Blog (Page 6)

FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – Godspeed to any person responsible for trying to predict patterns from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Spurs have fallen into complete disarray of late but managed to compartmentalise their recent discretions to earn a credible come-from-behind 2-2 draw at home to Manchester United on Thursday night. After Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford fired the Red Devils into a two-goal lead heading into half-time, interim manager Ryan Mason managed to get quite the tune out of his after the break. Pedro Porro pulled one back for Tottenham and Son Heung-min equalised late on as Tottenham took a well-earned point. Here were theirRead More →

The Champions League race in the Premier League looks like it could still have legs as at least three teams fighting over two spots in the top four behind Arsenal and Manchester City. It is turning into a great season all round with the title race, European qualification and the relegation scrap still to be determined heading into the final few games of the season. Newcastle cemented their claim on third place on Thursday night with a thumping 4-1 win over Everton. The Magpies were also helped shortly afterwards when the clash between Manchester United and Tottenham finished in a 2-2 draw. Newcastle have anRead More →

FROM CAMP NOU – Emma Hayes knew it was always going to take something miraculous for Chelsea to topple Barcelona at a roaring Camp Nou and, despite best efforts, fell victim to what can only be described as the greatness of the Catalans. Being such an underdog was not something Chelsea are particularly used to, especially facing off against a team who had recorded 79 consecutive wins at home. And despite the prospective return of Alexia Putellas, left to to wait another day, Barcelona’s sheer depth, control and dominance was too much for Chelsea to grapple with and they bowed out of the Champions LeagueRead More →

Barcelona have reached a third straight Women’s Champions League final after seeing off Chelsea in a 2-1 aggregate win in the semi-final, with a 1-1 draw in front of 72,000 fans at Camp Nou on Thursday night enough to get the job done. Caroline Graham Hansen’s goals in either leg proved to be the difference in the tie. Fellow Norwegian Guro Reiten pulled one back for Chelsea that made the second leg competitive until the end, but the better team over 180 minutes probably went through in the end. Chelsea set up with five at the back, seemingly with the intention of containing a BarcelonaRead More →

St. Louis City SC announced former City Football Group executive, Diego Gigliani, as the club’s new president and general manager. It’s a big and bold move by the upstart expansion team currently sitting atop Major League Soccer’s Western Conference table. Gigliani will work closely with St. Louis’ CEO, Carolyn Kindle, overseeing day-to-day operations, including sporting, revenue, marketing, operations and administration and community departments. “Diego brings an incredible amount of international soccer expertise that will help us take the next step in our ambitious journey to become a global soccer brand,” Kindle said in a release. Kindle’s counting on his decade at England’s City Football GroupRead More →

Dimitar Berbatov has revealed it was the chance to play with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez that prompted him to join Manchester United over Manchester City in 2008, explaining there was ‘no comparison’ between the teams. Berbatov had made his name at Bayer Leverkusen, for whom he played in the 2002 UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid, before joining Tottenham in 2006 and quickly establishing himself as one of the best strikers in the Premier League. By 2008, United were looking to add to the squad that had just won the Champions League and Sir Alex Ferguson saw BerbatovRead More →

Major League Soccer‘s matchday nine did not disappoint. Players lived up to their expectations, netting some phenomenal goals to make this week’s ranking a bit difficult. In the East, FC Cincinnati triumphed over the Portland Timbers to hold on to second place in the table, while D.C. United earned their first road victory against Orlando City. In the West, Jefferson Savarino led Real Salt Lake to success. Here’s the best goals of the week… The cross + the finish + the celly. Perfection. 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/IdluQrzbbM — FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) April 24, 2023 To start, we have Sergio Santos against the Portland Timbers. It was theRead More →

Barcelona manager Xavi claims that every match away from home is ‘war’ after Barcelona fail to increase their league lead with a 2-1 defeat to Rayo Vallecano. The loss was just Barcelona’s third in the league this season, with the hosts securing the win through goals from Alvaro Garcia and Fran Garcia, while Robert Lewandowski scored a late consolation for Barcelona. Despite the defeat, Barcelona are still on course to win their first La Liga title since the 2018/19 season, holding an 11-point lead over Real Madrid with just eight matches remaining. On his message to his players after the loss, Xavi said: “There isRead More →

David Moyes has accused VAR of disrespecting West Ham after his team were denied a late penalty in his team’s eventual 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at London Stadium. The Hammers boss confronted Chris Kavanagh on the pitch at full-time after the referee decided not to award a penalty when Thiago’s arm made contact with the ball in the box. Moyes was adamant that the VAR official, Neil Swarbrick, should have at least advised Kavanagh to review the incident on the pitchside monitor. “The hardest thing to take is the disrespect from VAR, that VAR wouldn’t have at least said to the referee that this mightRead More →

Bruno Fernandes has been named in Manchester United’s travelling squad for Thursday’s trip to Tottenham. The midfielder turned his ankle during the FA Cup semi-final victory over Brighton and was previously described as a ‘question mark’ by manager Erik ten Hag during his pre-match press conference. Ten Hag was adamant that Fernandes would be given the chance to prove his fitness before a decision on his involvement would be made, and the Portugal international appears to have succeeded after being included in United’s travelling squad. Just how fit Fernandes actually is remains to be seen. Having missed training in the build-up to the game, theRead More →