The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Manchester City

  • Manchester City find their “perfect’’ match with Tinder deal

    English Premier League leaders Manchester City have swiped right on a unique deal with dating app Tinder, both organisations said on Thursday.

    A day after a 3-0 loss to Liverpool in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, Manchester City announced the signing of a multi-year partnership with Tinder.

    Reports in the British media claim the deal is worth millions of pounds.

    The commercial deal will see the dating app team up with the club’s men’s and women’s sides along with sister club New York City FC.

    “Tinder is a huge global platform which, just like football, is bringing millions of people together every day all around the world,” City Football Group’s Chief Commercial Officer Tom Glick said in a statement on the club’s website.

    “Football is all about a community of fans, sharing moments, emotions and passion for the sport they love.

    Read Also: Liverpool stun Manchester City with 3-0 win at Anfield

    “Together with Tinder, we have a great opportunity to explore how we can combine Tinder’s significant appeal and reach with our global audience… We believe this will be a perfect match for Tinder and for City.”

    Tinder is a dating app owned by Match Group Inc.

    It marked the beginning of the partnership by flying a blimp in City’s club colours — light blue and white — along with logos of both organisations in Manchester on Thursday.

    The app has also changed its social media icons to match the club’s colours to show support ahead of City’s potential league title-clinching derby against bitter rivals Manchester United on Saturday.

    “Football is a sport where anything can happen at any moment,” Tinder’s VP Partnerships David Wyler said.

    “We wanted to be true to the game and do something unexpected by surprising the fans and our users with news of our partnership in a fun and creative way.”

    NAN

  • Liverpool stun Manchester City with 3-0 win at Anfield

    Liverpool ripped apart Manchester City with three goals inside the opening 31 minutes as they won their UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg tie 3-0 on Wednesday.

    Anfield has witnessed many memorable European nights over the years and this will take its place among the most spectacular.

    A simply devastating first-half display was crowned with goals from Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane.

    The tie may not be over, with 90 minutes remaining at the Etihad on Tuesday.

    But Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, who has enjoyed more wins over Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola than any other manager, will be delighted as his commitment to attacking football was amply rewarded.

    Liverpool are the only team to have beaten Manchester City in the English Premier League this season.

    That was with a thrilling 4-3 victory in January, and they repeated the formula of that success by attacking City’s defence from the outset.

    Roared on by a particularly vocal home crowd, Liverpool put the English Premier League’s champions-elect under intense pressure from the first kick and it took just 12 minutes for them to crack.

    After a Manchester City corner-kick, James Milner launched the ball forward, Salah broke from the halfway line and played the ball inside to Roberto Firmino.

    His shot was blocked by Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson but Firmino pounced on the loose ball and slipped it to Salah, who fired home.

    City responded with a swift counter-attack of their own but Leroy Sane, who had broken from deep, screwed the ball wide when he could have played in team mate Kevin De Bruyne.

    Liverpool were rampant though and harrying Manchester City off the ball in midfield when Milner won back possession and moved it straight to Oxlade-Chamberlain.

    The former Arsenal midfielder unleashed an unstoppable drive from 25 metres to make it 2-0 in the 20th minute.

    Manchester City were now reeling and looked nothing like the team that has marched so convincingly to a 16-point lead in the English Premier League.

    Then, it was not long before Juergen Klopp’s side made it 3-0.

    Salah floated a teasing cross from the right towards Mane, who rose above the Manchester City defence to power a header past Ederson and send the Anfield crowd into delirium.

    Manchester  City came out brightly after the break though, finally managing to find some composure with their passing.

    Liverpool were unable to get back into their first-half rhythm and they suffered a blow when Salah went off injured in the 52nd minute.

    Guardiola’s side were back in their familiar role of controlling possession, but were struggling to create chances with Sane wasting a promising opening at the back post.

    It was one of a series of frustrations for the German left winger.

    It was also a miserable night for Sane, who was superbly handled by young Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold.

    The night was completed when Sane was ruled offside as he broke down the left and crossed for Gabriel Jesus to put the ball in the net.

    Yet the fact that Manchester City’s late pressure was accompanied by audible tension from the Liverpool fans was a reminder that the tie is not over.

    Few teams could overturn a 3-0 deficit against Liverpool but Guardiola’s side is certainly one of them.

    Reuters/NAN

  • City better prepared to foil Liverpool trio, Gundogan

    Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan believes they are better prepared to cope with Liverpool’s attacking trio in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at Anfield on Wednesday.

    City’s 4-3 defeat at Liverpool in January was their only loss against an English Premier League (EPL) side this season.

    It came courtesy three goals in nine second-half minutes from Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, who have combined to score 75 goals in all competitions for Liverpool this season.

    “There’s a lot of respect, because all three have scored plenty of goals and they’ve also set up many more,” Gundogan told British media.

    “Liverpool are still the only team that’s been capable of beating us in the Premier League. But we’re aware why this happened, although we performed pretty well that day.

    “Obviously, going back to Anfield for the first-leg game is a great motivation for us.

    “We’d like to get a great result in the first leg and then dominate the game in the second leg, in front of our fans.

    Read Also: Hazard, Liverpool trio listed for PFA award

    ” That’s what we want to do and, if we achieve that, then I’m sure we’ll make it into the next round.”

    Gundogan spent four years playing under Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp who managed Borussia Dortmund before moving to England.

    It was a period with the German club winning the Bundesliga title, German Cup as well as reaching the 2013 Champions League final.

    “Juergen is a terrific coach and he’s capable of motivating his team ahead of every game.

    “And he’s proving all that again with Liverpool – their attack is incredibly strong. So they aren’t an easy team to beat but we need to do so,” Gundogan added.

    City could wrap up the EPL title with a win over local rivals Manchester United on Saturday before facing Liverpool in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium three days later.

    NAN

  • Klopp predicts fiery UEFA Champions League clash against Manchester City

    Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp insists “there will be fire” when the Merseyside club faces Manchester City in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League showdown.

    The German said his confidence was hinged on the fact that his team, at their best, were capable of defying the odds to reach the semi-finals.

    Manchester City visit Anfield in the first leg of their quarter-final tie, resuming a rivalry which has seen 12 goals scored in the last two meetings between the teams.

    “If I had the choice to watch a UEFA Champions League game on Wednesday I would watch this one,” Klopp told reporters.

    “It is about tactics, but there will be fire in the game. So, that’s cool. And it’s at Anfield anyway. So, a good atmosphere to watch.”

    Liverpool suffered a 5-0 league defeat at the Etihad Stadium in September after forward Sadio Mane was sent off.

    But they exacted their revenge with a 4-3 win at Anfield in January, which remains City’s only English Premier League defeat of the season.

    In spite of the defeat, Pep Guardiola’s side remains 16 points clear at the top of the standings.

    Klopp accepts it will be difficult to knock Manchester City out over two legs in Europe.

    “Did we think before the first game we would lose 5-0? No. Did we think before the second we would win 4-3? No. But do we know we have a chance? Yes,” he added.

    “Actually that was clear before, but they are the favourites. We should finish the game with 11 first of all, that would be cool. We know it’s difficult.

    “At specific moments we are on a similar level, but they have been much more consistent, and that’s why they are higher in the league. We see our chance, but we know it will be unbelievably difficult.”

    Both teams warmed up for the tie with away league wins over the weekend.

    Liverpool cemented their third-place position in the table with a 2-1 triumph at Crystal Palace, while Manchester City eased to a 3-1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park.(Reuters/NAN)

  • UEFA draw: Juventus to face Real Madrid, as Liverpool draw Man City

    Juventus were given a chance to avenge last year’s UEFA Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid when they were drawn together for the quarter-finals of this year’s competition on Friday.
    The Serie A side, beaten 4-1 in Cardiff last season by Real, will host the first leg in Turin following the draw at UEFA headquarters in Nyon.
    The last eight also produced an all-English pairing as Liverpool was thrown together with English Premier League leaders Manchester City.
    In the other ties, FC Barcelona will face AS Roma, bringing back unhappy memories for the Italian side that lost 6-1 on their last visit to Camp Nou.
    Sevilla will take on Bayern Munich.
    Juventus are not completely ruled out of the tie, as the Turin side came out on top when they last met over two legs in the semi-finals in 2015.
    Overall, the teams have faced each other 19 times with eight wins for Juventus, nine for Real — including the 1998 final — and two draws.
    Liverpool’s tie against Manchester City will be the first meeting between English sides in the quarter-finals since 2010/2011 when Chelsea faced Manchester United.
    Manchester City have won only one of their last eight meetings with Liverpool in all competitions, if you exclude their penalty shootout triumph in the 2016 English League Cup final.

    Read Aso: Bayern stroll into UEFA Champions Quarter finals

    Former Roma stalwart, Francesco Totti, said his former team, who are considered the outsiders alongside Sevilla, should not be worried about facing FC Barcelona.
    “Football is beautiful because anything can happen, especially in these types of games.
    “We’ve already come a long way, finishing ahead of Chelsea and Atletico Madrid in the group stage and knocking out Shakhtar Donetsk,” he said.
    Bayern, the runaway Bundesliga leaders, promised they would not underestimate Sevilla.
    “Sevilla are not an easy team. They eliminated Manchester United,” said Bayern sports director Hasan Salihamidzic.
    “It certainly is no easy draw, they did not come through to this stage by accident,” added midfielder David Alaba.
    The first legs will be played on April 3 and April 4, with the return matches one week later.
    The Full Champions League Quarter-final Draw
    FC Barcelona vs Roma
    Sevilla vs Bayern Munich
    Juventus vs Real Madrid
    Liverpool vs Manchester City

    NAN

  • Pep shares moment with happy Man City owner

     

    Pep Guardiola has met Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed and the club’s chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak on Wednesday afternoon as the Spaniard enjoys a trip away in Dubai.

    The Spaniard was pictured in high spirits as he talked with the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and the Emirati entrepreneur in an office while his squad enjoyed some leisurely time near the beach.

    Meanwhile, Gabriel Jesus, Fernandinho, Ederson and Bernardo Silva were all having a spot of lunch during some downtime while out in the United Arab Emirates.

    Sergio Aguero also looked relaxed in a photo on his Instagram page, as he soaked in the sun by the sandy beach.

    The striker is set to miss City’s trip to Stoke on Monday evening with a knee injury.

    The Argentine announced on his official Twitter feed that he expected to be out for up to two weeks with the injury, meaning he could be back for the trip to Everton at the end of this month.

    And it wasn’t just the beach where the City players looked like they were having a good time.

    Jesus, Kyle Walker and Raheem Sterling all tried their hand at going in goal during one of their training sessions.

    The England right back pulled off some audacious saves, mimicking Colombia’s Rene Higuita’s infamous scorpian kick against England in 1995.

    Sterling didn’t appear as convincing in goal as he does up front while Jesus relished the challenge of filling Ederson’s boots. City are expected to fly back to England sometime later this week.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Southampton’s initial refusal to sell Van Dijk cost Pellegrino his job’

    Southampton’s refusal to sell defender Virgil van Dijk in the close season disrupted their English Premier League campaign, former club captain Matt Le Tissier has said.
    The forer England player said the refusal had ultimately led to manager Mauricio Pellegrino being sacked.
    Southampton dismissed Pellegrino on Monday after just one victory in 17 league games under the manager.
    Saturday’s 3-0 defeat by Newcastle United had left them a place and a point above the relegation zone and sealed the Argentine’s fate.
    Le Tissier suggested that the turmoil surrounding Dutchman Van Dijk’s future amid interest from Liverpool and Manchester City had affected the team’s performances early in the season.
    Van Dijk eventually moved to Liverpool in January for 75 million pounds ($104.24 million).
    “I think that was probably something that, looking back with hindsight, the club would probably regret, trying to keep him in the summer,” said Le Tissier, who scored 209 goals for Southampton during his 16 years at the club.

    Read Also: £75m Done Deal! Virgil van Dijk Joins Liverpool in January

    “They tried to do the right thing by the fans, in terms of not selling their best player every season, but sadly that did appear to backfire. That situation probably didn’t help the performances in the first half of the season.”
    Southampton has lost a large number of players to their domestic rivals in the past few years.
    Club chairman Ralph Krueger said earlier in the season that they were keen to end the perception that they were a selling club.
    “That’s life, that’s football, those decisions were made with the best intentions and it didn’t turn out right,” Le Tissier said.
    “It’s now time to move on, appoint a new manager, and get out of the trouble we are in at the moment.”
    Welshman Mark Hughes was firming as the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Mauricio Pellegrino as the south coast club’s manager.

    NAN

  • Guardiola fined £20,000 for wearing yellow ribbon

    Guardiola fined £20,000 for wearing yellow ribbon

     

    Pep Guardiola has been fined £20,000 and warned as to his future conduct for wearing a yellow ribbon on the sidelines.

    The Manchester City boss had been wearing the ribbon to press conferences and on the touchline, as a show of support for four Catalan politicians who have been imprisoned.

    Guardiola meanwhile has rubbished speculation suggesting he could sign a contract extension in the coming weeks.

    Recent reports in Spain claimed Guardiola’s agent, Josep Maria Orobitg, had flown to Manchester to complete the negotiations.

    But the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss, whose initial three-year contract started in 2016, flatly denied the rumour that a deal new is imminent.

    City would understandably be eager to tie down the 47-year-old as he looks to guide the Premier League leaders to a hat-trick of trophies this season.

    “Sometimes journalists receive bad information,” Guardiola said on Friday.

    “My agent is not in town. Was not, is not, will not be in town for the next six weeks.”

    Guardiola’s side visit struggling Stoke City on Monday as they seek to mount an immediate response to Wednesday’s surprise, albeit inconsequential, Champions League loss to Basel.

    Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho could both return from hamstring injuries, while Fabian Delph is also in contention to feature at bet365 Stadium.

    “Some of the players are better. Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling are much better,” Guardiola said.

    “We have one or two training sessions until the game. We are going to decide on Sunday. Fabian Delph is [uncertain].

    “The players are off today so I do not know the exact situation.”

    David Silva is expected to be in the squad after missing the Basel match for personal reasons.

  • Moses confident of victory against Man. City

    Moses confident of victory against Man. City

     

    Chelsea face Manchester City on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium, and Nigerian Winger, Victor Moses believes that the blues has all it takes to fight for victory.

    In an interview with the Premier League News, Moses said that the top four remains the priority of Chelsea, and they will achieve that, beginning with a victory against red-hot Manchester City.

    “We just want to take this game, and do the best that we can do. We just need to stay hungry, and try not to concede. We have a lot of chances, and we hope to finish in the top four.

    “The game on Sunday is going to be interesting.

    Chelsea  lost 2-1 to Manchester United at the Old Trafford last weekend, with Romero Lukaku and Jesse Lingard cancelling out Willian’s  lead for the Blues, with Manchester City crushing Arsenal 3-0 at the Emirates on Thursday, with Louryn Sane, Bernando Silva and David Silva sealing the victory.

    The blues fell 1-0 to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge with Kelvin De Brune, getting the lone goal in September 2017.

    Manchester City is currently leaders of the English Premier League, with 75 points, as against Chelsea’s 53 who are currently fifth on the table, 22 points behind their opponents, Man. City.

     

  • Raheem Sterling a doubt for Carabao Cup final

    Raheem Sterling a doubt for Carabao Cup final

     

    Pep Guardiola says his players are determined to learn from their defeat to Wigan when they face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final

    Manchester City will make a late call on the fitness of Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.

    Brazil striker Jesus has been sidelined since New Year’s Eve with a knee injury but has now had three training sessions back with the team as they prepare for their trip to Wembley.

    Asked about Jesus’ chances of being involved, City boss Pep Guardiola replied: “We will see.”

    Regarding Sterling, he said: “He has a muscular problem. He had it against Basel. I don’t know if he will be ready for Sunday.”

    Guardiola confirmed second-choice goalkeeper Claudio Bravo will start, having done so in all domestic cup matches this season.

    “He deserves to play in the final,” he said. “Without him we would not be here. He’s going to play.”

    City’s quadruple hopes were ended last Monday when they suffered a shock 1-0 loss at Wigan in the FA Cup, and Guardiola says his players are determined to learn from their mistakes as he attempts to win his first trophy in English football.

    “We have to win titles to give more value to what we have done,” he said. “In the beginning of August, we said we will be judged by how many we win. It is the same for the five or six big contenders.

    He continued: “I don’t like to lose competitions. What happened at Wigan, maybe I’d prefer to lose Premier League games than FA Cup, because now we’ve dropped a competition.

    “But that’s football, it has happened and we can just focus on the next one and try to get better.”All we can do is learn from Wigan.”