Chelsea played the entirety of the second half with 10 men as they clung on to defeat Brighton 3-2 after a tense finale at Stamford Bridge.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were already two up thanks to headers from Enzo Fernandez and Levi Colwill when Conor Gallagher was shown a second yellow card for fouling Billy Gilmour in stoppage time at the end of the first half.
Moments before Gallagher’s dismissal, Facundo Buonanotte had pulled Brighton back into it at 2-1 with swinging strike inside the post, and the stage looked set for a fightback by the visitors.
Instead, it was Chelsea that reasserted their charge, Fernandez converting from the spot midway through the second half after the excellent Mykhailo Mudryk had been fouled.
Joao Pedro came off the benc…
Robert Lewandowski s Barcelona arrival caused such a stir that the club shop ran out of letters to print his name on shirts – but the Blaugrana have dealt supporters some wonderful news by restocking for the striking sensation.
The Poland international made a long-awaited switch to Barca earlier this week, leaving Bayern Munich in a deal worth up to €50million as he signed a four-year contract.
While Joan Laporta and Xavi finally secured one of Europe s most potent finishers, Barca merchandise stores appeared unprepared for the move as they ran out of the letter W to print on shirts.
With two Ws required, the Nike store at Camp Nou was left unable to stamp the new signing s name on the back of shirts, as one worker was left to explain via the club s socia…
Burnley have completed the signing of Everton winger Aaron Lennon for an undisclosed fee.
The Clarets announced the deal on their official website, bringing an end to Lennon s three-year stay at Goodison Park.
Lennon, who becomes Burnley s first full signing of the transfer window following the arrival of Georges-Kevin N Koudou on loan from Tottenham, believes he is joining a club on the up.
The club is moving forward and I want to hopefully play a part in that to keep it going in that direction, he told Clarets Players.
I think I ve still got a lot to offer. I am only 30 and I still want to play at the highest level.
I have missed a bit of football in the last year or so and I just want to get back and play as much as possible.
Welcom…
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers hopes Sunday’s trip to Rugby Park is among the last few times his team have to play on artificial pitches in the cinch Premiership.
Kilmarnock aim to install a grass pitch in their stadium once their new training ground is up and running, although that is still at the planning application stage.
Reports claim that discussions will be held in the new year over potential rule changes to ban artificial pitches in the top flight.
Livingston manager David Martindale this week claimed that moving from plastic to grass could cost them £2.5million but other teams in the top division would likely welcome a rule change.
Rodgers said: “It’s a constant conversation. It’s clear that every coach would want to play, I’m pretty s…
Napoli are interested in signing Tanguy Ndombele from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer transfer window, according to Fabrizio Romano. The well-known and well-respected journalist has claimed that Serie A Napoli are competing with La Liga outfit Villarreal for the signature of France international midfielder Ndombele.
https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1557118016063668228
Ndombele has been on the books of Tottenham since 2019 when he joined from Lyon. The midfielder has failed to play consistently well for the North London club and was sent out on loan back to his former club Lyon in January 2022 until the end of last season.
So far in his Premier League career, Ndombele has scored six goals and created seven big chances in 63 appearances in the Premier Le…
Borussia Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is delighted that his hero Paolo Maldini has acknowledged his progress since leaving AC Milan.
Gabon international Aubameyang was on Milan s books between 2007 and 2011, but he failed to make a first-team appearance before moving to Saint-Etienne.
An impressive stint in France was rewarded with a move to Dortmund, where Aubameyang has established himself as one of Europe s top forwards and scored 31 Bundesliga goals last season.
Maldini who was a player at Milan until 2009 recently conceded that the Serie A giants had failed to recognise the forward s potential and could not now afford him something that Aubameyang is pleased with.
Happy to read that Maldini had some nice words about me, Aubameyang twee…
Mikel Arteta has escaped punishment following a Football Association charge after the Arsenal manager’s recent post-match rant at refereeing standards.
The Spaniard labelled the decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s goal to stand in a 1-0 Premier League defeat at Newcastle on November 4 as “embarrassing” and a “disgrace”.
Arteta was later charged by the FA for breaking Rule E3.1 – which could have resulted in a ban but has instead been cleared of any wrongdoing.
“An independent Regulatory Commission has found the charge against Mikel Arteta for an alleged breach of FA Rule E3.1 to be not proven,” an FA statement read.
“The manager was charged following various comments in media interviews after Arsenal’s Premier League game against Newc…
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Hoping to extend their stay at the top of the Premier League table this weekend, Arsenal will make the trip to Leicester on Saturday afternoon.
Leicester
Starting with the hosts, while Leicester might have opened February in the midst of a stellar purple patch, the Foxes certainly came crashing back down to earth last weekend. Putting in a downbeat display away at Old Trafford as they slumped to a 3-0 drumming at the hands of Manchester United, Brendan Rodgers is calling on his side to find some much-needed stability. However, while the one-time Liverpool boss might have seen his side stun many as they claimed a 4-1 romp against Tottenham on February 11th, Leicester are still firmly looking over their shoulder at the drop zone. With m…
Substitute Josh Magennis was the hero as Northern Ireland snatched a dramatic 2-1 comeback win at Estonia in Saturday s Euro 2020 qualifier.
Estonia skipper Konstantin Vassiljev s first-half free-kick appeared to have done enough for the hosts to claim all three points, but a Conor Washington strike deflected off Magennis to level the scores in the 77th minute and the latter sealed the victory three minutes later.
The late turnaround in Tallinn keeps Northern Ireland s 100 per cent start to qualifying alive and ends their winless away run, which spanned seven matches heading into this contest.
Michael O Neill s side are now six points clear at the top of Group C, but all of the four sides below them still have games in hand.
Full-time and ANOTHER three po…
Ibrahimovic´s goals, Rashford´s development and mainstay De Gea – Mourinho´s United reign in numbers
Manchester United have tied Jose Mourinho down to a new contract, which could keep the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager at Old Trafford until 2021.
Mourinho succeeded Louis van Gaal as United boss before the start of the 2016-17 season and, although the Red Devils were only able to muster a sixth-place finish in the Premier League, he led the club to glory in the EFL Cup and Europa League.
United find themselves 12 points off the pace behind Manchester City in the top flight this time around, but the blockbusting arrival of Alexis Sanchez has prompted renewed optimism over the prospects of future success at Old Trafford.
These are efforts that Mourinho will helm until the end of the 2019-20 season, with an option included to extend his contract by a further…