After Liverpool slipping up in their last two matches, Arsenal were in control of the Premier League title race going into their clash at home against Aston Villa. The Gunners obviously needed to win to stay ahead of Manchester City, who had beaten Luton Town comprehensively some 24 hours before, but Villa shocked the Emirates Stadium with Leon Bailey breaking the deadlock in the 84th minute.
With no time to lose, Arsenal rushed forward in search of an equalizer, but only three minutes later, their misery was complete as Ollie Watkins used pace and audacity to score this fine goal and set the final score at 0-2.
Just watch the away end, again.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial)
In a span of one week, the pole position in the title race has gone f…
Manchester United are closing in on a £25m deal for Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin, .
The France international has long been linked with a move away from St Mary’s Stadium, with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur originally the only two clubs in the frame, though it is the Red Devils who are now leading the chase for his services.
Despite a number of his teammates moving on a year ago, Schneiderlin remained with the Saints though he is almost certain to end his time with the club this summer.
In eight seasons with the south coast club, the 25 year old has racked up two hundred and sixty appearances in all competitions, scoring fifteen goals while he was part of the squads that won promotion from both League One in 2011, and the Championship a year later.<…
Newcastle United midfielder Joe Willock has revealed he considered quitting social media due to the racist abuse he has been subjected to online.
Willock, who completed a permanent move from Arsenal to Newcastle last week, says more must be done to prevent individuals from sending such vile messages.
Every day I get messages, Willock told BBC Radio Newcastle. Messages saying about my colour or different things that are disgusting, really.
There s not much you can do you just have to try and ignore it. I don t think Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have put up enough of a fight for us to do anything else.
I feel like the only thing you can do in this day and age is just ignore it and try to put it at the back of your head.
It comes up on your p…
Lionel Messi says Argentina have no excuses after they fell to a hugely disappointing 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in their World Cup opener at Lusail Stadium on Tuesday.
Argentina headed into the tournament as one of the favourites to win their third title, and a Messi penalty put La Albiceleste a goal to the good at half-time as they appeared to be cruising to a first victory in Group C.
However, two goals in the space of five minutes from Saleh Al Shehri and Salem Al Dawsari completely flipped the script, and Messi s side were condemned to one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history.
Messi acknowledged he and his team-mates must not seek to justify the stunning loss, though he hoped it would end up bringing the group closer together.
There are no excus…
England manager Roy Hodgson has challenged Michael Owen to make a return to the national side after more than four years in the wilderness.
The 32-year-old netted 40 times in 89 appearances for England, but his last appearance for England came in March 2008 against France.
In the absence of the injured Wayne Rooney, Hodgson was short on striking options for the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine, and despite the good progress shown by Jermain Defoe, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge, he feels he needs to add an experienced forward to his squad.
Owen could have the chance to force his way into Hodgson s thinking if he can play regularly and score on a consistent basis at the Britannia Stadium over the coming months.
The England boss admitte…
Newcastle United have joined the race to sign Tottenham Hotspur winger Andros Townsed, .
The England international has been linked with a move away from White Hart Lane this summer, with Sunderland also interested in securing his services, though he favours a move to Aston Villa who are now managed by his former boss at Spurs, Tim Sherwood.
Since breaking into Tottenham’s first team in the 2010/11 campaign, the 23 year old has scored ten goals in eighty-six appearances in all competitions for the club while he started the League Cup final defeat to Chelsea back in March.
Prior to cementing his place as a regular in Spurs’ match-day squads, Townsend spent time on loan with no less than nine clubs including Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City and Leeds Un…
The game at La Rosaleda marks the start of a new La Liga campaign and hosts Malaga have been handed a very difficult draw for their opening fixture. Los Boquerones welcome Europa League holders Sevilla, with los Rojiblancos in great spirits after the promising performance in the UEFA Super Cup match against Barcelona.
Just like many other European clubs nowadays, Malaga have been the subject of a takeover by a wealthy businessman, but they were unfortunate to see Abdullah Al Thani quickly lose interest in his new toy, leaving the club in financial difficult. Considering the circumstances, los Boquerones have fought bravely to keep the results respectable and they did just that by achieving a top table finish in Spanish La Liga last term. The club did not exactly have money to s…
The United States will have World Cup representation in the form of two referees but no British officials will be present at Russia 2018.
FIFA confirmed its list of 36 referees and 63 assistants for the tournament on Thursday, with the officials spanning 46 different countries.
However, none come from the Premier League, despite English football s top-flight drawing upon a group of full-time professional referees.
The USA s bid for qualification ended in humiliation but Mark Geiger and Jair Marrufo will be men in the middle in Russia.
Nicola Rizzoli, the referee from the 2014 final, is now retired but Gianluca Rocchi will be present in his place as Italy s representative.
Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz, a referee to have earned the distinction of winn…
Spain midfielder Pedri declared his desire to win everything every year after signing a new contract at Barcelona, which he believes to be the best club in the world .
The 18-year-old has secured new terms until the end of the 2025-26 season with a release clause of €1billion after establishing himself in the first team last term, having been initially signed from Las Palmas to play for Barcelona B.
Pedri featured in a club-high 52 games across all competitions in 2020-21 and played the seventh-most minutes (3,529). The teenager also completed the fifth-most opposition-half passes of any Barcelona player in LaLiga (1,100).
The young midfielder has also impressed for Spain, with nobody completing more passes ending in the final third at both the Tokyo Olympic Ga…
Ange Postecoglou does not believe the Tottenham fans want their side to lose and insists his side will not roll out the red carpet for Manchester City.
The Premier League title race will go down to the final day after Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday, but it is yet to be decided who will go into the last match on top of the table.
City sit one point behind the Gunners, and if they win their game in hand over Spurs on Tuesday, they will reclaim top spot.
However, an Aston Villa win over Liverpool on Monday would end Spurs’ chances of Champions League qualification, meaning they would have nothing to play for against the title holders.
Arsenal need a favour from their North London rivals if they want to win their first Premier League t…