Category: Football (Soccer)

Football (Soccer) News

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Newcastle United 2-1 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened

Harvey Barnes was Newcastle’s two-goal hero as Eddie Howe tasted Premier League success against City for the first time in his career

25 seconds: Donnarumma gets away with a dreadful pass out from the back. Joelinton nips in ahead of Foden, who didn’t want the ball, and pokes to Barnes. The Newcastle winger, on the left-hand edge of the D, aims for the bottom right but his curler is weak and the keeper makes amends. What a start that could have been!

Eddie Howe and Pep Guardiola greet each other warmly, then Manchester City kick off. A huge roar from the St James’ Park faithful. Oh me lads.

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Harvey Barnes double helps Newcastle derail Manchester City revival

Newcastle’s recent slide left them 15th in the Premier League at kick-off but, by the end of an always absorbing, sometimes almost anarchic, evening they had ascended to Cloud Nine.

It is very hard to argue that Eddie Howe is not an elite coach – what price he ends up eventually being poached by Liverpool as Arne Slot’s successor? – but, until this watershed win, his record against Pep Guardiola was pretty dismal. In 16 previous Premier League matches against Guardiola’s Manchester City, with Bournemouth and Newcastle, Howe had lost 14 and drawn two. All that changed as, with Harvey Barnes scoring twice, his players dealt a potentially debilitating blow to City’s title hopes. Guardiola’s side now sit third, four points behind Arsenal and one in arrears of Chelsea.

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Verbruggen’s last-gasp penalty save secures Brighton’s comeback win over Brentford

Bart Verbruggen was the hero for Brighton after his stoppage-time penalty save from Igor Thiago earned a dramatic victory over Brentford. Brighton had looked like tasting defeat after Thiago’s ice-cool first-half spot-kick had the visitors in front.

Danny Welbeck’s 71st-minute leveller sparked a grandstand finish for Brighton and substitute Jack Hinshelwood completed the turnaround with six minutes left.

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West Ham throw away two-goal lead as Unal salvages draw for Bournemouth

Enes Unal scored moments after climbing off the bench to snatch a point for Bournemouth. The Turkish forward, making his second substitute appearance after recovering from a second ACL injury, struck nine minutes from time to deny West Ham a first away win under Nuno Espirito Santo. “Everyone is so happy and so pleased when these things happen,” said Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth’s manager. “Ten months fighting almost alone, with the physios.”

Callum Wilson had marked his return to his former club with two first-half goals, but when he went off West Ham’s momentum went with him. Marcus Tavernier pulled one back from the penalty spot before Unal struck, with the 28-year-old visibly emotional as he celebrated.

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Championship: Coventry battle back to beat Baggies; Daka strike eases heat on Cifuentes

  • Lampard’s leaders recover from 2-0 down to seal win

  • Leicester’s Daka scores for first time in almost a year

Frank Lampard praised his “outstanding” side’s resilience after Championship leaders Coventry came back from two goals down at home to beat 10-man West Brom 3-2. Aune Heggebo’s double put the visitors into what looked like a commanding lead, but Josh Eccles halved the deficit before the break. Jayson Molumby was then sent off four minutes into the second half, after which Ellis Simms and Victor Torp were on target to make it nine wins in 10 for the hosts.

“The reaction to keep playing in the first half was very positive, even with the feeling of 2-0 which can sometimes take the wind out of yourselves. The goal before half-time, which we deserved, helped because that gave the players belief. I think the red card helped too … but even with 11 men on I would have fancied us in the second half.”

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‘Fine the singers, too’: Guardiola’s joking dig at Manchester City penalties for late restarts

  • Manager laments club’s £3m fines for late second halves

  • Burna Boy pre-show ‘made Champions League final late’

Pep Guardiola has lamented the Premier League’s strict rules that have led to Manchester City being fined more than £3m for 30 late second-half restarts in the past three seasons, jokingly bemoaning that Burna Boy did not suffer a similar fate after delaying the kick-off in the 2023 Champions League final.

City play at Newcastle on Saturday evening, beginning a hectic schedule in which they will play twice a week until mid-January. They travelled to the north-east on Friday afternoon, leading to a change in routine at the Etihad Campus and an early pre-match press conference in order to comply with Premier League rules and avoid another punitive fee.

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‘I wouldn’t compare us’: Sindre Walle Egeli, the Ipswich teenager who has outscored Haaland

Record scorer for Norway’s age-group sides discusses his World Cup hope, being frozen out at 15 and fake tickets heartbreak at Anfield

Liverpool against Aston Villa on 18 January 2014. It was impossible to measure the excitement in a seven-year-old from Norway making his first pilgrimage to Anfield. Inside was the promise of watching his favourite player, Daniel Sturridge, and the rest of a freewheeling side throwing everything at a title push. But as Sindre Walle Egeli and his family reached the turnstiles, the cruelest of realities dawned.

“It’s not a good memory,” Walle Egeli says. “We showed up, ready to go, and it turned out we’d got fake tickets. I don’t know what happened, maybe my parents bought from some shady people. It was heartbreaking.”

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Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Semenyo can lift Bournemouth, Isak must show up for Liverpool and north London derby rivals left to rue injuries

A Mancunian reunion of sorts is on the cards should Kyle Walker of Burnley face Alejandro Garnacho on Chelsea’s left at Turf Moor. The winger has started to settle at Stamford Bridge after his summer move from Manchester United and showcased his range against Wolves before the international break. His assist for Pedro Neto combined wicked pace with a perfect ball along the carpet. His setup for Malo Gusto involved shifting on to his right foot before a dinked cross to the far post. His celebration with Neto, replicating his sitting embrace with Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmund Højlund, was a reminder of how quickly things change. The last time Garnacho took on Walker? When the former scored for United in their FA Cup final win over Manchester City. Taha Hashim

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MLS reveals 2026 schedule featuring two-month break for World Cup

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will play a Major League Soccer match in their new stadium for the first time on 4 April, one of the highlights of the league’s schedule that was revealed Thursday.

The 2026 MLS regular season starts 21 February and runs through 7 November. It’ll be the last season in the February-to-November model, with a shortened season planned for 2027 and then the new summer-to-spring calendar for the 2027-28 campaign to closer align with other global leagues.

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‘A modern-day Colosseum’: Birmingham City unveil 62,000-capacity stadium plans

  • Stadium planned to feature 12 chimney-like towers

  • Club chair Tom Wagner sees it as ‘beacon for excellence’

Birmingham City have unveiled designs of their striking new 62,000-capacity stadium, the Birmingham City Powerhouse, which the Championship club say will open for the 2030-31 season.

The stadium, which features 12 chimney-like towers inspired by the city’s industrial heritage, will dominate the Birmingham skyline and be visible up to 40 miles away. One tower will include a lift to Birmingham’s highest bar, offering city-wide views.

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