The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Eventful derby day settled by penalty
Alexandre Lacazette fired Arsenal to north London Premier League derby victory from the penalty spot as 10-man Tottenham succumbed despite Erik Lamela’s outrageous opener.
Lacazette, captaining the Gunners after PierreEmerick Aubameyang had been withdrawn from the team following a breach of pre-match protocols, converted a 64th-minute spot-kick to secure a 2-1 fightback win.
Emile Smith Rowe was unfortunate not to open his league account when his 16th-minute effort came back off the crossbar, and substitute Lamela, on for the injured Son Heungmin, took full advantage with an audacious rabona finish from Lucas Moura’s lay-off 12 minutes before the break.
Full-back Cedric Soares saw his 37th-minute piledriver crash against the upright as the Gunners responded, but they were back in it with a minute of the first half left when Martin Odegaard’s shot clipped Toby Alderweireld and eluded Hugo Lloris.
Lacazette put the home side ahead from the spot after being felled by Davinson Sanchez’s untidy challenge before Lamela was dismissed for a second bookable offence.
Harry Kane had a late header ruled out for offside and then rattled a post with an 89th-minute free-kick in a tense conclusion.
Manchester United returned to second place after beating West Ham 1-0 in the late kick-off with a Craig Dawson own goal.
Dawson inadvertently headed past Lukasz Fabianski in the 53rd minute at Old Trafford after Scott McTominay had touched on Bruno Fernandes’ corner.
Fabianski produced a fine save in the first half to tip a shot on to the post from Mason Greenwood, who also hit the woodwork with a 77th-minute strike.
The result saw United regain second spot having been temporarily usurped by Leicester, who continued their push for a Champions League place with a 5-0 win over Sheffield United.
The Foxes had to wait until six minutes before the break to force their way in front when Kelechi Iheanacho tapped in his third goal in as many games.
Ayoze Perez extended City’s lead with a fine 64th-minute finish and Iheanacho completed his hat-trick.
Ethan Ampadu turned Jamie Vardy’s 80th-minute shot into his own net to nudge bottom-of-the-table United – who had confirmed Chris Wilder’s departure on Saturday – ever closer to relegation.
Leandro Trossard’s third goal of the season dragged Brighton three points clear of the relegation zone courtesy of a 2-1 win at Southampton.
Lewis Dunk put visitors ahead in the the 16th-minute but Che Adams volleyed the Saints level within 11 minutes.
Trossard restored the Seagulls’ lead 11 minutes after the restart, in the process perfectly setting up a relegation six-pointer showdown with Newcastle on the south coast at the weekend.
Leaders Manchester City remain 14 points clear after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Fulham.
John Stones and Gabriel Jesus put City two up before Sergio Aguero netted for the first time since December from the penalty spot.
Burnley took another step towards safety with an impressive 2-1 victory at Goodison Park that dented Everton’s top-four hopes while Chelsea extended their unbeaten league run to 10 matches in a goalless draw at Leeds.
Luka Milivojevic’s firsthalf penalty helped Crystal Palace take another step to safety with a 1-0 win over struggling West Brom.
The kind of goals for which Lawrence Shankland is known have been harder to come by for him this season.
But the Dundee United striker could still be worth his weight in gold to Scotland, according to Micky Mellon.
Shankland notched 92 goals over the three seasons prior to this one to earn himself a national call-up as a Championship player.
This term he has struck just seven times.
However, his Tannadice gaffer insists the hitman has become a better allround footballer in his maiden Premiership season.
And Mellon believes that Shankland’s new-found qualities could make him a valuable asset to Steve Clarke’s Scotland in this month’s World Cup qualifiers and in this summer’s European Championship finals.
Mellon said: “I am pleased that Lawrence is playing so well at important time when squad is about to selected.
“That is a positive him and Scotland.
“He has always had an eye for goal. The Dundee United team I saw Lawrence play in last season pretty much dominated most games.
“It was all about Lawrence in the 18-yard box and we know how good he is in there.
“But we went up a level and the asks, as a club and as players, are very different.
“We were pinned back and ‘the hunted’ rather than last season when Dundee United were ‘the hunter’, going at teams.
“As we developed and got better as a team, so has Lawrence.
“He has not only got better in his one-v-ones from the front in closing down, but we get it up to him and he is big for us in order to get us up the pitch, to link and build attacks. an the be
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“He has improved that side of his game massively because he wasn’t asked to do that last season, from the footage I have watched.
“His work-rate is phenomenal but you need to work hard to lead the line for us and he has done that on a regular basis.
“I am only a Scotland fan but that role would also be the ask for Scotland as well.
“Scotland might find themselves in that position in the Euros and Lawrence has shown he is more than capable of doing that job as the main striker.
“He has done it against the best teams in this country, like Celtic and Rangers, and Scotland will be up against that sort of quality in the Euros.
“Lawrence has shown he has the quality and I don’t think he needs to show anyone that he can go and do that and play in that sort of role at that sort of level.”
The way Shankland has worked to develop his overall game has not been lost on Mellon, who points to his striker’s GPS stats as proof of his enormous value to United.
And he believes Steve Clarke will recognise the hitman’s hard work.
Mellon said: “Lawrence has done great in a developing team.
“He has been brilliant for us because he has changed his game to help us and himself.
“Some of his hold-up play and work-rate maybe goes a wee bit unnoticed because everybody talks about his goals. If you see his GPS, it shows his work rate and the amount of sprinting and closing down he does.
“As I said, his hold-up play is so important for us and we are also big on recovering the ball and he is right up there.
“It is a big stat that I judge strikers on and Lawrence’s figures are right up there with any player I have worked with.
“Steve Clarke will know all about that side of Lawrence’s game as well.”