TheNewsGuru

Tag: spurs

  • Diallo scores as Manchester United draw with AC Milan, Spurs and Arsenal win

    Diallo scores as Manchester United draw with AC Milan, Spurs and Arsenal win

    Teenager Amad Diallo found the net with his first-ever shot for Manchester United on Thursday but AC Milan struck in injury-time to secure a 1-1 draw in the Europa League.

    The match was one of the competition’s last 16 first leg ties.

    Manchester United’s Premier League rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur meanwhile tuned up for their meeting in Sunday’s north London derby with comfortable wins.

    Arsenal won 3-1 at Olympiacos, while Spurs were 2-0 winners at home to Dinamo Zagreb.

    The 18-year-old Ivorian Diallo joined Manchester United from Atalanta in January and scored in his second substitute appearance with a clever back-header five minutes after his half-time introduction.

    AC Milan had two goals disallowed early on but Simon Kjaer’s last-gasp header ensured parity going into the second leg.

    Manchester United and AC Milan have been continental champions 10 times between them but must currently make do with Europa League football.

    But both sides are on course to return to the elite UEFA Champions League next season even if they trail their respective derby rivals Manchester City and Inter Milan domestically.

    “We are working to grow and bring AC Milan back where we belong,” said coach Stefano Pioli. “These are the best games in that sense. So, I was happy to face a team like Manchester United.”

    Manchester United returned to action after the high of their weekend derby win over Manchester City but were flat until Diallo scored shortly after the restart.

    Bruno Fernandes chipped over the defence and Diallo reacted superbly to loop a header over Gianluigi Donnarumma for his first professional goal.

    The youngster was signed for a reported 37 million pounds (51.7 million dollars) having played less than 90 minutes of senior football.

    “He’s a great young lad and did really well after he came on,” Manchester United’s Harry Maguire said of Diallo.

    “He obviously got the goal which was great to see. He did well and hopefully there’s a lot more to come from him.”

    Manchester United’s best chance of the first half fell to Maguire who struck the post at a corner-kick after AC Milan dominated the early stages.

    Rafael Leao’s opener for the guests was rightly ruled offside and Franck Kessie’s fine strike suffered a similar fate for handball after video review.

    AC Milan finally had a goal count two minutes into injury-time from Kjaer’s header at a corner-kick which left goalkeeper Dean Henderson looking poor.

    “We’re very disappointed to concede with one of the last kicks of the game,” Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said later on.

    “That makes it harder of course, but it was always going to be down to the second game there anyway.”

    Harry Kane struck in either half, for a season tally of 26, to boost manager Jose Mourinho, who could still salvage a positive season for his Spurs side.

    They have recently fallen down the English Premier League (EPL) table.

    They are seventh, five points off the UEFA Champions League spots, but going into the derby seven clear of Arsenal, who have only the Cups left to look forward to in their campaign.

    “We had some ups and downs in the season but we come into an important period now and it is good to feel the players are ready to help the team,” said Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

    “If we work well as a team, we will give our talent more power to make the difference.”

    Olympiacos’ Youssef El Arabi equalised Martin Oedegaard’s opener, but Gabriel and Mohamed Elneny struck late to secure the away win.

    The Greek side eliminated the Gunners from the competition last season with a thrilling comeback in London in the last 32 and must now undertake a similar task.

    “It is a big win for us, a great result with three goals away from home and a win in this competition is always good,” said Odegaard.

    “We have a big game on Sunday and then have to be ready for next Thursday.

    “It is very important, we are not where we want to be in the league so this is very important for us and a chance to get UEFA Champions League football next year.”

    Ajax, another former European champions, beat Switzerland’s Young Boys 3-0 while Villarreal are almost through after a 2-0 win at Dynamo Kiev.

    Fellow Spaniards Granada could continue their maiden European campaign into the last eight having beaten 10-man Molde 2-0.

    Roma are also well placed, having thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0.

    Steven Gerrard’s new Scottish champions Rangers meanwhile will welcome Slavia Prague in the only return leg which starts all-square next Thursday after a 1-1 draw in the Czech Republic.

  • Manchester City five points clear after winning at Liverpool, Spurs seventh

    Manchester City five points clear after winning at Liverpool, Spurs seventh

    Manchester City romped to a 4-1 win at champions Liverpool on Sunday to open up a five-point lead at the top of the 2020/2021 English Premier League (EPL).

    They however have more in their Favour, with a game in hand.

    Ilkay Guendogan scored twice while Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden got the others as Manchester City won at Anfield for the first time since 2003 with their 10th straight league win.

    Manchester City have now matched the all-time winning run by an English top-flight side in all competitions, winning their last 14 matches.

    It was the same number as Preston North End in 1892 and Arsenal in 1987, according to statisticians Opta.

    “It gives us every chance to go on and win it (the league) now,” Foden said.

    “The job’s not done, we need to keep going. When you beat the champions, everyone’s confidence is going to be sky high now. So, it can only help us. We’re just happy to win today.”

    Liverpool remain fourth —- 10 points behind Manchester City —- while the result gave them a third straight home defeat for the first time since 1963.

    Manchester City dominated possession early on and should have taken the lead in the first half, only for Guendogan to sky a penalty kick over the bar.

    The Germany midfielder made amends with the opening goal four minutes into the second half.

    But Mo Salah equalised from the penalty kick spot after he was fouled by Ruben Dias.

    Two mistakes from goalkeeper Alisson took the match away from Liverpool.

    First, Guendogan side-footed home from two yards, and then Sterling headed home from close-range for his 100th goal under Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

    Foden then smashed a fourth straight through Alisson to give Manchester City victory and open up a big gap at the top.

    “We competed well. This was more like the performance we are used to, but mistakes at the wrong moments cost us,” Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said.

    “It is hard to take now, but in football you have to move on quickly. We need to use this week to prepare the best we can for a tough game with Leicester City.”

    Leicester City lost ground on the top two after they drew 0-0 at Wolves, while Harry Kane scored on his return from injury as Tottenham beat West Brom 2-0.

    Jamie Vardy had a great chance to win it for Leicester City in injury-time but he headed just wide, while Kasper Schmeichel saved brilliantly from Wolves’ Fabio Silva at the other end.

    Leicester City remain third, two points behind second-placed Manchester United and three above Liverpool, with Wolves staying 14th.

    Spurs went into their game with West Brom after three straight defeats.

    But they were too good for their visitors, who have picked up just five points in Sam Allardyce’s first 10 games in charge.

    Even though it took them until the second half to find the net, Jose Mourinho’s side were good value for their win, putting them closer to the top four.

    Kane and Son Heung Min scored the goals in five minutes early in the second half.

    “It was only a couple of games but we missed him a lot,” Son said. “Him coming back and scoring straight away, it’s what we needed. I missed him.”

    Allardyce said his team would continue to struggle if they keep making defensive mistakes.

    “Until we shut the back door, better life is going to be difficult for us,” he said.

    “We’ve got to start winning games and we won’t do that by keeping on losing. We need an undefeated run with more wins than draws in it.”

    Chelsea beat bottom side Sheffield United 2-1 in the day’s late match at Bramall Lane in Sheffield.

  • Leon Balogun missing in action as Brighton hammers Spurs 3-0

    It was a sit and watch setting for Super Eagles defender Leon Balogun as Brighton and Hove Albion beat visiting Spurs 3-0 on Saturday.

    The Nigeria international has not seen action in five straight Brighton matches including the 3-1 loss to Aston Villa in the league cup.

    The former Werder Bremen ace who joined Brighton just before the last World cup in Russia has only managed eight appearances for the side and was an unused substitute on Saturday as teammate and French import Neal Maupay opened scoring for Brighton in the 3rd minute of the match while Aaron Cornolly scored brace to shoot the tie beyond Spurs.

    Balogun who was part of the Super Eagles squad to both the last world cup and the last Nations cup in Egypt played combined seven matches in both competitions in which the Eagles crashed out in the group stage and finished in the third place respectively.

    He has however been left out of the Eagles squad for this month’s friendly against Brazil in Singapore. His exclusion may not be unconnected with his lack of playing time in his club. The 31 year old appears to be suffering the same fate with compatriot and Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho who has continued to be on the sidelines, managing in a few cases to have single digit playing time at the King Power Stadium.

    Interestingly the last time Brighton scored more than goal in a league match dates back to December 2018 against Crystal Palace.

  • Spurs defeat Manchester City in seven-goal thriller

    Manchester City have been knocked out of the Champions League despite defeating Tottenham Hotspurs 4-3 on Wednesday.

    The first leg of the clash at the White Hart Lane ended 1-0 in Spurs’ favour meaning the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate.

    Advertise With Us

    However, it was the London side that advanced to the semi-final of the competition on the away goals rule.

    Raheem Sterling netted a brace with Bernado Silva and Sergio Aguero scoring one goal each for City.

    On the other hand, Son Heung-min scored two goals and Fernando Llorente getting one for Spurs in the encounter at the Etihad Stadium.

    In the other game, Liverpool massacred Porto 4-1 to advance to the next stage of the competition on a 1-6 aggregate win.

  • Mourinho defends tactics against Spurs

    Mourinho defends tactics against Spurs

    Jose Mourinho insists Manchester United did not lose 3-0 against Tottenham on Monday night because of his tactics, and says the whole team is fully united.

    Two goals from Lucas Moura and one from Harry Kane gave Spurs all three points at Old Trafford, meaning United have suffered two defeats from their opening three Premier League games for the first time since 1992.

    Mourinho made six changes after the 3-2 defeat by Brighton last weekend, but the manager says United won the game from both a strategic and tactical point of view, just not by the result.

    He told Sky Sports: “We work all week, and by the strategic point of view we didn’t lose, by the tactical point of view we didn’t lose, but we lost the game.

    “We work very, very well during the week, we prepared the game very well, we played very well, the players had a fantastic attitude.

    “At half-time the result should be two goals different minimum, 2-0, 3-1, 3-0. And then something changed the game a little bit. Then the result was 2-0 but the team was in the game, and I think everyone could feel one goal could change the direction of the game.

    “I think Tottenham felt it, we were feeling that too. But then the third goal came and killed the game.”

    Mourinho was also adamant that his side are united, praising the attitude of the side and saying the squad are also behind him.

    Mourinho spent over a minute in front of the Stretford End clapping the United fans, and praised a support he believes can see that his side are working for each other.

  • Spurs smash five past struggling Stoke

    Harry Kane scored twice as Tottenham netted four second-half goals against Stoke City at Wembley to climb above Arsenal into fifth in the Premier League table.

    Spurs went ahead when Potters skipper Ryan Shawcross inadvertently diverted the ball past his own keeper – before three goals in the space of 12 minutes put the game out of sight.

    Son Heung-min doubled the lead after Dele Alli’s pass had unlocked the Stoke defence and Kane’s header made it 3-0.

    Kane drilled home the fourth, while Son set up Christian Eriksen for the fifth goal before Shawcross headed a late consolation.

    Stoke have won only once in seven league games and drop to 15th, three points above the relegation zone.

    Spurs warming to Wembley

    Since demolishing Liverpool 4-1 in October, Spurs had won just once in six Premier League games.

    Their Wembley troubles have been well documented but this was a performance when it all came together for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

    Son has been the one shining light during a disappointing slump in domestic form, and the South Korean was once again a driving force as Spurs scored more than once in a Premier League match at Wembley for only the second time this season.

    It was his low cross which led to Shawcross putting into his own net, while he scored the second goal and set up the fifth.

    After throwing away points against Burnley, Swansea and West Brom at Wembley, Tottenham were at their ruthless best on Saturday.

    It could have been more but for Stoke keeper Jack Butland.

    The England international produced two fine stops in the dying minutes to keep out Eriksen and Kane as the Potters were completely overrun.

    BBC Sports