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Aston Villa Stun Bayern In Repeat Of 1982 European Cup Final

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Aston Villa repeated their famous 1982 European Cup final win over Bayern Munich as Jhon Duran’s winner beat the German giants 1-0 on Wednesday.

The Colombian striker caught Manuel Neuer off his line 11 minutes from time to make it two wins from two games for Villa in their first experience of Champions League football for 41 years.

Bayern arrived at Villa Park unbeaten and in free-scoring form since Vincent Kompany took charge.

But the visitors were stifled by Unai Emery’s gameplan and caught out when Duran latched onto Pau Torres’ long pass and fired over Neuer from long range.

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Prince William was among the over 40,000 Villa fans who inspired Emery’s men to shrug off the vast gulf in Champions League pedigree between the sides.

Just five years ago Villa were languishing in the second tier of English football, but they have enjoyed a meteoric rise since the Spaniard took charge under two years ago.

After a comfortable 3-0 win over Young Boys in Switzerland two weeks ago, the visit of the six-time European champions was the sort of glamour tie Villa fans had been relishing and it did not disappoint.

Harry Kane overcame an ankle injury that forced him off late on in Bayern’s 1-1 draw against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend.

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Bayern had averaged over four goals a game in their opening seven matches under Kompany, including a 9-2 thrashing of Dinamo Zagreb to open their Champions League campaign.

They dominated the ball early on, but Kane’s header from an offside position that was well saved by Emi Martinez was the closest they came to breaking through Emery’s well-organised defence.

Villa did have the ball in the net midway through the first half when Torres prodded in at the back post from a free-kick.

However, Jacob Ramsey had strayed offside in the build up and Villa’s jubilant celebrations were cut short.

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Michael Olise was another of Bayern’s stars making a return to England and the former Crystal Palace winger was only denied the opener before half-time by a stunning save from Martinez.

Kompany had surprisingly left Jamal Musiala on the bench but the German international was summoned to make an impact at half-time.

Musiala nearly weaved a way through the Villa defence on the hour mark but his shot was blocked by Torres.

Instead, it was Villa’s own super sub that came on to win the game.

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Five of Duran’s six goals this season have come as a substitute.

The 20-year-old showed his strength to hold off Dayot Upamecano and lift the ball over the stranded Neuer.

Villa still needed their own goalkeeper to make important interventions at the other end to seal a historic victory.

Musiala’s pass finally unlocked the home side’s defence but Serge Gnabry could not beat Martinez.

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The Argentine then produced an even better save deep into stoppage time to turn Upamecano’s header to safety.

AFP

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Just IN: Argentina Cruise Past England To Set Up 2026 Final World Cup Showdown With Spain

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England had been on course to reach their first World Cup final since 1966 after Anthony Gordon fired them into the lead 10 minutes after half-time in the semi-final in front of 68,239 fans in Atlanta.

But the great rivalry between these nations has produced several memorable contests on the World Cup stage down the years, and this will be remembered as the stuff of legends in Argentina as the South Americans denied England with two late sucker punches.

Messi set up Enzo Fernandez to fire in an 85th-minute equaliser and then, with extra time looming, crossed for substitute Lautaro Martinez to head in the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.

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It was maybe not quite up there with Diego Maradona’s legendary display in putting England to the sword in 1986, but the goals this time brought Argentina back from the dead and kept alive their hopes of winning back-to-back World Cups.

Argentina are in the final of the World Cup! The defending champions fought back from one goal down to defeat England and book a date in Sunday’s game.

Argentina will face Spain in the final on Sunday, July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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World Cup: Ahead England, Argentina clash FIFA makes major VAR decision

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World football governing body, FIFA, has made a key video assistant referee, VAR decision ahead of the much exected World Cup semi-final match between England and Argentina.

The match will be played in Atlanta on Wednesday.

FIFA has opted to deploy an on-site VAR team for this high-profile encounter.

Previously, the VAR team had been functioning from a central hub located at the International Broadcast Centre in Dallas, regardless of the venue of each match.

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However, for this particular game, the on-site officials will act as a backup in the event of any technical or communication difficulties.

Dan Hunt, a member of the Organising Committee, elaborated on the decision to have VAR operate on-site for the second semi-final as reported by Sport Bible.

He said, “There is a significant amount of drama that occurs during these matches. Moreover, when only four officials are tasked with overseeing the action on a field that is considerably larger than an American football field, it becomes quite challenging

“I am pleased that there will be on-site officials. I am uncertain about how the communication will be managed.”

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FIFA has faced considerable criticism for the inconsistent VAR decisions throughout the tournament, with the defending champions Argentina benefiting from favorable calls without any against them, while England has experienced the opposite, resulting in a net negative outcome.

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Arsenal legend, Henry reacts to France World Cup defeat, says Spain was far more superior

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Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry, has reacted to the Les Bleus’ World Cup semi-final 2-0 defeat to Spain.

Henry said that the La Roja were far superior to France during the encounter.

Spain defeated France on Tuesday to qualify for the World Cup final, thanks to goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro.

“Too little from France at the end of the day. Spain controlled the game on and off the ball,” Henry said on Fox Sports.

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“They showed why they are European champions, they are showing why they are going into the final.

“Nothing to add, they were far superior, and there is nothing to say about it. Spain, congratulations. you deserves to go to the final,” he said.

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