Manuel Pellegrini insists Manchester City are still heading in the right direction under his tutorship despite surrendering the Premier League title without even fighting. . Pellegrini’s side have limply allowed the English crown to slip from their grasp after falling 12 points behind leaders Chelsea with only five games remaining. . City also struggled once again in the Champions League, barely making it out of the group stages before bowing out in tame fashion against Barcelona. . After slumping down to fourth place, they must focus on securing enough points to hold off fifth placed Liverpool in the race to…
Author: David F.
Liverpool are in need of a top-level striker who can play every week as Daniel Sturridge could lose his role as the club’s leading man after an injury-hit season, manager Brendan Rodgers has said. . Liverpool scored 101 Premier League goals last season, with Sturridge and Luis Suarez netting 52 between them to help Rodgers’s side finished runners-up to Manchester City. . However, Rodgers failed to replace Suarez following his move to Barcelona and forwards Sturridge, Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini have scored eight league goals between them as Liverpool have slipped out of contention for Champions League…
Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini thought about leaving the club after a terrible debut season but the ‘now fantastic’ Belgian believes he is currently reaping the rewards of fighting for his place at Old Trafford. . The 27-year-old Fellaini joined United in a £27 million deal from Everton in 2013 to become David Moyes’s first signing as manager. . But Fellaini, along with Moyes, struggled to adapt to life at Old Trafford as United finished seventh, 22 points behind champions Manchester City. . “It was a difficult season for everyone, not just me, but the criticism was on me because I…
Swansea City came from behind to inflict a record seventh straight defeat on Newcastle United on Saturday, winning 3-2 on another day taken over by protests at St James’ Park. . Ayoze Perez put the home side in front in the first half but Nelson Oliveira, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jack Cork turned the game around before Siem de Jong grabbed a late consolation for Newcastle. . The Magpies are now on their worst run of consecutive defeats in the history of the Premier League and have won just twice in 16 matches since John Carver replaced Alan Pardew as manager.…
Charlie Austin missed a first-half penalty as Queens Park Rangers remained in the grasp of relegation from the Premier League following a stalemate at home to London rivals West Ham on Saturday. . Both sides had chances to win at Loftus Road but the best fell to QPR striker Austin after James Collins handled the ball in the box but his spot-kick was blocked by the legs of Hammers goalkeeper Adrian, who made several key saves. . QPR defender Richard Dunne thought he had scored in the second half but his header was ruled out for a foul on Adrian…
Brazil sensation Fernandinho scored a dramatic 89th-minute winning goal for Manchester City to earn a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday, a result which could have major ramifications at both ends of the Premier League. . It was the second goal in four minutes at Eastlands after Carlos Sanchez appeared to have earned FA Cup finalists Villa a priceless point when he was on hand to skilfully hook the ball into the goal from 12 yards after City goalkeeper Joe Hart had failed to deal with a Charles N’Zogbia corner. . But with normal time running out, Aleksandar Kolarov’s…
Bayern Munich can be guaranteed their 25th German league title after Bastian Schweinsteiger’s late goal sealed their 1-0 home win over Hertha Berlin on Saturday. . Schweinsteiger’s 80th-minute winner leaves Bayern 15 points clear in the league table with only four games left and Pep Guardiola’s side poised to finish the weekend with a third straight Bundesliga title. . But Munich’s champagne must wait on ice until second-placed VfL Wolfsburg play at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday, when a Wolves’ defeat or draw would remove all mathematical doubt and confirm Bayern as champions. . After Bayern’s stunning 6-1 Champions League quarterfinal…
Liverpool’s outside chance of staying in the hunt for Champions League qualification suffered another major setback after a 0-0 draw at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday put an end to their hopes of a top-four finish. . Stalemate at the Hawthorns left Liverpool six points adrift of Manchester City, who could be nine points clear were they to beat Aston Villa in Saturday’s late kick-off. . Liverpool were looking to bounce back from the disappointment of their FA Cup semifinal defeat by Villa, but they squandered the chances to celebrate Steven Gerrard’s 500th Premier League appearance with a much-needed victory.
Burnley, Queens Park Rangers and Sunderland slipped closer to the relegation trapdoor in the Premier League on Saturday as Leicester City and Hull City recorded extremely crucial victories. . Bottom club Burnley lost 1-0 at home to Leicester in agonising circumstances, with Jamie Vardy notching a 60th-minute winner for the visitors just seconds after Burnley’s Matt Taylor had hit the post with a penalty. . Vardy poked the ball over the line after Michael Duff had turned a Marc Albrighton cross towards his own goal to give Leicester a fourth successive win, which took Nigel Pearson’s side out of the…
Gabon and Borussia Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored an audacious penalty and set up another goal in a 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday to keep their Europa League hopes alive. . The Gabon international took over the penalty duties with Marco Reus on the bench and chipped his 24th minute spot kick down the middle of the goal with keeper Kevin Trapp diving early. . He than charged down the wing and cut back for Shinji Kagawa to tap in as Dortmund, last season’s runners-up, moved up to eighth on 39 points, three behind Augsburg in sixth with…
Neymar and Lionel Messi were on target as Barcelona produced a fantastic first 45 minutes performance to take a huge step towards the La Liga title with a 2-0 win at local rivals Espanyol on Saturday. . The visitors dominated from the off and two goals in eight minutes sealed the win as Neymar and Messi rounded off excellent team moves. . Barca were reduced to 10 men early in the second period as Jordi Alba was given his marching orders for taking his protestations towards referee Mateu Lahoz too far. . But Luis Enrique’s men held on comfortably and…
Manchester United have tabled a €30-million bid for Borussia Dortmund’s Germany defender Mats Hummels, according to a report in Sport Bild. . Hummels admitted earlier this month he was weighing up his options amid reports United boss Louis van Gaal wants Dortmund’s World Cup winner at the heart of his defence for next season. . After Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp announced last Wednesday that he would leave at the end of the season, Hummels is set to be the next big name star to leave the 2013 Champions League finalists, according to the magazine. . German daily Bild claim United’s…
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has dismissed speculation about his job by saying he is the best man to lead the club and that he expects to be in charge next season. . The Northern Irishman came out fighting on Thursday after defeat by Aston Villa in Sunday’s FA Cup semifinal ensured he became the first Liverpool manager since the 1950s not to win silverware in his first three seasons in charge. . The club are currently out of the Champions League qualification places and have developed a reputation for stumbling on the big occasion. . Rodgers has also come in…
Louis van Gaal has said he believes Ryan Giggs will succeed him as Manchester United manager. . Van Gaal, 63, is nearing the end of his first season in charge at Old Trafford and is contracted to the club until 2017. . “I expect that he will be the next manager after I am gone,” he told the club’s MUTV channel about the future of Giggs, the Dutchman’s assistant since he took over last May. . “Now I have the responsibility. He has tasks that he has to perform like the players. What he has to do, for me, he…
Jose Mourinho insists top midfielder Eden Hazard will not be leaving the club he manages for Real Madrid. . The Belgium playmaker was the target of praise from Bernabeu insider Zinedine Zidane, prompting speculation Hazard could be a summer target for the Spanish club. . But Chelsea manager Mourinho is adamant there is no risk of Hazard wanting to leave Stamford Bridge after signing a five-and-a-half year contract to remain at the club earlier this year. . He said: “He has just signed a new contract. We didn’t put a gun against his head. He had lots of time to…
The new challenges Yaya Toure wants so bas can be found at Manchester City and the midfielder does not need to leave the Premier League club if he wants to slug it out for silverware, manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Friday. . Toure suggested this week that he might be interested in a new challenge and the Ivorian’s agent has said the 31-year-old would not be short of suitors if he decided to end his five-year spell in Manchester. . But Pellegrini believes the powerful Ivorian wants to stay and has urged the midfielder to play a crucial role in…
Chelsea may be two wins left from regaining the Premier League title, but manager Jose Mourinho insists he is taking nothing for granted – including his fantastic record against Arsenal legend and manager Arsene Wenger. . The London rivals meet on Sunday with Chelsea 10 points clear at the top of the table. Victory at second-placed Arsenal would mean Mourinho’s team can clinch the title by beating Leicester City three days later. . But Mourinho said his unbeaten record in 12 games against Wenger was irrelevant. . “For me, achievement is to win (on Sunday),” he told reporters on Friday.…
Manchester United have suffered yet another defensive injury with right-back Rafael da Silva out for the rest of the season after breaking his ribs. . Manager Louis van Gaal said to MUTV that the Brazilian suffered the injury in an Under-21 match against Leicester this week. . United, who lie in third place, a point behind Arsenal and one ahead of neighbours Manchester City, do have centre-back Jonny Evans available again after a six-match ban for Sunday’s Premier League match at Everton. . But Michael Carrick, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo remain sidelined. . Striker Robin van Persie, who has…
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has spoken to fantastic midfielder Marouane Fellaini about keeping his emotions in check when he makes his very first return to former club Everton on Saturday. . Fellaini left Merseyside to join United in a £27 million deal in August 2013 following five years in which he became a talismanic figure at Everton. . The Belgium international struggled for form during his first 12 months at Old Trafford under former Everton manager David Moyes and he was an unused substitute last April when United lost 2-0 at Goodison Park in what was Moyes’s last…
The draw for the semis of the Europa League on Friday made room for the possibility of an all-Italian final as Serie A sides Napoli and Fiorentina avoided each other. . Rafa Benitez’s Napoli will take on Dnipro of Ukraine while Fiorentina will face holders Sevilla in the semi-finals, with the first legs to be played on Thursday, May 7 and the second legs on Thursday, May 14. . Napoli, who are through to their first European semi-final since the side captained by Diego Maradona won the Uefa Cup in 1989, will be favourites to beat a Dnipro outfit appearing…