Month: July 2020

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football Slides Sports News

GUARDIOLA WARY OF REAL MADRID EN ROUTE HIS TEAM’S UCL AMBITION

Pep Guardiola warned his Manchester City players not to look too far ahead after their route to a possible final was mapped out on Friday.

The Blues discovered that they will face either Juventus or Lyon in the quarter-final, and then possibly Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the semis, after today’s draw in Nyon.

But they have to finish the job against Real Madrid in the second leg of their last 16 game on August 7 or 8, to reach the tournament for the last eight next month.

It could be an extremely tough route to the final, but Guardiola insisted that he only has his sights fixed on Madrid, with City having a slender 2-1 lead from the first leg in the Bernabeu.

Guardiola was also puzzled by suggestions that he, or City, had influenced Uefa’s decision to play that second leg at the Etihad Stadium, after it was initially touted that all last-16 second legs might also be switched to Portugal.

When asked about the draw, Guardiola said: “We have to play against Madrid. If we think about the next step, the kings of this competition will put us out.”

And he was nonplussed by the suggestion that it was unusual that the second leg be staged in Manchester.

“The first leg we played in Madrid, the second leg we play at home,” he said – there had been mischievous suggestions in Spain that he had personally tried to influence that decision.

“It’s a normal situation. It’s not about advantage. It is what it is. In knockout games it’s one at home and one away.

“Why should we play in another place? The first leg we played in Madrid, the second leg we will play at home.

“It is not about advantage, it is what it is. When it is a knockout game with two legs, there is one at home and one away.”

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football Sports News

EVERTON 1-1 SOUTHAMPTON: DANNY INGS SCORES AGAIN TO KEEP THE GOLDEN BOOT CHASE ALIVE.

With less than three weeks to go the race for the Premier League Golden Boot is gathering steam after Danny Ings was on target again on Thursday.

Ings’ 19th league goal of the season put Southampton ahead in their eventual 1-1 draw at Everton, with the striker now just three behind Leicester’s Jamie Vardy in the overall standings.

It now appears to be a four-way battle for the Golden Boot, with Ings one behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and level with Mohamed Salah – the duo who shared the award last season with Sadio Mane when scoring 22 goals apiece.

Vardy’s two-goal lead over Aubameyang makes him the favourite to pick up the Golden Boot, with matches at Bournemouth and home to Sheffield United to come.

The 33-year-old recently received a silver fox from Leicester after reaching 100 Premier League goals, while he is two goals away from matching his tally of 24 in the 2015-16 title-winning campaign.

However, his rate has somewhat slowed in the second half of the season, having initially reached 17 goals in the first 18 matches.

Ings meanwhile is comfortably enjoying his most prolific season in the top-tier – his previous best of 11 coming at Burnley in 2014-15, while a year prior he scored 21 league goals for the Clarets in the Championship.

Both Vardy and Ings will be aiming to become just the third English striker to win the Golden Boot since the turn of the century.

Kevin Phillips won the award for his impressive tally of 30 goals in 1999-2000 for Sunderland, while Tottenham’s Harry Kane was the top scorer in 2015-16 (25 goals) and 2016-17 (29).

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football Slides Sports News

UEFA CONFIRM VENUE FOR UNITED VS LASK EUROPA RETURN LEG GAME

Manchester United will play the second leg of their last-16 Europa League tie with LASK Linz at Old Trafford, UEFA have confirmed.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side won 5-0 in Austria the day before UEFA halted the competition as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak across Europe.

Plans have since been unveiled to finish the Europa League in a final eight tournament in Germany in August, with quarter-finals, semi-final and final all played over one leg.

But United will keep home advantage for the second leg of their tie with the side who finished second in the Austrian Bundesliga and they will be near certainties to complete the job and ensure they make the last eight of the Europa League, with the draw for the competition to be staged tomorrow.

UEFA have confirmed the remaining ties in the Europa League and the Champions League will be played at home venues, as long as that league is back up and running and there are no travel restrictions in place.

A UEFA statement said: “Consistent with the principle of sporting fairness and considering that current conditions – all clubs due to play at home the return leg of the Round of 16 are currently playing the remaining matches of their domestic leagues in their own stadiums and that travelling is possible without restrictions for the visiting clubs – the UEFA Executive Committee decided that the remaining UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second-leg matches will be played at the home teams’ stadiums.

“As already communicated in June, the ties FC Internazionale Milano v Getafe CF and Sevilla FC v AS Roma, whose first leg was also postponed, will be played as a single leg in Germany.

“UEFA will continue to monitor the situation and reserves the right to reassign any such matches to the venues of the final tournament of the relevant competition should new events occur that would make it impossible to play one or more matches at the original venues.

“The respective fixture lists will be communicated after tomorrow’s draws at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon.”

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Slides Sports News Tennis

ANOTHER VAR CONTROVERSY AT VILLA PARK AS MANCHESTER UNITED MAKE SPOT KICK RECORD

VAR took centre stage once more on Thursday night when a controversial first-half penalty was awarded to Manchester United during their encounter at Aston Villa.

Bruno Fernandes was involved in the major talking point at Villa Park, with the Portuguese winning a soft spot-kick which he then converted after treading on Ezri Konsa’s foot on the edge of the area before hitting the deck.

In winning the penalty United made it 13 spot-kicks for the 2019/20 Premier League season, equaling the record held by Leicester in 2015-16 and Crystal Palace in 2004-05.

It was a decision which left many bewildered, especially as it looked as though Fernandes had committed a foul on Konsa, as opposed to the other way round.

Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel expressed his disbelief at the decision on Twitter writing: “I am sorry, but that was not a penalty. VAR continues to be a joke..

“What is the point of VAR when it doesn’t correct a clear and obvious refereeing mistake like that?”

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football Sports News

Arsenal draw at Home

Jamie Vardy’s late equaliser gave Leicester City a vital point to keep their Champions League hopes on track and end Arsenal’s recent winning streak.

The Gunners looked on course for a fifth successive victory to maintain their own outside chance of a place in Europe’s elite competition next season after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang swept in his 20th league goal of the season in the first half.

Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel kept Arsenal at bay with a string of fine saves before the interval, twice denying Alexandre Lacazette as well as Bukayo Saka – and it proved to be a vital contribution.

Arsenal were reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes left when Eddie Nketiah was sent off four minutes after coming on as substitute for a high challenge on James Justin, and Leicester cashed in when Vardy slid home Demarai Gray’s cross in the 84th minute, the goal finally awarded after a lengthy VAR check for offside.

It was Vardy’s 22nd league strike of the season and restored his two-goal advantage over Aubameyang at the top of the Premier League scoring charts.

Leicester drop to fourth, four points ahead of Manchester United having played a game more, but this was an important point that left Arsenal frustrated in seventh.

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football Sports News Uncategorized

Chelsea go Third

Chelsea further strengthened their position in the Premier League’s top four with victory over Crystal Palace in an entertaining encounter at Selhurst Park, that included a stunning long-range strike from Wilfried Zaha and a rare goal from Christian Benteke.

There was an element of fortune about the game’s opening goal, with Palace defender Gary Cahill pulling up with a match-ending injury to allow Willian to charge into the box unimpeded and set up Olivier Giroud to finish.

But the rest of the match was a testament to the kind of competitive, high-octane, see-saw football that draws so many viewers to the English top flight, even when the grounds are empty of fans.

Twice Chelsea looked to have put the game beyond the home side, first through Christian Pulisic’s rising shot to make it 2-0 in the first half and then via Tammy Abraham’s neat finish with 19 minutes to go to put the Blues 3-1 up.

But this reckoned without the input of Zaha and Benteke.

Zaha’s goal was a superb strike, fiercely fired into the net via the crossbar from an unlikely distance. Benteke’s was more routine, tapped in from point-blank range following a neat move, but almost as surprising, it being his first goal at Selhurst Park since April 2018.

And Palace came within a whisker of snatching a point when Scott Dann’s back-post header struck the inside of the post before Chelsea hacked the ball clear.

Chelsea’s win means they move above Leicester into third place in the table, five points ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United.

With 42 to their name, Palace have too many points to worry about being dragged into a relegation fight, but manager Roy Hodgson and his side will be eager to end a losing streak that has now stretched to four games.

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Uncategorized

Arsenal want Ceballos to stay

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta wants to strike a deal with Real Madrid to keep hold of influential midfielder Dani Ceballos.

The 23-year-old, who scored a last-minute winner in the FA Cup win over Sheffield United last weekend, has become an increasingly-influential player for the Gunners as the season has progressed.

In January, Arteta challenged his fellow Spaniard, who was working his way back from a muscle injury, to fight for his place amid speculation he wanted to end his season-long loan at Arsenal.

Ceballos has won Arteta over in the months since, impressing with his effort and attitude in training.

Arteta said: “I am really happy with him. I love how much he likes to play football, the passion he puts into every training session and in every game. His celebrations, whether he’s on the pitch or on the bench, he puts his life into it.

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F1 Sports News

Ferrari make changes to their car

Ferrari are bringing forward some planned upgrades to their car after a disappointing showing at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix.

Lead driver Charles Leclerc was runner-up on Sunday, but the car was a second off the pace in qualifying seventh.

At this weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix, Ferrari will introduce some of the parts originally scheduled for the subsequent race in Hungary.

“We have to respond immediately,” chief executive officer Louis Camilleri said.

“We know there’s lots of work to do. This is certainly not the grid position that a team like Ferrari should have.

“It’s clear that we have to improve on all fronts. The only solution is to react.”

The car’s main problem was a lack of speed on the straights, where it was losing 0.7 seconds a lap to Mercedes.

Camilleri added: “It’s not that these new parts are expected to completely bridge the gap compared to the front of the grid.

“But the progress in terms of lap time could allow the team to move up the order and put the drivers in a better condition to be able to display their talent.

“Moreover, it’s about checking that the chosen direction of development is the right one, precisely because it will be possible to do a true back-to-back on every upgrade.”

Ferrari said before the race weekend that they had discovered a problem with their car since it ran in pre-season testing, prompting a “significant change of direction in terms of development”.

But their lack of pace in Austria was even worse than they were expecting – the car was not only a second off the Mercedes, but it was also nearly a second slower than Ferrari had been at the same track last year, when Leclerc was on pole position.

Camilleri, speaking in a statement issued by the team, said he had “every confidence” in team principal Mattia Binotto and the rest of the team to “address our shortcomings”.

Leclerc was running sixth for most of the race but moved up to second in the closing laps as a result of retirements in front of him and two audacious overtaking moves on McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.

He later described it as one of the best drives of his career.

Team-mate Sebastian Vettel finished 10th, after a spin while trying an ambitious overtaking manoeuvre on Sainz. It was the latest in a series of mistakes during races that stretch back two years.

The four-time champion was struggling throughout the race with the handling of his car and said he was surprised he had not spun more times.

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football Sports News

LAMPARD NOT WORRIED OVER TAMMY ABRAHAM’S CONTRACT SITUATION

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard believes Tammy Abraham’s prolonged contract negotiations are not affecting his performances.

The 22-year-old reportedly came close to agreeing new terms earlier in the season following a fine start under Lampard.

Abraham has hit 13 Premier League goals but has failed to find the back of the net since a 3-0 win over Burnley on January 11.

His only start since the campaign resumed was in the defeat at West Ham last week – otherwise he has played second fiddle to the more experienced Olivier Giroud.

Lampard has put a lot of faith in his talented batch of youngsters and they have been largely successful, with Chelsea sitting fourth in the table.

The likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have all signed new contracts over the past year.

Abraham has yet to follow suit and he has just under two years remaining on his deal at Stamford Bridge.

“I think Tammy’s contract, we are not at a critical level with it,” Lampard said on the eve of the Premier League trip to Crystal Palace.

“I will leave it with him and the club to discuss that side of it. I don’t think it is something that is clearly in his mind now, at least it shouldn’t be.

“What needs to be in his mind now is these games we have coming up and how much he can give us on the pitch, whether coming on as a sub or starting the game.”

Lampard has also told Abraham to keep working hard in training to force his way back into the Blues side.

“He has had a really good season, he hasn’t scored as much in the second half of the season,” added Lampard.

“But as a young player it is always clear when you have these periods there is only one way out of it and that is work and repetition in training.

“I think that is where Tammy is at. I think the contract will hopefully look after itself between him and the club and he just needs to focus on giving us that Tammy that we had earlier in the season.

”He was giving defenders so much of a problem in games and scoring regularly and it all came from how he was training and working in the week.

“That is just what he has to sustain all the time.”

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NFL star gets record breaking contract

NFL star Patrick Mahomes has signed a 10-year contract extension with the Kansas City Chiefs worth a record $503m (£403m).

The extension will keep the 24-year-old quarterback at the Chiefs until 2031 and is the richest contract in the history of North American team sports.

Mahomes was named Super Bowl MVP for his performance in guiding the Chiefs to their first championship in 50 years in February, producing a stunning fourth-quarter display in a 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

“Chiefs kingdom, you’ve been with me since the beginning – from rookie year,” Mahomes wrote on Twitter.

“You helped us overcome adversity to become Super Bowl champs and we’re staying together for a long time. We’re chasing a dynasty.”

Mahomes was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2018, in his first full season in the league.

“He’s an extraordinary leader and a credit to the Kansas City community, and I’m delighted that he will be a member of the Chiefs for many years to come,” said Chiefs chairman and chief executive Clark Hunt.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid added: “I’ve had the privilege of coaching a lot of incredible athletes and special people in my career, and Patrick is without question on that list of players.”

Mahomes, the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, averages 302.4 passing yards per game, including play-offs, which is the most in NFL history.

He completed 319 of 484 passes for 4,031 yards and 26 touchdowns in the last regular season after throwing a league-high 50 touchdowns in 2018. He has also thrown 13 touchdowns in five career post-season games.