Sports

Jonathan Cook’s World Game Wrap-Up

Posted on | Posted by Jonathan Cook

Legends blast “shameful” United

It’s not unusual for former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane to blast the club’s current players. But when former United and City goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel joins in, you know there is a problem.

Kevin De Bruyne scored twice and provided the assist for Riyad Mahrez’s stunning volley as Manchester City cruised to a 4-1 win over their city rivals United.

United were outclassed, out-thought and outworked by a City side that sits six points clear of second-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

Keane described United’s performance as “shameful” and claimed the players “threw the towel in.”

Schmeichel said: “Far too many players are either not good enough, or don’t care enough.”

United slipped to fifth place as Arsenal moved above them with a 3-2 win over Watford.

Adelaide spoil Glory homecoming

There was no happy return to HBF Park for Perth Glory as Adelaide United spoiled their homecoming with a 2-1 win yesterday.

After almost four months without a game in WA, Glory were hoping to give home fans something to cheer but were undone by goals from Hiroshi Ibusuki and Mohamed Toure.

Glory’s leading scorer Bruno Fornaroli scored a stoppage-time consolation from the penalty spot.

To make matters worse for Glory, goalkeeper Liam Reddy has a hip injury that forced him out of action at half-time.

Richard Garcia’s side are in desperate need of maximum points from upcoming home games against Central Coast Mariners (Sunday, March 13) and Brisbane Roar (Saturday, March 19) if they are to keep alive their finals hopes. Glory are six points adrift of sixth-placed Sydney FC.

United top with rare goals

Swiss defender Leo Lacroix scored two rare goals as Western United earned a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets that took them three points clear of Melbourne City at the top of the A-League.

Lacroix, who joined Western United this season, had not scored since May 2019 when he was on target for Hamburg against Duisburg in Germany’s second-tier competition.

Western United are now unbeaten in their last eight games and have won four successive matches.

Form is going the other way for Sydney FC, who lost for a third successive match for the first time in nine years.

Goals from Tomer Hemed, from the penalty spot, and Keanu Baccus secured a 2-0 win for Sydney’s city rivals the Wanderers.

Chelsea’s second-half sizzle

Chelsea put aside a week of off-field distractions with a blistering second-half performance against Burnley at Turf Moor.

Events in Ukraine have prompted Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich to put the club up for sale after concerns over government sanctions.

Abramovich took over the club in 2003 and won 21 trophies, including two Champions League success and five Premier League titles.

Manager Thomas Tuchel, who expressed his frustration at having to answer political rather than football questions during the week, was delighted with a 4-0 victory that came courtesy of four second half goals.

Reece James opened the scoring two minutes into the second half before Kai Havertz’s double and a Christian Pulisic goal wrapped up a comprehensive win.

Brentford on the climb

Ivan Toney’s first Premier League hat-trick earned Brentford a 3-1 win and an important three points as Norwich City’s woes deepened.

Toney kept his cool to convert two penalties in a game lit up by Christian Eriksen’s presence from the start.

Eriksen provided the corner that Toney headed home to put Brentford in front and the Dane was influential throughout his first full game in nine months.

Victory took Brentford six points clear of third from bottom Burnley, while Norwich stayed bottom.

Leeds United are just two points above the relegation zone after new manager Jesse Marsch’s first game ended in a 1-0 defeat to Leicester City.

Reds revved up for Inter

Liverpool were forced to dig deep to earn a 1-0 victory over West Ham ahead of the Reds’ Champions League Round of 16 second-leg match against Inter Milan on Wednesday.

Liverpool got the job done thanks to Sadio Mane’s 12th goal of the season.

Jurgen Klopp’s side will take a 2-0 advantage into their second-leg match against Inter at Anfield.

Giroud puts Milan top

Olivier Giroud’s eighth Serie A goal of the season has taken AC Milan to the top of the table in Italy.

The 1-0 victory over title-challenging rivals Napoli put Milan two points clear of Inter Milan and three ahead of Napoli.

Inter had gone top temporarily on Friday when Lautaro Martinez bagged a hat-trick and Edin Dzeko scored twice in a 5-0 win over last-placed Salernitana.

The goals came as a relief to Argentine striker Martinez, who ended a 10-match goal drought in all competitions.

Tammy Abraham’s 20th goal of the season earned Roma a 1-0 win over Atalanta.

Boro take on Chelsea next

English Championship side Middlesbrough are making a habit of seeing off higher flying opponents in this season’s FA Cup.

After knocking out Manchester United on penalties in the previous round, Tottenham Hotspur became their latest victims in a fifth-round match last week.

Josh Coburn scored the only goal of the game in extra time to earn Boro a place in the quarter-finals where they will take on Chelsea.

Boro, who are sixth in the Championship, have lost just four of 20 games in all competitions since manager Chris Wilder took over from Neil Warnock in November.

Sevilla slip, Real pounce

Sevilla’s faint hopes of earning a first Spanish title since 1946 were dealt a blow on the weekend as Real Madrid stretched their lead at the top of La Liga.

Sevilla blew their chance of earning maximum points on Friday night as they were held to a goalless draw with Alaves and were banking on Real Sociedad causing an upset against Real Madrid on Saturday.

But despite taking the lead through Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty after just 10 minutes, Sociedad were swept aside as Real Madrid grabbed the lead before the break and completed a 4-1 victory with two second half goals.

Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric, Karim Benzema and Marco Ascensio were all on target for Real, who are eight points clear of Sevilla with 11 games still to play.

Muller error

An own goal and two points dropped was how Bayern Munich warmed up for a delicately balanced second-leg Champions League match.

Life in Germany’s Bundesliga is rarely difficult for Bayern Munich but Thomas Muller’s first own goal helped Bayer Leverkusen earn a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.

Bayern, who are nine points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund, will be hoping for much better when they take on Austrian champions RB Salzburg in the Champions League this week.

A 90th-minute goal from Kingsley Coman spared Bayern’s blushes in the first leg, when they drew 1-1 in Austria last month.

Kerr despair despite goal

Sam Kerr’s first-half goal was as much as Chelsea could muster as Manchester City claimed the Women’s FA League Cup in England.

Western Australian Kerr had the ball in the net after 34 minutes as League champions and FA Cup holders Chelsea took the initiative.

But two goals from Caroline Weir and another from Ellen White clinched an upset victory for City.




Recent Articles