Mikel Arteta claimed fan protests against Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke did not play on the minds of his players during an 1-0 defeat to Everton on Friday.
Over a thousand Arsenal supporters gathered outside Emirates Stadium to voice their dissent at Kroenke s role in the failed European Super League breakaway project.
Arsenal were one of the 12 founding members of the competition before they withdrew on Tuesday, apologising in an open letter to fans.
Arteta revealed his team had arrived early to avoid the protests, but they produced a meek display on the pitch as Bernd Leno s calamitous own goal handed Everton the points.
It was Arsenal s first Premier League defeat at home to Everton since January 1996, ending a 24-game unbeaten run against the Toffees at…
As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Ajax have reached an agreement with Feyenoord over the transfer of Steven Berghuis this summer. The fee Feyenoord will receive is set at €4 million, and once the winger passes his medical, he will sign a four-year contract at the Johan Cruyff Arena and be officially announced as an Ajax player.
Ajax have reached an agreement with Feyenoord to sign Steven Berghuis, confirmed and done deal. €4m fee guarantee as reported today, contract until 2025.
Berghuis will complete his medical then he’ll be announced as Ajax player. OGC Nice wanted him too.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano)
The 29-year-old has had many changes of clubs throughout his career so far. He went through the youth setups at WSV Apeldoorn…
The wait is over.
After being denied a 36th instalment of Lionel Messi v Cristiano Ronaldo in the first clash between Barcelona and Juventus in this season s Champions League, the pair are set to go head-to-head at Camp Nou on Tuesday.
Ronaldo was ruled out of the first encounter in Turin after a positive coronavirus test, while Messi was granted a rest by Ronald Koeman.
Both teams are already guaranteed to advance from Group G but the eyes of fans across the globe will be on the encounter as the two greatest players of the modern era do battle for top spot and a potentially easier draw in the last 16.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Messi has only been on the losing side once in his five previous Champions League meetings with Ronaldo.
He also a 3-0 advant…
When Dani Olmo s right-footed cross curled through the fervent Copenhagen evening, it only had one man s name on it.
The name of a striker who has plied his trade at the top of European football for the duration of his career, the name of a player chosen to lead the line for one of the continent s great footballing heavyweights.
But also the name of a 28-year-old man with a wife and a young family, whose struggles at Euro 2020 have provoked unforgivable threats from poisonous throats and wicked fingers.
I would like people to put themselves in my shoes and think what it s like to get threats towards my family, people saying: I hope your children die , Alvaro Morata told Cadena Cope this week, after scoring once but missing a catalogue of chances during the group…
Burkina Faso clinched a place in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Ethiopia in their Group A finale.
Finalists in 2013, Burkina Faso do not look like threatening to go that far on this evidence, with Ethiopia unfortunate not to claim all three points.
Ethiopia striker Getaneh Kebede saw a bending effort kept out of the top-left corner by Sofiane Ouedraogo in the 10th minute.
They had four shots on target in the first half but it was Burkina Faso who had the only one to find the net, Cyrille Bayala lofting over Teklemariam Shanko after latching on to Adama Guira s superb chipped pass in the 24th minute.
Kebede was then denied again by Ouedraogo from close range, but he eventually got his reward for an impre…
Dusan Vlahovic made Juventus history by striking inside the opening minute of their Champions League clash with Villarreal on Tuesday.
The Serbia international, who was making his debut in the competition after moving from Fiorentina last month, put the Bianconeri ahead after just 32 seconds at El Madrigal.
Controlling Danilo s long ball before slotting past Geronimo Rulli, Vlahovic became only the third player to score inside the opening minute of his first Champions League start.
Following in the footsteps of Andreas Moller (for Borussia Dortmund against Juventus in 1995) and Ishak Belfodil (for Hoffenheim against Manchester City in 2018), Vlahovic s was the fastest Champions League goal by a debutant playing for Juve.
Only the second Juve player to …
Pep Guardiola has “everything a manager could dream of” at Manchester City and has been re-energised by their continuing success.
The recent decision of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to stand down at the end of the season, citing the need for a break, has brought focus on Guardiola’s own position at the Etihad Stadium.
Yet the famously intense Spaniard, who himself took a year out after quitting Barcelona in 2012 and is contracted only until the end of next season, insists he has no plans to follow Klopp’s exit.
“I have everything that a manager could dream of,” said Guardiola, who took charge at City in 2016.
“The hierarchy support me and always have. It’s a good environment.
“I still feel good and, of course, one day it is goi…
Paris St Germain boss Luis Enrique is treating their Coupe de France quarter-final clash with Nice “like a final” as they look to avenge their league defeat earlier in the season.
PSG have won the competition a record 14 times and will be looking to reclaim the trophy for the first time since 2021.
Enrique’s side have run riot in the competition so far, beating sixth-tier Revel 9-0 and US Orleans from the third tier 4-1 but Enrique knows Nice will provide a tougher challenge.
Luis Enrique: We re treating this game like a final |
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English)
He told a press conference: “It’ll be a very interesting game.
“One of the teams will be knocked out after the final whistle, so that means it’ll be a very …
Conor Bradley’s head could have been left spinning from a whirlwind few months but the Liverpool and Northern Ireland youngster’s feet remain firmly on the ground.
This time last year the 20-year-old was starring on loan at League One Bolton, but since breaking into Jurgen Klopp’s side before Christmas he has turned in a string of eye-catching displays for the club he grew up supporting.
He scored his first Liverpool goal in a man-of-the-match display in a 4-1 win over Chelsea in January and lifted the Carabao Cup a month later.
“I definitely didn’t think it would go this well,” Bradley said ahead of Northern Ireland’s friendly against Romania on Friday. “You dream about scoring your first goal for Liverpool but never think it will come true.
…
Newcastle United are interested in RB Leipzig defender Mohamed Simakan, according to . The report has claimed that Newcastle are monitoring the situation of Simakan, who has a £60 million release clause in his contract at his German club Leipzig.
Simakan has been on the books of Leipzig since 2021 and is one of the better defenders in the Bundesliga. The 23-year-old can play as a centre-back and as a right-back. The youngster has made 20 starts and seven substitute appearances in the Bundesliga this season, scoring one goal and providing one assist in those games.
Newcastle are eighth in the Premier League table at the moment with 47 points from 31 matches. Meanwhile, RB Leipzig currently find themselves fourth in the Bundesliga table with 53 points from 28 matches, le…