Sports

Toothless Man United Hold Bournemouth Despite Fernandes’ Double

Published

5 months ago

April 14, 2024

Manchester United’s chances of Champions League football next season took another battering as Bruno Fernandes’ double could only salvage a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth on Saturday.

Twice the Cherries led through Dominic Solanke and Justin Kluivert and Bournemouth were denied the opportunity to win the game at the death after a controversial VAR review overturned the decision to award the home side a penalty.

A point leaves United still 10 adrift of Aston Villa and Tottenham in the race for a top-four finish with six games to go.

The Red Devils have now won just once in their last seven Premier League games to leave Erik ten Hag’s future as United boss next season in doubt.

Once again it was United’s defensive deficiencies that were exploited as Bournemouth just missed out on a famous double after winning 3-0 at Old Trafford earlier in the season.

French teenager Willy Kambwala kept his place at centre-back with Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof among those absent due to injury.

But Kambwala had a moment to forget for the opening goal as his slip allowed Solanke to pick his spot and fire home his 19th goal of the season.

United had barely threatened as an attacking force before they levelled against the run of play on 31 minutes.

Alejandro Garnacho’s deflected cross fell perfectly into the path of Fernandes to volley into the roof of the net.

Bournemouth were back in front within five minutes as this time Kluivert took advantage of the acres of space offered by the United defence inside the box to drill low past Andre Onana.

Ten Hag’s future as United boss becomes more unsure with every passing week and poor performance.

However, the Dutchman was rewarded for a daring change at half-time as he replaced Garnacho with Amad Diallo.

The Ivorian winger shot to fame with an extra-time winner against Liverpool in a thrilling FA Cup quarter-final last month.

And he helped earn the visitors a point as his deflected shot was handled by Adam Smith inside the area.

Fernandes stepped up to slot the resulting penalty past Neto.

Bournemouth thought they had a spot-kick of their own deep into stoppage time when Kambwala blocked Ryan Christie’s charge into the box.

After a penalty was initially awarded, VAR intervened to say the foul had taken place just outside the box.

A point leaves Bournemouth still in 12th, eight points adrift of United in the European places.

Sports

Champions League: Monaco shock Barcelona, Atalanta hold Arsenal

Published

9 hours ago

September 20, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Monaco marked their return to the Champions League with a shock 2-1 win over Barcelona on Thursday night.

The Ligue 1 side have not played in the competition in five years, but they took the lead in front of their fans.

Maghnes Akilouche fired in for 1-0 after Barca were reduced to 10 men thanks to Eric Garcia’s red card.

And although Lamine Yamal equalized for the Catalans, George Ilenikhena found the winner for Monaco.

In Bergamo, Atalanta played out a 0-0 draw with Arsenal, with David Raya producing a remarkable double save from a penalty.

Atletico Madrid beat RB Leipzig 2-1 and Bayer Leverkusen thrashed Feyernood 4-0 in the Netherlands.

Sports

Champions League: PSG, Dortmund win, Inter Milan hold Man City

Published

1 day ago

September 19, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Paris Saint-Germain needed a late dose of luck to beat Girona 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night.

The Ligue 1 champions toiled against the debutants at home for 88 minutes without finding the back of the net.

However, Nuno Mendes’ low cross was fumbled into his own net by goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.

England Under-21 winger Jamie Gittens’ double set last year’s Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund on their way to a 3-0 victory at Club Brugge. Serhou Guirassy scored the third from the penalty spot.

Manchester City and Inter Milan played out a goalless draw at the Etihad.

In Scotland, Celtic thrashed Slovan Bratislava 5-1 to record their biggest win in the competition ever.

Sports

Rising Nigerian Football Star, Hadriel Gets Elite X1 Canada Invitation

Published

1 day ago

September 19, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Eleven year old high rising Nigerian football star Hadriel Chukwuziterem Opara who has been attracting the attention of football coaches and scouts has been selected as one of the 12 players across Canada that will represent Elite X1 Canada in the prestigious NIKE powered Norwich City Mna Cup UK taking place from October 10-14, 2024.

According to the letter of invitation from the organisers, the tournament will enable the players engage in top level competition with 16 academy teams from renowned clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon and Norwich City.

The invitation letter also noted that the players will be exposed to world class facilities at Norwich City FC’s State-of-the – art Lotus training centre featuring advanced training environments like the exclusive Soccer Bot 360 system.

The organisers while stating that the tournament will enable the players showcase their talents on an international stage, assured that all the matches will be filmed, providing a valuable footage that could open doors to future opportunities.

Meanwhile Hadriel a Pepsi Academy product who has not hidden his intention of playing for the National U-15 team noted that he’s humbled by the invitation expressing hope that the programme will help him further improve his football skill.