Harry Lewis saved Roarie Deacon’s penalty to secure a bonus point for United

Dundee United beat Dundee on penalties to win Group C in the Scottish League Cup first round.

And they will meet again after being paired together in the second round.

Billy King hit the post for the visitors and, just before half-time, Paul McMullan finished a neat move involving Scott Fraser and Sam Stanton.

Mark O’Hara drew Dundee level when Scott Allan’s low cross picked him out, and Jack Hendry almost won it at the death with a header off the post.

The game was settled by spot-kicks to determine who got the bonus point to secure top spot.

Dundee’s Faissal El Bakhtaoui and United’s Logan Chalmers saw their efforts saved, before Roarie Deacon missed the crucial last kick to hand the visitors victory.

But Dundee reached the last 16 as one of the four best group runners-up and will host their city rivals again on 8 or 9 August.

Hearts exit League Cup as Dunfermline top Group BHibernian beat Alloa to win Group D; Ross County progressPartick Thistle through but Inverness & Morton go outAyr thump Annan to win Group E, Kilmarnock also progressHamilton Academical beat Stenhousemuir to top Group G

It was a derby that took its time to get going, not helped by some torrential rain that made it a mistake-fest for periods. Dundee had their new striker, Sofien Moussa, up front and with five goals in his first three games there was much expected of the big Tunisian.

Dundee had the majority of possession in the opening half but could do precious little with it. Out on the right they had Deacon, a livewire who had the beating of Tam Scobbie all day. What Deacon did not have was a modicum of composure and accuracy when delivering the ball into the box. That was a recurring theme of the day.

Time and time again he failed to beat the first United defender. Moussa’s tongue was practically hanging out of his head in anticipation of a ball he could attack.

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Chelsea may have handed Manchester United “the last part of the jigsaw” by selling them midfielder Nemanja Matic, says former England striker Ian Wright.

The 29-year-old Serb, who joined for £40m, was United’s third summer buy after Benfica defender Victor Lindelof and Everton striker Romelu Lukaku.

Chelsea won the Premier League title last season, finishing 24 points clear of sixth-placed United.

“Right now Chelsea are in a worse position than last year,” added Wright.

As well as selling Matic, Chelsea have told Spain striker Diego Costa he is free to leave, decided not to offer a new contract to veteran skipper John Terry and sold back-up keeper Asmir Begovic to Bournemouth.

The Blues have signed Monaco midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, Roma defender Antonio Rudiger and former Manchester City keeper Willy Caballero.

“They have signed Bakayoko from Monaco to replace Matic, but he has to come in and hit the ground running because Chelsea want to go far in the Champions League and defend the Premier League trophy,” Wright told BBC Radio 5 live’s Monday Night Club.

“They are getting rid of players who are experienced and from who you know exactly what you’re going to get.”

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Unsurprisingly for Liverpool fans the transfer gossip at Anfield this morning focuses on the future of Philippe Coutinho.

The Daily Star claim Barcelona will offer Liverpool £120m to sign the Brazilian following the sale of his international compatriot to Paris St-Germain last week.

But the Daily Express have cited overnight reports from ESPN Brazil which claim the Reds have accepted a £90m from Barcelona for Coutinho.

The Daily Mirror reckon Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez is ready to accept the club’s refusal to sell him and will see out the final year of his contract before leaving on a free transfer next year.

The same story in the Mirror also states that Arsenal remain “in talks” with Monaco over a deal for Thomas Lemar.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, is quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph that players will be leaving before the end of the transfer window because the squad is too big.

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Wilfried Bony: Besiktas rival Swansea in bid to sign Manchester City striker

Calvert-Lewin, who scored the winner in England’s Under-20 World Cup final win, broke the deadlock in the 80th minute with a low angled strike from 12 yards.

Everton had barely threatened prior to the goal with Morgan Schneiderlin going closest with a header.

Maybe Dominic feels a bit more comfortable as one of two strikers

Everton manager Ronald Koeman
Dominik Kruzliak headed over for Ruzomberok early in the match.

Relive the action as it happened
That and a strike from Czech winger Erik Daniel, which whistled past the Everton post, were the only efforts to trouble keeper Jordan Pickford, who was making his debut following his £30m summer move from Sunderland.

At the other end, keeper Matus Macik also had a quiet evening, with Everton – who won the first leg 1-0 – rarely troubling the Slovak defence.

Tom Davies was the only player to stand out in the Toffees attack.

He twice picked out team-mates with good passes, however both Wayne Rooney and Michael Keane wasted their chances when in good positions.

Everton’s best effort prior to the goal fell to French midfielder Schneiderlin, who should have done better with a header from Sandro Ramirez’s corner.

The breakthrough finally came with 10 minutes of normal time remaining. Another summer signing, Davy Klaassen, played in substitute Calvert-Lewin on the right who struck a low first-time effort past the reach of Macik.

The draw for the play-off round takes place on Friday at 12:00 BST. The ties will be played on 17 and 24 August, with the 22 winners going into the Europa League group stage.

Everton manager Ronald Koeman praised Calvert-Lewin, suggesting which role might suit the 20-year-old in the team.

“Maybe Dominic feels a bit more comfortable as one of two strikers. He’s strong, he’s fast and he scored a great goal,” said the Dutchman.

“It was a physical game and 90 minutes that the players needed. We are through to the next round and I’m really happy.”

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Martial, Mendy & Mbappe: How Monaco became Europe’s talent factory Monaco celebrated their first Ligue 1 title in 17 years in 2017, finishing eight points ahead of title rivals Paris St-Germain

They have small crowds and their stadium is built on a car park. Yet Monaco continually produce some of the most coveted footballers in the world.

The French champions have banked 173.5m euros (£155m) so far this summer by selling their top talents and might yet add to that tally.

Prodigious 18-year-old striker Kylian Mbappe has been linked with a world record £160m move to Real Madrid and 21-year-old winger Thomas Lemar continues to be talked about as a £45m target for Arsenal.

But what are the secrets of Monaco’s success in rearing, selling and – most importantly – replacing players?

Buying their way to success

Monaco did not always adhere to this simple business plan.

When Russian billionaire and Monaco resident Dmitry Rybolovlev bought the club for one euro in December 2012, he had other things in mind. At the time, they were second from bottom of France’s second tier and the oligarch was ready to spend heavily – first, to win promotion back to Ligue 1 and then to try to compete with Paris St-Germain.

For that, he had to spend a lot. In the summer of 2013, Colombia striker Radamel Falcao, was bought for around 60m euros (then the equivalent of £50m) from Atletico Madrid and a fee of 70m euros (£60m) secured Porto’s James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho.

It worked, at least at the beginning, as the ‘rouges et blancs’ kept pace with a star-studded PSG team led by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

However, it quickly appeared that such huge spending was not viable for a club with an average home attendance of around 9,000, low television broadcast revenues and small sponsorship deals.

Monaco were spending far more than they were earning. It was impossible for them to comply with Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

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Manchester United have completed the signing of Nemanja Matic from Chelsea for £40m on a three-year deal.

The midfielder, 28, becomes United’s third summer buy after £31m defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica and £75m striker Romelu Lukaku from Everton.

United manager Jose Mourinho described Matic as a “team player” who has “everything we want in a footballer; loyalty, consistency, ambition”.

Matic said he was “delighted” to be joining at “an exciting time”.

The Serbia midfielder added: “To work with Jose Mourinho once again was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.

“I have enjoyed my time at Chelsea and would like to thank the club and the fans for their support. I cannot wait to meet my new team-mates and to start training with them.”

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