Diego Costa proved to be the scourge of 10-man Arsenal once again by playing a pivotal role in Chelsea s 1-0 Premier League victory at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The Spain striker was embroiled in a spat which saw Arsenal s Gabriel sent off in the champions 2-0 win in September, while also clashing with Laurent Koscielny in that game.
The latter of those confrontations earned him a retrospective three-match ban, but Costa had an even more decisive impact here.
In a five-minute period midway through the first half, Costa drew a professional foul from Per Mertesacker that saw the Arsenal defender sent off, before netting the winning goal from Branislav Ivanovic s excellent delivery.
Even the second-half introduction of Alexis Sanchez featuring for the …
Brazil want Neymar to compete at the Copa America Centenario and Olympic Games this year, according to Brazilian Football Confederation technical director Gilmar Rinaldi.
The Copa America takes place in the United States from June 3-26 and Brazill will play at their home Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Argentina coach Gerardo Martino has ruled Lionel Messi out of contention for one of the three spaces available for players over 23-years-old at the Olympics.
However, despite the physical demands it would have on his Barcelona team-mate, Brazil are eager to have Neymar involved for both tournaments.
In principle, yes, [we want Neymar for both tournaments] but we are going to talk with the players and the clubs, Rinaldi told Globo.
It s a …
Bernardo Silva is enjoying the fast and furious nature of Manchester City s festive schedule as Pep Guardiola s side head into the busiest period of their season.
The defending Premier League champions are amid a sequence of 13 matches in just six weeks across all competitions, a run that includes crunch league clashes with Chelsea and Liverpool as well as an EFL Cup quarter-final at Leicester City.
English football s traditionally hectic festive fixture list has often been a bone of contention among managers, but Silva who joined City from Monaco in 2017 is relishing the busy calendar.
It s a little bit different because both countries where I played before, Portugal and France, we had a Christmas break, he told reporters.
Here you don t stop so it s a…
Score against Liverpool and Manchester United fans will never forget you. Score twice, as an academy graduate, and you will be practically worshipped.
The last time these sides met in the Premier League, Marcus Rashford did just that. In his first league start for two and a half months, the young man from Wythenshawe gave full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold a torrid experience.
He s probably the fastest in the league, but it s not just out and out pace, Alexander-Arnold recalled to the Daily Mail in September. It s getting you off balance, that s when they get you. It s not just a foot race. Get you off balance, then your body shape s not right and they re gone.
Rashford was, and so was the game, in the space of 24 minutes. He produced two stylish finishes, both …
Market: Arsenal win
Odds: 8/11 @
Hoping to extend on their EFL Cup adventure on Tuesday night, Arsenal will welcome a struggling Leeds to the Emirates in midweek.
Starting with the hosts, while Arsenal might have opened the 2021/22 campaign in the midst of a very public struggle, the Gunners have managed to bounce back. Snatching a last-gasp point at home against Crystal Palace last week, Mikel Arteta s side were last seen on Friday night claiming a deserved 3-1 romp against Aston Villa at the Emirates. Playing their way into the top-half of the Premier League table, the former champions are now enjoying a seven-match unbeaten run across all formats, a run that stems back to the end of August. Knowing that they have a real chance in north London to extend on th…
Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos is scheduled to have a medical today (Monday) ahead of a proposed loan move to FC Nurnberg, according to numerous sources.
The Greek centre-back arrived to North London in January 2018 for a fee of just over €2 million, but injuries have so far hampered his progress with Arsenal severely. In two years, he has only played eight times in all competitions for the first team, seven of which were in the Premier League.
Obviously lacking experience, the 22-year-old s continued presence in the squad would do little to improve Arsenal s frail defence. Quite apart from that, the Gunners are looking to add a new player in that department and have reportedly made contact with Bayern Munich to inquire about Jerome Boateng.
Meanwhil…
Sir Keir Starmer has called on Nike to change the colour of the St George’s Cross on a new England football shirt to traditional red after a row over its design.
The Labour leader said he believed the flag was a “unifier” and insisted the sporting brand should “reconsider” the decision to modify it.
The call comes after Nike revealed it had altered the cross using purple and blue horizontal stripes in what it called a “playful update” to the shirt ahead of Euro 2024.
An instant classic.
The brand new England kits will worn by our , and Para Teams in 2024.
— England (@England)
The US firm said the colours were inspired by the training kit worn by England’s 1966 World Cup winners.
Sir Keir told The Sun: “I’m…
Sarina Wiegman would ideally like England to have more warm-up game time ahead of the World Cup but says she is not concerned.
Having started their preparation camp at St George’s Park on June 19, the Lionesses have an initial warm-up match on Saturday against Portugal in Milton Keynes.
They fly out to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand four days later, and are scheduled to then have a behind-closed-doors game against Canada on July 14, their only other match before opening their Group D fixtures by playing Haiti in Brisbane on July 22.
Asked if she was concerned her players will not have enough match practice going into the World Cup with the two warm-up games, England boss Wiegman said: “No, we knew ahead of our preparation that this was the case.<…
Arsenal were one of the busiest teams in the Premier League on transfer deadline day.
The Gunners managed to bring in four players into the currently threadbare squad.
The arrival of Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos and Yossi Benayoun will no doubt strengthen the Gunners squad.
The big question is has Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger done enough to keep the club in top four of the Premier League this season?
Midfielders
The players that Arsenal have signed are good players, there is no question about that. However they have lost two world-class midfielders in the shape of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas. Their replacements are not quite in the same league.
Spaniard Mikel Arteta will be seen as his compatriots replacement. At £10mill…
Costa Rica midfielder Celso Borges is unwilling to simply settle and be content with a quarter-final exit at the FIFA World Cup.
The Central American nation have been the biggest surprise packets in Brazil, upsetting Uruguay and Italy in the group stages before edging past Greece in the round of 16.
Costa Rica may be into the last eight at a World Cup for the first time but Borges said there was more to achieve.
It s another match but the game doesn t change. We are going with the same foundation that gave us results during these matches, he told a news conference on Wednesday, three days before their clash against Netherlands in Salvador.
We have confronted different challenges during this World Cup and now is another occasion to be even more united an…