Villa’s Carlos sent off and Maresca gets first win

Diego Carlos was sent off in Aston Villa‘s friendly defeat by RB Leipzig in New Jersey.

The Brazilian defender was dismissed after two yellow-card offences in the first half as Villa lost 2-0 to their German opponents.

Carlos, who joined Villa from Sevilla in 2022, was booked for separate altercations with Leipzig goalscorer Lois Openda.

Andre Silva also scored for Leipzig, with both goals coming before half-time.

Villa boss Unai Emery, who lost Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen to injury, preferred to focus on the performance of new signing Amadou Onana rather than Carlos’ red card.

Midfielder Onana signed for Villa from Everton in a £50m deal in July.

“Onana is progressively getting better,” said Emery.

“It was a test. In the first half I think we were good, even losing 2-0 due to two mistakes.

“After the red card it was a completely different match.”

Fernandez plays for Chelsea after apology

Chelsea secured their first victory under new manager Enzo Maresca by sweeping to a 3-0 win over Club America in Atlanta.

Two of Chelsea’s three goals were penalties by Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke while Marc Guiu also scored.

Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez came on at the start of the second half.

His appearance came after it emerged Chelsea would take no action against Fernandez for singing a derogatory song about France‘s black players, after he apologised to several French team-mates.

“You can see that he is a bit behind. In terms of his physical conditioning, he was a bit slow,” said Maresca when asked about Fernandez’s contribution.

“He had one or two sessions with us so 45 minutes today was just another chance to give him another session.

“These kinds of games, we also use them like a training session, and for Enzo today was a very good training session.”

‘Movements in and out’

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil says he expects plenty of movement between now and the end of the summer transfer window after his side’s 3-1 friendly defeat to Crystal Palace in Annapolis, USA.

Wolves have added winger Rodrigo Gomes, Brazilian teenager Pedro Lima and turned Tommy Doyle‘s loan from Manchester City into a permanent deal this summer.

They have also completed the signing of Norway striker Jorgen Strand Larsen from Spanish side Celta Vigo on an initial loan deal.

“I’m sure there will be movements in and out, but we’re better equipped depth wise,” said O’Neil.

Palace’s goals came from Jeffrey Schlupp, Jordan Ayew and Asher Agbinone.

Uruguay defender Santiago Bueno scored Wolves’ goal.

“I told the players before that it is very important to have these competitive games, because then you can see what you have to work on,” said Palace boss Oliver Glasner, whose side open the new season at Brentford on 18 August.