Diego Costa’s sublime strike sealed Chelsea’s 2-0 success against Southampton on Sunday as the Blues chalked up a fourth successive Premier League victory. Costa doubled Chelsea’s lead with a fine finish from 25 yards after Eden Hazard had put Antonio Conte’s side ahead early in the first half at St Mary’s. Inflicting Southampton’s first home league defeat since February gave Chelsea four league wins in a row for the first time since April 2015, when they were on the verge of lifting the title under Jose Mourinho. While it is too early to predict another Chelsea charge to the title,…
Author: David Folami
Sergio Aguero was branded Manchester City’s ‘Special One’ after ending the worst run of manager Pep Guardiola’s career. Argentina forward Aguero scored twice in the first half against West Bromwich Albion before setting up the third for Ilkay Gundogan, who also grabbed the final goal in City’s 4-0 win at the Hawthorns. It was a welcome result for City boss Guardiola, who had gone six games in all competitions without a win. City remain top of the Premier League on goal difference ahead of Arsenal despite their recent struggles and they can now look forward to Tuesday’s Champions League clash…
French international Olivier Giroud rubbished talk of Arsenal winning the Premier League title despite an excellent run of form saying on Sunday it is far too early to make such predictions. The 30-year-old striker had been a peripheral figure this season, after suffering a toe injury, but his double after coming off the bench inspired the Gunners to an ultimately convincing 4-1 win over hapless Sunderland on Saturday. Victory extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run in all competitions to 14 games and fuelled talk of them winning their first league title since 2004. Victory kept them level on points with Manchester City…
Ross Barkley’s excellent goal sealed an impressive 2-0 win for Everton over West Ham in their Premier League clash on Sunday ending a four-match winless run in the league. For Barkley, who had been dropped both from the England squad and the Everton starting line-up this season as his form dipped, it was his first goal since the opening day of the season against Spurs. Belgian international Romelu Lukaku, who set up 22-year-old Barkley for his goal, had opened the scoring for the hosts with his 50th for the club. It also maintained his extraordinary record against the Hammers as…
Victor Moses has spoken out about how much he is “relishing” playing as a wing-back at Chelsea this season after struggling to hit the ground running since joining the Blues in 2012. The 25-year-old has featured in eight Premier League matches for Chelsea including in their last three against Hull City, Leicester City and Manchester United which they have won without conceding. Moses opened up on why he has thrived as a wing-back despite having never played in that role before, and credits his outstanding performance to his Italian manager at the club, Antonio Conte. The Nigeria international said he…
Sunderland manager David Moyes was charged by England’s governing Football Association with misconduct on Thursday after being ordered off the touchline during Wednesday’s 1-0 League Cup fourth-round loss away to Southampton. Former Everton and Manchester United manager Moyes was sent to the stands after complaining about a decision by referee Chris Kavanagh not to award a late penalty after Maya Yoshida appeared to trip Victor Anichebe in the box. Scottish boss Moyes said afterwards he had had been dismissed for swearing at fourth official James Adcock. “David Moyes has been charged with misconduct by the FA in relation to Sunderland’s…
Arsene Wenger warned his Arsenal stars not to get carried away after they gave another demonstration of their sky-high confidence with a 6-0 demolition of Ludogorets in the Champions League. Wenger’s side are in peak form at present and Bulgarian minnows Ludogorets were powerless to prevent their hot streak extending to seven successive victories in all competitions. Alexis Sanchez scored a sublime opener and Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were also on the scoresheet at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday before Mesut Ozil hit a second half hat-trick. With Arsenal top of their Champions League group after three matches and…
Lionel Messi ran riot through Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City defence as though it was a playground game, according to Barcelona coach Luis Enrique as he savoured a dazzling 4-0 Champions League win. Inspired by Messi’s hat-trick, Barcelona joined Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain in registering important wins on Wednesday night. The Argentine genius was hailed for his composure after a month out with a groin injury. Before 96,290 people at Camp Nou, Messi picked up on one City mistake on 17 minutes and added two more — one brilliantly curled in — in the second half after City…
Dortmund, who have now failed to win their last three Bundesliga matches, struggled against lowly Ingolstadt and rescued a point thanks to Pulisic’s stoppage-time equaliser. Four days after their Champions League win at Sporting Lisbon, Dortmund were 2-0 down thanks to goals from Almog Cohen and Dario Lezcano. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cut the deficit in the 59th minute with his seventh league goal of the season but the hosts struck back seconds later, again through Paraguayan Lezcano. Adrian Ramos gave Dortmund hope with a 69th-minute goal before American teenager Pulisic levelled. Hoffenheim, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, continued a stellar…
Lionel Messi delivered a foul-mouthed tirade toward Valencia fans who threw objects at Barcelona players near the end of Saturday’s game. Barcelona trailed 2-1 in the second half but fought back to win 3-2 with Messi’s stoppage-time penalty in front of the home supporters. As Messi and his teammates celebrated the Blaugrana’s winner, a bottle was thrown from the home supporters’ Curva Nord stand into the centre of Barcelona’s huddle. Neymar and Luis Suarez were both hit by objects and fell to the pitch, leading Messi to confront the fans and pump his fist. After being briefly pulled away by…
Jose Mourinho was asked about Paul Pogba following Manchester United’s 4-1 Europa League victory over Fenerbahce on Thursday. “First of all, in some of your mouths, he goes from the worst player in the Premier League to a great player in 48 hours,” Mourinho told journalists. “I am not specifically saying it is you. I say media, especially the Einsteins. We know he is a very good player. We know he needs some time to show his potential.” Mourinho chose his moment. Pogba, the world’s most expensive player, had just scored his second and third goals in a United shirt.…
In the end, it was closer than it should have been, but Liverpool held on to record a 2-1 win over West Brom and go level on points with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League. Without a defensive lapse that allowed the Baggies to get back into the game in the second half, a two-goal victory would have put them top on their own for the first time since May 2014. That lapse, along with moments of profligacy that will frustrate Jurgen Klopp, perhaps provide the biggest questions over whether Liverpool are genuine title contenders this season. Still,…
As if games between Chelsea and Manchester United are not already big enough, this Sunday’s showdown features the return of one Jose Mourinho to the ground at which he was a managerial legend during two spells in charge. Mark Worrall (Chelsea) and Musa Okwonga (Manchester United) preview the match. Mark, what sort of reception will Mourinho get from the home fans? MW: A couple of refrains of “Jose Mourinho, Jose Mourinho” at best which will soon be replaced with jocular jibes of “sit down Mourinho” if he engages in technical area histrionics with match officials, players, stewards and of course,…
A frustrated Arsene Wenger said Arsenal lacked their usual creativity and sharp movement in the 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough on Saturday, and added that fatigue may have been a factor after playing in midweek. Arsenal had 75 percent possession but couldn’t find a breakthrough at the Emirates as their six-game winning streak in the Premier League came to a grinding halt. It was the visitors who had the better chances, with Cech making two crucial saves in the first half to preserve a clean sheet. “We did not have our usual pace in our combinations, and not enough sharpness in…
Jurgen Klopp laughed off any suggestion that he was disappointed his Liverpool side missed out on the opportunity to go top of the Premier League following Saturday’s 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion at Anfield. The Reds could have gone top of the Premier League if they beat West Brom by two or more goals, but instead jumped up into second place courtesy of the win, level on points with Arsenal. “Who wants to be on top in October?” Klopp said during his postmatch news conference. Sadio Mane broke the deadlock in the 20th minute when the Senegal international tucked…
Barcelona’s fitness woes continued on Saturday as Andres Iniesta suffered a knee injury in the first half of their La Liga game against Valencia. The midfielder has damage to the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee and Barcelona confirmed after initial tests that he will be sidelined for six to eight weeks. Iniesta hit the ground after a firm challenge from Enzo Perez and immediately signalled for a stretcher. After being attended to by the club’s medical team for several minutes, he was carried off the pitch at the Mestalla in tears. Barca boss Luis Enrique appeared furious with…
Ryan Giggs has said Louis van Gaal told him he was retiring as a player upon taking charge at Manchester United, but added in his Daily Telegraph column: “As soon as he said so, it felt right.” At the age of 40, Giggs announced his retirement in May 2014 after becoming the most decorated player in United’s history. He became Van Gaal’s assistant after retiring and told the Telegraph his decision to stop playing had been down to the former Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Netherlands coach. “When I first met Louis we got talking and he asked me to be…
Mauricio Pochettino is keen for his Tottenham Hotspur players to rise to the occasion and move to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday. That may only be for a few hours but Spurs know that victory at Bournemouth in a lunchtime kick-off will be enough to lift them above current leaders Manchester City, who play on Sunday, and Arsenal, who are in action later on Saturday. Spurs were title contenders for almost all of last season but never once reached the summit and eventually had to settle for third place. Pochettino was eager, therefore, for his side…
When Jose Mourinho was appointed Manchester United manager in the close season, Spain playmaker Juan Mata could have been forgiven for being less than enthused. Mourinho, the so-called ‘Special One’, dropped the double Chelsea Player of the Year during his time at Stamford Bridge before selling him to United in January 2014 for a then club record fee of 37 million pounds ($45.37 million). Mata was adored by Chelsea fans but the Portuguese seemed to feel differently about him. “We press very high up the pitch,” Mourinho said at the time. “My attacking players have big distances to run between…
Brazilian superstar Neymar has signed a new five-year contract that will keep him at Barcelona until 2021, the Spanish champions said on Friday. The deal, which had been agreed in June, includes a buy-out clause of up to 250 million euros as Barca seek to ward off interest from potential suitors.