The Nation Newspaper

Tag: arsenal

  • Arsenal star Saka injured during England loss to Greece

    Arsenal star Saka injured during England loss to Greece

    Bukayo Saka suffered an injury to his right leg during England’s 2-1 loss to Greece at Wembley on Thursday.

    The Arsenal forward was replaced in the 51st minute by Chelsea winger Noni Madueke.

    Saka, 23, was seen stretching and holding the back of his right leg before eventually sitting on the turf after Greece opened the scoring through Vangelis Pavlidis.

    England interim head coach Lee Carsley said: “He’s being assessed. Obviously in the build-up to the first goal, you can see he felt something in his leg.”

    Read Also: Stunning Saka at heart of comeback win for Arsenal

    The Three Lions were without injured duo Harry Kane and Jack Grealish for the defeat but both are expected to be fit for Sunday’s trip to Finland.

    Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side are already without captain Martin Odegaard, who suffered an ankle injury while playing for Norway in September.

    The Gunners return to Premier League action on 19 October when they take on Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium.

    Arsenal are still waiting to discover how bad the injury is that forced Bukayo Saka out of England’s disappointing Nations League defeat to Greece.

  • EPL: Arsenal come from behind to beat Southampton

    EPL: Arsenal come from behind to beat Southampton

    Arsenal came from behind to maintain their unbeaten start to the season against winless Southampton at Emirates Stadium.

    Two goals in 10 second-half minutes from Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli ensured the Gunners made a full recovery after being stunned by Cameron Archer’s opener for the visitors, before Bukayo Saka confirmed the three points late on.

    It meant Arsenal became only the second club in Premier League history to record 400 home wins, and they remain within one point of Premier League pace-setters Liverpool before the international break.

    Southampton, who still only have one point after seven games, had struggled amid incessant Arsenal pressure from the outset but, albeit at times unconvincingly, the visitors successfully held out until half-time.

    Read Also: UCL: Enrique defends Dembele omission for Arsenal test

    Saints took an unexpected lead 10 minutes after the restart, Archer providing a neat finish on the counter attack after Raheem Sterling, making his first league start for the Gunners, was dispossessed by Mateus Fernandes.

    That only served to spark Arsenal into life, however, and the hosts responded just three minutes later when Havertz curved an excellent finish in off the post, before Martinelli timed his run perfectly to meet Saka’s cross at the back post.

    With Arsenal unable to put the game out of reach, Southampton produced a spirited response but were twice denied by the woodwork when Dibling’s effort deflected on to the post and Adam Armstrong hit the crossbar from the resulting corner.

    But Saka, provider of his side’s first two goals, scored the third in the closing stages with a clinical finish, as Arsenal extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 16 matches.

    BBC

  • UCL: Arteta targets  Arsenal ‘s  first win against PSG

    UCL: Arteta targets  Arsenal ‘s  first win against PSG

    Mikel Arteta said Arsenal’s dramatic last-gasp victory against Leicester will help “shape the character” of the team as he prepares for  today’s Champions League showdown against Paris Saint-Germain.

    The Gunners scored twice in injury time to win 4-2 on Saturday and finished the weekend third in the Premier League, one point behind leaders Liverpool.

    Arsenal host French champions PSG in a Champions League league-phase match at the Emirates today, seeking their first win in the competition this season after a goalless draw against Atalanta.

    Arsenal manager Arteta was asked at his pre-match press conference about the importance of winning games from different positions – either by dominating games or with last-gasp victories.

     “It shapes the character and the body of the team, that they have the certainty that they can win in any context and adapt to very different contexts during matches,” he said. “The Champions League demands that, you can pretend to play against this kind of opposition and dominate for 95 minutes.

     “But it does not happen at this level so you have to be really good in other phases as well – to stay in the game, to be comfortable and still always have the belief and intention to win it.”

    Arteta is expecting a tough match against the French league leaders, who will be without France forward Ousmane Dembele, according to a source close the club.

    Read Also: Labbadia: Green, Gombe  fault NFF 

    It appears to be a disciplinary measure following a heated exchange with PSG boss Luis Enrique after Friday’s 3-1 win over Rennes, according to French sports daily L’Equipe.

    Arteta, when asked about the development, said: “We’re going to prepare like we always do with every possibility and let’s see. They have many other options.”

    He added: “They’re really tough. They are exceptional and they dominate every phase of play.

     “They have a very clear intention of how they want to dominate the game through the ball and when they don’t have it, they want it straight back. They are really aggressive with it and they confront you.”

    Arteta, who played for PSG as a young midfielder, said he was a “huge admirer” of Luis Enrique, whose team beat Girona 1-0 in their Champions League opener.

     “An unbelievable personality, huge character, huge energy, always very supportive with young players,” said Arteta. “What I love about him is wherever he’s been, as a player or a manager, his fingerprints are all over the place. You can sense it’s his team the way his players behave, the way they want to attack and dominate games.

     “The spirit, the energy they have, he has this unbelievable power with all the clubs he’s been at, with the Spain national team.”

  • UCL: Enrique defends Dembele omission for Arsenal test

    UCL: Enrique defends Dembele omission for Arsenal test

    Forward Ousmane Dembele has been left out of the Paris St Germain squad for their Champions League game at Arsenal, after the player failed to meet the needs of the team, manager Luis Enrique has said .

    French media had reported that the manager and player had a discussion after PSG’s 3-1 win over Rennes on Friday, and that Dembele was omitted from the squad for Tuesday’s game with Arsenal for disciplinary reasons.

    While Luis Enrique said there was no argument between himself and Dembele, he took the decision for the good of the team.

    “If someone doesn’t comply with the requirements of the team, it means that they are not ready,” Luis Enrique told a press conference.

    “It means in such an important week, with such an important game coming up, we need every player to be fully available.

    “My objective is to do the best for the team and that was my decision.”

    The manager was pressed further on making such an important choice, leaving out a player who has scored four league goals in six games, for such a key European game.

    “You think it is easy to create a team. You press a button and the 11 best players play and everything goes well,” the manager said.

    “No, making a team takes a certain amount of circumstances that can be difficult. Yesterday I had to make a difficult decision but I think it is the best decision without any doubt.

    That’s according to the chairman Akio Toyoda.

    Read Also: Fans rail against Sanusi’s 5th term  bid as NFF General Secretary

    “I would make it 100 more times. That doesn’t mean the situation is irreversible. But the best situation for the team right now is this, in my opinion.”

    The coach would not give further details on what happened with Dembele, but said that his job is to create a team and that is what he will continue to do.

    “I am not going to make a soap opera out of it, there was no argument between the player and me. There was a problem with the player’s responsibility to the team. Nothing else,” he said.

    “I signed for PSG last season to create a team. That is something I can guarantee. Until the last day that I am in Paris, I am going to make a team.

    “A team that is brave, daring, plays good football or tries to. The first day I cannot do that I will go back home.”

    PSG won their opening Champions League game 1-0 against Girona while Arsenal were held to a 0-0 draw away to Atalanta.

    UEFA Champions League Fixtures

    Red Bull Salzburg vs. Brest         

    Stuttgart vs. Sparta Prague         

    Arsenal                vs. Paris Saint-Germain               

    Barcelona vs. Young Boys Bern 

    Leverkusen vs.  Milan   

    Dortmund vs. Celtic       

    Inter  vs. Crvena Zvezda               

    PSV  vs. Sporting Lisbon               

    SK Slovan vs. Man City  

  • Trossard rescues Arsenal in 4-2 thriller

    Trossard rescues Arsenal in 4-2 thriller

    What looked like being a routine win for Arsenal turned out to be a dramatic victory.

    At half-time here, Arsenal were cruising. Two goals to the good, they had enjoyed 75 per cent possession during the opening 45 minutes and Leicester hadn’t had a single shot on target.

    Within the space 20 minutes, though, the game had suddenly turned thanks to two James Justin goals.

    Read Also: NFF partners UBEC for African Schools Football Championship 

    It meant Arsenal had to rely on late heroics to claim a valuable three points, which must have felt all the more sweeter after Manchester City drew at Newcastle earlier in the day.

    Whenever crunch time comes around, it feels inevitable that Leandro Trossard steps up to the plate.

  • Arsenal becoming  harder to beat under Arteta,  says Stones 

    Arsenal becoming  harder to beat under Arteta,  says Stones 

    Manchester City’s saviour John Stones said Arsenal have become one of the hardest teams to face because Mikel Arteta’s side are so adept at using the darker arts of the game.

    Arsenal used every trick in the book as they hung on to a 2-1 lead for virtually the entire second half with 10 men after Leandro Trossard was sent off for kicking the ball away.

    But substitute Stones popped up in the eighth minute of stoppage time to equalise and preserve City’s near two-year unbeaten run at home in the Premier League.

    It was a huge relief for City who returned to the top of the table, two points ahead of rivals Arsenal who slipped to fourth.

    In truth, City looked woefully short of ideas as Arsenal played with 10 men behind the ball, their usual slick passing game bogged down by Arsenal’s red wall.

    “They’ve done it for a few years, and we know to expect that,” defender Stones, who played more like a centre forward when he came on, told Sky Sports.

    Read Also: Fans beg NFF not to retain Eguavoen for Super Eagles

    “You can call it clever or dirty, whichever way you want to put it, they break up the game and obviously upset the rhythm for everyone. They use it to their advantage.

    “I thought we dealt with it really well. It’s not easy. When those things are happening, you’re trying to gain momentum. You’re trying to get a foot into the game and get above them.

    “Those little stoppages stop that. We controlled our emotions really well.”

    Arsenal have become a streetwise unit under Arteta who has twice taken them toe-to-toe with City in title races and for all their attractive football, they have become masters at disrupting the rhythm of opposing teams

    City threatened to blow Arsenal away in the opening stages with Savinho setting up Erling Haaland to fire his side in front with his 100th goal for the club.

    But Riccardo Calafiori equalised out of the blue with a stunning long-range effort before Gabriel headed Arsenal in front shortly afterwards.

    Everything changed, however, after Trossard became the second Arsenal player this season to be sent off for delaying a restart by kicking the ball away.

    He was given a hug by Arteta as he trudged off and the Spanish manager said he was proud of the way his team kept City at bay for so long despite being a man down, even if their delaying tactics were not to everyone’s taste.

    “We played the game in a difficult context. Playing against the best team in the world.” he said.

  • Man City, Arsenal push for early lead in title race

    Man City, Arsenal push for early lead in title race

    Sunday’s clash between champions Manchester City and Arsenal is already being billed as a pivotal moment in the title race even though the Premier League season is only four rounds in.

    The two teams have been battling it out for the past two seasons with Pep Guardiola’s City triumphant on both occasions as they stretched their run to an unprecedented four in a row.

    Nothing in the opening salvos of the new campaign suggests it will be any different this time, although many are predicting that Arsenal can finally break City’s stranglehold and a positive result on Sunday would be a psychological boost.

    A hearing began Monday after England’s Premier League accused its current champions of breaching financial regulations.

    Read Also; ‘How my stepmother inserted stick into stepson’s six-year-old daughter’s private part’

    City’s sky blue horizon is clouded by the beginning of an independent commission’s hearing into 115 charges for alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules — charges the Abu Dhabi-owned club strenuously deny — which began on Monday.

    But despite that distraction it has been business as usual on the pitch and City sit top of the table with a maximum 12 points and striker Erling Haaland already threatening to shatter his own records having scored nine goals already.

    Arsenal came through a key test last weekend when they went to north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur without key midfielder Declan Rice and captain Martin Odegaard but still claimed a 1-0 victory to move them to 10 points from their four games.

    Mikel Arteta’s side beat City 1-0 in the early months of last season and drew 0-0 at The Etihad — a result that at the time looked better for the London club.

    But City won their next nine matches and clinched the title on the last day of the season by two points.

    Arsenal know the margin for error in the title race will be wafer thin again and while defeat at City on Sunday would not be terminal — a five-point deficit would already look ominous.

    Arteta will be boosted on Sunday by the return of England international Rice from suspension but their Norway midfielder Odegaard will again be absent with ankle ligament damage.

    City will be keen to get back to winning ways having been held to a 0-0 draw at home by Inter Milan in their Champions League opener on Wednesday and will have a slight advantage with Arsenal having one day less to prepare after their Champions League clash against Atalanta on Thursday.

    “We know Arsenal very well, they know us very well, and obviously it will be a very intense game,” City defender Ruben Dias said of the eagerly-anticipated clash.

  • Arteta praises ‘ugly’ Arsenal in crucial Spurs victory

    Arteta praises ‘ugly’ Arsenal in crucial Spurs victory

     Arsenal’s growing capacity to win without being at their best, as they did in a hard-fought derby at Tottenham Hotspur, could prove the difference as they attempt to finally overhaul Premier League champions Manchester City.

    Manager Mikel Arteta said his side were rewarded for doing “ugly things” to triumph thanks to yet another goal conceded from a corner by their bitter local rivals.

    Gabriel Magalhaes’ second-half header was enough to secure a crucial 1-0 win over Spurs, marking their third straight north London derby victory away from home.

    And, having nearly blown a 3-0 lead before clinging on for a 3-2 win in their last meeting in April, Arteta said he saw signs of progress in how the Gunners managed the closing stages.

    The Arsenal manager said he was far calmer on Sunday “because after 0-3 to 2-3 (in the last game) you say, this cannot happen”.

    He told reporters: “They threw everything at it, they tried today but I think we looked more composed, better organised and gave very, very little away.”

    Read Also: Super Eagles: Okumagba urges NFF to employ local coach

    Having lost captain Martin Odegaard to injury and Declan Rice through suspension, with new signing Mikel Merino yet to make his debut due to a fractured shoulder, Arsenal’s makeshift midfield was largely assured against a wasteful Spurs side.

    Arteta hailed the depth of the team and their ability to grind out results, a quality that was arguably lacking at times in their recent title challenges.

    “In order to love the game and win, you have to do a lot of things that sometimes people call them ugly and enjoying doing those ugly things is a big compliment for this team,” he said.

    A north London derby will always feel like a must-win game, but victory felt almost essential for Arsenal who before kickoff trailed Manchester City by five points.

    With City having earned 91 points on average in the last three seasons, Arsenal’s trip to the Etihad next Sunday could have been make or break for their title credentials.

    Instead, with a gritty three points in the bag, Arsenal will travel north with a chance to go top of the league.

  • Arsenal reject Al-Ittihad bid for Trossard

    Arsenal reject Al-Ittihad bid for Trossard

    Arsenal have rejected a transfer bid from Al-Ittihad for Leandro Trossard, affirming his importance to the team. 

    Despite recent concerns about Trossard’s place in the squad following Raheem Sterling’s loan arrival from Chelsea, Arsenal views him as a key player.

    Since joining Arsenal from Brighton & Hove Albion in 2023, Trossard has scored 19 goals and provided 12 assists in 71 appearances, averaging a goal contribution every 111 minutes. His crucial performances have made him an integral part of the squad.

    Read Also: Arsenal star Ramsdale moves to Southampton

    Had Trossard agreed to the move, he would’ve been joining the likes of Karim Benzema, Moussa Diaby and N’Golo Kante with Saudi side Al-Ittihad.

    Al-Ittihad’s proposal of around €35 million was turned down as the Saudi Pro League transfer window nears its close on September 2. 

    The club is keen to strengthen its squad before the deadline, but Arsenal remains resolute in retaining Trossard.

  • Arsenal star Ramsdale moves to Southampton

    Arsenal star Ramsdale moves to Southampton

    Aaron Ramsdale, 26, has moved to Southampton for an initial fee of £18 million with an additional £1 million possible if the newly-promoted Premier League side avoids relegation this season.

    The total cost could rise to £25 million with achievable add-ons.

    Ramsdale, who joined Arsenal from Sheffield United in the summer of 2021, enjoyed two successful seasons at the club, earning fan favor and a place in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2022/23 campaign.

    Read Also: Arsenal, Man City prepare Evan Ferguson bids

    However, after losing his spot to David Raya last season and with Raya’s move becoming permanent this summer, Ramsdale’s return to the starting XI seemed unlikely.

    During his tenure at Arsenal, Ramsdale made 89 appearances. Arsenal Sporting Director Edu Gaspar commented on the transfer, saying, “We are pleased to conclude a positive deal with Southampton, and we wish Aaron all the best.”

    Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta also praised Ramsdale, stating, “Aaron has been a top professional since his arrival in 2021 and has made significant contributions. We thank him for his efforts and wish him and his family all the best in his new role with Southampton.”