The Nation Newspaper

Tag: liverpool

  • Arsenal face Manchester United in FA Cup 4th Round, Liverpool ousted

    Arsenal will host Manchester United in the English Emirates FA Cup fourth round, according to the draw held Monday night.

    The Gunners have won the competition a record 13 times, while United are 12-time winners.

    Premier League champions Manchester City are at home to Burnley, while Tottenham face a tough trip to Crystal Palace.

    Holders Chelsea have an easier task with Sheffield Wednesday or Luton to travel to Stamford Bridge.

    Wolves’ reward for beating Liverpool 2-1 on Monday is a trip to either Shrewsbury or Stoke.

    Read also: Arsenal’s youngsters have added pace to team, says Iwobi

    However, league leaders, Liverpool are out of the tournament after suffering a shock 2-1 loss in the hands of fellow premier leaguers, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

    Liverpool, without most of the first team players, were one goal behind Wolves in the first half at the Molineux Stadium after the 38th minute goal by Raul Jimenez.

    In the second half, Divock Origi equalised for the visitors in the 51st minute, but four minutes later Ruben Neves slammed in the winner from outside the box.

    The draw for the fourth round took place moments after at the same stadium with Nigeria’s Carl Ikeme, also involved.

    All the pairings;

    FA Cup 4thh round pairings

    The matches will take place between 25 and 28 January.

  • Manchester City end Liverpool’s unbeaten run, cut EPL lead to 4 points

    Leroy Sane struck the winner as Manchester City beat visiting Liverpool 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in a fierce English Premier League contest on Thursday.

    The victory helped the defending champions to inflict the first loss of the 2018/2019 season on Juergen Klopp’s side to cut their lead at the top to four points.

    Sadio Mane hit the post for Liverpool in the 18th minute and from the resulting scramble, John Stones’s attempted clearance bounced off his goalkeeper Ederson.

    The Manchester City defender did superbly to clear off the line with the ball millimetres from going in.

    It was Manchester City who broke through five minutes before the break when Bernardo Silva found Sergio Aguero inside the penalty box.

    The Argentine unleashed a fierce drive, from the tightest of angles, to fire past Alisson and make it 1-0.

    Liverpool responded strongly after the break, though.

    They drew level when Andrew Robertson met a deep Trent Alexander-Arnold cross with a cushioned volley for Roberto Firmino to head in from close range.

    Manchester City were not finished, though, and restored their lead in the 72nd minute when Raheem Sterling broke from midfield and fed Sane on the left.

    The German winger drove home off the inside of the far post.

    Aguero went close to a third after Sterling led a swift counter-attack but Alisson was up to the task.

    At the other end, Ederson produced a fine save to keep out a Mohammed Salah effort.

    Alisson did well again to keep out a close-range blast from Bernardo Silva in the final minute of normal time.(Reuters/NAN)

  • Salah hat-trick takes Liverpool past Bournemouth

    Liverpool maintained their best start to a season as Mo Salah, back at his dazzling best, scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 win at Bournemouth.

    The win took them, temporarily at least, to the top of the English Premier League on Saturday.

    Salah set them on their way in the 25th minute, latching on to the rebound after Roberto Firmino’s 30-metre shot was palmed into his path by Asmir Begovic.

    Television replays have since shown the Egyptian to be marginally offside when he pounced.

    There was no argument, however, about his second strike straight after the interval.

    Firmino again freed him to maraud on goal and fire into the corner, with the help of the slightest nick off Nathan Ake’s heel.

    After the unfortunate Steve Cook diverted Andy Robertson’s cross past Begovic for an own goal, Salah worked his real magic.

    He outmuscled Cook to get to Adam Lallana’s through ball before dancing nimbly around Begovic and slotting home late on.

    Salah’s treble at the Vitality Stadium put him on 10 league goals this season, matching Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the top of the scoring charts he had dominated last season.

    Against tough, seventh-placed opponents, Juergen Klopp’s side went a 17th straight league match unbeaten, equalling their club record set 10 years ago.

    They also emulated the 4-0 thrashing of the Cherries in the corresponding fixture last season.

    It put them a point clear of Manchester City at the summit on 42 points, though Pep Guardiola’s men have the chance to regain top spot later when they visit Chelsea.

    It was a splendid afternoon for Liverpool’s James Milner to celebrate becoming only the 13th player to make 500 top-flight appearances in the English Premier League era.

    Salah even gave his own man-of-the match award to his 32-year-old team mate to mark his achievement.

    “He’s had an amazing career. I have to congratulate him on an amazing career. He deserves this today,” Salah told Milner on Sky Sports. “I will not take it.”

    As he clutched the match ball after his second Liverpool hat-trick, the Egyptian added: “It wasn’t a bad way at all (to get back among the goals)…I enjoyed the last one the most. I was calm.”

    Now getting back into his most imperious stride after a slow start to the campaign, Salah added: “My expectations are very high.

    “I know everyone else’s expectations of me are also very high, but the most important thing is for us to win each game and be top of the table.”

    For Milner, it was a special afternoon after 16 years of excellence in the English Premier League. “It’s the perfect way to celebrate it (the 500th appearance),” he said.

    “It wasn’t our best performance of the season by any means, but we were efficient, got the job done and this fella (Salah) is unbelievable… He can win (for) you a game on his own.”(Reuters/NAN)

  • Sigurdsson: in-form Everton are confident of good show

    Everton’s ability to grind out results has boosted their confidence ahead of Sunday’s Merseyside derby against Liverpool in the English Premier League, midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson said on Thursday.

    Iceland international Sigurdsson scored the winning goal as Everton overcame promoted Cardiff City 1-0 last Saturday.

    The victory helped them to extend their unbeaten league run to three games and climb to sixth in the table on 22 points.

    “I think all the boys have been looking forward to the derby since the start of the season and that feeling has grown with the performances we have been putting together over the past couple of months,” Sigurdsson told the club’s website.

    Read Also: Everton must prepare to win ugly, Sigurdsson says

    “The team is playing really well and getting results and we are grinding out wins when we’re not playing our best football.”

    Victory over Cardiff followed a determined display at Stamford Bridge, where Everton held title contenders Chelsea to a goalless draw earlier this month.

    “We can take confidence from the way we played at Chelsea. That was a good result,” Sigurdsson, who has scored six goals this season, added.

    Liverpool come into the 232nd meeting with their city rivals on the back of a 2-1 defeat by French side Paris St Germain in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

    Juergen Klopp’s side are unbeaten in the league, however, and sit second on 33 points, two behind leaders Manchester City.

    They go into the match having not lost to Everton at Anfield since 1999.

    “Sunday is another big game for us, we want to make it a good one and we’ll be ready for the challenge,” Sigurdsson said.

  • Mourinho in focus again as English Premier League returns

    When Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho returns on Saturday to Stamford Bridge to face former club Chelsea, much would not have changed about him regarding his recent comments.

    He had said “it’s not about me” after his team’s thrilling comeback win over Newcastle United, but this is unlikely to be heeded this time.

    Mourinho’s words, spoken after united fans chanted his name in appreciation of the 3-2 victory, may have reflected weariness at the constant focus on his position at Old Trafford.

    But the spotlight will unavoidably be on the Portuguese again.

    The manner of United’s win, with three goals in the final 20 minutes of all-out attacking football, has raised the question of whether he will change.

    The change is for him to embrace a more positive style of play.

    Nothing in Mourinho’s history suggests that is likely and the prospect of facing Maurizio Sarri’s in-form team at Stamford Bridge is a strong deterrent against a cavalier approach.

    Second-placed Chelsea are unbeaten, level on points with champions Manchester City and challengers Liverpool and with their Belgian forward Eden Hazard in scintillating form they will start as clear favourites.

    Manchester United is already seven points behind the leading trio, having lost to Brighton and Hove Albion and West Ham United on the road and Tottenham Hotspur at home.

    Read Also: Mourinho deserves respect for being ‘real’ – Lukaku

    Surely, Mourinho will be keen to ensure they avoid defeat in west London.

    Chelsea has not lost at home to United since October 2012, losing just two of the 16 meetings between the two since then.

    Mourinho has suffered four defeats in six games against his former club since taking over at United.

    But, as he reminded the media in his recent demand for more “respect”, Mourinho won three Premier League titles in his two spells as Chelsea manager.

    The former Porto and Real Madrid boss has never been afraid to play defensively when visiting top rivals.

    So, for all the hope that he might try to replicate the ‘gung-ho’ second half display against Newcastle United, it would be no surprise if he were to revert to type on Saturday.

    Manchester City will expect to pick up three points at home to a Burnley side that will feature former City goalkeeper Joe Hart.

    City has not lost at home to the Clarets since 1963 and has lost once in their last 19 meetings in all competitions.

    Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp will also be expecting maximum points when he faces off with close friend David Wagner as the Reds travel to Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

    Huddersfield is 18th in the table, have yet to win during this campaign and have managed to score only four goals.

    Fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur visit London rivals West Ham on Saturday while in-form Arsenal host Leicester on Monday looking for a 10th successive victory in all competitions.

    Sunday’s game features Everton at home to Crystal Palace.

  • Napoli striker Milik robbed at gunpoint after Liverpool win

    Napoli striker Arkadiusz Milik was robbed at gunpoint by two men on a motorbike as he drove home from Wednesday’s Champions League 1-0 group win against Liverpool, the daily Naples-based newspaper Il Mattino reported on Thursday.

    He was said to be driving through the Varcaturo district at around 2 a.m. when the motorbike blocked the road and forced him to stop, the report said.

    One of the men pointed a gun at Milik and made him hand over a Rolex watch. Naples police could not immediately be reached for comment.

    Read Also: Ronaldo returns for Napoli clash

    Two years ago, Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne, who scored the last-minute winner on Wednesday, and his wife were mugged in the city in similar circumstances.

    Media reports said the robbers told Insigne to “score a goal for us” in his next match.

    Team captain Marek Hamsik was robbed in 2013 as was his wife two years before that.

  • Neymar treble inspires PSG to 6-1 rout of Red Star

    Paris St Germain got their Champions League campaign back on track with a 6-1 home rout of Serbian side Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday as Brazil forward Neymar lit up a lopsided Group C clash with a hat-trick.

    Angel Di Maria, Edinson Cavani and France World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe added a goal each as the French champions ripped into 1991 European Cup winners Red Star, who were spared a heavier defeat by goalkeeper Milan Borjan.

    The result left PSG on three points from two games after their opening 3-2 defeat by Liverpool.

    The outcome was also Red Star’s heaviest defeat in Europe, ending their 38-match unbeaten run in all competitions stretching back to last season.

    In spite of the obvious gulf in class, PSG coach Thomas Tuchel praised his team for keeping up a high tempo, which barely allowed the visitors to get out of their own half and singled out the outstanding Neymar.

    “We’ve improved our intensity in every game and you saw that tonight,” Tuchel told a news conference.

    Read Also:Mbappe: Neymar is still the superstar at PSG

    “Neymar is one of the best players in Europe. We have several of the best in our team — not just Neymar. We’ve won lots of games because we have the best players, but also because we were the best team. That’s very important.”

    It was one-way traffic from the start as the home side raced into a 2-0 lead with two goals in two minutes as Neymar curled a delightful free kick past Borjan in the 20th minute before he converted a fine run and pass by Mbappe.

    Cavani made it 3-0 with a deflected shot from inside the penalty area in the 37th minute, before Di Maria added a fourth from close range after Thomas Meunier floated in a superb pass with the outside of his foot.

    In between the goals and early in the second half, Borjan pulled off a string of superb saves to deny Neymar and Mbappe on multiple occasions as PSG carved open Red Star’s defence at will, with Mbappe also guilty of some sloppy finishing.

    Mbappe finally found the back of the net in the 70th minute after a dazzling move involving Neymar and Juan Bernat left the 19-year-old with a simple tap in from six metres.

    Red Star, playing in the competition’s group stages for the first time, scored their maiden goal on the big stage when midfielder Marko Marin buried a shot from 12 metres into the top corner in his team’s first purposeful move.

    Borjan could only offer a wry smile, when Neymar put the icing on the cake of a brilliant individual performance as he unleashed another breathtaking free kick from 30 metres, in the 81st minute before he was substituted.

    Cavani had the ball in the back of the net again shortly afterwards, but the goal was disallowed for a marginal offside as PSG kept their feet on the pedal until the final whistle.

  • Croatia court rejects false testimony charge against Modric

    A Croatian court has rejected a charge against Croatia international and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric of giving false testimony in a criminal trial, the court said on Wednesday.

    An email to Reuters by the Zagreb municipal criminal court said it rejected the charge, made by the Croatia state attorney in March, but gave no explanation for its ruling.

    The state attorney’s office can appeal against the decision.

    Modric testified last year at the trial of a tax official and three former senior officials from the soccer club Dinamo Zagreb, including its former chief executive Zdravko Mamic, about the dates of signing the annexes to his professional contracts which regulated transfer fees.

    The state attorney’s office said in June 2017 it was investigating allegations that Modric, awarded Best FIFA men’s player of the year 2018 last month, had given false testimony at the trial.

    Read Also: FIFA BEST AWARD: Modric battles Ronaldo Salah again!

    In June, Mamic was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison, shortly after he left for Bosnia where he lives now.

    Other two Dinamo officials and the tax official were also sentenced to jail. All of them denied any wrongdoing and have said they would challenge the verdict.

    Local media reported that the reason the court had rejected the false testimony charge was that it had been “premature”, in that it could not be raised before there was the final court decision in the tax avoidance trial.

    Modric’s lawyer Laura Valkovic told Reporter the defence had argued that the charge was premature.

    The final court decision in the case is still pending while an appeal process continues.

    Last month Croatia’s state attorney also charged another Croatia international, Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren, with the same offence as Modric.

  • Liverpool’s Van Dijk faces fitness test ahead of Chelsea clash

    Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk faces a fitness test ahead of Wednesday’s League Cup clash with Chelsea, although fellow defender Dejan Lovren is available, manager Juergen Klopp said on Tuesday.

    Van Dijk sustained a knock to an earlier rib injury and was substituted in the second half of Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over Southampton on Saturday.

    It was a result that left the early Premier League pace-setters with six wins from as many games.

    “He is much better. It’s still a bit painful, nothing else,” Klopp told reporters ahead of the League Cup third round clash at Anfield.

    “We will see how we deal with that. It’s not too serious, but it’s not anything, so that needs to settle for sure.

    “We will see how he is today and make a decision about him.”

    If Van Dijk is ruled out, the experienced Lovren could fill in, as the Croatian had shaken off a pelvic injury.

    Read Also: Van Dijk ready to spur Liverpool to silverware

    The 29-year-old has not played this season after aggravating an earlier pelvic injury during Croatia’s World Cup final march in Russia in July.

    “Dejan looks quite good. He trained completely normal now four times. He worked with the fitness guys before that for 10 days. He looks ready,”Klopp added.

    Klopp said first choice goalkeeper Alisson would be rested with Simon Mignolet taking his place.

    The German, however, said he would field a strong side against Maurizio Sarri’s team.

    “It’s a difficult draw for both teams. It’s not that you think the first two-three rounds you go through somehow, and from the semis on it starts getting exciting…

    “It’s a home game against a very strong side, so it’ll be really interesting.”

    Liverpool returns to Premier League action on Saturday, when they face Chelsea for the second time this week, away at Stamford Bridge.

  • Klopp defends Salah, says Firmino fit to face Chelsea

    Liverpool Manager Juergen Klopp says he has no concern over Egypt striker Mohamed Salah’s form, ahead of Saturday’s match against Chelsea.

    Salah has not scored in his last three Liverpool outings and some observers have suggested he looks short of full fitness and sharpness.

    The former AS Roma forward has scored twice in five games — just one fewer than at this stage last season.

    “Wow, that’s a crisis,” joked Klopp who went on to outline his satisfaction with Salah’s contributions to what has been a 100 per cent start to the campaign for Liverpool.

    “On the defensive side the last two games he was outstanding, perfect, and it is so important in these games especially.

    Read Also: Klopp expects problems despite Liverpool’s perfect start

    “So that says everything about him: that he is really ready to work for the team in these moments. “It is a completely normal situation for an offensive player that they have times when they don’t score.

    “But he is still a threat, has fantastic situations in both games and he is in a good shape,” said Klopp.

    Salah suffered a shoulder injury in the Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid which hampered him during the World Cup and he is still wearing some strapping around the area.

    “The most important thing is physically he is in a very good shape, which helps,”said Klopp.

    “Salah is really ready to work for the team and it is a normal situation to have times where you don’t score,” added the German.

    “He is just taking his time this year, just like he did last season.”

    Firmino started as substitute due to an eye injury he picked up in last week’s win against Spurs at Wembley but that appears to have healed quickly.

    “Yes, he is ready… so far there is no reason to think about Bobby, it’s about thinking about how we can line up in general differently,” said the former Dortmund manager.

    Daniel Sturridge started against PSG in place of Firmino and scored the opening goal as part of an impressive return to the side.

    “It’s just positive the impact Daniel had (against PSG).

    “It was an intense game; it was a fantastic game from him, to be honest.

    “So that’s the best news and so now we know more about that,” said Klopp, who suggested the English forward could also play alongside Firmino in the future.

    “There are a lot of games to come and these two boys can play together as well — they did in the past, by the way, and they can do it again,” he said.