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  • EPL: Arsenal sink Man United in dramatic win

    EPL: Arsenal sink Man United in dramatic win

    Goals deep in stoppage time by record signing Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus earned Arsenal a sensational 3-1 victory over Manchester United in the Premier League yesterday..

    It looked as though both sides would have to settle for a point after United had a late goal disallowed and Arsenal had a penalty overturned, but Rice sent the home fans into delirium as he opened his account with a deflected shot in the 96th minute.

    Jesus then wrapped it up with a sublime finish after a counter-attack with United having committed everyone forward.

    Read Also: Six hospitalised as event centre collapses in Ekiti

    “I think I controlled it with my chin and just had a shot, if you don’t shoot you don’t score,” Rice, who arrived from West Ham United for a fee of around 105 million pounds ($132 million), told Sky Sports.

    United were left crestfallen especially as they had what they thought was a late winner scored by substitute Alejandro Garnacho ruled out for offside after a VAR video check.

    Marcus Rashford gave United the lead against the run of play in the 27th  minute, lashing home a shot after a counter-attack, but their joy did not last long though as Martin Odegaard fired Arsenal’s equaliser less than a minute later.

    Arsenal were awarded a penalty midway through the second period when Kai Havertz went down in the area but referee Anthony Taylor changed his mind after checking the VAR monitor.

    RESULTS

    Crystal Palace 3-2 Wolves

    Liverpool 3-0 Aston Villa

    Arsenal 3-1 Man United

    FRENCH LIGUE 1

    Toulouse 2 -2 Clermont

    Le Havre 3-0 Lorient

    Lille 1-0 Montpellier

    Metz 2-2 Reims

    Nice 2-0 Strasbourg

    ITALIAN SERIE A

    Inter 4-0 Fiorentina

    Torino 1-0Genoa

    SPANISH LA LIGA

    Girona 1-0 Las Palmas

    Mallorca 0-0 Bilbao

    GERMAN BUNDESLIGA

    Eintracht  1-1 FC Köln

    Union Berlin 0-3 Leipzig

  • Ten-man Fulham draw Arsenal 2-2 at Emirates Stadium

    Ten-man Fulham draw Arsenal 2-2 at Emirates Stadium

    Joao Palhinha secured a point for 10-man Fulham in an entertaining Premier League draw away to Arsenal.

    Palhinha’s first-time finish from a corner earned the away side a share of the spoils.

    The Cottagers had Calvin Bassey sent off in the 83rd minute after fouling Eddie Nketiah on the counter attack.

    Read Also: Arsenal’s Timber to undergo surgery for ACL injury

    Andreas Pereira got Fulham off to a flying start, scoring after just 57 seconds.

    Bukayo Saka equalised from the spot for the Gunners after Fabio Vieira was caught by Kenny Tete in the box.

    Nketiah scored Arsenal’s second as they came from behind to take the lead, before Fulham had the final word.

  • Everton delay Iwobi’s debut hold Palace at Selhurst Park

     

    Everton resisted the temptation to launch their latest new buy Alex Iwobi into the season opener against Crystal Palace on Saturday.  Iwobi who joined the Toffees in the last minute of transfers for £35million was conspicuously missing from the Everton’s line up away against Crystal Palace.

    The Nigerian international who has already been handed the No.17 Shirt will have to wait till next Saturday when Everton host Watford at the Goodison Park to make the much awaited debut.

    Iwobi who was given thumbs up by former club Arsenal for contributing immensely to the successes recorded by the club in his over 15 years sojourn at the Emirates is being tipped to help fire the Toffees to the top four at the end of the season.

    The 23 year old may be tempted to replicate what his uncle and former Nigeria international jay Jay Okocha did for Bolton Wanderers when he joined on free transfer from PSG in 2002. He shunned injury worries then worked so hard to steer the team away from relegation.

    Bolton fans were so impressed with his performance that the team printed shirts with inscription “Jay-Jay – so good they named him twice”.  He scored crucial seven goals including the team goal of the season in the vital league win against West Ham.

    Everton put up a good show against hosts Crystal Palace on Saturday earning a point away to begin their quest for glory on a good footing.

    Crystal palace battle visiting Everton at the Selhurst Park

    In one of the opening matches played Saturday, premier league defending champions Manchester City made mincemeat of West Ham United thanks to a 5-0 demolition with Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero having goal feast.

    Liverpool, who missed the premier league title by whiskers last season, opened proceedings on Friday with a 4-1 defeat of new comers Norwich City.

  • Koscielny joins Samuel Kalu in Bordeaux ahead new season

     

    Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny will team up with Nigeria international Samuel kalu at Bordeaux after agreeing a deal with the Ligue 1 side on Tuesday.

    The French defender, 33, made clear his desire for a move last month when he refused to travel on Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the United States.

    His standoff with the club reportedly came after the Gunners rejected his request to be released from the final year of his contract.

    “The club is delighted to be able to count on a player with such experience at the highest level,” Bordeaux said in a statement.

    Koscielny played 353 games for Arsenal, winning the FA Cup three times, and was named club captain at the start of last season following the retirement of Per Mertesacker.

    “We thank Laurent for his contribution to the club and wish him all the best for the future,” Arsenal said in a statement.

    Koscielny made over 51 appearances for the Les Blues. Prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia Koscielny announced that he would retire from international football after the competition. He was however not included in the squad after an

    Achilles tendon injury ruled him out of contention. The France team went ahead to clinch the world cup title after beating Croatia 4-2 in the final at the Luzhniki Stadium.

    While Koscielny sealed a three year contract that will see him remain at the French club till 2021, his Nigerian would be teammate Samuel Kalu sealed a five year contract with the club in 2018 from Gent.

    Kalu who has made over 21 appearances for the side will be hoping for a better outing when the new season kicks off on Friday, close to a month after he returned from the Nations cup in Egypt.

    Koscielny and Kalu all things being equal will file out on Saturday when Bordeaux kicks off the season away against Angers SCO.

  • Aubameyang: Chinese clubs dangle £80million before Arsenal

     

    Gabon international Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may have failed in his bid to qualify The Panthers for the forthcoming Nations cup in Egypt, but the Arsenal striker is on the verge of a mouthwatering move to China.

    Reports emerged on Tuesday that Chinese clubs are keen to sign him and are willing to pay big money to do so.

    With a £300,000 per week deal on the table in a transfer potentially worth £80million, Arsenal may have a battle on their hands to keep hold of their star striker. The money bag on the table is already causing division among Arsenal fans while club management is yet to comment or take a decision on the matter

    Arsenal fans have taken to Twitter urging the club to take the deal, and invest the money elsewhere in the team.

    ’80 mill for a 30 year old? Why not?’ Asked on Arsenal fan, while another was much more blunt, saying: ‘Sell. Must raise funds. We have Laca.’

    Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette proved to be quite a potent strike force for Arsenal last season, despite some woes elsewhere in the team.

    Aubameyang scored 22 league goals, sharing the Golden Boot along with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. Lacazette added 13 to Arsenal’s total.

    ‘Bite their hand off I say,’ said another Twitter user, with others calling for Arsenal to up the price even more to £90million and ‘spend it all on defence.’

    Aubameyang has been a long-term target for teams in China and the fact Arsenal missed out on the Champions League means they believe he could be tempted to leave the Emirates Stadium.

    Now Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai SIPG have gone back in for Aubameyang, who has been approached over transfers to China twice before.

    Guangzhou attempted to sign him in a £62million switch just weeks before he moved to Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund back in January 2018.

    Tianjin Quanjian had agreed a £71m move for the Gabonese striker six months prior, but the move fell to pieces after the transfer window closed.

  • Breaking: UEFA Europa League Final: Arsenal, Chelsea release starting XI

    Chelsea and Arsenal are set for the all-English final of the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League final at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan, releasing their staring eleven for the match tonight

    The line-up is as follows:

     

    CHELSEA:

    Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Christensen, David Luiz, Emerson, Kanté, Jorginho, Kovacic, Pedro, Giroud, E Hazard

     

    ARSENAL

    Cech, Papastathopoulos, Koscielny, Monreal, Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Xhaka, Kolasinac, Özil, Lacazette, Aubameyang

    BBCSportsreakin

     

  • Arsenal to pocket N42billion in Europa final triumph

     

    Soccer fans across the globe especially those with soft spot for Arsenal and Chelsea will have their eyes and attention focused on Baku, the Azerbaijan capital as both London teams fight to the finish tonight in the Europa league final.

    While the Blues who already have Champions league ticket by virtue of finishing third in the premier league, they  are equally  hoping  to end the season with a trophy in the kitty, Arsenal on the other hand aim to earn a Champions league slot plus a whooping £90MILLION (About N42billion) should they subdue their arch rivals.

    Though victory over Chelsea in Baku would come with the prestige of a trophy, the incentive of an automatic place in the 2019-20 Champions League is just as strong

    Arsenal stand to pocket around £43.4m in prize money if they defeat their London rivals and that would rise to £47.5m if they beat either Liverpool or Tottenham in the UEFA Super Cup in Istanbul on August 14.

    But simply appearing in the group stage of next season’s Champions League would see Arsenal almost double their money, with over £20m television money, a hefty coefficient payment and a ‘starting fee’ of £13.4m just for participating.

    If Arsenal were to replicate their Europa League group stage record of five wins and one draw from this season in next season’s Champions League, they would add another £21m.

    The distribution of UEFA prize money is a based on a complex formula that takes into account performance, coefficients and television revenue.

    Arsenal’s Europa League prize money

    1. I) STARTING FEE – £2.57M
    2. II) FIXED AMOUNTS – £15.87M

    III) COEFFICIENT RANKING – £2.95M

    1. IV) MARKET POOL – £22M

    TOTAL = £43.39M*

    *Rising to £47.35m if Arsenal also win the Super Cup in August

  • Europa League: My goal will be important – Aubameyang

    Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is hopeful that his goal against Valencia would be ‘important’ in their quest to win the Europa League.

    On Thursday, Unai Emery’s men weathered the storm to secure a 3-1 victory over their Spanish visitors in the first leg of their semi-final clash at the Emirates.

    Mouctar Diakhaby handed the Spanish side an early lead but the Gunners fought back with Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette scoring.

    Lacazette put the Gunners ahead before Aubameyang handed the hosts a solid first leg advantage with his late effort.

    “Yeah, I think that goal will hopefully be important,” Aubameyang told BT Sport.

    Read Also: Aubameyang brace gives Arsenal win over Burnley

    “We started the game not so good, but we had a good reaction after that and I think today we played very well to win this game.

    “We started the game a bit nervous because we lost the last three games, and that’s normal because we’re human, but after that we had a good reaction.

    “We have a lot quality in this group and we can get to the final, but we know the next game will be difficult. If we do the same ingredients there, we will go through.

    “I think it’s our target to reach the final and win this trophy because we know it’s an opportunity to qualify for next year’s Champions League. Last year we stopped at the semi-finals and I think now we have learnt a lot from last year’s errors and hopefully this year we will not do the same.”

    The goal was Aubameyang’s 25th of the season and before they travel to Spainfor the reverse fixture of the Europa League semi-final, he will hope to help Arsenal secure a crucial victory against Brighton and Hove Albion in their penultimate Premier League game of the season on Sunday.

     

    Goal.Com

  • Breaking: Arsenal vs Valencia line-ups

    Arsenal host Valencia tonight in the first leg of the Semi Finals of the UEFA Europa League.

    Here is the starting X1 of both teams:

    Arsenal:

    Cech, Sokartis, Koscienly, Mustafi,Maitland-Niles; Guendozi, Xhaka,Kolasinac, Ozil, Aubameyang, Lacazette

    Valencia:
    Neto, Paulista, Garay,Diakhaby,Hongagalia; Gaya,Parejo, G.Soler,Picccini; Roridgo, Guedes

     

  • Arsenal’s top four hopes hits rock with loss at Leicester

    Arsenal suffered a third successive defeat in the Premier League as they lost 3-0 at Leicester after seeing Ainsley Maitland-Niles red carded on 36 minutes.

    Goals from Youri Tielemans and a late Jaime Vardy double gave the home side the win after a dominant performance against Unai Emery’s side.

    The contest was fairly even until Maitland-Niles’ early sending-off for two yellow cards, and then Leicester took control — with Jamie Vardy coming closest to opening the scoring.

    But the breakthrough did eventually come on 59 minutes when James Maddison’s cross found Tielemans, who headed past Bernd Leno.

    And the German goalkeeper was on hand to make several top-class saves in order to keep his team in it as Leicester dominated. Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell both saw efforts parried, while Maddison curled a delightful effort just wide.

    With five minutes remaining, Vardy ran onto a long ball from Kasper Schmeichel over the top of the Arsenal defence and having seen his effort initially come off the bar, was on hand to head in the rebound.

    Read Also: Crystal Palace ends Arsenal’s home run

    And, with the last kick of the match, he tapped in from close range after being teed up by Ricardo Pereira.

    Leicester, who have beaten Manchester City and Chelsea and earned a draw at Liverpool, registered their first victory over a top six side since Brendan Rodgers took over as manager in February and remain on course for seventh.

    Arsenal,  meanwhile stay fifth and will finish the weekend outside the top four.

    ESPN