Month: January 2021

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UNITED READY TO COMPETE FOR THE TITLE – NEMANJA MATIC.

Nemanja Matic believes Manchester United showed their title credentials by beating Burnley to go top of the Premier League on merit heading into Sunday’s mouth-watering clash at rivals Liverpool.

Paul Pogba’s second-half volley fired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s ever-improving side to their ninth win of an impressive 11-match unbeaten league run, with Tuesday’s 1-0 victory propelling them above Jurgen Klopp’s reigning champions.

United had to dig deep, remain patient and regain their composure after frustration threatened to bubble over at the end of the first half to win at Turf Moor, where they went top at this stage of the season for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s victorious farewell 2012-13 season.

“I think that this kind of win shows that we are ready to compete for (the) title,” Matic, a two-time Premier League winner during his time at Chelsea, said.

“Sometimes (in the past) we looked like a team who wants to score as soon as possible, then we get panicked.

“I think today we showed more maturity, we showed that we are more clever and on this pitch here, in this stadium against Burnley, it’s always hard to win the games.

“Not to concede a goal from the long balls, set-pieces, so we prepared the game well and I think that we deserved these three points.

“In our team we have lots of quality and in these kind of games you have to use that.

“You have to be patient, not to panic, because when you have that much quality during 90 minutes one situation will decide (the game) and it was exactly what we did today.

“I’m happy. I’m happy for the team, for the team performance, for our team spirit and let’s see Sunday against Liverpool.

“It’s the biggest derby in England. We go there to compete with them, to see where we are (against) one of the best teams in the league, so I think that we are ready.”

United head to Anfield on Sunday boasting a three-point cushion over their nearest rivals – a far cry from the 30-point gap that Klopp’s men opened up over the Red Devils when they last met in January 2020.

Solskjaer has understandably downplayed the importance of going top at this stage, but Matic believes they deserve to be top of the pile.

“We played 17 games, we are top of the table, so that shows something,” he said.

“We didn’t play five or six games and you’re top, then you can say ‘maybe it’s lucky’.

“But after 17 games definitely it’s not lucky. Definitely there is a quality

But we can’t relax. We have to be concentrated until the end – to go game by game.

“Always in football the next one is the most important, the next one is the biggest final. We’re going to take like that and we will see.”

Matic was among United’s best performers at Burnley but Pogba was the star man, capping a fine display with his match-winning volley.

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BAYER LEVERKUSEN SIGN MANCHESTER UNITED DEFENDER TIMOTHY FOSU-MENSAH.

Manchester United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah has joined Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen for £1.75million.

The 23-year-old left the Ajax youth set-up to link up with the Red Devils in 2014 and went onto play 30 times in all competitions for the first team.

Fosu-Mensah made nine of those appearances under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, having recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that kept him out for much of the 2019/20 campaign.

But the Holland international, who previously spent spells on loan at Crystal Palace and Fulham, has not appeared since the 3-2 loss at RB Leipzig on December 8.

Fosu-Mensah has now signed a deal until 2024 at Leverkusen, who the PA news agency understands paid United in the region of 2million euros (£1.75million).

The defender’s contract was expiring at Old Trafford this summer and Solskjaer last week made it clear the defender would be leaving the club soon enough.

“I’m not sure if Tim is going to stay or if he’s going to take an option now,” the United boss said.

He’s not played enough, so of course he’s been allowed to speak to clubs with a view to leaving now in January.

“It’s difficult when you’ve got good players, talented players, and you can’t give them game time and he’s now at the stage where he needs to go and play again.

“It might be end of January or it might be in the summer that he finds somewhere else.

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ATLETICO MADRID SIGN MOUSA DEMBELE ON LOAN FROM LYON WITH AN OPTION TO BUY.

Atletico Madrid announced the loan signing of French striker Moussa Dembele from Lyon on Wednesday.

Dembele will join Atletico until the end of the season when the club will have the option to buy him permanently for around 35 million euros.

Atletico have paid an initial fee of 1.5 million euros after Dembele passed his medical on Wednesday morning in Madrid.

In a statement, the LaLiga club described him as a “powerful striker” with “a knack for goal”.

The 24-year-old’s arrival follows Diego Costa’s contract being terminated at the end of December.

Dembele will compete with Luis Suarez, Joao Felix and Angel Correa for a place upfront as he looks to boost Atletico’s hopes of winning La Liga this season and earn a place in the France squad at the European Championships this summer.

Atletico sit four points clear at the top of the table with two games in hand over second-placed Real Madrid.

Dembele is expected to be available in early February after undergoing an operation on a broken arm, meaning he could feature in Atletico’s first leg against Chelsea in the Champions League last 16 on 23 February.

After impressive spells at Fulham and Celtic, Dembele joined Lyon in 2018.

But despite a decent first season that saw him score 16 goals in Ligue 1, he had fallen out favour this term and managed just one goal in 12 appearances.

“With Dembele’s arrival, we add a young yet experienced footballer who’s strong both physically and as a finisher,” Atletico said in a statement.

“His height also makes him a threat in the air and his speed allows him to run past the opposition’s defenders.”

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AC MILAN WIN PENALTY SHOOTOUT AGAINST TORINO TO REACH ITALIAN CUP QUARTER FINAL.

AC Milan goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu celebrated a rare appearance with a penalty save to secure his side a 5-4 shootout victory following a 0-0 draw with Torino in the Italian Cup on Tuesday.

Milan will meet with either local rivals Inter Milan or Fiorentina in the quarter-finals.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was given his first start since a thigh injury ruled him out for six weeks in November, but he was replaced at halftime.

After a tame first half in which neither side created much in the way of goalscoring chances, Milan came out with more purpose in the second and might have been 2-0 up inside the opening 15 minutes.

Rafael Leao forced a good save from Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in the Torino goal. Later, Diogo Dalot could have scored when a rebound fell kindly to him, but his effort skewed onto the post.

Milan substitute goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was red-carded on the bench for dissent on a frustrating night as Brahim Diaz blasted over with the best chance of the second half, before Tatarusanu won the game with his shootout heroics.

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EVERTON FIRE BACK TO TOP FOUR WITH 2-1 WIN AT WOLVES.

Michael Keane headed the winner to take Everton back into the top four, with a 2-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Keane rose highest in the 77th minute to power home a left-wing cross by Andre Gomes from six yards out to give the Toffees their third consecutive Premier League away victory.

Alex Iwobi had given Everton a sixth-minute lead when he fired home Lucas Digne’s centre from close range.

Ruben Neves levelled for Wolves eight minutes later, when he volleyed in Rayan Ait-Nouri’s left-wing cross.

Neves also hit the outside of a post with a free-kick, but Everton saw out the match safely.

The Toffees move on to 32 points – level with Leicester City and three ahead of fifth-placed Spurs – while Wolves slip to 14th on goals scored behind Crystal Palace.

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BUR 0-1 MUN: POGBA’S SECOND HALF STRIKE HELP UNITED CLIMB TO TOP OF EPL TABLE

Paul Pogba scored the goal that took Manchester United top of the Premier League table, as they won 1-0 at Burnley.

Pogba met Marcus Rashford’s cross to send a 71st-minute volley through Nick Pope’s legs and into the net with the aid of a deflection.

Man Utd had the better of the chances, with Anthony Martial firing just over before being denied by Nick Pope, while Harry Maguire had a header ruled out for a foul late in the first half.

Burnley twice came close to equalising late on, with substitute Matej Vydra’s effort deflected wide in the 87th minute and James Tarkowski miskicking a golden chance in added time.

United held on to move on to 36 points, three points clear of defending champions Liverpool, whom they play on Sunday.

Burnley stay 16th with 16 points – five above the bottom three.

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SALAH DONATES OXYGEN TANKS TO HOME TOWN IN FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has donated oxygen and an ambulance to his home village in Egypt to help locals treat people suffering with COVID-19 as the country battles a second wave of infections.

The 28-year-old tested positive for the coronavirus last November.

“We have 14 oxygen cylinders inside the Mohamed Salah Charity Foundation. These help people in the village of Nagrig [Salah’s hometown], as well as those from surrounding villages,” Hassan Bakr, the head of the charity, said.

Bakr delivers oxygen cylinders direct to patients homes.

“We also have an ambulance unit built by Mohamed Salah, which has been operating since July 2020… this also helped us during the coronavirus, when transporting patients to the isolation hospitals,” he added.

Salah maintains deep connections with the village where he grew up, some 130 kilometres north of Cairo, and donates around £47,000 each year to the Mohamed Salah Charity Foundation.

Egypt’s government has confirmed 150,753 infections and 8,249 deaths since the start of the pandemic more than 10 months ago.

However, health officials say the real number is likely far higher because of the relatively low rate of coronavirus testing and the exclusion of private test results.

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CRYSTAL PALACE TO DEAL WITH EBERECHI EZE INTERNALLY AFTER THE NIGERIAN FLOUTS COVID-19 RULES WITH QPR VISIT.

Crystal Palace will deal with Eberechi Eze’s coronavirus “lapses” internally while QPR boss Mark Warburton has admitted his club made a mistake in allowing the winger to attend their game on Saturday.

Eze was allowed to sit in the directors’ box at Loftus Road to watch his former club face Fulham in the FA Cup despite the current ban on fans and the national lockdown.

The Football Association is understood to be looking into the incident which seems to be the latest in a string involving footballers breaching coronavirus protocols.

We know the situation that society is facing in this country, we are all very aware of it,” said Warburton at a pre-match press conference.

“QPR as a club have stringent protocols in place that we apply very strongly to every single player and staff member.

On this occasion we should have declined the request. It’s as simple as that. We made the error.

“Eberechi is an outstanding character. I can’t speak highly enough of him. He made a request, we should have said no.

“On this rare occasion we have made a mistake, it’s as plain and simple as that. It will not happen again.”

Palace said they did not know that Eze was planning to watch his old team-mates and insisted the 22-year-old, signed from Rangers in the summer, now realises he should not have attended the match.

The Eagles have confirmed they will deal internally with the incident, plus the fact he was pictured not wearing a mask.

A Palace statement read: “QPR have acknowledged they made a mistake in hosting Eberechi Eze in the directors’ box at Saturday’s FA Cup match against Fulham without our knowledge.

Whilst we recognise Eberechi’s desire to support his former team-mates, he accepts it was an error of judgement to attend the match.

“We were also concerned to see pictures of Eberechi not wearing a mask at certain moments and are speaking to him about these apparent lapses, which will be dealt with internally.”

Eze could still face the wrath of Eagles boss Roy Hodgson, who said last week that no further breaches of Government guidelines by his players will be accepted after Luka Milivojevic broke the rules on New Year’s Eve.

Palace captain Milivojevic issued an apology after his household mixed with Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic and his family.

There were further breaches of the regulations over the festive period involving Tottenham, West Ham and Manchester City players.

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AGUERO GOES INTO ISOLATION AS CLOSE CONTACT IS COVID-19 POSITIVE.

Sergio Aguero missed Manchester City’s FA Cup third-round victory over Birmingham after being asked to self-isolate, manager Pep Guardiola has revealed.

City had hoped to include their record goalscorer in their starting line-up for the first time since October in Sunday’s tie at the Etihad Stadium as he returns to fitness following knee trouble.

Plans had to be changed, however, when it was discovered the Argentinian has been a close contact of someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.

Guardiola was unsure how long the player would be absent for and if he would be available for Wednesday’s Premier League clash against Brighton, even if he returned a negative test.

The City boss said: “Unfortunately he was in contact, more than usual, with one person who is positive. That is why he must isolate for a few days.

“I don’t know [how long for] exactly because, like all of us, he has been tested six times in last 10-15 days.

“He is negative. Today he is negative too but the protocol says in some cases they must isolate. In others we are still in touch and playing football.

“Unfortunately he could not play today.”

Aguero’s presence was hardly required as City eased to a 3-0 victory over their Championship opponents with an early double from Bernardo Silva and a further strike from Phil Foden. All three goals came inside the first 33 minutes and effectively ended the game as a contest.

Guardiola said: “Yes the first objective was done – qualify for next round. We did it with a really good first half.

“We made nice goals. I am happy for Bernardo. He made two goals and could have scored more. The first half was really good.

“In the second half they changed the set-up. We struggled a little bit to find our spaces but we are in the next round.”

The victory came four days after City, the 2019 FA Cup winners, reached the Carabao Cup final for a fourth successive year.

Guardiola said: “If you follow the trajectory for our team, we don’t drop one competition. That is why we are in finals four times in a row in the Carabao Cup and why we won the FA Cup two seasons ago.”

It was only when City eased off in the second half that Birmingham began to create any openings.

Substitute Jeremie Bela twice tested goalkeeper Zack Steffen and shot narrowly over in the latter stages but prior to that the visitors were unable to make an impression.

Manager Aitor Karanka, whose side have now lost six of their last seven games, said: “We finished the game in the way we should have started.

“We were not as aggressive as we should have been but in the second half everything changed. We approached it much better. I wanted to play 90 minutes in the way we played the last 45.

The main thing when you are coming to this kind of game is to be aggressive and strong. If you allow them to play, if you are jogging behind the ball instead of being aggressive, the only thing that can happen is what happened.

“I was pleased when I saw their first XI because it meant Pep respected us. We wanted to do something here. We showed the second half we should have been more aggressive from the beginning.”

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RONALDO, RAMSEY ON TARGET AS JUVENTUS EDGE SASSUOLO.

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wales’ Aaron Ramsey helped Juventus to secure a 3-1 victory over 10-man Sassuolo in Serie A on Sunday, lifting the champions to fourth place in the standings.

Following their win at leaders AC Milan in midweek, Juventus struggled to create many chances in the first half, but their cause was aided after Pedro Obiang was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Federico Chiesa just before half-time.

Juventus capitalised on the numerical advantage as Danilo was left in plenty of space to fire home a fierce opener in the 50th minute, but the lead lasted just eight minutes as Gregoire Defrel levelled to stun the hosts.

Ramsey, who has been in and out of the side this season, put Juve in front in the 82nd minute with his first goal of the season. In contrast, Serie A top scorer Ronaldo took his season’s tally to 15 as he struck in stoppage-time to complete the win.

The result helped Juve close the gap with leaders Milan to seven points, having played one game less. Sassuolo stay seventh.

“Victories are built with everyone’s work and sacrifice, we have already made mistakes too many times,” Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo said.

“After Milan’s win over Torino [on Saturday] we understood that we need maximum concentration and the desire to bring home the victories. We had to continue after the win at the San Siro. It was important to maintain our form.”

After scoring three times in Milan in midweek, Juve’s strikeforce could not get going in the first half at the Juventus Stadium.

Obiang’s dismissal, however, gave Juve a boost, with the referee issuing a straight red card after the VAR asked the official to have another look at the midfielder’s studs-up tackle on Chiesa.

Danilo’s third Juventus goal settled the hosts’ nerves, but Sassuolo, enjoying a fine season, were not overawed despite being a man down as Defrel fired them level and they had several other chances to take the lead.

Ramsey, who replaced the injured Weston McKennie in the first half, got the all-important second, arriving on cue to meet a Gianluca Frabotta cross, before Ronaldo drilled home to make sure of a third successive win for Juve.