Month: March 2021

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REAL MADRID EASE PAST ATALANTA TO REACH FIRST UCL QUARTER FINAL IN THREE YEARS

Real Madrid secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Atalanta.

The LaLiga side had been 1-0 up from the first leg and, after the Italians missed a couple of early chances, Karim Benzema fired them ahead on the night in the 34th minute.

A penalty from captain Sergio Ramos on the hour all but ended the tie, with Luis Muriel clipping in a fine free-kick to pull a goal back for Atalanta before substitute Marco Asensio wrapped things up late on.

With Casemiro suspended, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos came back into the Real Madrid side, as Isco dropped to the bench.

Atalanta had a great chance to level the tie, but Robin Gosens failed to make enough contact with Muriel’s cross from the left and could only knock the ball straight at Thibaut Courtois.

Defender Berat Djimsiti fired over from a corner and the Italians were made to pay as Real Madrid started to take control.

It took a fine block from Djimsiti to deny Vinicius Junior after a clever exchange with Benzema in the penalty area to prevent the opening goal which eventually arrived in the 34th minute.

Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello made a hash of his clearance, which fell to Modric and the Croatian chased the ball down before cutting a pass back for Benzema to fire the Spaniards in front.

Los Blancos almost doubled their lead early in the second half following a fine run from Vinicius but, after powering into the penalty area, the Brazilian stabbed wide from six yards.

As the hour mark approached, Real Madrid were awarded a penalty.

Again, Vinicius was the instigator after he took possession from Atalanta midfielder Ruslan Malinovskiy and charged forwards before being tripped by Rafael Toloi.

Although contact looked to have been just outside the area, Dutch referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot and captain Sergio Ramos powered in a penalty past the diving Sportiello.

Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata finally called Courtois into action in the 67th minute, before at the other end Benzema’s header was saved and then the Frenchman nodded the rebound against the post.

With seven minutes left, Muriel clipped a well-worked 25-yard free-kick up over the wall into the top corner as several Atalanta players peeled away.

Real Madrid, though, soon restored their two-goal cushion when substitute Marco Asensio drilled the ball into the bottom corner after being picked out by Lucas Vazquez.

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IBRAHIMOVIC “THE GOD” RETURNS TO SWEDEN SQUAD

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been named in a Sweden squad for the first time since 2016 after coming out of international retirement ahead of this month’s World Cup qualifiers.

Ibrahimovic, 39, will become the oldest player to appear for Sweden if he gets on the pitch to add to his 116 international appearances, in which he has scored 62 goals.

The AC Milan striker announced the news in typically understated fashion as he wrote on Twitter: “The return of the God @svenskfotboll”.

Sweden will play World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Kosovo on March 25 and 28 respectively before a friendly at home to Estonia on March 31.

Ibrahimovic has been in outstanding form once again this season, scoring 16 goals in 21 appearances as Milan try to chase down rivals Inter in the Serie A title race.

Sweden coach Janne Andersson welcomed the news that Ibrahimovic had made himself available for the national team once again.

“First of all, he is a very good footballer, the best we have had in Sweden,” he said on the federation’s website.

“Of course it’s very nice that he wants to come back. In addition to what he can contribute on the pitch, he has incredible experience and can contribute that to the other players in the team.”

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WOLVES 0-1 LIVERPOOL: JOTA STRIKE HELP REDS AVOID ANOTHER LEAGUE DEFEAT

Diogo Jota scored against his former club to give Liverpool a 1-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Monday and keep them in contention for a top-four finish.

The result lifted Liverpool two places up to sixth on 46 points from 29 games, five adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea and two behind fifth-placed West Ham who have a game in hand. Wolves stayed 13th on 35 points from 29 matches.

Play was held up for 10 minutes in the closing stages as Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio suffered a concussion and was carried off on a stretcher after colliding with team mate Conor Coady who tried to close down Mohamed Salah.

Jota struck in first-half stoppage time as he beat Patricio with a swerving low shot from inside the penalty area after a flowing move by Salah and Sadio Mane, who fed the Portuguese forward with a sublime pass.

Nelson Semedo missed an early chance for the home side when Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker parried his close-range effort before Mane twice came close for the visitors, who looked toothless in the opening 30 minutes.

Conor Coady headed over the bar for Wolves from a good position in the 49th minute and Patricio tipped away a Salah shot from a tight angle at the other end before sustaining the serious-looking injury.

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WIGAN AGREE SALE OF CLUB TO PHOENIX 2021 LIMITED

Wigan have announced they have agreed the sale of the club.

The Latics, who went into administration last summer, with the subsequent 12-point deduction relegating them to League One, said in a statement that an agreement had been reached with Phoenix 2021 Limited.

The deal is expected to be completed by March 31 at the latest.

The club said: “We have agreed a sale of the club and related assets to Phoenix 2021 Limited and we are in the process of finalising the transaction.

“Contracts have been exchanged, a deposit has been received and it is envisaged that the sale will be completed by 31 March 2021 at the latest.

“The outstanding matters that need to be finalised to allow completion are practical matters around EFL membership and property transfers.

“The sale allows for non-football creditors to be paid a minimum dividend of 25p in the pound which avoids a 15-point penalty deduction for the club which improves the prospect of remaining in League One this season.

“We are working with the purchaser and their management team to ensure that the sale of the club concludes as soon as possible to allow some much needed stability both on and off the pitch.

“We have also been working closely with the EFL in relation to the sale and liaising regularly with the official supporters club.”

Phoenix 2021 Limited are a UK-based company owned by Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi, who will become the new owner of Wigan, subject to approval by the EFL board.

Talal Al-Hammad, the incoming chairman, said: “I am delighted that we have been successful in our negotiations with the administrators and that we are now able to help restore pride and belief with everyone associated with the club.

“To Latics fans everywhere, we can only guess at the amount of hurt and distress you have felt since the club entered administration and it is now our focus to stabilise its future and to illustrate why we believe we are the best ownership group for the club. We know that we will have to earn your trust through actions rather than words.

“The support and assistance we have received from Caroline Molyneux at the supporters club, David Molyneux and Alison McKenzie-Folan at Wigan Council and all their colleagues, has been outstanding and extremely encouraging for the club’s future, which is one that we wholeheartedly share and are excited about.”

Wigan like in the League One relegation zone on goal different ahead of Tuesday’s trip to bottom side AFC Wimbledon

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MOURINHO ACCUSES TOTTENHAM PLAYERS OF ‘HIDING’ DURING THE NORTH LONDON DERBY DEFEAT TO ARSENAL

Jose Mourinho has slammed many of his ‘important’ Tottenham players for ‘hiding’ in their north London derby defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.

Spurs led at the home of their rivals thanks to Erik Lamela’s clever ‘rabona’ flick but Martin Odegaard brought the Gunners level at the break before an action-packed second-half took the game away from Mourinho’s men.

Alexandre Lacazette won then scored a controversial penalty for Arsenal before Lamela was sent off for two yellow cards. Harry Kane then hit the post in the dying moments as Spurs came away from the derby empty-handed.

Mourinho claimed his side were ‘poor’ in the opening exchanges against Arsenal and lacked intensity in one of their biggest matches of the season.

The Spurs manager said after the game: ‘The only two things that were positive in the first half were an amazing goal and the result – 1-1 was not a fair reflection of that first half where they dominated us. We were very poor.

‘Some important players hiding. I’m not even going in direction of individuals. I’m as guilty for that first-half as the players.

‘People hiding themselves, no intensity, no passing and moving. We were poor. As simple as that.’

Spurs improved after the half-time whistle and created several chances before and after Lacazette’s winner from the penalty spot.

Mourinho made two significant second-half changes by taking off Gareth Bale and Tanguy Ndombele for Moussa Sissoko and Dele Alli, with the Portuguese coach claiming the two players who came off were not showing enough intensity.

When asked why Bale and Ndombele came off, Mourinho told his post-match press conference: ‘Intensity. Gareth Bale and Tanguy, we need more intensity in that game.

‘We need to press more. We need to get more depth. We need to be more intense in the game.

‘We needed initially Sissoko to give us that intensity in midfield that Tanguy was not bringing.’

Spurs became more of a threat after the two changes. Alli came inches away from scoring a header from inside the penalty area, Kane’s late free-kick struck the woodwork before Davinson Sanchez’s shot was blocked on the line by Arsenal defender Gabriel.

Mourinho claimed his side did all they could to level the tie in their bid to recover from a disappointing opening 45 minutes.

‘The second half was under control, we recovered what we lost in the first half. We made changes to try and win it and then it’s a penalty.

‘After the penalty a second yellow for Lamela, but even so the team in the last 20 minutes, we did what we could and tried to get a result.’

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PELE CONGRATULATES RONALDO FOR BREAKING HIS RECORD AFTER CAGLIARI HATRICK

Pele on Sunday congratulated Cristiano Ronaldo for ‘breaking his record’ of goals scored in official matches.

Portuguese star Ronaldo hit a hat-trick for Juventus in a 3-1 Serie A win over Cagliari to bring his total to 770 goals.

The 36-year-old took to Instagram to tell his 270 million followers he could now claim the record, having matched Pele’s 767 on 2 March.

“I’m filled with joy and pride as I acknowledge the goal that puts me on top of the World’s goalscoring list, overcoming Pele’s record, something that I could never have dreamed of while growing up as a child from Madeira,” Ronaldo wrote.

Brazilian great Pele, 80, wrote on Instagram to his 5.8 million followers: “Congratulations on breaking my record of goals in official matches.

“I admire you a lot, I love watching you play and this is no secret to anyone.

“My only regret is not being able to give you a hug today.”

“Cristiano life is a solo flight. Each makes his own journey. And what a beautiful journey you are having!”

Pele – the only player in history to win three World Cups – has claimed to have scored 1,283 goals in total, including in unofficial matches.

Ronaldo’s goals include 668 for club sides – five with Sporting Lisbon, 118 for Manchester United, 450 for Real Madrid and 95 for Juventus. He has also scored 120 for Portugal.

Some media however put Czech Josef Bican on 805 goals, ahead of both Ronaldo and Pele.

Former Brazilian striker Romario also claims to have scored 1,000 career goals including unofficial matches. Other sources attribute 772 to him.

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RONALDO’S FIRST HALF HATRICK HELP JUVE EDGE CAGLIARI 3-1

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a perfect hat-trick inside 32 minutes as Juventus bounced back from their midweek Champions League exit by beating Cagliari 3-1 away in Serie A on Sunday.

The 36-year-old striker found the net with a header, a right-footed penalty and a left-foot shot and celebrated by pointing to his ear in an apparent response to recent criticism.

The Italian champions and their Portuguese talisman were under pressure to perform after suffering a Champions League last-16 elimination against Porto on Tuesday.

They enjoyed a comfortable win despite Giovanni Simeone’s second-half strike for the hosts and are now third with 55 points, 10 behind leaders Inter Milan with a game in hand.

Ronaldo declined to give a post-match interview when asked at full-time and Juve captain Giorgio Chiellini faced the cameras instead.

“Our strength has always been to respond on the pitch and we did that today, Cristiano above all,” he told reporters.

“We played like Juve and as a team, with our strengths and weaknesses. But with this main ingredient we can finish the season well, we’ll see where we are by mid-May.”

It was Cagliari coach Leonardo Semplici’s first defeat since taking over in February and left his side in 17th place on 22 points, two clear of the relegation zone.

Ronaldo came in for widespread criticism and was linked by the media with a possible close-season departure from Juve after his disappointing display against Porto, who knocked the Turin club out of Europe on away goals following a 4-4 aggregate draw.

But the Portuguese forward was fired up for the trip to the Sardegna Arena and quickly made his mark by powering in a header from a corner after 10 minutes, a goal that means he has now scored in all 18 stadiums he has visited in Serie A.

Ronaldo was booked for catching goalkeeper Alessio Cragno in the face with a high boot as they both went for a cross, and the striker was then brought down in the box by the keeper and smashed home the resulting penalty in the 25th minute.

He soon had his third goal as he performed a trademark step-over before hammering a shot past Cragno to mark the second fastest hat-trick of his career, after the treble he scored in 20 minutes for Real Madrid against Espanyol in September 2015.

Cagliari pulled a goal back in the second half when Simeone fired in a low shot and Ronaldo had a big chance to score his fourth with the last kick of the game when one-on-one with Cragno but the keeper denied him with an excellent block.

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LIGUE 1: PSG STUMBLE TO HOME LOSS AGAINST NANTES

Paris Saint-Germain missed an opportunity to move top of the Ligue 1 standings when they suffered an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat against strugglers Nantes on Sunday.

Nantes’ Randal Kolo Muani cancelled out Julian Draxler’s first-half opener after a Kylian Mbappe blunder before Moses Simon scored in the 71st minute to stun the champions.

After their seventh league defeat of the season – the fourth at the Parc des Princes – PSG are second with 60 points from 29 games, three behind Lille who drew 0-0 at AS Monaco as none of the top four teams won at the weekend.

The result lifted relegation-threatened Nantes to 18th place on 27 points, a point below Lorient and the safety zone.

Four days after a lacklustre display in a Champions League draw with Barcelona in the last-16, where they progressed due to a big first-leg lead, PSG struggled again but Draxler opened the scoring three minutes from the break with a low shot.

Shortly before the hour, Nantes deservedly equalised as a poor pass by Mbappe virtually set up Kolo Muani, who beat goalkeeper Keylor Navas from close range.

After a brief discussion with PSG sports director Leonardo, coach Mauricio Pochettino replaced Angel Di Maria with Leandro Paredes after 62 minutes and went towards the dressing room with the Argentine before coming back to the bench.

In the 71st minute, Kolo Muani set up Simon, who rifled home to put the visitors ahead.

It finally spurred PSG into action, but Alban Laffont made a couple of good saves to preserve Nantes’s advantage until the final whistle.

Earlier, Lille’s seven-game winning streak on the road ended when they failed to break the deadlock at Monaco in a 0-0 encounter at Louis II.

Monaco and Lille failed to create decent chances, until Stevan Jovetic was denied by Lille keeper Mike Maignan’s superb save in stoppage time.

Monaco are fourth on 56 points, four behind PSG and third-placed Olympique Lyonnais, who were held to a 1-1 draw at Stade de Reims on Friday.

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WESTHAM OWN GOAL GIVES UNITED THREE POINTS, HELPS OLE’S MEN RETAIN SECOND SPOT

Manchester United will start April second in the Premier League standings after Craig Dawson’s own goal saw high-flying West Ham fall to defeat at Old Trafford.

With the Europa League trip to AC Milan and FA Cup quarter-final at Leicester coming up before the international break, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side kicked off an important week with a solid performance on Sunday.

Mason Greenwood twice struck the post on a night when Dawson’s own goal proved the difference.

David Moyes’ men were set up to frustrate a month on from their extra-time FA Cup loss at Old Trafford and failed to muster a shot in the first half – the first Premier League side to manage that since March 2018

But the Hammers also gave little away in the opening period, with Lukasz Fabianski superbly tipping a low Greenwood shot onto the post when frustrated United had their best chance.

But Solskjaer’s side finally found a way through eight minutes after the break when Bruno Fernandes’ corner was touched on by Scott McTominay and the unsighted Dawson turned into his own net.

West Ham attacked with more purpose after falling behind but Moyes’ wait for a first win away at Old Trafford continues, with Fernandes superbly denied before Greenwood thumped the post as United looked to settle any nerves.

The visitors had started positively but failed to launch a serious first-half attack, with Michail Antonio left ploughing a lonely furrow up top.

Moyes’ men are a threat from crosses and Dean Henderson – again deputising for David De Gea – made no mistake when clearing a deflected Aaron Cresswell ball from the left, leaving Jarrod Bowen needing treatment.

Harry Maguire let his team-mates know in no uncertain terms that they needed to “tidy up” and stop giving the ball away during that expletive-filled break in play that was followed by the hosts’ best chance to that point.

Quick build-up after winning the ball ended with Greenwood cutting onto his left and floating a cross to the far post, where Marcus Rashford – a surprise starter after an ankle issue – failed to get clean contact.

Fabianski just about gathered a dangerous cross from Greenwood soon after but West Ham were defending well on the whole, throwing themselves in the way of shots and clearing balls into the box.

But the visitors had their goalkeeper to thank for keeping things level at the break as United attacked at pace and Greenwood hit a low, left-footed shot that Fabianski superbly tipped onto the post in the 37th minute.

Rashford got away a tame header from a clipped Fernandes pass that the West Ham goalkeeper stopped simply before the break, from which the hosts returned strongly.

Vladimir Coufal did well to prod behind a Greenwood cross that Rashford was ready to tap home at the far post, but the resulting corner proved costly.

Fernandes swung in the set-piece from the left and Dawson directed into his own net under pressure from Maguire in the 53rd minute.
The goal opened play up. The video assistant referee ruled Maguire had not fouled Tomas Soucek in the box after a review, with the giant Czech midfielder towering over the United defender and heading wide soon after.

Fernandes forced Fabianski into a fine one-handed stop down to his right in between those moments, with Moyes turning to Said Benrahma and Manuel Lanzini in a bid to inject new attacking impetus.

Play was swinging from end to end as both sides pushed, with Maguire stretching to cut out a Coufal cross before Issa Diop inexplicably welcomed on Greenwood and saw the teenager rattle the post in the 77th minute.

Shaw threw himself in front of a Soucek attempt as United held out for a fourth successive league clean sheet for the first time under Solskjaer.

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ARSENAL EDGE PAST 10-MAN SPURS TO CLAIM NORTH LONDON DERBY VICTORY

Alexandre Lacazette scored Arsenal’s winner from the penalty spot as they downed 10-man Tottenham despite captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being dropped due to disciplinary issues.

The striker was only named among the substitutes as the club confirmed a breach in pre-match protocol ahead of the north London derby – but his team-mates would win regardless, coming from behind to secure a 2-1 victory.

Lacazette turned home a second-half penalty after Martin Odegaard had earlier cancelled out a sublime rabona finish from Spurs substitute Erik Lamela – who was sent off for picking up two quick bookings as the visitors chased the game.

With both sides very much on the periphery of the race for the Premier League top four and no Emirates Stadium crowd, it felt like a shadow of previous north London derbies.

But this was a big win for Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta, especially after his decision to axe Aubameyang before kick-off.

The Spaniard had lost his previous two games against Spurs as Arsenal boss – but he got the better of Jose Mourinho to move within four points of their neighbours in the table.

While Lacazette replaced Aubameyang, Emile Smith Rowe and Cedric Soares were also recalled into the Arsenal side.

Both would see efforts hit the woodwork either side of a breathtaking moment of skill from Lamela.

The Argentinian forward had replaced Son Heung-min, who pulled up injured less than 20 minutes into the contest.

His first involvement was to take a pass from Lucas Moura and direct a rabona finish along the ground and into the corner of Bernd Leno’s goal.

Arsenal would deservedly go in level at the interval as Odegaard scored his first Premier League goal – his tame effort deflecting off Toby Alderweireld and past Hugo Lloris.

Arteta introduced Nicolas Pepe for Bukayo Saka at the break, while Mourinho would turn to his bench as Moussa Dembele and Dele Alli replaced Gareth Bale and Tanguy Ndombele.

But just moments after Alli’s introduction, the visitors would find themselves behind as referee Michael Oliver adjudged that Davinson Sanchez had wiped out Lacazette in the box.

The VAR was in agreement and Lacazette dusted himself off to send Lloris the wrong way and score the 20th penalty in Premier League games between the two sides, the most in any fixture in the competition’s history.

Tottenham’s task of earning a result was made all the harder as Lamela was dismissed for two bookings in seven minutes.

The first was for a late lunge on Thomas Partey and he was given his marching orders soon after for raising his arm in a challenge with Kieran Tierney.

Harry Kane endured a quiet afternoon leading the line for Spurs but thought he had headed them level – only to see his 83rd-minute header chalked out for offside.

He then arrowed a late free-kick past Leno but against the post as the numerical advantage was failing to show for a nervy home side.