Fortunebets

Manchester City hit back after a dismal week off the field with a commanding display on it as they overpowered Aston Villa 3-1 on Sunday.

The champions were rocked when they were charged with 115 breaches of the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play regulations on Monday.

The players responded to the furore with one of their best displays of the season, racing into a 3-0 half-time lead with goals from Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez.

Ollie Watkins pulled one back after the break but the visitors were no match for a fired-up City at a raucous Etihad Stadium and did not threaten to get back into the game.

The result put City firmly back in the title race, just three points behind leaders Arsenal with the chance to go top when they play the Gunners on Wednesday.

City manager Pep Guardiola had issued a rallying cry with a passionate defence of the club prior to the game.

His attempt to rouse his side from a slump with his ‘happy flowers’ rant last month may ultimately have failed, given last week’s loss at Tottenham, but this time the effect of his words seemed clear.

The fans answered the call first by creating an imposing atmosphere, starting with vociferous booing of the Premier League anthem.

There were further chants deriding the competition and supporting owner Sheikh Mansour. There was even a banner hailing Lord Pannick, the high-profile lawyer reportedly hired to fight City’s case.

The players fed off this and raced out of the traps. They took the lead within four minutes as Rodri broke free at a corner and met Mahrez’s cross with a thumping header that flew inside the near post.

Villa struggled to live with the pace and intensity of the hosts and almost conceded again when Rodri slid in Gundogan but Emiliano Martinez deflected his effort wide.

Gundogan then put the ball in the net with a powerful drive but it was disallowed for a foul on Martinez by Erling Haaland in the build-up.

Haaland then sliced over, Bernardo Silva had an attempt blocked and Martinez flicked wide from Jack Grealish as the pressure mounted.

Even when Villa had a rare opening and Leon Bailey raced clear, Ruben Dias showed City were similarly determined in defence with a strong challenge.

The second goal arrived after 39 minutes. Callum Chambers wrong-footed Martinez when he misdirected a header backwards and Haaland seized possession to set up Gundogan with a low ball across goal.

This time the German, who scored twice against Villa at secure the title on the final day last season, was not to be denied.

It got worse for the visitors as City claimed a third from the penalty spot in first-half injury time after former Villa star Grealish was adjudged to have been fouled by Jacob Ramsey.

Mahrez, surprisingly given the responsibility ahead of Haaland, made no mistake.

City chased more after the break with Rodri having an effort saved by Martinez but gradually eased off the pace.

Villa pulled one back against the run of play on the hour after Douglas Luiz robbed Silva and played in Watkins, who beat Ederson with a low shot.

Manager Unai Emery followed up with some attacking substitutions but City limited their openings.

Mahrez should have added a fourth City goal but scooped the ball over from close range, while Jhon Duran hit the crossbar for Villa in injury time.

Jesse Marsch ’96 was relieved of his duties as the manager of English Premier League side Leeds United, the club announced Monday morning.

A disappointing loss on Sunday to Nottingham Forest left Leeds sitting at 17th place in the table of 20 total teams, with the same number of points as Everton, who are 18th.

“Leeds United can confirm head coach Jesse Marsch has been relieved of his duties,” the club statement read. “We would like to thank Jesse and his backroom staff for their efforts and wish them well for the future. The process of appointing a new head coach is underway and we will continue to keep supporters up to date throughout the coming days.”

Marsch departs Leeds after being in charge for just under a year. The club had not won a Premier League game since November of 2022 and had picked up a dismal 11 points from the last 51 available. 

Marsch helped the club avoid relegation from the Premier League last season, when the team netted a last-second win at Brentford. While wins over top clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea have given some hope for the team’s potential, the inconsistency now means that they face another uphill battle to stay in the League another season. The bottom three teams in the League are relegated.

The game against Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon was the final straw for many fans and the Board. Supporters in attendance chanted for Marsch to leave the club at the end of the game.

Marsch leaves the club as the third American and second Princetonian to manage a Premier League side. Former Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner and Bob Bradley ’80, who managed Swansea in 2016, are the other two. 

After graduating from Princeton in 1996, he had a successful 14 year professional career, most notably with Major League Soccer (MLS) team Chicago Fire, where he scored 19 goals in 200 appearances. Following his retirement in 2010, he began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the U.S. men’s national team. Shortly after, he began coaching in the MLS having successful stints with Montreal Impact and New York Red Bulls before finally getting a move to European football in 2018.

Marsch was an assistant coach with German side RB Leipzig before moving to sister club Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, where he became the first American manager to win a trophy in a top flight league in Europe. After this successful run, he returned to Leipzig as the manager where he had a short stint with them to begin the 2021–22 season. 

Even with a disappointing end to his time at Leeds, Marsch’s managerial career seems to be far from over. With the U.S. men’s national team currently lacking a permanent manager, many fans are already speculating that Marsch could be the one to lead the group of players which some have called the “Golden Generation,” into the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. 

Manchester City could be docked points or even expelled from the Premier League if more than 100 alleged rule breaches announced on Monday are found proven.

The Premier League issued a statement on its website announcing the club – who have won the competition six times since 2011 – had been referred to an independent commission in respect of a series of alleged breaches of rules related to club finances.

The alleged breaches concerned the reporting of accurate financial information, the submission of details of manager and player pay information within the relevant contracts, a club’s responsibility as a Premier League member to adhere to UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations and to the league’s own profitability and sustainability regulations.

The club are also alleged to have breached rules requiring them to co-operate and assist with the Premier League’s investigation into those breaches, which the league says began in December 2018.

Manchester City issued a statement expressing surprise at the announcement of the alleged rule breaches, which referred to “extensive engagement” with the Premier League on the matter. The club also said they held “irrefutable evidence” in support of their position.

Premier League rule W.51 covers the sanctioning powers available to commissions should alleged breaches of league rules be found proven.

These range from a reprimand, through the deduction of points up to a recommendation to the league to expel a club from the competition.

The commission has the power to make such sanctions conditional on defined actions being taken within a fixed time period, and respondents have a right of appeal.

City’s statement said: “Manchester City FC is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.

“The club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.

“As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”

The club’s chief executive Ferran Soriano is understood to have only been notified by his Premier League counterpart Richard Masters of the referral over alleged breaches as the statement was going live on the league’s website.

The club are also mindful of the timing of the Premier League flexing its regulatory muscle on financial matters, when a Government White Paper – set to include plans for an independent regulator – is close to being published.

City have previously vigorously fought and denied charges relating to alleged breaches of UEFA FFP rules. They were found guilty by UEFA’s club financial control body’s adjudicatory chamber of “serious breaches” of FFP rules in February 2020 and handed a two-year UEFA competition ban, but this sanction was overturned on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July of the same year.

The chair of the independent Premier League judicial panel is Murray Rosen KC, who was appointed in 2020.

The chair will select individuals to sit alongside him on a commission to consider the alleged rule breaches in this case. The panel also has access to consult other independent financial and legal experts.

The alleged breaches span a period from the 2009-10 season to the 2017-18 campaign.

The club are alleged to have breached league rules requiring provision “in utmost good faith” of “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”.

The league says the accurate financial information required relates to “revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parties and its operating costs”.

The second set of breaches listed refers to alleged breaking of rules “requiring a member club to include full details of manager remuneration in its relevant contracts with its manager” related to seasons 2009-10 to 2012-13 inclusive.

The club’s manager between December 2009 and May 2013 was current Italy boss Roberto Mancini.

The second set of alleged breaches also refers to requirements for a club to include full details of player remuneration within the relevant contracts, for the seasons 2010-11 to 2015-16 inclusive.

The third section deals with alleged breaches of Premier League rules requiring clubs to comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations, between 2013-14 to 2017-18.

The fourth set of alleged breaches relates to the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules in seasons 2015-16 to 2017-18 inclusive.

Finally, the club are alleged to have breached league rules requiring member clubs to co-operate with and assist the Premier League with its investigations, from December 2018 to date.

The Premier League statement concluded: “The proceedings before the Commission will, in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82, be confidential and heard in private. Under Premier League Rule W.82.2, the Commission’s final award will be published on the Premier League’s website.

“This confirmation is made in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1. The Premier League will be making no further comment in respect of this matter until further notice.”

Anthony Joshua will begin his comeback trail with a fight against Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena in London on April 1st.

The former world heavyweight champion suffered a second consecutive defeat to Oleksandr Usyk last August in Saudi Arabia.

Tyson Fury instigated talks over an all-British bout weeks after that split decision loss in Jeddah but no world title fight was forthcoming, and now Joshua will return to action against Franklin.

He confirmed the contest in a tweet which contained a poster for the fight and read: “A new dawn.”

Joshua was ringside in November when Franklin lost to Dillian Whyte at Wembley Arena, the first defeat of the American’s 22-fight career.

There had been speculation prior to Joshua being beaten by Usyk for a second time that the former Olympic champion may walk away from the sport.

It was immediately put to bed following the third loss of his career when he showed his willingness to take on Fury during September talks.

While those plans fell through and conjecture over a rematch with Whyte never took off, he will begin his latest quest on the path to another world title shot at the O2 Arena.

Joshua last fought at the Greenwich venue in the summer of 2016 when he beat Dominic Breazeale.

It was his seventh contest at the O2 Arena and maintained his 100 per cent record there with the Watford-born fighter hoping the stadium continues to be a happy hunting ground for him in two months’ time.

Meanwhile, Joe Cordina’s rearranged world title fight with Shavkat Rakhimov has been confirmed for April 22nd at Cardiff International Arena. The original date of November 5th had to be cancelled due to a hand injury for Cordina.

Wales midfielder Joe Allen has announced his retirement from international football.

Allen, one of Wales’ greatest-ever midfielders, said “time and injuries” had taken their toll as he called time on his 74-cap career.

“Playing for Wales has been a great passion and love in my life, I have been extremely fortunate,” the 32-year-old said in a statement released by the Football Association of Wales.

“I have shared this journey with incredible people…my family, team-mates, staff and fans have made it special and I’m hugely grateful to you all.

“Our nation’s support is inspiring, and it has given me immense pride to wear the shirt…so many unforgettable experiences.

“Unfortunately, time and injuries take their toll and so it’s time for me to make way for our next generation.

“The future of Welsh football is bright. All the best, Joe.”

Swansea product Allen made his Wales debut in 2009 and was part of the so-called ‘Golden Generation’, which included Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, that took the nation to a first major tournament for 58 years at Euro 2016.

Allen was named in the official team of that tournament as Wales reached the semi-finals in France.

He also helped Wales qualify for Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the latter the nation’s first appearance on the global stage since 1958.

Allen, who played for Liverpool and Stoke before returning to Swansea last summer, made his final Wales appearance in the World Cup defeat to England in November.

The player’s departure from the international scene is another blow to Wales boss Robert Page, who saw his captain and the country’s talisman Bale retire from football last month.

Wales start their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with games against Croatia and Latvia next month.

Tottenham have signed forward Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal until the end of the season.

The Netherlands international had been expected to join Premier League rivals Everton before Spurs hijacked the move.

His arrival in north London boosts Antonio Conte’s attacking options, with Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and Lucas Moura each having experienced injury issues this term.

Danjuma, who will turn 26 next week, spent two years playing in England with Bournemouth between 2019 and 2021.

While he starred for the Cherries in the Sky Bet Championship, he struggled in the top flight and failed to score in 14 appearances.

A switch to LaLiga in 2021 proved successful as Danjuma played a key role in Villarreal’s run to the Champions League semi-finals last term, scoring 16 goals in all competitions.

Opportunities have been more limited for the versatile Nigeria-born player this season after a muscle problem disrupted the early part of his campaign.

Moldovan teenager Vladislav Gradinari went from a country with just “three or four” snooker tables to becoming the youngest player to win a televised match.

The 14-year-old beat three-time women’s world champion Ng On-yee in the first round of the one-frame BetVictor Snooker Shootout in Leicester.

The momentous victory sees Gradinari, who lives in Leeds, advance into the next round at the Morningside Arena as he explained snooker is not the most accessible sport in his homeland.

“It is not really popular, we have three or four tables in the whole country,” the reigning England under-14 champion told World Snooker Tour.

“It (the win) feels amazing. I played my best game, at the table I felt calm. At the age of seven I started playing snooker and we moved here two years ago.”

World number seven Mark Williams, beaten finalist in the Shootout last year, also made it through to round two by racking up 98 points in victory over Craig Steadman.

Iran’s Hossein Vafaei beat Williams last year but will not retain his title after losing to former world champion Shaun Murphy.

Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal fired 10-man Tottenham to a 1-0 win over Manchester City to further dent the champions’ titles hopes.

Kane slotted home after quarter of an hour to break the deadlock and move past Jimmy Greaves as Spurs’ all-time leading marksman, having gone level with the late forward against Fulham two weeks ago.

It proved enough to keep up Tottenham’s excellent record against City, who could have gone within two points of leaders Arsenal following their defeat at Everton on Saturday.

Fifth-placed Spurs instead claimed a third victory from their last four matches against Pep Guardiola’s side despite Cristian Romero’s late red card to aid the recovery of absent manager Antonio Conte, who is still in Italy after having his gallbladder removed on Wednesday.

Despite Conte recovering from surgery, he was involved in team selection and deadline-day signing Pedro Porro was only on the bench for Spurs with City surprisingly naming Kevin De Bruyne amongst the substitutes too.

The visitors had seen title rivals Arsenal drop points 24 hours earlier and signalled their intentions with Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez having shots blocked in the opening exchanges.

City were dominating possession but they soon felt the familiar feeling of trailing to Tottenham and it proved a record-breaking goal.

Eric Dier urged his team-mates to press higher and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg stole in ahead of Rico Lewis outside the away penalty area before he passed into the path of Kane, who scuffed an effort beyond Ederson and into the corner.

It moved Kane past Greaves as the club’s all-time leading scorer with 267 goals for Spurs and saw jubilant celebrations both on and off the pitch with the screens inside the stadium acknowledging his achievement before the forward waved to his family in the West Stand.

Bookings followed with Rodrigo Bentancur and Romero cautioned in quick succession, the latter for clattering into peripheral figure Erling Haaland.

Tottenham assistant Cristian Stellini was attempting to match the animated presence of the absence Conte on the touchline but saw his side enjoy a slice of luck before the break.

After Rodri and Jack Grealish had failed to find the net with curled efforts late in the half, Mahrez sent a stinging half-volley crashing against the crossbar from 12 yards that bounced away to safety to ensure Spurs were ahead at the break for the first time at home since October 12.

Ben Davies headed wide for the hosts at the start of the second period before Guardiola turned to De Bruyne with 57 minutes played.

De Bruyne’s first real involvement saw his short free-kick find Alvarez, who saw a low shot diverted over by Dier’s thigh.

It sparked a frantic spell with Romero blocking Manuel Akanji’s shot and seconds later Ivan Perisic’s cross agonisingly evaded the Argentina defender and Kane at the back post.

Kane was in the thick of the action minutes later, sending one effort wide before Ederson denied him after Tottenham’s record scorer had bulldozed his way past Kyle Walker and Akanji.

More drama was to follow with referee Andrew Madley showing Romero a second yellow card for a foul on Grealish before five minutes of stoppage time was added on.

Despite plenty of City possession, it was Tottenham who held firm to move within a point of the top four and do rivals Arsenal a favour in the title race.

Conor McGregor is set to make his long-awaited return to UFC action later this year, it has been announced.

The Dublin-born former two-weight world champion, who has not fought since suffering a serious leg injury in July 2021, is set to take on American Michael Chandler.

The details are yet to be finalised but it will come after the pair first try to outwit each other as team coaches in Ultimate Fighter.

UFC president Dana White said in a video posted on his Twitter account: “Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler will go head to head as the coaches of the Ultimate Fighter – Team McGregor versus Team Chandler.

“This season premieres Tuesday, May 30 and runs through Tuesday, August 15.

“Then, at the end of the season, McGregor and Chandler will fight. I do not have a date or a location for that, but we will announce it soon.”

Lucas Paqueta dented Newcastle’s Premier League charge as West Ham came from behind to draw at St James’ Park.

The 25-year-old Brazilian, a summer target for the Magpies, clinched a 1-1 draw with a 32nd-minute equaliser after Callum Wilson had ended his 10-game drought with an early strike.

A point was no more than the Hammers deserved after recovering from a dreadful start in front of a crowd of 52,256 to deny Eddie Howe victory in his 600th game as a manager.

The Carabao Cup finalists badly missed the suspended Bruno Guimaraes, and even the introduction of £45million January signing Anthony Gordon for his debut could not get them over the line.

If Howe had feared any hangover from Tuesday night’s semi-final success, he need not have worried – at least early on – as his side raced out of the blocks.

Joe Willock had already seen a first-minute strike ruled out by VAR after the ball had run out of play during the build-up when Wilson latched on to Sean Longstaff’s defence-splitting pass to fire confidently past Lukasz Fabianski, his first goal in 11 appearances in all competitions.

The shell-shocked visitors found themselves pinned back deep inside their own territory as Longstaff, Kieran Trippier and Willock worked to feed Miguel Almiron and the returning Allan Saint-Maximin at regular intervals.

However, as they grew into the game, the Hammers started to threaten on the break and Sven Botman had to make an important block after Michail Antonio had worked his way into a promising position on the edge of the box.

To their credit the visitors, who had been made to pay for their catastrophic defending, looked far more compact as the half wore on and while Newcastle still enjoyed plenty of possession, they lacked any real penetration.

West Ham might have been level with 28 minutes gone had Said Benrahma not spooned his shot high over Nick Pope’s crossbar after the Magpies had surrendered possession inside their own half, and Paqueta went close twice within seconds, seeing his first attempt blocked and his second deflected wide, with the home side guilty of sloppiness.

The South American was not to be denied, however, and stabbed home at the far post after the Newcastle defence had failed to deal with the excellent Declan Rice’s corner.

Benrahma dragged an effort wide after cutting inside Fabian Schar with David Moyes’ men gaining the upper hand, prompting a concerted response from the hosts with Joelinton and Longstaff making their presence felt in an increasingly physical midfield battle.

The Hammers picked up largely where they had left off after the restart, defender Nayef Aguerd flicking a 50th-minute header high and wide from Benrahma’s cross after a sustained spell of pressure.

Vladimir Coufal made an important block from Saint-Maximin’s volley four minutes later as Newcastle hit back, but for all the effort they expended, genuine chances proved elusive, prompting Howe to throw on Gordon with 21 minutes remaining.

Wilson might have doubled his tally twice as time ran down, Aguerd’s superbly-timed challenge and Fabianski’s safe hands denying him in quick succession, and his side ultimately had to settle for a point.