Sports Buzz

Tag: three-goal lead

  • Reds’ title dream in ruins in bruising derby defeat; Man Utd’s wild scare from minnows: PL Wrap

    Reds’ title dream in ruins in bruising derby defeat; Man Utd’s wild scare from minnows: PL Wrap

    Liverpool’s Premier League title bid suffered a devastating blow in a 2-0 defeat at Merseyside rivals Everton, while Manchester United spared Erik ten Hag’s blushes with a 4-2 victory against lowly Sheffield United on Wednesday.

    Jurgen Klopp’s side were beaten at Goodison Park for the first time in 14 years in a brutal setback to their hopes of catching leaders Arsenal.

    Jarrad Branthwaite put Everton ahead in the 27th minute as the defender prodded the ball under Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker via the post after the Reds made a hash of clearing a free-kick.

    With Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah once again struggling to convert chances to equalise, Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin delivered the knockout punch with a 58th-minute header.

    LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 24: Jordan Pickford of Everton celebrates after the team’s victory in the Premier League match between Everton FC and Liverpool FC at Goodison Park on April 24, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    Second-placed Liverpool remain three points behind Arsenal, who have a vastly superior goal difference, with both sides having four games left.

    Third-placed Manchester City, who visit Brighton on Saturday, will be crowned English champions for an unprecedented fourth successive season if they win their last six matches.

    Liverpool have reportedly opened talks with Feyenoord’s Arne Slot to take over from Klopp, whose long goodbye looks set to end with a whimper.

    It hardly the scenario Klopp envisioned when Liverpool beat Chelsea in the League Cup final in February.

    Back then, his team were in contention for a quadruple that would have capped his final season in spectacular fashion.

    Instead, the end of Klopp’s nine-year reign is becoming a damp squib, with Liverpool knocked out of the FA Cup quarter-finals by Manchester United and losing to Atalanta at the same stage of the Europa League as their title challenge evaporates.

    LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 24: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool reacts during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Liverpool FC at Goodison Park on April 24, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    MAN UTD’S WILD COMEBACK

    At Old Trafford, Ten Hag’s side twice trailed to the league’s bottom club before Bruno Fernandes came to his beleaguered manager’s aid in the second half.

    Jayden Bogle put the Blades ahead and although Harry Maguire equalised before half-time, Ben Brereton Diaz restored the visitors’ advantage soon after the interval.

    Fernandes bailed out Ten Hag with a penalty equaliser before the Portugal midfielder’s long-range rocket put United in front with nine minutes left.

    Rasmus Hojlund got United’s fourth to ensure they could finally enjoy a first league win in five games since beating Everton on March 9.

    It was a temporary reprieve for Ten Hag, who hopes to salvage sixth-placed United’s dismal season by winning the FA Cup and finishing high enough to qualify for the Europa League.

    Ten Hag endured stinging criticism after United stumbled into the FA Cup final with a spluttering penalty-shoot win after blowing a three-goal lead against second tier Coventry on Sunday.

    The Blades are 10 points from safety with only four games left as they sink towards relegation just one year after promotion from the Championship.

    Bruno saves United, Palace purr again | 01:07

    MORE VAR DRAMA

    Referee Stuart Attwell was embroiled in further controversy after contentiously disallowing a Wolves goal in Bournemouth’s 1-0 win at Molineux.

    Attwell was already in the spotlight for his role as VAR in denying Nottingham Forest three penalties in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Everton, which led Forest to insinuate bias as he supports relegation rivals Luton.

    This time, he adjudged Matheus Cunha to have fouled Justin Kluivert in an off-the-ball incident in the build up to Hwang Hee-chan’s second-half equaliser, which looked to have cancelled out Antoine Semenyo’s opener.

    It was not spotted in real time but Attwell opted to give the foul following advice from VAR Darren England to watch it again on the pitchside monitor.

    Attwell remained in the thick of the action as he showed a straight red card to Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez for a foul on Matt Doherty.

    PALACE FIRE AGAIN

    Jean-Philippe Mateta scored for a fifth consecutive home match to fire Crystal Palace to a 2-0 win over Newcastle.

    Mateta broke the deadlock at Selhurst Park with a smart 55th-minute finish before he added a second late on to end Newcastle’s four-match unbeaten run and damage their prospects of securing European football for next season.

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  • ‘Wasteful’ Spurs blow golden top four chance amid ‘worst performance of Ange era’

    ‘Wasteful’ Spurs blow golden top four chance amid ‘worst performance of Ange era’

    Tottenham wasted a chance to move into the Premier League’s top four as they slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat at Fulham, while Luton salvaged a crucial 1-1 draw with relegation rivals Nottingham Forest on Sunday (AEDT).

    Ange Postecoglou’s side would have climbed above Aston Villa into fourth place with a win, but instead they handed the initiative back to their top-four rivals.

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    Fifth-placed Tottenham were punished for a sloppy performance as the in-form Rodrigo Muniz netted twice either side of Sasa Lukic’s first goal for Fulham.

    A 4-0 win at Villa last weekend was expected to act as Tottenham’s springboard to finish above Unai Emery’s team in the battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

    Instead, the north Londoners crashed to a first league defeat at Craven Cottage since 2008 and failed to score for the first time in 40 games.

    They sit two points behind Villa, who can extend that lead to five if they win at West Ham on Sunday.

    With Micky van de Ven sidelined by a hamstring injury, Radu Dragusin made his first Tottenham start.

    Worryingly for Postecoglou, Romania centre-back Dragusin, signed from Genoa in January, was often exposed in a rocky display.

    Fulham took the lead in the 42nd minute when Muniz cleverly drifted away from Dragusin as the Brazilian forward found space to meet Antonee Robinson’s low cross with a clinical finish from 10 yards.

    Postecoglou had plenty to ponder as Tottenham slipped to defeat against Fulham. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)Source: AFP

    Tottenham’s defensive deficiencies were exposed again four minutes after half-time.

    Iwobi was allowed to advance unchecked and he slipped a pass to Timothy Castagne, whose cross hit Lukic and deflected into the net.

    Tottenham were in tatters and Muniz struck again in the 61st minute. Joao Palhinha’s header reached Calvin Bassey and when his shot was saved by Guglielmo Vicario, Muniz reacted quicker than Dragusin to stab home.

    As the fight to avoid relegation comes to a head, Luton and Forest met in a vital showdown at Kenilworth Road.

    Forest, beaten in their previous three games, took the lead through Chris Wood’s 34th minute strike.

    But Luke Berry came off the bench to equalise from close-range in the 89th minute.

    Third-bottom Luton, who blew a three-goal lead in Wednesday’s disastrous 4-3 defeat at Bournemouth, are without a win in their last nine games in all competitions.

    They lie three points behind fourth-bottom Forest and boss Rob Edwards said: “You get knocked down on Wednesday and it was very tough for us all. We performed really well today in difficult circumstances.

    “This group just keep going. We’ve got to fight. We’ve had to do that for a long time.”

    Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo added: “We did enough to win it with the chances we had and the way we played.”

    Luke Berry scored a late equaliser for Luton against Nottingham Forest. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

    At Turf Moor, second-bottom Burnley kept alive their faint survival hopes with a 2-1 victory against Brentford.

    Vincent Kompany’s side took the lead in the 10th minute when Vitinho sprinted onto Josh Cullen’s pass and was about to shoot when he was pulled down by Sergio Reguilon.

    The Spanish defender was shown the earliest red card in the Premier League this season, after a VAR check, and Jacob Bruun Larsen stepped up to convert the spot-kick.

    David Datro Fofana, on loan from Chelsea, struck in the 62nd minute with a composed finish into the far corner.

    Kristoffer Ajer got one back in the 83rd minute with a diving header from Bryan Mbeumo’s cross, but the Clarets held on for their first league win in 11 games.

    They are now eight points from safety with nine games left.

    “It had been coming. On another day we could have scored more,” Kompany said. Brentford have won only three of their past 18 league games and sit just four points above the relegation zone.

    FULL PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS

    Burnley 2-1 Brentford

    Luton Town 1-1 Nottingham Forest

    Fulham 3-0 Tottenham

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  • ‘It’s unfair’: Messi madness as Miami makes team history after superstar’s double in first half

    ‘It’s unfair’: Messi madness as Miami makes team history after superstar’s double in first half

    Lionel Messi made an instant impact in his first start for Inter Miami, scoring two goals in the space of 14 minutes to inspire his new team to a 4-0 win over Atlanta United in the Leagues Cup.

    Robert Taylor provided one of the highlights of the game in the 43rd minute with a curling strike into the right corner.

    But it was all Messi otherwise, with the 36-year-old even providing the assist for Taylor’s stunning goal while scoring a pair of his own in an electric first-half display.

    It was the first time in Inter Miami’s history that they had a three-goal lead at halftime.

    Messi scores game-winner on MLS debut! | 00:34

    Messi had a quick double. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)Source: AFP

    Messi’s first goal came in the eighth minute courtesy of a beautiful pass from Sergio Busquets, tapping it home after his initial shot bounced off the post.

    It didn’t take long for Messi to double his tally either, finding space in the middle of the park and finding Taylor on the left wing, who then sent the ball back into the centre for his teammate.

    Messi calmly put it in the back of the net for his second, providing yet another highlight having scored the winning goal in his debut earlier in the week.

    Messi made an explosive impact after coming on as a 54th-minute substitute in the 2-1 win over Mexican club Cruz Azul on Friday, curling in a stoppage-time free-kick for the victory.

    Miami’s Argentine head coach Martino opted to limit the minutes for Messi and Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets on Saturday but with both players making such a strong impression, Martino said Monday he was tempted to start the pair against his former club on Wednesday.

    Messi celebrates with his teammates after scoring. Megan Briggs/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP

    “Well, it is very likely that both Leo and Busi will play more time. I even think that if they are going to play more (then) we will change the dynamic and they will go maybe from the beginning. But we all know that when Leo starts, that amount of time we would be talking about is 90 minutes,” said the former Barcelona and Argentina coach.

    “But everything will depend on how they feel, it is only the second game that they are going to play,” he said.

    A win in Wednesday’s game at DRV PNK Stadium would ensure Inter progress to the knockout stage of the new tournament for Major League Soccer and Mexican Liga MX clubs.

    MLS has paused play in its regular season until August 20 meaning Messi and company would have nearly a month without a scheduled game should they fail to progress.

    Martino said that his players are still working on the changes they need to make to get the best out of their two new star team-mates, who will soon be joined by Spanish former Barca full-back Jordi Alba.

    Messi put on a show. Hector Vivas/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP

    “We had already started working on changing the way we play but it is clear that with Busquets, Jordi and Leo we will have to (further) modify the way that we play and we also have to work on raising the level in general,” said Martino.

    The hype around Messi’s move to the USA has only intensified after Saturday’s premiere but inside the locker-room, goalkeeper Drake Callender says the players have been trying to make the team dynamic as normal as possible for the seven-times Ballon d’Or winner, who has impressed them with his down to earth approach.

    “I didn’t really know what to expect because I’ve never been around a player with that capacity before but he’s a pretty humble guy. He’s chill,” he said.

    “He’s still trying to get a feel of how everything functions over here. So I think for myself as well as some of the other players, we are just making him feel welcome, making him feel like he’s one of our teammates and just making him feel comfortable here.

    “I try to chat with him when I can to make him feel like he’s a part of the team. Again, just treat him like one of my teammates. I think he’s somebody who, wherever he goes, there are all these cameras and lights. People want him to sign things and people want to talk to him. So I just try and be as normal as I possibly can,” Callender added.

    Messi celebrates with Robert Taylor. Megan Briggs/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP

    While Messi inevitably grabbed the headlines, former Barcelona midfielder Busquets also looked instantly at ease with his new team, reforging his old understanding with the Argentine.

    Canadian central defender Kamal Miller said that having one of the finest passers of the ball in front of him requires a different approach to distribution from the back.

    “Definitely with a player of that quality, we always want to look to go through him. He can thread the needle and find the killer pass at any time, so it’s something that we look for a lot. And having a guy with that quality, it attracts so much attention, it opens up space for everyone else, so I think we’re all going to benefit from it,” he said.

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