Football (Soccer) News
Japhet Tanganga fired in-form Millwall to a 1-0 win over Leeds to move the hosts up to fifth in the Championship table.
The defender struck in the 40th minute to secure a fourth consecutive 1-0 victory for Neil Harris’s side and hand Leeds just their second league defeat of the season.
Continue reading...Paris Saint-Germain’s disappointing Champions League campaign continued on Wednesday as they slumped to a last-gasp 2-1 home defeat by Atlético Madrid that left the Ligue 1 leaders in the elimination zone.
Warren Zaïre-Emery’s opener was quickly cancelled out by Nahuel Molina in the first half of a largely disappointing match which ended with Ángel Correa stabbing in the winner three minutes into added time.
Continue reading...Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s first-half penalty was enough for the Italian champions, who withstood a second-half barrage from Arsenal to secure the win
2 min: Inter so close to taking the lead! A cross looped in by Martinez from the left. Dumfries takes it down, just inside the box on the right. He digs out a spectacular rising shot that rattles off the underside of the bar, Raya beaten all ends up. Arsenal clear their lines.
1 min: “All right, great – a game of football,” begins Charles Antaki, high on copium. “That’ll do fine; like many, I’m looking forward to a bit of distraction. Please let it be engaging enough to take one’s mind off recent geopolitical news – hopefully a thrilling, entertaining game, but if it’s a nasty anger-filled slugfest in the pouring rain with two red cards and a pitch invasion, that’ll do just as well. Something, anything.”
Continue reading...Manager’s ability to improve individuals has helped the club to the summit of both Premier and Champions Leagues
Arne Slot had asked for judgment to be reserved on Liverpool’s potential until after the seven matches between the October and November international breaks. It’s not jumping the gun to declare it serious, powerful and rich after six of those games.
Tuesday night at Anfield presented Xabi Alonso with an opportunity to demonstrate up close why the clamour for him to succeed Jürgen Klopp as Liverpool manager was more than an emotional call. But it was Slot’s name that rang out from the Kop immediately after the final whistle after yet another victory and another reminder that, when it comes to succession planning, Michael Edwards, the chief executive of football at Fenway Sports Group and the man who appointed Richard Hughes as Liverpool sporting director, has few equals.
Continue reading...André Onana has backed his Manchester United teammates to “step up” and adapt to Rúben Amorim’s style after watching Sporting defeat Manchester City 4-1 in the Champions League. Amorim, who will arrive in England next week to replace Erik ten Hag, prefers a 3-4-3 formation and intense pressing, in contrast to United’s 4-2-3-1 under his predecessor.
“I did watch the game yesterday,” Onana said before United’s Europa League game at home to Paok. “Great victory from them [Sporting], by the way. Different system, but the players, my teammates, we are all pragmatic. I think everyone here is capable to play in each system, so I don’t think this will be any issue for us. We have big players, so they will step up.”
Continue reading...Harrison Burrows scored with almost the last kick of the game as Sheffield United came from behind to snatch a 2-1 Championship victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
The hosts took a 75th-minute lead when substitute Sinclair Armstrong raced onto Max Bird’s through-ball and was tripped as he rounded goalkeeper Michael Cooper. Another replacement, Anis Mehmeti, drilled the resulting spot-kick low to Cooper’s right and, although the keeper guessed correctly, he could not keep the shot out.
Continue reading...Luis Diaz scored a memorable hat-trick as Liverpool overwhelmed Leverkusen in the last half hour at Anfield
A reminder of the teams
Liverpool (4-3-3) Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas; Jones, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.
Substitutes: Jaros, Davies, Gomez, Endo, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Robertson, Quansah, Morton, Bradley.
Unai Emery has challenged his Aston Villa players to cement their surprise status as favourites to automatically qualify for the Champions League last 16. Villa, who are yet to concede in the competition, can make it four successive wins if they beat Club Brugge on Wednesday. The Villa manager estimates his team will need 16 or 17 points to guarantee a place in the top eight.
Emery said Villa have enjoyed being a “fighter team” after returning to Europe’s most prestigious club stage but has encouraged his players to take the next step in Belgium. “We have the possibility to get one step ahead in this competition, to be contenders for the top eight,” Emery said. “This is really an amazing objective that we can achieve. We are aware about the possibility to get the fourth victory, 12 points and the expectation for the next round to be in the top eight, maybe it [would take] 16, 17 points. If we win, clearly we can be contenders to be in the top eight.
Continue reading...Nearly 95% of total contributions from owners across America’s major sports leagues went to Republicans. See how your team fared in our database
Sports team owners in the major North American leagues have donated at least $132.1m in federal elections since 2020, with nearly 95% of those contributions going to Republican campaigns, candidates and Super Pacs, according to research conducted by the Guardian.
Nearly all of the owners of the MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, NWSL and WNBA franchises were active political donors in the election cycles since 2020. A minimum of $124,806,435 (94.5%) was designated for candidates or committees with Republican leanings, while at least $5,215,693 (3.9%) went toward Democratic causes, according to Federal Election Commission disclosures and data compiled by the nonprofit OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks campaign finance spending. About 2% of contributions went to bipartisan or unaffiliated recipients.
Continue reading...Christian and Alexis react to a wide open Premier League title race. Then, the guys discuss the MLS playoffs including a couple of big upsets. Later, Christian and Alexis break down Rachel Kundananji’s insane skills.
Anfield will forever celebrate their hero of Istanbul but the Leverkusen head coach returns with a new fairytale to write
Xabi Alonso took centre stage at Anfield elegantly, considered his options and switched play in an instant. Had the ball been at his feet it would have felt as if he had never been away, but it was on the subject of succeeding Jürgen Klopp as Liverpool manager where the club’s former midfielder showed the deftest of touches.
Alonso was back with Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool’s opponent in the Champions League on Tuesday night, 15 years after ending a playing chapter in his career synonymous with style, Istanbul and an intuitive rapport with Steven Gerrard. He could have been back sooner had Liverpool received any encouragement he might have been in the market for a new job this summer. It was not a possibility he entertained at the time or was keen to revisit at his pre-match press conference on Monday.
Continue reading...LA Galaxy are six-time MLS Cup champions, keeping New York Red Bulls cup free after Lionel Messi and Inter Miami were dumped out of the playoffs in stunning fashion.
Celtic’s manager, Brendan Rodgers, has reiterated his call for the club’s supporters to stop using pyrotechnics, with the Bonfire Night Champions League visit of RB Leipzig raising fears of a Uefa ban.
Supporters’ use of fireworks during last month’s 7-1 defeat by Borussia Dortmund led to Celtic being fined by Uefa and told their fans will be banned from attending an away fixture if there is another such incident within two years. The warning was heeded when Celtic drew away to Atalanta two weeks ago, but kick-off was delayed at Saturday’s Scottish League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen after yet another Celtic pyro display. Uefa is keeping a close eye on the matter.
Continue reading...Defeat at his former club could spell the end for coach who has faced an uphill task in following Daniele De Rossi
Halloween has been and gone, but Roma’s past keeps coming back to haunt them. Terrorised last month by Edoardo Bove, the graduate of their own academy who scored one goal and set up another in a 5-1 defeat by Fiorentina, the Giallorossi travelled on Sunday to face Verona.
This was the club where Roma’s manager, Ivan Juric, built his reputation by steering a side that yo-yoed between Italy’s top two tiers throughout the 2010s to consecutive top-half finishes. It’s also a place he feels profoundly connected to. “Whenever I say: ‘I’m going home,’ I mean I’m going to Verona,” said the Croatian. “My soul is linked to this city.”
Continue reading...Decision to scrap FA Cup replays reopens discussion about what buckles next in an increasingly unsustainable calendar
Weston-super-Mare’s ground, the Optima Stadium, holds around 3,500 fans. It was last packed to the rafters when Doncaster Rovers arrived a decade ago, a convincing defeat hardly dampening the night’s magnitude. Had the clock stopped at 90 minutes in their FA Cup first round tie at Bristol Rovers on Saturday, a 1-1 draw would have guaranteed an occasion unmatched in their 137‑year history. The National League South side would have hosted a competitive derby against one of the local giants for the first time; broadcasters would almost certainly have been interested and the five‑figure windfall would not have harmed long-term ambitions to redevelop their home.
Instead the tie went to extra time and, as should be expected from a decently resourced League One team against flagging legs, Rovers pulled two goals clear. Weston-super-Mare’s time in the sun was over and, barring an unprecedented rise through the divisions, they will not hit radars again until whenever the FA Cup draw next falls in their favour. As a timely thread on X pointed out over the weekend, they were one of five non-league teams that missed out on a home replay for identical reasons. That would not have been the case before the Football Association’s decision in April that all FA Cup fixtures must be decided at the first time of asking, justified primarily by the imminent strain from expanded Champions League and Club World Cup competitions on those higher up the chain.
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