Sports

Barca thrash Betis to stay ahead of rampant Madrid

Published

2 years ago

April 30, 2023

Barca thrash Betis

Barcelona thrashed 10-man Real Betis 4-0 on Saturday to move a step closer to winning La Liga for the first time since 2019.

Real Madrid beat Almeria 4-2 to cut the gap to eight points earlier on but Barcelona triumphed to restore their 11 point advantage.

Andreas Christensen, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha struck for Barca at Camp Nou with Guido Rodriguez netting a late own goal to round off the rout.

Edgar Gonzalez’s early dismissal made it an easy night for Xavi Hernandez’s side to protect their lead with six games remaining.

With his side comfortably winning, Xavi brought on 15-year-old forward Lamine Yamal to become the club’s youngest ever player to debut in La Liga.

Betis also brought on veteran Joaquin Sanchez, 41, for his final appearance at Camp Nou before he retires at the end of the season, and he was afforded a standing ovation by Barcelona supporters.

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The Catalans bounced back from a 2-1 defeat by Rayo Vallecano in midweek.

“We generated a reaction,” said Xavi. “We improved a lot, it was a very good reaction from the whole team.

“We went 1-0 up and after the red card, it was in our favour.”

Xavi brought Christensen into the starting line-up after injury and he made a quick impact on his return.

Raphinha whipped in a vicious ball which Ronald Araujo narrowly missed but Christensen followed in behind to power a header home.

Betis were set back further when defender Edgar was dismissed for two bookings after half-an-hour.

Lewandowski pounced soon after to net his 19th league goal of the season after Jules Kounde set him up with a low cross.

The Pole, La Liga’s top scorer, reacted after Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema earlier netted a hat-trick to move within one of his tally.

Three minutes later Raphinha struck the third, making a clever run in behind the defence and finishing from Sergio Busquets’ chipped pass.

Xavi brought on Ousmane Dembele with little over 15 minutes to go, with Camp Nou delighted to see the winger back.

Rodriguez deflected in Ansu Fati’s cross as Barcelona added a fourth goal in the 82nd minute. ;

Almost 90,000 home supporters were also treated to 15-year-old Yamal’s debut in the final stages, and the winger came close to scoring with a shot repelled by Rui Silva.

“We were talking about this on the bench, when I was at 15 I think I was playing for my neighbourhood team,” added Raphinha.

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“And seeing him come on in this stadium, with all these people, is incredible.”

– Stylish Madrid –

Benzema climbed to 17 goals in La Liga this season with his treble, now two behind Lewandowski.

Benzema netted his treble in the first half and Rodrygo added the fourth early in the second for Madrid, while Lazaro and Lucas Robertone struck for the visitors, 15th.

Almeria coach Rubi made several changes to his regular side, clearly unconvinced his team could take points from the Santiago Bernabeu — the visit of Elche on Tuesday should be more profitable in their survival bid.

Madrid played with freedom in attack during an entertaining game, albeit one low on tension with their hopes of retaining the title minimal.

“In attack the team is very dangerous, with the quality of Karim, Vini, Rodrygo, with the ball we play very well,” coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.

“There are games where the offensive level looks very good, like today.”

Vinicius Junior teed up Benzema for a tap-in to break the deadlock early on.

Rodrygo’s assist for Benzema’s second goal was one of the highlights of the game, with the forward backheeling the ball to himself to escape Samuel Costa.

“I think it was a pass to myself, I didn’t have anywhere to go, it was a nice pass to myself with my heel,” Rodrygo told DAZN.

The 35-year-old Benzema completed his hat-trick after 42 minutes from the penalty spot after Largie Ramazani clumsily fouled Lucas Vazquez.

Benzema’s strikes helped him move two goals ahead of former Madrid attacker Hugo Sanchez to become the fourth top scorer in La Liga of all time, on 236 goals.

Vinicius made way in the final stages after taking a knock but Ancelotti said the winger would be fit to play in the Copa del Rey final next weekend.

Bottom side Elche survived relegation for the time being with a 4-0 win over Rayo Vallecano, who were reduced to 10 men in the first half.

Sports

2024 FIFA Best Awards: Lookman, Ekong, Oshoala, Onuachu, others shortlisted

Published

16 hours ago

November 29, 2024

Trends Admin

2024 FIFA Best Awards: Lookman, Ekong, Oshoala, Onuachu, others shortlisted

Ademola Lookman and William Troost-Ekong have been shortlisted for best attacker and best defender categories, respectively, of the 2024 FIFA Best awards.

Four Nigerians have been nominated in multiple categories of the 2024 FIFA Best awards.

Ademola Lookman, Wiliam Troost-Ekong, Paul Onuachu and Asisat Oshoala were among the nominees announced by FIFA on Friday.

Lookman, who ranked 14th in the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony, was shortlisted in the Best Attacker category alongside Vinicius Junior, Lamine Yamal, Bukayo Saka, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, among others.

Troost-Ekong will compete in the Best Defender category against Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rüdiger, William Saliba, Achraf Hakimi, Manuel Akanji, Jonathan Tah and many more.

Onuachu was named among the best goals up for the Puskas Award for his sumptuous bicycle-kick strike in the colours of Trabzonspor against Konyaspor in the Turkish Super League in November 2023.

Oshoala was nominated for the newly introduced Marta Award for the best goal in women’s football. The 30-year-old’s acrobatic strike for Barcelona Femeni against Benfica in the women’s Champions League in November 2023 got the nod.

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Rodri and Vinicius will again go against each other for the men’s best player award. The duo were nominated alongside nine other players, including Jude Bellingham, Mbappe, Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde.

Rodri was crowned the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner in October, a decision that was met with mixed excitement and criticism from fans and footballers alike.

Votes for the 2024 FIFA Best awards will be weighted equally between fans and an expert panel. Fans can cast their votes on the FIFA website until 10 December 2024.

FULL LIST

The Best FIFA Women’s Player nominees

Aitana Bonmati (Spain), Barcelona

Barbra Banda (Zambia), Shanghai Shengli/Orlando Pride

Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway), Barcelona

Keira Walsh (England), Barcelona

Khadija Shaw (Jamaica), Manchester City

Lauren Hemp (England), Manchester City

Lindsey Horan (USA), Olympique Lyonnais

Lucy Bronze (England), Barcelona/Chelsea

Mallory Swanson (USA), Chicago Red Stars

Mariona Caldentey (Spain), Barcelona/Arsenal

Naomi Girma (USA), San Diego Wave

Ona Batlle (Spain), Barcelona

Salma Paralluelo (Spain), Barcelona

Sophia Smith (USA), Portland Thorns

Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi), Paris Saint-Germain/Olympique Lyonnais

Trinity Rodman (USA), Washington Spirit

The Best FIFA Men’s Player nominees

Dani Carvajal (Spain), Real Madrid

Erling Haaland (Norway), Manchester City

Federico Valverde (Uruguay), Real Madrid

Florian Wirtz (Germany), Bayer Leverkusen

Jude Bellingham (England), Real Madrid

Kylian Mbappe (France), Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid

Lamine Yamal (Spain), Barcelona

Lionel Messi (Argentina), Inter Miami

Rodri (Spain), Manchester City

Toni Kroos (Germany), Real Madrid (now retired)

Vinicius Jr (Brazil), Real Madrid

The Best FIFA Women’s Coach nominees

Arthur Elias (Brazil), Brazil

Elena Sadiku (Sweden), Celtic

Emma Hayes (England), Chelsea/USA

Futoshi Ikeda (Japan), Japan

Gareth Taylor (England), Manchester City

Jonatan Giraldez (Spain), Barcelona/Washington Spirit

Sandrine Soubeyrand (France), Paris FC

Sonia Bompastor (France), Olympique Lyonnais/Chelsea

The Best FIFA Men’s Coach nominees

Carlo Ancelotti (Italy), Real Madrid

Lionel Scaloni (Argentina), Argentina

Luis de la Fuente (Spain), Spain

Pep Guardiola (Spain), Manchester City

Xabi Alonso (Spain), Bayer Leverkusen

The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper nominees

Alyssa Naeher (USA), Chicago Red Stars

Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany), Chelsea/NJ/NY Gotham

Ayaka Yamashita (Japan), INAC Kobe Leonessa/Manchester City

Cata Coll (Spain), Barcelona

Mary Earps (England), Manchester United/Paris Saint-Germain

The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper nominees

Andriy Lunin (Ukraine), Real Madrid

David Raya (Spain), Arsenal

Ederson (Brazil), Manchester City

Emiliano Martinez (Argentina), Aston Villa

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy), Paris Saint-Germain

Mike Maignan (France), AC Milan

Unai Simon (Spain), Athletic Club

2024 FIFA Best Awards: Lookman, Ekong, Oshoala, Onuachu, others shortlisted

Sports

EUROPA: Osimhen stars in Galatasaray draw, Man Utd win over Bodo/Glimt

Published

23 hours ago

November 29, 2024

Trends Admin

Victor Osimhen

EUROPA: Osimhen stars in Galatasaray draw, Man Utd win over Bodo/Glimt

Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen starred and scored for Galatasaray in their 1-1 draw away to AZ Alkmaar in an Europa League tie on Thursday night.

Some reports say the goal was an own goal by Peer Koopmeiners.

But Osimhen has now scored three goals in four Europa League appearances for Galatasaray, and nine goals in 11 games in all competitions for Galatasaray.

Sven Mijnans opened scoring in the second minute for AZ Alkmaar before Osimhen help the visitors equalise in the 43rd minute after leaping to nod home a cross from the right.

At Old Trafford, Manchester United secured a back-to-back win as they defeated Bodo/Glimt 3-2.

The Red Devils opened scoring in the very first minute through Alejandro Garnacho but the visitors fought back through Hakon Evjen and Philip Zinckernagel before Rasmus Højlund equalised by halftime.

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Højlund then scored the winner five minutes into the second half as United make a winning Old Trafford start under new boss Ruben Amorim.

The result boosts United’s chances of a top-eight finish in the Europa League table and automatic qualification for the last 16 in March.

Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur played a 2-2 draw with AS Roma.

In other Europa League games, Real Sociedad thrashed Ajax 2-0; Nice lost 4-1 to Rangers; Braga thrashed Hoffenheim 3-0; Quarabag lost 4-1 to Lyon; and Anderlecht and Porto played 2-2.

EUROPA: Osimhen stars in Galatasaray draw, Man Utd win over Bodo/Glimt

Sports

Super Eagles drop eight spots in latest FIFA ranking

Published

1 day ago

November 28, 2024

Trends Admin

Super Eagles players

Super Eagles drop eight spots in latest FIFA ranking

The Super Eagles of Nigeria dropped eight places in the latest men’s ranking released by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA).

FIFA published the most recent men’s rankings on its official website on Thursday.

The three-time African champions, who were previously placed 36th, are currently in 44th place.

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The Super Eagles have also slipped from fourth to fifth place in Africa.

The West Africans drew one and lost one of their two matches in November.

Morocco remained Africa’s top-ranked country, with Senegal, Algeria, and Egypt coming in second, third, and fourth.