Untung99

* Victory and Phoenix locked on 0-0 after first leg at AAMI Park * Hosts had 20 shots to the Nix’s six but could not break deadlock Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix have it all to play for after a cagey 0-0 draw in the first leg of their A-League Men semi-final at AAMI Park. In a clash of two styles, the Victory were allowed to control the tempo and territory for much of the contest but were unable to create enough clear-cut chances to unlock a determined Phoenix defence on Sunday. The hosts were the more positive throughout with 20 to six attempts, and five shots on target, while the Nix were content to sit back and play on the counter without managing a single shot on goal. The Victory pushed hard in the dying stages to find a goal to take to Sky Stadium as the Phoenix all but settled for a stalemate from halfway through the second half, with the return leg to be played in New Zealand on Saturday 18 May. Continue reading...

* Brawl follows New York City FC’s 3-2 win over Toronto FC * Matt Freese makes nine saves as hosts hang on for victory Rookie Malachi Jones and Andrés Perea scored second-half goals and Matt Freese made nine saves as New York City FC held on for a 3-2 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday night with a brawl taking place after the final whistle at BMO Field. A melee ensued after the match involving players from both sides. Toronto goalkeeper Sean Johnson, a former New York player, was in the middle of it – seemingly trying to play peacekeeper. Continue reading...

* Manager insists team spirit among his squad remains strong * Dutchman has no regrets in taking job after difficult season Erik ten Hag insists he has supporters’ backing and does not regret taking the Manchester United job despite the team’s underwhelming season. Eighth-placed United host Arsenal on Sunday having won once in their past seven league matches, including Monday’s 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, putting them at risk of missing out on European qualification. Continue reading...

* FA Trophy final: Gateshead 2-2 Solihull (aet; 5-4 on pens) * Solihull lost playoff final on penalties to Bromley last week Solihull Moors and Gateshead knew their Wembley trip was only ever going to be double or quits. Tears and deja vu were guaranteed either way – it was merely a matter of dishing out the joy and despair. In the end, it was Gateshead who, courtesy of Dajaune Brown’s penalty – the 16th and coolest of an enthralling shootout – who avenged their defeat on this very occasion 12 months back. Continue reading...

Josko Gvardiol is the latest example of how the Catalan’s reinvention of his players has created a title-winning machine Too good, too strong, and the inevitable draws ever closer. Their fans’ “we’re not really here” chant may be soaked in deepest Manc irony but it also reflects the economic miracle of Manchester City being the best team in England by far. After victory at Fulham the unknown is about to be breached. Four league titles in a row is a level the greatest teams in English history – Huddersfield in the 1920s, Arsenal in the 1930s, Liverpool in the 1980s and two Alex Ferguson-era Manchester United teams – could not attain. Success earns respect if not necessarily affection. Each of those predecessors found a way to win that did not achieve universal admiration. Within living memory, Liverpool were derided for overuse of the back-pass to the point of tedium. United were loathed for being the personification of Ferguson’s cheerlessness. The Manchester City of 2024 are – bey

As season threatens to implode, Dutchman’s two years at Old Trafford may well give him the edge on potential replacements Wanted: an elite manager with turning water into wine on his CV, a miracle worker who can somehow transform Manchester United as the club’s lost decade heads for its nadir. Ten years after David Moyes was sacked 34 games into a six-year contract as United moved towards their lowest Premier League finish of seventh place with 64 points, England’s record 20-time champions will set a new low under Erik ten Hag. Even if – and it’s a big if – the Dutchman’s team beat Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton in their last three Premier League matches, 63 points is the most they will end this annus horribilis on. Continue reading...

* Premier League trio left out by coach Dorival Júnior * Gabriel Martinelli picked alongside rising star Endrick Brazil have included Palmeiras prodigy Endrick in their 23-player strong squad for the upcoming Copa América, but Premier League players Casemiro, Richarlison and Gabriel Jesus have missed out on a place, the coach, Dorival Júnior, announced. Endrick, who is due to join Spanish giants Real Madrid when he turns 18 in July, has scored two goals in four appearances for Brazil since his debut last year. He is the youngest male player to score an international goal at Wembley. Continue reading...

* Treble-winning forwards express anger at how far club has fallen * Yorke says he ‘wouldn’t want to play’ for current side Dwight Yorke and Andrew Cole have been scathing about their former club Manchester United, saying they used to joke about Arsenal “celebrating fourth place”, yet Erik ten Hag’s team cannot even aspire to that position now. United host Arsenal on Sunday sitting eighth on 54 points, 13 behind Aston Villa in the final Champions League berth, with only nine points left to play for. At best Ten Hag’s side will finish on 63, United’s lowest tally in the Premier League era. Yorke and Cole enjoyed glittering careers at United, the highlight being the strikers’ key roles in the 1998-99 treble of league, FA Cup and European Cup, the first by an English club, in which they contributed 53 goals between them. Continue reading...

* Mbappé’s final home game will be against Toulouse on Sunday * Forward adds that representing the club was ‘a great honour’ Kylian Mbappé has confirmed that he will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season. The forward released a video on social media in which he confirmed the news many fans had been expecting after the French side won Ligue 1 for the third season in a row. Addressing supporters, the 25-year-old said: “I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year at Paris Saint-Germain. I will not extend [my contract] and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks.” PSG host Toulouse on Sunday and Mbappé said the game will be “my last at the Parc des Princes”. Continue reading...

Files indicate oligarch enabled Valery Oyf to take over Vitesse Arnhem, raising fresh questions about his influence on football * How ‘Chelsea B’ were swallowed by Abramovich associates The owner of a leading Dutch football club has funded it with loans from Roman Abramovich, leaked documents suggest, fuelling questions about the continued influence the Russian oligarch, under sanctions from the EU and UK, still has on football. Details of the arrangement involving Valery Oyf, who took over ownership of Vitesse Arnhem in 2018, have been uncovered by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). Continue reading...

Fresh doubts of deal being completed paint bleak picture and could leave troubled club unable to meet their financial obligations Everton’s owner, Farhad Moshiri, has always sounded extremely confident that he will be selling the Premier League club to the US investment firm 777 Partners. In October last year he told Sky Sports News: “The more time that I have spent with the 777 team, the more my confidence increases that we have found the right people to take the club forward in the modern era.” That comment is ageing less and less well. Continue reading...

Tricky trips for Arsenal and Manchester City, a big day at the bottom and auditions for Euro 2024 If Arsenal miss out on the title, one of the games they will look back on will be the 2-1 defeat to Fulham on New Year’s Eve, the last time they were beaten away from home in the league. However, Fulham have a chance to do Arsenal a favour this weekend. Marco Silva’s team host Manchester City in the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday and should not be written off. Fulham are awkward, creative and combative at home. Plenty of reason for Arsenal to be optimistic. Until Erling Haaland completes a first-half hat-trick, that is. Jacob Steinberg Fulham v Manchester City, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST) Bournemouth v Brentford, Saturday 3pm Everton v Sheffield United, Saturday 3pm Newcastle v Brighton, Saturday 3pm Tottenham v Burnley, Saturday 3pm West Ham v Luton Town, Saturday 3pm Continue reading...

* Comments will be a boost to manager Mauricio Pochettino * Co-owner says the ‘commentary has changed’ on the side The Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly appeared to boost Mauricio Pochettino’s chances of being kept on as manager next season as he praised the “beautiful” football being played by the team. Speaking at a Sportico event in Los Angeles, Boehly – whose Clearlake Capital consortium purchased the club from Roman Abramovich in May 2022 – said the “commentary has changed” surrounding the team in recent weeks, after a tumultuous first two years of his leadership. Continue reading...

After a disastrous start to the A-League Men season, Mark Jackson’s side are now just three games away from an unlikely treble Central Coast Mariners are done with flying under the radar. The reigning A-League Men champions have floated through a whirlwind week that started with sealing the premier’s plate with victory in the final match of the regular season, and ended with clinching the AFC Cup in Oman. The Mariners will next take the first of three remaining steps towards a historic treble when they face Sydney FC in the first leg of their A-League semi-final on Friday night. The unprecedented haul of titles that is now within reach would rubber stamp the Mariners’ remarkable resurgence that could just as easily have hit its peak when stunning Melbourne City 6-1 in last year’s grand final. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Considering he’s spent the best part of a decade carrying Tottenham Hotspur and, more recently, Bayern Munich, it’s small wonder Harry Kane’s back finally gave out in the closing stages of the German side’s Big Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Real Madrid. With just minutes of the 90 remaining and the Spanish champions a goal behind on aggregate, even Carlo Ancelotti’s Wembley arch of an eyebrow must have scaled unprecedented heights as the England captain’s number went up and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting lumbered on in his place, becoming one of two under-achieving former Stoke City strikers on the pitch in a thrilling semi-final between two of the continent’s elite. The substitute would also become one of two Erics to finish on the losing side, as it was his fellow Britannia Stadium alumnus, Joselu, who became the unlikely headline thief as Madrid came from behind to stage a late smash-and-grab because … well, of course they bloo

* Matthijs de Ligt had 103rd-minute equaliser flagged offside * ‘We accept that we lost, but it should not have happened’ Carlo Ancelotti shrugged and called it “something magical, without much explanation”, after Real Madrid scored two goals in two and a half minutes to complete another astonishing Champions League comeback. But Thomas Tuchel insisted that there was a more tangible reason for a dramatic defeat at the Bernabéu: a “very unusual” individual error from his goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and a refereeing mistake that denied his Bayern Munich team a 103rd-minute equaliser and felt like a “betrayal”. Continue reading...

* Talks continue over €30m deal for 2025 move by 17-year-old * Brazilian winger has been linked with move to Arsenal Chelsea are confident of winning the race to sign the Palmeiras prodigy Estêvão Willian. Talks are continuing over a deal that would take the 17-year-old winger, who is regarded as one of the best youngsters in Brazil, to Stamford Bridge in 2025. Palmeiras are holding out for around €30m plus add-ons for Estêvão, whose contract runs until 2026. The attacker, who is nicknamed Messinho, has scored once in five league appearances this season and has also been linked with Arsenal. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Fadugba and Lars Sivertsen as Dortmund knock PSG out in the Champions League semi-final Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today; despite a disappointing domestic season Dortmund keep showing up in the Champions League – they deserved their win over two legs against PSG. Can they go all the way and what does this mean for Kylian Mbappé’s legacy? Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! As metaphors for PSG’s European endeavours over the past decade go, there was something bordering on poetic about the fact that, in what was almost certainly his very last action as a footballer representing his monied local club in Europe, Kylian Mbappé tripped over his own feet. His legs a blur as he chased in vain after a poorly weighted through ball from deep, the feted striker lost his balance and fell over, hitting the deck just as the final whistle left his state-owned team’s obsession with becoming Big Cup champions unfulfilled and in plumes of yellow smoke for yet another year. Compared to some of PSG’s often-slapstick exits over the past seven seasons, this was far from the most ignominious and it can legitimately be argued the French side played quite well and were more than a tad unlucky in hitting the woodwork six times across two legs against Borussia Dortmund. But still, out of Big Cup they go, again, to which the onl

Captain hails belief and togetherness that has powered an often written-off squad to the Champions League final Emre Can is not the most obvious example in the Borussia Dortmund team but he is an example nonetheless; a player who has experienced rejection, who has had to battle to re-establish himself. It is probably easier to see the narrative strand in, say, Jadon Sancho, who was pushed out of Manchester United in January and back to Dortmund after his falling-out with the manager, Erik ten Hag. Sancho’s poor form and rock-bottom confidence made it easier for United to sanction the loan. Continue reading...

What was the point of such a spectacular player spending seven seasons of his prime playing for Paris Saint-Germain? Farewell then, project superstar. By the end of this Champions League semi-final second leg it seemed oddly fitting that the final act across 180 minutes should be Kylian Mbappé falling over his own feet. Mbappé was through on goal at the time, the most beautifully balanced footballer on the planet haring away from a clutch of yellow shirts in emergency battery mode, then slipping over on the Parc des Princes turf just as the final whistle was blown. Continue reading...

Change is probably coming with Manchester United playing so badly, so often, but this is a club trapped in constant transition Erik ten Hag arrived at Manchester United promising to inspire flowing, thrilling transition football. And, you have to say, mission accomplished. You only had to watch Crystal Palace pouring forward at speed on Monday night, or Sheffield United bombing up the pitch at Old Trafford a couple of weeks ago, or indeed Coventry City in the recent FA Cup semi-final. Thanks to Ten Hag, United fans are being treated to sumptuous counterattacking fare on a near-weekly basis, even if – unhappily for Ten Hag’s job prospects – most of it these days seems to be getting played by the opposition. Yes: it’s an even-numbered year, so we’re discussing whether the Manchester United manager should be sacked. And so to David Moyes (2014), Louis van Gaal (2016), José Mourinho (2018), Ole Gunnar Solskjær (a pandemic-delayed 2021) and Ralf Rangnick (2022) can almost certainly be a

* Champions League semi-final, 8pm BST kick-off (first leg: 0-1) * Live scoreboard | Read Football Daily | And you can mail Scott 5 min: More room for Hakimi on the right wing. He looks for Gonçalo Ramos in the middle, but shanks his cross towards Kobel at the near post. The keeper gathers. Some positive early moves by the hosts. 4 min: Some space for Hakimi down the right. A low cross is met by Gonçalo Ramos, who hands out a leg and steers a shot straight at Kobel. Not enough power to fox the keeper. Continue reading...

Faye and Suzy are joined by Anita Asante and Jenna Schillaci to round up a dramatic weekend in the WSL, check in on what’s happening lower down the pyramid and preview the Women’s FA Cup final Chelsea lost, then Manchester City lost then Chelsea won – that’s the week in a nutshell. After Emma Hayes waved the white flag on Wednesday, by Sunday she declared “it’s not over!” The panel also preview Sunday’s FA Cup final between Manchester United and Tottenham. Continue reading...

The competition latched on to the Matildas’ success but some feel that more could have been done to move the game forward * Moving the Goalposts: sign up for our free newsletter Was the 2023-24 A-League Women (ALW) season the best in the competition’s history? Possibly. There were certainly enough standout games, players, narrative, and intrigue to provide enough fuel to carry a long pub debate. What can be said more definitively, though, is that the campaign just concluded with Sydney FC edging Melbourne City to win a record fifth title was one of, if not the most consequential since the league’s inception. Generally, you only get one post-World Cup season to capitalise and, after the 2023 tournament, this was the year for the ALW. And the ground was fertile. Putting aside their historic achievements on the field, what the Matildas achieved across that tournament was unprecedented, taking hearts and minds of the country in a stranglehold and altering what was thought achieva

Early season disappointments put the Argentinian coach on the hot seat, but a resurgent Lionel Messi has shown the value of experience Riding a six-game unbeaten streak in MLS, leading the race for the Supporters’ Shield and with their star players featuring at the top of the goals and assists charts, all is well in the world of Inter Miami. Yet little over a month ago, head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino was on the hot seat. A humiliating 4-0 defeat to New York Red Bulls in late March was followed by elimination from the Concacaf Champions Cup at the hands of Mexican side Monterrey in early April. Continue reading...

* United thrashed 4-0 by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park * Dutchman says team ‘underperforming’ and ‘not good enough’ Erik ten Hag admitted that Manchester United’s season reached a new nadir after they were thrashed 4-0 by a rampant Crystal Palace. Two goals from Michael Olise helped Oliver Glasner’s side record their second-biggest victory ever against United as they followed up their win at Old Trafford in September by completing the double. The result left Ten Hag’s side in eighth place in the league with just three games to play having fallen behind Newcastle and Chelsea in the race for European qualification after their victories at the weekend. Continue reading...

* Manager says leap to top flight has created ‘so much joy’ * ‘It’s an incredible turnout … everyone deserves it’ The Ipswich manager, Kieran McKenna, hailed his side’s “amazing achievement” as they celebrated promotion with a bus parade around the town. Premier League football awaits the club for the first time in 22 years after confirming promotion with a 2-0 win over Huddersfield thanks to goals from Wes Burns and Omari Hutchinson. The Tractor Boys completed stunning back-to-back promotions on Saturday as they became the first team since Southampton in 2011 and 2012 to win successive promotions to the top flight from League One. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Barney Ronay and Lucy Ward as both Arsenal and Manchester City refuse to blink in the Premier League title race Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today; Arsenal comfortably beat Bournemouth before Manchester City comfortably beat Wolves, will this be the story until the end of the season? Continue reading...

Chelsea made hay to reignite their title hope while Manchester City ran out of steam against the Gunners Manchester City’s second-half collapse against Arsenal seemed unthinkable at half time. City’s pressing had been relentless, forcing errors from their opponents and denying them room to breathe, let alone move. That pressure dissipated after the interval, however, with City manager Gareth Taylor blaming “a mixture of energy [levels dipping] and a dropping off to protect what you have got.” Maintaining that intensity for 90 minutes against a top rival is never going to be easy, but the issue City had was that they had not put the game to bed when they were on top in the first half and they had no plan B for when their intensity dipped. Suzanne Wrack Continue reading...

From Arsenal’s crucial goalscorer to another rudderless performance from Tottenham, we hand out honors (and dishonors) from the top-flight weekend We witnessed man take flight in Manchester on Saturday, when Erling Haaland rose at the back post to impale a Rodri cross into the far corner. Behold: Haaland with his finest Michael Jordan impression. Not content with His Airness moment, Haaland added another three goals in City’s 5-1 win over Wolves, taking his tally in club football to 200 in five seasons. “Not bad,” Haaland said after the game. Continue reading...

* Bromley 2-2 Solihull Moors (aet; 4-3 on penalties) * Captain Byron Webster scores decisive spot-kick It is a popular misbelief that there is a first time for everything. But there are, undoubtedly, first times for some things. And, come August, that will be the case for Bromley who, after 132 years of under-the-radar ­existence, can proudly call themselves ­members of the English Football League. Some things even happen more than once. Take goalkeeper Grant Smith, for example. Twelve months ago, he was also exiting Step One. Back then it was a case of sliding helplessly down the relegation snake with Yeovil. Now? Smith’s pair of penalty shootout saves – first from Tyrese Shade and then Joss Labadie – gave Bromley a firm foot up the ladder. Continue reading...

The end is coming for David Moyes at a miserable West Ham, but Mauricio Pochettino is just getting started. European football is on the cards after Chelsea cruised through their second London derby in the space of three days and, for all the doubts hanging over Pochettino’s future, it would surely go down as an act of extraordinary self-sabotage if the Argentinian’s bosses make a change this summer. The main takeaway from this emphatic 5-0 win over a wretched West Ham is that something is beginning to stir at Stamford Bridge. Instead of crumbling after last month’s 5-0 defeat to Arsenal, Chelsea have responded by impressing in each of their past three games. Far from shrinking, these young players are starting to grow and mature. Above all, they are starting to resemble a team and, after a season so full of turbulence, the wisest thing Chelsea’s owners can do now would be to accept Pochettino is the man for the job. Continue reading...

* Hollywood actor buys stake in club owners 49ers Enterprises * Ferrell set to become latest celebrity investor at Yorkshire club Will Ferrell is reportedly set to become the latest celebrity to be a minority investor in the Championship football club Leeds United. Hollywood actor Ferrell has bought a stake in Leeds owners 49ers Enterprises, according to a report in the Sun newspaper. He will join the likes of fellow thespian Russell Crowe, the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and professional golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. Continue reading...

* Striker scores four in 5-1 win over Wolves * ‘The second and fourth were unbelievable’ Pep Guardiola believes Erling Haaland is “back to business” after the striker’s four-goal haul in Manchester City’s 5-1 defeat of Wolves, with the manager urging the champions to win their final three Premier League games to ensure a record fourth consecutive title. Haaland scored a first-half hat-trick, including two penalties, and added his fourth following the break to take his Premier League tally to 25 at the Etihad Stadium. Victory kept City a single point behind Arsenal – but Guardiola’s side have a game in hand. If they beat Fulham next Saturday and Mikel Arteta’s side lose at Manchester United the following day, City can retain the championship by beating Tottenham on Tuesday week. Continue reading...

On this evidence the best thing Daniel Farke could do is book his Leeds squad seats on a plane heading somewhere hot and let them lounge by a pool until the first leg of their playoff semi-final at Norwich next Sunday. Five or six days of vitamin D look the best hope for a side mentally and physically shattered by the most exhausting of seasons. Despite collecting 90 points Leeds have missed out on automatic promotion and must now face the club their manager twice led into the top tier. Continue reading...

The Argentinian’s afterlife – a horror story of allegations and legal wrangles – has taken another turn The noise from the middle tier of the stand at the Spartak Stadium was strangely persistent, rising above the pre-match hum of Argentina versus Iceland in Moscow, the pitch a humid pocket of shade, the far end still pounded by heavy mid-afternoon sun. It was a banging noise. And a rattling noise. And a yelling noise. People had already begun to turn and point. Looking up, the first thing you saw from below was the fold of chins and sub-chins. Then it was the cigar, protruding like a gun snub above the lip of the balcony. And finally it was the face of Diego Maradona craning over the rail, arms spread in a papal gesture, and looking like, if not the most excited man of all time, then surely the most excited man yet. Continue reading...

Someone has brought an actual tractor. Someone has brought a flag the height of a small house. Someone has brought about two dozen smoke bombs and is letting them off one by one, like rounds of gunfire. Someone is holding a giant drum and someone else is beating it with all his might. A wheelchair emerges out of the blue fog, crushing the broken glass and discarded canisters and empty Madrí cans under its wheels. It’s 11am and already the centre of Ipswich feels like a battlefield being looted and pillaged. There are thousands gathered here, descended from the Suffolk villages and the Essex commuter towns and the London suburbs, some with tickets and some without: all here on the promise of joy, trying to grasp and gulp and plunder as much of it as they can. Continue reading...

Mikel Arteta had wanted something less stressful than Arsenal’s previous home win over Bournemouth and he got his wish. In March of last year, his team had needed a 97th-minute Reiss Nelson goal to complete a wild 3-2 victory from 2-0 down. Here there was glory in the general sense of comfort and control, Arsenal moving to 83 points, still asking the question of the defending champions, Manchester City, who kick-off against Wolves at 5.30pm. It was not entirely straightforward; it rarely is. Arsenal caught a break at 2-0 up when an Antoine Semenyo goal was disallowed on the advice of the VAR for a foul by Dominic Solanke on the goalkeeper, David Raya. Continue reading...

* Melbourne City 0-1 Sydney FC * Late strike by Connors clinches fifth championship for Sydney Shea Connors was celebrating before the ball had even hit the back of the net, wheeling away as she scored what would prove the winning goal in the 69th minute of Sydney’s 1-0 triumph over Melbourne City in Saturday evening’s A-League Women grand final. Connors had been on the park for all of 120 seconds to that point, brought on to replace Princess Ibini. Now she was being mobbed by teammates converging from the pitch and the bench, having put her side on the way to a historic fifth title. Continue reading...

Player-led matches are one of the fresh concepts at academy that aims to give players tools for success beyond football A few weeks ago AFC Wimbledon Under-18s won 4-3 at Cheltenham Town in the Youth Alliance Cup. The visitors went 3-0 down but did not panic, tweaking tactics and adjusting systems before storming back. It was a wild contest, a remarkable turnaround, but what was even more impressive was Wimbledon were in effect managerless for the day, with the game designated as one of their player-led matches, a pioneering concept at the heart of their academy programme. Apart from booking the team bus to Gloucestershire, the onus was on the youngsters to organise everything and cope with the challenges: absorb the pressure, problem-solve on the spot and play. It is an idea that hands the initiative to players and one Wimbledon do a few times a season from the under-nines to under-18s. Safeguarding rules differ between age groups but a physiotherapist is always present, as legall

Arsenal host Bournemouth in Saturday’s early kick-off while Tottenham visit Anfield to take on Liverpool on Sunday Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Emirates Stadium Continue reading...

There have been some glaring mistakes by VAR but it also appears to have increased officiating standards on the pitch Seven months ago Englandthe country came the closest yet to entering thermonuclear war over a refereeing decision. When the referee Simon Hooper mistakenly ruled out a Luis Díaz goal at Tottenham for offside and the Video Assistant Referee Darren England failed to correct him, the initial response was heated and only bubbled up from there. “They said it was significant, that’s very significant,” said Gary Neville on Sky at full time when a Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) statement dropped acknowledging “significant human error” in ruling out the goal. “It makes you wonder how many others they’ve got wrong as well,” chipped in Jamie Redknapp. Continue reading...

Jürgen Klopp launched an extraordinary rant at footballing authorities and broadcasters in a press conference ahead of Liverpool's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur. The outgoing Liverpool manager specifically called out TNT Sports - referencing his side's quick turnaround between games and frequent 12.30 kick-offs - saying that players in England are overworked and play too many matches. 'I watch a lot of football all over the world, Premier League is the best league in the world. It's not overrated, the players are overworked,' he said. 'Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday 12.30 is a crime. I was actually waiting for Amnesty International to go to them.' Continue reading...

Bayer Leverkusen took a huge step towards the Europa League final after a deserved 2-0 first-leg win in their last-four clash against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. Florian Wirtz gave Leverkusen a half-time lead before Robert Andrich struck a superb second as the German champions proved too strong for their hosts. Xabi Alonso’s side also extended their unbeaten run to 47 games in all competitions this season. Continue reading...

* Dyche has secured Premier League survival amid turmoil * ‘The highs and lows, the hero to zero, that’s part of the job’ Sean Dyche has said he is still earning the right to be Everton’s manager despite leading the club through a series of crises to achieve Premier League safety with three games to spare. Everton visit Luton on Friday with the pressure off for the first time in Dyche’s reign having secured their top-flight status with last weekend’s win over Brentford, their fourth successive league victory and clean sheet at Goodison Park. The achievement is all the more impressive given the club suffered two separate points deductions totalling eight points, had to make a profit in the transfer market last summer and has called in a firm of restructuring and insolvency advisers amid a protracted takeover saga. Continue reading...

Despite the team’s rise on the global stage, players are often underpaid so look for opportunities in the armed forces * Moving the Goalposts: sign up for our free newsletter Despite the increasing interest in Zambian players from clubs abroad after their impressive recent performances, which have helped the women’s national team qualify for all major international tournaments in the past two years, including the Paris Olympics, there exists a desire among them to be recruited into the Zambian military. Earlier this month, three Copper Queens first-team players – Margaret Belemu, Ochumba Oseke and Mary Wilombe – graduated from Zambia air force training as noncommissioned officers. As a result they missed the Olympic Games qualifiers in February, having also missed the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) qualification round last November. Continue reading...

* Ben White caused problems for Guglielmo Vicario at set pieces * ‘If I saw my players do it, I’d be saying: “Mate, seriously?”’ Ange Postecoglou says he would not want his Tottenham players to engage in the game’s darker arts on set pieces as Ben White did for Arsenal in ­Sunday’s north London derby. White was assigned to distract the Spurs goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario, taking a starting position behind him on corners and, just before the kick was taken, moving around, backing in and blocking him from reaching the ball. The Arsenal defender performed the trick on both of his team’s first-half corners – no Spurs player was close to him – and each resulted in a goal: the first a Pierre-Emile Højbjerg own goal for 1-0, the second a Kai Havertz header for a 3-0 half-time lead. Before the first corner, White had grabbed at the cuff of one of Vicario’s gloves. None of his actions drew a whistle from the referee, Michael Oliver. Continue reading...

Plus: Championship stalwarts who never played in Premier League, top-scoring for the longest streak and more * Mail us your questions or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU “In the 1975 FA Cup, I was surprised that in the quarter-final that season Ipswich and Leeds had taken four games to resolve their tie, with a total attendance of 143,000. My question is: which is the tie with the highest total attendance?” asks Nicholas Idoine. “As the FA recently bowed to the Premier League and replays are to become a thing of the past, I was intrigued by this question and consulted 11v 11.com and Marching on Together websites to come up with an answer,” begins Michael Haughey. “The match quoted between Ipswich and Leeds (142,849) was seen by fewer people in four games than the 154,201 who saw the three games it took to settle Leeds v Sunderland in 1967. This included Elland Road’s record crowd at the replay. Continue reading...

With a Conference League semi-final and Champions League qualification in sight, there is a sense of euphoria at Villa Park Unai Emery took a deep breath, digested the question and delivered a considered response. Moments earlier, staff in Uefa clothing had hastily erected a Europa Conference League-branded backboard inside a nondescript room at Bodymoor Heath, Aston Villa’s training base, and for the manager the topic of conversation soon turned to their quest to qualify for the Champions League. Has Emery been able, in the quieter moments of a congested schedule, to reflect on the strides his side have made in little more than 18 months, since he inherited a team outside the Premier League relegation zone on goals scored alone? “At the beginning of the season, to be where we are now, maybe it was the best we could have hoped for,” he says. Continue reading...