Josh Dasilva News

Premier League: talking points from the weekend’s action

Seething Slot stretches his complaints Arne Slot was seething as he lamented the decision to allow Manchester United’s second goal to stand despite claims of handball by Benjamin Sesko. “The curve on the ball changed so there must have been a contact,” argued the Liverpool head coach. “But it’s no surprise to anyone that if there is a VAR intervention then the decision goes against us. It’s happened to us all season.” As PGMO confirmed at the time, however, there “was no conclusive evidence that Sesko handled the ball before scoring”. Slot was stretching it to pin Liverpool’s latest defeat on poor refereeing. United’s movement pulled the visitors apart in the first half and, without the injured Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak, the threat from Liverpool was nonexistent until capitalising on two errors early in the second half. Defeat stemmed from an anaemic first-half performance, nothing else. Andy Hunter Match report: Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool Lewis-Skelly gets Arteta clued up What took you so long, Mikel Arteta? “Because probably I don’t have a clue,” the Arsenal manager joked. The home game against Fulham on Saturday was the first time he had started Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield. Given the stakes, it was a big risk. Never mind the 19-year-old played in midfield for Arsenal’s academy teams; this felt like a sink or swim moment. Lewis-Skelly, who broke through in such dazzling style as a left-back last season but has dropped off this time out, rose to the challenge, delivering a fine all-round performance defined by the security of his passing and the energy that he brought. He helped to set a blistering tempo and maintain it. There has been no little muttering about how Arsenal might look to sell him in the summer, the words “pure” and “profit” bandied about. On this evidence, they cannot do so. David Hytner Match report: Arsenal 3-0 Fulham Howe’s future in balance despite smiles The final whistle was the cue for Yasir al-Rumayyan – Newcastle’s chair and the governor of the club’s majority owners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – to seize the ball and enjoy a kick about with his fellow director Jamie Reuben. Newcastle’s minority owner was heard calling Rumayyan “boss” before they headed inside for a special dressing room photograph to commemorate an edgy 3-1 home win over Brighton that ended a five-game losing streak for Eddie Howe’s team. The picture captures Rumayyan commanding centre stage alongside, perhaps inevitably, Howe’s beaming assistant, Jason Tindall. Almost everyone is smiling, with one notable exception towards the back. The Germany striker Nick Woltemade, Newcastle’s £69m record buy, stares blankly into space after spending yet another match on the sidelines. Woltemade was among the five expensive signings made by Howe last summer that warmed a bench valued, collectively, at £335m. A relief-tinged bonhomie may have reigned on Saturday evening but, once the season ends, Rummayan must decide whether he trusts Howe to preside over this summer’s necessary rebuild. Louise Taylor Match report: Newcastle 3-1 Brighton Emery gamble plays into De Zerbi’s hands Aston Villa made seven changes from the side that lost 1-0 at relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest on Thursday night and lost 2-1 against relegation-threatened Tottenham on Sunday night. Unai Emery’s team had not completed an arduous journey post-match, it’s about an hour’s drive back from Nottingham, but only Emi Martínez, Matty Cash, Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers remained in the starting lineup. This was clearly a gamble based on keeping his big guns fresh for the second leg. It backfired, Villa were outfought and managed one effort on target all game; Emiliano Buendía’s late consolation. Emery’s record in managing successful Europa League campaigns gives him leeway to take such risks, but picking a midfield of Tielemans, Lamare Bogarde and Ross Barkley to go up against a workmanlike, but creatively limited, trio of Conor Gallagher, Rodrigo Bentancur and João Palhinha played into Spurs’ hands. This was a game won with industry, not craft, and credit must go to Roberto De Zerbi for instilling that endeavour in his team, but the Spurs manager was certainly handed the initiative by his opposite number. Tom Bassam Match report: Aston Villa 1-2 Tottenham Dasilva returns after 822 days out The Brentford fans would not stop. “We want Josh,” they cried as the second half of their side’s win over West Ham wore on. “I didn’t have any idea they were nagging me,” Keith Andrews said, but the Brentford manager still made sure not to disappoint the crowd. There were 89 minutes on the clock when Andrews turned to his bench and brought Dasilva on for his first appearance since January 2024. “A very special moment for him,” Andrews said of the 27-year-old midfielder, who had been out for over two years with a knee injury. “I got quite emotional looking at him coming into the pitch.” Andrews added: “He’s a very special human being. He’s a very intelligent young man and his ability isn’t in doubt. I was looking at him from afar in years gone by. We just need to keep Josh fit and I think the rest will be absolutely fine.” Jacob Steinberg Match report: Brentford 3-0 West Ham Smart business pays off for Leeds Football clubs live and die by recruitment. Leeds and Burnley finished on 100 points in the Championship last season and had plenty of time to plan for life back in the Premier League but one club got their business right and the other extremely wrong. It was further proven on Friday night when three of Leeds’ summer arrivals scored to all but secure their Premier League status. Noah Okafor and Anton Stach cost a combined £35m and were not the sort of names being linked with every club under the sun but fitted the model of play Daniel Farke wanted, providing speed and physicality, not to mention plenty of goal threat. The other scorer, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, was available on a free transfer but was ignored by others on account of a chequered injury record but his 12 league goals have been vital. Burnley’s new striker, Armando Broja, cost £20m and has found the net once. He came on for a meaningless cameo in this latest defeat, wondering if he needs to drop down a level to reignite his career, while Calvert-Lewin has been fully revived. Will Unwin Match report: Leeds 3-1 Burnley Cherries eye European risk and reward European football draws close for Bournemouth. Marco Rose, the former RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund coach set to replace Andoni Iraola, will inherit a squad of widely admired talent. Continental competition will stretch that squad. Crystal Palace’s display was evidence of the drain playing a Thursday-Sunday schedule places on resources. Where Bournemouth’s profit and sustainability status enforced the sale of talent last summer, the Europa League – or perhaps the still live chance of the Champions League – would reduce such necessities. Those within the club are under no illusions that imported players and coaches, Iraola as a prime example, will use the Vitality Stadium as a launchpad. “They are two world-class talents,” said the Bournemouth captain, Marcus Tavernier, a player from the club’s other seam, the lower English leagues, of scorers Rayan and Eli Junior Kroupi. “I don’t think they will be at Bournemouth for a long period of time, given the quality they have got.” His club’s steady rise is accompanied by healthy realism. John Brewin Match report: Bournemouth 3-0 Crystal Palace Hair-pull red cards a problem for Le Bris The Sunderland defender Dan Ballard received a red card for pulling Tolu Arokodare’s hair in his side’s 1-1 draw with Wolves. It’s the third red card of its kind in the Premier League this year after Michael Keane was sent off for pulling Arokodare’s hair in January and Lisandro Martínez saw red for tugging Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair in April. The PGMO have made it clear that hair pulling is considered an act of violent conduct worthy of a red card, but it was still difficult for the Sunderland head coach to “digest”. Régis Le Bris said: “If the rule is the rule, when you have a striker with long hair, you will have problems because you can’t defend.” While it’s easy to understand his frustrations about the severity of Ballard’s three-match ban and the classification of the defender’s actions as violent conduct, it’s harder to buy the idea that you can’t defend against players with long hair or that they are the problem. Like many rules, it will take a bit of adjustment from the players and some pragmatism from referees. That should be easy, then. Xaymaca Awoyungbo Match report: Wolves 1-1 Sunderland

2026-05-04

Vicente Lucas, the Mozambican football legend who ‘dried out Pelé’ at the 1966 World Cup, has died aged 90

Vicente Lucas, a true legend of Mozambican and Portuguese football history, died this Wednesday, 14 April. He was 90 years old. The information was released by the Belenenses club, which remembers its former player as “a good, simple, modest and affable man”. “He was to this day Belenenses’ greatest living figure, a legend not only of our club but of Portuguese and world football”, highlights Belenenses in a statement released on social media. It emphasizes that Vicente Lucas, Matateu’s brother – also a former club player – was recognized “for his sporting spirit, correctness, nobility of character and football value”. Born in Mozambique on September 24, 1935, Vicente Lucas arrived at Belenenses at the age of 18, having participated in the 1966 World Cup with the Portuguese national team’s shirt in the team that became known as ‘Magriços’ which included figures such as Eusébio and Mário Coluna, both Mozambican too. The club remembers him as the “man who dried Pelé” [o homem que secou o Pelé] in a Portugal-Brazil match in that same World Cup, where the Portuguese national team came in third place. A 20-time Portuguese international, Vicente Lucas had a Portuguese Cup on his CV, won in 1960 by the Restelo club. “Both at Belenenses and in the Portuguese national team, he commanded general admiration and consideration”, says the club, recalling the 12 seasons in which he was at the service of the Restelo emblem, totalling 284 official meetings. “An elegant player with fine technique and impeccable positional sense, he began his career as an attacking midfielder — scoring the winning goal against FC Porto on his official debut — before moving into more defensive roles, where he earned greater acclaim. His unusual ability to mark opponents and anticipate play made the phrase often shouted during matches, “Cut Vicente!” / “Corta Vicente!”, popular, reads the note from Belenenses. In solidarity following the passing of this exceptional figure, the Portuguese Football Federation has decreed a minute’s silence at all matches under its jurisdiction. On Vicente lucas’ 90th anniversary, this text was widely circulated on social media. “oday marks 90 years since the birth of the man who neutralised Pelé and a historic figure of Belenenses. Who remembers watching Vicente Lucas play? Younger brother of Matateu, Vicente Lucas was a central defender born in Mozambique who broke into the Belenenses first team in the 1954–55 season and remained there until he retired. “I was in Africa and I was 17 when I received a letter from him saying that Belenenses was interested in me. I thought it was a Belenenses club in Lourenço Marques (Maputo), but no, it was the one in Lisbon. One day Américo Tomás (then president of Belenenses, who would later become President of the Portuguese Republic) went there, together with captain Soares da Cunha, who was a director of Belenenses and would later be responsible for the construction of the Restelo Stadium. After hearing people say ‘the guy is good’, they brought me to Lisbon. Just like that, without paying or asking permission from the club I was playing for. They gave 30 contos to my mother, a fortune at the time, told me to be ready on day X and go to the ship to come to Lisbon. I barely said goodbye to my family. I went with one of my older brothers. The ship was full, and there were five of us in a cabin, but I made it to Lisbon. Matateu was waiting for me. He was a good brother, full of joy, the joker in the dressing room,” he recalled to Diário de Notícias in August 2018. “Belenenses played at the Salésias and had the only grass pitch in Lisbon, and I was used to playing on dirt pitches, barefoot or in boots. I had to adapt to playing on a soft pitch and wearing boots. Even so, Riera saw me training with my brother and said ‘the guy is good, he’s staying’. If it hadn’t been for him I would have been sent back on the same ship that brought me to Lisbon. The ball was still hard. I used to finish matches with a headache…,” he added. In 12 years wearing the blue shirt, between 1954 and 1966, he made a total of 286 appearances (all as a starter, as substitutions did not exist) and scored 12 goals in the top division, winning the Portuguese Cup in 1959–60 and helping the club finish second in 1954–55 and third on four occasions (1955–56, 1956–57, 1958–59 and 1959–60). He also earned 20 caps for the Portugal national team, becoming famous for shutting down Pelé in a match against Brazil at the 1966 World Cup, a tournament in which Portugal finished third. “I ended my career without receiving a single yellow card in 11 years. Then I became ‘Corta Vicente’. At the time, football was king on the radio. In commentary, when describing one of my moves, it was always the same: ‘Corta, Vicente.’ Even today it is a fond way of remembering the player I was. If you tackle or take the ball from Pelé, your career is made, but I was more than that,” he said. In the 1981–82 season, he briefly coached Belenenses in a few matches during a campaign marked by the club’s first-ever relegation. Source: Veritas News / Miramar / Lusa

2026-04-15

Inter Miami star Messi scores milestone 900th goal

Lionel Messi has reached another milestone, getting his 900th career goal in the opening minutes of Inter Miami’s CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 match against Nashville on Wednesday night. The back-to-back Major League Soccer MVP, eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and World Cup champion got it as would be expected - with his left foot, like the majority of his career goals for club and country. He took a pass in the middle of the box in the seventh minute, controlled the ball, spun and lined a low shot through a maze of defenders and into the far corner of the net. Cristiano Ronaldo is the only other men’s player with more than 900 goals — at least, by official counts. It took Ronaldo about 100 more matches to get to the milestone than Messi needed; Ronaldo was 39 when he got to 900 goals in September 2024, while Messi doesn’t turn 39 until June. The historic goal drew the attention of stars names from even outside the soccer world. Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson posted on social media that Messi reaching 900 goals is an “incredible milestone.” “What an unbelievable feat!” Johnson wrote. There are some who have suggested Brazilian legend Pele topped 1,000 goals for his career, though his “official” total is closer to 800. Different sources, counting different sets of games, list Pele’s goal totals anywhere from around 650 in league matches to somewhere near 1,300 in all matches - some against low-level competition. It was a night where Messi surely didn’t feel like celebrating. Nashville tied Inter Miami 1-1, advancing to the tournament quarterfinals on an away-goal tiebreaker. The teams played to a 0-0 tie in Nashville last week, the opening leg of the Round of 16 matchup. Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan paid tribute after the game, saying, “900 goals, congratulations to him. He’s the best.” Messi remains the game’s most popular and most-followed player. His No. 10 Inter Miami jersey has been the bestseller in the league since he arrived in MLS, and everything he does becomes major news in all corners of the soccer world. This milestone joins countless other awards and accomplishments over Messi’s career, including eight Pichichi trophies as La Liga’s top scorer, six La Liga best player nods, three Best FIFA Men’s Player awards, three UEFA Men’s Player of the Year wins, two FIFA World Cup Golden Balls and no fewer than 15 selections as Argentina’s best player in a given year. Messi has also been part of winning 47 trophies for club and country - including the 2022 World Cup for Argentina and last season’s MLS title with Inter Miami — making him the most decorated player the men’s game has ever seen. He is likely to play again for Argentina this summer when the World Cup is held in the US, Canada and Mexico. “The reality,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said late last season, “is that Leo clears all doubts.” More than half of Messi’s goals came with Barcelona, the place he played for nearly two decades. He joined Inter Miami in 2023, was under contract through the end of last season originally and now has a new deal stretching into 2028.

2026-03-20