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Arsenal’s Premier League hopes dashed by Newcastle defeat

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Newcastle put a huge dent in Arsenal’s title aspirations on Saturday, winning 1-0 to give leaders Manchester City the chance to move eight points clear of the Gunners at the top of the Premier League.

Alexander Isak scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 12th minute, heading home Anthony Gordon’s pinpoint cross from the right.

Arsenal struggled to get out of first gear and although they dominated possession, they produced just one shot on target in the entire game.

Mikel Arteta’s men have now picked up just one point in their past three games as their title push quickly runs out of steam.

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If defending champions City win at Bournemouth later on Saturday they will be eight points clear of the Gunners. Liverpool, a point behind City, host Brighton at Anfield.

Arsenal have pushed Pep Guardiola’s City hard in each of the past two seasons and appeared to be well-equipped for another title challenge but the gap already looks alarmingly big.

The injury-hit visitors started brightly in the opening seconds at St James’ Park, with Leandro Trossard dragging the ball wide.

But the home side, who had not won for five matches, quickly settled and Sweden forward Isak got between Gabriel and William Saliba to head home from Gordon’s exquisite first-time cross.

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Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka lacked penetration but headed just wide in the 18th minute after leaping above his marker.

Newcastle defender Lewis Hall blocked Mikel Merino’s shot on the line after a Declan Rice corner caused chaos but the visitors lacked rhythm and failed to match the intensity shown by the home side.

Arteta opted against making changes at half-time and Newcastle came close to doubling their lead almost immediately, with Joe Willock’s shot saved by David Raya.

The Spanish boss threw on 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri and Oleksandr Zinchenko for Gabriel Martinelli and Merino just after the hour mark.

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Isak fired a shot at Raya that the Arsenal goalkeeper pushed away before Rice muscled his way into the Newcastle area and flashed a shot wide.

Arteta made further changes, introducing defender Ben White and forward Gabriel Jesus in the desperate push for an equaliser.

Arsenal struggled to build up a head of steam as the clock ticked down but they squandered a golden chance to equalise when Rice headed just wide from a Saka cross in stoppage time.

The Gunners, still missing captain Martin Odegaard, suffered a shock defeat against Bournemouth last month and drew 2-2 with Liverpool last week.

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They have tough games coming up against Inter Milan in the Champions League and Chelsea next week.

The win lifts Eddie Howe’s Newcastle to eighth in the table ahead of the later kick-offs on Saturday.

AFP

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CAF Confederation Cup: Enyimba fight back to draw against Zamalek

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Enyimba fought back from a 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with holders Zamalek of Egypt in their CAF Confederation Cup Group D clash in Uyo.

Seifeddine Jaziri put Zamalek ahead three minutes after the half-hour mark.

The visitors doubled their advantage through Omar Faraj four minutes before the break.

Enyimba showed their resilience by pulling a goal back in first-half stoppage time through Ifeanyi Ihemekwele before Ufere Chinedu equalised in the 57th minute.

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The People’s Elephant had chances to win the game but were let down by their poor finishing.

Daniel Olanrewaju’s side now have one point from two games.

The Aba giants will travel to Mozambique for their next game against Black Bulls.

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Osimhen scores 10th Galatasaray goal in Sivasspor thriller

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Nigerian international Victor Osimhen delivered an impressive performance, scoring his seventh goal of the season as 10-man Galatasaray secured a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Sivasspor in a dramatic match on Sunday.

The game started with Osimhen narrowly missing an early opportunity in the 8th minute, his powerful shot flashing just wide of the post.

However, the contest took a controversial turn in the 15th minute when Metehan Baltaci received a red card after a VAR review, leaving the visitors a man down.

Sivasspor capitalised on their numerical advantage in the 25th minute. Garry Rodrigues pounced on a rebound from goalkeeper Fernando Muslera to smash the ball into the roof of the net, putting the home side 1-0 ahead.

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Galatasaray responded swiftly, equalising in the 36th minute. Yunus Akgun’s shot benefitted from a goalkeeping error, bringing the score to 1-1.

Moments later, Osimhen came close again, his header in stoppage time denied by an excellent save.

Just before half-time, Galatasaray earned a penalty after Djordje Nikolic’s foul. Osimhen stepped up and confidently converted the kick, sending the ball into the top right corner to give Galatasaray a 2-1 lead.

The visitors extended their advantage early in the second half when Baris Alper Yilmaz scored in the 53rd minute, assisted by Yunus Akgun, making it 3-1.

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Sivasspor fought back, with Turac Boke reducing the deficit a minute into added time after connecting with Noah Sonko Sundberg’s cross.

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Man City’s Pep Guardiola Responds To José Mourinho Jibe

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he was only joking when he referred to winning twice as many Premier League titles as José Mourinho, after the former Chelsea boss said that he had won his titles fairly.

The Spaniard also said City were innocent until proven guilty, responding to Mourinho’s allusions to their alleged violations of Premier League financial rules from 2009 to 2018, which the club has always denied.

Guardiola, who held up six fingers to Liverpool fans on Sunday, a gesture similar to Mourinho holding up three fingers in 2018 before getting sacked by Manchester United, had made the comment when asked if he could suffer a fate similar to the Portuguese.

“I hope not in my case … He won three, I won six … but we are the same like that,” Guardiola answered.

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Mourinho responded to Guardiola’s comment on Friday, ahead of his team Fenerbahce’s clash with Besiktas.

“I won fairly and cleanly … I don’t want to win by dealing with 150 court cases,” Turkish outlet Hurriyet quoted Mourinho as saying.

City did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Mourinho’s statement.

Guardiola, speaking to reporters later on Friday, said he had no bad intentions when making the comment about Mourinho.

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“If I have offended him, I am so sorry. But it was a joke. The fact is he has three and I have six, it is a fact. But the intention was completely fine,” he said.

“I think both with our teams – he with Chelsea, myself with Man City – we can sit in the table with Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger right? For the many, many titles we’ve won. I’m pretty sure sooner or later they will congratulate us.”

Guardiola said there were many people around the world who wanted to see City at the bottom.

“We are innocent until proven as guilty. After that we’ll see what happens, but it is what it is,” he added.

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Mourinho has taken shots at City before, saying in October that he was hoping he could add a fourth Premier League medal to his cabinet if City are stripped of their titles and United, who finished second in 2017-18, are awarded the Premier League trophy.

Chelsea, where Mourinho won his three English top-flight titles in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2014-15, are being investigated by the Premier League for potential financial rule breaches between 2012 and 2019.

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