Empire secured a 3-0 win over Ottos Rangers in Week 14 of the ABFA Premier League.
ABFA
All Saints United and FC Aston Villa are now level on points at the top of the table after week 14 of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) Premier League held at the ABFA Technical Centre in Pynter.
All Saints United moved to 34 points from 14 matches with a 2-0 win over Willikies on Sunday.
Shafeeq Joseph and Daryan James got the goals for the new league leaders in the 57th and 77th minutes, respectively.
FC Aston Villa boast a similar record in 14 matches thanks to a 1-0 win over Piggott’s Bullets on Saturday.
The game seemed to be heading for a draw before Shahoi Dorsett sealed the crucial three points for Villa with a 95th minute penalty.
Former leaders Grenades are now third, one point behind All Saints and FC Aston Villa after suffering a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Greenbay Hoppers on Sunday.
The Hoppers went 4-0 up in the span of 28 minutes as Rodney Lawrence (26’), Javorn Stevens (31’), a 45th minute Chad Williams own goal and an Akeem Christian own goal in the 54th sealed the fate for Grenades.
They got a consolation goal through Barrington Blake in the 56th minute. The Hoppers are now fifth with 21 points from 13 games.
Old Road is fourth, nine points behind Grenades after a 5-1 win over Swetes in the week’s opening game on Friday.
It was Swetes who took an early lead when Shackwon Simon scored in the 16th minute.
Stefan Smith equalized for Old Road eight minutes later and the teams went into half-time with no further goals added.
Things changed quickly in the second half as Jaheim Hazelwood gave Old Road the lead six minutes after the restart before a Raheem Deterville double in the 61st and 71st minutes gave them a 4-1 advantage. Jabarry Chandler put the final nail in the coffin in the 88th minute. Swetes are sixth in the table with 21 points from 14 games.
Saturday’s other matches saw Empire beat Ottos Rangers 3-0 and Parham secure a 3-1 win over Cedar Grove Blue Jays.
Empire’s goals came from Rakeem Joseph in the seventh minute, Nyque Watkins in the 13th minute and Shemar Scott in the 45th minute.
They are now 10th in the league with 17 points from 13 games while Ottos Rangers are eighth with 19 points from 13 outings.
Parham took the lead J’Twan Brown in the 45th minute before Malcolm Stewart doubled the lead in the 48th minute. The Blue Jays got a lifeline in the 50th minute through a Keon Greene penalty before Stewart got his second of the game in the 81st minute to secure the win.
With 15 points from 14 games, Parham are now 12th in the standings while their opponents are 14th with 10 points from 13 matches.
Sunday’s other game saw Liberta Blackhawks and SAP combine for 12 goals, with the latter securing an 8-4 win.
Shavorn Phillip gave the Blackhawks the lead in the 28th minute before SAP equalized through Tyrique Tonge in the 30th. It was 2-1 Liberta a minute later as Louron Anthony scored before SAP equalized once again, this time through Danniel Osbourne in the 42nd minute.
The only word to adequately describe the second half was ‘goal-fest.’
Fifteen minutes after the resumption, Tonge got his second of the game to give SAP their first lead before Phillip got his second of the game a minute later for Liberta to make it 3-3.
SAP then broke the game open through a Peter Byers double in the 73rd and 77th minutes before Tonge got his third and fourth of the game in the 81st and 87th minutes to make in 7-3, effectively ending the game.
Malique Martin got Liberta’s fourth goal in the 89th minute but the scoring was capped off in the 90th minute when Byers completed his hat-trick, the second for SAP on the day.
SAP are now 11th in the table with 16 points from 13 games while the Blackhawks, with only two points from 11 games, are last in the standings.
Ninth-placed Tryum and 15th placed Five Islands will do battle on Monday to close out the game week.
Michael Beale leaves Rangers role as Steven Davis takes interim charge at Ibrox
Rangers have announced the almost inevitable departure of Michael Beale and have put club favourite Steven Davis in charge.
Calls for Beale’s departure increased following the 3-1 defeat by Aberdeen at Ibrox on Saturday, with the players again booed off the park.
A third loss in seven cinch Premiership fixtures left the Light Blues seven points behind leaders Celtic and with their title hopes already in jeopardy.
Ahead of the Europa League tie against Aris Limassol in Cyprus on Thursday night, the Ibrox club released a statement which outlined the changes.
It read: “Rangers can confirm it has parted company with men’s first-team manager Michael Beale.
“The Rangers board would like to put on record their thanks to Michael and his staff for their efforts since joining the club last November.
“Results this season have fallen short of what everyone connected to Rangers would expect.
“Therefore, the decision was reached today to terminate the contract of the manager, as well as the contracts of coaches Neil Banfield, Damian Matthew, Harry Watling and Jack Ade.
“The club is pleased to announce that Steven Davis will lead the interim management team.
“The team will consist of former Rangers player and hugely experienced coach Alex Rae, former player and current coach Steven Smith, coach Brian Gilmour and goalkeeping coach Colin Stewart.”
Rangers chairman John Bennett said: “I’d like to thank Michael for his dedicated work since he rejoined the club as manager last November.
“It is clear that results have fallen well short of the board’s, Michael’s and our supporters’ expectations.
“The search process for the new manager is already under way. I wish Steven Davis and the interim management team every success – they will remain in charge for as long as it takes to make the right appointment.”
Former midfielder Davis’ contract expired at the end of last season but the club had been letting him use the facilities for his rehabilitation following a serious knee injury.
It is understood the new management team have all the required UEFA badges to lead Rangers into their European match on Thursday.
Beale never recovered from the 1-0 defeat by an under-strength Hoops side at Ibrox last month, with four subsequent wins in three different competitions doing little to appease disgruntled supporters.
Beale revamped his squad in the summer but new signings such as Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers, Dujon Sterling and Jose Cifuentes have failed to impress.
In mitigation, injuries robbed him of Danilo, Todd Cantwell, Kieran Dowell, Nico Raskin, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo and Kemar Roofe for various lengths of time with Ryan Jack and Ridvan Yilmaz picking up injuries against the Dons.
Beale, who was first-team coach at Rangers under Steven Gerrard, took over in the Ibrox hotseat in November 2022, following the departure of Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Liverpool criticise PGMOL and will ‘explore options’ after VAR error at Spurs
Liverpool have criticised the Professional Game Match Officials Limited and warned they will “explore the range of options available” following the VAR controversy at Tottenham.
The PGMOL admitted VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook failed to act after Luis Diaz’s 34th-minute strike at Tottenham was wrongly ruled out for offside. Still images of the incident showed Cristian Romero playing Diaz onside.
The disallowed goal came with the match still goalless but after Curtis Jones had been controversially sent off following England’s intervention. Liverpool went on to lose 2-1.
The officials were stood down from duty for the rest of the weekend but Liverpool will continue to pursue the matter.
A statement read: “Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.
“We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.
“It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.
“That such failings have already been categorised as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.
“This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
“In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”
England was due to be fourth official at Sunday’s Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford, while Cook was to be assistant referee for Monday’s west London derby between Fulham and Chelsea.
But the PGMOL announced on Sunday morning that England, the main VAR official at Tottenham, had been replaced by Craig Pawson, while Eddie Smart will step in for Cook, who was the assistant VAR to England.
“Darren England, VAR on the Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool fixture, and Dan Cook, AVAR on the same game, have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches today and tomorrow night respectively,” a PGMOL statement said.
“Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as fourth official at the City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant referee at Craven Cottage.”
Son Heung-min put Spurs in front moments after Diaz’s goal was disallowed, and although Cody Gakpo levelled, Tottenham won 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time own goal from Joel Matip, with Liverpool finishing the game with nine men after Diogo Jota also saw red.
In a statement on Saturday, PGMOL said: “PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool.
“The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials.
“This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene.
“PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error.”
Liverpool criticise the PGMOL and will explore their options after Spurs error
Liverpool have criticised the Professional Game Match Officials Limited and warned they will “explore the range of options available” following the VAR controversy at Tottenham.
The PGMOL admitted VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook failed to act after Luis Diaz’s 34th-minute strike at Tottenham was wrongly ruled out for offside. Still images of the incident showed Cristian Romero playing Diaz onside.
The disallowed goal came with the match still goalless but after Curtis Jones had been controversially sent off following England’s intervention. Liverpool went on to lose 2-1.
The officials were stood down from duty for the rest of the weekend but Liverpool will continue to pursue the matter.
A statement read: “Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.
“We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.
“It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.
“That such failings have already been categorised as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.
“This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
“In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”
England was due to be fourth official at Sunday’s Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Brentford, while Cook was to be assistant referee for Monday’s west London derby between Fulham and Chelsea.
But the PGMOL announced on Sunday morning that England, the main VAR official at Tottenham, had been replaced by Craig Pawson, while Eddie Smart will step in for Cook, who was the assistant VAR to England.
“Darren England, VAR on the Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool fixture, and Dan Cook, AVAR on the same game, have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches today and tomorrow night respectively,” a PGMOL statement said.
“Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as fourth official at the City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant referee at Craven Cottage.”
Son Heung-min put Spurs in front moments after Diaz’s goal was disallowed, and although Cody Gakpo levelled, Tottenham won 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time own goal from Joel Matip, with Liverpool finishing the game with nine men after Diogo Jota also saw red.
In a statement on Saturday, PGMOL said: “PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool.
“The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials.
“This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene.
“PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error.”
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