Game
Serie A: Jubilant Inter finish title-winning season with Udinese rout
Serie A champions Inter Milan ended their triumphant season with a 5-1 thrashing of Udinese on Sunday as thousands of fans gathered outside San Siro to celebrate. Antonio Conte’s side sealed their first league crown in 11 years with four games to spare on May 2, but had to wait until the final day of the season to lift the trophy. Ashley Young and Christian Eriksen were on target before the break and goals from Lautaro Martinez, Ivan Perisic and Romelu Lukaku completed the rout before Roberto Pereyra’s consolation penalty for the 14th-placed visitors. Inter finish the season with 91 points, passing the 90-point mark for the second time after earning 97 in 2006-07, and were able to celebrate the achievement in front of one thousand invited supporters at their home ground. A further 4,500 we...
Sergio Aguero nets brace as Manchester City finish season in style with Everton bashing
Sergio Aguero scored a brace in his final Premier League appearance as Manchester City thrashed Everton 5-0. The hosts flew into the lead after just ten minutes as Kevin De Bruyne rifled a stunning effort past Jordan Pickford from 20 yards. And three minutes later they made it two as Gabriel Jesus cut inside before lashing past the England goalkeeper. The Toffees kept their heads up and won themselves a penalty as Ruben Dias took down Dominic Calvert-Lewin as the striker bore down on goal. But Gylfi Sigurdsson’s effort from the spot was well saved by the diving Ederson who kept City’s 2-0 lead intact heading into half time. City put the game to bed less than ten minutes into the second half as the brilliant Phil Foden shifted onto his right foot before lashing past Pickford from 12 yards. ...
Report: Lionel Messi accepts new Barcelona deal
Lionel Messi will stay at Barcelona. The official announcement will be treated as Barca’s big signing of the summer and the latest important media outlet to confirm the news is ‘BeIN Sports’. Journalist Achraf Ben Ayad, who follows Barca news very closely, says that Leo Messi has decided to stay. The Argentine missed the final game of the La Liga season and he did not train on Friday either with the club’s permission. The striker has taken holiday before going to Argentina to play in the Copa America. It seems like Leo Messi wants to decide on his future before the Copa America starts in June so the Argentinian’s new deal could be confirmed in the next two weeks. Leo Messi will have to accept a contract with a lowe salary than his current one due to Barca’s complicated financial situation....
Robert Lewandowski left buzzing after historic goal number 41
An elated Robert Lewandowski could not believe his luck after he scored his 41st league goal the season in the final minute of the final game of 2020-21 season on Saturday to break a 49-year-old record held by fellow Bayern Munich great Gerd Mueller. Lewandowski rounded Augsburg keeper Rafal Gikiewicz in the 90th minute to score league goal number 41, one more than Mueller, in their 5-2 victory. “I really have no words to describe this,” Lewandowski said. “When you try over 90 minutes to score a goal and it is just not happening and then with the last kick of the game you score, then it feels absolutely amazing.” “I am very happy. This is certainly a highlight in my career.” Lewandowski, who is already second on the all-time scorers list in the Bundesliga, with 277 goals, behind only Muell...
Liverpool boss refuses to confirm Gini Wijnaldum’s departure
Jurgen Klopp refused to confirm whether Gini Wijnaldum is set to play his final game for Liverpool this weekend, but insisted the midfielder’s commitment to the Reds cannot be questioned. Wijnaldum’s contract at Anfield expires next month, and there is no sign of the 30-year-old agreeing a renewal. Bayern Munich and Barcelona have been strongly linked with the Dutch international, who is likely to captain the Reds on Sunday in their crunch clash with Crystal Palace at home. Klopp refused to be drawn on Wijnaldum’s future at a press conference at Kirkby on Friday, telling reporters: “There’s nothing to say in this moment. We have a game to play. We will see after the final whistle on Sunday.” Later, though, he was asked whether the idea of such an influential player – Wijnaldum has made 50 ...
Nuno Espírito Santo to leave Wolves after four years
Nuno Espírito Santo will leave Wolverhampton Wanderers by mutual consent after the club’s final Premier League game of the season against Manchester United on Sunday. The 47-year-old has been in charge at Molineux for four years, arriving in 2017. In a statement on the club’s official website, Espírito Santo said: “Since the first day we arrived at Compton, our ambition was to make a positive change and push this football club forward, and I am proud to say that we did that every single day. “We achieved our goals, we did it with passion and we did it together. “Sunday will be a very emotional day, but I am so happy that the fans will be back in Molineux and we can share one last special moment together, as one pack.” Under the Portuguese, Wolves were promoted from the Championship as cham...
Harry Maguire almost certain to miss Europa League final
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Harry Maguire will almost certainly not be fit enough to face Villareal in the Europa League final. Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of United’s final Premier League game of the season against Wolves at Molyneux, the boss confirmed the bad news. ‘I’m going to give him until Tuesday night and the last training session, to see if he can be out there — steadily he is improving but we’re going to give him time to heal. ‘He’s walking but it’s a long way from walking to running so, to be honest, I don’t think we’ll see him in Gdansk, no,’ Solskjaer said. The news will come as a bitter blow for the United skipper, who had been ever-present in nearly two seasons of League football since joining the Red Devils from Leicester City. ...
Dennis Bergkamp named Premier League Hall of Fame inductee
Dennis Bergkamp is the latest former player to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame. The Dutchman joins ex-Arsenal team-mate Thierry Henry as well as Alan Shearer, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Frank Lampard in receiving the League’s highest individual honour. “It feels special to be part of a small group of players who got the recognition of playing in the strongest league in the world,” said Bergkamp. “I’m honoured.” His arrival at Arsenal in 1995 from Inter Milan was the catalyst for a transformation of the Premier League, the playmaker adding a new level of technical ability and skill that elevated the competition and attracted other stars from overseas. ‘THE PL MADE ME A BETTER PLAYER’ “I’m extremely proud if people say that I was one of the first foreign players who added s...
NFF’s FIFA match agent celebrates Nigeria proposed friendly with Mexico
NFF’s FIFA Match Agent, Jairo Pachon of Eurodata Sport, is excited that Nigeria will be playing Mexico in a friendly international on July 3 in the United States. “We are happy to be able to announce this match, which is a clash between two very big teams from two different continents. Mexico against Nigeria is a big match any day and the venue is class,” he said. The two teams will announce their squads for the match sometimes in June. Mexico will play three other games before the clash with Nigeria, as part of their MexTour series. Three-time African champions Nigeria will clash with CONCACAF Gold Cup holders Mexico in a friendly at the famous Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the State of California, United States of America. The match, which kicks off at 7.30pm LA time will be the sixth...
David Moyes set to sign new three-year West Ham United contract
West Ham United manager David Moyes will sign a new three-year contract next week, according to the Sun. The 58-year-old returned to the London Stadium to take over from Manuel Pellegrini in December 2019 after a six-month stint in 2018, penning an 18-month contract. That deal ends at the end of the campaign, but the Hammers board has been impressed with the job he has done and are more than happy to hand him an extension after a successful trial. West Ham were 17th in the Premier League table, one point above the relegation zone when Moyes re-joined, and he led them to safety at the end of the 2019-20 campaign. The team finished in 16th place with 39 points, their lowest points tally since 2010-11. The former Everton boss secured 20 points from 19 games, but has guided them to the brink o...
Manchester United boss: Fans will give us ‘extra lift’ in final few games
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes the return of fans will give Manchester United an “extra lift” in their final few games of the season. Supporters will be inside Old Trafford for the first time since March 2020 for United’s final home league game of the season, against Fulham, and after two defeats on the spin at home the United manager is hoping their support will give them a boost. After recent protests, Solskjaer is also hoping the supporters will get behind the team and hopes the game won’t be “marred by violence.” Solskjaer said: “Of course you hope that the game against Fulham will not be marred by any violence or over the top things. “I know our fans, I know the Manchester United fans, they’re the best fans I’ve had and I’ve got such a great relationship with them and they know how to ...
Bernd Leno: I don’t want to leave Arsenal
Bernd Leno has insisted that he does not want to leave Arsenal while outlining his ambition to help the club reach the Champions League again. Leno completed a £23 million ($33m) move to Emirates Stadium from Bayer Leverkusen in 2018, venturing outside of Germany for the first time in his professional career in the process. The 29-year-old has since nailed down the number one spot in Arsenal’s team; however, it has been suggested that he is one of several first-team stars likely to depart in the summer transfer window. Mikel Arteta is being tipped to reshape his squad after a turbulent 2020-21 campaign, but Leno has dismissed the ongoing speculation surrounding his future while revealing he intends to see out the final two years of his contract. “I don’t want to flee here, I feel good and ...
