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The Sun have demoted Man City Bottle Fan to \u2018punter\u2019 despite knowing who he is, with an Arsenal title race question screamed but not answered.<\/p>\n
There is also a Casemiro U-turn that definitely won\u2019t happen, and fun from the japester Diego Simeone.<\/p>\n
But first, the reaction to Monday night\u2019s big game\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
How can The Sun website<\/strong> have watched that absurd game at the Hill Dickinson<\/strong> and come away with this headline?<\/p>\n \u2018Everton 3 Man City 3 \u2013 Doku stunner somehow keeps Premier League title race alive\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n That\u2019s<\/em> your takeaway?! Every other match report points out the obvious in terms of the result handing Arsenal the initiative. But the talking point here is that Manchester City \u2018kept the title race alive\u2019? Why not go all out and just lead on Everton maintaining their Europa Conference League charge?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It will never not be funny to see The Sun<\/strong> desperately try and extricate themselves from someone no longer of maximum tabloid use, having so shamelessly attached themselves to said person in the first place.<\/p>\n Their top story on Tuesday is about Pep Guardiola drinking water from a bottle \u2013 journalism is alive and well \u2013 and buried within it are references to that \u2018one recognisable City fan\u2019 and \u2018punter\u2019 who did the incredibly hilarious and now even more incredibly hilarious but accidentally this time Arsenal bottle thing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The thing is that The Sun know who precisely who this City fan is. They interviewed Tal Rehman and published a story about him three weeks ago. He is bound to be \u2018recognisable\u2019 to them especially. They\u2019ll have his number somewhere.<\/p>\n Only now, with Manchester City ceding ground in the title race and his bottle backfiring substantially, he is relegated to a mere \u2018punter\u2019. The Sun seem to want to pretend they don\u2019t actually know. It\u2019s like the pie-eating keeper all over again<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2018Bottle\u2019 and the lack thereof has been the definitive term for this season\u2019s title race in particular<\/strong>. Every Arsenal and Manchester City game for the past few weeks and months has been a live assessment of their amount of bottle; the actual Premier League trophy is entirely secondary.<\/p>\n Some outlets are especially desperate to crowbar mentions of bottle into their coverage, like MailOnline<\/strong>. It\u2019s always MailOnline.<\/p>\n Jack Gaughan has written 700 words or so of considered reaction to Manchester City\u2019s draw, pointing out that this sort of result had been coming and could have stemmed from the absences of leaders like Ruben Dias or Rodri.<\/p>\n \u2018The past is the past, City\u2019s boss always says, and that they have hauled in Premier League leaders in such dramatic circumstances before offered no guarantee that history would repeat itself with half a new team not in possession of the muscle memory many presume is at their disposal on tap,\u2019 he writes. It\u2019s a great, insightful piece.<\/p>\n So obviously it\u2019s accompanied with a collage image of one recognisable City fan, the bottle which was presumed to have sat in his jacket pocket \u2013 unusable for banter purposes \u2013 handily circled by the graphics team, and a picture of him drinking from it during a previous game, all alongside Thierno Barry scoring.<\/p>\n And then a standfirst of \u2018DID CITY BOTTLE IT?\u2019. All this to sell an article in which Gaughan never asks or answers that question, mentions said City fan, nor even uses any variation of the term \u2018bottling\u2019.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a wonder they used a journalist\u2019s sensible opinion piece when they quite clearly just wanted to collate assorted social media banter.<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/strong>: Man City throw away title in second half; they\u2019re even worse than Chelsea!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Over at the Daily Mail<\/strong>Ian Ladyman writes:<\/p>\n \u2018Everton left Goodison Park last May but maybe this was the night they well and truly said hello to their new stadium at Bramley-Moore.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It feels like Everton have had about five games in which they have \u2018well and truly said hello to their new stadium at Bramley-Moore\u2019 already.<\/p>\n It also feels like the game in which that can actually be declared to have figuratively happened should probably be a win. They have thrashed Chelsea and Nottingham Forest 3-0 at home, beat Brighton in their first league game there and overcame Crystal Palace with a stoppage-time winner in October.<\/p>\n There are decent options to choose from. Better than a 3-3 draw in which they conceded a stoppage-time equaliser and subsequently greeted the full-time whistle with boos anyway.<\/p>\n On second thoughts, that does sound remarkably Everton.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n MailOnline<\/strong> brings us this piping hot take, fresh out of the Sky Sports<\/strong> kitchen.<\/p>\n Please be seated for this one, dear reader\u2026<\/p>\n \u2018Jamie Carragher makes bold title race prediction after Man City\u2019s damaging 3-3 draw with Everton\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n He reckons Arsenal will win the league if they win their next game. And considering it would leave them anywhere between five and eight points clear with two games remaining, you have to admit that is remarkably \u2018bold\u2019.<\/p>\n You wouldn\u2019t see us pretending it\u2019s a particularly outlandish suggestion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Casemiro is leaving Manchester United at the end of the season. We know this because Casemiro and Manchester United have both announced this.<\/p>\n We also know Michael Carrick has said \u201cfrom both sides it\u2019s pretty clear the decision\u201d and that there will be no change of heart<\/strong>.<\/p>\n So the Daily Mirror website<\/strong> (\u2018Casemiro transfer bombshell as Matheus Cunha hints at Man Utd U-turn over exit\u2019) and Daily Express website<\/strong> (\u2018Casemiro \u2018could stay at Man Utd next season\u2019 as team-mate drops hint \u2013 \u2018You never know\u201d) can both sod off with their disingenuous allusions about some sort of volte-face.<\/p>\n Matheus Cunha is not Casemiro\u2019s agent. He quite literally says \u201cwe don\u2019t know in the end how it is with his contract\u201d. He has no clue about the situation; he just really likes playing with his club and international team-mate.<\/p>\n Jeremy Cross knows this, and knows that writing \u2018Matheus Cunha insists Casemiro could make a dramatic U-turn\u2019 is complete and utter nonsense. More power to him for ploughing on regardless.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Mediawatch can safely assume that John Cross does not write his own Daily Mirror<\/strong> headlines. For starters, if he did they would all include at least one description of something or someone as \u2018classy\u2019. And very possibly a reference to the magic of the FA Cup.<\/p>\n There are no such things in this offering:<\/p>\n \u2018Diego Simeone reveals real reason for late Atletico Madrid change before Arsenal clash\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Did Simeone do anything of the sort? Did he balls. And Cross never claims he did either. He says Simeone \u2018joked\u2019 about changing hotels \u2018to save money\u2019 in the opening paragraph, then calls it a \u2018quip\u2019 a few lines later.<\/p>\n It is just a wonder that the Mirror didn\u2019t pretend that Simeone jokingly revealed his true colours\u2026<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n
A punt\u2019s trick<\/h2>\n
Hit the bottle<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Dickin about<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Carra on<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Welcome Mat<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Simeone mused<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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