West Ham forward Michail Antonio sent a message to the Premier League club’s fans on Tuesday after being discharged from the hospital as he continues his recovery following a car crash in early December. “Happy New Year and I’ll be back on that pitch soon,” Antonio wrote in a message posted by the club on its official website. Antonio, a 34-year-old Jamaica international, needed surgery on a lower limb fracture after a one-car incident outside London on December 7, and is expected to face a lengthy spell of rehabilitation. “Every year around this time, I’m asked what I’m grateful for, and every year I’ve struggled to find the right words,” Antonio said in his message. “But this year, I know exactly what I’m grateful for: being alive.” 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
02 January,2025 08:41 AM IST | London | AP | PTIThe Spanish league said Tuesday that Barcelona has failed to meet Financial Fair Play rules in the latest blow to the club’s hopes of keeping playmaker Dani Olmo. The league said Barcelona “did not present any alternative” on adhering to the regulations, which was required for the club to “register any player beginning on Jan 2.” Barcelona needed to have another financial lever approved by the league in order to register Olmo after a judge ruled against the club on Monday in the second consecutive court setback ahead of the end-of-year deadline. Without the court’s backing or the league’s approval, Olmo’s contract can’t be registered beyond the end of 2024. The Spain international moved from Leipzig to Barcelona in August. Barcelona had reportedly reached a deal to sell VIP seats at the renovated Camp Nou stadium for 100 million euros ($104 million). That would reportedly be enough for the club to add Olmo and forward Pau Víctor to the squad. 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
02 January,2025 08:41 AM IST | Barcelona | AP | PTIAC Milan named Sergio Conceicao as their new coach within hours of sacking fellow Portuguese Paulo Fonseca on Monday after just six months in charge. Fonseca paid the price for the Italian giants’ inability to mount a Serie A title challenge. Also Read: Pep says City have ‘no chance’ of winning title Conceicao, 50, was available after ending a seven-year stint with Porto in June this year having guided them to three league titles and four Portuguese Cup successes. 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
31 December,2024 07:58 AM IST | Rome | AFPEven after marking his 500th game in charge of Manchester City with a much-needed victory, Pep Guardiola insisted his team has “no chance” of winning a fifth straight Premier League title. Guardiola looked visibly relieved after City ended a five-game winless run in all competitions by beating Leicester 2-0 on Sunday, only a second victory in 14 matches after the worst stretch of results in the Spaniard’s illustrious career. Also Read: Title comes first! The win still left City 14 points behind Liverpool after the leaders trounced West Ham 5-0 away, with Arne Slot’s team also having a game in hand. So after winning an unprecedented four straight Premier League titles, Guardiola has already written off his team’s chances before reaching January. “We are far away from winning the Premier League. We accept there’s already no chance of that but we have other things to fight for,” Guardiola said. Just winning a game is a battle for City these days. A team that used to easily beat teams like relegation-threatened Leicester by three or four goals found itself pegged back for much of the game despite Savinho’s 21st-minute opener, and the hosts missed several good chances to equalize before Erling Haaland headed home City’s second in the 74th. “Just relief, that is the word to express how all of us feel,” Guardiola said. “It was not the ideal performance but hopefully the victories will give our mood a better position... Hopefully in the new year we can bounce back a bit from a bad moment.” 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
31 December,2024 07:57 AM IST | Leicester | AP | PTIRampant Liverpool smashed West Ham 5-0 on Sunday to stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League to eight points as Manchester City returned to winning ways at troubled Leicester. Nottingham Forest climbed to second in the table with a fifth straight win at Everton while Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham conceded late to draw 2-2 against Vitor Pereira’s rejuvenated Wolves. Arne Slot’s Liverpool look unstoppable in their quest for a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title, recording their 23rd win in 27 matches in all competitions this season. Luis Diaz opened the scoring against Julen Lopetegui’s hapless team on the half-hour, before Mohamed Salah set up Cody Gakpo for the second with some audacious footwork. Also Read: New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 45 runs to take 2-0 series lead The Egypt international then scored his 20th goal of the season shortly before half-time to put the visitors in total control. Trent Alexander-Arnold made it 4-0 with a deflected shot from distance in the 54th minute and Diogo Jota completed the rout, courtesy of another Salah assist following a surging run. “I enjoyed it a lot because it doesn’t happen many times that I could just sit back and enjoy,” said Slot, flying in his first season in the Anfield hotseat after replacing Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool’s striking success has come against the background of mounting speculation over the futures of Salah, Alexander-Arnold and captain Virgil van Dijk. All three can discuss a move to a foreign club on a free transfer from January 1 but remain focused on winning a second Premier League title together. “The only thing on my mind is I want Liverpool to win the league and I want to be part of that,” Salah told Sky Sports. “I will do my best for the team to win the trophy. There are a few other teams catching up with us and we need to stay focused and humble.” 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
31 December,2024 07:53 AM IST | London | AFPEven after marking his 500th game in charge of Manchester City with a much-needed victory, Pep Guardiola insisted his team has ¿no chance¿ of winning a fifth straight Premier League title. Guardiola looked visibly relieved after City ended a five-game winless run in all competitions by beating Leicester 2-0 on Sunday, only a second victory in 14 matches after the worst stretch of results in the Spanish manager's illustrious career. The win still left City 14 points behind Liverpool after the leaders trounced West Ham 5-0 away, with Arne Slot's team also having a game in hand. So after winning an unprecedented four straight Premier League titles, Guardiola has already written off his team's chances before reaching January. Also Read: Cummins becomes Rohit Sharma's prime nemesis in Tests to script unique record "We are far away from winning the Premier League. We accept there's already no chance of that but we have other things to fight for", Guardiola said. Just winning a game is a battle for City these days. A team that used to easily beat teams like relegation-threatened Leicester by three or four goals found itself pegged back for much of the game despite Savinho's 21st-minute opener, and the hosts missed several good chances to equalize before Erling Haaland headed home City's second in the 74th. "Just relief, that is the word to express how all of us feel", Guardiola said. "It was not the ideal performance but hopefully the victories will give our mood a better position. ... Hopefully in the new year we can bounce back a bit from a bad moment." For the first time in a while, Guardiola had a genuine smile on his face as he walked onto the pitch after the final whistle to hug his players and applaud the fans after taking his tally to 362 wins in his 500 games along with 18 trophies. "The players have given me a good present today, celebrating 500 games like this", he said. 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.
30 December,2024 09:32 AM IST | Leicester (England) | APGermany took a solid first step on Sunday in defence of their United Cup title with World No. 2 Alexander Zverev, Laura Siegemund and Tim Puetz starring in a emphatic 3-0 victory over Brazil. Zverev assured the win by dominating Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 6-4 after Siegemund began with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia. Also Read: Novak slams handling of major doping cases Siegemund later teamed up with Puetz to win the mixed-double tie in back-to-back sets. In Sydney, Norway’s Casper Ruud was put through his paces over nearly three hours before downing Czechia’s Tomas Machac 7-6 (7/6), 5-7, 6-4. However, Norway crashed out after losing their women’s singles match and the mixeddoubles event to the Czechs. 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
30 December,2024 07:52 AM IST | Sydney | AFPManchester City provided Pep Guardiola some relief with a 2-0 victory at Leicester to secure just a second win in 14 games for the crisis-hit English champions on Sunday. Savinho and Erling Haaland struck either side of half-time as City ended a run of eight away games without a win. The performance was still far from the standards that Guardiola’s side have set in winning an unprecedented four consecutive English top-flight titles. Also Read: ‘Didn’t expect to win’, Koneru Humpy But the effusive celebrations of Haaland’s header 16 minutes from time showed that three points was all that mattered for the visitors to at least temporarily halt their remarkable slump. Victory lifts City up to fifth but they are still 11 points behind leaders Liverpool. Guardiola made just one change from the 1-1 Boxing Day draw against Everton as Kevin De Bruyne replaced his Belgian international colleague Jeremy Doku. De Bruyne’s fitness struggles have played a part in City’s slump and he immediately showed what Guardiola’s men have been missing for most of the season. Other key results>> Everton 0-2 Nottingham >> Fulham 2-2 Bournemouth>> Tottenham 2-2 Wolves>> Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton 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
30 December,2024 07:46 AM IST | Leicester | AFPManoj Mohammed scored in the 90th minute as former winners Hyderabad FC fought back to hold East Bengal FC to a 1-1 draw in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 at the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium here on Saturday evening. The home side maintained 56.7% of the possession and produced a greater passing accuracy of 87% as opposed to the 74% of East Bengal. However, they had to wait right until the 90th-minute mark to win a point from this match against the Red & Gold Brigade which has won their last two matches on a trot. Hyderabad FC made the first move as the proceedings kicked off, as the duo of Isaac Vanmalsawma and Joseph Sunny interlinked in the final third after two minutes to test the East Bengal FC defence. Issac’s pass was laid out for Joseph outside the box, but, instead of engaging in further build-up, the latter attempted a shot from a distance that was blocked in time. The home side kept the pressure up in the following few minutes, compelling Hijazi Maher to concede a corner in the 11th minute. As a consequence of that set piece, Manoj Mohammad pulled off an aerial effort from the centre of the 18-yard box that missed the target on the right side. What followed thereafter was a guarded affair with neither of the two sides being able to produce clear-cut chances. There was a spate of corners and free-kicks being won, but nothing substantial came out of those moves, until Edmilson Correia dazzled on the left side of the 18-yard box after receiving a pass from Isaac in the 41st minute, adjusted his movement, and thundered a shot that missed hitting the woodwork by a whisker on the right side. Two minutes into the second half, Correia again sprang into action, deftly receiving a lateral delivery in the centre of the box from Cy Goddard, but shot it off target on the right side despite being in close distance from the goal. It took a fantastic free-kick from Cleiton Silva in the 64th minute to create the move that broke the deadlock in this match. Dimitrios Diamantakos won a foul and Silva stepped up on the ball and discharged an impressive delivery that smashed the crossbar, only to find Jeakson Singh pounce upon the rebound and bundle it into the centre of the net to get the visitors ahead, arguably against the run of momentum. Hyderabad FC dug deep in the game though, making some compelling moves to find the equaliser. Eventually, it required some quick thinking from Correia as late as the 90th-minute mark to drag his side back after the setback they received from Jeakson’s goal. Hyderabad FC had the duo of Lenny Rodrigues and Devendra Murgaonkar coming in as substitutes in the 85th minute and fresh legs certainly swayed the game in their favour, with Murgaonkar making an instant impact through an outside-of-the-box shot that was set up for him by Abdul Rabeeh. It didn’t land on target but showed that the home side was getting on the offensive before Correia trusted Manoj by passing the ball to him on the left side of the box when he had an opportunity to bury the goal to cap off a quick attacking move. Manoj repaid the faith by holding his composure and dispatching the ball into the bottom right corner to rescue a point for his side from this game. Hyderabad FC will play their next game against Mohun Bagan Super Giant on January 2 while East Bengal FC will clash against Mumbai City FC on January 6. 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
29 December,2024 11:48 AM IST | Hyderabad | IANSRyan Williams struck a brace of goals to guide Bengaluru FC to a 4-2 triumph over Chennaiyin FC and closed the gap on table-toppers Mohun Bangan Super Giant in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Saturday night. Williams scored a brace and Sunil Chhetri was also on the scoresheet as Bengaluru FC (27) reduced the deficit at the top with Mohun Bagan Super Giant (29) to only two points with the year coming to an end. Irfan Yadwad and Lalrinliana Hnamte were on the scoresheet for Chennaiyin FC. The game started with great intensity from the first minute with Rahul Bheke testing Mohammed Nawaz with a header on target. Daniel Chima Chukwu almost handed the lead to the hosts three minutes later, when Lukas Brambilla unleashed him with a defence-splitting pass. The Nigerian’s subsequent effort was blocked by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in goal. Despite having more of the ball in the first quarter of the game, the Marina Machans were pegged back when Williams nestled the ball into the net from a cross delivered by Jorge Pereyra Diaz in the 16th minute. But Bengaluru FC’s lead lasted only three minutes as the Marina Machans were rewarded for their sustained pressure with Irfan turning in the equaliser in the 19th minute. It was Brambilla, who was the orchestrator of the goal as he won possession in midfield before he found Irfan with a smart square pass in the penalty area. In the 43rd minute, Bengaluru FC took the lead through Sunil Chhetri, against the run of play. Williams found Chhetri in the penalty area completely unmarked with a cross and the record goal-scorer didn’t make any mistake to head it past Nawaz and give Bengaluru a 2–1 lead. However, Chennaiyin FC clawed their way back right at the stroke of half-time when Gurpreet mismanaged a Lalrinliana Hnamte header following a long throw-in from Bikash Yumnam. Chennaiyin FC were the dominant side throughout the first half as they pressed higher up the pitch and won possession in dangerous areas to initiate counter-attacks. However, they weren’t clinical enough to take their chances as the scores were level at the break. The Marina Machans continued their high press in the second half as they were inducing mistakes from the Bengaluru FC defenders. However, it also meant that the visitors had acres of space behind the Chennaiyin FC defence for them to exploit. Bengaluru FC almost found the lead in the 56th minute, when Pedro Capo combined with Pereyra Diaz in the final third. However, the former’s effort was parried away by Nawaz. The Blues gradually gained momentum with the likes of Pereyra Diaz, Noguera, and Williams getting into the mix of things. They were eventually rewarded when Pereyra Diaz made a timely cut-back to find Williams in the penalty area and the Australian slotted it past Nawaz to put Bengaluru FC ahead in the game in the 69th minute. Right after taking the lead, Gerard Zaragoza brought on Aleksandar Jovanovic and Vinith Venkatesh to replace Noguera and Chinglensana Singh to strengthen the backline. In retaliation, Owen Coyle freshened things up with Kiyan Nassiri, replacing Farukh Choudhary in attack. However, things turned bad to worse for the Marina Machans as Williams’ cross was turned in by Laldinliana Renthlei into his own net in the 82nd minute, handing Bengaluru FC a two-goal advantage. In the last few minutes, Chennaiyin FC had a few openings but they weren’t clinical enough to reduce the deficit as they lost five out of their last six games in the competition. Bengaluru FC will face Jamshedpur FC on January 4 whereas Chennaiyin FC will play Odisha FC on January 9. 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
29 December,2024 10:42 AM IST | Chennai | IANSArsenal moved up to second place in the Premier League with a 1-0 home win against Ipswich. Mikel Arteta's side is six points behind leader Liverpool, which has a game in hand. Second-bottom Ipswich had won two of its last three away games but was up against it from the start at the Emirates. The visitors did not have one touch in the Gunners' box during the first 45 minutes on Friday and, although Ipswich showed signs of life after the break, it was Arsenal which continued to dominate the game, marshaled by Declan Rice in midfield. Kai Havertz got the only goal midway through the first half when he knocked in a cross from Leandro Trossard. Havertz, Rice, Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus all had chances but none of them could add to Arsenal's tally. "It's so tough, every team is tough to break down," Havertz said. "They fight for each other and at the end we're very proud for the win." Arsenal is a point above third-place Chelsea and two points clear of season surprise team Nottingham Forest in fourth. Seagulls and Bees share the points on south coast Brighton had most of the chances but could not find the net in a 0-0 draw with Brentford that extended the south coast club's winless run to six league games. It was a frustrating night for the home side and especially Julio Enciso. The Paraguay striker had a host of opportunities to score but couldn't make them count. Along with Southampton, Brentford has the worst away record in the league with seven losses and two draws and it was easy to see why in this toothless performance. Brentford had an early goal from Yoane Wissa ruled out for offside and, although it came a bit more into the game in the second half, it failed to pressure Icelandic goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson, who made his Premier League debut eight minutes before halftime when Mark Flekken went off with a thigh injury. One bright spot for the home side was the return of winger Solly March. He came on as a late substitute to make his first appearance for Brighton since injuring a knee against Manchester City 14 months ago. The result leaves Brighton in 10th place with 26 points, one spot and two points ahead of the Bees. 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
29 December,2024 10:39 AM IST | London | AP | PTIADVERTISEMENT
