Author: admin

De Bruyne sets Manchester derby as target for return from injury

Kevin De Bruyne expects to be available for November’s Manchester derby as the Manchester City midfielder continues his rehabilitation from a knee injury.

De Bruyne, City’s player of the season as they lifted the Premier League and EFL Cup last term, suffered lateral collateral ligament damage during a training session in August.

An initial prognosis of around three months on the sidelines placed his participation in the November 11 clash with Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium in doubt, but the Belgium international believes his recovery is moving ahead of schedule

Editors’ Picks

  • What have Liverpool and Lyon got that Man City and PSG don’t?
  • Sloppy Man City with lessons to learn in quest to win Champions League
  • Captain Pogba proves United’s main man against Young Boys
  • Ronaldo’s red card a reminder Cristiano can be as petulant as he is prolific

“I still need three, four, five weeks, but I’m getting there,” he told HLN at the launch of FIFA19.

“Hopefully I can be back soon, help the team and perform well.

“I’m hoping to be back after the next international break. I think I will be back for the derby.”

City face a busy run of games after the October international break before taking on United, with Premier League matches at home to Burnley and Southampton coming either side of a trip to Tottenham, while the Champions League brings a double-header against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in their opening five top-flight matches and sit two points behind early season pacesetters Liverpool and Chelsea.

But the club did not get off to an ideal start in the Champions League, falling to a surprise 2-1 defeat at home to Lyon on Wednesday.

Let’s block ads!

Pochettino: No doubt Kane will end goal drought

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is confident that Harry Kane will find the back of the net again soon despite failing to score in his last five matches for club and country.

Kane came into the season having won the World Cup Golden Boot and looked set to enjoy another prolific campaign in front of goal having broken his August hoodoo.

The 25-year-old had never scored in the opening month of a season until he netted in Spurs’ 3-1 win over Fulham, and he doubled his tally in Tottenham’s following match against Manchester United.

Editors’ Picks

  • What have Liverpool and Lyon got that Man City and PSG don’t?
  • Sloppy Man City with lessons to learn in quest to win Champions League
  • Captain Pogba proves United’s main man against Young Boys
  • Ronaldo’s red card a reminder Cristiano can be as petulant as he is prolific

However, they have dried up since and he heads into this weekend’s trip to Brighton and Hove Albion without a goal in 427 minutes – Kane having also failed to score in both England matches during the international break.

Pochettino is not concerned, though, and expects his talisman to be back among the goals soon. 

“Harry is one of the best players that we have,” the Spurs boss told a media conference on Thursday.

“There is no doubt. It is only three games. Not too much. I think all strikers suffer periods where they don’t score. 

“Because he is such an important player for us, when he doesn’t score, we sometimes struggle to win.

“I have no doubt that he is going to perform better in the future and score goals because he is a great player.”

Let’s block ads!

Emery’s Europa League dominance continues as Arsenal boss

Arsenal manager Unai Emery continued his Europa League dominance in his first continental match in charge of Arsenal, setting a new record in the process.

With Thursday’s 4-2 win over Ukrainian side FC Vorskla Poltava, Emery notched his 32nd career victory in the Europa League, the most in the competition’s history.

While Emery is in the midst of his first Europa League conquest with Arsenal, the Spanish manager built his reputation on his success in the competition while in charge of Sevilla.

Editors’ Picks

  • What have Liverpool and Lyon got that Man City and PSG don’t?
  • Sloppy Man City with lessons to learn in quest to win Champions League
  • Captain Pogba proves United’s main man against Young Boys
  • Ronaldo’s red card a reminder Cristiano can be as petulant as he is prolific

The La Liga club won a trio of Europa League titles during Emery’s tenure, which ran from 2013-16.

The first of those titles came in 2013-14 as Emery’s Sevilla topped Benfica in the finale, while the club followed that trophy up with another the next year by defeating Ukrainian club Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

Emery and co. then made it a three-peat the following season, defeating Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in the Spaniard’s final match in charge of the club.

After a three-year absence from the competition while in charge of Paris Saint-Germain, Emery’s Arsenal got off to a solid start with Thursday’s 4-2 win.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang led the way with a brace for the Gunners while Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck chipped in with second half goals in the victory.

The road ahead will almost certainly get more difficult for the Gunners, as Vorskla entered Thursday’s match without a win in Europa League play, having drawn two and lost five of their seven total games in the competition in club history.

Joining Arsenal and Vorskla in Group E are Sporting CP and Qarabag FK, with the Portuguese club currently level on points with the Gunners following a 2-0 win.

Arsenal are set to take on Everton, Brentford and Watford before returning to the Europa League on October 4 against Qarabag.

Let’s block ads!

Unlucky Morata needs confidence to end goal drought, says Sarri

Alvaro Morata’s problems in front of goal continued in the Europa League on Thursday but Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri was pleased with other aspects of the striker’s display.

Morata could have had a first-half hat-trick against PAOK in Group L but was wasteful throughout his 80 minutes on the pitch, his confidence draining away as his drought goes on.

The 25-year-old has not scored since the opening weekend of the Premier League season against Arsenal, and has lost his place to Olivier Giroud in recent weeks.

Editors’ Picks

  • What have Liverpool and Lyon got that Man City and PSG don’t?
  • Sloppy Man City with lessons to learn in quest to win Champions League
  • Captain Pogba proves United’s main man against Young Boys
  • Ronaldo’s red card a reminder Cristiano can be as petulant as he is prolific

Sarri was able to find some positives from the striker’s display, but acknowledges he needs goals soon to help rebuild his confidence.

“Alvaro has to gain confidence with one, two three goals,” Sarri told his post-match media conference. “I am not able to give him confidence. 

“In this match he had three or four opportunities. He was unlucky. I hope for him in the future I can help him. But the confidence can come with goals.

“Maybe two goals in two matches, I don’t know. For the first time in this season he was ready in the box. He was on the ball and was active.”

Morata’s struggles were not the only frustration for Sarri, who felt Chelsea should have widened their advantage – the Blues having created 22 chances across the 90 minutes.

“I think that we played very well. It was difficult for people to play against us this evening. I think we were so good,” he added. 

“I think we were in control of the match for 90 minutes.

“We had a lot of opportunities. I am very happy with the three points, but not the result. We didn’t kill the match.”

Let’s block ads!

Celtic 1 Rosenborg 0: Griffiths late show lifts Hoops

Leigh Griffiths proved the hero for Celtic as he came on from the bench to secure a 1-0 victory over Rosenborg in Europa League Group B.

Strong winds in Scotland disrupted Rosenborg’s preparations for Thursday’s clash, but the Norwegian champions – who lost to the Hoops in Champions League qualification – looked to have weathered the Celtic storm to come away from Glasgow with a point.

Brendan Rodgers’ side dominated, but lacked the cutting edge to make their control count – with Odsonne Edouard finding Rosenborg goalkeeper Andre Hansen in fine form while Scott Sinclair and Michael Johnston squandered gilt-edged chances.

But Rosenborg’s resolve was finally broken in the 87th minute when Griffiths stole in unmarked to head home from Dedryck Boyata’s flick-on.


Issam Jebali wanted a penalty in the 15th minute when former Rosenborg man Mikael Lustig flung out a leg, but referee Pawel Gil rightly booked the visiting winger for simulation.

Tom Rogic then put Edouard through for Celtic’s first chance, but the youngster lashed over from 18 yards.

Edouard went closer on the stroke of half-time, Hansen doing brilliantly to parry the striker’s effort onto the woodwork after initially denying Rogic.

Hansen would have been beaten in the 62nd minute, but Sinclair somehow skewed wide of a gaping goal before Johnston blazed over from close range.

Griffiths wasted little time in showing his fellow substitutes how it was done, however, capitalising on Rosenborg’s lapse in concentration to nod past Hansen and secure the spoils.

Let’s block ads!