Callum Hudson-Odoi reminded the Premier League what he is capable of with a brilliant debut goal to earn Nottingham Forest a 1-1 draw with Burnley.
It is 18 months since the 22-year-old last played in England’s top flight as his promising Chelsea career petered out, but, after a year on loan at Bayer Leverkusen, he was back with a bang.
He was Forest’s brightest spark following his deadline-day move from Stamford Bridge and brought his side level with a brilliant curling effort in the second half after Zeki Amdouni had put the Clarets ahead.
Hudson-Odoi is reunited with Steve Cooper, who managed the winger when he was part of the England Under-17 World Cup-winning squad, and England boss Gareth Southgate will hope the Welshman can get the best out of a player he has not used since 2019 and who is considering changing his allegiance to Ghana.
The point for Burnley enabled them to get their campaign up and running after three successive defeats, but they might be disappointed they did not leave with all three after they were denied a late winner by VAR, while they ended the game with 10 men after Lyle Foster elbowed Ryan Yates.
Forest, handing debuts to Hudson-Odoi and Ibrahim Sangare, looked vibrant in the opening 20 minutes and were causing Burnley problems with their pace on the break.
Hudson-Odoi, playing his first Premier League match since January 2022, was enjoying himself and saw a shot blocked after cutting inside from the left.
He came even closer in the 16th minute as Taiwo Awoniyi teed him up and his 20-yard effort was palmed away by Clarets goalkeeper James Trafford.
Burnley weathered the storm and began to come into the game.
They fired a warning shot in the 25th minute when Amdouni fired a low shot toward the bottom corner, but Matt Turner got down well to keep the ball out.
But the Clarets did take lead in the 41st minute as Luca Koleosho skinned Joe Worrall down the left and pulled the ball back for Amdouni to fire into the bottom corner.
Hudson-Odoi had looked Forest’s most dangerous player and he brought the City Ground to life just after the hour mark.
Awoniyi did well to control a high cross and he laid it off to the former Chelsea winger, who cut inside and sent a 20-yard curling effort in off a post, with the goal surviving a VAR check.
Burnley were not so lucky as they thought they had regained the lead in the 76th minute when Sander Berge got past Scott McKenna and teed up Foster, but the Norwegian was ruled to have used his hand and the visitors were denied.
And Foster’s experience with VAR did not get any better as he was shown a red card in added time after referee Robert Jones was invited to check the pitchside monitor after the forward was caught elbowing Yates.
Mason Mount aware Man Utd must improve after stuttering start to the season
Manchester United midfielder Mason Mount admits his side need a clear improvement after suffering their worst start to a Premier League season.
Not since the 1989-90 campaign, when Sir Alex Ferguson was reportedly one game away from the sack, have United lost four of their first seven league fixtures.
But Joachim Andersen’s first-half goal for Palace inflicted the same fate on the current crop, which left the Old Trafford faithful booing at the end.
Mount, who made his Premier League return after six weeks out with injury, says United must get better.
“We know we need to win these games and it’s been a difficult start,” the England international told the club’s website.
“As soon as they got the goal, they defended really well, they got bodies behind the ball and made it difficult to create. We had a few chances but it wasn’t enough.
“We know we need to go back and look at the areas that we need to improve on – and we need to improve because we want to win games, we want to win every competition we’re in, we want to go right to the end. So it’s a tough one to take.
“It was a tough start with the injury and a frustrating one but I used that time to look at areas where I could improve and coming back in the team last game, it felt good.
“But you don’t want to lose games and, especially at home with the fans, we want to perform for them and win games for them. And yeah, we need to improve. We need to go away and look at some areas that just weren’t there.
“But there are games coming thick and fast now. Every three days we’re playing in different competitions and this is a new start. The Champions League at home under the lights – it’s an exciting one to play in and hopefully we can perform and win that game now.”
Andersen’s brilliant goal – a sweet first-time finish at the back post from an Eberechi Eze set-piece – proved enough for Palace to earn revenge for their Carabao Cup defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the week.
And he enjoyed his match-winning moment.
“That goal, for me personally, is something I’ll remember,” Andersen told the club’s official website.
“It’s something that I need to improve on. I need to score more goals because I’m capable of scoring goals. I have the desire to score. I think I have a pretty good strike actually. I know I’m capable of scoring goals.
“It was a good cross from Ebs and I just felt that someone would get a touch and I just sensed where the ball would fall, like a good striker would do, and I hit it really well. Amazing goal.”
Raphinha injury blow for Barcelona
Barcelona forward Raphinha is facing a spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury in Friday’s win over Sevilla, the LaLiga club have announced.
Raphinha pulled up after taking a shot at goal late in the first half and was seen holding his right hamstring as he signalled he needed to come off.
In a statement, Barcelona said: “Tests carried out on the first-team player Raphinha show that he has a hamstring injury in his right thigh. He is unavailable for selection and his recovery will dictate his return.”
The former Leeds player has featured in five league games and once in the Champions League so far this term, scoring two and registering three assists.
Although Barca put no timeframe on his return, reports in Spain suggest he faces up to a month out, which would see him miss the Champions League match against Porto and the LaLiga fixture away to Granada before the international break.
Barca then return to action against Athletic Bilbao on October 22 and face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League three days later.
Raphinha could then face a race to be back in time for El Clasico against Real Madrid on October 28.
STATHS remains perfect in Group D after 4-1 win over XLCR, as Tivoli put seven past Cumberland in Group B
Despite conceding for the first time this season, last year's beaten finalist St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) extended their unbeaten run in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup with a 4-1 beating of Excelsior High in a Group D top-of-the-table clash at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Saturday.
A brace from Leon Brown (2nd, 68th) and one each from Kalonji Watson (47th) and Andre Salmon (70th), made the points safe for the Bumper Hall-based team. Jkivann Salmon (75th) got Excelsior's consolation.
With the win, STATHS are now sole leaders of the group on 15 points, three ahead of Excelsior, who were suffering their first defeat of the season.
Winning coach Phillip Williams expressed pleasure with his team's progress so far.
"I am very happy today was a good test for my team, I think the Excelsior team is a good team and we embrace these types of games, and the boys showed their quality today. This is a more mature team, so we keep doing what we have been doing and it's paying off. We have another shot to win the title this year and we will give it our best try," he said in a post-match interview.
It was a frantic start by STATHS, as Brown picked up a loose ball and worked his way around two defenders before unleashing a stinging left-footer from the top of the 18-yard box that gave Jadavin Waul, in goal for Excelsior, no chance at a save.
Though STATHS bossed possession from there and had a few chances from which they could have converted, Excelsior were not without hope and did play their game but found the Bumper Hall team's defence in defiant mode.
As the score went unchanged at the break, STATHS, like they did at the start, came out spiritedly on the resumption and doubled the lead two minutes in when Watson fired home from the top of the 18-yard box, beating Waul all ends up.
They continued to apply consistent pressure and pushed even further ahead courtesy of Brown, who applied an easy finish from close range to a Dwayne Atkinson pass, moving his tally to 10 goals this season.
And before Excelsior could catch their breaths Salmon delivered another punch when he fired home while under pressure from two defenders.
However, the Mountain View Avenue-based team gave their fans something to celebrate, as Jkivann Salmon finished off a well-worked build up with a sweet right-footed strike from deep inside the 18-yard box, beating STATHS's custodian Jaheem Williams, at his near post.
Excelsior's Head coach Keon Broderick took heart from his team's performance to an extent.
"The goal we scored is evident that we have quality in the team. But credit must be given to STATHS the way they transitioned and came at us really quickly. I also thought we could have done much better defensively, but as we move on into the latter stages I think we will be much better," Broderick said.
Meanwhile, defending Walker Cup champions Tivoli High were among other winners on the day, as they moved to the top of group B thanks to a dominant 7-0 win over Cumberland. The win saw Tivoli up to 10 points from four games, one point more than defending champions Jamaica College.
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