Lionel Messi scored on his 500th Barcelona appearance as the European champions moved back to the top of the table with a 4-0 win over Real Betis as La Liga returned from a curtailed winter break on Wednesday. Atletico Madrid remain level on points with Barca thanks to two goals in the final two minutes from Angel Correa and Antoine Griezmann to emerge 2-0 victors at Rayo Vallecano. And Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and missed a penalty as Real Madrid eased the pressure on under-fire coach Rafael Benitez with a 3-1 win over Real Sociedad to stay two points behind…
Author: David Folami
There will be a few ‘hiccups’ as Arsenal bid to lift the Premier League title for the first time since 2004 but the squad is strong enough to pull through any situation, midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has said. The Gunners were quick to respond to Saturday’s embarrassing 4-0 league loss to Southampton by easily dispatching relegation-threatened Bournemouth on Monday, thanks to goals from Gabriel and in-form Mesut Ozil. The win meant Arsene Wenger’s men moved to the top of the table, a point ahead of Leicester City, who host fourth-placed Manchester City on Tuesday. “We’re in a strong position now, it’s…
Manager Arsene Wenger has rejected doubts about Arsenal’s title credentials, saying statistics back him up about the Premier League leaders on New Year’s day. Monday’s comfortable 2-0 win over Bournemouth ensured the Gunners end the year on top of the table, above Leicester City on goal difference. Arsenal have ended the year on top of the Premier League table on three previous occasions in the last 14 years but they could not go on to win the title in any of those seasons. “It shows you that we have a good chance as the statistics show you that eight of…
Southampton could be in the market for a striker in the January transfer window if injuries persist but are unlikely to bring in any other reinforcements, manager Ronald Koeman said on Thursday. “I’m not a manager that I’m in a panic because we have now the 12th position in the table,” Koeman, whose side beat leaders Arsenal 4-0 last Saturday and then lost 2-1 at West Ham United on Monday, said ahead of Saturday’s trip to Norwich City. “We know our players, we know our qualities and if there is something to do in business it’s about how recovered (Graziano)…
Four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi has warned Barcelona’s rivals that the European champions are determined to match their five-trophy haul from 2015 in the coming year. Messi scored on his 500th appearance for the club as Barca rounded off the year in style with a 4-0 win over Real Betis to move back to the top of La Liga on Wednesday. The Catalans lead Atletico Madrid on goal difference and Real Madrid by two points as well as having a game in hand on their rivals from the Spanish capital. And having won the Champions League, La…
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is still not satisfied despite winning five trophies in 2015 and is aiming to do even better next year. The Catalan side have been rampant in attack and a 4-0 victory over Real Betis on Wednesday set a new Spanish record of 180 goals in a calendar year and lifted Barca back to the top of the La Liga standings. They followed their treble success last season by lifting the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup, their only defeat coming in the domestic Super Cup by Athletic Bilbao to stop them matching the six…
<img src="http://www.theinfostride’s under-performing stars to pull together to ease the heat on Van Gaal, but even the loyalists have now turned against the Dutchman. Brendan Rodgers to Old Trafford, anyone? Van Gaal has come under increasing pressure and faced the wrath of discontented fans amid a dismal run of results and some insipid performances at Old Trafford. United’s 2-1 loss to Norwich in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday was their third successive defeat in a sequence which also saw them eliminated from the Champions League. And Van Gaal has now lost 16 of the 71 games he has taken…
Arsenal defender Gabriel insists that he and Diego Costa are “good friends” despite clashing earlier in the season. Gabriel and Costa clashed during Arsenal’s defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in September, with the Brazilian sent off for kicking out at the Blues striker on the stroke of half-time. Costa had goaded Gabriel into reacting after pushing his Gunners team-mate Laurent Koscielny to the ground, but Gabriel insists that he and Costa get along well. “When we are on the pitch we are different people,” Gabriel said. “Diego is a different person and so am I. When we clash there…
David Silva says he and his Manchester City team-mates are “very happy” with manager Manuel Pellegrini. Pep Guardiola is again being heavily linked with City after announcing that he is to leave Bayern Munich when his contract expires at the end of the season. Pellegrini, who himself has been linked with Chelsea, insisted last week such talk did not bother him and Silva claims the players will not be affected. The Spaniard said: “We are all very happy with Manuel and it is not something we look at. We look at the day today and not what is going to…
Mesut Ozil believes the main reason he has 13 Premier League assists to his name this season is down to the improved nature of Arsenal’s finishing. Ozil has at least six more assists than his nearest challenger this campaign, and has emerged as Arsenal’s most important player as they look to challenge on three fronts for trophies. Rather than an improvement in his own game however, Ozil feels the improved finishing of Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott is the main reason for such an impressive return. “Our forwards now convert my assists. You have to put the numbers into perspective,”…
Asamoah Gyan is better than both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, according to fellow Ghanaian Yahaya Mohammed. Gyan currently stars in the Chinese Super League for Shanghai SIPG, but international team-mate Mohammed has questioned why the 30-year-old does not receive the same recognition as Messi or Ronaldo. “What Asamoah Gyan is doing here in Ghana is far better than that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi,” he said. “But sadly we don’t respect him because he is a Ghanaian.” “I shall always rate Asamoah Gyan ahead of the two because if Gyan had been a European, he would have been…
Anthony Martial has dedicated his 2015 Golden Boy award to the “incredible” fans of Manchester United. Martial has won the award, established by Italian newspaper Tuttosport and voted for by numerous other publications around the world, after being voted Europe’s best player under the age of 21. The Frenchman turned 20 just a fortnight ago, and has largely impressed this calendar year, notably earning a move from Ligue Un Monaco to United for an initial £37.6million. As a result of that move, Martial became the most expensive teenager ever in world football. Martial scored 11 goals in 36 appearances for…
<img src="https://www.theinfostride.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Ferg-300×223.jpg" alt="Ferg" width="300" height="223" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-81473" /Sir Alex Ferguson will play a part in the decision-making over whether to sack Louis van Gaal, according to reports. The former United boss, together with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and former chief executive David Gill, held emergency talks at Old Trafford on Monday. Club officials are faced with a huge decision over the Dutchman’s future after he came under increasing pressure following a month which has seen United crash out of the Champions League and suffer successive Premier League defeats to Bournemouth and Norwich. Reports in Spain on Monday evening claimed…
Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher have questioned Louis van Gaal’s usage of Manchester United forward Anthony Martial. Martial, signed for £36.7million from Monaco in the summer, arrived as a striker who could play on the wing, and scored five goals in his first nine appearances. After a bright start however, Martial has faded after regularly being moved out wide by manager Van Gaal, and the Frenchman has scored just twice in 11 games. Such a run includes a goal against Norwich, where Martial’s position as a left-winger caused consternation among Sky Sports pundits Henry and Carragher on Monday Night Football.…
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman found Wenger’s complaints about his side’s first three goals laughable. “Only the first three? He didn’t say anything about the fourth goal? That’s strange,” he said. “I like to analyse the game and if you lose 4-0 and you talk about the referee it’s not my way to analyse a football game.” It was a cutting riposte from a manager able to celebrate after a difficult period, with last week’s 2-0 home loss to Tottenham a fifth defeat in a difficult winless period. Koeman was furious after that loss but his emotion was one of pride…
Daniel Sturridge has given Liverpool a much-needed boost by revealing he has returned to training and feels ready for first-team action. Jurgen Klopp’s men went into Boxing Day’s clash with league leaders Leicester City with Divock Origi leading the line at Anfield. Sturridge’s season has been blighted by injuries and his latest spell on the sidelines has been due to a hamstring problem. Origi also suffered a hamstring injury just before the interval against Leicester, leaving Christian Benteke as Liverpool’s only match-fit recognised striker. The Belgian once again proved his match-winning ability by netting the only goal of the game…
Wayne Rooney’s self-confidence is at its lowest ebb after being ‘dragged down to a level of under-performance never seen before’, according to Theinfostride. The newspaper’s Manchester United correspondent Ian Ladyman is clearly keen to absolve Rooney of any blame for a disastrous run of form which has seen him fail to score in the Premier League since October 17. He played 90 minutes as a striker against Norwich on December 19 but failed to register a single shot on target; he was subsequently dropped for Boxing Day’s trip to Stoke. Any suggestion that the 30-year-old Rooney is in decline has…
<img src="https://www.theinfostride.com/wp-’s agent has denied that his client has held talks with Paris Saint-Germain, insisting that the Premier League is his preferred destination. The Spaniard is leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the season and has been strongly linked with PSG, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea. His agent Josep María Orobitg has moved to deny that talks had already begun with PSG, telling L’Equipe: “I have never spoken to the president of PSG, not recently or at any time in the past. I have had contact with his sporting director (Olivier Létang), but that was to speak about…
Louis van Gaal says his Manchester United players are “fighting” for him, and he will not resign as manager after the 0-0 draw against Chelsea. United dominated the 5.30pm clash at Old Trafford, enjoying 67 per cent of possession, but failed to break down Guus Hiddink’s Londoners, who are still searching for their first win under their interim boss. Captain Wayne Rooney returned to the starting line-up and put on an impressive display, which was slightly tainted by a crude late challenge on Oscar which drew a yellow card from Martin Atkinson, but could have arguably been worse. Boos rang…
Claudio Ranieri joked that “nobody wants to win this league” after his Leicester side drew 0-0 with Manchester City. The Foxes are level on points with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League but their 39-point haul is way short of Chelsea’s 46-point half-way tally last season. “This league is very, very crazy,” Ranieri said. “Nobody wants to win the league, it’s very strange this league.” There’s nothing stranger than Leicester rising from 20th place to joint-first in the space of 12 months. “We are starting now to build our team,” said Ranieri. “I told my players we are…