Premier League
Seventh heaven for Nottingham Forest as Chris Wood helps hammer sorry Brighton
Chris Wood’s magnificent vein of form continued as his hat-trick helped Nottingham Forest to their biggest top flight win in 34 years with a brutal 7-0 thrashing of Brighton at the City Ground.
Nuno Espirito Santo was looking for a response following their 5-0 defeat at Bournemouth last week and his side responded in style.
Brighton simply could not deal Morgan Gibbs-White, who was at the heart of Forest’s stylish first-half showing as he forced Lewis Dunk into putting in his own net before scoring one of his own to put the hosts in a commanding position.
Anthony Elanga provided Gibbs-White’s header from a clever corner routine and chalked up his second assist of the afternoon when he put one on to the head of Wood.
Elanga completed a hat-trick of assists when set up Wood’s second and the New Zealand striker followed suit in the goals column when he tucked away a penalty before Neco Williams and Jota Silva finished the rout for Forest’s biggest Premier League victory since April 1991, when they beat Chelsea 7-0.
In typical fashion, the home side drew first blood with their first foray forward.
Gibbs-White darted into space and sent a teaser into the box which forced Dunk to stick a leg out and turn the ball into his own goal.
Forest doubled their advantage in the 25th minute after Wood’s initial effort was blocked out for a corner, Elanga whipped the ball on a sixpence for Gibbs-White to powerfully glance into the roof of the net.
Matz Sels was called into the action for the first time as he scrambled off his line to deny Danny Welbeck’s one-on-one effort.
Brighton were simply not at the races and were in danger of being totally ripped apart before the break – the conductor of the orchestra, Gibbs-White, continued to impress – his cross-field ball found Williams who lashed narrowly wide before Wood’s crack from distance forced Bart Verbruggen to tip over.
The hosts were showing zero mercy in a savage first half which eventually saw Forest land a third. Elanga continued to taunt Tariq Lamptey and he lifted a cross into the clinical Wood who nodded home.
Brighton pushed for a response, the fingertips of Sels proved crucial to flick Welbeck’s curler off the underside of the bar and off the line
However the Reds firmly had their foot on Brighton’s throat and punished them with a fourth in the 64th minute. Elanga’s domineering afternoon went on, he drilled a ball across the face of goal and none other than Wood was waiting to stick into an empty net.
The Seagulls’ miserable afternoon was not finished there either, Simon Hooper pointed to the penalty spot when Lamptey wrestled Gibbs-White to the floor and Wood made no mistake from 12 yards for his 17th goal of the season.
Forest wanted more and they had a sixth when the ball fell for Williams for his second goal for the club.
The humiliation continued and a pathetic Brighton performance was rubber-stamped when Verbruggen passed straight to Jota who slotted home to get Forest’s European surge back on track.
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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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