Premier League
THREE GROUPS STRUGGLE TO BUY CHELSEA
UK’s Daily Mail has reported that Chelsea have held talks with three interested parties over the potential £2.5billion sale of the club.
They are believed to have included US and Asian-based finance groups, while Britain’s richest man Jim Ratcliffe has also expressed an interest, as first revealed by the Daily Mail last year.
.Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck recently insisted owner Roman Abramovich was committed to the London club despite stopping attending games.
But The Mail on Sunday have learned that Chelsea officials have held what have been described as ‘exploratory talks’ with the three parties in recent weeks.
Abramovich is not believed to
have attended any Chelsea games since being denied a visa in May 2018. The
53-year-old Russian billionaire subsequently sought Israeli citizenship, moving
to Tel Aviv.
He has spent between £1m and £3m on corporate hospitality boxes at Stamford Bridge every year since 2011 but did not buy any before the start of this season for the first time in almost a decade.
Abramovich has continued to pump money into Chelsea, however, and the total debt owed to him by the parent company increased by £75m last year. It now stands at a total of £1.25bn, money he would want to recoup if the club were sold
Leading football club acquisitions company, Oakwell Capital, said well respected US and Asian-based finance groups have emerged with a renewed interest in Premier League clubs, because many have posted healthy profits. Tottenham, Liverpool and Burnley are among clubs to have announced record profits recently.
Doug Harmer, director of Oakwell Capital, said: ‘There is a renewed interest in Premier League clubs from within the Asian and US investment communities.
‘While domestic television deals have plateaued, the international TV deals have gone up and are expected to continue to rise in the long term.
‘Reputable and well-regarded institutions can see potential for further growth at Premier League clubs.’
Ratcliffe was interested in buying the Stamford Bridge club, but his valuation is vastly below the £2.5bn valuation set by Abramovich.
Ratcliffe has reportedly turned his attentions to buying French outfit Nice, currently seventh in Ligue 1, and would face considerable competition to complete a deal for the Blues, who travel to title-chasing Liverpool on Sunday, should he return to the negotiating table.
Manchester United cruised to a rare comfortable home Premier League victory as goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko secured a 2-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday.
With the pressure growing on manager Ruben Amorim after a disappointing start to the season, Mount calmed the nerves around the ground with a fine early finish to break the deadlock.
United continued to dominate, with a spectacular save from Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs preventing Bruno Fernandes from adding a sumptuous second before Sesko netted his first Old Trafford goal after 31 minutes.
Sunderland were awarded a penalty late in the first half, a decision that was overturned following a VAR intervention, but they never really threatened after the break as United eased to a third home league victory of the season.
The result put United in provisional eighth place with 10 points from seven games, two places below Sunderland on 11.
Wins, especially comfortable ones, have been in short supply for Portuguese Amorim since he took charge in November.
United supporters have slowly started to turn on the new manager as a result, with nothing short of victory over promoted Sunderland, despite the visitors’ impressive start to the season, enough to appease the disgruntled masses.
Mount’s superb control and finish was just what the beleaguered boss needed. The fine strike was the earliest United have scored in the Premier League since Marcus Rashford’s goal at Ipswich Town in Amorim’s first game in charge.
It was only a matter of time until the hosts scored again, such was their dominance. From a long throw, Sesko was alert to the flick-on before steering home his second in as many games.
United thought they had shot themselves in the foot as Sesko was penalised for a high boot in his own penalty area, only for VAR to deem it not to be a foul.
The hosts took their foot off the gas in the second half, but still should have added to their tally, with veteran Brazilian Casemiro blazing their best chance over the bar.
Sunderland did manufacture a late gilt-edged chance but Senne Lammens, making his debut in the United goal, stood tall to block, completing an assured performance from the keeper and his new teammates.
-Reuters
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Premier League champions Liverpool dropped points for the first time this season when they lost 2-1 at Crystal Palace in the eighth minute of added time as Manchester United and Chelsea suffered 3-1 defeats on Saturday.
United slumped at Brentford and 10-man Chelsea were beaten at home by Brighton & Hove Albion, who scored twice in stoppage time.
Manchester City thrashed Burnley 5-1 thanks to two own goals and a late brace from Erling Haaland while Leeds United were held to a 2-2 draw after Bournemouth equalised in added time through 19-year-old Eli Junior Kroupi.
There was also a late twist at Tottenham Hotspur when Joao Palhinha struck an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw at home to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
LIVERPOOL SUFFER FIRST LOSS
Liverpool were on the back foot early on when Palace took the lead in the ninth minute through a set-piece when the ball fell to Ismaila Sarr who smashed it home.
Liverpool would have conceded more if not for goalkeeper Alisson while Jean-Philippe Mateta nearly made it 2-0 when he hit the post.
Although Liverpool equalised through Federico Chiesa in the 87th minute, fellow substitute Eddie Nketiah provided late drama when he scored the winner in the 97th minute, with Selhurst Park celebrating the goal twice after VAR confirmed he was not offside.
“The boys are in really good form and think we can win every game and today we showed that,” Nketiah told the BBC.
Palace ended the day in second place, three points behind leaders Liverpool although Arsenal can go second if they beat Newcastle United on Sunday.
OWN GOALS, HAALAND GIVE MAN CITY WIN
Burnley’s Maxime Esteve became only the sixth player to score two own goals in a Premier League game as City climbed up to fourth.
Esteve scored the first when he tried to deny Phil Foden but Jaidon Anthony made it 1-1 with a shot that deflected off Ruben Dias.
Matheus Nunes restored City’s lead with a close-range effort before Esteve’s second own goal came when he looked to stop Oscar Bobb from finding the net.
Haaland struck twice in the dying minutes to hand Burnley their biggest loss of the season.
MANCHESTER UNITED LOSE AT BRENTFORD
Bryan Mbeumo received a warm welcome from the Brentford fans as he returned to his former club for the first time since his move to Manchester United but the reception paled in comparison to the roars when the home side went 2-0 up inside 20 minutes.
Igor Thiago capitalised on United’s high line for the opener when Jordan Henderson sent him through on goal in the eighth minute, before the Brazilian forward grabbed his second when United keeper Altay Bayindir spilled a save right into his path.
United pulled one back when Benjamin Sesko scored his first goal for the club but Bruno Fernandes had a penalty saved by Caoimhin Kelleher before Mathias Jensen put the game out of reach in added time with a rocket from outside the box.
“We didn’t control the game, we played the game of Brentford. We were really confused (on) second balls, first balls, set pieces,” United manager Ruben Amorim said.
“The crucial moments, they were against us. Tough to lose again.”
CHELSEA SEE RED AGAIN
Chelsea had a player sent off for a second time in as many league games when Trevoh Chalobah saw red for denying Brighton a goal-scoring opportunity at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Fernandez had given Chelsea a 1-0 lead with a close-range header but Chalobah’s red card in the 53rd minute reduced the home side to 10 men and Brighton made it count when Danny Welbeck opened his account for the season with the equaliser.
Brighton capitalised again in the 92nd minute when Maxim De Cuyper powered home a header and the visitors sealed all three points when Welbeck scored in the 10th minute of added time.
Bournemouth took the lead at Leeds when Antoine Semenyo scored from a free kick but the home side made it 2-1 when Joe Rodon and Sean Longstaff netted either side of halftime.
With Leeds close to taking three points, Kroupi volleyed home from inside the box in the 93rd minute to lift Bournemouth into a group of three clubs on 11 points.
Sunderland moved to 11 points and fourth place by beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the City Ground to leave Forest’s new manager Ange Postecoglou winless after five games in charge.
Omar Alderete’s first-half goal was the difference between the two sides with Sunderland mounting a staunch rearguard action as Forest laid siege to their goal.
Wolves were seconds away from earning their first win of the season after losing their opening five games in their worst ever start to a league campaign.
They led through Santiago Bueno’s scrappy goal early in the second half but Palhinha guided in a superb finish to send Tottenham to third place on goal difference.
-Reuters
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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said his side must match the level of urgency they showed against Chelsea on Saturday if they are to keep on winning.
Having tasted victory just once this season going into the game, on the back of their lowest top-flight league finish last term since they were relegated in 1973-74, the pressure was on Amorim ahead of Chelsea’s visit in the Premier League.
The early dismissal of Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez gave United the platform to earn a vital win with goals from Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro but the performance, from the off, reached levels of intensity that had been lacking in recent struggles.
“Sometimes we have some moments that we feel an urgency to have a result,” Amorim said. “Today we won, it’s nice to win, but let’s not forget that return to that urgency in our game.
“We need to win the next game. That is the most important thing. In this big club it’s not a feeling that today is a really good game, let’s relax a little bit. Let’s keep that urgency. That is the most important feeling we have to take for the next week.”
In true United fashion, the hosts still made things difficult for themselves from a seemingly unassailable position, 2-0 in front with a numerical advantage in the driving Manchester rain.
Casemiro’s sending-off late in the first half gave the visitors a lifeline, with Trevoh Chalobah’s header ensuring a nervy finish at an expectant Old Trafford.
“We showed that when everything is going well, we arrange something to make it difficult,” Amorim said. “But we suffered together in the end. That was a good thing, if you look at the game we deserved to win.
“We were trying to do things a little bit too much, making a tackle that maybe we shouldn’t. It’s hard to say, because that is the pressure. I feel more pressure in some young guys sometimes.
“Maybe it’s because Casemiro cares. We score one and he has that tackle. Sometimes it’s not the pressure, they wanted too much in that moment.”
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