THE HILARIOUS INSTAGRAM RESPONSE PAUL SCHOLES SENT TO LISANDRO MARTINEZ’S HOUSE INVITE
Paul Scholes accepts Lisandro Martinez's house invite with a sarcastic "tea no sugar" post after United's 2-0 derby win over City.
Paul Scholes fired back at Lisandro Martinez after the Manchester United defender called him out over some comments before the Manchester derby. Martinez basically told Scholes, “If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face. Come to my house if you want.” Scholes didn’t seem bothered. On Instagram, he posted, “Someone’s had a good game; was really happy for you... Tea, no sugar, please, @lisandromartinezzz.”
Martinez played a solid game in Michael Carrick’s first match in charge, helping United keep a clean sheet alongside Senne Lammens, Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, and Luke Shaw. United deserved that 2-0 win, and after the match, Martinez wasn’t about to let the words from club legends slide.
When reporters asked him about the comments from Nicky Butt and Scholes, Martinez didn’t hold back. “Honestly, he can say whatever he wants. I told him already that if he wants to say something to me, he can come wherever he wants. My house, wherever. I don’t care. I respect when people want to help the club, but anyone can talk on TV. Sit here, face-to-face, and no one says anything.”
He shrugged off the criticism, saying, “I just focus on my performance and on the team, and I give everything to this club until my last day.” When asked if the comments fired him up, he shook his head: “No, nothing. Doesn’t give me anything. My motivation is my family. That’s it.”
Scholes and Butt didn’t exactly have high hopes for Martinez before the game. On The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Butt admitted he wasn’t looking forward to watching United’s young players face Erling Haaland. Scholes jumped in with, “Martinez against Haaland,” and winced. Butt joked, “Haaland would pick Martinez up and run with him. Like a dad running with a toddler.” Scholes added, “He’d score, then throw him in the net.”
After the win, Martinez said he was proud of how the team fought against City. He believes if United keep playing with that kind of passion, the Old Trafford crowd will get behind them. “It’s about the connection,” he said. “It’s about how we represent them on the pitch. If they see us fighting like today, they’ll be with us.”
He gets why fans expect more. “Sometimes our performance isn’t the best. They want attitude, tackles, that Manchester United DNA. I totally get it—sometimes you wonder what we’re even doing out there. But today set the standard for this club.”
He doesn’t care about the scoreline as much as the effort and connection. “I focus on performance, on connecting with the fans, with the team. Today, I think they only had one shot at the goal. You could feel something different. The mentality was there. I’m happy with that.”
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.