Category: Football (Soccer)

Football (Soccer) News

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Manchester City 5-2 Crystal Palace: Premier League – as it happened

Kevin De Bruyne was imperious as his side survived an early scare to come from two goals down, win easily and move back into the Champions League qualification places

Ahead of this game, the Crystal Palace manager could not lavish enough praise on Manchester City striker Omar Marmoush, who he previously worked with at Wolfsburg. “He has the skills and what I loved was he was two and a half years in Germany and he spoken German perfectly and this is quite unusual,” he said of the Egyptian.

“He is a great guy, has all the skills and in the football career you may not have to make a straight direction to come to the top but he had a loan at St Pauli, Stuttgart, then performing for Wolfsburg, then an outstanding season for Frankfurt. Immediately he shows Manchester [City] what kind of striker he is. I’m really pleased for him but not tomorrow.”

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Mikel Arteta hails Declan Rice for ignoring Arsenal set-piece coach

  • Rice scored two free-kicks against Real Madrid
  • Nicolas Jover had told him to cross the ball

Mikel Arteta has praised Declan Rice for his initiative after the midfielder ignored the instructions of Arsenal’s set-piece coach before scoring the first of his two free-kicks against Real Madrid.

Rice revealed that Nicolas Jover had been telling him to cross the ball rather than shoot in the 58th minute of the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday. Rice had never scored a free kick in 338 appearances but said Jover’s instructions “didn’t make sense” and opted to shoot instead after being encouraged by Bukayo Saka.

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Top-five tussle: how Premier League battle for Champions League spots is shaping up

With Liverpool and Arsenal in line for two of five guaranteed spots in the tournament we assess other contenders

The important thing for Forest is that they sit third and have an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City to look forward to. Everyone below would like to be in their position. Injuries will be a cause for concern for Nuno Espírito Santo, who has been without his top scorer, Chris Wood, since the international break and then lost Wood’s replacement, Taiwo Awoniyi, leaving Forest without a recognised striker for the loss to Aston Villa, a game also missed by Ola Aina. Their final seven matches include four at home, where they have lost only twice, but three tricky away clashes in London mean the path to a historic return to Europe’s top table is unlikely to be straightforward for a team who have not been in this situation before. Forest have more experienced squads snapping at their heels as they seek to accomplish the most significant Premier League achievement since Leicester won the title. Will Unwin

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Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Lewis Dunk is running out of time, Jakub Kiwior rises to the challenge for Arsenal and Liam Delap has an audition

Manchester City’s tame outing at Manchester United on Sunday showed how they have flatlined this term, the goalless draw also damaging their prospects of Champions League qualification – after beating Leicester the following night, Newcastle vaulted them and went into fifth place. Without Erling Haaland, unavailable until mid-May at the earliest, City were toothless at Old Trafford, and with Crystal Palace arriving at the Etihad on a run of six wins in seven matches – the other was a draw – it is time for Pep Guardiola to earn his salary by ensuring his side are far better, or Europa League football may be on the cards next season. Jamie Jackson

Manchester City v Crystal Palace, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)

Southampton v Aston Villa, Saturday 3pm

Nottingham Forest v Everton, Saturday 3pm

Brighton v Leicester, Saturday 3pm

Arsenal v Brentford, Saturday 5.30pm

Chelsea v Ipswich, Sunday 2pm

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Tottenham 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt: Europa League quarter-final, first leg – as it happened

Tottenham played well, created chances, tested the keeper and speckled the woodwork but could not beat Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League

4 mins: A pretty wild first few minutes, but Spurs have sensibly slowed the pace down with a long spell of not-very-adventurous possession.

2 mins: Chelsea have already wrapped up a handy away win in the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final. Here’s a report:

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Lyon 2-2 Manchester United: Europa League quarter-final, first leg – as it happened

André Onana was at fault for both Lyon goals as Rayan Cherki’s stoppage-time strike cancelled out what looked to be a late winner from Joshua Zirkzee

It sounds like a number of Man Utd supporters are struggling to make it to the ground in time for kick-off. I’m sure we’ll hear more about that after the game.

Lyon will be missing their young wingers Ernest Nuamah and Malick Fofana when they host Manchester United on Thursday, which is a huge blow given their penchant for attacking down the flanks. The good news for Paulo Fonseca is that he will be able to call upon Rayan Cherki and Thiago Almada to carry out the attacking duties either side of Corentin Tolisso, with Georges Mikautadze leading the line.

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Football Daily | Aston Villa’s right royal Bigger Cup night at the Parc des Princes

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Whether it’s Ed Sheeran at Ipswich, Michael McIntyre at Spurs or Hugh Grant and the Osman brothers at Fulham, celebrity fans always need to be on their very best behaviour, given the almost psychopathic obsession TV directors have with cutting away to them as the action on the pitch unfolds. Last night it was the turn of Prince William to find himself under constant surveillance in his VIP seat in nominative determinism’s Parc des Princes, where he and his son, George, were forced to abandon any plans they might have had to pick their noses, flick Vs at Paris Saint-Germain players or offer home fans out for a scrap on the concourse, for fear of being caught on camera and enjoying a surge in public popularity that no end of gladhanding elderly war veterans or official visits to former colonies could ever provide.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

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Vancouver Whitecaps to face Inter Miami in Concacaf semis after dramatic equalizer

  • Tristan Blackmon scored late to eliminate Pumas
  • Whitecaps will face Lionel Messi, Miami in next round

Tristan Blackmon scored a stoppage-time equalizer to help Vancouver Whitecaps earn a 2-2 draw with Pumas on Wednesday and book a spot in the Concacaf Champions Cup semi-finals against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.

Sebastian Berhalter put Vancouver ahead in the 33rd minute but the Mexican club responded with goals from Guillermo Martínez in the 37th and Ignacio Pussetto in the 88th to take a 2-1 lead. Blackmon sealed the semi-final spot three minutes into stoppage time as the Whitecaps advanced on away goals.

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Paulo Fonseca: ‘They want to make an example of me for French football’

Lyon’s manager reflects on his nine-month domestic ban for confronting a referee and his Europa League hopes against Manchester United

“This kind of motivation can make miracles,” says Paulo Fonseca as he describes the glint in his Lyon players’ eyes before the visit of Manchester United. It is a clash of two giants who have lost their way – although something, at least, is stirring in France’s second city. They have won eight of their 11 games since Fonseca’s arrival less than two and a half months ago and that tells only part of a story with little precedent.

The Europa League quarter‑final first leg on Thursday will be a rare opportunity for Fonseca to do what he enjoys best: manage his team from the technical area, cajoling and tweaking from the sidelines. Early in March he was given a nine-month ban from domestic games for aggressively confronting the referee Benoît Millot towards the end of a win against Brest. He is barred from the dugout and from communicating with his bench until 30 November, but will be allowed access to the dressing rooms and tunnel area from 15 September. Recent Ligue 1 matches have been taken in from the press box. Uefa-run fixtures offer relief and he is still getting his head around a suspension with a duration which could have jeopardised his career.

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Kvaratskhelia, PSG’s joyous throwback, delivers moment of old-school delight | Barney Ronay

PSG’s winger makes up his own moments – and he scored a beauty to set Luis Enrique’s side on course for victory

It took three minutes of the second half for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, perhaps the most watchable footballer in Europe right now, to confirm the way this game was going.

Unai Emery had sent on Axel Disasi for Matty Cash at the break, with the score 1-1 and PSG hugely dominant on every metric. Cash was effectively doomed in this game from the moment he was booked pulling Kvaratskhelia back, just trying to stop the pain on Aston Villa’s right side, and already facing a case of terminal neck-crick from staring down at those shuffling feet. That was Cash’s fourth foul with just 17 minutes gone. Tick tock.

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