SAN DIEGO -- Momentous events often take place in ordinary settings. That's what it felt like Sunday night when the Baseball Hall of Fame announced that legendary MLB Players Association head Marvin Miller and St. Louis Cardinals catching great Ted Simmons would be immortalized in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Another wild weekend in the Premier League is done and dusted. We get you caught up on the action with the Weekend Review.

JUMP TO: Rashford is a franchise player | City's Fernandinho problem | Superb Son and clinical Kane | Chelsea need help in January | Finally some emotion for Everton | Lucky Lewis Dunk | Bournemouth are in trouble | Bruce deserves credit

Rashford shows his worth to Man United ... again

Manchester United are an odd team. They have lost to Crystal Palace, West Ham, Newcastle and Bournemouth but have beaten Chelsea, Tottenham, Leicester and, on Saturday, Manchester City. They are the only team to take a point off Liverpool this season.

Other than offering a vague notion that they are a "big-game" team, whatever that means, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men are tough to work out. What does make sense, though, is the performances of Marcus Rashford, who scored his 10th league goal of the season against City and has 13 in his past 14 for club and country.

Yet beyond his goal at the Etihad Stadium, a penalty that he won and then coolly slotted away, what stood out was the constant sense of menace that surrounded him. One moment stuck out, just after he scored, when Rashford sprinted down the left channel in a counterattack so quickly that it looked like a tape on fast-forward; he was more than 5 yards past Bernardo Silva before the City man noticed.

The problems that have caused United to lose ludicrous games remain, and Solskjaer still has plenty to do to convince anyone he is the long-term answer as manager, but though there is uncertainty elsewhere, they can be sure that they have an icon in waiting.

In American sporting parlance, Rashford would be called a "franchise player" around whom a club can build. As long as he is around, United have half a chance.

Fernandinho is Man City's main problem

Something happened seconds before Anthony Martial scored United's second goal that could sum up City's relative struggles.

With Fernandinho retreating into central defence, having stepped into midfield briefly, he pointed Rodri toward the United player with the ball. The Spanish international closed but did not put in a convincing challenge; a one-two with Daniel James later, Martial shot into the bottom corner.

Pep Guardiola said last week that he likes Fernandinho as a centre-back -- not an outlandish call -- but the 34-year-old seems caught between two positions, plugging away in his new role but also feeling like he has to tell those ahead of him what to do in his old spot.

This was not the first or only time that Rodri had let a man go or allowed too much space in front of the City defence. Several issues have led the defending champions to trail Liverpool by a (presumably unassailable) 14-point gap, but this is one that looms largest.

Superb Son and clinical Kane

It was not so much the blistering run that was impressive about Son Heung-min's goal-of-the-season contender in Tottenham's 5-0 thrashing of Burnley but more that he had the presence of mind to finish so coolly.

Even a professional athlete is going to be a little fuzzy after sprinting the length of the pitch, but Son simply stroked the ball home as if completing a mild training jog. It was a goal that encapsulated the player neatly: Incredible work rate, brilliant skill and clear thinking.

Meanwhile, it feels like everyone takes Harry Kane goals for granted, but his brace against Burnley took him to 25 in 26 games for club and country this season. Tottenham have a minimum of 26 games remaining, and so, fitness permitting, he could easily eclipse the 41 he managed for Spurs alone in 2017-18, a season he finished by winning the World Cup Golden Boot.

Chelsea need help in January

Chelsea have generally played well with a young squad, and the last thing they need is for development to be stunted by the arrival of flashy signings, but the 3-1 defeat to Everton was a third reverse in the past four league games, and recent form suggests that Frank Lampard's squad needs reinforcement in January, now the club's transfer ban has been lifted.

They are all set in goal, they have two terrific right-backs at either end of the experience scale, they seem well-stocked in midfield, and they are probably good for wingers, but Chelsea could do with another striker (particularly if Olivier Giroud wants out) as well as a left-back and -- definitely -- a centre-back.

Antonio Rudiger is inching his way back to fitness, but Andreas Christensen is nobody's idea of an elite defender, Fikayo Tomori is a great prospect but possibly not quite ready for a full season, and Kurt Zouma looks increasingly like a liability. Chelsea should not allow sentimentality to stop them from making the most of this transfer reprieve.

Ferguson injects some emotion into Everton

There is a reason fans should not get involved in football's cold-blooded decision-making processes. Who among the emotional lovers of the game, for example, would not immediately give Duncan Ferguson a five-year contract as Everton manager after seeing him hug Tom Davies and Dominic Calvert-Lewin -- two players he has watched grow at the club -- so tightly during the win over Chelsea?

But beyond whether Ferguson would be a good choice long-term -- his tactics on Saturday were not exactly sophisticated -- it was good to see an Everton team not looking quite so sad. That the temporary boss has injected a little vim and enthusiasm at Goodison Park was clear from the first minute. It might not last long, but enjoy it while it does.

Luckiest moment of the weekend

Lewis Dunk was certainly being innovative when he tried to nudge the ball along the floor with his head in Brighton's 2-2 draw with Wolves, but after said ball rolled onto his arm, he was fortunate not to concede a penalty.

Maybe Brighton were due a bit of luck?

Bournemouth are in trouble

When Eddie Howe said last week that he was embarrassed about speculation linking him with the Everton managerial position because of recent results, he was telling the truth. Bournemouth have lost their past five and sit a point outside the bottom three.

Their injury problems are significant -- Nathan Ake's departing after only 35 minutes of the 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool is not going to help anything -- but they face Chelsea next weekend and could easily be in the relegation zone at Christmas.

Bruce deserves credit

When Newcastle lost 5-0 to Leicester in September, it was tricky to forecast anything but misery and relegation. In the nine games since, they have won five, lost two and drawn two, including Sunday's come-from-behind win against Southampton.

There are still problems at St. James' Park, and the fact that no Newcastle striker has scored since Joelinton netted at Tottenham in August is a significant concern, but Steve Bruce nevertheless deserves a pat on the back for finding a system that is eking out results and has dragged them to 10th, two points off fifth.

Melbourne Cricket Club, the custodians of the MCG, have no plans to adopt the improved drop-in pitch systems used by Adelaide Oval and Perth Stadium, and have for years had minimal links with the company at the cutting edge of drop-in pitch technology in Australia.

StrathAyr, the portable turf company that first become involved in managing the transition between cricket and football at major venues following the creation of drop-in pitches for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket at Waverley Park in suburban Melbourne, has only a limited relationship with the MCG, dating back to its use by the rival Docklands Stadium to produce drop-in pitches in the early 2000s.

While the company is still contracted by the MCG to transport the pitches from its nursery to the centre of the ground at the conclusion of each football season and back at the beginning of the next, the cricket club has chosen instead to go it alone. It is attempting to produce quality pitches from concrete pitch trays that have long since been superseded by the porous, open-bottomed steel versions favoured at Adelaide Oval, Perth Stadium and elsewhere.

In the case of Adelaide Oval, StrathAyr was closely involved in the construction of the drop-in pitches first installed in 2013, when the ground became a multipurpose venue for both AFL and cricket matches. Working closely with the oval's curator Damian Hough, they oversaw the use of steel trays on a natural base, supported by pylons, to create a far more natural wicket environment that could also be micromanaged out of season.

This blueprint then formed the basis for the construction of the Perth Stadium drop-in pitches, first used for a Test match last summer. In each case, the surfaces produced have been able to create a set of distinctive characteristics, offering something to batsmen, pacemen and spin bowlers. Adelaide's surface has evolved into one using a generous grass covering that affords the possibility of seam and spin throughout the match, while Perth has so far offered plenty of bounce and pace, in keeping with the pitch's higher clay content and the traditions of the WACA.

ALSO READ: From 'poor' ICC rating to match abandoned: timeline of a troubled MCG pitch

However the MCG's recent efforts to reinvigorate its pitches has been limited to the removal of the concrete slab under the drop-in wicket block and the growing of new pitches in the original concrete beds, which are not open at the bottom, a marked difference from the Adelaide and Perth systems. The MCC's chief executive Stuart Fox has insisted that the club can find a pathway to better pitches without changing systems.

"The curators talk, they're part of a network, so they're always sharing information. We have made changes like removing the concrete base in the middle," Fox said. "We actually think we're on the right path.

"The drop ins severely deteriorate by day five. Ours haven't shown that, so that's why we're trying to liven up things at the earlier stages of the game - the lateral seam movement is quite important. Age has been a bit of a factor with the pitches. As we move forward the next three years we'll have new pitches here that hopefully there might be a new brand of cricket for the MCG."

The MCG curator Matt Page, who moved from the WACA and its work on pitches for the new Perth Stadium to the MCG in 2018, had initially spoken about how he was hopeful of implementing a similar system to Adelaide and Perth at the MCG. "The pitches are in a steel tray but they have open bottoms so water can pass through, and the thing is with the concrete pillars, they're 600mm wide, so basically on a pillar you'll get half the wicket sitting on one, and half of the tray sitting on another," Page told ESPNcricinfo last year.

ALSO READ: Inside the MCG's pitch reboot

"Then in the middle you've got your natural environment in terms of drainage sand and drainage gravel. So it should behave more like an in-situ wicket. It's a more natural environment for them to grow in, that's why they went down that path with what Adelaide do. That's where we're at at the moment, we've got this concrete slab and we want to improve the technology, and it's with the architects as to how we're going to get that out and what system we'll put in place once the season's done. To go to the rails system, hopefully that's going to improve our pitch performance."

However by the start of this season, it was clear that rather than making the full change from one system to another, Page had been left to try to grow new pitches and get better results out of the old ones, while using the same concrete trays. "I guess for us it was trying to create as much of a natural wicket table as we possibly could with the trays. The only thing is the tray is still out there, everything else is like an in-situ wicket, and I guess we're hoping they might perform more like a natural wicket block," Page said in October.

"The actual tray itself is no different, the thing we're trialling is a different type of clay which we're looking at. We've built two wickets out the back in our practice area with this different clay. We're looking at improving our pace and bounce and hopefully, we'll get some cracks in it which hopefully will lead to some deterioration in our longer formats. That's all an exciting process that we're looking forward to and something that we'll look progressing with over the next couple of years."

That brought some marginal improvement in the surface early in the season, notably the pitch prepared for the Sheffield Shield match won narrowly by Queensland over Victoria. But anxiety at the MCC about the lack of assistance for bowlers led to an underprepared pitch for the Shield game against WA, which was abandoned on Sunday - much to the embarrassment of the MCC, Cricket Victoria and Cricket Australia - less than three weeks before the Boxing Day Test.

"I think we all know it's not ideal but our curators and staff have our full support," Fox said. "They haven't done this on their own, it's been at the direction of the MCC and that has been supported by all of our stakeholders. CA have been fantastic. We've all wanted life in the pitches, we didn't want this much and it is unfortunate and we apologise for that but we're not going to crucify people.

"It's all about learning with pitches that are fairly old. Everyone's heard about the story and the journey and we're spending a lot of money to improve our pitches over the long term. It was never ever going to be a short totem game it's a long term game. It takes a lot of time. a lot of investment. We think we're on the right path."

As far as drop-in pitches are concerned, the MCC's path looks an increasingly lonely one.

PHILADELPHIA -- Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry got into it with a fan on his way to the locker room following the Philadelphia 76ers' 110-104 victory over the Raptors at Wells Fargo Center Sunday night.

"I don't know him," said Lowry, who finished with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes, in the locker room afterward. "He talks too much, but he isn't worth my time."

As Lowry exited the court, he yelled several times at a heckling fan, "Come see me!" Lowry, who was born and raised in North Philadelphia and went to Villanova, was lighthearted about the incident in the locker room and said he wasn't surprised that fans would be giving a hard time to someone from the city like he is.

"No. It's Philadelphia. I respect it," Lowry said.

"When I come home, I'm going to be there, so if they've got a problem, they can find me," he added with a smile, followed by a laugh.

Lowry missed 11 games with a thumb injury before returning to the lineup for Tuesday's loss to the Miami Heat. In 11 games this season, the five-time All-Star is averaging 21 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.9 assists. Sunday's loss marked a third straight for Toronto -- including their first two home losses of the season Tuesday against Miami and Thursday against the Houston Rockets.

The Raptors play in Chicago on Monday night before returning home to face Kawhi Leonard for the first time since he left as a free agent when the defending champions host the LA Clippers on Wednesday night.

Potential No. 1 NBA draft pick LaMelo Ball will miss about four weeks with a foot injury, sources told ESPN. Ball suffered a bruised foot in practice last week and was prescribed to rest by an Australian foot specialist he visited, which will likely keep him out of action until January.

The 18-year-old Ball has had a major impact for the Illawarra Hawks in the Australian NBL thus far, averaging 17 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 31 minutes per game, improving his draft stock significantly in the process. Ball will rehab his injury in Australia and is expected to make a full recovery and continue to play for Illawarra as they close out the regular season in mid-February.

Decision makers from several NBA teams were expected to be in Australia in the coming weeks to evaluate both him and fellow projected lottery pick RJ Hampton, who plays for the New Zealand Breakers, with the two scheduled to play each other for the third time on December 22nd.

Hampton will miss the Breakers game tonight against Brisbane with a hip flexor injury, a source told ESPN, and will be day to day after that.

The majority of NBA general managers have not yet evaluated Ball in person and will likely need to reschedule their visits to Australia until January when he will make a full recovery.

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Despite the best efforts of Five Flags Speedway officials, the 52nd annual Snowball Derby presented by BJ’s Wholesale Club just wasn’t meant to be on Sunday afternoon.

Off-and-on rain showers forced the postponement of the super late model classic to Monday at 4 p.m. CT (5 p.m. ET), the third time in event history that the race has been pushed back.

The Derby was previously postponed by weather in 2004 and again in 2016, the most recent instance.

A cool but dry morning gave way to rainfall just before 12:30 p.m. CT, as the 37-driver field was leaving the frontstretch stage following the annual Snowball Derby class photo.

Once the rain stopped, track drying efforts – led by a Darlington Raceway jet dryer – commenced until a second deluge hit the Pensacola area shortly after 2 p.m., soaking the racing surface a second time.

Additional drying resumed as the afternoon hours waned, but a third and final storm settled in around 5 p.m. that officially thwarted any chance of racing for the day.

“We gave it a valiant effort, but unfortunately the weather did just not cooperate,” said Five Flags Speedway owner Tim Bryant.  “Out of respect to the racers and the fans, when we saw this last line of rain come through, we decided to make the call because we knew even if it stopped raining, it would take too long to prepare the race track.”

Three years ago, the Derby was actually pushed all the way to Tuesday night by inclement weather before then-relative unknown Christian Eckes stormed to a career-launching triumph.

When the 52nd Derby does go green, Snowflake 100 winner and four-time SRL Southwest Tour titlist Derek Thorn will lead the field from the pole, flanked by Canadian Cole Butcher on the front row.

Kyle Busch Motorsports is looking for its third-straight Snowball Derby victory as an organization. Its driver, Georgia’s Chandler Smith, starts 10th in his fourth Derby main event.