Football (Soccer) News
Pep Guardiola is yet to decide if Kyle Walker will play for Manchester City again following the captain’s request to “explore the option” of playing abroad.
The 34-year-old was left out of the match-day squad for Saturday’s 8-0 FA Cup third round defeat of Salford City after informing the club on Thursday of his wish to depart.
Continue reading...Harry Kane netted a penalty to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach in their first Bundesliga match after the winter break, keeping them four points clear of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
The England captain sent Gladbach keeper Moritz Nicolas the wrong way in the 68th minute to break the deadlock and bag his 15th league goal this season to maintain his status as the Bundesliga’s top scorer.
Continue reading...Mikel Arteta, whose side host Manchester United, is unlikely to be able to bolster his attack this month
“Gentlemen whose sole ability to build up a good side depends on the payment of heavy and exhorbitant [sic] transfer fees need not apply.”
This summer marks the 100th anniversary of the legendary Herbert Chapman’s appointment by Arsenal after the chairman, Sir Henry Norris, posted an advertisement in the Athletic News as they searched for a new manager. Times may have changed but the message must sound very familiar to Mikel Arteta.
Continue reading...Manchester City’s third win on the bounce was all the sweeter due to their victims having unbreakable Manchester United connections. Salford City, owned by the Class of 92, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Phil and Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, were always primed to be easy fall guys and with 65 places between them and England’s champions, Karl Robinson’s men were cuffed aside as if in an exhibition.
The victory was decorated by a hat-trick from the Salford-born James McAtee and Jack Grealish’s first goal for more than a year, plus two from Jérémy Doku, the second a 69th-minute penalty after the Belgian’s shot was handled by Curtis Tilt. McAtee’s second featured a sharp finish, after receiving Phil Foden’s drilled delivery inside Salford’s area, while his third was a predator’s stab from Grealish’s cross.
Continue reading...Salford-born James McAtee scored his first career hat-trick as Manchester City produced a clinical display of finishing
“Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. “With a Tilt in central defence we’re certain to see plenty of pinball action in the Salford six-yard box.”
“This is why the FA Cup is great,” writes Mary Waltz. “Hellbound Plymouth rising from the dead, shocking a Premier League team. I know that Plymouth will not go far in this tourney, that a PL squad will win the cup. But seeing the occasional David upset a Goliath is brilliant.”
Continue reading...With their club legend, Mick Harford, helping to lead the team, Luton, who sacked manager Rob Edwards this week, travelled to Nottingham Forest for a repeat of 1959’s final. And just like that Wembley day, the Hatters departed in disappointment, losing 2-0 at the City Ground.
Ryan Yates, the Forest captain, was the driving force for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team, and scored the first goal for the Premier League high-fliers, a stooping header after a fine cross from Ramón Sosa. The Paraguayan then scored Forest’s second himself, sliding in from close range after Jota Silva’s pass from the right wing to follow up six consecutive Premier League wins with a comfortable stroll into the next round.
Continue reading...Stanley performed well and had their chances, but Liverpool were never in serious danger of being on the wrong end of a shock
1 min: A long ball down the Stanley right. Walton competes with Endo but the makeshift Liverpool centre-back – who has plenty of experience in the position from his Bundesliga days, to be fair – ushers the ball out for a goal kick.
Accrington Stanley get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Kop in this first half. “Who wouldn’t be delighted with a defensive line filled with Love and Awe?” coos Dean Kinsella.
Continue reading...Ange Postecoglou had to remove toads from a swampy pitch before one of the most pivotal games of his career, so Sunday’s FA Cup tie on non-league Tamworth’s 3G surface holds no fears for him.
The Tottenham manager has plenty of experience of artificial pitches, including from his time in Scotland with Celtic, and he said his players would train on one at the club’s Enfield HQ on Saturday. But Postecoglou’s mind went back to his first job as a manager at South Melbourne and a make-or-break fixture in unusual conditions. It was an Oceania qualification tie for the inaugural 2000 Club World Cup and Postecoglou has vivid memories not only about what was at stake but also the surface at the stadium in Fiji.
Continue reading...Plymouth have appointed Miron Muslic as the club’s new head coach to replace Wayne Rooney.
The 42-year-old former Cercle Brugge manager has signed a three-and-a-half year deal to succeed Rooney, who left the club on New Year’s Eve.
Continue reading...West Ham threatened to spoil Aston Villa’s 150th birthday party, but a quick-fire second-half double meant Villa won just their second FA Cup game in nine years
1 min: Just 41 seconds on the clock, in fact, and West Ham nearly take the lead in spectacular style. The ball’s shuttled right to left via Wan-Bissaka, Summerville and Paqueta, the latter pearling a diagonal rising shot from 25 yards that misses the top-right corner by an inch or two. Not sure Olsen was getting there.
West Ham get the ball rolling. A reminder that this tie will be decided tonight, after extra time and penalty kicks if necessary. And there’s no VAR!
Continue reading...The chance to train in goal with the League Two side was too good to miss as excitement builds for Elland Road trip
“Patrick Bamford! Joël Piroe! Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink!” are screamed at me as shots are thrashed towards the net, testing my reflexes. Somehow I have become the fourth goalkeeper at one of Harrogate Town’s final training sessions before facing the Championship leaders, Leeds, in the third round of the FA Cup, one of the most significant games in the club’s 106-year existence.
It is too cold on this freezing morning for it to be a fever dream. There are four days to go before the League Two strugglers take on the Premier League wannabes and the pitches at Rothwell Juniors where Harrogate train on the outskirts of Leeds are rock solid, with temporary ice rinks dotted around. The outfield players have seen the conditions and decided it is better to stay inside in the warmth and do some strength work, while the manager, Simon Weaver, goes about trying to find alternative indoor facilities for the coming days.
Continue reading...Arne Slot has warned Liverpool’s players they cannot be complacent against Accrington Stanley given they will treat their FA Cup third-round tie at Anfield on Saturday as their “Champions League final”.
The League Two side’s visit to Liverpool will be Slot’s first experience of facing an English lower league side in a competitive game. Eighty-seven places separate Accrington and the Premier League leaders, and a win for John Doolan’s team would go down as one of the great upsets in the competition’s long history.
Continue reading...Major League Soccer has apologised after saying Celtic’s Japanese forward Kyogo Furuhashi had signed for Atlanta United when in fact it was his compatriot Cayman Togashi who had joined the club.
Atlanta had previously been linked with Furuhashi and on Wednesday MLS posted an article on its website saying the 29-year-old Japan international had completed a transfer.
Continue reading...Christian and Alexis bring on USMNT legend Tony Meola and Apple TV Keith Costigan to chat the state of MLS ahead of the 2025 season. Then, Christian and Alexis have 19 season MLS veteran Dax McCarty join the show to look back at a decorated career that includes beating Messi. Later, Christian and Alexis eact to news in Europe including West Ham sacking head coach Julen Lopetegui as well as Tottenham and Newcastle taking the lead in their Carabao Cup semifinal ties.
Accrington face the ultimate test, long throws await Spurs and there’s a potential blockbuster in north London
“We’re aware we were once mentioned in a milk advert,” reads the bio on Accrington Stanley’s X page. “We hear ‘Who are they?’ and ‘Exactly’ a lot.” Don’t be misled by the weary tone regarding their mention in the famous 1989 Milk Marketing Board advertisement, for which the club received £10,000. The connection has always been embraced and never more so than in the buildup to their third round visit to Liverpool, the Premier League leaders. As the Accrington captain Seamus Conneely said: “We’ve made it to third and fourth rounds before, we’ve had League Cup runs and played in some great stadiums, but we’ve finally got that big one. Liverpool is going to top it all.” Accrington have sold their entire 4,700-ticket allocation and the tie is of huge significance to the striker Josh Woods, a boyhood Liverpool fan whose reaction to the draw went viral and prompted a reply from Ibrahima Konaté. Liam Coyle is another Red who started out in Liverpool’s academy, while the management team of John Doolan and Ged Brannan are also from Liverpool. This is an FA Cup moment to cherish. Andy Hunter
Liverpool v Accrington Stanley, Saturday 12.15pm (all times GMT)
Brentford v Plymouth Argyle, Saturday 3pm
Bristol City v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Saturday 12pm
Chelsea v Morecambe, Saturday 3pm
Leeds v Harrogate Town, Saturday 5.45pm
Manchester City v Salford City, Saturday 5.45pm
Continue reading...