18, February 2023
Premier League: Arsenal regain top spot as Man City stumble in title race 0
Arsenal regained pole position in the Premier League title race on Saturday as the Gunners fought back for a thrilling 4-2 victory at Aston Villa, while Manchester City were held to a damaging 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.
Just three days after surrendering first place with a 3-1 defeat against City, Arsenal bounced back in impressive style to move two points clear of the champions.
With just minutes left at Villa Park, Mikel Arteta’s side were in danger of slipping up again in their bid to win the title for the first time since 2004.
Arsenal twice trailed to goals from Ollie Watkins and Philippe Coutinho, only for Bukayo Saka and then Oleksandr Zinchenko to haul them level.
Deep into second half stoppage-time, Arsenal received a helping hand from their former keeper as Emiliano Martinez inadvertantly deflected Jorginho’s shot into his own net after it hit the bar.
Gabriel Martinelli capped Arsenal’s remarkable escape when he tapped into the empty net in the final seconds after Martinez was caught upfield at a Villa corner.
“We are back with more belief than before because you have to turn performances into results,” Arteta said.
“Win in any context. We’ve always talked about that. Today we had a really difficult context, especially with what happened after five minutes.
“The team showed a lot of emotional qualities that are needed. I’m really happy.”
Arsenal’s first victory in five games in all competitions will give them renewed belief they can pip City to the title.
The Gunners, who have a game in hand on the champions, were given a massive boost by their title rivals’ stumble just hours later.
Bernardo Silva put Pep Guardiola’s men ahead four minutes before half-time, taking Jack Grealish’s pass in his stride and drilling a clinical finish past Keylor Navas from 20 yards.
But the tension mounted as City searched for a second goal and Guardiola was booked for manhandling the fourth official after Erling Haaland’s penalty appeal was rejected following Joe Worrall’s challenge.
Profligate City
City were undone by their profligacy as Haaland’s drive hit the bar before the Norway star blazed the rebound over.
Haaland missed another chance moments later and Forest made the champions pay with their first shot on target in the 84th minute.
Morgan Gibbs-White fired a low ball across the area and New Zealand striker Chris Wood tapped into an empty net to leave Guardiola stunned.
Everton moved out of the relegation zone with a valuable 1-0 win against fellow strugglers Leeds at Goodison Park.
Seamus Coleman netted in the 64th minute when Everton’s veteran defender hooked over a cross that caught out Leeds keeper Illan Meslier, who left a gap at his near post for the ball to squeeze into the net.
Sean Dyche’s side have won two of their three matches since he replaced the sacked Frank Lampard and now sit one point above the bottom three, while managerless Leeds are in 19th place.
Under-fire Chelsea boss Graham Potter suffered another blow as bottom of the table Southampton won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
James Ward-Prowse scored his 17th Premier League free-kick — one behind David Beckham’s record in the competition — to give Southampton the lead in first half stoppage-time.
Stuart Armstrong was fouled on the edge of the area and with Saints fans chanting Ward-Prowse’s name, the midfielder curled a superb set-piece past Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Chelsea were booed off at full-time after a result that left them languishing in 10th place, with just two wins in their last 14 games in all competitions and none in their last five.
Bournemouth climbed out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win at Wolves, with Marcus Tavernier bundling in the winner after 49 minutes.
Manor Solomon’s 88th minute goal gave sixth-placed Fulham a 1-0 win at Brighton, while Brentford and Crystal Palace drew 1-1.
Source: AFP
21, February 2023
Football: Gabrielle Onguene says ‘World Cup without Cameroon is like McDonald’s without fries’ 0
Cameroon’s Gabrielle Onguene says the 2023 Women’s World Cup without her country would be “like McDonald’s without fries”.
The CSKA Moscow forward, 33, came off the bench to score both goals as the Indomitable Lionesses beat Thailand 2-0 in a play-off match on Saturday.
Only Portugal now stand in Cameroon’s way as they target a third consecutive appearance in the finals.
“It’s always a pleasure and a big joy for football players to participate at a World Cup,” she told organisers Fifa after the victory in Hamilton, New Zealand.
“When I went on the pitch, every ball I got I tried to stay as calm as possible.
“Now, we want our third ticket, our third participation, because we believe that a World Cup without Cameroon is like McDonald’s without fries.”
Onguene opened the scoring in the 79th minute at the Waikato Stadium – only five minutes after coming on as a substitute – before doubling the lead three minutes later.
The winners of Wednesday’s match against Portugal will book their place in the finals, to be held in Australia and New Zealand later this year.
But Senegal’s hopes of reaching their first finals ended with a 4-0 defeat to Haiti, who now face Chile in their final play-off game.
Estelle Johnson
Estelle Johnson and Cameroon must overcome the team 36 place above them in the Fifa rankings, Portugal, if they are to reach the finals.
The Indomitable Lionesses return to the Waikato Stadium on Wednesday for the clash with Portugal, who have yet to take part in a World Cup finals.
The Europeans, however, sit 22nd in the Fifa rankings so go into the game as favourites against a Cameroon side ranked 58th in the world.
“Obviously, they are a very strong team,” said Cameroon defender, Estelle Johnson.
“We watched some films on them and we know that they like to attack, and they like to attack quickly.
“So, that is something we definitely have to focus on, and make sure we handle that correctly.
“We are going to give everything on the pitch – do every single thing we can to bring our participation in this World Cup back to Cameroon.”
The West Africans will have to do the job without first choice goalkeeper Ange Bawou who was sent off towards the end of the Thailand game.
“Obviously, not having our first (choice) goalkeeper is tough but we brought three goalkeepers for a reason,” added Johnson.
“We believe that every single person on this team can play and play well in a big match. We have all the confidence in the world that our goalkeepers are going to step up and handle it for us.”
Cameroon are hoping to join South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, and Zambia at the Women’s World Cup, which will feature 32 teams for the first time.
Source: BBC