Rooney time!
Striker saves Everton and Koeman at Brighton
BRIGHTON, England — Wayne Rooney may have saved his manager’s job after a successful last-minute penalty kick secured a point for Everton in a 1-1 draw at Brighton in the English Premier League on Sunday.
Ronald Koeman’s future as Toffees boss looked in doubt when Anthony Knockaert gave Brighton the lead eight minutes from time, but Rooney kept his cool to level from the spot.
While the draw only lifts Everton to 16th, it might be enough to persuade the club to give Koeman more time.
“I think we deserved something out of the afternoon,” Koeman said. “We know we can play better but the commitment and belief was really positive. At least it’s one point.”
It was teacher versus student as Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino hosted Newcastle and his former boss Rafael
Benitez in a 2-2 draw. Pellegrino played for Benitez at Valencia and Liverpool before becoming a member of his coaching staff at Anfield and later at Inter Milan.
Newcastle twice led but was pegged back by Manolo Gabbiadini on both occasions as Southampton managed to score for just the second time in 10 Premier League home games.
SPANISH LA LIGA
Girona’s struggles continued in the Spanish league with a 2-1 loss to Villarreal, extending the team’s winless streak to six games after a promising start to its season.
Girona made its topflight debut with a draw against Atletico Madrid and a win at Malaga, giving fans hopes of a successful season, but it hasn’t been able to win since, losing four matches and drawing two.
Sunday’s loss dropped the Catalan team to 17th in the 20-team standings, just outside the relegation zone.
Leader Barcelona, which lost its perfect record after a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid on Saturday, is five points in front of second-place Real Madrid, which moved closer by winning 2-1 at Getafe with a late winner by Cristiano Ronaldo. Atletico is third, six points off the lead.
ITALIAN SERIE A
Mauro Icardi is a goal predator.
Seemingly absent one moment, he swoops in unannounced to score in the next.
The Argentine striker had a hat trick in Inter Milan’s 3-2 derby victory over bigspending AC Milan, displaying perfect timing to redirect two crosses, then calmly converting a penalty for the winner in the 90th.
Undefeated Inter took sole possession of second place, moving two points behind perfect Napoli and three ahead of six-time defending champion Juventus and Lazio.