Sports
Cesc Fabregas Names Best Young Player In The World
Published
1 year agoon
By
EditorFormer Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder, Cesc Fabregas, has named Bayern Munich attacking midfielder, Jamal Musiala, as the best young player in the world at the moment.
Fabregas said the German youngster is too talented and intelligent.
The former Barcelona star stated this in a Q & A on Twitter on Thursday night when he was asked to name the best young player at the moment.
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Fabregas tweeted, “I really like Musiala from Bayern Munich. Too talented, intelligent and it looks like he has great determination.”
Musiala is widely considered to be one of the best young players in the world currently.
The 19-year-old was impressive for Germany during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
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Sports
BREAKING: PSV Eindhoven Crowned Dutch Champions For Record 25th Time
Published
5 hours agoon
May 5, 2024By
EditorPSV Eindhoven were crowned Dutch champions for the 25th time on Sunday, the club’s first title since 2018, in a season also notable for the implosion of rivals Ajax.
Peter Bosz’s men made sure of the Eredivisie trophy with two games to spare via a 4-2 win over Sparta Rotterdam in a party atmosphere at a sunny Philips Stadion.
This meant second-placed Feyenoord could no longer catch PSV, who celebrated in front of their jubilant fans at the final whistle.
It has been a season to remember for the Eindhoven club whose shirt has been graced by Brazilians Romario and Ronaldo, as well as Dutch legends Mark van Bommel and Arjen Robben.
They went 17 games before even dropping a point in the Eredivisie, finally losing their unbeaten record on the 27th matchday with a 3-1 loss away to NEC Nijmegen.
Particularly sweet was a 5-2 win at home to Ajax and a crunch 2-1 victory away in Feyenoord’s intimidating De Kuip stadium, which set PSV on their way towards the title.
READ ALSO: EPL: Haaland Scores Four In Man City Rout Of Wolves
Central to PSV’s success this term has been the form of their veteran Dutch striker Luuk de Jong, whose 27 goals has made him the league’s joint top goalscorer.
This team has some way to go before matching the legendary 1987/88 Guus Hiddink-coached side that swept all before them, beating Benfica on penalties in the European Cup final.
But the Eredivisie trophy will assuage the frustrations of previous seasons when PSV finished second on three consecutive occasions, watching Ajax or Feyenoord lift the title.
PSV also enjoyed a good run in Europe, coming second in a Champions League group that included Arsenal, Sevilla and Lens, before crashing out to Borussia Dortmund in the last 16.
– Bliss for PSV, Horror for Ajax –
Feyenoord can count themselves unlucky to have come up against an all-conquering PSV this year — the Rotterdam club have only lost twice all season in the top flight.
The De Kuip faithful will settle for second place plus a Dutch Cup triumph but are set to lose their coach, with Arne Slot heading to Liverpool to replace Jurgen Klopp.
READ ALSO: Five-goal Haaland Crushes Luton As Man City Reach FA Cup Quarter-finals
Meanwhile, Ajax fans would settle for anything after a season which would have Johan Cruyff turning in his grave.
The four-time European Cup champions seem unlikely to qualify for any European football next season, lying a shocking fifth — nine points behind AZ Alkmaar.
The 5-2 win for PSV over Ajax in October was doubly joyous for the Eindhoven club as it also, briefly, condemned their perennial rivals to a historic last place in the Eredivisie.
Historic low followed historic low Ajax, a club that counts Cruyff, Marco Van Basten and Dennis Bergkamp as alumni, as they crashed out of the Dutch club to amateur club Hercules.
The nadir for the Amsterdam club came in early April when they suffered humiliation in De Kuip, losing 6-0 to Feyenoord in the Dutch “Klassieker.”
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Frustrations on the pitch have boiled over into violence in the stands and chaos in the boardroom.
CEO and chairman Alex Kroes was suspended on suspicion of insider trading, only to return a few weeks later as technical director.
A few days after his suspension, it emerged that club chairman Michael van Praag, who had vocally criticised Kroes, had “forgotten” to declare his own shares in the club to the correct authorities.
Vitesse Arnhem were relegated for the first time in 35 seasons after the Dutch federation imposed an 18-point penalty on them.
They currently sit on two points after their punishment for breaches of the league’s licensing regulations.
Sports
EPL: Haaland Scores Four In Man City Rout Of Wolves
Published
21 hours agoon
May 4, 2024By
EditorErling Haaland scored four as Manchester City closed to within three games of an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title by thrashing Wolves 5-1 at the Etihad.
Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth earlier on Saturday had opened up a four-point lead for the Gunners.
But City showed no signs of feeling the pressure as they cut the gap back to one point and have three matches remaining to Arsenal’s two.
Haaland has faced criticism for not matching the standards of his stunning first season in Manchester, when he scored 52 goals as City won the treble.
However, the Norwegian took his tally for this season to 36 goals in 41 appearances with a devastating display of finishing.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Real Madrid Win La Liga Title
Haaland was restored to Pep Guardiola’s starting line-up after coming off the bench to score against Nottingham Forest last weekend on his return from injury.
Wolves had inflicted one of City’s just three Premier League defeats this season.
But the visitors were blown away as Guardiola’s men extended their unbeaten home streak to 43 games.
Wolves felt fortune also did not go their way as Haaland converted two first-half penalties.
Josko Gvardiol was wiped out by Rayan Ait-Nouri for the first spot-kick after the Croatian’s shot flew off target and Haaland sent Jose Sa the wrong way to open the floodgates.
The City striker then rose highest to power home a header from Rodri’s hanging cross to the back post.
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Haaland looked set to complete his hat-trick when he raced through in first-half stoppage time only to be clipped by Nelson Semedo.
Referee Craig Pawson initially waved play on, but overturned his decision after a VAR review.
Haaland showed no mercy to fire home his second hat-trick in as many appearances against Wolves at the Etihad.
Any suggestion City could rack up a huge score to chip away at their goal difference deficit compared to Arsenal was punctured as Wolves pulled a goal back early in the second period.
Ederson flapped at a cross from the right to tee up Hwang Hee-Chan perfectly to fire into an unguarded net.
READ ALSO: Five-goal Haaland Crushes Luton As Man City Reach FA Cup Quarter-finals
Yet, City’s three-goal cushion was restored in spectacular fashion within a minute.
Phil Foden’s long ball over the top picked out Haaland, who cut onto his lethal left foot and picked out the top corner.
Haaland’s four-goal haul looks to have settled the race for the Golden Boot as his 25 Premier League goals are now five more than Alexander Isak and Cole Palmer.
There could even have been more for City’s number nine, who has twice before scored five in one game since arriving in England.
Sa made a spectacular save to deny Haaland matching that feat once more.
And the 23-year-old was left less than impressed with Guardiola’s decision to hand him a rest for the final eight minutes when he was replaced by Julian Alvarez.
READ ALSO: Euro 2024 Qualifiers: Spain Keeper Expresses Fear, Wants Haaland Tamed
The Argentine rounded off the scoring by finding the far corner from Rodri’s pass.
City are now unbeaten in 19 Premier League games and their only dropped points since February came in draws against title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool.
The defending champions travel to Fulham and Tottenham in their next two games before hosting West Ham on the final day of the season.
Arsenal must hope there is one more twist in the title race to come if they are to end a 20-year wait to win the league.
But City show no signs of slipping up in their quest to become the first side to ever win four consecutive English top-flight titles.
Real Madrid won La Liga on Saturday after beating Cadiz 3-0 before Girona defeated last year’s champions Barcelona 4-2 to seal Los Blancos’ triumph.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side did their homework against the Andalucian stragglers to virtually guarantee a record-extending 36th Spanish title, confirmed when Barcelona dropped points at Montilivi.
Girona’s dramatic victory saw the Catalan minnows qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history.
Brahim Diaz netted in the 51st minute to put Madrid ahead and then set up Jude Bellingham for the second, with Joselu tapping home a third to leave Madrid on the cusp of the title.
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“We leave our skins out there on the pitch to live moments like today’s, we are so close to the league,” Joselu told Real Madrid TV.
“There are young players who are very hungry for titles, veterans who are delighted to be here… and these are special moments.”
Ancelotti played a heavily rotated side ahead of the Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
The coach selected only captain Nacho Fernandez from the starting line-up that earned a 2-2 draw in Bavaria this week.
Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois started for the first time after a nine-month lay off after a knee injury and kept a clean sheet.
Madrid midfielder Luka Modric became the oldest player to appear for the club in La Liga, at 38 years and 238 days, breaking late Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas’ record from 1965 by five days.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Arsenal Face Bayern As City Draw Madrid In UCL Quarter-finals
Madrid striker Joselu came close to reaching a dangerous cross and Chris Ramos fired off target for the visitors in an otherwise slow start at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ruben Sobrino barged his way past Eder Militao on the counter-attack after half an hour but Nacho slid in well to thwart him as he prepared to shoot.
The visitors, 18th and still battling to stay up, shaded the first half, although Dani Ceballos had a shot blocked after Cadiz goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma went walkabout at a corner.
– ‘Waiting for this day’ –
Courtois made a superb save to deny Ramos early in the second half and his team took the lead immediately afterwards.
The Cadiz striker shook free of Nacho and ran in on goal but Courtois produced a superb save.
READ ALSO: Injury Crisis ‘Can Motivate Us’, Says Real Madrid Boss Ancelotti
Moments later Diaz sent Madrid ahead, receiving from the evergreen Modric on the edge of the area, turning slickly and curling an effort into the top corner.
“Thibaut is the best in the world, he’s had a terrible season and we were waiting for this day to come,” added Joselu.
Bellingham, on as a substitute for Turkish teenager Arda Guler, added the second soon after entering the fray.
Modric and Diaz combined well, with the latter squaring for Bellingham to put the finishing touch on a fine team move.
It was the England international’s 18th league goal of the season, keeping him in contention to finish as the top scorer.
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Madrid put the cherry on their cake after a superb run by Nacho.
Poised to depart at the end of the season, the Spaniard was hailed by the Bernabeu after setting up Joselu for a simple finish in stoppage time.
Los Blancos could celebrate after Girona came from behind twice to defeat Barcelona for the second time this season in a thrilling derby.
Barcelona took the lead through Andreas Christensen but La Liga’s top scorer Artem Dovbyk levelled with his 20th goal of the campaign.
Robert Lewandowski’s penalty sent Barcelona ahead but substitute Portu made a huge impact in the second half for Girona.
The winger netted the equaliser and then set up Miguel Gutierrez to put Girona ahead.
Portu sensationally volleyed home the fourth to ignite Girona’s tiny Montilivi stadium and get the party started.
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