Sports

Man City Truise Towards Champions League Quarters In Copenhagen

Published

2 years ago

February 14, 2024

Manchester City closed in on the Champions League quarter-finals with a dominant display to beat FC Copenhagen 3-1 in the Danish capital on Tuesday.

Kevin De Bruyne’s early opener was cancelled out against the run of play by Magnus Mattsson.

Bernardo Silva restored City’s lead before half-time, but they had to wait until stoppage time to add further punishment for the hosts as Phil Foden turned home De Bruyne’s cut-back.

The English champions have now won 11 consecutive games in all competitions as they remain on course to repeat last season’s treble of the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.

Copenhagen had not played a competitive game for two months since sealing their place in the last 16 by dumping out Manchester United and Galatasaray in the group stages.

That lack of match sharpness from the Danish champions showed in the early stages as City stormed out of the blocks.

De Bruyne headed a glorious chance wide and Kamil Grabara denied Ruben Dias with a fine save inside six minutes.

The former Liverpool goalkeeper had no chance when De Bruyne broke the deadlock on 10 minutes with a clinical low finish from Foden’s pass.

Jack Grealish had been surprisingly handed just his second start of the year by Guardiola, but the England international lasted just 15 minutes before he pulled up with a suspected groin injury.

The visitors barely skipped a beat with the enforced change as Jeremy Doku replaced Grealish and nearly set up a spectacular goal for Erling Haaland.

Doku cushioned Rodri’s pass into the path of the Norwegian, who contorted his giant frame to meet the cross acrobatically on the volley but the ball flew wide.

City had enjoyed nearly 80 per cent possession and barely let Copenhagen inside their half for the first 35 minutes, yet were made to pay for one moment of sloppiness.

Ederson’s poor clearance was straight into the path of Mohamed Elyounoussi and his blocked shot fell to Mattson to mark his debut with a stunning strike from outside the box.

City regained their composure and the lead before half-time.

Mattson was unfortunate as his attempted clearance ricocheted off De Bruyne and perfectly into the path of Silva to flick beyond Grabara.

The Copenhagen goalkeeper kept his side in the tie in the early stages of the second period with spectacular stops to deny De Bruyne and Doku.

Grabara then twice won a head-to-head battle with Haaland in stoppage time.

City were keen to build up a comfortable advantage with the second leg falling between crucial Premier League games against Manchester United and Liverpool next month.

And they finally got the third goal that should have killed off the tie when the in-form Foden slammed home his 15th goal of the season as City extended their unbeaten run in European competitions to 21 games.

AFP

Sports

10-man Chelsea, Arsenal Battle To Gruelling 1-1 Draw At Stamford Bridge

Published

9 hours ago

November 30, 2025

Editor

Mikel Merino rescued Arsenal as the Premier League leaders battled to a 1-1 draw against 10-man Chelsea in a bad-tempered London derby on Sunday.

Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo was sent off for a crude foul on Merino late in the first half at Stamford Bridge.

Despite Caicedo’s dismissal, Trevoh Chalobah headed Chelsea into a second half lead, but Merino’s leveller ensured Arsenal emerged unscathed from a bruising encounter between the title rivals.

Arsenal are five points clear of second-placed Manchester City, who beat Newcastle on Saturday, and sit six points above third-placed Chelsea.

When the dust had settled on a contest of relentless intensity, Arsenal were left to rue a missed opportunity to extend their lead over Chelsea in the title race, while the Blues were relieved to avoid a damaging defeat.

Arsenal remain the favourites to win their first Premier League crown since 2004, but Chelsea’s combative display suggested they could emerge as the biggest threat to the Gunners’ title aspirations.

Arsenal are unbeaten in 17 games in all competitions, winning 14 of those matches, while Chelsea have gone seven matches without losing in all competitions.

Chelsea swept to a 3-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Arsenal enjoyed a 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich 24 hours later.

The positivity from those results was quickly forgotten as a bitter battle broke out at the Bridge.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca had played down his young side’s title hopes, but they went toe to toe with Arsenal, who were without injured centre-back William Saliba.

A thunderous first half included a rash of bookings as both teams tried to impose themselves.

Gunners midfielder Martin Zubimendi hauled down Reece James, Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella crunched into Bukayo Saka, Mosquera pole-axed Joao Pedro and Riccardo Calafiori cynically tugged James.

– War of attrition –

Saka almost exacted immediate revenge on Cucurella with a stinging strike that Robert Sanchez saved at his near post.

Teenage sensation Estevao Willian started for Chelsea after his star role in their win over Barcelona.

The 18-year-old couldn’t replicate his stunning goal against Barca however as he lashed over from 10 yards to squander Chelsea’s first serious chance.

Enzo Fernandez tested Arsenal keeper David Raya from the edge of the area as Chelsea began to exert pressure on the visitors’ reshuffled defence.

The war of attrition turned ugly in the 38th minute when Caicedo caught Merino on the ankle with a nasty foul that was upgraded from a booking to a dismissal after a VAR review.

It was the Blues’ sixth red card in all competitions this season.

The Ecuador midfielder’s premature exit was followed by a dangerous Hincapie elbow on Chalobah, provoking Chelsea cries for a red card that went unheeded.

Gabriel Martinelli nearly added to Chelsea’s angst on the stroke of half-time with a fierce blast that forced a fine save from Sanchez.

Arsenal arrived as the best set-piece team in the league with 10 goals in 12 matches.

But Chelsea ranked second with eight and Chalobah grabbed their ninth in the 48th minute.

It was a goal straight from the Arsenal playbook as James curled a corner to the near post and Chalobah rose highest inside the six-yard box to glance his header into the far corner.

Sports

Monaco Shock PSG As Minamino Scores Winner

Published

1 day ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

Japan’s Takumi Minamino scored the only goal of the game as Monaco shocked reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 on Saturday, winning 1-0 in the principality.

The 30-year-old Japanese international star, once of Liverpool, struck just past the midway point in the second half at the Stade Louis II to inflict a second domestic defeat of the campaign on PSG.

Monaco held on through the closing stages, including seven minutes of stoppage time, after having former Paris defender Thilo Kehrer sent off in the 80th minute.

It is a surprise result with Monaco ending a run of three consecutive Ligue 1 losses which had seen them lose ground on PSG and the other sides at the top of the table.

They are now provisionally up to sixth, seven points behind the capital side whose only other reverse in Ligue 1 so far this season came away to Marseille in September.

PSG remain top of the standings for now with 30 points from 14 games, but last season’s Champions League winners are just two points clear of nearest rivals Marseille and Lens and could lose their place at the summit later on Saturday.

“Usually I prefer to watch matches again and analyse them, but today it is easier. We were not precise enough and we made too many individual and collective mistakes,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique.

“Neither team played at a very high level, but they played better than us. It was without any doubt our worst match of the season.”

Sports

UK Unveils Record-breaking Bid For 2035 Women’s World Cup

Published

2 days ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

UK football chiefs on Friday unveiled details of their unopposed joint bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2035, with 22 proposed stadiums listed in the official submission.

The bid team said the 48-nation finals would be the biggest single-sport event ever staged in the UK.

It would be the first World Cup played on British soil since the men’s finals in 1966, which were solely hosted by England.

“With 63 million people living within two hours of a proposed venue, it would be the most accessible tournament ever,” the bid team said in a statement.

Sixteen of the stadiums on the shortlist are in England, including Manchester United’s proposed new 100,000-seater arena, with three in Wales, two in Scotland, and one in Northern Ireland, across 15 cities.

The final number of stadiums is expected to be whittled down to around 16.

A measure of the size of the event is that at the Qatar men’s World Cup in 2022, just eight stadiums were used.

FIFA confirmed later on Friday that the UK bid would be formally ratified at next year’s congress in Vancouver.

The April gathering of football’s global governing body is also set to approve the joint candidature of the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Jamaica to stage the 2031 women’s World Cup.

“Hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup would be a huge privilege for our four home nations,” the chief executives of the UK football associations  said on Friday.

“If we are successful, the 2035 tournament will be the biggest single-sport event held on UK soil with 4.5 million tickets available for fans.

“We are proud of the growth that we’ve driven in recent years across the women’s and girls’ game, but there is still so much more growth to come, and this event will play a key role in helping us deliver that.”

Manchester United’s existing Old Trafford stadium has been included, but the bid team intend to put the club’s proposed new ground forward for consideration by FIFA once plans are confirmed.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the bid showed the UK’s passion for football.

“The (England) Lionesses’ success has inspired girls across our country, and we’ll build on that momentum by welcoming millions of football fans from around the world to a tournament that will benefit communities and businesses in host cities up and down the UK,” he said.

England’s women’s team have won the past two European Championships and reached the final of the 2023 World Cup.
From 2031, the Women’s World Cup will be contested between 48 teams, up from 32.

The next Women’s World Cup will take place in Brazil in 2027.