Month: April 2023

Michail Antonio scored twice as West Ham put their domestic strife behind them with a 2-0 victory over AEK Larnaca in the Europa Conference League.

The Hammers might be toiling in the Premier League, but they are making short work of Europe’s third-tier competition after seven wins from seven matches.

David Moyes’ side left wintry London to take in warmer climes on the back of a sorry 4-0 defeat at Brighton which prompted the away fans to turn on the under-pressure manager.

But, after a day of sunshine and beer, the travelling support were in a far less mutinous mood on the Cyprus coast.

Larnaca were backed by raucous home following of 8,000 in a quaint stadium decked out in green and yellow, like a boisterous Carrow Road.

There was a distinct pre-season friendly feel to the last-16 first-leg encounter.

At one point a cat threatened to invade the pitch but, perhaps mindful that Kurt Zouma was back in the West Ham team, it changed its mind and ran off.

Moyes made seven changes from the Brighton debacle, yet despite the apparent gulf in class West Ham still found themselves under pressure in a nervy first half, with the minnows forcing three corners in quick succession.

Rafael Lopes headed one of them narrowly over before Gustavo Ledes fired too high from the edge of the box.

But West Ham eventually took control, with Manuel Lanzini’s shot flying just wide before Said Benrahma’s effort, after a mazy run into the box, was held by home goalkeeper Kenan Piric.

They made the breakthrough in the 36th minute, Benrahma twisting and turning down the left again before crossing for Antonio to head home.

Antonio added a superb second in first-half stoppage time, controlling Declan Rice’s pass before looking up and curling the ball into the top corner from 20 yards.

The striker could have completed a perfect hat-trick after the break when he was teed up by Benrahma, but his left-footed shot came back off the inside of the near post and rolled across goal.

Lucas Paqueta should have added a late third after he was sent through by fellow substitute Maxwel Cornet, but Piric made a fine save.

Nevertheless, the second leg at the London Stadium next week should be a formality, while first it is back to the day job for West Ham and a crucial meeting with Aston Villa on Sunday.

Leandro Trossard set up all three goals as Arsenal re-established their five-point cushion at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 win at Fulham.

It was all too easy for the Gunners at Craven Cottage as the hosts struggled to find any foothold in the game.

Gabriel Magalhaes nodded in a Trossard corner in the 21st minute to spark a quick flurry of goals that would put the visitors out of reach.

Gabriel Martinelli added a second five minutes later, with Martin Odegaard all but securing the victory just before half-time.

Marco Silva’s side keenly felt the absence of Joao Palhinha as they slumped to a second straight defeat, coinciding with his two-match ban, with Arsenal having no trouble parting the Fulham midfield.

After all the emotions of recent matches, including a last-gasp victory against Bournemouth which led to wild celebrations from the Arsenal players and staff, it was a much more routine triumph for the north London club, who are pushing to win their first league title since 2003-04.

It did not take long for the Gunners to find their stride, and they thought they had taken the lead on 16 minutes when Antonee Robinson turned the ball into his own net after Bernd Leno had palmed the ball into the path of the defender.

However, the goal was ruled out following a lengthy VAR review, judging Martinelli offside in the build-up.

Leno had to be alert to make a low save to keep out Granit Xhaka’s drive just moments later as the visitors piled on the pressure.

And they were rewarded in the 21st minute when Gabriel headed home from a Trossard corner.

The Gunners doubled their advantage with a cleverly crafted break down the left on 26 minutes, Trossard crossing for Martinelli, who easily beat his marker Robinson and nodded home.

Former Brighton forward Trossard went close for Arsenal again as they continued to dominate, but his shot was just wide.

Fulham’s best chance of the first half arrived just before the break, when Aaron Ramsdale gave the ball away to Andreas Pereira, but he fired over the bar.

Arsenal added a third just before half-time, when Fulham were again unable to deal with a cross from the right. Having been picked out in the centre, Odegaard took a touch to create space before lashing into the back of the net.

Fulham started the second half brighter than the first, but were unable to find a way back into the match.

However, Ramsdale was called into action in the 69th minute to make a decent save from Bobby Decordova-Reid, with Aleksandar Mitrovic hitting the crossbar from the resulting corner.

Clinical Chelsea continued their recent revival under Graham Potter – as Gary Lineker watched them breeze past Leicester.

Ben Chilwell grabbed the opener against his former club to set the tone for a 3-1 win and further ease the pressure on Potter.

Kai Havertz’s fine finish restored the visitors’ lead after Patson Daka levelled and Mateo Kovacic’s volley sealed it.

Chelsea forward Joao Felix hit the post and had a goal ruled out by VAR while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall missed a sitter for the hosts before Wout Faes was sent off late on.

A third straight victory, after reaching the Champions League quarter-finals having knocked out Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, should represent the start of the recovery under Potter.

It was just the second time Chelsea had scored three times in a Premier League game this season and there was a fluidity and clinical edge which has been lacking this term.

For Leicester, defeat edged them closer to the relegation zone having looked good to stay clear before the World Cup break.

Wins for Bournemouth and Everton left the Foxes just a point above the drop zone.

Victory for West Ham over Aston Villa on Sunday would leave Brendan Rodgers’ men, who face trips to Brentford and Crystal Palace next, 17th after five straight defeats in all competitions.

Match of the Day presenter Lineker came to support his hometown club after the BBC told him to step back from hosting the highlights programme on Saturday in a row over impartiality.

Even James Maddison, the Foxes’ brightest spark, could not inspire them and if Lineker had hoped for a relaxing afternoon watching his team he was mistaken as the hosts fell behind after 11 minutes.

Chilwell’s corner was only half-cleared and recycled by Kalidou Koulibaly who tossed in a high cross beyond the far post where Chilwell waited having moved into the far side of the box.

There was plenty to do as the hanging ball dropped but the defender’s controlled volley caught out Danny Ward at his near post.

The Foxes nearly hit back immediately but Daniel Amartey headed Maddison’s vicious free-kick wide.

But Chelsea, led the combative Kovacic, were fighting and should have doubled their lead after 24 minutes.

Havertz spotted Felix’s run and his perfect pass sent the striker clear but the Atletico Madrid loanee’s chip over Ward bounced off the post.

Just 90 seconds later it was Leicester’s turn to hit the woodwork when Dewsbury-Hall’s 20-yard effort clipped Koulibaly and then the bar.

The chances kept coming and Chelsea thought they had a second when Felix neatly finished a slick move involving Mykhailo Mudryk and Ruben Loftus-Cheek only for VAR to intervene and rule it out.

Felix should have been more disciplined, rather than straying offside, and he was then guilty of gifting Leicester a 39th-minute leveller.

The striker dithered on the edge of his own box and was robbed by Ricardo Pereira with Daka picking up the pieces to drive into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

Having survived two let-offs Leicester were encouraged and Maddison tested Kepa Arrizabalaga before the goalkeeper beat away Kelechi Iheanacho’s snapshot.

But, just as the Foxes thought they had gained an edge, they fell behind seconds before half-time.

Enzo Fernandez’s cute chip found Havertz and the forward lifted a gorgeous first-time lob over the stranded Ward from 12 yards.

Havertz’s muted celebrations suggested he thought he was offside but Pereira had played him on meaning Chelsea had scored twice in the league for the first time since December.

They went for a third straight after the restart and Ward tipped Wesley Fofana’s header over.

Chelsea were comfortable and, for the most part, kept Leicester at a distance, but Conor Gallagher – on for Felix at half-time – needed to be alert to block Harry Souttar’s goalbound effort just after the hour.

There was a sense Chelsea needed a third and Havertz was denied by Ward before Dewsbury-Hall missed an incredible chance.

Kepa could only direct a cross to Harvey Barnes and the winger’s header fell for Dewsbury-Hall six yards out with the goal at his mercy. But the midfielder completely miscued his shot and it rolled tamely into Kepa’s arms.

Mudryk had a goal disallowed for offside after breaking through but a third finally arrived for the visitors with 13 minutes left.

Havertz outpaced Faes to cross for Mudryk and his header was met by Kovacic’s crashing volley to wrap up the points.

It then got worse for Faes, who was sent off with four minutes left after second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Carney Chukwuemeka.

Miguel Almiron came off the bench to re-ignite Newcastle’s charge for Europe as he snatched a hard-fought Premier League victory over Wolves.

The Paraguay international’s 79th-minute strike clinched a 2-1 win, but only after the visitors had dragged themselves back into a full-blooded encounter when substitute Hwang Hee-chan had cancelled out Alexander Isak’s first-half opener on an eventful afternoon at St James’ Park.

Julen Lopetegui’s men were convinced Magpies keeper Nick Pope should have picked up a second red card in three games after a clumsy first-half challenge on Raul Jimenez before Almiron’s 11th goal of the season rubbed salt into the wound.

It was just a second win in nine league outings for Newcastle, who ended a run of five games without a victory in all competitions to climb above Liverpool into fifth place.

Wolves, who gradually worked their way into the game as Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves made their presence felt, saw concerted appeals for a 20th-minute penalty and perhaps more waved away after Pope miscontrolled Sven Botman’s back-pass and collided with Jimenez as he attempted to recover.

The striker was bundled to the ground in the process, but referee Andy Madley was unmoved and VAR official Tony Harrington saw no reason to ask him to look again.

Wolves’ disappointment increased within six minutes when, after Fabian Schar had been fouled by Jimenez, Kieran Trippier curled the resulting free-kick on to Isak’s head and he dispatched it past Jose Sa with a deft flick.

Only a desperate lunge by Craig Dawson prevented Joe Willock from doubling the lead two minutes later following Isak’s determined run and, after Jimenez had warmed Pope’s hands with an attempt from distance, Max Kilman had to be equally resilient to deny Isak once again.

Willock, Isak and Saint-Maximin all saw shots blocked in quick succession and Bruno Guimaraes headed against the bar from Dan Burn’s pull-back as the Magpies laid siege to Sa’s goal, although Pope was grateful to see Daniel Podence’s 39th-minute strike come back off the foot of his right post six minutes before the break.

Sa had to save from Willock at his near post after Schar’s challenge on Podence had sparked a pacy counter-attack, but Pope did superbly to claw Neto’s strike from under his crossbar after Moutinho had cleverly rolled a 58th-minute free-kick into his path.

Tripper was denied by the Wolves keeper seconds later and Neves skied an effort high over as the game continued at break-neck speed, and Pope had to intervene to keep out Moutinho’s 64th-minute shot.

The England full-back’s afternoon took a turn for the worse with 20 minutes remaining when he slipped as he attempted to clear inside his own penalty area and, with Pope having left his line in an attempt to snuff out the danger, presented the ball to Hwang to slide into the empty net.

But Almiron got the Magpies out of jail with 11 minutes remaining when he exchanged passes with Willock before curling a shot across Sa and into the net with the help of a touch off Kilman.

Liverpool were brought back down to earth as they slipped to defeat at relegation-threatened Bournemouth just six days on from their historic victory over Manchester United.

Jurgen Klopp’s side humiliated their fierce rivals with a 7-0 win at Anfield last Sunday but Philip Billing’s sixth goal of the season was enough for the Cherries to secure a 1-0 victory to move off the foot of the Premier League.

Mohamed Salah shanked a second-half penalty wide to sum up a poor display on a wet and windy south-coast afternoon, with Liverpool missing out on a chance to break into the top four ahead of the second leg of their Champions League tie with Real Madrid.

Bournemouth had been two goals up at league leaders Arsenal last week only to succumb to a stoppage-time winner but their response here was admirable.

Gary O’Neil’s side were buoyed by the return of David Brooks to a matchday squad for the first time in 525 days, the Wales midfielder having been diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2021.

Unsurprisingly, it was in-form Liverpool who created the first opportunity of the afternoon as Virgil van Dijk headed a corner goalwards only for the returning Jefferson Lerma to clear off the line.

Bournemouth should have broken the deadlock as Dango Ouattara broke in behind to latch onto a Dominic Solanke pass before trying to round Alisson, tightening the angle as he could only shoot into the side netting.

Birthday boy Andrew Robertson forced a smart stop out of Neto at the other end before Cody Gakpo turned home a Darwin Nunez cross only to be ruled offside.

Ouattara was causing the Liverpool defence all sorts of bother and ultimately it was the Burkina Faso winger who teed up Bournemouth’s opener, shrugging off a Van Dijk challenge before crossing for Billing to turn home.

Van Dijk should have done much better as Liverpool looked to level before the break but he could not make clean contact on a deep Robertson free-kick.

Former Liverpool striker Solanke fired over as the Cherries pushed for a second, Liverpool’s defence resembling their efforts in the 5-2 Champions League defeat by Real Madrid in the first leg of their last-16 clash rather than that which had kept five consecutive clean sheets in the league heading to the Vitality Stadium.

Klopp reacted by sending out the visitors early for the second half, as well as introducing Diogo Jota in place of Harvey Elliott.

Jota was straight into the action, his shot turned behind by Neto, but the chances were not free-flowing for the Reds, with Klopp again turning to his bench as Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Roberto Firmino all came on with 65 minutes on the clock.

Milner was involved immediately, his cross headed goalwards by Jota and striking the arm of Adam Smith, with referee John Brooks pointing to the spot after consulting his pitchside monitor.

Salah, usually so deadly from 12 yards, blazed his spot-kick wide of the post as Bournemouth’s lead remained in tact, substitute Ryan Christie stinging the palms of Alisson as the hosts looked to extend their advantage.

Gakpo blasted over in the dying embers as Bournemouth held on for just a second win from their last 11 league outings to relieve some of the pressure on O’Neil, who was appointed in the aftermath of Liverpool’s 9-0 thrashing of the Cherries earlier in the season.

That win proved something of a false dawn for Klopp’s side and they will now be hoping this loss is a setback rather than the end of a good run of form as their inconsistent campaign took another turn.

Said Benrahma’s penalty lifted West Ham back out of the relegation zone after a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.

The Hammers fell behind to an Ollie Watkins header but Benrahma hit back from the spot after Lucas Paqueta was fouled.

West Ham started the day in the bottom three after Bournemouth’s shock win over Liverpool.

They knew a victory would lift them 14th, but they were unable to find a winner with Danny Ings drawing a blank against his old club.

Nonetheless, a draw moved them up to 17th ahead of Bournemouth on goal difference and stretched West Ham’s unbeaten streak against Villa to 10 matches, going back to 2015.

The Hammers are the only team in the top flight yet to score in the opening 15 minutes of a match this season, and that trend continued with Nayef Aguerd steering a Declan Rice free-kick wide and Benrahma volleying Jarrod Bowen’s cross over the top.

Instead, against the run of play, Villa took the lead in the 17th minute with their first attempt on goal, Watkins heading in Alex Moreno’s cross.

The goal made Watkins the first Villa player to score in four consecutive away Premier League matches since Dwight Yorke in 1998.

But West Ham hit back in the 26th minute after Paqueta’s shot was headed off the line by Watkins.

The Brazil midfielder went to retrieve the loose ball and was clumsily brought down by Leon Bailey, with Benrahma confidently converting the penalty high into the net of World Cup-winner Emiliano Martinez.

Villa should have gone in at half-time ahead after another penetrating run by Moreno, whose pass found Jacob Ramsey in the box.

Ramsey squared the ball to Watkins, four yards out, but West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola spread himself and somehow kept the shot out.

Just 20 seconds after the restart Paqueta’s cross found Benrahma at the far post but his volley was straight at Martinez.

Benrahma was in the mood for more goals and he skipped past Matty Cash and Ezri Konsa on the edge of the area before hitting a fierce drive which Martinez tipped over.

Rice survived a VAR check for a foul in the area on Emiliano Buendia which prompted a bout of pushing and shoving, with West Ham’s frustration at Villa’s incessant timewasting beginning to show.

Both teams could have won it late on with Benrahma’s volley at the far post deflected wide by Villa sub Ashley Young and Jhon Duran’s close-range shot clutched by Areola.

Inter Milan reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2011 after a goalless draw in Porto secured their progression.

Romelu Lukaku’s goal four minutes from the end of the first leg was enough to see Inter through, where they join their city rivals AC Milan.

Mehdi Taremi came within inches of forcing the tie to extra time when he rattled the crossbar in the closing stages.

The Portuguese side were reduced to 10 men in the seventh minute of injury time when winger Pepe was shown a second yellow card.

On-loan Chelsea striker Lukaku came on for Inter 20 minutes from time, replacing Edin Dzeko who had come closest to scoring for Simone Inzaghi’s side with a low effort that was saved by Diogo Costa.

Napoli could make it three Serie A clubs in the last eight on Wednesday, holding a 2-0 lead over Eintracht Frankfurt from the first leg.

Erling Haaland scored his 48th goal of the season as Manchester City weathered a storm to reach the Champions League semi-finals with a 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich.

The prolific Norwegian recovered from missing a penalty to strike in the 57th minute of tense quarter-final second leg at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday as City progressed 4-1 on aggregate.

Joshua Kimmich registered Bayern’s first goal of the tie with a late penalty but the result was already beyond doubt with City setting up a replay of last year’s semi-final against holders Real Madrid.

Prior to Haaland’s goal effectively killing off the tie, the night had been eventful with Bayern spurning a number of chances and Haaland firing over from the spot.

There was also confusion as Dayot Upamecano was sent off for fouling Haaland only to be reprieved because the City forward had been offside.

Bayern were clearly stung by last week’s 3-0 loss at the Etihad Stadium and were determined to go down fighting.

They began with belief and, feeding off the energy of a boisterous atmosphere, took the game to City.

Kingsley Coman twice got clear down the right in the opening minutes but his final ball was lacking.

The visitors survived a bigger scare when former City winger Leroy Sane raced through on goal but shot wide attempting to fire low past Ederson.

The excitement perhaps got to Bayern’s on-loan City full-back Joao Cancelo as he came up against his parent club, with the Portuguese booked for a bad challenge on international team-mate Bernardo Silva.

There was drama at the other end when Upamecano was shown a red card for tripping Haaland as he broke clear but the decision was overturned after a flag was raised.

Upamecano had another let-off after he was adjudged to have handled an Ilkay Gundogan shot.

Bayern’s players did their best to delay the resulting penalty and, when it was finally taken, Haaland blazed over the bar.

That miss gave Bayern renewed hope and they finished the first half strongly with Coman firing at Ederson and Sane, who earlier had a free-kick saved, shooting wide from distance. Cancelo and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting were also denied at close range.

Tempers frayed before the interval and Gundogan and Kimmich were booked after a coming-together.

Haaland had another opportunity after the break as Bayern, in chasing the tie, began to get stretched but he shot straight at Yann Sommer.

The hosts went close again as a Coman effort squirmed through Ederson’s grasp and rolled across goal but City cleared and Haaland made no mistake at the third time of asking.

Again the Bayern defence was caught out as Kevin De Bruyne led a charge. The Belgian calmly slipped in Haaland and, after skipping around a challenge, he finished emphatically from in front of goal.

That put the tie beyond doubt but Bayern were not quite done. Mathys Tel had a goal chalked off for offside before Kimmich struck from the spot seven minutes from time after Manuel Akanji was harshly penalised for handball.

Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel had to watch the closing minutes from the stands after being shown a red card for letting his frustrations get the better of him.

Liverpool forward Diogo Jota is making up for lost time after his double against Nottingham Forest made it four goals in six days after a year-long barren spell.

However, the 3-2 win was littered with defensive lapses and, after the visitors quickly equalised twice through former Reds defender Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White, it needed the reliable left boot of Mohamed Salah to secure victory.

Even then Liverpool’s progress to within six points of fourth-placed Newcastle was almost when Brennan Johnson lobbed Alisson Becker but was denied by the crossbar.

Jota justified Jurgen Klopp’s decision to name an unchanged side for the third successive game running for the first time since January 2020 as his mini-revival continued.

The Portugal international, who due to injury made just 10 appearances in the first six months of the season, ended his drought with two in Monday’s 6-1 demolition of Leeds and repeated the feat to increase the pressure on fellow relegation strugglers Forest, who have now lost their last six away matches and dropped to second-bottom as a result.

In line with Liverpool’s recent return to form, Trent Alexander-Arnold, in his new hybrid right-back-cum-midfield role, was at the heart of their best work but unlike at Elland Road where he picked apart the naive hosts it was his enduring set-piece quality which created the most danger.

Yet the first half, in which they enjoyed 86 per cent possession but had only a header from Virgil van Dijk tipped over by goalkeeper Keylor Navas and Jota nodding wastefully wide to show for their efforts, gave no indication of the chaos which was to follow after the interval.

Forest, who had to replace the injured Scott McKenna with Joe Worrall on the half-hour mark, had shown little ambition with a 5-4-1 set-up designed to deny their hosts the space through the middle they had exploited so ruthlessly at Elland Road.

But when the breakthrough came two minutes into the second half it was inevitably from a set-piece.

Alexander-Arnold’s outswinging delivery caused panic and Fabinho seized on a loose ball to head goalwards for Jota to nod in from close range.

The lead lasted just four minutes as Forest counter-attacked and Williams blasted home via a deflection off Robertson.

However, Liverpool’s response was instantaneous as Jota exploited a static Forest defence.

Robertson swung over a free-kick and the Portugal international ran from deep to control on his chest unmarked and slot home with the visitors and most of Anfield expecting an offside flag which never came.

Jota was denied a hat-trick when his header was tipped over by Navas but a failure to establish control allowed Gibbs-White to brilliantly volley in the 68th minute and the visiting support could hardly believe it having previously witnessed just five goals in 15 away league matches this season.

But they barely had time to celebrate as Salah put Liverpool ahead for the third and final time from yet another Alexander-Arnold free-kick, although the Egypt international’s left-footed finish required the assistance of a post to go in, joining Robbie Fowler in joint sixth place on the club’s all-time scorers list with 182.

Still Liverpool failed to close the back door and their former striker Taiwo Awonyi, who scored the winner against at the City Ground in October, saw an overhead kick graze the crossbar before Johnson went even closer.
Seasons can be defined by such small margins and, while it maintain Liverpool’s momentum in their quest for Champions League football, it extended Forest’s dismal run to three points from the last 30 available.

Tottenham and Brighton have been fined £100,000 each following the touchline brawl between the two benches in the recent Premier League game.

An ill-tempered match, that saw interim Spurs boss Cristian Stellini and Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi clash before kick-off, flared up in the second half with a mass confrontation between staff from both dugouts.

That led to Stellini, who appeared an innocent bystander, and De Zerbi being sent to the stands and both clubs have now been fined by the Football Association.

An FA statement read: “Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion have been fined £100,000 each for a mass confrontation that occurred during their Premier League match on Saturday 8 April.

“Both clubs admitted they failed to ensure their benches conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and did not behave in a way which is proper during the 58th minute.

“An independent regulatory commission imposed their fines following a subsequent hearing.”

Tottenham’s 2-1 win was shrouded in controversy as Brighton had two goals disallowed and two strong penalty appeals waved away, with the PGMOL chief Howard Webb having to apologise for errors after the game.