Connect with us

Sports

AC Milan Crash To Defeat At Promoted Parma

Published

on

ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad

AC Milan fell to a 2-1 defeat at Parma on Saturday as the seven-time European champions continued their slow start to life in Serie A under new coach Paulo Fonseca.

Matteo Cancellieri pushed home the decisive goal 13 minutes before the end of an entertaining encounter at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in which Parma defied their newly-promoted status.

The 22-year-old winger perfectly met Pontus Almqvist’s low cross to score his first goal since being loaned to Parma by Lazio, who lost 2-1 at Udinese.

Milan have collected one point from their first two league matches under Portuguese Fonseca, whose team looked set to go on to take the win when in the 66th minute Christian Pulisic levelled Dennis Man’s early close-range finish.

Advertisement

However, Parma were dangerous every time they went on the counter-attack and could have been out of sight by half-time had their finishing not been so wayward.

“I can’t hide that it’s my responsibility, but it seems clear to me that we have a problem with defending and being aggressive,” Fonseca told DAZN.

“We had problems against Torino (a 2-2 draw) when we didn’t press very high. Today we tried to press higher and we still had problems.

“We had a good pre-season, but the truth is that this is where we are.”

Advertisement

Milan didn’t really wake up until after the half-hour mark when they tested Zion Suzuki three times in the space of a few minutes, but it was still the hosts who were the more dangerous.

Milan punished

Simon Sohm dragged wide a great chance to double Parma’s lead four minutes before the break after more excellent work from Man, this time bursting down the right and cutting in before laying off for his Swiss team-mate.

And Valentin Mihaila somehow managed not to score when set clean through on goal by Ange-Yoan Bonny, dawdling on the ball and allowing Fikayo Tomori to close a yawning gap that had been left by Milan’s defence.

Advertisement

Milan were a different team after the break and could have been level twice in the first three minutes of the second half as Tijjani Reijnders saw his deflected drive thud onto the crossbar and Suzuki did well to keep out Pulisic’s low effort.

Man fell to the turf in frustration in the 62nd minute when yet another Parma counter-attack ended with his delicate curling strike wafting just wide, and moments later Pulisic had Milan level.

Rafael Leao jinked and skipped down the left before exchanging passes with Theo Hernandez and rolling in USA star Pulisic for a simple finish.

Milan pushed but it was another lightning Parma break which led to Cancellieri scoring the winner and lapping up the adulation of the joyous home crowd.

Advertisement

Later, champions Inter Milan make their San Siro debut for the campaign against Lecce without injured captain and star striker Lautaro Martinez, while Monza host Genoa.

Mehdi Taremi will make his first start for Simone Inzaghi’s team since signing as a free agent last month, after being released by Porto.

AFP

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Warning: Undefined variable $user_ID in /home/naijuinz/public_html/wp-content/themes/zox-news/comments.php on line 49

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Sports

Countries That Qualified For 2027 Women’s World Cup As Cameroon Beat Nigeria In Quarter- Final

Published

on

By

ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad

Cameroon on Sunday secured their place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup after edging Nigeria’s Super Falcons 1-0 in their 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final encounter.

The victory also sent the Indomitable Lionesses into the WAFCON semi-finals, securing their qualification for next year’s global tournament in Brazil.

The 2026 WAFCON doubles as Africa’s qualifying competition for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with the four semi-finalists earning the continent’s automatic tickets to the tournament.

Cameroon join Algeria and Morocco, who had already sealed their places after reaching the semi-finals on Saturday.

Advertisement

Brazil will host the 2027 tournament, while the remaining qualifying places are being determined through continental competitions across the various confederations.

See full list of countries that qualified:

Host:

Brazil

Advertisement

AFC:

Australia
China PR
Japan
Korea DPR
Korea Republic
Philippines

CAF:

Algeria
Cameroon
Morocco

Advertisement

Concacaf:

None yet

CONMEBOL:

Argentina
Colombia

Advertisement

OFC:

New Zealand

UEFA:

Denmark
France
Germany
Spain

Advertisement

More teams are expected to secure qualification as the various continental qualification campaigns conclude.

The 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup will feature 32 teams.

Continue Reading

Sports

Just in: Unlucky Sunday for Nigeria as Super Falcons, Flying Eagles crumble, World Cup hopes dimmed

Published

on

ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad

 

It is an unlucky Sunday for two National teams of Nigeria, the Super Falcons fell to Cameroon just as Nigeria’s Flying Eagles have been knocked out of the race for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup after suffering a heavy 4-1 defeat to Burkina Faso in the final of the 2026 WAFU Zone B U-20 Championship.

The defeat at the Stade Charles Konan Banny in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, also ended Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying for the 2027 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.

The WAFU Zone B final carried added importance, as the winner was guaranteed a place at the 2027 U-20 AFCON, which will serve as the qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Advertisement

With Burkina Faso emerging victorious, the Young Stallions secured the region’s ticket, while Nigeria’s hopes of returning to the global youth tournament came to an end.

Burkina Faso took control of the final from the opening whistle, scoring three goals within the first 15 minutes and leaving the Flying Eagles with a huge deficit.

Nigeria struggled to contain the Young Stallings’ attacking pressure and could not recover from the early setback before the break.

Coach Abdu Maikaba’s side attempted to fight back after the interval but failed to produce the response required to turn the game around.

Advertisement

Burkina Faso eventually added another goal to complete a convincing 4-1 victory, while Nigeria’s consolation effort was not enough to change the outcome.

The result was particularly painful for the Flying Eagles after Burkina Faso had already defeated them 2-0 during the group stage.

Nigeria had hoped to avenge that earlier loss in the final but instead suffered another defeat to the Young Stallions when the stakes were highest.

The Flying Eagles had reached the final after overcoming Côte d’Ivoire in a dramatic semi-final.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Sports

WAFCON 2026: Super Falcons suffer shock defeat as Cameroon gets automatic ticket for World Cup

Published

on

ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoom Ad

 

The defending champions Nigeria Super Falcons suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Cameroon at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, ending their WAFCON title defense and missing an automatic spot for the World Cup.

A 20th-minute free-kick by Maeva Nyadjou sealed the historic win for the Indomitable Lionesses .

Breakthrough: Teenage defender Maeva Nyadjou scored from a powerful 20th-minute free-kick to put Cameroon ahead.Nigerian Pressure: Nigeria dominated possession and created numerous chances, racking up heavy pressure and shots on goal, but couldn’t break down a resolute Cameroonian defense.Goheroics: Cameroon’s goalkeeper put in a player-of-the-match performance, denying late attacks including a final-moments chance from Esther Okoronkwo.Consequences of the LossWorld Cup Qualification: Cameroon booked an automatic ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil and advanced to the WAFCON semi-finals against Morocco.Play-off Path: Nigeria’s title defense is over, but they move into a Wednesday play-in match against South Africa to chase a remaining inter-confederation play-off spot.Watch the match highlights and key moments from the dramatic quarter-final encounter:

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Naija Blitz News