Sports

UCL: Mbappe bags brace as PSG thrash Barca, Dortmund eliminate Atletico

Published

1 month ago

April 17, 2024

NewsDirect

A brace from Kylian Mbappe and a strike from Ousmane Dembele saw Paris Saint-Germain thrash Barcelona 4-1, in the Champions League quarter-final second leg tie in Spain.

It was a night to forget for Barcelona as Xavi, defender Ronald Arajuo, and even goalkeeping coach Jose Ramon de la Fuente sent off.

The LaLiga giants came into the second leg holding a 3-2 advantage from their victory in Paris last week.

They looked on course for the semi-final when Raphinha’s early strike put them 1-0 up on 12 minutes.

However, the tie turned on its head when Arajuo was shown a straight red card on 29 minutes for impeding Bradley Barcola as the last man back.

Former Barcelona man Dembele equalised with five minutes left in the first half.

Vitinha then put PSG 2-1 ahead on the night nine minutes into the second half.

Barca boss Xavi lost his head at how referee Istvan Kovacs had officiated the contest.

The Spaniard booted the advertising hoarding in front of the fourth official in frustration and his aggression saw him get sent to the stands.

Things went from bad to worse for the Catalans when Joao Cancelo dived in late on Dembele inside the box to give away a penalty.

Mbappe, who will likely be facing Barcelona as a rival player for Real Madrid next season, then made no mistake from the spot to make it 3-1 on 61 minutes.

Barcelona goalkeeping coach Jose Ramon de la Fuente’s protests saw him join Xavi in being shown a red as the club pushed for a way back.

But after committing players forwards, Mbappe got his second and PSG’s fourth goal on 89 minutes.

His second-half double meant Mbappe has now scored six goals against Barcelona in the Champions League – his most against any opponent in the competition.

PSG will now face Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals after the Germans ousted Atletico Madrid.

Dortmund lost the first leg 2-1 in Spain before triumphing 4-2 in the reverse fixture.

On Wednesday, holders Manchester City will host Real Madrid with everything to play for after the first leg ended 3-3.

At the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich will hope to overcome Arsenal whom they held to a 2-2 draw at the Emirates.

Sports

Chelsea part ways with Pochettino with immediate effect

Published

1 hour ago

May 21, 2024

NewsDirect

Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea have reportedly parted ways with immediate effect on Tuesday.

Sport reporter, Fabrizio Romano, announced on Tuesday via X.

“Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea part ways with immediate effect. Chelsea and Pochettino have already agreed on terms, as @Matt_Law_DT reports.

“Chelsea will consider a young manager as a priority to replace Pochettino,” he wrote.

Details later…

Sports

JUST IN: Liverpool name Arne Slot new coach

Published

1 day ago

May 20, 2024

NewsDirect

Liverpool Football Club has announced that Arne Slot has agreed to become the club’s new head coach.

The club disclosed that Slot will resume duty on January 1 after a work permit.

This was disclosed in a statement on the club’s website on Monday.

“Liverpool Football Club can announce Arne Slot has agreed a deal to become the club’s new head coach, formally taking up the position on June 1, 2024, subject to a work permit.

“The 45-year-old will join the Reds from Feyenoord ahead of the 2024-25 season after a deal was reached with the Eredivisie club for his services,” it read.

Slot will replace Jürgen Klopp at the helm following his decision to step down from the post at the end of the current campaign.

“The Netherlands-born coach will arrive after three highly successful seasons with Feyenoord, during which he led them to the league title in 2023 and was named Eredivisie Manager of the Year on two occasions.

“More recently, he helped the Rotterdam club to victory in the KNVB Cup in April after they defeated NEC Nijmegen 1-0 in the final.

“Before moving to Feyenoord, Slot held the position of AZ Alkmaar head coach, and he had led them to second place in the table, trailing leaders Ajax only on goal difference, when the Dutch season was cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2019-20.

“During his playing career, he operated primarily as a midfielder, turning out for FC Zwolle, NAC Breda, Sparta Rotterdam and PEC Zwolle before hanging up his boots in 2013,” it further read.

He will now soon become the first head coach of Liverpool FC from the Netherlands – with his first pre-season in charge of the squad set to get underway in July.

Sports

WAFU U-17: 10-man Golden Eaglets secure their first win against Niger

Published

2 days ago

May 19, 2024

NewsDirect

The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria secured their first win at the WAFU B U-17 Championship in Ghana, edging out the Niger Republic 1-0 at the University Stadium in Accra.

Rapha Adams’ 31st-minute goal separated both teams on the night.

Manu Garba’s side were reduced to 10 men after Chibuike Okorie was sent off three minutes after the hour mark.

The Golden Eaglets moved to second place on the Group B table with four points from two games.

Burkina Faso, who defeated Togo earlier in the day, top the group with the same number of points but with a superior goal difference.

Niger Republic is third with three points.

The Golden Eaglets will face already-eliminated Togo in their last group game on Wednesday.

A draw will be enough for the former World champions to earn a place in the semi-finals.