Mike Clevinger combined with two relievers on a three-hitter, Luis Robert Jr. broke up rookie Reese Olson’s no-hit bid to spark a go-ahead, two-run seventh inning and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 6-0

One of the stranger jinxes in English football may be over. Arsenal had lost on their previous three trips to Goodison Park, twice to horribly out-of-form Everton teams. Maybe logic intervened on Mikel Arteta’s fourth visit back to his former club. Or perhaps Leandro Trossard did, the substitute’s wonderfully precise finish giving Arsenal a fourth victory in five league games this season. There was a sense Arsenal avenged February’s 1-0 defeat in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge of Everton, not merely reversing the scoreline but showing their skill to take the same method – a set-piece – to find a very different way of deciding a match. Not a thumping James Tarkowski header from a corner, but a well-worked routine that culminated in Martin Odegaard slipping in Bukayo Saka, whose cutback brought a deft finish from Trossard, angled in off the far post. If some of Arteta’s recruitment in 2023 has a contentious feel, Trossard is the sort of signing who can simply be celebrated: a £20m bargain, a creative force last season who has two goals already in this, a player whose versatility makes him an ideal substitute but who has the quality to be decisive. When Gabriel Martinelli went off injured in the first half, Arteta summoned Trossard rather than the benched Kai Havertz; his decision was richly rewarded. Another of his transfer-market gambits mattered less: while David Raya may depose Aaron Ramsdale more frequently, the goalkeeper’s debut was an inconclusive affair. Everton scarcely tested the on-loan Spaniard. If the game’s best saves, one before the goal and one after, came at Odegaard’s expense, with Pickford parrying two fine efforts, they reflected the growing influence of the captain after the break. And that, in turn, was a sign of his stature. As Arsenal demonstrated more urgency, much of the excellence came from the Norwegian. It is a recurring theme: many a time in Arteta’s reign, victory has stemmed from flair players – often Odegaard or Saka – showing their substance. As the game opened up, Odegaard seized the initiative. Which was welcome. A first half of dismal drabness brought back unwanted memories of a stalemate in December 2019 in Arsenal’s last game before Arteta and Carlo Ancelotti took charge of the respective clubs; Everton are on their fourth supposedly permanent manager of the Spaniard’s time in north London and, should 777 Partners complete a takeover, a second owner as well. Whether that entails visiting English football’s second tier remains to be seen. Everton’s start has produced a solitary point in five games. They have had three matches at Goodison Park and lost all without scoring. A relegation six-pointer beckons when Luton visit later this month. Their gameplan was to defend diligently in a narrow block and they were largely untroubled before the break. The one exception came when Martinelli latched on to Fabio Vieira’s perceptive pass and placed a shot past Pickford. A VAR check later and Eddie Nketiah was spotted offside in the build-up; it meant Martinelli’s wait for a first goal of the season continues, with injury bringing his departure soon after and perhaps extending his drought further. The 22-year-old headed straight down the tunnel before reappearing on the bench shortly afterwards, and there was concern in the voice of the Gunners boss afterwards when he told Sky Sports: “He [Martinelli] felt something, he felt it in his hammy [hamstring] so he will need to be assessed.” For Nketiah, meanwhile, it summed up an ineffectual display. If Arteta got other decisions right, perhaps he should have preferred Gabriel Jesus, a regular tormentor of Everton in his Manchester City days. His choice of Raya was both instructive and irrelevant; Ramsdale, in the PFA Team of the Year for last season, watched on. His new rival had a lone shot on target to field, a tame effort from Idrissa Gueye from long range. He held it. Everton were passive before conceding. They failed to launch an onslaught after going behind, in part because they just saw too little of the ball. They have no passer of the calibre of Arteta himself when he graced their midfield for six seasons. They eschewed possession at times, having just 22 per cent of the ball before the break. That figure rose to a meagre 25 per cent by the end. Throwing on centre-forwards, in Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Youssef Chermiti, made little difference when Arsenal controlled the game and, for Everton, other numbers make for miserable reading. They have failed to score in four of five league matches this season and failed to keep a clean sheet in any of them. These two clubs are on the longest unbroken stretches of top-flight football but there is no guarantee they will meet again after this season. Not after a limp display by Everton. It became a question of whether Arsenal had the wherewithal to break them down. Thanks to Trossard and Odegaard they did and the Goodison curse was lifted. Read More Mikel Arteta claims Gabriel Jesus ‘changed Arsenal’s world’ when he joined the club Everton sale to American firm agreed Everton savour Sean Dyche effect to stun Premier League leaders Arsenal Mauricio Pochettino shares Chelsea fans’ frustrations after goalless stalemate Everton v Arsenal LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Erik ten Hag wants to see ‘how strong’ Manchester United are after Brighton loss

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The names feel a throwback to a different time. As the final whistle blew, the players on the pitch for Graham Potter’s Chelsea included Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Cesar Azpilicueta, Hakim Ziyech and Jorginho. A mismatched group who had Chelsea’s worst season for decades can claim few distinctions but they remain the last Premier League side to leave Anfield without Mohamed Salah either scoring or assisting a goal against them. That stalemate was in January and it is starting to look very possible that Salah will complete a year of decisive contributions on home soil. A brace against Brentford had a certain predictability but knowing about Salah’s threat and stopping him are very different things. There is a certain normality to his brilliance. For a 15th consecutive league game here, Anfield’s Egyptian king reigned. For a sixth in a row this season, he scored, and only Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand and Thierry Henry have started a Premier League campaign in similar vein. Not for the first time, Salah is in elite, esteemed company. He is accustomed to rubbing shoulders with the goalscoring greats and he may yet give Erling Haaland a battle for the Golden Boot. A dozen games into the campaign, Salah is already in double figures for top-flight goals. There was a precision to the latest pair: his ninth was both a trademark Salah goal and a high-class team strike. It was a clinical finish after crisp, incisive passing: Trent Alexander-Arnold fed Darwin Nunez who picked out Salah. He, in turn, found the far corner of the Brentford net. It continued the profitable alliance of Nunez and Salah: all nine of the Uruguayan’s Liverpool assists have come for the Egyptian. Salah’s second of the afternoon came as many a player on either side simply stood and watched. They seemed to think the ball was out after a sliding Kostas Tsimikas crossed and an unmarked Salah planted a header past Mark Flekken. Yet the goal stood and it was the start of the second double: Tsimikas, found badly wanting in Thursday’s defeat to Toulouse, got two assists. The second owed more to Diogo Jota, who jinked infield and fizzed in a shot from the edge of the box. It was his sixth goal in his last seven outings at Anfield – Salah is not alone in enjoying home comforts – and Liverpool could have had six of their own. There might have been a hat-trick for their top scorer. Some of Alexander-Arnold’s passing was sublime and Salah volleyed wastefully over from the vice-captain’s cross. Before the deadlock was broken, Nunez had an idiosyncratic double of his own, with two goals chalked off inside five minutes, both for offside and after consulting VAR. The first was marginal, the second altogether clearer. Nunez finished adeptly after intercepting Dominik Szoboszlai’s misdirected shot and then spectacularly with an overhead kick; the offside flag rewarded goalkeeper Flekken, who had saved brilliantly from Virgil van Dijk’s header before Joel Matip headed the ball to Nunez. The striker was excellent; perhaps it was perversely typical that one of his best performances did not bring a goal. For Liverpool, though, there was a win to end what had been, in terms of performances, their worst week of the season. Below par at Luton, rather worse in Toulouse, they had attacking verve, if not always defensive solidity. But perhaps it was understandable Liverpool were too open. A makeshift midfield, shorn of five injured or suspended players, contained a forward, in Cody Gakpo, and a man making a first Premier League start at Anfield, in Wataru Endo. The Japanese rightly survived a VAR check for a red card for a challenge on Christian Norgaard, irritating Thomas Frank, and Brentford, often the scourge of the big six, posed Liverpool problems. They ought to have returned south with a goal to show for their efforts. Quick-witted and sharp of foot, Bryan Mbuemo brought Brentford a menace on the break and, almost, a lead. He latched on to a loose touch by Alexander-Arnold to shoot wide. He raced on to Mads Roerslev’s long pass, in behind the Liverpool defence; Alisson’s expertise in one-on-one situations was required to deflect his shot and allow Alexander-Arnold to clear. Norgaard came close with a volley from Mbuemo’s corner; the imperious Van Dijk also hooked a Norgaard header off the line. Yet their bid for a club record fourth consecutive Premier League win was ended by Salah, just as Liverpool’s record of winning every match at Anfield this season by at least two goals continued. They still average exactly three goals a game on their own turf, with 27 in nine. If it takes a team to forge such statistics, they are helped when they have someone of the consistency and quality of Salah. Anfield is a fortress but, in part, that is the Salah effect. Read More Jurgen Klopp reignites early kick-off row ahead of Man City vs Liverpool clash Liverpool vs Brentford LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Father of Luis Diaz reveals details of kidnapping ordeal

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Josh Magennis is determined to keep proving his worth to Northern Ireland for as long as possible. When manager Michael O’Neill said after last month’s defeat to Kazakhstan he needed to evaluate some of the older players in his squad and whether they could still deliver for the team, the 33-year-old Magennis recognised he was among those under the spotlight. But a player who has 73 caps for Northern Ireland, having made his debut against Turkey in May 2010, still savours every opportunity to represent his country. “It’s up to me to stay fit, perform at club level and when I get a chance in matches here or in training show I’m still worth having around,” Magennis told the PA news agency. “I know I’m getting on but to me that’s just an excuse, whether people say it for you or you say it yourself. If you still play with intent, with the sports science that’s available now you can play endlessly. It’s up to you to prove you are worth your place in the squad.” Magennis went as far as telling fans at a meet-and-greet event in Belfast this week that he would fancy playing at Euro 2028 when it is hosted by the UK and Ireland in four and a half years’ time, when he would be just shy of 37. “Playing for your country is the biggest accolade you’ve ever had,” Magennis said. “I’m never going to retire and nor will I ever say I’ve retired. “If Michael decides, or anyone else decides, they don’t want me to come any more that’s up to them but I can never retire on my country. That’s not how I will be going out.” His love of playing shines through as he discusses his season so far with League One Wigan and “riding the wave” of being back after an injury lay-off. Magennis saw his 2022-23 campaign cut short by a bad knee injury in April, forcing him to miss Northern Ireland’s June fixtures as he went through a lengthy rehabilitation process. Although Magennis got himself back to fitness by August, the early season form of Charlie Wyke, who has scored six in 11 for Wigan, has meant all but two of his 10 club appearances have been from the bench, but one of them saw him score a hat-trick in an EFL Trophy win over Leicester Under-21s. “Charlie has been on fire and I’ve just had to wait for my chance,” Magennis said. “At any level scoring goals is massive. The goals don’t move. I’m just feeling good to be back and ready.” Goals would certainly not go amiss for a Northern Ireland side who have only scored four in their six Euro 2024 qualifiers to date, suffering four 1-0 defeats along the way. Qualification is beyond them but there is a clear opportunity to end a five-game losing streak when San Marino, the only team O’Neill’s side have beaten so far, visit Windsor Park on Saturday. But while they can change the mood with victory, Magennis said the team does not need a reset. “It’s not about trying to change our mentality,” he said. “Michael is working towards something. “I don’t want to say we’re rebuilding but there’s been an influx of new players, a lot of players Michael’s not been around before and a lot of players who are experiencing international football for the first time. “It’s just about trying to keep going, keep grafting and trying to implement what Michael wants us to do. It’s been tough not winning. This is a results-based business and everyone wants to win but there’s a process and Michael has proved this process has worked before. We’ve got to trust in it.” Read More Andy Farrell feels Ireland are becoming better at handling pressure Charlie Savage impresses Rob Page during his Wales debut Harry Maguire supported by ‘role model’ David Beckham after Hampden experience I want to play – Harry Maguire admits lack of matches will become an issue England forward Ollie Watkins: I no longer go shopping due to recognition Conor McGregor closes in on UFC return by re-entering anti-doping test programme

Michigan State will be looking for a long-term replacement for Mel Tucker and they may need to get creative to find the right fit. These names could be the difference.

Roma are likely to win the race to sign Eintracht Frankfurt defender Evan Ndicka on a free transfer despite rival interest from Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham.