European football has stretched resources but the manager insists busy schedule is not something to complain about

Twenty seconds of stoppage time remained when Enzo Le Fée picked up the ball and kissed it before taking a corner. As intended, the Frenchman’s perfect, right-footed delivery dropped into the corridor of uncertainty that leaves goalkeepers torn between leaving their line or standing firm.

It also dipped at the right moment for Dan Ballard to power a header in off the crossbar. Extra time in the 2025 Championship playoff semi-final second leg was almost over and Sunderland had secured a 1-1 draw that consigned Coventry to a 3-2 aggregate defeat.

Régis Le Bris can usually do impassive to perfection but, by the final whistle, even Sunderland’s ultra-balanced manager was looking more than a little fed up and frustrated.

His bottom-placed team had arguably just about deserved a second Premier League win of the season but, instead, had to settle for a draw on an afternoon when the hugely disruptive Storm Boelo proved the enemy of good football.

Pierre Sage and Matthias Jaissle were appointed this summer and good form has been elusive, with injuries and tactics as factors

Conceding 17 goals in seven Premier League matches is not exactly the start Pierre Sage or Crystal Palace’s hierarchy would have hoped for. The transition from Oliver Glasner’s counterattacking 3-4-2-1 formation to the Frenchman’s more aggressive approach has exposed massive weaknesses in defence, culminating with last week’s humiliating defeat at Brighton. Palace fans became used to success under Glasner and they are already looking nervously over their shoulders at the bottom three. Even their league wins under Sage so far – against Fulham and Nottingham Forest – could have ended in defeat. Something doesn’t seem right in south London. EA

There is a reason why Aston Villa were so desperate to hijack Johan Manzambi’s proposed summer move from Freiburg to Newcastle. The tall, quick, tricky, clever and perfectly balanced 21-year-old Switzerland attacking midfielder looked worth every penny of the record £50m plus fee Villa ended up paying and he duly delighted in showing Tynesiders what they missed.

For Newcastle and their disconsolate manager, Matthias Jaissle, there was a cruel irony that Manzambi ended up heading the winner on a day when the Premier League’s CEO, Richard Masters, was in the directors’ box to watch arguably the two teams most affected by the spending rules imposed during his tenure.

Black Cats can reboot season against Torreense in Europa League in a break from tough start to domestic campaign

There is a pleasing symmetry about Sunderland’s Europa League trip to Portugal to face Torreense on Thursday night. The club’s last competitive venture on European soil, 53 years ago, was the second leg of a European Cup Winners’ Cup second-round tie against Sporting in Lisbon for the FA Cup holders, then in the Second Division.

In a striking parallel, second-tier Torreense prompted widespread surprise by beating Sporting in the Portuguese Cup final last season. The reward was a place in the Europa League and their chances of reaching the next phase of the competition early next year were boosted when they beat Lillestrøm 2-1 in Norway last month.

Verdict has been a long time coming and the Southampton head coach has recaptured hearts and minds at St Mary’s

“Hi Tonda, are you a cheat?” That simple, succinct, question cut to the heart of a matter that has vexed the Football Association all summer. It was posed by the Northern Echo’s Dominic Shaw after Southampton overcame Middlesbrough in the second leg of May’s Championship playoff semi‑final and proved the cue for Tonda Eckert to walk out of his press conference at St Mary’s.

Although Southampton’s manager subsequently admitted to authorising spying on opponents, England’s football authorities struggled to decide what punishment best fitted an act some regard as heinous but which others fail to take seriously. Now, in autumn, we finally have an FA verdict, with Eckert given a six-week ban suspended until the end of the 2027-28 season, a £28,000 fine and a reprimand.

• Sunderland captain withdrawn from Switzerland squad

• He will be questioned by prosecutor’s office in Lucerne

Granit Xhaka has been withdrawn from Switzerland’s squad after he admitted receiving a fake Covid vaccination certificate in 2022. The Sunderland and Switzerland captain – who was an Arsenal player at the time – has apologised for this “mistake” and will sit out his country’s forthcoming four Nations League matches.

Xhaka is poised to be questioned by the prosecutor’s office in Lucerne next week as it decides whether any criminal proceedings will be initiated regarding the alleged issue of a series of false Covid certificates by a doctor based in the Swiss city during the pandemic. The doctor, who was first investigated in 2023, has denied the allegations.

Granit Xhaka, Sunderland’s captain, believes it is not unrealistic to dream about Régis Le Bris’s side travelling all the way to the Europa League final next spring.

It is rarely a good idea to dismiss Xhaka but reaching that showpiece in Frankfurt will necessitate considerably more efficient finishing on his team’s part than proved evident on a highly evocative night on Wearside.

Captain looking forward to intimidating atmosphere when Wearsiders host AZ, after 53 years away

When Sunderland last played European football, club directors viewed it as a useful means of raising the cash necessary to fund floodlight upgrades at Roker Park necessitated by England’s widespread adoption of colour television.

Back in the autumn of 1973 a lighting system compatible with the demands of broadcasting in black and white was proving increasingly outdated and Sunderland responded by doubling admission prices for the second leg of their opening European Cup Winners’ Cup tie against Vasas of Budapest. Coming at a moment when miners and railway workers were engaged in long-running industrial action and north-easterners’ finances were duly tight, it dictated that a disappointing crowd of under 23,000 turned out to watch Dennis Tueart’s penalty secure a 3-0 aggregate win.

• Arsenal manager angry: ‘This can never be a penalty’

• ‘It’s a judo roll from the opponent. Ezri does nothing’

Mikel Arteta’s delight at Arsenal’s latest win was tempered by his fury with the referee John Brooks as the champions triumphed 2-0 at Sunderland on Saturday night.

Before Bruno Guimarães gave Arsenal the lead in a tight match that Régis Le Bris’s team were arguably unlucky to lose, David Raya made a brilliant save to deny Enzo Le Fée from the penalty spot. Arteta, however, did not believe that Ezri Konsa had hauled Dan Ballard to the ground, instead blaming the Sunderland man for pulling down his opponent.

As the final whistle blew Bruno Guimarães wore a mischievous smile, Enzo Le Fée was a study in dejection and Arsenal’s immaculate start to the season remained unblemished.

Two minutes after David Raya had rather majestically saved Le Fée’s second-half penalty, Guimarães delighted his new north London public and plenty of old friends in Newcastle by sending a shot curving past Robin Roefs from the edge of the area.

Leeds manager embraces bravery and is encouraging ambition after leading a remarkable turnaround in fortunes

Eleven years have passed since Daniel Farke mounted a magnificent palomino horse and rode round the perimeter of the pitch at Lippstadt, waving farewell to a capacity crowd. It seemed a fun way for the lower-tier German club’s centre-forward turned manager and sporting director to say goodbye. Yet few in the stands knew Farke was scared of horses and hauled himself into the saddle only out of politeness towards his chair, who had arranged this special surprise.

“I couldn’t deny him,” he said. “But it cured my fear – it was enjoyable.”

• Both clubs send planes to France to acquire Lyon winger

• Sunderland submit deal sheet for £31m transfer

Sunderland and Crystal Palace were involved in an extraordinary deadline-day tug of war that concluded with Malick Fofana agreeing to swap Lyon for the Stadium of Light in a club-record £31m move.

On Tuesday morning it had seemed that the 21-year-old Belgium winger was heading for Sunderland on a five-year contract, but then Pierre Sage led an attempt to hijack the deal. Palace’s manager coached Fofana at Lyon and forged a strong bond with a player he was keen to bring to Selhurst Park. After speaking to Sage on the phone, Fofana seemed to have changed his mind and decided he wanted to reunite with his old boss in south London. Sunderland, though, refused to surrender.

• Palmeiras winger’s arrival paves way for Savinho exit

• City monitoring Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo

Manchester City have agreed a €37.5m plus €2.5m (£34m) deal for the Palmeiras winger Allan Elias, with the club also in advanced negotiations to sell Nico González to Newcastle.

The 22-year-old Elias – known as Allan – made his senior debut for Palmeiras last year and has made 96 appearances for the club, scoring nine goals and making 12 assists. He is yet to play for Brazil.

Before kick-off a banner was raised in the Gallowgate End inscribed with a quotation from the late Kevin Keegan. “I want people to dream about their football,” it read. “We should all be dreamers at heart.”

Out on the pitch it swiftly became apparent that both Matthias Jaissle, Keegan’s latest successor in the Newcastle dugout, and Liverpool’s new manager Andoni Iraola are on individual missions to create forms of organised chaos capable of subjecting the best opponents to torrid nightmares.

Striker must win over new head coach after tough first season at Liverpool – starting on Sunday at an inhospitable St James’ Park

When Liverpool’s team bus turns a tight corner and inches down the narrow, covered, access road behind Newcastle’s Milburn Stand on Sunday, Alexander Isak will know there are no hiding places. After that coach pulls up, its occupants must navigate a set of painted steps before reaching the glass-doored sanctuary of the players’ entrance at St James’ Park. It is a short climb but only a handful of portable metal barriers separate visiting sides from congregated Newcastle fans. When particularly disliked opponents arrive, it can all feel loudly claustrophobic.

Once inside, Isak, who spent most of last summer staging a form of unilateral industrial action in order to force a £125m move from Tyneside to Merseyside, must negotiate a human chicane of once-familiar club staff stationed along the route to the away dressing room. If eye contact may be minimal, two factors should soften the pre-match mood surrounding his first return to St James’ Park. Eddie Howe has been replaced by Matthias Jaissle and the latest meeting between Newcastle and Liverpool will play out against an outpouring of love for Kevin Keegan, following his death in July.

Sunderland fans hope Régis Le Bris and his talented squad can continue to surprise the pundits and Opta

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 14th (NB: this is not necessarily Louise Taylor’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 7th

• German coach says he has ‘full confidence’ in his squad

• Plans for new £190m training facility also announced

Matthias Jaissle has insisted that Newcastle’s new crop of “under pressure” young players command his “full confidence” and hopes that supporters and reporters will start exhibiting similar belief.

Eddie Howe’s successor is preparing for his first Premier League game at St James’ Park on Sunday when Liverpool are the visitors.

After the departure of the manager and some of their best players, fans on Tyneside are braced for a transitional season at best

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 17th (NB: this is not necessarily Louise Taylor’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 12th

• Right-back worked with Matthias Jaissle at RB Salzburg

• Sunderland to announce signing of Dayann Methalie

The chance to be reunited with Matthias Jaissle convinced Amar Dedic to swap Benfica for Newcastle in a £29.5m transfer. Dedic becomes Newcastle’s sixth signing of a turbulent summer on Tyneside and the 24-year-old Bosnia and Herzegovina international is likely to start at right-back at home to Liverpool on Sunday.

“Working with Matthias again was a big factor for me,” said Dedic, who previously played for Newcastle’s new manager at RB Salzburg. “We know each other well; he knows what I can bring to the pitch and I’m really happy to play for him again. It’s a special feeling and a real honour to join Newcastle.”