Burnley boss Sean Dyche has defended forward Ashley Barnes following his challenge on Nemanja Matic in Saturday’s draw at Chelsea. . Matic was sent off after reacting angrily to being struck on the shin by Barnes, with Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho describing the tackle as “criminal”. Barnes was not punished during the match and faces no FA action. . Dyche said he found Mourinho’s view “hard to believe”, adding: “In live time no-one reacts, apart from Matic.” . Barnes played the ball but caught the Serbia midfielder high on the shin with his studs as he followed through after making…
Author: David Folami
Barcelona are not clear favourites to beat Manchester City and reach the Champions League quarter-finals, says coach Luis Enrique. . The Catalan club are aiming to reach the last eight for a ninth straight season, while City have never gone beyond the last 16. . “I don’t think there is a favourite,” said Enrique, ahead of Tuesday’s first leg at Etihad Stadium. Barca beat City 4-1 on aggregate at the same stage last season. . Enrique said: “It is dangerous to speak of favourites in the Champions League – you have to demonstrate yourself on the field.” . Midfielder Samir…
Cardiff City’s board members will boycott Tuesday’s Championship game at Wigan in protest at what they allege to be a club owned and managed by racists. . At least two members of the board were planning to travel but owner Vincent Tan has instructed them not to and they are said to support his position. . Wigan owner Dave Whelan was fined £50,000 for making racist comments about Jewish and Chinese people and served a six-week ban from football. Wigan declined to comment on Tuesday. . The Football Association disciplinary commission that punished Latics owner Whelan said it was “satisfied”…
Tottenham Hotspur’s 96th minute equaliser by Harry Kane in a 2-2 home draw against West Ham United on Sunday should not have stood but the referee was not brave enough to disallow it, said visiting manager Sam Allardyce. . With four minutes and 48 seconds of five additional minutes having been played, and Spurs trailing 2-1, they were awarded a penalty when Kane was felled by Alex Song. . At the awarding of the penalty the clock was not stopped but the laws of the game dictate that a spot kick must be taken if it is awarded inside the…
Chelsea were left seething after midfielder Nemanja Matic’s suspension was cut from three matches to two by the FA on Tuesday, meaning he will miss Sunday’s League Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. . Under a headline saying they were appalled, the London club added in a statement: “The Chelsea Football Club board is extremely disappointed and frustrated the regulatory commission has decided not to reduce Matic’s suspension to the maximum extent permitted.” . The Serbian international received his ban after being sent off for pushing Ashley Barnes to the ground after the Burnley striker’s dangerous studs-up challenge in…
Dutch striker Bas Dost’s sensational form continued as his double lifted second-placed VfL Wolfsburg to a 2-1 win over Hertha Berlin in the German Bundesliga on Sunday. . Dost struck early in the game only to see second-bottom visitors Hertha hit back on the half-hour through Julian Schieber. . But Wolfsburg stayed eight points behind leaders Bayern Munich after Dost pounced for the winning goal with 16 minutes left. . The 25-year-old has now scored nine goals in Wolfsburg’s five league matches since the winter break and he also netted twice in Thursday’s Europa League game against Sporting Lisbon. .…
Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara started individual training with a footballon on Tuesday for the first time in four months as he works towards his comeback. . The Spaniard, who last trained on October 14, had to undergo further knee surgery that month after an injury setback. . “Getting used to the ball was what was on the programme today,” Bayern said in a statement. “It is the next small step towards a comeback.” . Bayern coach Pep Guardiola last week sounded confident the player could be back in team training in a matter of weeks but did not give…
Philippe Coutinho scored a magnificent goal as Liverpool overcame Southampton 2-0 in a controversial game on Sunday to close to within two points of the Premier League’s top four. . Coutinho opened the scoring with a stunning 30-yard effort in the third minute and Raheem Sterling added a second goal towards the end, but it was the performance of referee Kevin Friend that was to prove the biggest talking point on a cold, squally evening at St Mary’s. . The official turned down two strong penalty appeals from Southampton and was barracked by their supporters throughout, as Ronald Koeman’s side…
Jose Mourinho accused Burnley’s Ashley Barnes of making a “criminal” tackle on Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic as the Blues’ boss let rip at refereeing standards and media coverage of his team. . Matic was sent off for his angry reaction to Barnes’ tackle in the 70th minute of Chelsea’s 1-1 draw against struggling Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. . While Serbian midfielder Matic was dismissed, Burnley forward Barnes went unpunished by referee Martin Atkinson and the Clarets took advantage of their numerical advantage to snatch a late equaliser. . Mourinho had little to say in his post-match press conference, simply…
Luis Suarez will have another chance to justify the massive fee Barcelona paid for him Tuesday when he returns to England to face Manchester City in the Champions League round of 16 . The history of football is full of players weighed down by a massive price tag, and this is currently the case with Luis Suarez. . Tuesday will see Suarez return to England for the first time since his July move from Liverpool to Barcelona, to face Manchester City in a Champions League round of 16 first leg. . Barca raised eyebrows by paying Liverpool a club record…
Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri told his teammates on Monday that they must shed any sense of inferiority if they are to outwit Barcelona in the Champions League last 16. . Nasri was a member of the City team beaten 4-1 on aggregate by Barcelona at the same stage of last season’s competition, which was the third time he had fallen foul of the Catalan giants in his career. . Barcelona are favourites to progress ahead of Tuesday’s reunion at the Etihad Stadium, but with an extra year’s experience and a close to full-strength squad, Nasri feels City are now…
Juventus goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon has called for full commitment when the Italian champions host Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, looking to put one foot in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. . The Turin giants welcome Jurgen Klopp’s side on a high, having boosted their Serie A lead over challengers Roma to nine points at the weekend. . Buffon, who admitted to getting frustrated with himself and the team during difficult encounters in recent weeks, said he has every respect for the Germans. . Dortmund beat Juventus 3-1 to win the 1997 European Cup and were beaten in the…
Bayern Munich stretched their lead in the Bundesliga to 11 points following a crushing 6-0 win at Paderborn on Saturday, while Augsburg goalkeeper Marwin Hitz scored a stoppage-time equaliser against Bayer Leverkusen. . Bayern were held scoreless by Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday but the title holders have now scored 14 goals in two league matches. . Robert Lewandowksi’s first-half double on his return to the starting line-up got Bayern on their way, while Arjen Robben is now the league’s top scorer after getting his 15th and 16th goals of the season. . Franck Ribery and Mitchell…
Germany star Marco Reus committed himself to Borussia Dortmund until 2019 with the aim of bringing another Bundesliga title back to the Ruhr, he has revealed. . “That is and remains my biggest goal. I want to experience another one of the days we have had in this city,” the Dortmund-born winger told magazine Kicker. . Borussia won the 2011 and 2012 German titles while Reus was playing for Moenchengladbach but he said: “I’d give anything for that and I have a strong feeling that we’ll do it sometime.” . Reus has yet to win a major title in his…
Real Madrid moved four points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 win at Elche on Sunday. . After passing up a host of chances in the first-half, Madrid finally made the breakthrough when Karim Benzema tapped home from close range 11 minutes into the second period. . Cristiano Ronaldo then sealed the three points when he bulleted home a header from Isco’s pin-point cross 21 minutes from time. . Boosted by Barca’s shock 1-0 defeat to Malaga on Saturday, Madrid started brightly and should have been well in front by halftime. . Gareth Bale…
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said he had Arsenal and Manchester United in his sights after his team closed on the Champions League places with a 2-0 success at Southampton. . A glorious 30-yard strike by Philippe Coutinho put Liverpool ahead in the third minute of Sunday’s game at St Mary’s and after a number of vain Southampton penalty appeals, Raheem Sterling sealed victory late on. . Liverpool play second-place Manchester City next weekend before tackling fourth-place United and third-place Arsenal over the next six weeks, and Rodgers is confident they can close the two-point gap separating them from the Premier…
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick has moved to explain the rationale behind his planned trip to the United Kingdom to visit Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Manchester boss Manuel Pellegrini. . Pinnick was in North London last week to visit the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and many questioned the reasons for such a visit. . The NFF boss says the benefits of such visits are latent and would impact positively on Nigerian football. . “I have heard of people saying why should I go and visit somebody like Arsene Wenger, the beauty of it is not quantifiable and…
Dimitar Berbatov will be hoping for a goalscoring return against his former arch-enemies Arsenal when AS Monaco come to the red half of north London for their Champions League Round of 16 first leg match on Wednesday. . The Bulgarian is still remembered with affection for the 46 goals he scored for Arsenal’s local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a two-year spell at White Hart Lane before a 30 million pounds ($46.05 million) move to Manchester United in September 2008. . He scored twice for Fulham at the Emirates in a 3-3 draw in November 2012 and, though he turned 34…
Atletico Madrid, tough to beat on the road in the Champions League, pose a stern test for a Bayer Leverkusen side in poor form and with an equally poor record against Spanish clubs in Europe. . Last season’s runners-up have lost one of their nine away games in the competition since September 2013, winning five of them, and will be confident of taking a positive result home from Wednesday’s Round of 16 first leg. . They bounced back from a surprise defeat at Celta Vigo with a 3-0 success at Almeria in La Liga on Saturday that lifted the Spanish…
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and Borussia Dortmund’s star midfield player Marco Reus have gone Head to Head in a unique interview, ahead of the Juventus v Borussia Dortmund Uefa Champions League™ tie this week. . The two Puma players discussed the game ahead, favourite films, beard growth, and whether it is better to win 4-3 or 1-0. . “Do you prefer shots to the left or the right side of the goal?” Reus cheekily asks, with Buffon replying, “Would I still be playing at the top level at the age of 37 years if I had any weaknesses?” . Both…