Sunday, 22 January 2017

Arsenal 2-1 Burnley: Alexis Sanchez nets 97th-minute winner to send Gunners second



Ten-man Arsenal moved up to second in the Premier League after Alexis Sanchez's 97th-minute penalty sunk Burnley at the Emirates.
After watching Tottenham, Liverpool and both Manchester clubs drop points on Saturday, Arsenal went into this game knowing anything but a win would be regarded as a calamity. Miss the chance to gain points on four rivals simultaneously and forgo your right to be considered a title contender.
Whether it was the weight of this pressure or merely complacency, Arsenal seemed affected in the opening stages. They dominated the ball but lacked the requisite calmness to turn opportunities into goals. They snatched at chances, shot from distance and got in each other's way.
The second half saw a rise in their tempo and they were rewarded when Shkodran Mustafi scored his first goal for the club. The home fans' confidence did not last long, though. Just six minutes after going a goal up, they were a man down.
Xhaka flew in on Steven Defour and was shown a straight red card — his third of the season for club and country. Burnley's confidence surged as Arsenal retreated deeper into their own half.
The Clarets looked to have snatched a point when Francis Coquelin handed them a penalty, coolly converted by Andre Gray, three minutes into added time. But more drama was to follow.
With just seconds remaining on the clock, an offisde Laurent Koscielny was taken down in the Burnley box and Sanchez slotted the subsequent penalty.

Chelsea 2-0 Hull City: Diego Costa scores on return as Blues tighten grip at top of table


Deadly Diego Costa sent Chelsea eight points clear at the top of the Premier League on his 100th appearance for the club.
The 28-year-old marksman struck in first-half injury time to notch his 15th goal of the season. Gary Cahill headed an 80th-minute second.
Costa had been left out of the Blues’ winning trip to Leicester last week after a row with boss Antonio Conte over a back injury he’d picked up.
The clash came as it emerged that Chinese club Tianjin Quinjian were been prepared to offer him a £576,000-a-week pay packet to quit England.
The match was stopped for nine minutes during the first half after a sickening clash of heads between Hull midfielder Ryan Mason and Chelsea defender Gary Cahill.
Cahill was able to continue but Mason needed lengthy treatment before being stretchered off with oxygen and taken to hospital.

Wayne Rooney: Record-breaking striker 'a true great' says Sir Bobby Charlton


Sir Bobby Charlton says Wayne Rooney is "a true great for club and country" after the striker broke his Manchester United all-time goalscoring record.
Rooney's injury-time equaliser at Stoke on Saturday was his 250th for United, breaking Charlton's 44-year-old record.
"I would be lying to say that I'm not disappointed to have lost the record," Charlton, 79, told the United website.
"However, I can honestly say that I'm delighted for Wayne. He deserves his place in the history books."

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he does not understand why his side were denied a late penalty in their 2-2 draw with Tottenham.

Spurs defender Kyle Walker admitted after the game that he pushed Raheem Sterling in the box with the score at 2-1, but referee Andre Marriner let play continue.
Guardiola said: "We missed a lot of chances and when that happens the influence of the referee is higher.
"But the rules here are the rules."
The Spaniard added: "Maybe one day Mike Riley might explain them to me. When a player is pushed, I would like to understand."
Walker told BT Sport: "I wasn't going to get the ball. You have to put him off as much as possible."
Tottenham's equaliser came seconds later, with Son Heung-Min sweeping a low finish past Claudio Bravo.
The draw means City stay fifth - nine points behind leaders Chelsea, who play Hull on Sunday, and three points behind second-placed Spurs.
Asked if he thought Sterling had tried to stay on his feet because he has been accused of diving in previous matches, Guardiola added: "I don't know his past.
"I know you like honest people - Walker was, and I think Raheem was."
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino felt Marriner was correct to ignore the incident, however.
"It is the same if we complain that the first City goal was a handball by Leroy Sane," Pochettino said. "I thought it was a handball, but it is difficult for the referee.
"This is England, it is different - we review all the action. That touch in behind [by Walker] happened a lot in the game and the referee never said nothing about it.
"In the game there are lots of pushes in England that are not a foul and it must be the same inside and outside the box. For me, it wasn't a penalty."

Skipper Sergio Ramos scored twice as Real Madrid recovered from back-to-back defeats by edging past mid-table La Liga rivals Malaga at the Bernabeu.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema both missed clear chances, while Malaga's Chory Castro hit the post, before centre-back Ramos planted in a free header from Luka Modric's corner.
Ramos netted again shortly before half-time when he slid in another set-piece - despite appearing to stray offside following Toni Kroos' delivery.
Malaga replied through Juanpi's thumping 15-yard drive, but it was not enough to avoid a fifth straight defeat.
The 13th-placed visitors, who have now not won in eight, failed to build on their foothold in the game and rarely looked like stunning the home crowd with an equaliser.
Madrid looked likelier to kill the game off in the closing stages, Ronaldo hitting the base of the post with an angled drive.
However, they more than deserved to move four points clear of second-placed Sevilla, despite not adding a third.
Sevilla travel to bottom club Osasuna on Sunday (11:00 GMT) while Barcelona, a point further back in third place, go to ninth-placed Eibar (19:45).
Zinedine Zidane's side were looking to avoid a third straight defeat after seeing their 40-match unbeaten run ended by successive losses at Sevilla and Celta Vigo.
And they produced a functional, if far from vintage, display against a struggling away side expected to offer little resistance.
A nervy atmosphere engulfed the Bernabeu at various stages of Saturday's match, with home fans heard jeering their players - notably Ronaldo and Benzema - as they failed to hit their usual high standards.
Club legend Zidane, who has lost just two of 38 league games since replacing Rafa Benitez last January, urged supporters to show more understanding with his players.
"Our fans are always very demanding, but sometimes the players and coaches need more affection," said the Frenchman.
"When we have difficulties, we need the fans to be calm and support the team."
Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo has struggled to make an impact in the past three matches, in which France striker Benzema has failed to score.
Zidane also saw left-back Marcelo limp off in the first half, joining a growing injury list that also includes Wales forward Gareth Bale, centre-back Pepe and right-back Dani Carvajal.
"Karim and Cristiano might not have scored in recent games, but I'm not worried," he added.
"It's not the form of the attackers which worries me at the moment, it's the injuries."

Chapecoense: Brazilian team play their first game since plane crash



Seventy-one people, including 19 players and staff, were killed as the Brazilian team travelled to Colombia for the final of the Copa Sudamericana.
The team recruited 22 new players and hosted Brazilian league champions Palmeiras in Saturday's friendly.
Three players who survived the crash, received the Copa Sudamericana before the game at the Arena Conda stadium.
Defenders Neto and Alan Ruschel and goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, who had his leg amputated, were among the six survivors.
They received the trophy and medals alongside families of the victims in front of 20,000 fans at Chapecoense's sold-out stadium, while another survivor, radio reporter Rafael Henzel, commentated on the game.
The club gave 241 journalists from around the world accreditation for the game.
The game stopped on 71 minutes as players from both teams and supporters stood and clapped in honour of the victims, before continuing with the match.
Chapecoense were awarded the Copa Sudamericana trophy following the disaster, a move backed by Colombian club Atletico Nacional, who were scheduled to face them in the final.
To rebuild the side, sporting director Rui Costa has recruited 22 players, most of them on loan, and appointed Vagner Mancini as manager.
Douglas Grolli scored Chapecoense's first goal and Amaral added a second as they drew 2-2 with Palmeiras.
Half of the match proceeds will go to the families of those killed, while the rest will be used to rebuild the club.

In the days that followed the plane crash in November, the Conda Arena became a site of mourning. Fans gathered with blank expressions; vigils were held with cathartic chanting. It culminated in the collective funeral services bringing together over 50 coffins to the stadium.
Today's events were completely different, yet irrevocably linked to that day. It was all about remembering what happened, before and during the match.
In the ceremony held before kick-off, families of the crash victims received medals in their honour, and the three players who survived received the Copa Sudamericana final. They cried on the pitch, and the fans cried on the stands.
Then 71 minutes into the game, the match was interrupted to remember the 71 victims. An stadium announcer said a similar tribute would be paid in every Chapecoense match from now on.
The fans were keen to celebrate their home team again and showed their support to the newcomers - but on the stands and on the pitch, it was clear that Chapecoense's drive to move forward will always mean looking back.

Friday, 14 August 2015

Jack Wilshere: Arsenal midfielder back in training after ankle injury

Jack Wilshere
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere is back in training and could return in two weeks, says manager Arsene Wenger.
Wilshere, 23, suffered a hairline fracture to his right ankle in training on 1 August and it was thought he could miss up to two months.
But Wenger said the player's expected recovery time was three to four weeks.
He also confirmed Danny Welbeck, who has not played since April, is at least three weeks away from returning from a knee injury.
Tomas Rosicky has had knee surgery and will be out for over two months.
Midfielder Rosicky, 34, was injured while playing for Czech Republic against Iceland in a Euro 2016 qualifier in June.
Speaking before Arsenal's visit to Crystal Palace on Sunday, Wenger said: "Jack is back in training, I thought it would be six to eight weeks but it could be three or four weeks.
"He's in the second week now so he's on schedule."
Wenger added: "Tomas has had surgery on his knee. His agent said he will be out for one or two months, but it will be longer. How long exactly, we don't know yet."