..::Football III::..

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Wenger's Walcott experiment five years too late, insists Wright

Arsenal legend Ian Wright claims that Arsene Wenger should have used Theo Walcott as a striker years ago, but believes that he still possesses the finishing skills to succeed as a frontman.

Walcott was disappointing throughout Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Newcastle on Saturday, missing a glaring opportunity from three yards out with the goal gaping before he was substituted after 70 minutes.

And the Gunners star, who scored 185 goals in 288 games for the club, insists that Wenger should have deployed the England international there many years ago.

Speaking on BT Sport, Wright said: "They needed to do this five years ago if they were going to take him out of the right-hand side and into the centre and try to teach him how to make those runs.

"Now all of a sudden that Giroud isn’t playing well, they’re trying to get Benzema.

"He scored a hat-trick against let’s face it West Brom at the end of last season and a very poor Aston Villa side in the FA Cup final and now they’re putting him up front and basically telling him to get on with it.

"He needed to be in this position four or five years ago learning because he’s not a bad finisher."

 

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'Newcastle wanted to stop us from playing' - Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Newcastle United tried to disrupt the Gunners' 1-0 win away at St James' Park.

Magpies defender Fabricio Coloccini deflected an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shot into his own net to give Wenger's side a narrow victory.

Newcastle, who are still searching for their first win of the season, were forced to play with ten men for much of the match, following Aleksandar Mitrovic's red card for a stamp on Francis Coquelin after 16 minutes.

But Wenger believes that the Magpies adopted defensive tactics even before the Serbia international's red card.

"Newcastle wanted to stop us from playing and they tried that from the start," the Arsenal manager said.

"It was about patience and nerves. We needed not to rush our game and to wait for our chances and take one of them.

"Newcastle decided from the start to make the game quite physical, we had to keep our nerve and not become aggressive as well."

Asked about the red card for Mitrovic, a decision that attracted the ire of the home fans, Wenger insisted that he missed the incident during live play, but believes television replays suggest that challenge deserved a red card.

"Honestly during the game I didn’t see it," Wenger added.

"I’ve just seen it on television and he didn’t get the ball, it’s a red card.

"Did he do it on purpose? I don’t know.

"It was a strange game after that, they played 15 yards deeper with 10 against nine in the final third.

"We didn’t find the space and they defended well. We are happy in the end to win the three points."

Wenger, who dropped striker Olivier Giroud in favour of Theo Walcott, revealed that Arsenal would be in the market for an "exceptional player" as the end of the transfer wndow edges close.

"We are open if we find an exceptional player in any sector we will do it," Wenger revealed.

"Whether something will happen, I don’t know.

"I expected more space for Theo [Walcott] but after 15 minutes it was a different problem for us.

"There was no space behind their defenders."

 

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Di Maria set for Paris Saint-Germain debut

Angel Di Maria is set to make his eagerly-awaited Paris Saint-Germain debut after being included in the squad for Sunday's Ligue 1 meeting with Monaco.

The Argentina international joined the French champions from Manchester United on August 6 but was not considered for the start of the 2015-16 campaign due to his lack of a pre-season, with his participation in the Copa America having been followed by an extended break and then protracted transfer talks.

However, Di Maria is now available for selection, much to the delight of PSG boss Laurent Blanc, who feels that the former Real Madrid man will add an extra dimension to his side.

"He can play everywhere," the World Cup winner told reporters on the eve of the trip to the Stade Louis II. "He's effective in various positions.

"He's versatile, so he will be able to adapt quickly to the team. He's a player of great quality and technical ability, which allows him to rack up a lot of assists.

"However, he's also a guy capable of registering over 10 goals a season."

Di Maria's arrival appears to spell bad news for fellow winger and compatriot Ezequiel Lavezzi, who has been heavily linked with a move to Inter before the close of the transfer window.

Blanc refused to be drawn on the former Napoli man's future but did concede that the 30-year-old might not be happy now that his first-team opportunities could decrease.

"We're counting over every player but the coach can only choose 11," the ex-France international stated.

"Obviously the more players we have, the more players there are dissatisfied.

"Our summer recruitment is done but we are not against a player leaving..."

Meanwhile, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is also in the PSG squad for the game against Monaco, after recovering from a knock sustained in pre-season.

However, Blanc says that he has yet to decide whether the Sweden striker will be thrown straight back into the starting line-up: "We'll see whether he starts or not."

 

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'Newcastle will appeal Mitrovic red card' - McClaren

Newcastle United manager Steve McClaren has revealed that they will launch an appeal against Aleksandar Mitrovic's red card in Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.

The striker, who joined Newcastle from Belgian side Anderlecht earlier this summer, was dismissed for a stamp on Gunners midfielder Francis Coquelin just 15 minutes into the match at St James' Park.

However, McClaren moved to defend his man after the game, claiming that he thought that Mitrovic was very unlucky to receive a straight red card for the challenge, intimating that referee Andre Marriner had been influenced by the negative media coverage that the Serbian has received for being booked in two of his previous three Premier League outings.

Speaking to reporters, the 54-year-old former England boss stated: "It’s very difficult to win with 10 men especially against teams that can keep the ball.

"The players were backed by an unbelievable crowd. If we keep the spirit, we’ve shown enough that there is a good platform to build on.

"We are very disappointed to have played with 10 men for two games now. Moussa Sissoko had a similar one that was given yellow.

"I’ve seen it over and over. The ball has come over his head, his eyes are on the ball and he’s stamped on his foot. He wasn’t look at the man, there wasn’t any intent.

"I definitely don’t think it was dangerous. It was clumsy but I’ve seen plenty of clumsy challenges. It’s a contact sport.

"I know him well. There’s no intent in anything he does. He just wants to win the ball; he’s a winner.

"He’s only played a couple of games. Maybe referees are too busy watching Match of the Day instead of assessing their own game. That can be a problem.

"I hope we can appeal because we will. We will probably lose it. You can gauge a lot from the players - even the Arsenal players looked surprise. They weren’t appealing.

"I wouldn’t say that was a dirty game and we’ve kicked them off the park. They were fouls and the referee has reacted to harshly with all of them. He was rash."

 

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Official: Blackett joins Celtic on loan

Versatile Manchester United defender Tyler Blackett has joined Scottish Premiership side Celtic on a season-long loan.

The 21-year-old broke through at Old Trafford last season, making 11 Premier league appearances during Louis van Gaal's maiden season with the club.

However, Blackett has yet to feature for United this term as Luke Shaw has cemented his position as Van Gaal's first choice left-back, whilst Chris Smalling and Daley Blind have been preferred at centre-back.

The Englishman will continue his development at Celtic Park with the Scottish champions.

Ronny Deila's men, who were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League in midweek by Malmo, could be set to lose key defender Virgil van Dijk before the transfer window shuts.

The Dutchman has been heavily linked with Premier League side Southampton in recent weeks and Blackett is thought to be a possible replacement in the Celtic side.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Good luck Blackett

​

 

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Manchester City 2-0 Watford: Sterling stars as leaders maintain perfect start

Raheem Sterling scored the first Premier League goal of his Manchester City career in a 2-0 victory over Watford as Manuel Pellegrini's men achieved a new club record of 10 consecutive wins.

Sterling's close-range strike just after half-time broke a resolute Watford defence that was opened up a second time when Fernandinho netted his second goal of a season in which City look hot favourites for the title after a flawless start to the campaign that leaves them top.

Quique Sanchez Flores' Watford side deserved credit for a first-half defensive display in which they stifled the league's most potent attack, but there was a sense of inevitability about the result once the deadlock was broken at the Etihad Stadium.

City are now one victory away from equalling Chelsea and Liverpool's record winning streaks of 11 games, but on this kind of form they look well capable of breaking the Premier League record of 14, set by Arsenal in 2002.

City were unchanged from the side that beat Everton 2-0 last Sunday, while Flores dropped Ikechi Anya to the bench and replaced him with Almen Abdi.

The hosts started brightly, with Sterling - a close-season signing from Liverpool - causing havoc down the left and linking up effectively with David Silva to put Watford under pressure from the outset.

Yaya Toure wasted no time in making his presence felt, felling Abdi with a challenge from behind that earned him a stern word from referee Mark Clattenburg.

Sergio Aguero, keen to add to his only goal of the season so far in the 3-0 win over Chelsea, attempted to weave his way through the packed Watford defence, but Etienne Capoue made a key interception to prevent the Argentine from getting his shot away.

The home side began to show the first signs of frustration when Aguero was scythed down outside the box, and Aleksandar Kolarov blazed the resulting free-kick well over the crossbar.

Watford's disciplined defending stifled their hosts' early threat, and Toure started to push forward and add power and guile to the City attack.

Bacary Sagna tested Heurelho Gomes when he managed to snatch a shot after a goalmouth scramble, shortly before the Brazilian goalkeeper had to get down quickly to brilliantly turn Sterling's close-range shot round a post.

After 40 minutes of almost non-stop defending, cracks started to show in the Watford rearguard, but Aguero fired just wide from 20 yards out when a mistake by Abdi allowed him to shoot, and Watford's impressive first-half performance was rewarded with a blank scoresheet at the break.

Pellegrini sent on Samir Nasri for Jesus Navas, allowing Sterling to move into attack, and within one minute the substitution paid off, when a cross by Sagna found Sterling, who had lost his marker and enjoyed the easiest of tap-ins from close range to open his account for City.

Less than 10 minutes later, the lead was doubled when a Toure free-kick hit the wall, but the rebound fell to Silva, who teed up Fernandinho with a brilliant pass into the area and the Brazilian smashed it home into the far corner from an acute angle.

Watford should have pulled one back when a Troy Deeney stepover brilliantly played in Anya, but Sagna made a last-ditch block to keep Joe Hart's clean sheet safe.

 

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City squad 1kata patta & De Bruyne on the way​

 

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Aston Villa 2-2 Sunderland: Lens earns a point for struggling Black Cats

Sunderland are still chasing their first Premier League win of the season, but first club goals for Yann M'Vila and Jeremain Lens earned Dick Advocaat's men a hard-fought 2-2 draw at Aston Villa on Saturday.

'Crisis talks' following two consecutive defeats at the start of the campaign seem to have made an impact at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland followed up a draw against Swansea City with another resolute display, securing a point despite Scott Sinclair netting twice for Villa.

Questions were raised of M'Vila's attitude after his Sunderland arrival was followed by a red card for the Under-21 side, but he produced a glimpse of his technical prowess after just eight minutes, bending home a fine free-kick to open his Premier League account.

But Sinclair, starting in place of Gabriel Agbonlahor, gave Villa an almost-immediate response from the penalty spot after finding himself manhandled by Lee Cattermole.

Sinclair struck again, his fifth goal in two games after a League Cup hat-trick against Notts County on Tuesday, but Sunderland began the second period with renewed purpose and Lens equalised in the 52nd minute.

Villa enjoyed the lion's share of possession and should have gone ahead again through Micah Richards, but Sunderland's character shone through, holding on to deny the hosts a first win since the opening day.

Sunderland appeared to find some rhythm against Swansea following a dismal start to the season and it came as little surprise to see fit-again Younes Kaboul replace Sebastian Coates as the solitary change from that starting XI.

The visitors looked buoyant during the early exchanges and their positive start was swiftly rewarded as M'Vila curled an inch-perfect 25-yard set-piece into the top right-hand corner.

Their joy was short-lived, however, as Cattermole rashly hauled Sinclair down in the area three minutes later and the winger made no mistake from the resulting penalty.

Villa looked to kick on after restoring parity and began to monopolise possession, but their probing struggled to produce any clear-cut opportunities until Sinclair was the man in the right place at the right time four minutes before the break as the former Manchester City attacker latched on to Jordan Amavi's teasing cross and completed the Villa turnaround.

Advocaat made the bold decision to introduce debutant Ola Toivonen and Steven Fletcher at the break and it had the desired effect within six minutes of the restart.

Sanchez found himself robbed of possession by Toivonen and the Sweden international fed Lens, who skipped inside Ciaran Clark and found the net via a wicked deflection.

Villa should have retaken the lead just before the hour mark, but Richards inexplicably failed to convert from close range, allowing Sinclair's cross to strike him and go away from goal despite being right underneath the crossbar.

Despite some fine defending, Sunderland were forced to ride their luck and only a Costel Pantilimon save kept them on level terms eight minutes from time, palming Ashley Westwood's goal-bound effort away following Rudy Gestede's knock-down and preserving a point.

 

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Chelsea 1-2 Crystal Palace: Mourinho’s champions stunned by Ward winner

Jose Mourinho suffered only his second home defeat in the Premier League as Chelsea manager as Crystal Palace shocked the champions with a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge.

Bakary Sako put Palace in front, finishing off a Yannick Bolasie cross at the second time of asking after a block by Cesar Azpilicueta.

Chelsea looked to have snatched a point when second half substitute Falcao headed in a Pedro delivery.

But the Blues were level for less than two minutes as Ward headed in after more link-up play from Bolasie and Sako.

Aside from a Gary Cahill header, cleared off the line by Sako shortly before his opener, Chelsea struggled to break down the Palace defence, although Alex McCarthy had to be at his best to keep out Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas in the latter stages of the first half.

After Falcao restored parity, Palace refused to settle for a draw and Ward's winner maintained Chelsea's unconvincing start to the defence of their Premier League crown.

Cahill returned to the Chelsea starting XI in place of the suspended John Terry, while Crystal Palace brought Connor Wickham in for Glenn Murray up front, and the centre-back came under pressure early on as the visitors started brightly.

Chelsea eventually settled and Pedro came close to marking his home debut with a goal when he fired just wide with a curling effort after switching onto his left foot.

Kurt Zouma's half-hearted appeal for a penalty following a tussle with Wickham went unrewarded, before Sako drew a diving save from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois at the other end.

Palace continued to enjoy the better chances - Yohan Cabaye missing a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock just short of the hour mark.

When the ball found Cabaye at the edge of the box, the France international had the whole goal to aim at but placed his effort too close to a grateful Courtois.

A superb double save from McCarthy, denying both Costa and Fabregas, kept Palace on level terms just before the break, and Damien Delaney made an excellent sliding tackle in the box to thwart Costa early in the second period.

Yet there was panic in the Chelsea penalty area when a cross from the right prompted a desperate scramble to clear the danger, before Wickham failed to get enough purchase on a Sako delivery.

As Palace continued to threaten, Sako went for goal in the 55th minute - Courtois getting down well to his right to keep out a 20-yard strike.

Sako then had to clear a Cahill header from a corner off the line but was on the scoresheet himself little more than a minute later, showing great composure in the box to lift the ball over Courtois after his initial effort had been blocked by Cesar Azpilicueta.

Yannick Bolasie curled over as Palace threatened to double their advantage 15 minutes from time, before Falcao lost his marker to head in from a Pedro cross and seemingly save Chelsea's blushes.

However, a Bolasie cross from the left moments later found Sako in acres of space, and the Mali international cut the ball back for Ward to head home.

It was only Mourinho's second defeat in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge in his 100th home game in charge of the club.

 

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Falcao score karala​

 

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Liverpool 0-3 West Ham: Coutinho sent off in shock defeat

West Ham ended their 52-year wait for success at Anfield with a 3-0 Premier League victory over Liverpool that saw both sides reduced to 10 men.

Liverpool's improved defending this term has been a welcome boost to Brendan Rodgers, but West Ham capitalised on slack play at the back to register a clinical victory in an action-packed affair that saw Hammers goalscorer Mark Noble and Philippe Coutinho sent off.

On his Premier League debut, Argentine playmaker Manuel Lanzini set the visitors on their way to a first win at Anfield in 42 attempts, opening the scoring from inside the six-yard box. It was the first time Rodgers' defence had been breached this term but Liverpool fell further behind amid comical defending from Dejan Lovren.

Former Southampton man Lovren, whose recent improvements were hailed by Rodgers in midweek, inexplicably relinquished possession on his own byline and allowed Lanzini to play in Noble, who beat Simon Mignolet from 18 yards.

Coutinho's two bookings either side of half-time added to Liverpool's frustrations and, even when Noble saw red for a lunge on substitute Danny Ings, West Ham remained in control.

Diafra Sakho, arrested and bailed by police twice in recent weeks, coolly finished late on to add further gloss to a worrying scoreline for Rodgers.

Liverpool began with the confidence of a side that had shut out Bournemouth and Arsenal but fell behind to Lanzini's close-range finish.

After Martin Skrtel's clearance dropped for Aaron Cresswell, Lanzini stole ahead of Joe Gomez to prod the opener past Mignolet.

Liverpool played with greater urgency after falling behind and saw Roberto Firmino hit a post prior to Lovren's defensive gaffe.

Having given the ball away while looking to run through midfield, Lovren wasted two opportunities to clear his lines under pressure from Lanzini, whose attempted cut-back fell to Noble on the edge of the box and the away captain swept home a calm finish.

Lovren was lauded by Rodgers recently as having shown his potential to be "top class" but his lapse in concentration helped put Slaven Bilic's men into half-time with a comfortable two-goal cushion.

Things got worse for the hosts after the break when Coutinho was dismissed for a second booking.

Having been cautioned late in the first half following a foul on Dimitri Payet, Coutinho was shown a second yellow card for another mistimed tackle on the Frenchman.

The dismissal rules Coutinho out of a trip to Manchester United after the international break.

Rodgers introduced Ings for the largely subdued Firmino but West Ham's defending showed a marked improvement from the horror show in the 4-3 defeat to Bournemouth a week ago.

Bilic's midfield three of Cheikhou Kouyate, Pedro Obiang and Noble helped deal with Liverpool's limited direct threat late on, although the latter's straight red for a challenge on Ings will have dampened West Ham spirits somewhat.

The midfielder's dismissal, West Ham's sixth red of the season, seemed harsh although Sakho was able to pounce on a loose ball and timid Liverpool play to compound a difficult afternoon for Rodgers and his defenders.

 

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Stoke City 0-1 West Brom: Rondon off the mark as Pulis enjoys winning Britannia return

Stoke City had two players sent off in the first half of a fiery encounter with West Brom as Salomon Rondon netted his first Premier League goal to give Tony Pulisa 1-0 win on his first return to the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

Pulis could hardly have asked for more assistance from the side he managed for nearly a decade across two spells, with two moments of ill-discipline allowing West Brom to dominate the match.The hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 25th minute when Ibrahim Afellay was shown a straight red card for slapping Craig Gardner.

Midfielder Charlie Adam, brought into the side in place of Marko Arnautovic, was then giving his marching orders six minutes later for appearing to stamp on Craig Dawson.

Unsurprisingly, West Brom, who had seen the build-up to the game dominated by the transfer saga surrounding Saido Berahino, found what proved to be the decisive goal just before half-time through club-record signing Rondon.

The Venezuelan netted following superb work from Rickie Lambert and, despite failing to score a second, West Brom had no difficulty in holding on for their first league victory of the season.

West Brom were the first to really test either goalkeeper, Jack Butland forced into action to keep out a vicious low drive from James Morrison.The game then took a spectacular turn in the visitors' favour, courtesy of two quickfire dismissals.

Afellay paid the price for striking Gardner, who came into the starting XI along with Joleon Lescott as part of two changes by Pulis, after he had been fouled by the West Brom midfielder.

And he was quickly followed down the tunnel by Adam, who was ruled to have pressed his foot down on Dawson's leg in a seemingly innocuous coming together between the two.

Pulis threw on Lambert for Claudio Yacob in a bid to capitalise on his side's numerical advantage and the former Liverpool striker stung the palms of Butland in the 40th minute with an ambitious effort from 30 yards.

West Brom finally made their extra numbers count in first-half injury time when Rondon turned Lambert's well-placed far-post cross home with a header across goal and into the bottom-right corner.Gardner was brought off and replaced by Callum McManaman after the interval, and the change almost paid instant dividends as Rondon powered the former Wigan Athletic midfielder's right-wing delivery narrowly over the crossbar.

Darren Fletcher then saw an effort deflected just wide before Stoke suffered a further setback as defender Glen Johnson limped off and was replaced by Marc Wilson.

Stoke did stem the tide somewhat in the closing stages, but they never looked like crafting an equaliser, ensuring Pulis' return ended happily.

 

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Bournemouth 1-1 Leicester City: Vardy penalty denies Howe's Cherries

Jamie Vardy's penalty rescued a late point for Leicester City as they maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season with a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

The visitors were decidedly below par for the most part at Dean Court, but Vardy's mazy run drew a poor challenge from Steve Cook and the striker duly converted from the penalty spot.

Claudio Ranieri's men had long been staring defeat in the face following a stunning first-half overhead kick from Callum Wilson, who scored a hat-trick in last weekend's 4-3 win at West Ham.

As Leicester's defence struggled to clear a Charlie Daniels cross, Wilson pounced and rifled a superb acrobatic effort into the top-left corner.

Injuries to Daniels, Tyrone Mings and Max Gradel hampered Bournemouth in the second half and their woes deepened four minutes from time as Vardy's spot-kick denied them a maiden top-flight home win.

It was Leicester who edged a frantic start to proceedings with a couple of half chances, Ngolo Kante – handed his first league start by Ranieri – failing to control a Riyad Mahrez cross before Vardy blasted over in the 16th minute.

Possession changed hands at an alarming rate as the tempo showed no sign of abating, but midway through the half Wilson's fourth goal in two league games settled things down.

Leicester failed to deal with Daniels' cross from the left and as the ball broke loose Wilson executed a perfect overhead kick that gave Kasper Schmeichel no chance.

Gradel went close to doubling Bournemouth's lead with 10 minutes of the half to play after Lee Tomlin was fouled on the edge of the penalty area, but Schmeichel was able to punch the Ivorian's effort clear.

An injury to Daniels just before the break saw Mings introduced for the second half, but the defender only lasted six minutes as he was taken from the pitch on a stretcher after a Danny Drinkwater challenge.

Eddie Howe's injury concerns grew even further just after the hour as Gradel was left writhing in agony, having appeared to twist his knee as he tried to turn away from a tackle.

Leicester finally called Artur Boruc into action with 22 minutes to play as Schlupp was released by Kante, but his effort from a tight angle was pushed away by the Polish goalkeeper.

Ranieri gave League Cup hero Joe Dodoo his first taste of league action with 15 minutes to play, but the youngster was unable to replicate his midweek goalscoring heroics in the 4-1 win at Bury, when he netted a hat-trick.

Instead it fell to Vardy to rescue Leicester, the striker embarking on a skillful dribble before being felled by Cook and dusting himself off to level the scores.

 

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Mourinho blames himself for Chelsea defeat

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he blames himself for the champions' 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

The Blues slumped to their second Premier League loss of the season thanks to Joel Ward’s winner after Radamel Falcao had equalised Bakary Sako’s opener.

The result leaves Chelsea eight points behind Manchester City after just four games and Mourinho says he must take his share of the blame for the result.

"I cannot say I had 11 players at the same time performing. To be fair, two or three of them, individual performances were far from good,” he told reporters.

"I blame myself for not changing one of them, because I kept him in the game for 90 minutes. When I made the third change, I realised I needed a fourth."

“If a player is not performing, there are two ways: trust the player and wait for improve, or... have to change. I can go both."

Mourinho did, however, take time out to praise Crystal Palace with Alan Pardew’s side having now taken nine points from their opening four games.

“The first thought is for Palace. They come with everything. Team ready, players ready, fans ready, fantastic spirit,” added the Chelsea boss.

“They were lucky, but they deserved a lot. I think we deserved more, but not deserved to win.

“Finally, the referee, with a big mistake, a clear penalty with the result at 0-0."

 

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Both red cards were harsh - Rodgers

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has suggested that the red cards given to Philippe Coutinho and West Ham's Mark Noble were harsh, questioning the performance of referee Kevin Friend.

The Reds slumped to a 3-0 home defeat to Slaven Bilic's side as goals from Manuel Lanzini, captain Noble and Diafra Sakho wrapped up a comprehensive result.

But Rodgers, who saw Brazil international Coutinho dismissed after 52 minutes for a foul on Dmitri Payet, believes that the referee's decisions were harsh.

"I though both sending-offs were very, very harsh," Rodgers said.

"Coutinho getting sent off was extremely harsh.

“He [referee Kevin Friend] must have real good ears if he can hear what he’s saying. He’s not that kind of player."

Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season, with Lanzini's West Ham opener proving crucial, according to Rodgers.

"We went into the game with confidence high but when you give away a goal so early it gave West Ham the boost they needed. It set us back a wee bit", the Reds boss added.

"After the first three weeks we gave the fans some hope but we were poor today.

“We gave poor goals away and that’s the biggest disappointment. At this level you have to be able to bounce back.

The 42-year-old also outlined the difficulties that Premier League sides have been facing at home this season, indicating that, of Saturday's home sides, four out of seven suffered defeat.

“In the results today four of the seven teams have lost at home. It’s going to be a difficult league to get your wins in," he concluded.

 

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'I know nothing!' - Stubborn Pellegrini plays dumb over De Bruyne arrival

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini refused to acknowledge his club's impending move for Kevin De Bruyne, insisting he knows nothing about a potential transfer for the Belgium international.

City beat Watford 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to increase their lead at the top of the Premier League and extend their winning run to 10 matches, a club record.

De Bruyne arrived in Manchester on Saturday afternoon to complete his protracted big-money move - he will cost around £56 million - but Pellegrini was determined to give nothing away, even in the face of increased questioning.

The full transcript of the exchange is as follows...

Journalist: "Is there any news on Kevin De Bruyne? There's been a photo of him arriving in Manchester..."

Pellegrini: "I don’t have any news. Do you have any, do you have news?"

Journalist: There’s a photograph of him arriving in Manchester for his medical.

MP: "Really I don’t know, I was seeing the game, sorry."

Journalist 2: "What will Kevin De Bruyne bring you? Do you need De Bruyne?"

MP: "I will answer the same way I answer all the questions that the other journalists ask me about… rumours. I can’t talk about rumours."

Journalists: "It’s not a rumour!"

MP: "It’s not a rumour? We signed him? Contract? The press think that I know. I’ll repeat because he’s not signed."

Journalist: "He’s not signing?"

MP: "I don’t know, I never knew… I suppose that someone has contacted me to say we can talk about that player because we signed him. I can say what I want, I cannot say what you want, I can’t talk about a thing that nobody has ever told me, that he has signed his contract."

Journalist 2: "You must know he’s in Manchester…"

City press officer: "Gentlemen, sorry, sorry!"

MP: "What?"

Journalist 2: "You must know he’s in Manchester…"

MP: "I was involved in the game, I’m not thinking about what happens in Manchester. I was thinking about what happened in the 90 minutes against Watford."

Speaking about the match itself, Pellegrini was pleased to see his tactical tweak pay off after he introduced Samir Nasri at half-time and moved Raheem Sterling central.

The former Liverpool man duly opened the scoring, and Pellegrini says unexpectedly returning to 4-4-2, after playing 4-2-3-1 since derby defeat in April, caught Watford off guard.

"I think it was important at half-time to make a change, we had a lot of possession but didn’t create many chances, because - especially against Raheem - they had very tight marking," he said.

"I think that making that change with Nasri on the left side, making David [Silva] more free on their left side, where they have less markers, and playing Kun [Aguero] with Raheem is the way that we must try, and especially at the start of the first half when they didn't know what we were going to do.

"So we changed, some of you asked me last press conference if playing 4-2-3-1 was the reason why we are winning, but today we returned to 4-4-2 in order to win. So I think tactics is not the problem, it's the performance of the players."

 

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Garcia: Roma will attack Juventus from the first whistle

Roma boss Rudi Garcia says his side will attack Juventus right from the first whistle in Sunday's Serie A showdown at the Stadio Olimpico.

The Giallorossi made an underwhelming start to their league campaign, with the capital club having to come from behind to claim a 1-1 draw at Verona last Saturday, but the Bianconeri fared even worse on the opening weekend, suffering a shock 1-0 loss at home to Udinese.

Garcia dismissed suggestions that Juventus have been weakened by the loss of key players such as Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez over the summer, but is nonetheless telling his troops to immediately take the game to their visitors.

"All the clubs – and not just Juventus – have an entire season to prove their doubters wrong," the French coach told reporters on Saturday.

"I've already said what I think about them: They remain a top-level side and tomorrow will be a top-level match. We'll have to be at our best to win it.

"They've signed [Mario] Mandzukic, [Simone] Zaza, [Paulo] Dybala, Khedira and Alex Sandro.

"The team that won the last four league titles is always going to be top quality.

"No one is at their best at the start of the season but we've tried to work our way up towards 100 per cent over the last week.

"It will be a great game, the sort you always like to be involved in even though it's a bit strange to be playing it in the second week.

"We have to make home advantage count for us in front of our fans and I want to see more intensity than we showed at Verona.

"We have to start the game as if we were trailing by a goal and play to win from the off.

"We did that in Verona after the goal but not enough before it. We weren't terrible before but our tempo wasn't high enough."

Star summer signings Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah failed to sparkle against Verona but Garcia says that the pair merely need time to settle.

Consequently, the former Lille boss admitted that he is unlikely to throw Lucas Digne straight into the starting line-up, with the left-back only having arrived from Paris Saint-Germain during the week.

"The new guys like Salah and Dzeko, it's normal they should take a little while to settle in before we can fully exploit their fantastic quality," he added.

"I've got the line-up 90% set in my mind. I'm waiting to see if [Vasilis] Torosidis is fully fit when the guys limber up tomorrow morning. If he is, as I expect him to be, he'll start at left-back. That way we can give Digne a bit of time to adjust to his new team.

"As for the other positions, I took [midfielder Daniele] De Rossi off in Verona because I didn't know if he had 90 minutes in him after his ankle problem but he's fine now.

"Maicon isn't 100% yet but he's recovered from injury..."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Bilic: Anfield victory was for the fans

Slaven Bilic was full of praise for his side after West Ham's 3-0 victory away at Liverpool on Saturday.

The Croatian was appointed manager earlier this summer but has already earned crucial away wins at Arsenal and Liverpool in the opening four matches of the season.

And Bilic was clearly overjoyed after their performance, insisting that the win was for the fans after the Hammers earned their first victory at Anfield in 52 years.

“Three points but it’s one of those games that for the fans it’s more than three points," he told reporters.

"Fifty-two years without winning at a special stadium and we did it in style. We didn’t nick it. I’m very proud of the players and the whole club. It’s great for the fans. It’s one of the games that will be written about.

“It’s very logical but at first glance it’s not normal. It’s logical because when you play away against Arsenal and Liverpool you are organised. I know I can organise very, very well.

"We let some of their players have the ball, but we don’t want them to have it in some areas. When we do that we are good.

"When you play at home, your opponent is like that, and then organisation is not enough. You need to be organised but you need some quality. Liverpool have that but it wasn’t enough as we closed them down.

Meanwhile, the 46-year-old was adamant that Mark Noble's challenge was not worthy of a red card and believes that the Hammers stand an excellent chance of seeing his ban get rescinded.

"For me it’s a very simple answer having watched it after it’s nowhere near a red card. I’m very hopeful that we will appeal it. In my opinion, it’s not a red card."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Bayern Munich 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen: Muller double seals routine win

Thomas Muller celebrated his 200th Bundesliga appearance with a brace as Bayern Munich ran out 3-0 victors over Bayer Leverkusen at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.

The Germany international scored his 75th and 76th goals in Germany's top flight - the latter coming from the penalty spot - either side of half-time, before Arjen Robben converted another spot-kick with 20 minutes remaining.

Roger Schmidt's side frustrated Bayern early on, but the visitors were undone shortly before the half-hour mark when Muller fired home from Douglas Costa's cross.

Bayern were close to grabbing a second - Costa hitting the woodwork from close-range - before Hakan Calhanoglu rattled the crossbar for Leverkusen with a rasping free-kick.

Muller's second came after former Leverkusen man Arturo Vidal, who amassed 15 goals and 20 assists during his stint at the BayArena, was pushed in the area.

Robben duly added a third when Bayern were awarded another penalty, as Pep Guardiola's men maintained their 100 per cent record at the start of the season.

Leverkusen also came into the match on the back of two wins, but the game got off to a scrappy start, though Bayern went close when Thiago Alcantara fired over from the edge of the box after being teed up by Robben.

Bayern's possession told in the 26th minute. Cutting in from the right flank, Costa was picked out by a terrific Xabi Alonso pass and the winger beat Roberto Hilbert before crossing to Muller, who duly nudged in his fourth of the season.

Costa, excellent for Bayern since his arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk, should have extended the lead as he latched onto Robben's inch-perfect cross, but the Brazilian's volley hit the bar.

Parity was almost restored shortly before the interval when Calhanoglu's stunning free-kick cracked against the woodwork.

However, Leverkusen's defence was split again immediately after the interval - Robben jinking into the area from the right before going down under pressure from Jonathan Tah to prompt penalty appeals that were dismissed.

Stefan Kiessling almost snatched a leveller as the visitors flooded forward, a fine save from Manuel Neuer and David Alaba's goal-line clearance denying the striker.

Bayern were then given the perfect chance to score a second when Hilbert pushed Vidal in the area and a penalty was awarded - Muller coolly slotting away his second.

Hilbert was again the guilty party as he was found to have handled in the box in the 70th minute, but, despite Muller being on a hat-trick, it was Robben who stepped up to smash the penalty past Bernd Leno.

Leverkusen's keeper rushed out of his goal to deny Robert Lewandowski from close-range late on, but it mattered little with Bayern already assured of a third straight league win.