Sports

Leicester beats Preston North End, returns to top of the Championship

Published

1 year ago

October 5, 2023

Leicester beats Preston North End, returns to top of the Championship

KIERNAN Dewsbury-Hall scored twice as Leicester City made it nine wins in 10 Championship games by beating Preston North End to return to the top of the Championship.

Pushed down to second by Ipswich’s victory over Hull on Tuesday, they overcame third-placed Preston’s resistance with Dewsbury-Hall netting either side of Kelechi Iheanacho’s side-footed effort from six yards.

The midfielder slotted past Freddie Woodman with his left foot to break the deadlock after Ali McCann slid in to intercept a Wilfred Ndidi pass across the box but diverted it into his path.

And Dewsbury-Hall sealed only the second home victory in the last 13 league meetings between the two sides by firing into the roof of the net after Woodman kept out Iheanacho’s initial effort.

Foxes boss Enzo Maresca gave Conor Coady his league debut in place of the suspended Jannik Vestergaard, but the England defender had a comfortable introduction as Preston were content to soak up pressure and try to hit the home side on the break.

Stephy Mavididi fed a superb ball through to Dewsbury-Hall in the box, but he was foiled by a superb block from Liam Lindsay and that was as close as Leicester came before the break, despite enjoying 75% of the possession.

Ndidi headed over the angle early in the second half before Dewsbury-Hall curled a 25-yarder just the wrong side of the post from Ricardo Pereira’s pass.

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Preston went close when Duane Holmes fired in a 25-yard shot that Mads Hermansen pushed past the post, but that was their only effort on target.

And after Dewsbury-Hall opened the scoring, he and Ndidi combined to give Iheanacho – sent on to replace Jamie Vardy – an easy finish from six yards.

It left Preston staring at a second successive defeat following Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to West Bromwich Albion and any hopes of a fightback were snuffed out when Dewsbury-Hall finished off another fine Leicester move in style.

They are two points clear of Ipswich with another home game against Stoke City on Saturday.

“We knew what sort of game it was going to be, they’re doing well in the league and have a style of play they’re pretty good at.

“In the first half they frustrated us a bit, we didn’t get many chances with their two banks of four but then at half-time we changed formation.

“Once we got the first goal it opened up a bit more and then we could show more of what we’re like.

“It was a really rewarding win and a great game for us to get a bit of daylight between us and third [place]. There’s a certain way of playing against that sort of team, you have to be patient.”

“It was definitely harsh. I thought we were fantastic for 50-odd minutes until they scored the first goal, which was disappointing on our behalf – we go to ground when we could probably have intercepted it.

“We didn’t have much possession but I can’t fault the effort. Late on we were out on our feet a little bit, which was expected.

“They have got a player in Dewsbury-Hall who shouldn’t be playing at this level. But we didn’t fear them, we respected them.

“They are normal human beings but they have got different qualities to most in the Championship.”

Leicester beats Preston North End, returns to top of the Championship

Related Topics:leicester Preston North End

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

Published

18 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

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

Published

1 day 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

2 days 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.