Category: Football

Liverpool and Chelsea drew 1-1, although Chelsea defender Reece James was sent off on the stroke of halftime in a Saturday night Premier League match.

Chelsea took the lead in the 22nd minute through Kai Havartz’s looping header, but Liverpool hit back and Joel Matip hit the bar before James cleared Mohamed Salah’s shot off the line with his hand.

After James’ red card, Salah levelled from the penalty spot.

Both the Egyptian and Virgil van Dijk had shots well saved by Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy after the break as Liverpool strived for a winner.

Former Manchester City assistant coach Mikel Arteta suffered a miserable return to the Ethiad Stadium as his Arsenal team lost their third consecutive league game 5-0.

Arsenal were hoping to get a turning point after they made a 6-0 Carabao Cup win away to West Brom during the week, but it was soon dispelled with Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan heading past Bernd Leon in the seventh minute, Xinhua reports.

Ferran Torres doubled Man City’s lead in the 12th minute and things went from bad to worse for Arsenal when Granit Xhaka was sent off for a two-footed tackle 10 minutes before halftime.

Gabriel Jesus added a third after good word from Jack Grealish two minutes before the break and Rodri made it 4-0 early in the second half after a typical City passing move.

Torres then headed his second of the game to make it 5-0 in the closing minutes to complete Arsenal’s humiliation and after another display in which Arteta’s side was totally outclassed and had less than 20 per cent of possession. Arteta must now be worrying about his job.

Goals from Demarai Gray and a penalty from Dominic Calvert Lewin penalty saw Everton stop Brighton’s winning start to the season with a 2-0 away victory that gives Rafael Benitez seven points from nine on his return to Merseyside.

West Ham’s 100 per cent record also ended as Conor Gallagher scored Crystal Palace’s first two goals of the season in a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium.

Brentford remain unbeaten in their debut Premier League season after a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa after Ivan Toney put Brentford ahead in the seven minutes before Villa’s record signing Buendia Stati equalised six minutes later.

Norwich lost their third game in three as they went down 2-1 at home to Leicester, who have Jamie Vardy and Marc Albrighton to thank for their goals, while Teemu Pukki’s penalty on the stroke of halftime give his side hope.

There was late drama in Newcastle where Southampton equalised thanks to James Ward Prowe’s 96th minute penalty after the VAR spotted a trip on Adam Armstrong.

The game kicked into life after a goalless first half when Callum Wilson put Newcastle ahead only for Mohamed Elyounoussi to cancel it out. It looked as if Allan Saint-Maximin’s 90th minute goal would give Steve Bruce’s men three vital points, but the VAR had the final word.

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Manchester United and England striker Marcos Rashford has received an injury setback and it means he will miss the first two months of next season.

The 23-year-old, who was one of three England players subject to racist abuse after missing a penalty in Sunday’s European Championship final, will be out of action until the end of October as he needs an operation on a shoulder injury, reports Xinhua.

The injury hindered the forward in the second half of the last season and also in the European Championships and the decision has been taken to deal with it once and for all with an operation after he underwent a scan on Tuesday.

The news means he will be out of action for around 12 weeks, missing pre-season training and the first two months of the campaign.

Although Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho received online racist abuse after their misses in the penalty shootout in Sunday’s final against Italy, the three have also received the support of thousands of fans.

After a mural of Rashford was vandalised on Monday, the insults were covered up with many more messages in favour of the player and the mural was quickly repaired.

Rashford was already a popular figure in England due to his work in pressuring the UK government to ensure that underprivileged children continued to get free school meals during the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, Sancho on Tuesday completed a medical at Manchester United ahead of a move back to England from Borussia Dortmund.

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Copa America: Messi ends title drought with Argentina

Three-time European champions Spain needed to fight until the penalty shootout to see off 10-man Switzerland, reaching the Euro 2020 semifinals after a 4-2 verdict.

The teams were tied 1-1 after regulation time on Friday and the extra time too didn’t produce a result. But Spain finally wrapped it up by winning 3-1 on penalties, reports Xinhua.

Spain led after eight minutes when Jordi Alba’s low shot outside the box was deflected by Swiss midfielder Denis Zakaria’s leg, leaving goalkeeper Yann Sommer helpless.

Spain dominated all through in the second half but Switzerland, who stunned world champions France in penalty shootout to reach the quarterfinals for the first time, were desperate to find their way back through counterattacks.

In the 55th minute, Zakaria nearly cancelled his own goal but his shot was inches wide. Xherdan Shaqiri then nailed it as the Swiss captain calmly pushed Remo Freuler’s pass into net from close range in the 68th minute.

But Switzerland’s momentum was short-lived as Freuler was sent off in the 77th minute with a straight red card for a sliding challenge on Gerard Moreno.

Switzerland manager Vladimir Petkovic promptly made two changes and the 10-man team was tough enough to drag Spain into extra time.

Spain attacked with a vengeance, but Sommer, who blocked French strike Kylian Mbappe’s penalty shot last Monday, pushed himself forward by making amazing saves one after another.

In a dramatic penalty shootout, Spain captain Sergio Busquets stepped up first but hit the left post.

Although Rodri also missed the target as Sommer dived to the right to block the shot, Switzerland could not kill another giant as they missed three penalty shots and Mikel Oyarzabal scored the decider for Spain.

Spain will face Italy in London’s Wembley Stadium on July 6.

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Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell will miss England’s last Euro 2020 group match against the Czech Republic later on Tuesday, as both players have gone into self-isolation.

Hours before their last Group D clash, England announced that the pair must isolate “up to and including June 28” as the two Chelsea players have been confirmed as close contacts of their club teammate Billy Gilmour of Scotland, who tested positive for Covid-19 earlier, reports Xinhua.

England were forced to a 0-0 draw with Scotland in their second-round group match in London last Friday. Mount and Chilwell were seen embracing and talking with Gilmour after the match.

“Mount and Chilwell will isolate and train individually in private areas at England’s training base St. George’s Park, with the rest of the squad returning there after tonight’s fixture against Czech Republic at Wembley,” said the England team in a statement.

England have guaranteed a place in the last 16 ahead of their Tuesday’s match, but they need a win over the Czech Republic to qualify as Group D leaders.

Scotland revealed Gilmour’s positive test result on Monday morning and confirmed that the 20-year-old midfielder has been in self-isolation. But the rest of the squad was not identified as close contacts and would be available for Tuesday’s match with Croatia in Glasgow.

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