Monday’s briefing: Sunderland claim bragging rights and St Mirren shock Celtic

Sunderland claimed bragging rights in the north east on a day when the fight at the top of the Premier League table remained tight.

In the WSL, Khadija Shaw took centre stage on a landmark day as Manchester City extended their lead at the top of the table.

In Scotland Wilfried Nancy’s nightmare start to life as Celtic boss continued as his side lost the Premier Sports Cup final to St Mirren, who took the trophy back to Paisley for the first time since 2013.

Black Cats on top

Sunderland have already enjoyed a dream start to life back in the Premier League this season but the celebrations went up yet another notch with a 1-0 victory over rivals Newcastle on Sunday.

The fact that the deciding goal was scored by Newcastle’s marquee summer signing Nick Woltemade, heading into his own net, made it all the sweeter for the Stadium of Light faithful.

The Black Cats had only one shot on target of their own and had to do plenty of defending, but the spirit that has carried them into the top half of the table was on full display before celebrations that went on long after the final whistle.

A painful afternoon for Newcastle was underlined by Dan Burn needing to go to hospital with a rib injury which forced him off late in the first half.

City and Villa keep pressure on Arsenal

The late own goal that gave Arsenal a narrow win over basement boys Wolves on Saturday looked even more important on Sunday as closest chasers Manchester City and Aston Villa kept the pressure on with away wins.

City faced a tough assignment against Crystal Palace, who beat them in the FA Cup final back in the summer, but after they rode their luck at times, emerged with a 3-0 win thanks to Erling Haaland’s double and another fine strike from the in-form Phil Foden.

Across London Villa twice trailed to West Ham but Morgan Rogers, who made it 2-2 five minutes into the second half, struck an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net to win it for Unai Emery’s side with 11 minutes left, making it nine straight wins in all competitions for Villa.

Those results keep City two points off the top with Villa just one point back in third.

Centurion Shaw fires WSL leaders City

Khadija Shaw started Sunday knowing she needed one goal to reach a century for Manchester City – and instead scored four in a 6-1 rout of Aston Villa that extended their lead at the top of the WSL to six points.

Shaw got City’s first two and last two in a dominant performance at the Joie Stadium, taking her to 103 goals in 120 appearances for City in all competitions.

Seventy-four of those goals have come in the league, eight of them in her last four WSL appearances, with Shaw having scored more goals this season than Liverpool.

Those will be handy statistics for the 28-year-old Jamaican to have to hand as contract talks continue over an extension to a deal that currently expires next summer.

St Mirren floor Celtic as Nancy’s struggles continue

Wilfried Nancy is only three games into his managerial reign at Celtic but already breaking records – of the unwanted kind.

The Frenchman had become the first Celtic manager to lose his opening two games when they were beaten by Roma in the Europa League on Thursday, but on Sunday Celtic made it three consecutive losses for only the third time in 30 years as St Mirren beat them 3-1 to lift the Premier Sports Cup.

Reo Hatate had cancelled out Marcus Fraser’s early header, but St Mirren prevailed through a second-half brace from Jonah Ayunga.

“This is obviously not the result we wanted,” Nancy said as he dismissed suggestions a change in formation was the problem. “In terms of the way we want to do it, I’m really confident with that.”

What’s on today

Manchester United host Bournemouth in the Monday night Premier League fixture, when a win would be enough to move Ruben Amorim’s side up to fifth in the table.

Sheffield Wednesday will continue their search for a first home league win of the season when they host Derby in the Championship.

North of the border, it is fourth against fifth as Rangers host Hibernian needing a win to get back into the title fight.