman also had a close-range strike deflected over by Neco Williams.

An impressive first-half display was rewarded in stoppage time, when Lemina drilled in a low shot following a corner.

Liverpool improved in the second half, with the returning Diogo Jota having a volley brilliantly saved by Alphonse Areola.

Substitute Sadio Mane’s looping header struck a post and Xherdan Shaqiri also shot narrowly wide but Fulham held on for their second Premier League win at Anfield.

A sixth consecutive home league defeat for Liverpool drops them to eighth on 43 points.

Fulham, unbeaten in eight away league matches, stay 18th but are now level with Brighton on 26 points, having played one match more.

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SERIE A ROUND UP: MILAN BEAT VERONA TO CLOSE GAP ON INTER, NAPOLI WIN

Rade Krunic and Diogo Dalot scored in either half as AC Milan beat Hellas Verona 2-0 to close the gap on Serie A leaders Inter before next week’s Europa League trip to Manchester United.

Krunic curled in a free-kick after 27 minutes with Manchester United loanee Dalot doubling the visitors’ account five minutes after the break to pull Milan three points behind Inter, who host in-form Atalanta on Monday.

Champions Juventus are four points behind Milan in third, with a game in hand, after claiming their seventh straight win at home, 3-1 against Lazio on Saturday.

Despite the absence of key players including star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and defender Theo Hernandez, Milan kept the pressure on their city rivals two weeks after their 3-0 derby defeat.

Rafael Leao started up front in Ibrahimovic’s absence, and the Portuguese forward threatened after quarter of an hour with a header which went over the bar.

The breakthrough came when Krunic was brought down just outside the box. The Bosnian midfielder dusted himself down and whipped a 27th-minute free-kick past a stunned Marco Silvestri from a tricky angle for his first league goal in Milan colours.

Defender Dalot also got off the mark in Serie A five minutes after the break, blasting in an Alexis Saelemaekers cross.

Milan took a valuable three points before they travel to Manchester for the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie with United before hosting Napoli in the league next weekend.

Verona, in eighth, fell to their first home defeat since losing to Inter before Christmas.

Earlier Roma moved up to fourth, one point ahead of Atalanta thanks to a Gianluca Mancini goal, ahead of their Europa League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk in Rome.

Mancini jumped highest to turn in a Lorenzo Pellegrini corner after 24 minutes at the Stadio Olimpico, beating second choice ‘keeper Federico Marchetti who replaced Mattia Perrin.

Roma sit nine points behind Inter after the win.

“One more step is missing to beat the big teams, we need to improve because something more is needed to reach the Champions League,” said Mancini.

Bottom side Crotone ended their seven-match losing streak with a 4-2 win over coronavirus-hit Torino.

The Turin club’s last two games, against Sassuolo and Lazio, were unplayed because of a Covid-19 outbreak.

Earlier, Alvaro Morata scored twice and set up another as Juventus warmed up for next week’s Champions League game against Porto with a 3-1 comeback win over Lazio on Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench before next week’s key last 16, second leg game against the Portuguese in Turin with Juventus trailing 2-1.

Champions Juventus fell behind to an early Joaquin Correa goal following a Dejan Kulusevski passing error midfield.

But Morata set up Adrien Rabiot to pull the hosts level before the break with the Spaniard scoring twice in a three-minute spell before the hour mark.

Andrea Pirlo’s side are third, seven points behind leaders Inter who host Atalanta on Monday, and one point adrift of AC Milan who play Hellas Verona on Sunday.

“Today we started the game 20 minutes late but it was normal because many were out of position and many returned (from injury),” said Pirlo.

“But there was a great reaction, we didn’t get down and despite the many absences we played an excellent match.

“For us it was a final, an important match for the standings and we’re happy.” Paulo Dybala remains out injured along with defender Giorgio Chiellini and midfielder Matthijs de Ligt, while Rodrigo Bentancur positive for coronavirus.

But Juan Cuadrado started after missing three league games with Arthur and Leonardo Bonucci also returning off the bench in the second half.

Morata started up front alongside Kulusevski, with Ciro Immobile leading the Lazio attack alongside Correa.

And the Argentine pounced after quarter of an hour after Kulusevski gave the ball away, shaking off Merih Demiral to beat Wojciech Szczesny in the Juventus goal.

Szczesny denied Luis Alberto a second eight minutes later.

Rabiot pulled a goal back six minutes before the break, picking up a Morata through ball to fire in a powerful left footed angled drive over Pepe Reina.

Both sides had chances after the break with Reina denying Federico Chiesa, Szczesny clearing from Correa and a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic header rattling the bar.

Chiesa set up Morata for the second after 57 minutes with the Spaniard completing a brace from the penalty spot three minutes later after Milinkovic-Savic brought down Aaron Ramsey in the box.

Morata made way for Ronaldo for the last 20 minutes with Arthur and Weston McKennie also coming off the bench in place of Ramsey and Cuadrado with Bonucci coming on for the final eight minutes.

Lazio’s top striker Immobile threatened but was unable to add to his 14 goals this campaign, drawing a blank for a fourth straight game as the Romans fell to their third defeat in four matches.

“It’s a defeat that hurts,” said Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi whose side’s hopes of Champions League football next season took a knock as they sit seventh, six points adrift of Atalanta in fourth place.

“We compromised the game alone, giving away an avoidable penalty. We made some mistakes and at Juventus, with some mistakes you don’t win.” Sassuolo’s Europa League hopes further dwindled with a 2-0 loss at midtable rivals Udinese stretching their winless run to three games.

Spanish forward Fernando Llorente scored his first goal for Udinese just before the break with Argentine Roberto Pereyra firing in a second deep into injury time.

Sassuolo, in ninth, have won just two of 11 league games played since after Christmas. Udinese are four points behind in 10th place.

Spezia snatched a 1-1 draw at home against Benevento, in a match between promoted sides vying to stay in the top flight next season.

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KANE, BALE BOTH HIT BRACE TO HELP SPURS SECURE 4-0 VICTORY AGAINST PALACE.

Gareth Bale and Harry Kane starred with braces to help Tottenham make it three Premier League wins in a row and boost their top four hopes after a 4-1 home success over Crystal Palace.

The duo combined twice with Kane the architect for both goals by the Real Madrid loanee before the England captain hit a wonder strike and then created history with another in the 76th minute.

Son Heung-min assisted Kane’s second and it was their 14th goal combination in the Premier League this season to beat the previous record of 13 set by Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton for Blackburn back in the 1994-95 season.

Christian Benteke had threatened to spoil proceedings for Jose Mourinho’s side when he equalised just before half-time, but two quickfire goals after the break ensured Spurs were able to secure a fifth straight victory.

Dele Alli was back on the bench after his second league start of the season at Fulham in midweek while the visitors listed the returning Wilfried Zaha as a substitute.

Bale showed no early ill-effects on his third consecutive start and should have had an assist in the sixth minute but Son headed straight at Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.

The Welsh attacker had slalomed between two opponents to create the chance and it was a sign of things to come.

After a brace in Tottenham’s win over Burnley last weekend, Bale added to his tally again with 25 minutes on the clock.

Palace captain Luka Milivojevic was dispossessed by Lucas Moura deep inside his own half and Kane dropped a shoulder to beat the midfielder and race into the area where he squared for Bale to tap in.

It was a poor way for the visitors to concede and not long after the hosts almost produced a superb team move but Sergio Reguilon sliced wide on the volley.

A flurry of corners in quick succession saw Palace build some momentum and in the first minute of stoppage time they levelled against the run of play.

Ebere Eze found Milivojevic in space and the captain atoned for his earlier error with a fine delivery into the area where Benteke headed home for his fifth goal of the season.

Zaha was introduced at the break, but he was largely a spectator during a lightning-quick start to the second period where Tottenham scored twice in the space of three minutes.

First Bale doubled his tally for the night when he nodded home from Kane’s header across the face of goal after another excellent Reguilon cross in the 49th minute.

It made it 10 goals for the season for the Spurs number nine and back-to-back braces at home, but soon the focus was on the creator.

A slick move was concluded in style when Matt Doherty cut back for Kane in space and he produced a 25-yard curler into the top corner to leave Guaita with no chance.

The Bale and Kane show was ended in the 70th minute when the Real Madrid loanee was replaced but it had been another impressive showing to continue his return to form.

A minute before the substitution Zaha had almost reduced the deficit but his shot from outside the area hit the post.

There was still time for one more Spurs goal and it proved a record-breaking effort when Son squared for Kane to head in from close range for their 14th goal combination in the Premier League this season.

It bettered Shearer and Sutton’s efforts of 13 for Blackburn 26 years ago and ensured the 4-1 win for Tottenham moved them up to sixth in the table while Palace remain in 13th.

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FERNANDES, SHAW ON TARGET AS UNITED END CITY WINNING RUN IN MANCHESTER DERBY

Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw struck early in each half as Manchester United ended Manchester City’s 21-match winning run with a stunning 2-0 derby victory.

Fernandes scored a penalty after just two minutes at the Etihad Stadium and Shaw added the second on 50 minutes as United inflicted a first defeat on their rivals since November.

The result cut City’s lead over United at the top of the Premier League to 11 points and, while it may be a stretch to suggest the title race has been reignited, it has slowed what was looking like a procession.

It may certainly rejuvenate United, who might have feared being dragged into a battle for a top-four place after an indifferent series of performances.

The only downside for the visitors was the loss of the inspirational Marcus Rashford through injury in the second half.

City had gone into the game undefeated in their previous 28 in all competitions and with their previous 21 opponents all beaten.

That had raised the prospect of reaching the world record for a top-flight side of 27 successive wins but that was under threat within moments of kick-off.

United raced out of the blocks and Anthony Martial was clumsily clipped by Gabriel Jesus with just 34 seconds gone.

Referee Anthony Taylor pointed straight to the spot for what was the 92nd penalty of this Premier League season, equalling the number awarded in the entirety of the 2019-20 campaign.

Fernandes, no stranger to penalties himself, thumped home his 10th spot-kick of the season despite Ederson getting a hand to his shot.

City were unusually rocky in the opening minutes and they were almost punished again moments later when Joao Cancelo failed to dribble out of his own area. Shaw seized possession but shot straight at Ederson.

Rashford tried his luck from long range but Ederson grabbed his effort at the second attempt.

With Kevin De Bruyne uncharacteristically sluggish, City took time to settle but they felt they should have had a penalty themselves after Raheem Sterling was challenged late by Fred in the area.

Nothing was given but Oleksandr Zinchenko drew a good save from Dean Henderson, who was continuing in place of the absent David De Gea, from distance.

Riyad Mahrez went close with a shot across the face of goal in the final moments of the first half and Rodri hit the woodwork from a Jesus lay-off after the restart.

Those near-misses were to prove costly for City as Shaw doubled United’s lead on 50 minutes.

Henderson launched a United attack with a quick throw and Rashford burst into the area to find Shaw in support. The left-back had three defenders in front of him but he caught them and the unsighted Ederson by surprise with an angled low shot which crept inside the far post.

City tried to respond but Jesus found nobody with a ball across the box when well placed, and they were fortunate not to go 3-0 down after a ricochet saw the ball break to Martial in their area. The Frenchman looked certain to score when presented with the one-on-one opportunity but Ederson saved low to his left.

Pep Guardiola sent on Phil Foden with 20 minutes remaining and the youngster went close with a shot on the turn that flew wide.

Rashford limped off but United had already done the damage.

City were unable to force their way back into the game allowing United, for now at least, the local bragging rights.

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SERIE A: ALVARO MORATA BRACE HELP JUVENTUS IN COME BACK WIN AGAINST LAZIO

Alvaro Morata scored twice and set up another as Juventus warmed up for next week’s Champions League game against Porto with a 3-1 comeback win over Lazio on Saturday to close the gap on the Milan teams in Serie A.

Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench before next week’s key last 16, second leg game against the Portuguese in Turin with Juventus trailing 2-1.

Champions Juventus fell behind to an early Joaquin Correa goal following a Dejan Kulusevski passing error midfield.

But Morata set up Adrien Rabiot to pull the hosts level before the break with the Spaniard scoring twice in a three-minute spell before the hour mark.

Andrea Pirlo’s side are third, seven points behind leaders Inter who host Atalanta on Monday, and one point adrift of AC Milan who play Hellas Verona on Sunday.

“Today we started the game 20 minutes late but it was normal because many were out of position and many returned (from injury),” said Pirlo.

“But there was a great reaction, we didn’t get down and despite the many absences we played an excellent match.

“For us it was a final, an important match for the standings and we’re happy.”

Paulo Dybala remains out injured along with defender Giorgio Chiellini and midfielder Matthijs de Ligt, while Rodrigo Bentancur positive for coronavirus .

But Juan Cuadrado started after missing three league games with Arthur and Leonardo Bonucci also returning off the bench in the second half.

Morata started up front alongside Kulusevski, with Ciro Immobile leading the Lazio attack alongside Correa.

And the Argentine pounced after quarter of an hour after Kulusevski gave the ball away, shaking off Merih Demiral to beat Wojciech Szczęsny in the Juventus goal.

Szczesny denied Luis Alberto a second eight minutes later.

Rabiot pulled a goal back six minutes before the break, picking up a Morata through ball to fire in a powerful left footed angled drive over Pepe Reina.

Both sides had chances after the break with Reina denying Federico Chiesa, Szczesny clearing from Correa and a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic header rattling the bar.

Chiesa set up Morata for the second after 57 minutes with the Spaniard completing a brace from the penalty spot three minutes later after Milinkovic-Savic brought down Aaron Ramsey in the box.

Morata made way for Ronaldo for the last 20 minutes with Arthur and Weston McKennie also coming off the bench in place of Ramsey and Cuadrado with Bonucci coming on for the final eight minutes.

Lazio’s top striker Immobile threatened but was unable to add to his 14 goals this campaign, drawing a blank for a fourth straight game as the Romans fell to their third defeat in four matches.

“It’s a defeat that hurts,” said Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi whose side’s hopes of Champions League football next season took a knock as they sit seventh, six points adrift of Atalanta in fourth place.

“We compromised the game alone, giving away an avoidable penalty. We made some mistakes and at Juventus, with some mistakes you don’t win.”

Sassuolo’s Europa League hopes further dwindled with a 2-0 loss at midtable rivals Udinese stretching their winless run to three games.

Spanish forward Fernando Llorente scored his first goal for Udinese just before the break with Argentine Roberto Pereyra firing in a second deep into injury time.

Sassuolo, in ninth, have won just two of 11 league games played since after Christmas. Udinese are four points behind in 10th place.

Spezia snatched a 1-1 draw at home against Benevento, in a match between promoted sides vying to stay in the top flight next season.

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MESSI GRABS TWO ASSISTS AS BARCELONA MARCH ON WITH VICTORY AT OSASUNA

Barcelona continued their rampant run of domestic form to beat Osasuna 2-0 away from home on Saturday and move to within two points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, with Lionel Messi setting up goals scored by Jordi Alba and teenager Ilaix Moriba.

Messi helped Barca take the lead on the half-hour mark when he carved open Osasuna’s defence with a superb cross-field ball to Alba, who controlled before blasting into the roof of the net.

He then laid the ball off when 18-year-old midfielder Ilaix struck in the 83rd minute, producing a confident finish inside the post from outside the area to score his first goal for the club in only his third league appearance.

The victory followed Barca’s heroic second leg comeback win over Sevilla to reach the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday and notched a 13th league win in 16 games, while they are unbeaten since losing at Cadiz on Dec. 5.

The Catalans stay second but moved on to 56 points after 26 games, two points behind Atletico Madrid who have played 24 matches and host third-placed Real Madrid on Sunday. Osasuna are 13th on 28.

“We just needed to keep on winning. It wasn’t our best performance but we played well and we deserved the win,” said Barca coach Ronald Koeman.

“We played with a lot of energy. We were tired, but we put in a professional performance and scored two great goals. I’m very happy, this is a very important run and I hope we stay on this path.”

Perhaps still feeling the effects of the 3-0 win over Sevilla after extra time, Barca took a while to settle and nearly went behind in the second minute. They were spared thanks to the first of three impressive saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The German had to scurry back to stop an audacious attempt from Osasuna’s Jonathan Calleri, who went for goal from his own half. He also made a truly outstanding save to deny Kike Barja later in the first period, flying to his top right hand corner and throwing up his left hand to swat the ball away.

With Barca then leading through Alba’s vicious strike, Ter Stegen rescued the visitors for a third time, denying midfielder Ruben Garcia from close range.

Having gone through a tumultuous campaign on and off the pitch this season, things are looking up for Barca, who will elect a new president in Sunday’s election.

They then head to France looking for another miraculous Champions League comeback against Paris St Germain for Wednesday’s last-16 second leg, looking to overturn a 4-1 deficit.

“We have to rest now and then we’ll prepare the game. I don’t want to say it’s impossible, and we’ll go there and try to get a good result,” Koeman added.

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SAINTS GET FIRST WIN IN TEN MATCHES AT ROCK BOTTOM SHEFFIELD

Goals from James Ward-Prowse and Che Adams gave Southampton a long-awaited and much-needed victory and plunged Sheffield United nearer to relegation from the Premier League.

A first win in 10 matches stopped Saints’ alarming slide and moved them 10 points clear of the bottom three, but the rock-bottom Blades look more unlikely by the week to pull off the greatest of escapes.

The 2-0 defeat leaves Chris Wilder’s side 12 points adrift of safety with just 10 matches remaining to save themselves.

It was an all so familiar story for the Blades – playing well, making chances, but shooting themselves in the foot at the other end with poor defending and individual mistakes.

They were given a boost after 12 minutes when Danny Ings went down injured off the ball and had to be replaced by former Blade Adams.

It was a blow for Southampton but they would have taken the lead shortly afterwards had Nathan Tella showed a little more composure in front of goal, slicing his first-time shot well wide when goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was out of position.

Tella was involved again when the visitors went ahead after 32 minutes. Referee Paul Tierney awarded the spot-kick after Ethan Ampadu brought down the 21-year-old with a challenge from behind. Ward-Prowse tucked away the resulting penalty.

The Blades should have equalised right at the end of the first half but David McGoldrick chose to try and chip Fraser Forster from the edge of the penalty area, making it an easy save for the giant goalkeeper when really he should have been given no chance.

Wilder made an attacking change for the start of the second half, introducing striker Oli McBurnie and taking off midfielder Oliver Norwood. But four minutes after the break his side were 2-0 down.

John Lundstram’s poor clearance was flicked into Adams’ path by Stuart Armstrong and the substitute hit the ball superbly on the half-volley, sending it into the top corner.

Enda Stevens put a header wide at the far post on the hour as another chance was missed by the Blades.

The hosts’ approach play continued to be sharp, neat and incisive, but, as has been the case all season, it broke down in and around the penalty area.

Wilder’s team continued to make life difficult for themselves. Lys Mousset gave the ball away this time and Ramsdale had to make a fine save to turn Tella’s effort away for a corner.

Takumi Minamino should have done better than shoot wide when unmarked inside the penalty area midway through the second half, before Ramsdale got a strong hand behind a low strike from Adams.

Ramsdale was keeping his team in the game and Nathan Redmond was next to be denied by another fine save from the Blades goalkeeper.

Frustration appeared to get the better of John Fleck in stoppage time when his robust challenge on Adams on the halfway line was late and, arguably, out of control. Tierney gave the Blades midfielder a yellow card but Saints players were incensed by the tackle and surrounded the referee looking for a red card.

There was pushing and shoving between the two sets of players and McBurnie and Jannick Vestegaard were also booked for their part in the tussle.