Fiorentina's players pay homage to Astori at the club's stadium
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Monday, March 5, 2018
Crystal Palace 2 Manchester United 3: Late Matic stunner completes breathless comeback
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Crystal Palace 2 Manchester United 3: Late Matic stunner completes breathless comeback
A stunning late Nemanja Matic strike rounded off a sensational Manchester United comeback as Jose Mourinho's side wiped out Crystal Palace's two-goal lead to win 3-2 at Selhurst Park on Monday.
Goals from Andros Townsend and Patrick van Aanholt left Palace in the driving seat early in the second half, but United showed remarkable resilience to prevent defeat and claim all three points right at the death thanks to Matic, reclaiming second place from Liverpool in the Premier League.
Although there was more than a hint of fortune about it, United found themselves trailing after just 11 minutes, as Townsend's strike from the edge of the area was deflected in.
Van Aanholt then blasted past David de Gea after taking advantage of the visitors' lack of concentration at the back, leaving United facing the prospect of suffering a third successive Premier League away defeat for the first time since January 1996.
But an excellent Chris Smalling header soon after reduced Palace's lead and that led to a United onslaught, with Romelu Lukaku then showing great patience when drawing the away side level 14 minutes from time.
It seemed Palace had done enough to hold off United's advances and clinch a draw, but Matic stepped up in stoppage time, lashing in his first goal for the club from long range to clinch an unlikely victory and put Mourinho's side back up to second ahead of Saturday's clash with Liverpool.
Man Utd snatch victory late on after an entertaining clash in the capital #CRYMUN pic.twitter.com/ahRA8SgIgw
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 5, 2018
An end-to-end start to proceedings seemed to promise an open and expansive contest, James Tomkins going close with an overhead-kick in the fifth minute shortly before Alexis Sanchez was denied at point-blank range by Wayne Hennessey.
But a one-sided pattern emerged once Palace took the lead through Townsend – his 18-yard effort finding the top-right corner and leaving De Gea helpless thanks to a sizeable deflection off Victor Lindelof.
Palace sat back thereafter, inviting pressure onto themselves and United obliged by taking complete control of possession.
Yet, for all their time on the ball, Mourinho's side created precious little to worry Hennessey in the Palace goal.
Jesse Lingard was the closest any United player went before the break, dragging a 25-yard effort harmlessly wide of the bottom-left corner in the 40th minute.
Mourinho responded to United's underwhelming first half by introducing Marcus Rashford for Scott McTominay at the break. But within three minutes, Palace punished slack defending to go 2-0 up.
Jeffrey Schlupp's quick thinking at a free-kick just inside the United half allowed Van Aanholt to charge clean through on goal and he produced an emphatic finish to beat De Gea, who was rooted to the spot.
But United responded well and pulled one back in the 55th minute – Smalling, who had threatened just a few moments earlier, meeting Antonio Valencia's cross with a fine header to usher in another period of dominance for Mourinho's men.
Christian Benteke cleared off the line from Matic but Palace's resolve was destroyed in the 76th minute as Lukaku wiped out their lead by taking his time and firing through a crowd of players after a deflected Sanchez effort came back off the crossbar.
#PL goals and counting for @RomeluLukaku9#CRYMUN pic.twitter.com/86ooNISEgW
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 5, 2018
De Gea had to be alert soon after to produce a remarkable stop from a Benteke header and that proved decisive, as United went on to claim all three points.
Space opened up for Matic in the first minute of stoppage time and he sent a ferocious effort into the top-left corner from 30 yards, sparking huge celebrations on the United bench and wrapping up an incredible win.
Key Opta stats:
- Manchester United came from 2-0 down to win a Premier League game for the first time since December 2013 (away to Hull City).
- This was also Crystal Palace's first ever Premier League defeat in a game in which they led by two or more goals.
- United are unbeaten in all 18 Premier League meetings between the sides, the most a side has faced another without defeat in the competition.
- Romelu Lukaku's equaliser was his 99th goal in the Premier League, and the first time he's scored in back-to-back league games since December.
- Crystal Palace have now lost all nine Premier League games not to feature Wilfried Zaha this season, by an aggregate score of 3-21.
- Eight of Andros Townsend's 14 Premier League goals have been from outside the box.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Cesar Azpilicueta pulls off one of the best saves you’ll see this weekend
Dream Team FC
Cesar Azpilicueta pulls off one of the best saves you’ll see this weekend
Leroy Sane is a bit alright, isn’t he?
The Man City winger has been in scintillating form in recent weeks, growing into a key figure in Pep Guardiola’s ridiculously talented squad.
He was simply awesome in the win over Arsenal during the week and finished off an absolutely beautiful team goal. And against Chelsea this afternoon, he was his usual nightmare-self for defenders.
CLAIM YOUR FREE £20 BET Sun Bets have this brilliant offer when you sign up and bet a fiverIn one instance on the 19th minute, the German was able to beat five Chelsea players with a mind-blowing arsenal of tricks as he ran into the box, eventually setting up Bernardo Silva for a chance.
Sane receives the ball out wide
He skips past Fabregas
Gets inside his marker and darts for the box
Chelsea double up on the winger
Crowded out, he gets his pass away
And moments later, he was the danger man again, this time reacting first to a City freekick that was fired into the box.
With Kevin De Bruyne floating in a lovely ball, Sane was able to pick it up near the far-post, control effortlessly and fire off a shot that had Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois well beaten.
Luckily for the man in orange, Blues defender Ceser Azpilicueta was on the line to block the shot and produce one of the best pieces of goalkeeping you’ll see all weekend, guaranteed.
Sane lines up the shot
Fires home
Courtois is well beaten
Luckily Dave is there and the goalkeeper can pounce on the rebound
We think goal-line clearances are an underappreciated art, and as far as they go, this is definitely one of the best we’ve seen.
After all, they do say that Dave saves.
Golden gloves… well, feet
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READ MORE:
The more you look, the more you realise that Man City scored the goal of the season last night Alvaro Morata and Cesar Azpilicueta prove they’re the Premier League’s deadliest combination AGAIN North v South: Who would win in an All-Star Premier League game?
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Friday, March 2, 2018
Lopes scores winner for Monaco over Bordeaux; Nice also wins
Sportsnet.ca
Lopes scores winner for Monaco over Bordeaux; Nice also wins
PARIS — Rony Lopes scored the winner midway through the second half as second-place Monaco beat Bordeaux 2-1 in the French league on Friday.
The attacking midfielder is emerging as a replacement for Bernardo Silva, who was arguably Monaco’s best player when it won the league and reached the Champions League semifinals last season. Silva’s scintillating form earned him a big-money move to runaway English Premier League leader Manchester City.
Lopes was on City’s books in 2014 but made only a handful of appearances. He was loaned to Monaco and then to Lille, before joining Monaco on a permanent basis. He confidently swept the ball home from right of the penalty area in the 69th minute for his eighth league goal.
"I’m happy to have helped the team," Lopes said. "We keep fighting until the end."
The fleet-footed and skilful Lopes has an extra incentive to keep his form going, as he is eyeing a place in Portugal’s World Cup squad. He has one international cap.
"That’s a dream for me, but I know it’s difficult," he said. "I can do it and if I get there I’ll be very proud."
Midfielder Valentin Vada’s powerful shot from near the penalty spot put Bordeaux ahead in the 32nd minute.
Forward Stevan Jovetic equalized on the stroke of halftime, slotting into the bottom corner after running onto midfielder Thomas Lemar’s pass for his sixth goal in 12 league games.
Monaco is 11 points behind league leader Paris Saint-Germain, and five points ahead of third-place Marseille.
LATE WINNER
Midfielder Wylan Cyprien volleyed a late winner into the roof of the net as Nice beat struggling Lille 2-1.
Cyprien timed his run perfectly to the back post to thump home tricky winger Allan Saint-Maximin’s cross from the right in the 80th.
Mario Balotelli’s header put Nice ahead in the fifth minute — his 14th league goal of the season — but he missed two good chances in the second half.
Nice moved up to seventh place while Lille languishes in 19th.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Barcelona held by Las Palmas ahead of Atletico match
Sportsnet.ca
Barcelona held by Las Palmas ahead of Atletico match
MADRID — Barcelona couldn’t manage more than 1-1 against relegation-wary Las Palmas on Thursday, allowing Atletico Madrid to move within five points of the Spanish league lead ahead of their match this weekend.
Barcelona, which has drawn three of its last five league matches, will host Atletico on Sunday needing to halt an eight-match winning streak by Diego Simeone’s team.
Barcelona was 11 points in front of Atletico just six rounds ago, but could end the weekend only two points in front of the Madrid club.
Atletico was boosted by a 4-0 win over Leganes on Wednesday, when Antoine Griezmann scored all four goals.
Lionel Messi put Barcelona ahead on Thursday with a powerful free kick shot into the top corner in the 20th minute, but the hosts equalized through a penalty kick converted by Jonathan Calleri early in the second half after a controversial handball by Barcelona defender Lucas Digne.
At first it wasn’t clear why the penalty was called. A corner kick ricocheted off a post and the ball brushed Digne’s arm. Some Barcelona players initially thought the referee called a foul by Sergio Roberto on Matias Aguirregaray when the ball first arrived into the area.
Coach Ernesto Valverde said he and his players still didn’t know what the call was.
Barcelona also complained about a non-call of handball by Las Palmas goalkeeper Leandro Chichizola outside the area just before halftime.
It was the fifth free-kick goal by Messi, who is the league leading scorer with 23, three more than teammate Luis Suarez. The Argentine playmaker has four goals in his last three matches. The Gran Canaria Stadium was one of the few venues where Messi was yet to score in La Liga.
Las Palmas stayed 18th in the 20-team standings, inside the relegation zone. The team from the Canary Islands has won only one of its last six matches.
——
BETIS DRAWS
Real Betis missed a chance to get near the Europa League qualification spots after being held by Real Sociedad to 0-0 at home.
The result dropped Betis to ninth place, four points behind Eibar, the first team securing a spot in Europe’s second-tier competition.
Sociedad stayed in 14th place.
Real Betis had won three of its last four matches.
Neymar to undergo foot surgery in Brazil
Football – Inquirer Sports
Neymar to undergo foot surgery in Brazil
PARIS — Neymar will undergo surgery in Brazil on his fractured foot, ruling him out of next week’s Champions League match against Real Madrid. A day after PSG coach Unai Emery denied reports the Brazil star would be operated on, PSG backpedalled and announced on Wednesday that he needs surgery. “After an initial treatment period […]
The post Neymar to undergo foot surgery in Brazil appeared first on Inquirer Sports.