11 12 月, 2020

Football: Tottenham seal top spot with 2-0 Europa League win over Antwerp

LONDON (REUTERS) - Tottenham Hotspur secured first place in Europa League Group J with a 2-0 home win over Royal Antwerp thanks to second-half goals from Carlos Vinicius and Giovanni Lo Celso on Thursday (Dec 10). Brazilian striker Vinicius netted from close range after Gareth Bale's superb long-range free kick was tipped onto the bar by goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand before Argentine Lo Celso wrapped up the win with 20 minutes remaining. The result means Spurs will be seeded in the last 32 of the competition thereby avoiding some of the favourites. Tottenham enjoyed the majority of possession in a tame first half on a chilly night in north London. There was little for the almost 2,000-strong fans to cheer, aside from an early Bale header wide and a Lo Celso shot saved by Beiranvand. But the hosts took the lead in the 57th when Vinicius had an easy tap after Beiranvand saved Bale's free kick only for the ball to come back off the bar into the striker's path. It was the on-loan Benfica player's third Europa League goal for Spurs. Home coach Jose Mourinho then brought on the big guns of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Tanguy Ndombele to secure the win. It worked as Kane released an overlapping Lo Celso on his right in the 71st, with the midfielder poking the ball home. Antwerp's second-place finish a point behind Tottenham, who have 13, means the Belgians have reached the knockout stage of European competition for the first time in 30 years while Spurs are among the favourites for Europe's second-tier competition.

26 11 月, 2020

Europe presents teams with second tightrope

PARIS • In an unusually crammed season, the Europa League, which resumes today with 24 group games, presents clubs fighting for domestic glory with a tricky balancing act. Tottenham, Real Sociedad and AC Milan - the English, Italian and Spanish league leaders respectively - as well as Bundesliga high-flyers Bayer Leverkusen, have all slipped up already in Europe's second-tier competition and cannot afford another mistake. Yet the demands of a condensed season mean the teams are walking two tightropes at once. Sociedad lost veteran David Silva to a hamstring injury last Sunday ahead of their trip to Group F leaders AZ Alkmaar. Yet even as they travel to the Netherlands, they need to plan for Sunday's crucial game against Villarreal, who are third in the Spanish La Liga. Their only consolation is that their La Liga rivals must cross the Mediterranean twice to visit second-placed Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel in Group I. Spurs lead Group J on goal difference in head-to-head games ahead of Belgium's Antwerp and Austrian outfit Lask. They lost key centre-back Toby Alderweireld, who suffered a groin muscle injury in the league win over Manchester City on Saturday. Manager Jose Mourinho came unstuck when he rotated his squad in Antwerp last month and lost. Yet with a visit to third-placed Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday, he may again rest players against winless Ludogorets. That could give Gareth Bale a chance to score his first Europa League goal since March 2013, when Spurs eliminated Inter Milan in the last 16. Milan travel to Lille seeking not just a victory that would put them top of Group H, but also revenge after losing 3-0 to the Ligue 1 side at the San Siro. They are without talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is out with a thigh injury. Only four teams - Villarreal, Leicester, Arsenal and Hoffenheim - have won all three matches. All can ensure a top-two finish today and give themselves the chance to rest players in the last two rounds. The Gunners will travel to Norway to face Molde, second in Group B. Mikel Arteta's men are stumbling in the Premier League, having failed to score from open play in five games, and will be without the injured Willian, Bukayo Saka and Thomas Partey. Mohamed Elneny and Sead Kolasinac are still recovering from Covid-19, but the Arsenal manager said his side will go in search of the away win. "We have an incredible amount of games coming up," said the Spaniard. "Every team is going to face challenges with the amount of fixtures we have. We will put out a team to compete." AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

6 11 月, 2020

Football: Own goals help Arsenal to 4-1 Europa League win over Molde

LONDON (REUTERS) - Two own goals helped Arsenal recover from falling behind to crush Molde 4-1 in Europa League Group B on Thursday (Nov 5), with Nicolas Pepe and Joe Willock also scoring for the Londoners. Arsenal struggled to deal with Molde's aggressive pressing game and that led to Martin Ellingsen's opening goal as the Norwegians won the ball in midfield and he fired home a dipping shot from outside the area in the 22nd minute. The home side equalised in first-half stoppage time after a sweeping move from a Molde corner. Eddie Nketiah whipped in a low centre from the right and Kristoffer Haugen bundled the ball into his own net. Defender Sead Kolasinac missed a glorious chance for Arsenal, hoofing the ball over an open goal from close range, but they went ahead in the 62nd minute when Willock pulled the ball across and Sheriff Sinyan shanked it into his own net. Pepe made it three eight minutes later with a thumping left-foot shot before Arsenal turned the tables by pressuring a Molde clearance, winning the ball and setting up Willock to score. Arsenal top Group B on a maximum nine points from three games, three ahead of Molde. Rapid Vienna, who beat Irish side Dundalk 4-3 earlier in the evening, are third on three points.

30 10 月, 2020

Uefa stresses it’s totally against Super League

LAUSANNE • Uefa has repeated its "strong opposition" to a European Super League, after the controversial project received a surprise shot in the arm from Josep Maria Bartomeu as he stood down as Barcelona president. In a resignation bombshell on Tuesday, he declared that one of his last acts as the Catalan team's chief had been to accept a proposal for Barcelona to play in "a future European Super League" which would "guarantee the financial stability of the club". The notion of a splinter league for the continent's high rollers first surfaced through a series of leaked e-mails and documents in November 2018, claiming that a host of Europe's biggest clubs were working on plans for a 16-team Super League to kick off as early as next year. The idea was rejected by Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin in February last year, vowing "there will be no Super League" while he and Andrea Agnelli, president of the European Club Association, were in office. Responding to Bartomeu's Tuesday night admission, Uefa said Ceferin "has clearly indicated on several occasions Uefa is strongly opposed to a Super League". Any Super League involving only Europe's wealthiest clubs would be in direct conflict with the Uefa-run Champions League and Europa League, competitions open to teams based on their domestic league performances. "The principles of solidarity, promotion, relegation and of open leagues are non-negotiable," Uefa said. "This is what is behind European football and makes the Champions League the best sporting competition in the world." European football's ruling body said it refused to "destroy" its crown jewel, pointing out that "a super league of 10, 12 or even 24 clubs" with the risk of outsiders crashing the party would become "inevitably boring". More on this topic Related Story A superficial super league? Related Story Football: Fifa president Gianni Infantino not interested in European Super League Last week Fifa president Gianni Infantino also denied his purported support of a Super League, telling a Swiss newspaper that "I'm interested in the Club World Cup, not a super league". AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE A NON-STARTER The principles of solidarity, promotion, relegation and of open leagues are non-negotiable. UEFA, debunking any notions of a breakaway league.