Sports

EPL: Chelsea hold Man City in eight-goal thriller

Published

1 year ago

November 13, 2023

Cole Palmer returned to haunt Manchester City as the Chelsea forward’s last-gasp penalty rescued an incredible 4-4 draw against the Premier League leaders in one of the games of the season.

Palmer struck in the final seconds after Rodri’s 86th minute strike looked set to send City home from Stamford Bridge with all three points.

It was a sweet moment for Palmer after City boss Pep Guardiola opted to sell the rising star to Chelsea in a surprise £42 million ($51 million) deal in September.

Guardiola said Manchester-born Palmer, who joined City aged six, rejected his offer of more playing time this season in a bid to keep him.

The youngster made his old boss pay in the most dramatic fashion, having the final say in an astonishing encounter that provided countless plot twists.

City blew the lead three times and also had to come from behind themselves before finally being forced to settle for a draw that leaves them one point clear of second-placed Liverpool and third-placed Arsenal.

Erling Haaland’s controversial penalty had put City ahead before Thiago Silva equalised.

Raheem Sterling netted against his old club to give Chelsea the lead, only for Manuel Akanji to level at the end of a breathless first half.

Haaland bagged his 17th goal of the season after the break, before Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson equalised.

Rodri appeared to have landed the knockout blow with four minutes left, but there was a sting in the tale thanks to Palmer’s penalty.

City lit the fuse on an explosive contest when they snatched the lead after 25 minutes.

Marc Cucurella pulled down Haaland as the City striker tried to reach Bernardo Silva’s cross inside the six-yard box.

It was a debatable decision as Haaland appeared to tug at Cucurella’s shirt before the Chelsea defender’s contract.

Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino was furious that play was not stopped prior to the cross for a potential foul by Jeremy Doku on Reece James and Moises Caicedo as the Chelsea players tried to head clear.

Haaland blocked out the bubbling Chelsea frustration as he calmly sent Sanchez the wrong way from the spot.

AFP

Sports

EPL: Can’t cry about it — Arteta on Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Fulham

Published

5 days ago

December 8, 2024

Seyi Babalola

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said they cannot “cry about” the 1-1 draw at Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.

Arteta, however, insisted his team deserved to take all three points.

Raul Jimenez opened the scoring for the hosts in the first half before William Saliba levelled in the 52nd minute.

Speaking after the match, Arteta said: “Gutted that we didn’t win it. We fully deserved to win it. That’s the quality of the opposition, so you cannot cry about it. We generated all the chances but it’s so difficult to attack.”

Arsenal had 70 per cent possession and VAR denied Bukayo Saka what would have been a late winner.

Sports

EPL: ‘We started badly’ – Amorim on Man Utd’s 3-2 loss to Nottingham Forest

Published

5 days ago

December 7, 2024

Seyi Babalola

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has admitted his team did not do enough to beat Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Red Devils suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time under Amorim, losing 3-2 to Nuno Espirito Santo’s men.

Goals from Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood moved Forest up to fifth place, with Rasmus Hojlund and Bruno Fernandes getting on the scoresheet for United.

The result leaves United in 13th place, 10 points above relegation places.

Amorim, speaking with BBC Sport, said: “Tough game. We started really bad. The first play we suffered a goal and then it’s hard to try to fight. We then controlled the game and had a lot of situations.

“We improved the movement in the last third. We managed to draw the game and then, at halftime, we were ready to go for the win and then started really bad. Two goals. Then we tried a lot of things with not a lot of quality.

“We didn’t have many situations to score. Tough game in a tough moment but we have to continue the job.”