It was a FA Cup semifinal game when Manchester United and Brighton went into overtime and eventually had to shoot penalties to discover who will meet Manchester City in the finals. The camera caught United’s goalkeeper David De Gea looking at the written notes hidden in his towel as the Spaniard tried to look at Brighton players’ penalty tendencies. He failed to save any of the five penalty kicks before he was lucky to see Solly March striking it way above the bar for United’s win. In last night’s match between Leicester and Everton, the Toffies goalie Jordan Pickford had a similar strategy, but it worked, and it brought the guests a valuable point in their relegation battle.”James Maddison – 60% centre”Research from Jordan Pickford 🧠 pic.twitter.com/8469FTEyQv— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 1, 2023 In a 2-2 draw in Leicester, the Foxes had a penalty awarded late in the first half when the score was 2-1 for them. James Maddison took the ball, but instead of 3-1, Pickford saved the penalty, and eventually, Toffies came to a valuable point. Pictures showed his water bottle containing the sentence ‘James Maddison – Stay – 60% centre’ .“I did my homework, I called it this morning where I was going to go but he’s a good player and he’ll expect me to make movement. He’s got a great delivery. He expects me to make the dive. I think I double bluffed him. It was a big moment and I’m happy I saved it because that’s what I’m there to do, try and help the team. I’ll try my best to get them out of trouble” said England’s first-choice keeper after the game.Four-goal drama ends in a stalemate, as Foxes and Toffees share spoils in epic battleJames Maddison missed a penalty to make #LEI lead 3-1, Big save from Pickford👏🏽The Foxes recover from a goal down to lead at the break HT 2-1 #LEIEVE 🔵 pic.twitter.com/HkfdikQbnO— S M L SPORTS⚽️ (@SML_Sports) May 1, 2023 On the other hand, Leicester coach Dean Smith admitted Maddison wasn’t the first choice anyway and that he will think about the possibility of changing the penalty keeper. When fit, Nigerian forward Kelechi Iheanacho is the first-choice penalty-taker.“I have a week until our next game against Fulham to sort that out. Since I have been here Kelechi was the penalty-taker if he was on the pitch and it was James Maddison after him. That’s been there for the last three or four games” said Smith.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 34Saturday Crystal Palace – West Ham 4-3 (3-2)/Ayew 15, Zaha 20, Schlupp 30, Eze 66 pen – Soucek 9, Antonio 35, Aguerd 72/Brentford – Nott. Forest 2-1 (0-1)/Toney 82, Dasilva 90+4 – Danilo 45+1/Brighton – Wolverhampton 6-0 (4-0)/Undav 6, 66, Gross 13, 26, Welbeck 39, 48/SundayMan.Utd. – Aston Villa 1-0 (1-0)/Fernandes 39/Newcastle – Southampton 3-1 (0-1)/Wilson 55, Walvott 79 og, Wilson 81 – Armstrong 41/Fulham – Man.City 1-2 (1-2)/Vinicius 15 – Haaland 2 pen, Alvarez 36/Bournemouth – Leeds 4-1 (2-1)/Lerma 20, 24, Solanke 63, Semenyo 90+1 – Bamford 32/Liverpool – Tottenham 4-3 (3-0)/Jones 3, Diaz 5. Salah 14 pen, Jota 90+4 – Kane 40, Son 77, Richarlison 90+3/Monday Leicester – Everton 2-2 (2-1)/Soyuncu 22, Vardy 33 – Calvert-Lewin 15 pen, Iwobi 54/Tuesday 22.00: (1.70) Arsenal (3.80) Chelsea (5.60)***odds are subject to change***
