Sports
Man Utd draw at Leeds, Barcelona beat Villarreal as Man City win Carabao Cup final
Leeds claimed another deserved point against one of the Premier League’s ‘big six’ as they drew 0-0 with Manchester United at Elland Road.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer disappointed over Man United dropping two points at Leeds.
“Today we just didn’t have the moment, take [our chances] when we had them,” Sky Sport quoted Solskjaer as saying, adding, “A draw is disappointing because we wanted to put pressure on [Manchester] City, but we couldn’t score.”
Solskjaer’s side, 10 points behind City with five games to play, extended their unbeaten Premier League away run to 24 matches and are now undefeated in their last 13.
The Norwegian was delighted with his players’ physical effort against a Leeds side renowned for their endurance.
“I’ve not seen many teams in the second half dominate as much as we did against Leeds, because they are so fit and strong,” Solskjaer said.
Leeds have not beaten their arch rivals in the top flight since 2002 when Solskjaer was a Manchester United player, but boss Marcelo Bielsa was equally as pleased with his players’ display.
“It was a very demanding game for us,” Bielsa said. “For the game not to become unbalanced, the team made a massive effort.
Manchester City beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 to win Carabao Cup
Just over a week on from disappointment in the FA Cup semi-final on this ground, Manchester City have turned Wembley their shade of blue.
Aymeric Laporte’s 82nd-minute header is the winner at Wembley Stadium, as Manchester City defeat Tottenham Hotspur to pick up the first major trophy of the run-in.
To Man City, the treble is on!
City had been headed for a nightmare scenario, with 30 minutes of extra-time the last thing they would have wanted just three days before the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
But thanks to Laporte’s late intervention, they now have the first of potentially three trophies in the bag as the season enters its final furlong.
Spurs, though, were right to feel a little hard done by after Laporte was twice caught out by the pace of Lucas Moura during the first half, with his only way of stopping the Brazil international to pull him back.
Both offences would normally have warranted yellow cards, and yet only the second was punished with a booking by referee Paul Tierney.
Whether he would have made the second challenge if he had been given a yellow card the first time is a question that will go unanswered, but that is unlikely to appease fans from north London.
Aymeric Laporte Riyad Mahrez Joao Cancelo Man City vs Tottenham Carabao Cup final 2020-21
We will also never know whether Laporte would have started here had John Stones not been sent off against Aston Villa on Wednesday.
The England international, therefore, missed out through suspension, allowing Laporte to step up after a season in which he has been forced to watch on from the sidelines in a number of matches following Stones’ resugence and the arrival of Ruben Dias.
His pair of crude pull-backs on Lucas showed why he is no longer the mainstay he once was under Guardiola.
That said, it will be Laporte who goes down in the history books as the player who ensured City’s crazy love affair with the Carabao Cup goes on.
In winning the trophy for the fourth successive season, they have now matched the record set by Liverpool in the 1980s for consecutvie triumphes, while Guardiola is now the joint-most successful manager in the competition’s history.
City last lost a Carabao Cup tie in October 2016 while captain Fernandinho – who lifted the trophy alongside fellow stalwart Sergio Aguero – has now won the competition a record six times.
Chukwueze gets assist as Villarreal lose 1-2 to Barcelona
The Nigeria international made a frantic effort in an attempt to help the Yellow Submarine avoid their second consecutive loss
Samuel Chukwueze provided an assist in Villarreal’s 1-2 defeat to Barcelona in Sunday’s La Liga game.
The Yellow Submarine headed into the encounter after losing against Deportivo Alaves and aimed to return to winning ways but failed to get the better of the Blaugrana.
Chukwueze made his 12th league start of the season in the encounter and delivered an impressive performance.
The Nigerian international helped Unai Emery’s side to hit the ground running in the encounter, scoring as early as the 26th minute.
The fleet-footed winger opened the scoring for the Yellow Submarine in a spectacular manner, dribbling past his markers before firing into the back of the net.
The Yellow Submarine, however, failed to build on the impressive start, as they allowed Barca to come back into the game.
Antoine Griezmann started Barcelona’s fight-back when he levelled proceedings in the 28th minute after receiving a timely assist from Oscar Mingueza.
The 30-year-old France international then completed his brace in the 35th minute, firing home his effort after finding himself in a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo.
After the restart of the second half, Villarreal pushed for a possible equalizer and Chukwueze has several attempts on goal.
In the 65th minute, however, they suffered a big blow when they were reduced to 10 men after Manuel Trigueros was shown a straight red card.
Moments before the end of the game, the Yellow Submarine thought they got a penalty after Francis Coquelin’s effort was blocked in the area, with claims of handball, but after the Video Assistant Referee reviewed the situation, a spot-kick was not awarded.
-Goals.com and Sky Sport
Sports
Gabriel Jesus shines as Arsenal thrash Palace 5-1 in London derby
Gabriel Jesus shines as Arsenal thrash Palace 5-1 in London derby
Gabriel Jesus struck twice as Arsenal became the first side since Chelsea in 2005 to go a full calendar year unbeaten in Premier League London derbies, defeating Crystal Palace 5-1 to close the gap on league leaders Liverpool to three points for the time being.
A hat-trick against Palace in a 3-2 EFL Cup victory on Wednesday earned Jesus a starting berth here, and it took just six minutes for him to reward Mikel Arteta’s selection.
A first Premier League goal since January arrived when Bukayo Saka’s cross bounced off Gabriel Magalhães, allowing Jesus to stride towards the ball and side-foot home. A nervy moment for David Raya went unpunished moments later, but just five minutes after going ahead, the Gunners were pegged back as the red-hot Ismaïla Sarr bent an effort around William Saliba and inside the far post.
A breathless start to the contest continued with a third goal in the opening 15 minutes, and perhaps predictably, it came from an Arsenal corner. This time, Gabriel Martinelli’s delivery was partially cleared, but only as far as Jesus, whose controlled finish flew into the corner.
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Another defensive lapse from the visitors almost saw the scores levelled once more, only for Raya to bail out Saliba with a one-on-one stop to deny Jean-Philippe Mateta. At the other end, Gabriel went close from yet another Arsenal corner before the away side extended their advantage through Kai Havertz, who reacted first after Jesus had nodded onto the far post.
Needing a response, the hosts were inches from reducing the deficit straight after the restart when Raya was equal to Sarr’s diving header. The Arsenal shot-stopper was then called into action again, getting behind Mateta’s rifled long-range shot and catching Sarr’s follow-up header.
Those saves kept the Eagles at bay, and with an hour played, the points were all but wrapped up. A well-worked move should have ended with Jesus’ second hat-trick of the week, yet Henderson saved well with his foot only to see Martinelli turn in substitute Declan Rice’s resultant low strike.
Determined to get on the scoresheet, Rice guided in Arsenal’s fifth goal late on, sealing three vital points in an evening where the only major blemish was Saka’s first-half injury.
Despite conceding in a seventh consecutive away league match – their longest travelling run without a PL clean sheet in over five years – Arsenal now find themselves within touching distance of the league summit, albeit having played more games than the sides above them.
Meanwhile, Palace had lost just one of their last eight PL fixtures (W3, D4), but defeat here means they’re yet to add to their solitary home league victory (D4, L4), leaving the Eagles 15th in the table.
Gabriel Jesus shines as Arsenal thrash Palace 5-1 in London derby
Sports
Atletico grab late winner at Barcelona to go top of La Liga
Atletico grab late winner at Barcelona to go top of La Liga
Substitute Alexander Sorloth scored an injury-time winner as Atletico Madrid fought back against Barcelona to replace them at the top of La Liga.
Pedri opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 30th minute, linking up with fellow Spain midfielder Gavi before slotting a low strike past Jan Oblak.
Despite their dominance, the hosts couldn’t hold on and Rodrigo De Paul hammered home the equaliser on the hour mark after leaping on a mistake from Marc Casado.
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Barcelona were left to rue more missed chances when Sorloth slammed in Nahuel Molina’s cross in the sixth minute of injury time to give Atletico their 12th straight win in all competitions.
The victory means Atletico will end 2024 as the top team in Spain, three points above Barcelona, who have played a game more.
Hansi Flick’s Barca side could slip to third if Real Madrid beat Sevilla on Sunday.
Atletico grab late winner at Barcelona to go top of La Liga
Sports
Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury to retain heavyweight titles
Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury to retain heavyweight titles
Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury to retain his unified heavyweight world titles and prove his status as a generational great with another close points win in their rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Having inflicted a first career defeat on Briton Fury by split decision in May, Usyk’s astuteness and will to win once again prevailed at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena – and he retained his WBA (Super), WBC and WBO titles.
Fury, 36, found success in the first half of the fight. Some of the more eye-catching shots came from the Morecambe fighter, but the volume of punches and cleaner work were from Ukrainian Usyk.
All three judges scored it 116-112 to the 37-year-old champion.
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Usyk, an Olympic gold medallist and former undisputed cruiserweight champion, extended his undefeated record to 23 pro wins.
“He [Tyson Fury] is a great fighter, he is a great opponent. An unbelievable 24 rounds for my career. Thank you so much,” Usyk said.
Two-time world champion Fury has only ever lost to Usyk, his two defeats the major blemishes on a record also consisting of 34 wins and one draw.
Fury left the ring without conducting an interview, before IBF world champion Daniel Dubois climbed in and called for a rematch with Usyk.
A visibly frustrated figure in the moments after the scorecards were read out, Fury said backstage he was convinced he won the fight by “at least three rounds”.
Oleksandr Usyk beats Tyson Fury to retain heavyweight titles
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