Nick Pope was described as the world s best goalkeeper by Bruno Guimaraes after his 10th consecutive clean sheet helped Newcastle United put one foot in the EFL Cup final.
Pope recorded yet another shutout as Newcastle earned a 1-0 win in the first leg of their semi-final tie against Southampton on Tuesday, with Joelinton scoring a second-half winner before Saints had Duje Caleta-Car sent off.
While Newcastle dominated for long periods, Pope made two crucial saves to deny Che Adams when the game was goalless, the first an excellent one-on-one stop with his legs.
Pope has now kept 10 successive clean sheets across all competitions – a feat not managed by any other Premier League goalkeeper in records dating back to the start of the 2012-13 season.
Guimar…
Harry Winks acknowledged his long-range wonder goal in Tottenham s Europa League victory over Ludogorets was unintentional.
The England midfielder scored Tottenham s third in a 4-0 victory on Thursday from 53.7 yards when he received possession from a throw and saw a long ball forward sail into the top-right corner of the net.
Winks looked surprised after he celebrated with his Tottenham team-mates and only two goals have been scored from a longer distance in the Europa League since 2009-10.
Jordi Gomez s goal for Omonia against PSV (61.2 yards) and Kemar Roofe s strike for Rangers versus Standard Liege (55.4 yards), both in October of this year, were further away from goal.
But after his spectacular effort from distance caught Ludogorets goalkeeper Plam…
Vincent Kompany lamented Bayern Munich s profligacy and urged his team to learn from their mistakes after their 1-0 loss to Aston Villa.
Jhon Duran s superb finish at Villa Park saw the hosts claim all three points in Wednesday s Champions League encounter.
It was just the second meeting between Villa and Bayern, with the first having come back in the 1982 European Cup final, which the English team won 1-0.
Bayern had their chances, though, having 17 shots, getting seven on target and mustering 1.42 expected goals (xG), with Emiliano Martinez making a string of fine stops late on.
We missed some big chances and they scored the chance. We ve got to take the learnings from this, said Kompany after suffering his first defeat as Bayern head coach.
W…
Prediction: Germany to win 2-1
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Poland and Germany will lock horns with each other in a friendly international match this week. The game between Fernando Santos’s side and Hansi Flick’s team will be held at Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw and is scheduled to kick off at 7:45pm UK time on Friday.
Poland
Poland are a major force in European football and tend to qualify for the European championships quite regularly now. They have some major players, such as Wojciech Szczęsny, Jakub Kiwior, Jan Bednarek, Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik. Poland reached the group stage of UEFA Euro 2012 and Euro 2020 and the quarter-finals at the 2016 European Championship.
Fernando Santos has been in charge of Poland since the end of t…
Chelsea boss Emma Hayes refused to step on England manager Sarina Wiegman’s toes when asked if Lauren James should return to the Lionesses’ starting line-up for Sunday’s World Cup final against Spain.
The 21-year-old Blues forward scored three goals and picked up the same number of assists before she was sent off in the Lionesses’ last-16 victory over Nigeria and given a two-match ban for stepping on the back of defender Michelle Alozie.
Having served her punishment during the quarter- and semi-finals, James is now available to reclaim her spot in Wiegman’s starting XI – but she remains in competition with replacement Ella Toone, who netted the Lionesses’ opener in their 3-1 last-four victory to eliminate co-hosts Australia.
James’ club boss Hayes…
Kylian Mbappe says he is targeting Thierry Henry s France goalscoring record after scoring twice in Tuesday s 5-0 friendly thrashing of South Africa.
Mbappe was in fine form as the world champions dispatched the Bafana Bafana in Lille, bending home a superb opening goal on 23 minutes before winning and converting a 75th-minute penalty.
With his first goal of the contest, Mbappe became the first player to net in five successive France matches (a total of nine goals) since Karim Benzema did so between November 2013 and June 2014 (he posted seven strikes).
The 23-year-old also added an assist during a fantastic display, teeing up Matteo Guendouzi for his first France goal at the death, meaning he also became the first player in the 21st century to record an ass…
Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo was encouraged by their performance against Manchester City and hopes the point they earned at Anfield will ultimately be important in the title race.
Pep Guardiola’s side were probably happier with the 1-1 draw even though it left them third in the table, a point behind Liverpool who were kept off top spot by Arsenal’s goal difference.
The Gunners still have to go to the Etihad Stadium and should both Liverpool and City win all their remaining games, Jurgen Klopp’s team would be crowned champions.
Another day, another masterclass
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
“Second half we had more chances than Man City so, yeah, we are disappointed about the result but we need to move forward,” Endo told the club’s off…
West Ham have announced that Jarrod Bowen will captain the side for the upcoming Premier League season in Julen Lopetegui s first campaign in charge.
Bowen, who has made 202 appearances for the Hammers since his move from Hull in 2020, takes the armband from Kurt Zouma, who is in talks over a move to the UAE.
The 27-year-old scored 16 league goals for West Ham last year, equalling Paulo Di Canio s record from the 1999-2000 campaign for the most goals scored by a Hammers player in a Premier League season.
The England international s 22 league goal involvements was the joint-ninth highest in the division, level with new Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke
Bowen recently captained West Ham to victory in their final pre-season fixture against Celta Vigo in the…
Premier League chief football officer Tony Scholes admits the in-stadium supporter experience of VAR is “nowhere near good enough” and believes reviews are taking too long.
Video assistant referees were introduced in the English top-flight for the 2019-20 campaign, yet there are persisting problems surrounding its implementation.
The Premier League say that most supporters they have surveyed are in favour of VAR, but Scholes acknowledges “that majority is not as big a majority as I would like to say it is”.
The league’s chief football officer says “clearly everything in the world of VAR is not perfect” and pinpointed two particular areas for improvement.
“If the objective of VAR is to improve the accuracy of decision making, it is being a …
Olivier Giroud says he still harbours hopes of featuring for France at the World Cup later this year, having contributed to Milan s extraordinary Serie A title win in his first season in Italy.
Giroud has been left out of Didier Deschamps squad for France s four UEFA Nations League fixtures next month, with the World Cup holders schedule including a double-header against 2018 final foes Croatia.
But the striker, who appeared in all seven matches during France s second triumphant World Cup campaign in Russia, has impressed since joining Milan at the start of the season, joining Rafael Leao (both 11) as the Rossoneri s highest league goalscorers as Stefano Pioli s men won their first league title since 2010-11.
Giroud and has 112 caps for France and is just thr…