Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola rued his side s finishing after their 1-1 draw with Newcastle United on Saturday.
City had taken the lead in the first half through Josko Gvardiol, after neat play from Jack Grealish helped create the goal, but were pegged back when Anthony Gordon won and converted a penalty after the break.
Despite having 16 shots, and six efforts on target, City only registered 0.87 expected goals (xG), suggesting those chances were not of a high quality.
Erling Haaland failed to extend his scoring run, while Nick Pope made a fine save from Bernardo Silva late on, as City saw a run of 14 successive Premier League matches in which they had scored multiple goals come to an end.
A frustrated Guardiola told TNT Sports: We made bad decision…
Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal s response to their poor start and warned there must be no let-up as they travel to Burnley on Saturday.
Arsenal avoided an unwanted club record of four defeats in their first four Premier League games thanks to a 1-0 win over Norwich City last weekend, scoring their first top-flight goal of the season.
Arteta s side now look ahead to Burnley, who they are unbeaten against in their last nine away league games, their last defeat at Turf Moor coming in 1973.
The Gunners manager is full of confidence following the learning curve that he has experienced at the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
The boys were happy because we experienced a reaction of the fans towards the team and winning the first match, getting out of the blocks …
Spain boss Luis Enrique has assured captain Sergio Busquets he has a major role to play at Euro 2020 once he returns from a COVID-19 absence.
The Barcelona midfielder is said to be well in himself and able to train in isolation despite testing positive for the virus last week.
Busquets will miss Spain s opening game against Sweden in Seville on Monday; however, he may be available for the second group game on June 19, when Poland are the opposition, and there is no prospect of him being cut from Spain s squad.
I m going to wait for him. We are all going to wait for him, Luis Enrique said in a news conference on Thursday.
There is plenty of time for him to come back. He will be certainly on the list.
What Busquets brings is something impressive…
Erik ten Hag described his first meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe as “very positive” but admitted he still has much to learn about the billionaire’s plans for Manchester United.
Ratcliffe’s INEOS group will assume control of footballing operations once his purchase of a 25 per cent stake in the club has been ratified in the coming weeks, and he has been in Manchester this week for a series of meetings with club staff.
The meetings have been described as an opportunity for Ratcliffe, as well as senior INEOS officials Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc, to get to know the club before they start work in earnest.
“It was very positive, I have to say,” Ten Hag said. “We had a long meeting, many hours we sit together and on many issues we are on the …
Best odds: 13/10
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The groups of the African Cup of Nations have been played out, and it s time for the knockout stages to begin. In the round of 16, Ivory Coast will take on Egypt at the Japoma Stadium in Douala, Cameroon.
Ivory Coast
Drawn in Group E of the tournament, Ivory Coast first faced Equatorial Guinea and won by a single goal, courtesy of Sivasspor forward Max-Alain Gardel. It was a bit harder when they took on Sierra Leone in the second round, with goals from Ajax striker Sebastian Haller and Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe only enough for a 2-2 draw. Finally, they beat Algeria by 3-1 to secure the top spot in the group, with AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie, PSV Eindhoven midfielder Ibrahim Sangare and Pepe all on target to settle the outcome…
England manager Gareth Southgate has come under criticism from Nasser Al Khater for questioning Qatar s human rights record.
Southgate confirmed earlier this month that his side intend to use the World Cup in Qatar to highlight concerns around the host country.
However, he also stressed that they must be realistic as any demonstration will be complicated .
Qatar s stance towards women and the LGBTQ+ community was widely pointed to as a problem before FIFA awarded it the tournament in 2010.
Meanwhile, the deaths of thousands of migrant workers have been reported during preparation for the finals, although Qatar s organising committee disputed what it called inaccurate claims around the number of fatalities.
Al Khater – the chief executive …
Arsene Wenger has accused Liverpool midfielder Fabinho of cheating in order to get Alexis Sanchez sent off in Tuesday s Champions League tie with Inter.
Liverpool were beaten 1-0 by the Italian champions in the second leg at Anfield but still advanced to the quarter-finals by virtue of a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Sanchez s dismissal came at a pivotal moment in the tie, the Chile international being shown a second yellow two minutes after Lautaro Martinez had struck to give Inter hope.
The former Arsenal and Manchester United player clearly got some of the ball but followed through on Fabinho, who got back to his feet once the red card had been issued.
It was the first red card Sanchez has received in his 64 games in the Champions League, and Wenger suggested…
Best Odds: 4/9
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Two camps who are desperate to extend on their EURO 24 qualifying adventure, Georgia will welcome Luxembourg to Tbilisi on Thursday evening.
Georgia
Starting with the hosts, while Georgia might have clinched a EURO 24 qualifying semi-final spot thanks to their Nations League success 18 months ago, Willy Sagnol’s men have struggled to find any real stability over recent times. Last seen on November 19th signing off their Group A adventure with a routine 3-1 loss at the hands of European heavyweights Spain, the Crusaders also claimed just a single victory from any of their final six qualifying appearances. Alongside mustering just a sole competitive clean sheet since way back in September 2022, Sagnol’s side have also shown some exte…
Steven Gerrard wants to sign Connor Goldson from Rangers in the summer transfer window, according to . The former Rangers manager is now in charge of Al-Ettifaq, and it has been reported that the Liverpool legend is keen on a reunion with Goldson in Saudi Arabia.
Goldson has been on the books of Rangers since 2018 and has established himself as one of the best and most important players for the Gers. The 31-year-old has two more years on his current deal at the Ibrox club. Gerrard worked with Goldson when he was in charge of Rangers. He has given one assist in 30 Scottish Premiership matches this season.
Rangers are second in the Scottish Premiership table at the moment with 78 points from 34 matches. The Gers are three points behind leaders and bitter rival Celtic. Ran…
Shane Long is a doubt for the first leg of the Republic of Ireland s Euro 2016 play-off tie after suffering an ankle injury.
The Southampton striker, who scored the winning goal against Germany last week, picked up the problem while away on duty with Martin O Neill s side.
Saints boss Ronald Koeman has since confirmed Long could be sidlined for up to four weeks, which may rule him out of first leg of the play-offs, scheduled for the week beginning November 9.
The Shane injury is a disappointment. It s an ankle ligament injury and he will be out for two to four weeks, Koeman said on Thursday.
That s a disappointment, but the rest of the players are happy to be back.
The Dutchman could welcome back Jordi Clasie for the meeting with Leicest…