Andrea Petagna has replaced Manolo Gabbiadini in the Italy squad to face Albania and Holland after the Southampton striker suffered a groin injury.
Gabbiadini, who has scored six goals for Saints since joining from Napoli in January, limped out of their Premier League defeat to Tottenham on Sunday.
Italy head coach Giampiero Ventura has instead turned to Atalanta striker Petagna, the scorer of five Serie A goals this season, with the squad update being published on the national team’s official website.
The Azzurri are set to meet Albania in a World Cup qualifying game in Palermo on March 24 before tackling Danny Blind’s Holland in an Amsterdam friendly four days later.
Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli proved Tottenham can cope without Harry Kane as they battled to a 2-1 victory over Southampton.
Kane’s absence meant Heung-Min Son led the line but it was Spurs’ attacking midfielders who filled the void, with Eriksen breaking the deadlock before Alli won and then converted a penalty.
James Ward-Prowse cut the deficit for Southampton after half-time to spark hopes of a comeback but Tottenham held on to reduce the gap on Chelsea to 10 points once more. Saints, meanwhile, stay 10th.
Chelsea’s march towards the Premier League title shows no sign of slowing but this win also pulls Mauricio Pochettino’s men seven points clear of Manchester United in fifth and nine points ahead of Arsenal, albeit having played a game more than both clubs.
Son was not at his best but with Alli now scoring four goals in four games and Eriksen three in five, perhaps Tottenham can rely on their midfield to replace the goals Kane would otherwise provide.
They also remain unbeaten at White Hart Lane this season, since Southampton won 2-1 here in May last year.
Hit play on the video above to see the match highlights.
Sergio Aguero grabbed an equaliser as Manchester City held on to third place in the Premier League with a 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
A James Milner penalty, awarded after Gael Clichy’s clumsy challenge on Roberto Firmino, looked to have put Liverpool on course to climb above the hosts.
But Aguero tucked in a superb cross from Kevin De Bruyne to snatch a draw, although City are now two points behind Tottenham and 12 adrift of leaders Chelsea.
Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli proved there is life after Harry Kane as Spurs secured a battling 2-1 victory over Southampton.
Kane’s absence with an ankle injury meant Son Heung-min led the line but it was Spurs’ attacking midfielders who filled the void, with Eriksen breaking the deadlock before Alli won and then converted a penalty.
James Ward-Prowse cut the deficit for Southampton after half-time to spark hopes of a comeback but Tottenham held on.
Chelsea’s march towards the title shows no sign of slowing, but victory pulled Mauricio Pochettino’s men seven points clear of Manchester United in fifth and nine points ahead of Arsenal, albeit having played a game more than both clubs.
United climbed above the Gunners courtesy of a 3-1 win at Middlesbrough, playing their first game since sacking manager Aitor Karanka.
For Arsenal, though, the poor run continued after they were hammered 3-1 by West Brom.
Here is what we learned from this weekend’s Premier League action…
Irrespective of the outcome, much of the talk at The Hawthorns, and among the live TV audience, was of two different banners being flown over the ground.
The first slogan was: “NO CONTRACT #WENGER OUT”.
Then when the score was 1-1 , a rival camp of fans organised a plane which buzzed by with “IN ARSENE WE TRUST. #RESPECTAW”
It’s now 14 months since Sam Allardyce elected to splash out on Tunisian playmaker Wahbi Khazri, the attacking midfielder who impressed and offered much needed creativity in their push to safety last season.
This year, Khazri struggles for game time. He’s not started since October and has been a bit-part player from the bench since 2017 began.
“He is the type of player that I need to either score me a goal or make me a goal. And the games where I have put him in, he hasn’t done that for me,” explained Moyes earlier this week.
Certainly Khazri hasn’t done the business this year, failing to score so far. But he has the ability to create something out of nothing and get Sunderland much needed points.
Unless Moyes starts to harness his No.10’sent and determines to roll the dice, then the Black Cats look set to drop with a whimper.
Playing on the edge is all part of Costa’s game, but he let himself be wound up too easily. The Stoke fans booed his every touch and he was soon throwing himself to the ground every time Bruno Martins Indi challenged him.
This annoyed Stoke and their supporters even more and Phil Bardsley clobbered him to earn himself a yellow card. Costa contributed little to Chelsea with the red mist down and was booked for dissent for letting rip at referee Anthony Taylor.
There were one or two eyebrows raised when regular Premier League scorer Troy Deeney was not included in the England squad, with Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Daniel Sturridge not involved.
But he hardly got a touch in this game before unluckily crashing Yohan Cabaye’s free-kick past his own goalkeeper. It is fair to say no points were made on the selection front.
Everton have benefitted massively from the injection of energy their young players have given them in recent weeks, and Davies in particular has deserved his place in the side ahead of more experienced players like McCarthy and Barry.
He has a willingness to run forward, but also a canny brain when he gets there, as his fine assist for Calvert-Lewin showed.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic will be hors de combat for a month during the close season while he undergoes a hip replacement.
But on the evidence of the Hammers’ first-half defensive apocalypse - against a team who had struggled to hit a barn door with a muckspreader on their travels – he needs major surgery at the back, too.
Goalkeeper Darren Randolph’s confidence looks shot to pieces and defensively Bilic’s dunces were all over the place: Shipping two goals in the opening seven minutes is rarely a basis for negotiation in the Premier League.
His Arsenal contract is up next summer and talks are yet to start on a new one and now he has fallen down the pecking order at loan club Bournemouth.
BT pundit Rio Ferdinand said: “I think there’s an element of embarrassment, coming from Arsenal and an England regular and then being sub at Bournemouth – no disrespect but it’s not the same playing field as Arsenal.
“If you put yourself in his shoes you’ll be thinking I might as well get myself back to Arsenal. He’ll be thinking if I’m going to be sub here then I might as well be sub at Arsenal.”
Chairman Steve Gibson said before the match he wants Steve Agnew to stay in charge for a year or two.
Having got rid of Aitor Karanka, Gibson wants Agnew to make the job his own after stepping up from being No2.
But what can he do to stop the rot? He admits there isn’t much he and Karanka could have missed during their winless run from mid-December.
They played with more freedom but still lacked confidence in the final third, although Rudy Gestede netted their first in 8hrs and 30 minutes of league action, which is a small step forward.
Injured Harry Kane has scored 24 goals this season – but Dele Alli is fast catching up. The England midfielder won the first-half penalty and netted his 17th of the season for his club – and for the fourth game in a row. Christian Eriksen scored his 10th of the campaign while Son Heung-min worked tirelessly up front.
When the Korean was replaced after 74 minutes, Alli was pushed forward into the striking role – leaving £17m summer signing Vincent Janssen on the bench until the 86th minute.
Spurs will need to conintue this team effort until Kane, who damaged his ankle against Millwall last week, returns next month.
Having won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and one League Cup at City over five years, James Milner, one of the most diligent and hard-working players around, should have been immune from abuse at his former club, particularly as he left for Liverpool because he was out of contract and wanted regular football. But City fans chose to boo Milner whenever he was on the ball, although he had the last laugh, scoring from the penalty spot.
Tottenham refused to give up chase on Chelsea in the race for the Premier League title as they saw off Southampton 2-1 at White Hart Lane.
Spurs were without their talisman Harry Kane through injury but managed to grab all three points thanks to goals from Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli.
James Ward-Prowse had pulled one back for the Saints early in the second half but the home side held on for a vital win.
Spurs started brightly, and found themselves in front inside 14 minutes when Moussa Dembele found Eriksen before he fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Southampton then suffered a double-whammy within a couple of minutes.
Impressive new signing Manolo Gabbiadini was substituted through injury, before Dele Alli then converted a penalty for Spurs second goal after he had been fouled by Steven Davis.
Ward-Prowse received his first senior England call-up on Friday, and he topped off a fairly good week when he tucked away Ryan Bertrands cross with a left foot finish from the centre of the box.
The visitors pressed for an equaliser but Mauricio Pochettino’s men defended well to move 10 points behind leaders Chelsea with 10 games to play.
Darren Lewis was in attendance, here are his player ratings…
At times his touch let him down in his ongoing tussle with Bertrand. Booked.
Strong and solid at the back with Saints always a threat.
So much more comfortable at the back these days. Booked.
Some superb interceptions as Saints built up a head of steam.
Confidence sky high ands performances to match as he continues standing in for Rose.
MOM Just a machine. Terrific engine to shut down the threats from midfield.
Continues to keep the ball brilliantly - and play the killer pass.
Just can’t stop scoring. Fourth game in a row, 17th this season.
Imposing himself on games more and more with goals to match.
Unlucky to see an early effort saved by Forster. Still a threat after.
Fine first-half saves from Son and Dier but no chance with goals.
Fierce, first-half drive that Lloris could only parry.
Struggled with the movement of Alli, Eriksen and Davies.
Son kept escaping his bid to shut him out.
Gave as good as he got in the battle with Kyle Walker.
Inexplicable challenge on Alli to gift Spurs the penalty for 2-0.
Sizzling first-half volley. Imposed himself in the second half.
Lots of industry in midfield and good instincts to poach his goal.
Nice pull-back for Gabbiadini’s first-half chance. Little after.
Good battles with Dembele but booked for pulling back Wanyama.
Huge blow for Saints with his groin injury. Anxious wait to find out how bad.
Maybe it has been borne out of necessity for manager Claude Puel, maybe it has been a learning experience for the Frenchman in his first season in the Premier League.
Whatever it is, the side is becoming increasingly unrecognisable from the first part of the campaign.
Slightly in terms of personnel, and certainly in terms of the way they are playing, their philosophy towards the game, and that all important and much debated entertainment factor.
In the first half of the season the general thought was that Saints were a little dull. They sat deep, gave very little away defensively, but could rarely have been accused of being an expansive attacking side.
It might have been the number of games that forced Puel into a style and formation that produced that way of playing.
Perhaps the current reversal could in part be due to the fact that Virgil van Dijk and Jose Fonte are no longer at the heart of the defence for very different reasons, and a deadly striker in Manolo Gabbiadini has been recruited to lead the line.
Perhaps those things are mere coincidence, and Puel has simply shifted his mind-set as he gets to grips with the division.
What is beyond doubt is that Saints have transformed.
They are a team whose games are now value for money.
They do concede, but they do also press forward.
They are liable to blips, as we saw in the first half at White Hart Lane, but can also be strong and stirring, as we saw in the second half at White Hart Lane.
It really was a first half to forget for Saints.
Losing their talisman and trailing by two goals at the break was about as bad as you might have feared it could be.
Knowing Tottenham would want to play out from the back Saints tried to press them high.
However, they were up against a very strong side who are second in the table for good reason.
And with Saints’ current vulnerabilities at the back, Spurs always felt they were in with a chance whenever they attacked.
They fired a warning shot after just three minutes as Christian Eriksen played a ball round the outside to Heung-Min Son but Fraser Forster was quick off his line to charge down the danger.
The Saints stopper was left clawing at air on 14 minutes as Spurs took the lead.
For all the talk of Harry Kane being out, Spurs didn’t really miss him with Eriksen in particular such a handful to pick up between the lines.
He found himself in a bit of space in the pocket and needed just a yard and a flash of inspiration to measure a left footed shot into the bottom corner to give his side the lead.
Dele Alli made a poor connection as he turned in the area to try and double the Spurs advantage, while Forster scooped away Toby Alderweireld’s flicked header from a corner.
Saints’ pressing did make them occasionally dangerous and they had a hat-trick of chances which might have yielded more.
Oriol Romeu was unlucky with a half volley from distance that curled just off target, while Tadic and Gabbiadini combined for the Italian to hit the side netting too, but it came at price with the striker hobbling off injured.
Tadic should have done much better with a first time strike from just outside the six yard box, under little pressure after Nathan Redmond’s deft touch back to him which he may or may have quite kept in play.
But, that having been and gone, the game took a decisive swing just moments later.
With Saints down to ten and unable to get Shane Long on to replace the departed Gabbiadini, Spurs won a penalty.
Saints couldn’t hack the ball away as it cannoned around, Steven Davis lunged in to try and win it and Alli went down just inside the area.
It looked a bit soft, but Andre Marriner pointed to the spot and Alli dispatched it low down the middle.
However, the ref – who also took charge of the EFL Cup final, including that controversial early moment which denied Gabbiadini an opening goal - turned down a strong looking appeal for Saints in stoppage time as Tadic was felled by a clumsy challenge from Ben Davies.
It might have made all the difference too as Saints did find a goal seven minutes after the restart.
Ryan Bertrand was the chief architect with a stunning cross from the left wing which saw two Spurs defenders unable to clear their lines.
It came all the way through to James Ward-Prowse and the man of the moment, fresh from his England call-up, controlled with his midriff and then clinically buried a shot at the near post.
Saints were really up for the challenge and, despite having got into a position where they had a difficult job to get anything from the game, they gave it a good go.
They pinned Tottenham back to the point where Mauricio Pochettino took off Son for Harry Winks with a reasonable chunk of the game to go just to try and shore things up.
Saints, driven on by Romeu, whose central midfield battle with his former teammate Victor Wanyama was a heavyweight clash to behold, pushed them all the way.
Forster had a late save to make as Spurs hit forward on the counter attack, and kept out Vincent Janssen’s stinging near post drive, but it was Saints asking all the questions, and in the end Spurs were delighted to hear the final whistle.
Saints may be mired in midtable, but the development of the team, and their style, is reason for optimism if Puel continues to develop it this way for the remainder of the season.
Saints are hopeful that Manolo Gabbiadini will not be out for an extended period of time after limping off against Tottenham.
The club’s star striker, who has made such an impact with his six goals since joining in January for £14m, hobbled off with a groin problem in the first half of the 2-1 defeat against Tottenham at White Hart Lane.
Given Gabbiadini’s impact, which has made Saints a far more dangerous side, there were obvious fears for their goalscoring prowess for the remainder of the season if he were to be sidelined for a couple of months.
While there has been no firm diagnosis of the problem, Saints manager Claude Puel admitted he was optimistic that the damage would prove to be relatively minor, though insisted Gabbiadini would be staying for treatment during the international break rather than meet up with Italy.
“We will see with other examinations.
“I think and I hope it is not bad, but for his national team I think it is not possible for him to play.”
Saints responded well to the departure of Gabbiadini, even though there was frustration that they couldn’t get Shane Long on the pitch quickly after he had departed.
“Perhaps it was better man management because it was particular because Manolo stayed on the pitch,” explained Puel.
“It was a long time and Shane was ready to come and to play and it was not possible. I don’t know why.
“It was particular with the atmosphere without the good concentration on this situation and just after the injury of Manolo.
“It’s hard because I think we stayed on the same attitude like the last games without the good result.
“A draw for me was normal.”
Puel certainly felt his side were good for a point at Tottenham, but instead had to return to the south coast with a defeat which kept Saints tenth in the table heading into the international break.
“It was a good second half but it was a strange game in the first half I think,” reckoned Puel.
“Without a lot of pressure against Tottenham we lost 2-0 and it was difficult to accept, and to accept the second goal.
“I think the second half was better. It was also of course interesting because we can do a good recovery, a good start with the ball.
“We didn’t find the good clinical edge to finish all the situations but I think a draw seemed normal for me.”
MAYA Yoshida insists Saints did not deserve to lose at Tottenham.
The Japanese defender has reservations over whether or not Spurs deserved a penalty, from which Dele Alli made it 2-0 in the 2-1 defeat at White Hart Lane.
Christian Eriksen had given Mauricio Pochettino’s side the lead on 14 minutes before Alli hit home from the penalty mark after he was tripped by Steven Davis in the box on 33 minutes, with referee Andre Marriner pointing to the spot.
It culminated in a miserable first-half for Saints in which the in-form Manolo Gabbiadini hobbled out injured just before the second goal.
Claude Puel’s men came out fighting in the second-half, with James Ward-Prowse celebrating his recent England call-up with a goal on 52 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to take anything back from North London.
Saints boss Puel himself apportioned some blame on Marriner for the defeat and Yoshida concurred with his gaffer.
“We showed a good comeback in the second half,” Yoshida said. “But first half they played much better and we should have played like the second half but from the beginning.
“We keep conceding a lot, which we have to stop now. They’re a good team but second half we played well.
“Personally, I think we deserved more, but it was 2-1,” he shrugged. “The first goal was individual ability from Eriksen and the second one … I still have doubts about the penalty.
“Now we break for the internationals and we can come back and have many games in April, so we will be ready.
“Nobody will be injured and we will be fresh.”
Alli was adjudged to have been fouled by Davis in the box for the goal that ended up separating the two sides.
Yoshdia added: “I couldn’t see the situation, so I can’t say exactly but I feel it is unfair.”
Oriol Romeu believes that Saints should come away with their heads held high after being defeated by one of the Premier League’s best teams.
“They took the chances they had and we didn’t play well enough in the first-half,” the Spaniard said. “We did have a very good reaction in the second and we came back.
“We put ourselves back one goal down and displayed good football to comeback, but we couldn’t score again.
“They are a very good defensive team but we did our job and we have to be happy with our performance.”
He added: “We reacted well and we have to take that at as a positive.
“We didn’t play our best football and we didn’t want to have that feeling in the second-half, so we said to each-other at half-time that we needed to be braver.”
Sky Sports News HQ’s Geraint Hughes kicks off Support The Ref week with a look at attitudes towards Premier League officials. An exclusive study reveals some surprising results…
The appeal of football to many is in its simplicity. A ball, two goals, players and of course a referee. It’s a role few envy, but without a referee, often chaos would ensue. Indeed, there would be no game.
Whatever level of football is played, whether by men, women or children, a referee is there to ensure a fair contest. They are the enforcers of the laws, and the spirit of the game suggests the referee should be afforded the respect of players and supporters alike.
The Premier League is officiated by the best of the best - 18 professional Select Group referees, managed by the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd. The PGMOL was formed in 2001 to improve the standard of refereeing and the criteria and training is rigorous. They meet for a training camp twice a month, where they perform physical and technical sessions, and analyse match video.
There is also a system for measuring Select Group performance over the season. Each Premier League match is evaluated by a former senior referee, who scrutinises every decision using match footage and ProZone to measure officials’ technical performance. Former players and managers assess the accuracy and consistency of decision making and their management of the match. So all in all, every decision, every inch of performance, is scrutinised.
Mistakes can be made, though. Referees do get decisions wrong. They are human. However, considering the pace of the game, the speed of some of the contact and the not-always-perfect behaviour of the players, the performances of the referees in the Premier League isn’t at all bad, wouldn’t you agree?
Well, in an exclusive poll compiled by Sky Data, the question was asked to 1,086 people: How would you rate the standard of referees in the Premier League?
More than three-quarters rated the standard of Premier League referees as good, while just 12 per cent said it was bad.
Former England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce, who himself played over 800 senior matches for club and country, agreed with the findings.
Pearce, himself a qualified referee, believes the standard of refereeing in the Premier League is extremely high.
He told SSNHQ: "They are really good, as good as at any time. The work they have to do on and off the pitch to make split-second decisions is incredible.
“What has changed over the years is the scrutiny refs are under, though. That has changed massively and a downside of that is that we pick out their mistakes and highlight them.”
The second question our survey asked 1,000 people was: When you attend football matches, how often, if at all, do you hear or see abuse aimed at officials?
The response showed 87 per cent of people heard at some time or another abuse towards officials. 32 per cent said they ‘always’ hear abuse towards officials at every game they attend.
Finally, our survey asked 1,086 people: Do you support the use of video replays?
The response was fairly unanimous. An overwhelming majority of 85 per cent polled supported the idea, while just 7 per cent opposed the proposition.
Pearce added: "I really don’t like it when players just shout and swear at refs. If I could do one thing, it would be to give the refs the confidence to go through with a decision to say to a player who is abusing him, ‘Get off my pitch’.
“I know the powers that be have given the referees the OK, but I feel it’s not backed up. If they (referees) all did it, it would become normal and accepted and I’m sure we would see a change of attitude.”
The results of the survey show significant confidence in Premier League referees yet at the same time, an awareness of the regular abuse directed at officials.
We want you to get involved in the discussion; you can email us with your thoughts or story ideas at Supporttheref@skysports.com and we’ll be in touch
The Belgian striker is neither the first nor last talented player to turn down a contract offer, but not many score twice and are rapturously cheered by their own fans just days later.
Lukaku’s late brace against Hull took his league tally to 21 this season, making him the first Everton player to cross the 20-goal threshold in the Premier League era.
The more skeptical sections of social media will point out that they were the final two goals in a 4-0 win, at home against a team with 10 men: an exercise in ‘stat-padding’.
Skepticism is an attitude that has followed Lukaku throughout his career, despite the fact only Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney scored more Premier League goals by the age of 24.
Much of this can be attributed to the fact he left a big club (Chelsea) with the blessing of an even bigger manager (Jose Mourinho), prompting…
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