Tag: Nottingham Forest

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Liverpool stunned by Forest; Newcastle damages Man City title push

Troubled Liverpool’s woeful season hit a new low with a shocking 3-0 home defeat against Nottingham Forest, while Newcastle dented Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge as Harvey Barnes’ brace sealed a controversial 2-1 victory on Saturday.

The spluttering champions fell behind in the 33rd minute when Murillo’s fierce strike punished their failure to deal with Elliot Anderson’s corner.

Reds boss Arne Slot was fuming that the goal was allowed despite Forest’s Dan Ndoye appearing to obstruct Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker — an offense that led Virgil van Dijk’s equaliser to be disallowed in the 3-0 loss at Manchester City before the international break.

Sean Dyche’s side doubled their lead after 46 minutes when Nicolo Savona slotted home from Neco Williams’ cut-back.

With Liverpool’s defense in disarray, Morgan Gibbs-White scored Forest’s third from the rebound after Omari Hutchinson’s shot was saved in the 78th minute.

Beaten by Forest at Anfield for a second successive season, Liverpool have lost eight of their last 11 games in all competitions, including six of their last seven in the top flight.

It is the first time Liverpool have lost consecutive league games by a three-goal margin since 1965.

Once again Liverpool were devoid of inspiration and energy in another lethargic display that left them languishing in 11th place, eight points behind leaders Arsenal.

Liverpool’s stunning decline comes after a summer spending spree of over £400 million ($523 million).

Alexander Isak was hauled off in the second half of his fourth league start for Liverpool following a British record move from Newcastle that has failed to live up to the hype.

Sweden striker Isak has yet to score for the Reds in the top flight.

“Another big disappointment. We started off quite well but we conceded the 1-0 and weren’t able to play the way we did in the first half hour,” Slot said.

“If things go well or things go bad, it’s my responsibility. We weren’t able to create enough. I tried to adjust a few things, but it didn’t work out. We are in a very bad spell.”

At St James’ Park, Manchester City trailed to Barnes’ 63rd-minute drive from the edge of the area before Ruben Dias equalised with a deflected strike five minutes later.

Two minutes after Dias leveled, Barnes bagged Newcastle’s contentious second goal with a fierce volley, which was allowed to stand after a lengthy VAR check for a potential offside against Bruno Guimaraes, whose header had cannoned back off the bar.

Guardiola was also aggrieved over a rejected first-half penalty claim by Phil Foden.

City’s fourth league defeat this season left them in third place, four points behind Arsenal, who host Tottenham on Sunday.

Guardiola stormed onto the pitch at full-time to confront referee Sam Barrott, but later insisted “everything is fine” when asked about the incident.

“It happened in the Bournemouth game and it happened today again. It is what it is after VAR decided. They know perfectly,” he said of Newcastle’s second goal.

“It was entertaining game, we both had chances and then there was a momentum shift and ultimately we couldn’t win.”

Chelsea moved up to second place with a 2-0 win at Burnley.

Pedro Neto’s diving header put Chelsea ahead just before the interval and Enzo Fernandez netted in the closing stages.

Enzo Maresca’s side, who sit three points behind Arsenal, have won eight of their last 10 matches in all competitions, making it a memorable 50th Premier League game in charge for the Italian.

It was the ideal warm-up for Chelsea ahead of a crucial week featuring home games against Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday and Arsenal in the Premier League on November 30.

New Wolves manager Rob Edwards suffered a 2-0 debut defeat against fourth-placed Crystal Palace at Molineux.

Brighton came from behind to defeat Brentford 2-1 at the Amex Stadium.

Raul Jimenez’s 84th-minute goal gave Fulham a 1-0 victory against Sunderland at Craven Cottage.

West Ham blew a two-goal lead in their 2-2 draw at Bournemouth. (JapanToday)

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Man City crushes Liverpool 3-0 in Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th game

In his 1,000th game as a manager, Pep Guardiola celebrated victory as if it was his first.

Manchester City’s 3-0 triumph over Liverpool on Sunday was win No. 716 for Guardiola and likely one of the most satisfying of his trophy-laden career.

Not only did City totally dominate the defending Premier League champion and one of Guardiola’s fiercest rivals in a career spanning Spain, Germany and England – but the result firmly established his team as a genuine contender for the title this season.

“Thank you to the players and staff for giving me that incredible present (against) the most important opponent in my time here by far,” the City manager said afterward.

City moved up to second in the standings – just four points behind leader Arsenal, with a well-established record when it comes to chasing down Mikel Arteta’s team. It happened in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024 and City’s momentum has an ominous feel about it after taking advantage of Arsenal’s surprise 2-2 draw with Sunderland on Saturday.

“In October, November, you don’t win the Premier League. Teams that win the Premier League (are the ones) where everyone in the team is growing. When it grows and grows, you arrive at the end fighting for the title,” Guardiola said. “I have the feeling that we are in that way.”

By contrast, Liverpool, which was the runaway champion just six months ago, is slipping further adrift.

This was a fifth loss in six games after spending more than $400 million in the offseason. The Merseyside club is down to eighth in the standings and eight points off the top.

No wonder Arne, who was mocked by City fans chanting he would be fired in the morning, was in no mood to talk about the title.

“Last season when we were eight points clear it never felt like it was won already,” he said. “At this period of time, as Liverpool manager, I shouldn’t be talking about the top position because our performance needs to be better.”

There is no suggestion that Slot’s position is under any threat, but Liverpool’s form will be a source of concern. So complete was City’s superiority that Liverpool’s morale-boosting win against Real Madrid in the week was put into perspective.

A 3-0 win could easily have been bigger, with Erling Haaland seeing a 13th-minute penalty saved before he headed City in front in the 29th.

Nico Gonzalez doubled the lead when his shot deflected off Virgil van Dijk in first-half stoppage time.

Player of the match Jeremy Doku had tormented Liverpool throughout and he got a deserved goal in the 63rd when whipping in a curled effort from outside the box.

Newcastle fell to back-to-back defeats in the Premier League, losing 3-1 at Brentford.

Having lost to West Ham by the same score a week earlier, Eddie Howe’s team once again took an early lead only to squander the points.

Harvey Barnes fired the visitors ahead at the Gtech Community Stadium, but Newcastle was stunned by a second-half fightback from Brentford and ended the match with 10 men after Dan Burn was sent off.

Kevin Schade leveled in the 56th, following Barnes’ goal in the 27th.

Burn was sent off when bringing down Dango Ouattara in the box and Igor Thiago converted from the spot.

Thiago got his second in stoppage time to seal the win, which left Newcastle 14th in the standings and just two points above the relegation zone.

Sean Dyche got his first league win as Nottingham Forest coach after his team rallied to beat Leeds 3-1 at the City Ground.

Victory came after last week’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United and moved second-from-bottom Forest to within a point of safety.

Lukas Nmecha put Leeds ahead in the 13th minute, but Ibrahim Sangare equalized two minutes later. Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson – from the penalty spot – completed the comeback after the break.

Aston Villa quickly bounced back from defeat to Liverpool last week by routing Bournemouth 4-0.

Villa endured a desperate start to the season – failing to win any of its first six games in all competitions. But Unai Emery’s team has powered back impressively by winning eight of its last 10.

Emiliano Buendia, Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley and Donyell Malen all scored, while goalkeeper Emi Martinez denied Antoine Semenyo from the spot as Villa moved up to sixth in the standings.

Crystal Palace and Brighton drew 0-0 at Selhurst Park. (JapanToday)

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Forest beats Porto on Dyche debut; Villa shocked by Go Ahead Eagles

Sean Dyche got off to a winning start as Nottingham Forest boss thanks to two penalties to beat Porto 2-0 in the Europa League, while Aston Villa were stunned 2-1 by Go Ahead Eagles on Thursday.

Forest, who sacked Ange Postecoglou after just 40 days and eight games in charge on Saturday, had not won in 10 games stretching back to the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

But Dyche, who began his playing career at the two-time European champions, roused an immediate impact, even if Forest needed some fortune from VAR interventions to get the better of the Portuguese giants.

Morgan Gibbs-White fired in from the spot on 19 minutes after Jan Bednarek had been penalised for handball.

Former Southampton defender Bednarek thought he had equalised early in the second half, only for the goal to be ruled out after a VAR review for offside against Samu Aghehowa.

The video assistant referee also came to the home side’s aid when Nicola Savona was initially booked for diving, only for that decision to be overturned and a second penalty awarded 13 minutes from time.

Igor Jesus this time slammed home for his first Forest goal at the City Ground.

Villa boss Unai Emery said his side were taught a lesson in the difficulties of European football after their perfect Europa League start came to a surprise end in the Netherlands.

Emery’s men had backed up their status as pre-tournament favorites by beating Bologna and Feyenoord to get their European campaign off to a flying start.

The visitors started strongly when Evann Guessand fired in his first Villa goal.

However, in wild weather conditions, the home side secured a famous win in their first ever experience of group stage European football.

Mathis Suray’s deflected shot levelled before half-time and Mats Deijl dinked over Emiliano Martinez to give the Dutch Cup winners the lead.

Emi Buendia was Villa’s match-winner at Tottenham on Sunday, but the Argentine went from hero to villain as he missed a late penalty with the chance to snatch a draw.

“Today showed us how difficult it is to play in Europe, to play away,” said Emery. “This is the reason I love football, because football has a lot of different ways to win. You can dominate, like

we did, you have chances to score, but if we are conceding a few chances, maybe you can lose. And we did.”

Danny Rohl endured a nightmare start as Rangers manager in a humbling 3-0 defeat in Norway to Brann.

The Glasgow giants’ hopes of making the latter stages are in tatters after a third consecutive Europa League defeat left them bottom of the 36-team table.

A change of manager made no immediate impact as Emil Kornvig converted at the back post to give Brann a half-time lead.

Jacob Sorensen punished more poor defending to head in from a free-kick before Noah Holm rubbed salt in Rangers wounds.

Celtic did salvage some pride for Scottish clubs by coming from behind to secure their first European win of the season over Sturm Graz.

Two goals in three minutes from Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren earned a 2-1 victory after Tomi Horvat’s wonder strike put the Austrians in front at Celtic Park.

Danish side Midtjylland moved top of the standings with a 3-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

Lyon beat Basel 2-0 to continue their 100 percent record thanks to goals from Corentin Tolisso and Afonso Moreira.

Braga are the only other side so far with three wins from three after they beat Red Star Belgrade 2-0.

Bologna won 2-1 at Steaua Bucharest to register their first win in the league phase.

Fenerbahce beat Stuttgart 1-0, while Real Betis were held 0-0 away at Genk. (JapanToday)

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Postecoglou fired; Haaland scores 2 more for Man City and Arsenal profits again from a corner

Around 20 minutes.

That’s how long it took Nottingham Forest to fire manager Ange Postecoglou after losing to Chelsea 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.

As for Erling Haaland, he did his damage in a devastating five-minute spell in the second half, scoring twice more for Manchester City in its 2-0 win over Everton to move to 11 goals in eight league games.

City jumped to second place and was three points behind Arsenal, a 1-0 winner at Fulham thanks to another set-piece goal.

Postecoglou was removed after just 39 days in charge of Forest, which didn’t win any of its eight matches under the Australian after he replaced Nuno Espirito Santo on Sept. 9.

In a terse 39-word statement issued while the City Ground was emptying following the defeat to Chelsea, Forest said Postecoglou was “relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect” after “a series of disappointing results and performances.”

British media had already been linking former Burnley and Everton manager Sean Dyche with the beleaguered Postecoglou’s job. On Saturday, The Athletic reported that former Man City and Italy coach Roberto Mancini has been contacted by Forest.

Goals early in the second half by Josh Acheampong and Pedro Neto, and another by Reece James in the 84th minute, earned Chelsea a victory that prompted loud jeers inside the City Ground at fulltime and signaled the end for Postecoglou.

Postecoglou had been in defiant mood in recent weeks, even delivering a five-minute monologue on Friday in which he rejected talk that he was a “failed manager” and promised to win a trophy at Forest — just like he did at Tottenham last season before being fired.

However, Forest lost six and drew the other two of its eight games under Postecoglou. That included four losses from five in the league, scoring just one goal in the process, to leave Forest rooted in the bottom three.

Malo Gusto became the fifth Chelsea player to be sent off this season after collecting a second yellow card in the 87th.

Haaland has 23 goals in 13 games for club and country this season, having just come off a hat trick for Norway against Israel in a World Cup qualifier last week.

The striker has said he is in the best form of his career and it seemed inevitable he would make no mistake when Nico O’Reilly teed up a cross from the left in the 58th. Haaland leapt high and buried his header.

Five minutes later, Haaland peeled away from his marker in the box and met a cut-back from Savinho with a shot that went through the legs of defender James Tarkowski and past the unsighted Jordan Pickford in goal.

“He’s our key man, what can I say?” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “But at the same time, we cannot rely and do good things just with Erling.

“So our wingers, attacking midfielders and our other players have to make a step up.”

Jack Grealish wasn’t able to play for Everton under the terms of his loan move from City.

Make that 37 goals Arsenal has scored from corners since the start of the 2023-24 season.

The league leader’s 58th-minute winner at Fulham came from a familiar source, as Bukayo Saka swung in the corner, Gabriel Magalhaes flicked it on and Leandro Trossard converted at the back post.

It was a sixth win in eight games for Arsenal, which is seeking a first league championship since 2004 after being runner-up in the last three campaigns.

Fresh off his debut for France, Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a hat trick — including an equalizer from the penalty spot in the seventh minute of stoppage time — in a breathless 3-3 draw against Bournemouth.

Nick Woltemade’s latest goal for Newcastle — a deft flick between his legs into the corner — proved to be in vain in a 2-1 loss at Brighton, which had a goal in each half from Danny Welbeck.

Burnley beat Leeds 2-0 and Sunderland won at home to Wolverhampton 2-0. (JapanToday)

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Haaland fires Man City to win at Brentford, Everton end Palace’s unbeaten run

Erling Haaland carried Manchester City to within three points of Premier League leaders Arsenal with the only goal at Brentford, while Crystal Palace’s 19-game unbeaten run was ended by a 2-1 defeat to Everton on Sunday.

The Norwegian maintained his sensational early season form to score his 18th goal for club and country in just 11 appearances this season.

Haaland showed his strength to bully his way through the Brentford defence from Josko Gvardiol’s long ball and fire home on nine minutes.

Victory came at a cost for Pep Guardiola’s men as Rodri was forced off in his latest injury setback since returning from an anterior cruciate ligament tear that saw him miss most of last season.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner was in tears when he had to be replaced with an apparent hamstring problem midway through the first half.

Despite a less than sparkling performance, City held out to haul themselves up to fifth and right back into the title race.

Palace missed the chance to go second after suffering a European hangover at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The Eagles were dominant in the first 45 minutes but were left to rue not adding to Daniel Munoz’s finish from Ismaila Sarr’s pass.

However, their UEFA Conference League exertions in winning away to Dynamo Kyiv on Thursday took their toll in the second half.

Iliman Ndiaye equalised from the penalty spot after Maxence Lacroix clumsily upended Beto as Everton fought back to avoid a first defeat at their new home.

Jack Grealish then got fortunate for his first Everton goal as Munoz’s attempted clearance rebounded off the Manchester City loanee into the roof of the net.

“I thought Crystal Palace should have been out of sight, they should have been 3-0 up, but we stuck at it,” said Everton boss David Moyes.

Ange Postecoglou’s wait for a first win as Nottingham Forest manager goes on after a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle.

The Australian is the first Forest boss in over 100 years to fail to win in his first seven games and now faces an anxious wait to see if club owner Evangelos Marinakis decides to make another managerial change over the international break.

“I knew it was a big challenge walking in. That’s what it is and there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Postecoglou.

Newcastle had only won one of their opening six Premier League games.

But Bruno Guimaraes led the Magpies to victory with a brilliant strike from outside the box to break the deadlock on 58 minutes.

Guimaraes then won a penalty after robbing former team-mate Elliot Anderson inside the Forest box.

Nick Woltemade smashed the resulting spot-kick into the top corner for his fourth Newcastle goal since joining from Stuttgart last month.

Forest slip to 17th, the same league position that saw Postecoglou sacked by Tottenham at the end of last season despite winning the Europa League.

After a slow start to the season, Aston Villa beat Burnley 2-1 to secure a fourth win in the last 11 days.

Donyell Malen was the Villa match-winner with his first goals since April.

The Dutch forward opened the scoring after racing onto Boubacar Kamara’s brilliant through ball to slot into the far corner.

Morgan Rogers was the creator for the second that Malen controlled before drilling confidently into the far corner.

Lesley Ugochukwu pulled a goal back but Burnley remain in the relegation zone.

Wolves are still rooted to the foot of the table after conceding a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to Brighton. (JapanToday)

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Liverpool concedes late goal as its 100% start to Premier League ends with loss at Palace


There was a flurry of stoppage-time goals in the Premier League on Saturday — and one of them ended Liverpool’s 100% start to its title defense.

Eddie Nketiah’s strike in the seventh minute of added-on time secured Crystal Palace a 2-1 victory over the champions and extended the London team’s unbeaten run to 18 games stretching back to April.

Liverpool, which won its first five games of the campaign, saw its lead trimmed to three points — with second-place Palace now its unlikely closest challenger.

The Reds have made a habit of scoring late goals themselves this season and Federico Chiesa’s 87th-minute effort looked like securing a draw at Selhurst Park — or even giving them a chance of grabbing a sixth straight win.

Chelsea played almost the whole second half with 10 men against Brighton and paid the price, conceding two goals in stoppage time to lose 3-1 for a second straight defeat.

Erling Haaland scored in the 90th minute and again in injury time to wrap up Manchester City’s 5-1 win over Burnley.

Tottenham scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time through Joao Palhinha to draw 1-1 with Wolverhampton, which collected its first point of the campaign.

And Manchester United’s latest loss was sealed by a stoppage-time goal for Brentford, which won 3-1. It could have been so different had Bruno Fernandes’ penalty not been saved by Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher in the 76th minute, denying United an equalizer for 2-2.

Bournemouth also scored in stoppage time to earn a 2-2 draw at Leeds and Sunderland won 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, whose recently hired manager Ange Postecoglou has yet to win a game in five matches at his new club.

Liverpool had not been entirely convincing in gaining a maximum 15 points and Arne Slot’s team was undone again by Palace, which beat the Reds in a penalty shootout to win the Community Shield before the English season began.

Palace took the lead in the ninth minute through Ismaila Sarr and wasted a string of chances to move further ahead — with striker Jean-Philippe Mateta the biggest culprit.

Nketiah’s goal was scrappy but maintained Palace’s long undefeated run under Oliver Glasner, who has kept the team playing well despite losing star midfielder Eberechi Eze to Arsenal late in the transfer window.

“If one team deserved to win today it was Palace,” Slot said. (JapanToday)

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Premier League Roundup: Man United still winless after draw, Grealish inspires Everton

Manchester United is still searching for its first win of the season in the Premier League after squandering the lead in a 1-1 draw at Fulham on Sunday.

Everton did get off the mark, though, beginning life in its new waterfront home at Bramley-Moore Dock with a 2-0 win over Brighton thanks to an impressive display by Jack Grealish.

United was looking to follow up a mostly encouraging display in defeat to Arsenal in the opening round last weekend and missed a chance to take a first-half lead against Fulham when Bruno Fernandes blazed a penalty over the crossbar, moments after stumbling into the referee.

It needed an own-goal by Fulham striker Rodrigo Muniz, who deflected in a header at a corner from United’s Leny Yoro, to give United the lead in the 58th.

Ruben Amorim’s team couldn’t hold on as substitute Emile Smith Rowe poked home a cross from Alex Iwobi for the 73rd-minute equalizer.

It means a United player has yet to score a goal this season following an offseason when the club spent around 200 million pounds ($270 million) on revamping its attack with the additions of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko. Sesko was a second-half substitute for the second straight match.

In his first start for Everton, Grealish showed glimpses of the player who once was the poster boy of English soccer.

The England forward, who is on loan from Manchester City in a bid to resurrect his career, dribbled into the area and crossed for fellow winger Iliman Ndiaye to volley home the first goal of a new era for Everton following the team’s emotional departure from Goodison Park, its long-time home. Coincidentally, Ndiaye also scored the last goal at Goodison in May.

By providing a layoff for James Garner to drive home Everton’s second goal from outside the area, Grealish grabbed a second assist of the game — as many as he managed in total across the past two Premier League seasons at City.

Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved a penalty from Danny Welbeck to the delight of the home fans among the 51,759 inside their new stadium that was built in the hope of taking an underachieving club in recent years to a new level. Not for the first time, Pickford was seen checking his water bottle ahead of a penalty kick because he keeps the name of potential opposition penalty-takers on the drinking vessel and where they might hit their attempt.

It was Everton’s first win of the season, after a 1-0 loss at Leeds in the opening round.

Crystal Palace fans weren’t afraid to make their feelings known about Nottingham Forest during the teams’ 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park.

Palace, the FA Cup winner last season, was demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League last month for breaching UEFA rules on club ownership, in a saga the club believes was influenced by Forest and owner Evangelos Marinakis, who benefited by being promoted to the Europa League at Palace’s expense.

A spicy pre-match banner took a pop at Marinakis, as did some abusive chants from Palace’s notoriously boisterous supporters that also targeted UEFA.

Ismaila Sarr gave Palace a 37th-minute lead before Callum Hudson-Odoi equalized in the 57th for Forest, whose manager Nuno Espirito Santo was in the dugout for the match despite concerns about his job amid rising tensions with Marinakis over the summer. (SportsNet)

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Crystal Palace lose appeal to CAS over Europa League demotion

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected Crystal Palace’s appeal against their demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League over multi-club ownership (MCO) rules.

UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) ruled last month that Palace were too closely linked to Lyon.

Palace’s appeal had three strands: the CFCB’s decision was unfair and unjust, against Forest being elevated to the Europa League, and against Lyon’s participation. All three were rejected by CAS.

Nottingham Forest are the beneficiaries, promoted from the Conference League to play in the Europa League. Palace must enter the Conference League in the playoff round later this month, when they will play the losers of the Europa League tie between Fredrikstad and FC Midtjylland — the second leg is being played on Thursday.

Palace qualified for the Europa League by beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May, but seven days later Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the Coupe de France final meant Lyon moved up from the Conference League to the Europa League.

If two clubs are in violation of the MCO regulation, the team that finishes higher in the league will play in the European competition. Even though Palace (12th) won the FA Cup and Lyon (sixth) only qualified on a technicality, the league placing alone determined the right to play.

It all came down to the shareholding of John Textor, through Eagle Football Holdings Limited, who had a controlling interest in Lyon and 43.9% of Palace. The Premier League club argued that Textor had no say in the running of Palace, but regulations relating to decisive influence forbid any party from holding more than 30% of the total shareholding in more than one club in the same competition.

Textor last month completed the sale of his Palace stake to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, but UEFA’s rules are determined by a club’s situation as of March 1.

A CAS statement said: “After considering the evidence, the Panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date.

“The Panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL. The Panel considered that the UEFA Regulations are clear and do not provide flexibility to clubs that are non-compliant on the assessment date, as CPFC claimed.”

Before this summer, no club had been removed from European competition due to MCO rules, but Palace became the third to be affected by the new stricter application of the regulations which required clubs to be compliant by March 1, rather than June 3 as in recent seasons.

Crystal Palace players with the Community Shield trophy

Irish club Drogheda United were scratched from the Conference League due to an ownership conflict with Danish club Silkeborg IF, and Hungary’s Győri ETO will take part in the Conference League with FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda removed.

Drogheda won the FAI Cup in November, with the Irish league run on a calendar basis. It wasn’t until June 1 that Silkeborg qualified for the Conference League — three months after the new MCO deadline. Drogheda and FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda appealed to the CAS, but lost.

Drogheda’s appeal was very similar to Palace’s, with complaints about the March 1 deadline and “alleged unequal treatment by UEFA.” As CAS had already ruled against the Irish side, creating precedent, Palace were always going to face a difficult struggle to come away with a favourable verdict.

Palace and Drogheda would both likely argue that it’s unfair to place such restrictions on clubs that usually have no chance of qualifying for Europe.

When the March 1 deadline approached, Palace had not played their fifth round tie in the FA Cup. For Drogheda, who finished ninth, they did already know they had European football, but Silkeborg (seventh) were not expected to do so and claimed a European playoff in Denmark only after finishing top of the relegation group.

Earlier this year, Liga MX’s Club León were removed from the FIFA Club World Cup due to an ownership conflict with fellow Mexican club Pachuca, indicating a change in approach to MCO from football’s regulatory bodies.

The decision from CAS comes after Palace triumphed over Liverpool to lift the Community Shield on Sunday.

With the scores locked at 2-2 after 90 minutes, Palace prevailed with a 3-1 win in the shootout to lift their second piece of silverware in the space of three months.

Palace chairman and co-owner Steve Parish, speaking after his team’s win at Wembley, said the south London club would look for any alternative solutions should the verdict not go their way.

“If we don’t get the right outcome, then we will have to look if there’s any steps after that,” Parish said. (ESPN)