Eddie Nketiah s 90th-minute winner gave Arsenal a thrilling 3-2 victory over Manchester United to restore a five-point gap to Manchester City at the Premier League summit.
Arsenal kicked off just two points clear at the top, having seen City win twice since they last played, but they reestablished a more comfortable cushion at the end of a gripping Emirates Stadium encounter on Sunday.
United – themselves maintaining remote title hopes – scored first through Marcus Rashford, only to require a scruffy second-half leveller from Lisandro Martinez after goals from Nketiah and Bukayo Saka had turned the game on its head.
Only Arsenal looked capable of providing a further twist, though, and it came through Nketiah with seconds remaining of normal time, giving the G…
Xavi feels sympathy for Lionel Messi and his former club Barcelona following the superstar forward s switch to Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi held a tearful news conference on Sunday to confirm the end of his 21-year stay at Camp Nou ahead of completing a move to PSG on Tuesday.
The six-time Ballon d Or winner revealed both he and Barcelona did everything possible to agree a new deal, but it was made impossible by financial and structural obstacles .
Xavi, who won 24 trophies playing in the same side as Messi prior to departing Barca in 2015, is upset that the Argentina international was effectively forced out of the door.
I m just so sad for Leo, Xavi, who is now managing Qatari club Al Sadd, told The Times. It s a pity to see he and the club couldn t find …
Barcelona have offered Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta a contract for two years, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The 32-year-old has been a vital player in everything Chelsea have achieved since his arrival in 2012, including two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, two Europa League trophies, and the 2021 Champions League followed by the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. In all competitions, Azpilicueta has made a total of 459 appearances for Chelsea so far, scoring 15 goals and contributing 56 assists.
But it s possible that the 36-cap Spain international s time at Stamford Bridge is drawing to its close. His contract expires at the end of the season and he s already free to reach an agreement with a club outside England about a free transfer.…
Barcelona missed the chance to go 14 points clear at the top of LaLiga as goals from Alvaro Garcia and Fran Garcia fired Rayo Vallecano to a 2-1 win over the below-par leaders.
Real Madrid s 4-2 defeat at Girona on Tuesday gave Barca the chance to pull further clear at the summit, but Xavi s men started slowly and soon found themselves behind to Alvaro Garcia s low drive.
Barca s woes were deepened when Fran Garcia broke clear to finish after the break, and although Robert Lewandowski halved the deficit late on, the visitors were unable to find a leveller.
Boasting an 11-point lead over Madrid, Barca still appear destined to win their first league title since 2019, but the Catalan giants have dropped points in three of their last four games after another flat per…
´My best Spain games were with him´ – Azpilicueta hints at Luis Enrique preference as next Chelsea h
Cesar Azpilicueta has hinted at a preference for Luis Enrique as Chelsea s next head coach, as the Premier League club continue their search for Graham Potter s permanent successor.
Potter was dismissed earlier this month, with the Blues turning to ex-manager Frank Lampard on an interim basis through the end of their campaign.
Several candidates are thought to be in the mix to take charge from next season, with former Barcelona and Spain boss Luis Enrique among them.
Azpilicueta played under his countryman for La Roja, and suggested he would enjoy a reunion, but also stressed he would back whatever call Chelsea make in the end.
My best games with the national team were with Luis Enrique, he told EFE. But there are parts [of the club] who negotiate [these…
Girona slumped to a surprise 2-0 defeat at struggling Valencia on Saturday as an own goal by Juanpe and a deflected strike from Dani Gomez gave the hosts their first win of the season in LaLiga.
The victory moved Valencia from bottom to 18th on four points, one ahead of Getafe and two ahead of Las Palmas.
Last year s surprise package Girona, meanwhile, are 13th on seven points from their first six games of the campaign, having also lost their Champions League opener at Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.
Valencia dominated proceedings from the early stages but needed 56 minutes to break the deadlock, with Gomez s long-range strike deflecting off Juanpe and wrong-footing Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
The hosts had daylight just two minutes later as Gome…
Arsenal are interested in signing former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea in the summer transfer window, according to a report in . The report has claimed that Arsenal are looking for a goalkeeper as a potential replacement for Aaron Ramsdale, and that De Gea is a player who is on the radar of the Gunners’ Sporting Director Edu.
Ramsdale is the second-choice goalkeeper at Arsenal at the moment. David Raya joined the Gunners on loan from London and Premier League rivals Brentford in the summer of 2023 and has now established himself as the number one custodian for Mikel Arteta’s side.
De Gea is a free agent at the moment. The 33-year-old Spanish goalkeeper has been without a club since leaving Manchester United at the end of last season. De Gea is one of the…
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After both securing opening victories in the Europa League with remarkably similar come-from-behind wins, Premier League teams Liverpool and West Ham United return to domestic action at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool triumphed over LASK Linz 3-1 in the midweek clash, while West Ham also overcame a one-goal deficit to defeat TSC Backa Topola in their European encounter.
Liverpool
Liverpool has established a pattern of coming from behind to secure victories in the early weeks of the 2023-24 season. Just as they did at Molineux the previous weekend, Jurgen Klopp s team overcame a slow start with a flurry of second-half goals.
Florian Flecker s remarkable strike had put the Austrian side ahead in the Group E clash,…
Republic of Ireland coach Stephen Kenny insists he cannot allow himself to wonder what might have been after his sliding doors moment in Faro.
The 51-year-old will send his team into Euro 2024 qualifier battle with European minnows Gibraltar in the Algarve on Monday evening knowing their automatic qualification hopes are already over, and that even the chance of a wild card via the play-offs may be out of their grasp.
Just how different things could have been had his last visit to the Estadio Algarve, for a World Cup qualifier against Portugal in September 2021, not ended with a last-gasp Cristiano Ronaldo double which transformed a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory for the hosts – and established Ronaldo as international football’s leading scorer – is something upon …
Bruno Fernandes to Man Utd: From Ronaldo to Bebe – All the players to swap Portugal for Old Trafford
At long last, one of the more wearisome transfer sagas of the past 12 months has reached a conclusion after Manchester United announced they have signed Bruno Fernandes from Sporting CP.
It seemed for a while that Fernandes would join United in pre-season, but, despite their seemingly obvious need for midfield reinforcements, a move did not materialise at that time and he remained with Sporting.
Speculation began to stir again last month, and the two clubs were locked in talks for much of January – though reports of Barcelona apparently hoping to sign Fernandes in order to use him in negotiations with Valencia for Rodrigo Moreno surfaced earlier this week.
Whether or not that story was a ploy by an agent to jolt United into decisive action, who knows? But somet…