Manchester United crashed to a humiliating 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, while Chelsea missed the chance to go top of the Premier League after a 0-0 draw at Everton on Sunday. United boss Ruben Amorim, who once again left Marcus Rashford out of his squad, is set for a miserable Christmas following the worst result of his brief reign. Languishing in 13th place, United have suffered four defeats in nine matches in all competitions since Amorim arrived from Sporting Lisbon. United’s second successive loss after their League Cup exit at Tottenham on Thursday underlined Amorim’s belief that their road back to the top will be long and arduous. Again, United were exposed at set-pieces in the 29th minute when Bournemouth’s teenage defender Dean Huijsen punished poor marking at a free-kick to glance a header past Andre Onana. There was even worse to come for Amorim in the second half as Justin Kluivert doubled fifth-placed Bournemouth’s advantage with a 61st minute penalty following Noussair Mazraoui’s foul on the forward. Antoine Semenyo compounded United’s misery two minutes later with a cool finish from Dango Ouattara’s pass. Saka injured in Arsenal rout Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted he was “pretty worried” over an injury suffered by star winger Bukayo Saka in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Crystal Palace. Saka, who was forced off midway through the first half, was seen on crutches leaving Selhurst Park after a game which saw the Gunners move to within three points of Premier League leaders Liverpool. Gabriel Jesus netted twice and was only denied a third by the width of a post, with Kai Havertz pouncing. Palace forward Ismaila Sarr, who had pulled his team level at 1-1, failed to make the most of two inviting opportunities early in the second half. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 December,2024 06:25 AM IST | London | AFPAtletico Madrid came from behind to snatch a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Barcelona and claim leadership of La Liga on Saturday. Pedri sent the Catalans ahead but second-half goals from Rodrigo De Paul and Alexander Sorloth helped Diego Simeone’s side move three points clear at the top of the table, having played one match fewer than Barca. Hansi Flick’s side dominated at the Olympic stadium but Atletico clung on before claiming a 12th consecutive victory across all competitions with Sorloth’s stoppage-time strike. Barcelona started the season in superb form but have stumbled in recent weeks and have now won just one of their last seven league games. This was their third consecutive home league defeat, their worst such run since 1987, while it was also Simeone’s first ever away triumph against Barcelona in La Liga. “It’s inexplicable... we had the game in our hands and we didn’t take advantage,” said Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi. “It’s truly a tough defeat to take, when you don’t finish a game, this is what can happen,” Pedri told Movistar. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 December,2024 06:24 AM IST | Barcelona | AFPEast Bengal FC triumphed over Jamshedpur FC by 1-0 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season on Saturday. Marksman Dimitrios Diamantakos was the only player on target for the home side as they maintained their mid-season rise under their new tactician Oscar Bruzon. The Red & Golds secured their fourth win in their last five matches in the competition. Jamshedpur FC, on the other hand, were inefficient in creating and finishing chances, as per an ISL press release. The first quarter of the match saw both teams exert pressure on their opponents with some intricate movement. The game's first chance fell to the hosts as Cleiton Silva, who found himself in space from a corner and stabbed the ball from close range. However, he was denied by an outstretched Albino Gomes. A minute later, the Red and Golds recycled possession and Anwar Ali saw his long-range effort rattle the post before going out, catching the entire Jamshedpur FC backline off-guard. In the ninth minute, it was Jamshedpur FC's opportunity to attack as Stephen Eze found Javier Siverio in the box with a dink pass. The Spaniard showed immaculate control but his subsequent effort struck the side netting. In the 16th minute, Oscar Bruzon was forced to make a change as Mohamad Rakip limped off the pitch and was replaced by Jeakson Singh. Also Read: Should KL Rahul make way for Rohit Sharma at the top? Know Ravi Shastri's opinion Later, his counterpart, Khalid Jamil also made an early change by bringing on Pronay Halder in place of Sourav Das in the middle of the park. The game slowed down in the second quarter of the first half, with both teams consolidating possession and being far more conservative with their approach. However, East Bengal FC finished the first period with a flurry of opportunities. Nandhakumar Sekar and Cleiton came close to breaking the deadlock but were both denied by a resolute Albino in goal. Jamshedpur FC were the team on the ascendency in the first ten minutes of the second half but they lacked the final ball in the box. In the 54th minute, Albino was called into action once again as Hector Yuste rose the highest from a corner to head it towards goal. The Spaniard made a good connection but not enough to beat the Jamshedpur FC custodian. But East Bengal's continued pressure eventually bore fruit in the 60th minute when Dimitrios Diamantakos broke the deadlock from Nandhakumar's cross. Cleiton also played a big role in the buildup as Jamshedpur FC defenders were stranded ball-watching. Khalid Jamil, in retaliation to the goal, made attacking changes by bringing on Jordan Murray and Nikhil Barla in place of Rei Tachikawa and Mohammed Sanan respectively. Meanwhile, Bruzon replaced Diamantakos with David Lalhlansanga as an injury precaution. In the 68th minute, Vishnu PV almost doubled the lead with a stunning solo effort. He lost his marker with some exquisite trickery before drifting into the box from the left flank. His eventual effort struck the inside of the post before going out. Jamshedpur FC threw bodies forward in search of the equaliser in the final quarter of the game but Bruzon's men held their lines brilliantly, registering their fourth victory of the campaign. The experienced Brazilian Cleiton was a livewire on the field for East Bengal FC. He was the prime orchestrator for the solitary strike while he also created four chances. Cleiton also clocked six crosses and worked hard in link-up play. He also completed 39 out of his 47 attempted passes. East Bengal FC will face Hyderabad FC on December 28, while Jamshedpur FC will be in action against Kerala Blasters FC on December 29. East Bengal FC 1 (Dimitrios Diamantakos 60') - 0 Jamshedpur FC. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 December,2024 05:09 PM IST | Kolkata (West Bengal) | ANINikolaos Karelis’ early strike earned Mumbai City FC a 1-0 victory over Chennaiyin FC, marking their fourth consecutive clean sheet in the Indian Super League here on Saturday. With this victory, the home team moved from the seventh place to the fourth spot in the points table, accumulating 20 points from 12 games with five victories. This match also marked the third straight away game where the Marina Machans were unable to find the back of the net. Also Read: India to host ISSF Jr World Cup in 2025 Karelis capitalised on a loose ball in the eighth minute after Yoell van Nieff’s shot was partially deflected, calmly slotting it into the bottom right corner. Just before the 20th minute mark, Lukas Brambilla tried to pull one back for the Marina Machans, interlinking with Kiyan Nassiri. Brambilla’s shot was saved by Mumbai City FC goalkeeper TP Rehenesh. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 December,2024 08:03 AM IST | Mumbai | PTIBournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has paid tribute to Ruben Amorim’s impact at Manchester United ahead of the Cherries’ match at Old Trafford on Sunday. Iraola’s side are sixth in the table, seven places ahead of United but just three points clear of their opponents. Brought in after Erik ten Hag was sacked as United boss, Amorim’s stint began with a draw against Ipswich. United have since won four games and lost three, with last weekend’s derby defeat of Manchester City followed by a League Cup loss against Tottenham. “I think they are different,” said Iraola, whose side won the equivalent game 3-0 last season. “I think they play in a different way, different system, different approach to the games,” he also told a pre-match press conference on Friday. Also Read: ‘It’s not good enough from me’ “I think they keep the games more in their control. They’ve raised the possession they have on the ball and they have really good patterns. If we allow them to dictate the game and to be the team taking the decisions on the ball, it’s going to be very difficult because I think they are playing very well. “They are conceding very few chances, very few goals, they have very good defensive stats. They already had this with ten Hag this season because they’ve also signed new defenders, good defenders, and they’ve improved from past seasons defensively overall and I think they are continuing now,” Iraola remarked. United, however, fell 3-0 behind against Spurs before losing 4-3. “I think probably they deserved more,” said Iraola. “A lot of goals but I think they had very good moments.” United have looked vulnerable at set-pieces. “It’s true that they’ve conceded a good amount of goals from set-plays but I think they have very good defenders and a lot of the goals are very good execution from the opposition,” said Iraola. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 December,2024 07:59 AM IST | London | AFPManchester City manager Pep Guardiola insisted his struggling Premier League champions will regain their confidence after a 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday meant they had lost nine of their last 12 matches in all competitions. Phoden strikes too late Jhon Duran gave Villa an early lead before Morgan Rogers doubled the Birmingham club’s advantage in the 65th minute. Phil Foden’s stoppage-time goal for visitors City came too late to change the result as Villa climbed above Guardiola’s men into fifth place in the table. Also Read: Shrijith’s 150 trumps Shreyas Iyer’s 114 as Karnataka win Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran celebrates his goal v Man City with teammate and goalscorer Morgan Rogers (right) in Birmingham on Saturday Defeat extended the worst run of Guardiola’s celebrated managerial career but the City boss was adamant he and his players could regain their confidence, telling TNT Sports: “Step by step, we have nice personalities in the team and sooner or later we are going to find it.” Guardiola praised a Villa side managed by fellow Spanish boss Unai Emery by saying: “Congratulations Aston Villa and keep going. In the mid-block they are so strong. “We have good moments, we had chances, more chances than in the [Manchester] United game, but in the second half we dropped and our pressing was not good enough... We found a goal in the end, but too late,” he added. This result meant previously prolific striker Erling Haaland, a key figure while City were winning an unprecedented four successive Premier League titles, has now scored just once in his last six appearances. “Of course, we are disappointed,” he said. “It’s not good enough, it’s not good enough from me.” Haaland added: “We have to continue. First I’m looking at myself, I haven’t been doing things good enough, I haven’t been scoring my chances. I have to do better, I haven’t been good enough.” Confident of revival Haaland, however, backed Guardiola to oversee a City revival. “He [Guardiola] won the Premier League six times in seven years, so we will never forget that,” said Haaland. “He will find the solutions. He has been doing that every single year. We still believe in him, we have to work harder than ever right now,” he added. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
22 December,2024 07:57 AM IST | Birmingham | AFPTottenham survived two calamitous errors from stand-in goalkeeper Fraser Forster on Thursday to beat Manchester United 4-3 and set up a League Cup semi-final against Liverpool, staying on track for their first trophy since 2008. The home side were cruising at 3-0 in the 54th minute of a captivating tie in London after two goals from Dominic Solanke and one from Dejan Kulusevski. Ange Postecoglou But Forster’s mistakes allowed substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo to pull the score back to 3-2 with 20 minutes to go. It was one-way traffic after that, with United totally on top, but Spurs scored a fourth as Son Heung-min found the net from a corner and they held on despite a late Jonny Evans goal. Tottenham will face Premier League leaders Liverpool in the two-legged semi-finals, with Arsenal taking on Newcastle. Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said his injury-hit team inflicted pain on themselves but gave a passionate defence of his gung-ho approach. “It should have been a lot more comfortable there, but having said that, I still can’t get away from the fact that this group of players have done an unbelievable job at the moment to get us through this,” he said. The Australian added: “I know people will say, ‘Well, don’t take any risks’ and all that sort of stuff, but we wouldn’t be scoring four goals and five goals. It’s the hardest thing in the game to do, score goals, and we’re doing it with bare bones.” Tottenham, 10th in the Premier League, have not won silverware for 16 years, when they lifted the League Cup under Juande Ramos. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 December,2024 07:00 AM IST | London | AFPTeenage striker Marc Guiu scored a hat-trick as Chelsea thrashed Shamrock Rovers 5-1 for their sixth straight Europa Conference League win on Thursday, advancing to the last 16 with maximum points. The 18-year-old Guiu took over as the competition’s leading scorer with six goals, two of which came in the win away to Astana last week. The Spaniard headed Chelsea in front after a defensive mix-up but a deflected effort from Markus Poom brought the Irish visitors level. Guiu took advantage of another mistake at the back to restore Chelsea’s lead at Stamford Bridge, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall adding another before Guiu completed his treble by heading home in first-half stoppage time. Marc Cucurella fired in a fifth for the Blues around the hour as Chelsea finished the league phase with 26 goals scored — eight more than any other club — and again underlined their status as the title favourites. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 December,2024 07:00 AM IST | Paris | AFPTottenham survived two calamitous errors from stand-in goalkeeper Fraser Forster on Thursday to beat Manchester United 4-3 and set up a League Cup semi-final against Liverpool, staying on track for their first trophy since 2008. The home side were cruising at 3-0 in the 54th minute of a captivating tie in London after two goals from Dominic Solanke and one from Dejan Kulusevski. But Forster's mistakes allowed substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo to pull the score back to 3-2 with 20 minutes to go. It was one-way traffic after that, with United totally on top, but Spurs scored a fourth as Son Heung-min found the net from a corner and they held on despite a late Jonny Evans goal. Tottenham will face Premier League leaders Liverpool in the two-legged semi-finals, with Arsenal taking on Newcastle. Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said his injury-hit team inflicted pain on themselves but gave a passionate defence of his gung-ho approach. "It should have been a lot more comfortable there, but having said that, I still can't get away from the fact that this group of players have done an unbelievable job at the moment to get us through this," he said. The Australian added: "I know people will say, "Well, don't take any risks' and all that sort of stuff, but we wouldn't be scoring four goals and five goals. "It's the hardest thing in the game to do, score goals, and we're doing it with bare bones." Tottenham, 10th in the Premier League, have not won silverware for 16 years, when they lifted the League Cup under Juande Ramos. But they are now just one stage away from a Wembley final in March, with Postecoglou still on track to deliver on his bold statement that he always wins a trophy in his second season at a club. New United boss Ruben Amorim is back down to earth with a bump after his side's dramatic 2-1 Premier League win at Manchester City on Sunday. Amorim made five changes from the team that beat City while Spurs had six academy players on their bench. Marcus Rashford was left out of United's squad for the second consecutive game but Alejandro Garnacho, also absent on Sunday, was on the bench and came on as a second-half substitute. Also Read: Intercontinental Cup: Real Madrid clinch title Solanke double Tottenham opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Solanke reacted quickest after United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, in for Andre Onana, parried a shot from distance into his path. Kulusevski doubled Tottenham's lead moments after the restart, finishing unerringly when Lisandro Martinez failed to deal with a James Maddison cut-back, only succeeding in diverting the ball into the Sweden international's path. Spurs were 3-0 up when Solanke ran onto a long ball over the top, drifting inside Martinez and Evans and finishing with confidence. But control turned to chaos just after the hour mark following some incredible goalkeeping errors from Forster, deputising for the injured Guglielmo Vicario. Forster, being closed down by Zirkzee, passed straight to Bruno Fernandes, whose ball found Zirkzee and the Dutchman slotted the ball into an empty net in the 63rd minute. Minutes later United scored again when Forster dithered after receiving a back pass. Diallo closed him down in a flash and slid in as Forster tried to clear, with the ball hitting Diallo and ending up in the net. United had further chances but instead Son gave Tottenham a cushion in the 88th minute. Even then United had time to find another, with Evans heading in from a corner, but they ran out of time. "We were not the best team in all of the game, but most of the parts I think we were the best team," said Amorim. "I think we disconnected for eight minutes. It was really hard to recover from that, but then the lads did a great job." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 December,2024 02:22 PM IST | London | AFPReal Madrid beat Mexican team Pachuca 3-0 in the Intercontinental Cup final on Wednesday, making Carlo Ancelotti the most decorated coach in the club’s history. Ancelotti lifted his 15th title with the Spanish powerhouse, surpassing the 14 trophies that he and Miguel Munoz had won. Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior scored a goal each. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 December,2024 08:11 AM IST | Lusail (Qatar) | AP | PTILiverpool moved into the League Cup semi-finals as the holders won 2-1 against managerless Southampton, while Gabriel Jesus ended his goal drought with a hat-trick in Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace on Wednesday. Rare goals from Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott at St Mary’s sent the 10-time League Cup winners into the last four for a record 20th time. Meanwhile, Sandro Tonali scored twice as Newcastle beat Brentford 3-1 at St James’ Park. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 December,2024 08:10 AM IST | London | AFPADVERTISEMENT
