On Saturday night, the Premier League heavyweights said a “big goodbye” to club legend Bobby Charlton by beating Sheffield United 2-1. Charlton had passed away earlier that day.
After a dazzling career with United, Charlton’s family reported that he “passed peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning” at the age of 86. Charlton won the World Cup with England.
David Beckham, a former United player and England captain, called Charlton a “national hero” as tributes flowed in from around the football world.
On the same day, Arsenal rallied from two goals behind to tie 2-2 against Chelsea, and Manchester City overcame Brighton 2-1 to regain the Premier League lead.
In the late match at Bramall Lane, Manchester United paid a touching tribute to Charlton before facing the league’s worst team, Sheffield United.
Fans yelled Charlton’s name as team captain Bruno Fernandes laid a wreath and a huge screen showed a photo of the former attacking midfielder.
United’s manager, Erik ten Hag, was appreciative of the fans’ gesture.
Amazing, he exclaimed to Sky Sports. What Bobby Charlton achieved was amazing, and we owe it to him to do our part and say our final goodbyes.
He excelled both on and off the pitch. We intended to honour Sir Bobby, and I believe we did it appropriately.
Scott McTominay took hold of the ball with his chest and scored low to the left corner of the goal from 12 yards out to give the lethargic visitors a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute.
When McTominay handled James McAtee’s cross, Oli McBurnie scored from the penalty spot to tie the game just six minutes later.
Shortly after the hour mark, Ten Hag made three substitutions in an attempt to find a winner, bringing in Anthony Martial, Alejandro Garnacho, and Christian Eriksen.
But it was United’s defender, Diogo Dalot, who won the game with a beautiful strike from long range in the 77th minute, moving them up to eighth place in the standings.
Back on top again, City
Pep Guardiola, City’s manager, also mourned Charlton’s passing and referred to him as “a big legend” following the victors’ narrow victory over Brighton.
The win was City’s 21st in a row at home in all competitions, breaking the Premier League record for longest home winning streak.
After falling behind early thanks to Julian Alvarez, treble winners Erling Haaland increased the lead with his tenth Premier League goal of the season.
After the interval, everything changed. In the 73rd minute, Ansu Fati scored to increase the pressure on the home team, which managed to hang on despite losing defensive back Manuel Akanji to a red card.
Liverpool’s luck was in against Everton at Anfield, as Mohamed Salah scored twice to lead his team to a 2-0 victory in the Merseyside derby.
While Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate avoided a second card in the second half, Everton’s Ashley Young was sent off for two bookable offences before halftime.
Cole Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk put Chelsea on the path to their third consecutive league win.
In the 77th minute, though, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice scored from beyond the box to cut Chelsea’s lead in half, and then Leandro Trossard tied the game by scoring for Arsenal.
“The way the team reacted to the second goal is phenomenal from the players on the pitch and the players on the bench thinking ‘how the hell am I going to change this game?’,” said Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager. “I loved that.”
With their early season problems long forgotten, Newcastle annihilated Crystal Palace, 4-0, to move up to fifth place in the league.
Wolves rallied from a goal down to overcome Bournemouth 2-1, and Brentford cruised to a 3-0 victory over Burnley. After falling behind 2-0 early, Luton rallied to tie Nottingham Forest 2-2.
Spurs, who began the day in first place, don’t play again until hosting Fulham on Monday.