Agencies Holders Chelsea will face 13-time winners Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, according to the draw of Europe’s elite club championship held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday. According to the BBC, Manchester City will play Atletico Madrid, while Liverpool tackle Benfica and Bayern Munich take on Villarreal. […]
Bayern Munich and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski was named 2021 Best Fifa Men's Player of the Year, while Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo landed the special award.
Lewandowski, 33, claimed the prize for the second consecutive year after scoring 69 goals.
He won ahead of Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Paris St-Germain's Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo was lauded for being the men's international all-time top scorer.
Barcelona's Alexia Putellas won the Best Fifa Women's Player of the Year.
Lewandowski broke the late Gerd Muller's 49-year record for scoring the most Bundesliga goals in a calendar year with 43 in 34 league appearances.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel won the award for the Best Fifa men's coach for guiding Chelsea to their second Champions League title after only joining the club in January.
Former Tottenham winger Erik Lamela - sold to Sevilla in the summer - won the Fifa Puskas award, which recognizes the best goal in world football during the year, after his 'rabona' finish in the north London derby against Arsenal last March.
Chelsea's Edouard Mendy won the award for the Best Fifa men's goalkeeper after a successful first season with the club, including a clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League final.
The Denmark national team and their staff won the Best Fifa fair play award for their swift response after Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field during the Euro 2020 game with Finland.
On a successful night for Chelsea, Emma Hayes also won the award for the Best Fifa women's coach as her side won a treble of domestic trophies.
As for the collective awards, Manchester City's Ruben Dias and Kevin de Bruyne joined Chelsea's N'Golo Kante and Jorginho, and Ronaldo, in the Best Fifa men's team of the year.
Men's world XI: Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan/PSG/Italy), David Alaba (Bayern Munich/Real Madrid/Austria), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy), Ruben Dias (Man City/Portugal), Kevin de Bruyne (Man City/Belgium), Jorginho (Chelsea/Italy), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea/France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Man Utd/Portugal), Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund/Norway), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland), Lionel Messi (Barcelona/PSG/Argentina).
(BBC)
JAN 14: Granit Xhaka was dismissed after 24 minutes for denying a goalscoring opportunity - the Swiss midfielder catching Diogo Jota with a high challenge on the edge of his penalty area as he attempted to cut out Andrew Robertson's pass.
Trent Alexander-Arnold could not punish Arsenal further from the resulting free-kick, however, and the visitors produced a resolute defensive display to leave on level terms.
Despite coming under intense pressure it was Arsenal who registered the first shot on target 71 minutes into the contest, but a poor first touch by Bukayo Saka allowed Alisson to smother the England international's shot at close range.
Takumi Minamino blazed over the crossbar when faced with an open goal with Liverpool's best chance of the match in the closing stages.
"They never gave up even though it's extremely difficult against this opponent," said Arteta.
"I said to the players before the game that you have to have a certain attitude and in difficult moments you have to react - I think the boys did that very well," he added.
"We played the game we had to play. I'm expecting now our fans will create an even better atmosphere [in the second leg] than today."
The second leg takes place at Emirates Stadium next Thursday at 19:45 GMT.
The winner will face Chelsea in the final at Wembley at the end of February, after Thomas Tuchel's side completed a 3-0 aggregate victory over Tottenham on Wednesday.
Eight-time EFL Cup winners Liverpool had lost home advantage for the second leg after a Covid outbreak in their squad saw the planned first meeting in north London postponed until 20 January.
A number of those cases turned out to be false positives - though the EFL has said it will not be investigating further - but despite being able to field a strong side the Reds were unable to make the most of their home leg against 10-man opposition.
Both sides have lost key players to the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations but it was the absence of top scorer Mohamed Salah and fellow forward Sadio Mane which proved most noticeable as Liverpool struggled to break Arsenal down.
Minamino flashed a ball across the six-yard box as the hosts pressed for a breakthrough with greater urgency in the second half, but Jurgen Klopp's forward trio that also included Jota and Roberto Firmino could not produce the necessary quality in the final third.
On a challenging night for the visitors, Martin Odegaard missed out following a positive Covid test and Xhaka's dismissal - in addition to Thomas Partey's Afcon participation - has compounded Arteta's midfield issue ahead of Sunday's north London derby at Tottenham.
Xhaka's undeniable red card saw Rob Holding replace Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette subsequently cut a lonely figure in attack as his team-mates worked tirelessly to protect Aaron Ramsdale's goal.
But the Arsenal goalkeeper's only moments of real concern arrived in the final moments, as Minamino struck over after Ramsdale failed to claim the ball - while the excellent Ben White was back to clear Neco Williams' attempt in stoppage time.
Liverpool will feel deeply frustrated that they could not make their numerical advantage count, yet Arteta's side deserve huge credit for a disciplined performance that ensures they have every chance of reaching the final.
"I would have preferred to score a goal rather than them getting a red card," Liverpool boss Klopp said.
"It looked better [in the second half] but not good enough for a better result. But it's a two-leg game and it's half-time. I've never been at 0-0 at half-time and thought 'we have no chance'."
With Chelsea being held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton earlier on Wednesday and Liverpool losing 1-0 to Leicester the day before, City capitalised by seeing off a spirited Bees side.
Phil Foden settled the encounter with his fifth league goal of the season early in the first half, superbly finishing first time from Kevin de Bruyne's whipped ball.
The win was City's 10th in a row and leaves them in a commanding position at the top. The previous two occasions City rounded off December in first place in the Premier League - in 2011-12 and 2017-18 - they went on to win the title.
"There are 54 points to play for," Guardiola said.
"All of you, thank you for your nice words because we win but I am not going to believe any words you say about it is already done or expected because Chelsea and Liverpool are more than exceptional. One is champions of Europe and the other has been our big rivals over the years.
"The distance is not because they drop points but because we win 10 games in a row."
City were looking to equal the club's top-flight record of scoring at least four goals in four successive games set in 1905 but they rarely carved open a hard-working Bees side.
Ivan Toney was fortunate to go unpunished for catching Fernandinho with his studs as the City midfielder lay on the ground shortly before half-time.
The visitors went close to doubling their lead soon after the break when De Bruyne and Foden again linked up, with the latter heading his team-mate's cross just wide of the post.
De Bruyne struck the base of the upright with a fierce low drive from distance, while Dias had a header ruled out for a marginal offside, but in the end Foden's first-half strike was enough to seal the win.
Brentford, meanwhile, remain 14th with 20 points - nine clear of the relegation zone as they look to ensure a second season in the top flight.
Indeed, the decisive strike had come just moments after the hosts came close to scoring themselves but Ederson reacted well to keep out a cross that bounced towards the City goal off Ruben Dias, before Yoane Wissa's deflected strike was cleared off the line.
Chelsea complained about having to play with a coronavirus-depleted squad in drawing at Wolverhampton. Liverpool grumbled about the refereeing in being held by Tottenham.
LONDON, Oct. 25: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's job as Manchester United coach must be hanging by a thread after his side suffered a humiliating 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
It is the first time United have lost by five goals at home since 1955, and only once (in 1895) had they suffered a heavier home defeat to Liverpool.
Liverpool tore their rivals apart from start to finish and it speaks volumes that apart from the result, which came thanks to a hat-trick from Mohamed Salah, plus goals from Naby Keita and Diogo Jota in the first 13 minutes, Solskjaer's men saw six yellow cards, as well as a direct red for Paul Pogba. Liverpool did not have a player booked all game.
The match was over as a contest at 4-0 by half-time, with the second half only adding to the pain of a United side that continues to punch well below the weight of its attacking talent, with a defense that appears to have met for the first time before going onto the pitch.
West Ham won 1-0 at home to Tottenham thanks to Michail Antonio's 72nd minute goal.
Tottenham coach Nuno Espiritu Santo had rested his entire team for their UEFA Conference League defeat on Thursday, but it made no difference as the first team produced a lackluster display and failed to produce a single shot in the second half.
Leicester City won a vibrant game 2-1 away to Brentford with Youri Tielemans putting them ahead in the first half. Mathias Jorgensen headed Brentford level on the hour, but James Maddison won it for Leicester in the 73rd minute after further good work from Tielemans.
On Saturday, Mason Mount scored a hat-trick as Chelsea continue to lead the Premier League after a 7-0 thrashing of bottom side Norwich.
Mount opened the scoring in the eighth minute before Callum Hudson-Odoi doubled the lead 10 minutes later, and the game was over as a contest when Reece James made it 3-0 before half-time.
Ben Chilwell and a Max Aarons own goal made it 5-0 before Mount completed his hat-trick with two goals in the last five minutes.
Manchester City won 4-1 away to Brighton, with three goals in half an hour. Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring for Pep Guardiola's side in the 13th minute, before Phil Foden netted in the 28th and 31st minutes.
Alexis Mac Allister scored a penalty for Brighton with nine minutes left to play, but Riyad Mahrez highlighted City's superiority with their fourth goal deep into injury-time.
Ex-Everton striker Joshua King came back to haunt his former employers with a hat-trick as Watford scored four goals in the last 12 minutes to win 5-2 at Goodison Park, giving Claudio Ranieri his first win as Hornets coach.
Tom Davies put Everton ahead only for King to cancel out his goal 10 minutes later, but Richarlison's 63rd minute header put Everton back ahead. Then came Watford's late surge with Juraj Kucka equalizing, before two goals from King and one from Emmanuel Dennis left Everton reeling.
Rodrigo Moreno's last-minute penalty saved a point for injury-hit Leeds United, who had fallen behind to Hwang Hee-chan's first-half strike.
Callum Wilson's overhead kick saved a point for Newcastle on their visit to Crystal Palace, who had looked on track after Christian Benteke's 56th minute opener.
Maxwell Cornet showed his value to Burnley by scoring twice in their 2-2 draw away to Southampton, while on Friday night Arsenal claimed an important 3-1 home win against Aston Villa thanks to goals from Thomas Partey, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who followed home after his initial penalty had been saved, and Emile Smith Rowe.
LONDON, Aug. 23: Romelu Lukaku may be Chelsea's record signing but every penny spent to bring the Belgian international looks to be money well-spent judging by his (second) debut for the club away to Arsenal.
In the 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium, the powerful center-forward opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a simple tap-in to finish a move he had started and he also had a role at the start of the move, which ended with Reese James smacking home Chelsea's second in the 35th minute.
Bernd Leno denied Lukaku a second goal when he tipped his shot onto the bar. Arsenal, with two defeats from two games and no goals, look to be in trouble.
Mason Greenwood's second goal in two games saw Manchester United save a point on their visit to Southampton and also equal the Premier League record of 27 away games without defeat (which had been set by Arsenal).
Southampton took the lead after Che Adams's shot deflected Fred to leave David de Gea stranded.
Great footwork from Paul Pogba helped set up Greenwood's equalizer in the 54th minute and it looked as if United would go on to claim their second win of the season.
However, Southampton dug deep and only a great save from De Gea in the closing minutes denied Adam Armstrong, a winner for the 'Saints.'
Dele Ali's 9th-minute penalty after Wolverhampton keeper Jose Sa brought him down was enough to give Tottenham their second 1-0 win of the season.
Wolves created a host of chances in the game, and with better finishing, they would have won with ease, but a combination of Hugo Lloris' saves and some bad misses from Adama Traore and Raul Jimenez saw Spurs ride their luck.
Wantaway Harry Kane made his first appearance of the season with 18 minutes left to play and was given a warm reception by the Tottenham faithful despite his transfer request.
Manchester City (Kane's biggest suitors) recovered from their opening day defeat away to Tottenham with a comfortable 5-0 win at home to recently promoted Norwich City.
Jack Grealish scored his first goal since his 100-million-pound transfer after an own goal had put his side ahead and second-half goals from Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez rounding off the scoring.
Liverpool maintain their 100 percent start to the season with a 2-0 win at home to Burnley thanks to Diogo Jota's 18th-minute goal and Sadio Mane's strike in the 69th minute.
Brentford continued their positive start to life in the Premier League with a 0-0 draw away to Crystal Palace in an even game, while Leeds United twice came back from behind to draw 2-2 at home to Everton.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Demarai Gray twice put Everton ahead, but Mateusz Klich and Raphinha twice pegged them back.
Danny Ings's overhead kick opened the scoring for Aston Villa in their 2-0 win over Newcastle, with Anwar El Ghazi's 62nd-minute penalty assuring the points for Dean Smith's team.
Finally, first-half goals from Shane Duffy and Neal Maupay saw Brighton make it two wins from two games with a 2-0 win at home to Watford.
