Sports

Jonathan Cook’s World Game Wrap-Up

Posted on | Posted by Jonathan Cook

All change at the top as City take charge

Brilliant Bernardo Silva scored twice as Manchester City moved to the top of the English Premier League for the first time this season.

Watford were swept aside 3-1 as City cranked up their title credentials, while previous leaders Chelsea stumbled at West Ham.

Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was at least partly to blame for the defeat after conceding a penalty and then allowing Arthur Masuaku’s misdirected cross to beat him at the near post.

Liverpool left it late to take advantage of Chelsea’s 3-2 loss to the Hammers, but a stoppage-time goal from Divock Origi eventually earned a 1-0 win over Wolves that lifted the Reds to second place, a point behind City.

Glory buck the odds to earn first win

A Perth Glory side missing key personnel – including Daniel Sturridge, Brad Jones and Brandon O’Neill – scored their first win of the season just two games into their eight-match road trip.

Goals from Antonee Burke-Gilroy, Ciaran Bramwell and Bruno Fornaroli sealed an impressive 3-0 win over Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.

Glory’s cause was helped by the dismissal of Raimon Marchan, whose Bruce Lee impression on Jonathan Aspropotamitis earned a red card on the stroke of half-time and left the Glory defender with a bandaged head.

But this was a deserved win against a Victory side containing several former Glory players, including Nick D’Agostino and Jason Davidson and coached by former Glory boss Tony Popovich.

Glory will be back at AAMI Park on Wednesday when they take on Melbourne City.

Move over Cristiano, here comes Fred

Cristiano Ronaldo moved past 800 career goals in Manchester United’s mid-week win over Arsenal but it was Fred’s time to shine against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

With new manager Ralf Rangnick in charge for the first time, United’s players might’ve been keen to impress but they found Crystal Palace in a stubborn mood.

There was no way through for the flare of Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood, and it was left to Fred to fire home a rare but impressive winning goal. It was only his sixth goal in 137 United appearances.

Bamford back with a bang

Patrick Bamford reminded Leeds United fans of what they’ve been missing with a last-gasp equaliser against Brentford.

Bamford, who has been sidelined for almost two months with an ankle injury, came off the bench with Leeds trailing 2-1 at Elland Road.

Roared on by the home fans, Bamford found the back of the net five minutes into stoppage time to earn a 2-2 draw that lifted Leeds to 14th place.

Sam Kerr at the double as Chelsea claim FA Cup

What a week it has been for Western Australia’s favourite female footballer Sam Kerr.

After being named the third best female player in the world, Kerr scored twice as Chelsea beat rivals Arsenal 3-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

She might’ve had a first-half hat-trick given the chances that came her way, but it mattered little in the end. After the break she smashed home her first goal, and then produced a delicate chip to wrap up the scoring.

Kerr was beaten to the Women’s Ballon D’Or by Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas, while her teammate Jennifer Hermoso was second.

First win fires up Howe survival bid

Newcastle United remain in deep trouble despite a first win of the season.

The victory over fellow strugglers Burnley has given Newcastle manager Eddie Howe an injection of confidence that is at odds with the club’s plight.

They have played 15 games, have 10 points and are three points adrift of safety.

But rather than fear the tough matches on the horizon, Howe has pointed out that teams survive the drop only when they take points from the top teams.

Opportunities to do just that will come thick and fast with Newcastle’s next four games against Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.

Rogic in overdrive and Celtic’s Christmas serenade

Socceroos attacking midfielder Tom Rogic went into overdrive yesterday with a Scottish Premier League goal-of-the-season contender.

Hampered by a hamstring injury recently, Rogic has returned to action for Celtic showing no signs of discomfort and waltzed his way past four Dundee United players before firing home.

Happy with the goal from one of their Australians, the Celtic fans immediately turned their attention to another – coach Ange Postecoglou.

His attacking style of football has won over most Celtic fans, who during matches regularly break into a rendition of Wham’s Last Christmas, featuring the line: “This year to save me from tears, I’ll give it to Postecoglou.”

Messi the best in the world? Still? Really?

Has Lionel Messi really been the best player in the 2021 calendar year?

That is certainly the verdict of the international media who vote on the prestigious Ballon D’Or, with Messi being named the top man for a record seventh time. Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski was second and Chelsea’s Jorginho was third.

In a year when Messi won the Copa Del Rey with Barcelona and the Copa America with Argentina, Poland international Lewandowski was surpassing all-time German football great Gerd Muller’s goalscoring record, among many other feats.

But an incredible 64 competitive goals in 2021 was not enough to elevate Lewandowski to Ballon D’Or winner. Lewandowski did receive a consolation of sorts when, France Football, the publication behind the Ballon D’Or, started a new award in 2021 and Lewandowski was named striker of the year.

Barcelona sink into unfamiliar territory after latest loss

There is something odd about having to scan Spain’s La Liga table to find which position Barcelona find themselves in.

The familiar figure of Real Madrid is still there, eight points clear at the top after a 2-0 win away to Real Sociedad. But Barcelona are now seventh, 16 points adrift of their rivals, following a 1-0 loss to Real Betis.

There had been a recent injection of optimism following the appointment of new coach and Barca legend Xavi, who steered the team to two league wins and a Champions League draw against Benfica before defeat at home to Betis.

Nutmegged goalkeeper concedes from a corner

It’s not entirely unusual to see a player score directly from a corner. But to nutmeg the goalkeeper at the same time is a strange thing to behold.

But that’s exactly what Hakan Calhanoglu did to open the scoring for Inter Milan in a 3-0 win over Roma.

Goalkeeper Rui Patricio got it all wrong as Calhanoglu’s in-swinging corner dipped wickedly, bounced between his legs and into the net.

Inter are now a point behind leaders AC Milan, who beat Salernitana 2-0. Napoli have slipped to third after suffering a 3-2 loss to Atalanta.

Controversy as Bayern snatch victory from the spot

Fresh from being snubbed at the Ballon D’Or awards, Robert Lewandowski scored twice to give Bayern Munich a 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund.

It will surprise no-one that Erling Haaland scored again for Dortmund and that Lewandowski kept his cool to fire home a late penalty to extend Bayern’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to four points ahead of Dortmund.

But a more interesting story emerged after the game when Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham tempted the wrath of the authorities by claiming the referee, who gave a penalty for handball against Mats Hummels, should not have been in charge.

Referee Felix Zwayer had been banned by the German FA after a match-fixing scandal in 2005.

Glory Women in late, late show

Perth Glory Women benefited from a goalkeeping blunder to turn one point into all three in their A-Leagues opener against Brisbane Roar at Macedonia Park.

Trailing to Anna Margraf’s first-half goal, Glory equalised in the 88th minute through substitute Susan Phonsongkham.

But the evening got even better for the home side, and so much worse for Roar goalkeeper Georgina Worth, who bizarrely helped Rasschaert’s backpass on its way into her own net two minutes into stoppage time.




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