Sports

The World Game Wrap-Up

Posted on | Posted by Jonathan Cook

Mendy – and a post – save Chelsea

Spare a thought for Bryan Mbeumo, who has now hit the frame of the goal six times in just eight English Premier League appearances for Brentford this season.

On two occasions against Chelsea on Saturday the Frenchman hit a post as Brentford’s West London rivals hung on to a 1-0 victory that kept them top of the table.

Chelsea were indebted to a man-of-the-match performance from goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who pulled off a series of saves to deny the home side in their impressive start to a first Premier League campaign. Neither Mbeumo, who has scored twice this season, nor his teammates, could find a way past Mendy.

Thomas Tuchel’s Blues had the edge in possession, but Brentford created more chances and had seven shots on target to Chelsea’s one. But that was all that was needed as Ben Chilwell rifled home his third goal in as many games – including one for England in their win over Andorra last week – to keep Chelsea a point ahead of Liverpool.

Big task for new owners

Newcastle United’s new Saudi Arabian owners had their first real look at the size of the task on their hands during a rollercoaster match that ended in disappointment against Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park.

The 3-2 defeat left Newcastle second bottom on the table and in need of a major boost if they are to avoid relegation. The deep pockets of the new owners won’t be of much help until the January transfer window allows them to sign new players.

Before then, manager Steve Bruce, who was in charge of his 1000th game in all competitions on Sunday, is likely to be given his marching orders.

Callum Wilson’s bullet header in just the second minute was met by a roar of approval from the home fans – and the new owners – but that was as good as it got for Newcastle against Tottenham.

Tanguy Ndombele started the Spurs fightback before Harry Kane scored his first Premier League goal of the season. Son Heung-Min was also on target before half-time. Eric Dier scored a late own goal but Spurs were never in danger of letting slip the three points.

Firmino steps into the spotlight

So often in the shadow of Liverpool’s two other “star” strikers, Roberto Firmino stepped into the spotlight with a hat-trick in a 5-0 thrashing of Watford.

Firmino made the most of his close-range opportunities as Liverpool made it a forgettable first game in charge for new Watford manager Claudio Ranieri.

The goals were fair reward for Firmino, whose tireless work off the ball does not go unnoticed by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

On this occasion, Firmino earned top billing, although teammates Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah – the best player in the world, according to Klopp – were again exceptional in Liverpool’s crushing of the Hornets.

Mane got on the scoresheet to register his 100th Premier League goal, and Salah weaved his magic again to score another goal-of-the-season contender.

Glory bid farewell to Diego Castro

Perth Glory’s Spanish maestro Diego Castro will not be returning to the club for the 2021-22 A-League season, scheduled to kick-off on November 19.

Castro’s best days are behind him but the 39-year-old has indicated he won’t yet be hanging up his boots.

He burst on to the A-League scene when he joined Glory in 2015 and won the Johnny Warren Medal as the competition’s best player in his first season. He was also named Glory’s best player on three occasions.

But when Glory announced the signing of former Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge, the writing was on the wall for Castro. Glory confirmed last week that he would not be with the club next season.

Rogic shakes off Socceroos loss with Celtic style

Just days after going head-to-head in a World Cup qualifier in Saitama, Socceroos midfielder Tom Rogic and Japan’s Kyogo Furuhashi joined forces to help Celtic earn a 2-0 away win against Motherwell.

The victory lifted Celtic to fourth, four points behind leaders Rangers, and helped alleviate some of the pressure on Celtic’s Australian manager, Ange Postecoglou.

Any disappointment Rogic might’ve felt after Japan ended Australia’s record 11-match FIFA World Cup qualifying winning streak last week was nowhere to be seen, as he set-up Jota for the opening goal and was instrumental throughout an important win.

It was Celtic’s second successive away victory after they had lost their three previous matches on the road.

Postecoglou will turn his attention to the Europa League next, with Celtic at home to Hungary’s Ferencvaros on Tuesday night (10.30pm WA time). Celtic have lost their previous two games in the competition and need a win to boost their hopes of progressing in the competition.

Zlatan back for Milan as champions Inter lose

Italian champions Inter Milan suffered their first Serie A defeat of the season despite Ivan Perisic’s penalty giving them an early lead against Lazio on Saturday.

Ciro Immobile also scored from the spot to equalise for Lazio before late goals from Felipe Anderson and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic sealed a 3-1 win.

Inter’s city rivals AC Milan welcomed back Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who came off the bench just in time to join in his side’s celebrations on Saturday.

Milan trailed 2-0 to Hellas Verona and were indebted to goals from Olivier Giroud and Franck Kessie (from the penalty spot) for drawing them level.

Although Ibrahimovic was introduced to press for a victory, it was Hellas Verona’s Koray Gunter who steered the ball into his own net to hand Milan a 3-2 win.

Leaders Napoli are two points clear of Milan thanks to Victor Osimhen’s late goal, which sealed a 1-0 win over Torino, and preserved Napoli’s 100 per cent record.

Barcelona lock in Pedri with $1.5 billion clause

Spain’s Barcelona have included an eye-watering release clause of more than AUD$1.5 billion in a new contract that will keep teenage star Pedri at the club until 2026.

The creative midfielder, whose previous deal was due to expire at the end of the season, will be 19 next month. During a sensational first season for Barcelona, in which he made 52 appearances in all competitions, he also made his debut for Spain’s national team.

Barcelona’s well documented financial troubles led to the departure of the world’s best player, Lionel Messi, to Paris St Germain this season.




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