Premier League
GUARDIOLA PRAISES ‘INCREDIBLE’ SILVA AS MAN CITY ROUT NEWCASTLE
Pep Guardiola praised David Silva as the “incredible” Manchester City playmaker turned on the style one more time in Wednesday’s (July 8) 5-0 rout of Newcastle.
Silva scored a superb free-kick and set up goals for Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling at the Etihad Stadium.
The 34-year-old is leaving City at the end of the season after a decade’s outstanding service.
Although all games are currently being played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus, Guardiola wants Silva to return for a farewell game to allow City fans to give him a proper send-off.
“It is not the game today, which was incredible, but what he has done over 10 years,” Guardiola said.
“When the people come back to the Etihad Stadium we will do a farewell game for one of the legends of this club.
“He is maybe the best in the small spaces. Moving between the lines I have never seen anyone like him.
“He has come back from lockdown in incredible form and rhythm. If he decides to play on he can play anywhere. There is no doubt about this.”
With City’s record goalscorer Sergio Aguero a long-term absentee after knee surgery, Guardiola needs Jesus to start firing on all cylinders.
He finally stepped up to the plate with the first-half strike.
It was Jesus’ 19th goal of the season, but just his second in his last 12 Premier League matches, banishing a nine-game barren run in all competitions.
Riyad Mahrez increased City’s lead and Federico Fernandez’s own goal was followed by Silva’s free-kick and a late Sterling strike.
Guardiola’s side have only pride to play for in the remainder of the Premier League season after Liverpool took the title.
But second-placed City, who won the League Cup in March, still have silverware in their sights as they await the result of their appeal against a two-season ban from European competition.
They face an FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal on July 18 and the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid in August, with City holding a 2-1 lead.
After losing two of their last three league games, Guardiola had warned his players to cut out the mistakes that have blighted their season.
With that in mind, Guardiola was encouraged by the ruthless way they put Newcastle to the sword.
‘NO DOUBTS’
“At Southampton I had no doubts about the way we played but this game is about winning,” he said.
“Now we have four weeks to finish second, score a lot of goals. We want to score goals, respect the football and prepare well for Arsenal and (Real) Madrid.”
Guardiola insisted this week that Jesus had produced “one of his best performances of this season” in Sunday’s defeat at Southampton.
The 23-year-old repaid Guardiola’s faith in the 10th minute, meeting Silva’s pass with a close-range finish for his first goal since netting at Real Madrid in February.
City midfielder Phil Foden dragged his shot wide from a tight angle after a dangerous burst into the Newcastle area.
Guardiola’s men were in complete control and doubled their lead in the 21st minute.
Foden sent Kevin De Bruyne away down the left side of the Newcastle area and the Belgian’s cut-back was slotted home by Mahrez for his 12th goal of the season.
City’s relentless pressure produced a third goal in the 58th minute when Jesus’s raid panicked Matt Ritchie into a desperate clearance that cannoned off Fernandez into his own net.
In the final months of his last season with City, Silva remains a class act and he made it four with a fine free-kick that left Dubravka rooted to the spot in the 65th minute.
Sterling’s 90th-minute tap-in made it 17 goals for City in their four home games since the restart.
-AFP
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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