Jonathan Cook’s World Game Wrap-Up

Posted on January 24, 2022February 6, 2022 | Posted by Jonathan Cook

Ziyech curler puts Spurs in a spin

Tottenham were brought crashing back to earth by a Hakim Ziyech stunner as Chelsea scored their first Premier League win of 2022.

Ziyech curled home Chelsea’s opener and Thiago Silva headed in a second goal to finally give Thomas Tuchel a new year Premier League victory.

Chelsea, who are third on the table, had drawn twice and lost to Manchester City in their three games before this win at Stamford Bridge.

There was disappointment for Spurs, who had beaten Leicester 3-2 in midweek thanks to two stoppage-time goals from Steven Bergwijn. They slipped to seventh place after suffering their first league defeat since Antonio Conte took over as manager in early November.

Their North London rivals Arsenal climbed above Spurs on goal difference after being held to a goalless draw by last-placed Burnley.

Former Red helps Everton on the slide

Fan protests, the failure of a fearsome former striker to rally the team and a home defeat to a club managed by an ex-Liverpool player. Can things get any worse for Everton?

Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa increased concerns Everton could drop out of England’s top division for the first time in almost 70 years.

The mood at Goodison Park, where fans aimed their anger at chairman Bill Kenwright, was not helped by Gerrard’s presence nor the lack of response from the players under caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson, a combative figure during his playing days.

No-one was blaming Ferguson, who only recently replaced the sacked Rafa Benitez.

Everton have now won just one of their last 14 league games and are only four points above the relegation zone.

Rare Newcastle victory sparks survival hopes

Newcastle United celebrated as if they were already safe from relegation after registering just their second win of the season with victory over Leeds United.

Goalkeeper Illan Meslier really should have done better with Jonjo Shelvey’s free-kick, but when he failed to keep it out Newcastle had just over 15 minutes to hang on to the lead.

Having dropped 21 points from winning positions this season, there were some nervous moments towards the end before understandable celebrations at the final whistle.

Newcastle, who are still aiming to strengthen the squad before the transfer window closes at the end of the month, are third bottom, a point behind Norwich City who climbed out of the drop zone with a 3-0 win over Watford.

City hit by special Saints opener

A special, first English Premier League goal for Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters ended Manchester City’s 12-match winning streak.

Walker-Peters, playing in his 68^th Premier League match, took just seven minutes of this match to bend the ball beyond City goalkeeper Ederson and give the Saints an unlikely lead.

League leaders City enjoyed plenty of possession but were kept at bay until Aymeric Laporte headed home a 65^th minute equaliser.

Second-placed Liverpool, who have played one game fewer than City, stayed nine points adrift of the leaders with a 3-1 win at Crystal Palace.

A controversially awarded penalty, for a collision between Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita and Diogo Jota, was scored by Fabinho to make sure of the points in the 89th minute.

Honest O’Neill looks on the bright side

You have to love Brandon O’Neill’s honesty.

In a post-match interview, the Perth Glory captain – and twice a grand final winner with Sydney FC – looked genuinely surprised and even started to laugh when told he was man-of-the-match following a 2-1 win over his former club.

O’Neill, who returned to his Perth Glory this season some six years after leaving, scored his first Glory goal in the win, while Bruno Fornaroli was also on target.

O’Neill’s post-match light-hearted response was all the more surprising given the challenges Glory continue to face with COVID restrictions hampering their schedule.

The WA State Government’s latest announcement regarding an extension to border restrictions is likely to force Glory to set-up camp in the eastern states. But O’Neill is looking on the bright side.

“We still get to wake up in the morning, have a coffee, have lunch and train, and kick a ball,” he said.

Glory have an Australia Day clash against Macarthur on Wednesday.

Kerr goes through the gears

Sam Kerr became Australia’s greatest ever goal scorer with five goals in a mind-boggling 18-0 thrashing of Indonesia in the Matildas’ opening game of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India.

Not used to sharing the same pitch as a world star, the Indonesian players mobbed the Chelsea striker after the game for selfies and autographs.

Aside from the social media opportunity, it’s hard to see what the Indonesia players got out of such a hammering. But for Kerr it was a haul of goals that surpassed the 50 Tim Cahill scored for the Socceroos.

Kerr, who was recently named the second-best female player in the world in the Best FIFA Football Awards, has now scored 54 goals for her country.

And there are likely to be plenty more to come with the Matildas to take on the Philippines today and Thailand on Thursday in their remaining group games.

Roma concede goals to entertain: Mourinho

Roma boss Jose Mourinho joked that his side conceded two second-half goals to keep TV viewers entertained after a 4-2 win over Empoli in Italy’s Serie A.

Four goals in a frantic 13-minute first-half spell, including two for England international Tammy Abraham, gave Roma a 4-0 half-time lead that clearly pleased Mourinho.

“As for the second half, we did it for the audience,” he said. “They would’ve turned their TVs off it we went up 5-0.”

Inter are four points clear at the top after a 2-1 win against Venezia, while Napoli moved to second with a 4-1 victory over Salernitana.

AC Milan slipped to third after being held to a goalless draw by Juventus.

Real Madrid rally to preserve four-point lead

Sevilla missed an opportunity to close the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid after Spain’s top-two teams were held to draws.

A Luka Modric penalty and Eder Militao’s stoppage-time goal saved Real Madrid’s blushes as they came from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw with 15th-placed Elche.

The draw came just days after Real had needed an extra-time goal from Eden Hazard to see off Elche to progress to the quarter-finals of the Copa del Ray.

Sevilla stayed four points behind Real after being held to a 2-2 draw by Celta Vigo.

Comoros facing a keeper crisis

Comoros’ dream run into the knockout phase of the Africa Cup of Nations in just their first tournament appearance could be spoiled by a spate of COVID cases.

The newcomers, whose islands are inhabited by fewer than one million people, may have to take on Cameroon tonight without a recognised goalkeeper.

A spate of COVID cases has ruled out seven players, including two goalkeepers with regular custodian Salim Ben Boina injured.

Under tournament rules, teams must still play a game if they have 11 fit players, regardless of whether there are any goalkeepers available.

It has already been a tournament of shocks with favourites Algeria and heavyweights Ghana already heading home after failing to get through the group stage.