..::Football IV::..

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Udinese 1-1 Juventus: Bonucci earns draw but winning streak ends

Juventus missed the chance to go 10 points clear at the top of Serie A after being held to a 1-1 draw by Udinese.

Duvan Zapata scored the opening goal after 37 minutes and it was no more than the home side deserved as Luigi Delneri's men looked the better team for long periods at the Stadio Communale Friuli.

Massimiliano Allegri's champions looked disjointed and lacked their usual fluency in attack, while Udinese's pressing game and well-organised defence further restricted their opportunities to score.

The equaliser left a sour taste for Udinese, who felt that Dani Alves did not deserve to win the free-kick that Paulo Dybala landed on the head of Leonardo Bonucci, who scored with aplomb.

Delneri was sent to the stands for his protests in the aftermath of the goal, but he watched his side hold out for a deserved point while Juventus laboured to their first draw of an otherwise impressive Serie A season.

Juventus tried to patiently unpick Udinese early on, first testing goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis when Miralem Pjanic struck a speculative 25-yard shot that was comfortably saved, but Seko Fofana's dangerous counter-attacks disrupted the league leaders' flow.

Fofana linked up well with Rodrigo de Paul to create space around the Juventus box and Bianconeri goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon dealt with a couple of early shots that skidded off the slick surface.

Udinese were dealt a hammer blow when Fofana's afternoon ended prematurely due to an ankle injury sustained in a challenge with Alex Sandro, but before Delneri could send on a replacement his side took the lead.

The goal was all down to the determination of Zapata, who outmuscled and outpaced Bonucci on his way into the box before drilling a low shot that squirmed under the body of Buffon and into the net.

Juventus had barely threatened the Udinese goal before they scored the equaliser in controversial circumstances on the hour mark.

Alves won a free-kick after going down under an innocuous-looking challenge from Stipe Perica, and Dybala subsequently crossed to the far post where Bonucci powered the ball into the net from close range.Udinese attempted to restore their lead immediately and Jakub Jankto's looping free-kick found Danilo, whose header struck the post before Juventus cleared their lines.

Bonucci came to the rescue for a second time but in his customary defensive role when Zapata broke down the left and crossed towards his onrushing team-mates, but the Juventus goal-scorer stretched out a leg to turn the ball out for a corner.

Delneri rang the changes in the closing stages, sending on a raft of defensive players to see out the draw, while Allegri was left to reflect on a performance that will need to be bettered if Juventus are to win their forthcoming clash with AC Milan.

 

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Atletico Madrid 3-0 Valencia: Griezmann inspires Atleti

The race for Champions League qualification in La Liga appears tighter than ever after Atletico Madrid moved above Real Sociedad and into fourth place thanks to a 3-0 home win over Valencia on Sunday.

Antoine Griezmann gave the hosts the lead in the 10th minute at Vicente Calderon, finishing well from just inside the box after good approach play from Koke to score his 55th goal in 100 league games for Atleti.

Sloppy play had allowed Valencia to gain a foothold in the game but Diego Simeone's men doubled their lead three minutes after the interval when Kevin Gameiro's shot deflected in off the unlucky Eliaquim Mangala.

The result was never in doubt thereafter, with Griezmann seizing on indecision from the Valencia backline in the 83rd minute to claim his second and Atleti's third, steering home what was the 350th goal Atleti have scored under Simeone in La Liga.

Fan favourite Fernando Torres was well enough to watch his side from the directors' box after suffering a sickening head injury in Thursday's 1-1 draw with Deportivo La Coruna.

Simeone meanwhile was taking charge of his 200th La Liga game for Atletico, with his side recording a first win in three Liga games to boost their Champions League qualification hopes and narrow the gap on third-placed Sevilla to six points.

Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves had to make a fine save in the third minute, diving to his left to palm away a powerful drive from Filipe Luis, but the opening goal soon arrived for the hosts.

Koke was given too much time and space to drive at the Valencia defence and when he slipped a neat pass through to Griezmann, the French striker slotted across Alves and into the bottom-left corner to record his 10th goal of 2017.

Griezmann, who celebrated his goal by lifting his shirt to show a message to mark his girlfriend's birthday, then fired wide as Atletico continued their strong start.

Simone Zaza had Valencia's first chance after 26 minutes as a deep Dani Parejo free-kick came to him at the back post, but the Italian misjudged his header and the ball flew harmlessly wide.Atleti almost doubled their lead in the first minute of the second half as Yannick Carrasco's shot flicked narrowly wide via a deflection off Mangala, with Alves beaten.

Mangala was less fortunate moments later, however, as he diverted Gameiro's strike over the helpless Alves to put Atletico completely in control.

Griezmann should have made the points absolutely safe after 53 minutes when he raced on to Koke's pass, but Alves made a brilliant save to keep Valencia alive.
Munir El Haddadi tested Jan Oblak with a speculative long-range effort and Mangala then made up for his misfortunate by denying Gameiro with a superb challenge in the box.Atletico added a third with seven minutes remaining, Griezmann seizing on Thomas Partey's poked throughball to beat Alves from close range.

Having only taken one point from their two previous Liga games, Simeone will have been relieved to see his team close out the victory professionally to move into the table's final Champions League spot.

 

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Sunderland 0-2 Manchester City: Visitors in control at Stadium of Light

Sergio Aguero and Leroy Sane were on target as Manchester City won 2-0 at Sunderland to keep their title ambitions alive and push the Wearsiders closer to the relegation trapdoor.

Argentina international Aguero tapped home from close range in the closing stages of a first half bossed by the hosts, before former Schalke star Sane made it two after the break.It is now four Premier League wins on the bounce for City to move them eight points behind leaders Chelsea, who visit West Ham on Monday.

The situation at the other end of the table is starting to look bleak for David Moyes' men, however, with Sunderland now six points from safety with 11 games remaining.They can, at least, take encouragement from a battling display which was ultimately undone by City's superior individual class.

Sunderland made an encouraging start and they came close to grabbing a surprise lead through Jermain Defoe in the 20th minute, the experienced forward hitting the upright with a fine shot from outside the area, before Fabio Borini headed wide from the rebound.

The hosts had another chance to break the deadlock 10 minutes before half-time when Adnan Januzaj’s corner picked out Billy Jones but the right-back aimed his header straight at goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

City had offered little going forward – David Silva just failing to connect with Sane’s drilled cross the best of their few opportunities – but they still went into half time 1-0 up. Silva set up Raheem Sterling down the right and his deflected cross fell perfectly for Aguero to stab past Jordan Pickford at his near post.

Pep Guardiola's side could have doubled their lead early in the second half after an intricate team move involving Yaya Toure, Sterling and Silva, with the latter eventually forcing Pickford into a strong save with a powerful shot from inside the box.

But there was no denying City minutes later when Silva sent Sane clean through on goal with an intelligent pass, the winger taking a touch to take it around Jones before blasting a low shot past Pickford and into the corner.Sunderland refused to throw in the towel and Januzaj could have pulled one back but headed just wide following Bryan Oviedo's cross.

Defoe had a late header correctly ruled out for offside while Aguero was denied his second by a stunning Pickford stop.

 

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Torres watches Atletico Madrid from the stands days after head injury scare

Fernando Torres watched on from the stands as Atletico Madrid defeated Valencia at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday.

The 32-year-old striker was hospitalised on Thursday night after being knocked unconscious by an aerial collision during Atleti's match against Deportivo La Coruna.

Torres was monitored in hospital overnight but cleared to leave the next day after tests showed no signs of a more serious problem.And the ex-Liverpool striker, who has stated that he hopes to be back on the pitch soon, was well enough to attend his side's 3-0 victory in La Liga.

Torres received a standing ovation from the crowd as two goals from Antoine Griezmann and another courtesy of Kevin Gameiro ensured a comfortable afternoon.

The Atleti academy graduate has scored five goals in 20 league games this season but is out of contract at the end of the campaign and currently without the offer of a renewal.


Diego Simeone's men are some way adrift of rivals Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish table but regained fourth place from Real Sociedad as a result of their latest win.

 

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Arsenal target Belotti scores fastest Serie A hat-trick in 17 years

Arsenal target Andrea Belotti netted an eight minute hat-trick as Torino came from behind to defeat Palermo, becoming the first player in 17 years to achieve the feat in Serie A.

Andriy Shevchenko scored three times between the 69th and 76th minute for AC Milan back in 2000, during a freescoring spell in Serie A where the Ukranian bagged 117 league goals over a seven year period.

Belotti has been prolific for Torino this season, and took his tally to 22 Serie A goals with the rapid-fire hat-trick against Palermo. The 23-year-old opened his account in the 73rd minute, and by the 81st had put Torino 3-1 up.

His first and third goals were well-taken headers, but the second strike against Palermo showed exactly why Arsenal are interested, volleying home Adem Ljajic’s free-kick.

n January, Torino's sporting director Gianluca Petrachi confirmed that they had turned down a bid for the forward, whose contract includes a €100 million release clause.

"Yes, we received the offer, but it does not reflect the value of the player," Petrachi replied when asked about Arsenal's interest."Anyway, he is going nowhere for now. We want to enjoy him, then we'll see what happens.

"We intend to keep Belotti and president Urbano Cairo signed this important buy-out clause. I think he's worth more than they have offered."

 

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Tottenham record is only the start, vows Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino has told Tottenham supporters the club record of nine straight Premier League home wins is only the start.

Spurs set the mark by beating Everton 3-2 at White Hart Lane on Sunday, Harry Kane netting twice with Dele Alli also on target.After finishing third last season, Tottenham sit second with 11 games left to play in 2016-17 and a proud Pochettino feels there is much more to come from his side.

"It is another fantastic achievement for the group," he said to BBC Sport."We feel very proud about that. We make history with this group, they are young players and it is only the start of good things that are coming in the future.

"I am very pleased for the players. This is a fantastic club with our supporters and I am very happy and proud to have broken the record here."The atmosphere is great and we can feel that. We are in a very good position here."

Pochettino had further praise for Kane after he moved on to 19 league goals for the season, with the first of his two strikes coming from 30 yards to open the scoring."It was a great, great goal," the Spurs boss added to Sky Sports. "To shoot from that position is because you feel that you can score, are confident and have the belief to achieve that target.

"He showed big quality in that situation. He is one of the best. I repeat that not only if he scores, but even if he does not score. "He had a good game, he was fantastic. He deserves all the praise and it is fantastic he is in our side."

Pochettino was in no doubt that Spurs were deserving winners despite the narrow scoreline, with the goals from Romelu Lukaku and Enner Valencia coming in the final nine minutes."You can concede some goals – that is football. We lacked concentration at the end but we deserved the victory and played very well," he said.

"We were fantastic in the first half, we dominated the chances of the game and played with a high tempo. It is true that maybe 3-2 looks like it was tough but I think we did much better than Everton."We showed good quality. Everton had played very well in the last few months, so we knew it was a good challenge for us.

"The fantastic three points keep us in a very good position in the table, fighting for the top four, top six. Now it is one week clear to try and prepare for the FA Cup against Millwall here. We are in a good way and need to keep going."

 

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Silva one reason I joined Man City - Guardiola

Pep Guardiola described David Silva as one of the best players he has ever worked with after the Spaniard led Manchester City to a 2-0 victory at Sunderland.

Silva was instrumental as City earned their fourth consecutive Premier League victory, starting the move that led to Sergio Aguero's opening goal and later playing Leroy Sane in to double the visitors' lead at the Stadium of Light.

The 31-year-old was embraced by his head coach on the field after the game, and Guardiola hailed Silva's qualities in his post-match comments.

"David is one of the best players I ever trained in my life so I am a lucky guy to be with him," said Guardiola.

"One of the reasons why I decided to come here is because I was pleased to be with him. I was in Spain when he was with Valencia. I was in Barcelona and I thought, 'Wow! That guy is special'.

"But I was impressed the most when I met him by the fact of how competitive he is. The skills, you know them because he is a long time here in England, but how he is a winner, he has a winning mentality, he's a fighter, he runs, he's a fantastic player.

"Of course his performance was really good," he added. "But on the pitch I didn't say that to him! We are going to have dinner together. I invited him."

 

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Man City beware! Sensational Mbappe makes more Ligue 1 history

Kylian Mbappe has continued to cement his reputation as the hottest young prospect in Europe with another sensational performance for Monaco.

The teenage Frenchman netted twice — with Bernardo Silva the creator on both occasions — to help Leonardo Jardim's team into a 3-0 lead at half-time against Nantes.

Mbappe first capitalised on a fortunate deflection after Silva's superb run to give Monaco the lead, steering in a shot from a difficult height on the volley.

After Valere Germain had doubled the advantage, Mbappe struck again following an almost identical run from Silva through the inside-right channel.This time, Silva won the ball himself before skipping past two opponents and landing a perfect cross on the head of Mbappe, who flicked it past the stranded goalkeeper.

The double takes Mbappe to 10 goals in his career in Ligue 1 and, at 18 years and two months, makes him the youngest player to reach that milestone in the last 30 years in the French top flight.

He will hope to be back on the scoresheet in 10 days' time when Monaco take on Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

City hold a 5-3 aggregate lead after an enthralling match at the Etihad Stadium, in which Mbappe scored Monaco's second goal, but face a stern test defending that advantage back in the principality.

Jardim's men have now scored over 80 goals in the league alone this season and have only failed to net two at home in any competition once since September.

 

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'We must release our rage' - Mata urges Man Utd to bounce back from Bournemouth frustration

Juan Mata says Manchester United can get over their frustrations from Saturday's 1-1 draw with Bournemouth when they take on Rostov in the Europa League on Thursday.

United hit 20 shots in their encounter against a Bournemouth team who played with 10 men for the entire second half, but were held to a draw as Joshua King's penalty cancelled out Marcos Rojo's earlier strike.

The game grew tense towards the end of the opening period when Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Tyrone Mings clashed several times. The Bournemouth defender stamped on Ibrahimovic's head and the Swede retaliated a few moments later with an elbow to the face, having previously thrown Mings to the ground in a separate tussle off the ball.

Though both players went unpunished, Andrew Surman was shown a second yellow card before the break for pushing Ibrahimovic.Mata admitted it was a stiff game, but believes United can release any lingering anger when they take on Russian side Rostov in the away leg of their last-16 tie.

"All of us felt very frustrated," he wrote on his official website. "Unfortunately, we have that sense of deja vu again. We played good football, we created chances, but yet again we weren’t efficient enough to turn that into a better score.

"As I always say, the good thing is that soon after a defeat you have an opportunity to make it up. Football doesn’t stop and it always gives you another chance to release your rage doing what you like most.

"We have four games to play before the international break and each of them is going to be a special challenge. First of all we have the Europa League tie against Rostov, including a long trip, that is going to test the strength of the team in every sense. The Russian side is particularly strong at home: this season they have defeated Bayern Munich and Ajax, for instance. That gives you an idea of how tough they are.

"And four days later we will play in the FA Cup against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Another key game, a top-level tie in such a special competition. We will need to play a great game if we want to celebrate back-to-back FA Cup titles at Wembley."

Mata's Spain team-mate Fernando Torres was suffered a head injury and was knocked unconscious during Atletico Madrid's game against Deportivo La Coruna in Thursday, leading to him being monitored in hospital overnight.But the striker returned to the Vicente Calderon on Sunday, watching his side beat Valencia 3-1 from the stands, and Mata was delighted to see he was okay.

"The most important moment of the weekend, in my opinion, did not happen on the pitch," he added. "It was a relief to see Fernando Torres seated in the box at the Vicente Calderon, already recovered after the big scare a few days earlier, and the affection to him showed by the crowd.


"I’m very happy that it wasn’t anything serious; he will be back scoring goals very soon, as always."

 

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Luis Enrique suggested he'd leave in September - Braida

Luis Enrique had indicated as early as September that he would leave Barcelona at the end of the season, according to the club's international adviser Ariedo Braida.

Barca remain in the battle for La Liga and currently sit one point ahead of Real Madrid at the top, though the latter have a game in hand. However, the Catalans are on the way out of the Champions League unless they become the first team to overcome a 4-0 first-leg loss when they meet Paris Saint-Germain for the return game at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

That hammering in France prompted many fans to call for Luis Enrique to leave the club, despite having previously guided them to two consecutive Liga and Copa del Rey crowns, as well as success in the Champions League and Club World Cup.After Barca's 6-1 win over Sporting Gijon, the coach revealed that his time in Catalunya is coming to an end and that he will leave once the campaign is over.

But Braida says the 46-year-old had already suggested he was on his way out and praised him for giving the board time to prepare the search for his replacement.

"Last September he had a little bit announced that he would leave at the end of the season, he has now confirmed well in advance to give the club the opportunity to find a new coach," he told Radio Anch'io Sport.

"We don't know who his successor will be but I can only say that, after doing great things, Luis Enrique has proven to be a great coach and will demonstrate that elsewhere."

Braida admits Barca's chances of progressing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League are slim, but he is optimistic because of the presence of Lionel Messi, who he expects to remain there for a long time to come."It is very difficult to recover it 4-0, but with a player like Messi nothing is impossible. We all have belief that we can do it.

"Barcelona is the perfect place for him. It's a perfect combination, a perfect marriage. He serves at Barca and vice versa. His life is here, it's his city. He will not move from here."

 

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Ibrahimovic and Mings charged with violent conduct

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Tyrone Mings have been charged with alleged violent conduct by the Football Association (FA) after their clashes during Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Bournemouth on Saturday.

The duo tussled more than once during the Premier League match at Old Trafford and were lucky not to be sent off in the first half.After Marcos Rojo saw his goal cancelled out by a Joshua King penalty, the game became even more heated as it approached half-time.

Most notably, while Ibrahimovic was lying on the ground after a challenge, Mings stood on his head, though he insisted after the game that he did not mean to.

The Red Devils striker responded shortly afterwards when the two battled in the air for a cross, with the Swede elbowing Mings in the head.

"I jump, I protect myself, I jump very high, he jumps into me. I think he jumps backwards and I jump straight up and unfortunately he jumps into my elbow," was Ibrahimovic's explanation to MUTV. Meanwhile, Mings admitted he was not sure if his counterpart intended to hurt him. In another incident in the game, Ibrahimovic threw Mings to the ground after they grappled for a while off the ball.

They escaped punishment from referee Kevin Friend, with Andrew Surman the only one to be sent off in the game, but the FA has responded by retrospectively charging both players with violent conduct.

"Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Tyrone Mings have both been charged with alleged violent conduct following the Manchester United versus AFC Bournemouth game on Saturday [4 March 2017]," a statement on the FA's website read."The players were involved in two separate incidents in or around the 44th minute which were not seen by the match officials at the time but caught on video.

"Furthermore, The FA has submitted a claim that the standard punishment that would otherwise apply for the misconduct committed by the Bournemouth defender is ‘clearly insufficient’."Both players have until 6pm on Tuesday 7 March 2017 to reply to their charge."


Ibrahimovic has already said he will "respect every decision" when it comes to his punishment, but it comes as a big blow to the team, as they could be without the striker for the FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea as well as the games against Middlesbrough and West Brom in the league.

 

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Zlatan ta matches 3nak miss wenawa​

 

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Ronaldo returns to Real Madrid squad for crunch Napoli clash

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been named in the matchday squad for Tuesday's Champions League match away to Napoli.

Ronaldo missed last Saturday's 4-1 LaLiga win at Eibar due to what the club described as "muscular problems".

His return was expected after he took part in a recovery training session with the squad on Sunday and he has now been named in the 22-man party for the trip to Naples.

Fellow forwards Gareth Bale and Alvaro Morata also return for the game in Italy after missing the Eibar victory through suspension.Holders Madrid lead the last-16 tie 3-1 after the first leg at Santiago Bernabeu last month.

Raphael Varane and Fabio Coentrao are the club's only injured first-team players.

 

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'The time has come' - Arsenal Invincible Gilberto Silva sees the end of the road for Wenger

Gilberto Silva, a member of the last Arsenal side to lift the Premier League title, believes “the time has come” for Arsene Wenger to step aside.The Frenchman has spent more than 20 years in the Gunners dugout, but many consider his powers to be on the wane.

A disgruntled fan base are hoping a change will be made over the summer, with Wenger’s contract due to expire at the end of the current campaign.He has offered no indication that he is ready to call it a day, but that decision may be made for him.

Gilberto Silva thinks that should be the case, with a member of the 2003-04 Invincibles squad of the opinion that Wenger has failed to move with the times.
He told Sport360: "I feel that the time has come.

"The more the past is coming to a close, the more his time is coming - not because he can't do the job any longer, but, perhaps because the other clubs have changed their way of working, the way of doings things.

"He hasn't changed much, he hasn't changed his way of working - not because he doesn't want to, but it is not so easy to compete with clubs who spend a lot of money every season."He has been in the Premier League longer than those coaches [Conte, Guardiola and Klopp].

“Wenger has spent a lot more years than them in the Premier League. They are younger and motivated. “They have a lot of energy to look around and source ways to win against Wenger.

"He has his own way of working, in which he believes. Irrespective of whether you are either a young or an old coach, you have to believe in something, and that's what he does."

Arsenal have slipped to fifth in the Premier League table and are facing up to another last 16 exit from the Champions League as they head into the second leg of a meeting with Bayern Munich trailing 5-1 on aggregate.

 

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Atletico Madrid midfielder Gabi set for surgery on fractured hand after 'domestic incident'

Atletico Madrid captain Gabi will undergo surgery on Tuesday after suffering a fractured hand.

The experienced midfielder has been a near ever-present so far this season, playing in 24 of Atletico's 26 La Liga matches, but his participation for the next few weeks is now in doubt.

A "domestic incident" is reportedly to blame for the issue, with Gabi playing the full 90 minutes in Atletico's comfortable 3-0 dismantling of Valencia on Sunday.Atletico will be eager for Gabi to return as quickly as possible due to the long-term absences of Tiago and Augusto Fernandez.

But in their statement, Atletico made no reference as to whether Gabi will play on while wearing protective casting or simply be ruled out for a few weeks, with Thomas Partey the most likely replacement in that scenario.

"Gabi has undergone tests that have confirmed that he suffers a metacarpal fracture that affects the fourth and fifth metacarpal of the right hand," the statement read.
"Due to this injury our captain will undergo surgery on Tuesday to reduce the fracture and fix it in a stable way."

 

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'He hasn't quite delivered' - Lampard urges improvement from Pogba

Frank Lampard does not believe Frank Lampard has been the game-changer Manchester United needed when they paid a world-record fee for the player.

France international Pogba returned to Old Trafford from Juventus for £89.3 million last August and he has been a fixture in Jose Mourinho's side fighting for honours on four fronts this season.

However, he put in a below-par performance as a Zlatan Ibrahimovic-inspired United beat Southampton in the EFL Cup final last month and debate continues to swirl over whether Pogba is better deployed in a central midfield two or three.

Pogba has four goals and three assists in 25 Premier League appearances this season, with none of those coming against the current top six.Former West Ham, Chelsea and Manchester City player Lampard is the top scoring midfielder in the competition's history with 177 and believes United are entitled to expect more from their investment.

"It was a signal of their intentions to spend £90m on a player who I wouldn't say is the finished article," Lampard told Sky Sports' Monday Night Football. "He's got fantastic attributes - he's strong, great feet, he's bigger than you and quicker than you as a midfield player.

"But when you have a £90m price tag on your shoulders we analyse more and we wonder more. When you look at him at this stage of the season I'm still wondering what is his best position? What kind of player is he? What does he want to be?
"I feel like he's falling a little bit in between everything. When you pay £90m you want to see those results and he hasn't quite delivered."He's young and he possibly will do but, as it stands, he hasn't been the game-changer."

Lampard added: "We do need to give him time and flip forward to next season and see if he's improving. At £90m he has to be that dominant midfielder and I do believe that's in him."

 

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Mourinho and Man Utd must take a risk and rotate, says Irwin

Denis Irwin admits it will be a “risk” for Manchester United to take key men out of the team at this stage of the season, but feels rotation is a must for Jose Mourinho.
The Red Devils have pieced together a productive campaign on the stability that a consistent side brings.

Even those such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, at the age of 35, have been called upon whenever they are available.Mourinho does not have the deepest of squads at his disposal, but able cover is there if required.

Club icon Irwin believes those on the fringes of the fold will be needed as United continue to compete on multiple fronts, with Sir Alex Ferguson having shown during the treble-winning exploits of 1999 that rest breaks are important.He said: "You'd love to play every game but I think that's almost impossible, particularly for the front players who need to be at their sharpest.

"That's down to the manager, when he wants to freshen it up. Certainly in '99, Sir Alex freshened it up quite a bit. I remember a semi-final replay against Arsenal where he rested quite a few. You have to take a risk somewhere along the line but that's down to the manager."We've got a fine squad, there is an international break in there as well. We'll have to see what happens. Once you get on that (momentum) it's a very strong leverage to have."

United remain in the hunt for a top four finish in the Premier League, are through to the last 16 of the Europa League, the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and have already lifted the EFL Cup.

They have suffered just one defeat in their last 27 outings in all competitions – in the second leg of a League Cup semi-final clash with Hull City that ultimately did them no harm – and Irwin admits there are similarities to be drawn with Ferguson’s class of 1999.He added: "It is like that - there's a lot of games to come.

"At the back end of the season there's going to be an awful lot of games. You feel in the last three or four months that momentum has been building and we've developed into a team that's very hard to beat.


"We just kept playing and got on a run and I never thought it would end up like it would. I didn't think that at any point it was manageable because of the amount of games we had. It can happen like that, you take each game as it comes and see how it works out."

 

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West Ham 1-2 Chelsea: Hazard and Costa restore 10-point lead for Blues

Chelsea continued their relentless march towards the Premier League title with a controlled 2-1 win over West Ham at London Stadium.A much-changed Blues XI were knocked out of the EFL Cup at the same ground in October but Antonio Conte's men were all business this time around.

They absorbed early pressure without coughing up chances and Eden Hazard displayed the devastating, clinical edge West Ham lacked as he scythed through them for a counter-attacking opener.

Conte's side carried menace on the break throughout, although their second came courtesy of poor set-piece defending from Slaven Bilic's side, with Diego Costa needing no second invitation to collect his 18th goal of the season after 50 minutes.
Manuel Lanzini grabbed a late consolation for the Hammers, who remain just outside the top-10, as he rifled home his sixth league goal of the season.

But Chelsea were not to be denied and sit 10 points clear of Tottenham at the summit, although their lead will be cut to eight if Manchester City win their game in hand at home to Stoke City on Wednesday.

Running repairs were the order of the day during the opening stages as West Ham striker Andy Carroll suffered a bloodied nose in an aerial challenge with Victor Moses and Chelsea defender Gary Cahill needed to replace a torn shirt.

West Ham pressed the league leaders back without crafting a goalscoring opportunity before being clinically unpicked on the counter-attack after 26 minutes.
Mark Noble's pass was cut out by N'Golo Kante and Hazard seized upon the opportunity – tearing forward from his own half, exchanging passes with Pedro and accelerate past goalkeeper Darren Randolph to slot home.

Worrying scenes followed as an angry West Ham got on to the field to confront the celebrating Chelsea players, before being led away by security.Hammers playmaker Lanzini made a similarly darting run towards a more well-manned Chelsea defence but blazed over after a one-two with Noble.

The hosts somehow escaped falling two behind in the 42nd minute when Diego Costa missed his kick from Hazard's low cross, Moses saw his follow-up bravely blocked by Aaron Creswell and Randolph saved from Pedro on the rebound.

But Chelsea had their second within five minutes of the restart as Pedro Obiang could only glance on Cesc Fabregas' corner for Costa to bundle in from close range.

A deft piece of skill from Marcos Alonso saw him breeze past Jose Fonte – continuing a torrid outing for the West Ham centre-half – but the wing-back prodded just past Randolph's far post.

The hosts' willingness to hurl balls into the Chelsea box almost paid off in the 61st minute as Thibaut Courtois saved with his legs from Sofiane Feghouli and Robert Snodgrass headed over.

Randolph remained the more threatened goalkeeper and the Republic of Ireland international reacted superbly to tip around the corner after Costa turned masterfully to get a shot off inside the box.

West Ham kept plugging away commendably for a side safely ensconced in mid-table and gained some consolation when Lanzini latched on to a loose ball and thrashed past Courtois in stoppage time.

Chelsea, with an FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United next on the agenda, have their sights firmly trained upon the double.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

UEFA Champions League Round of 16 2nd Leg Fixtures 2017.03.07

UEFA Champions League Round of 16 2nd Leg Fixtures 2017.03.07

AGG
(1-5)

Arsenal Vs Bayern

AGG
(1-3)

Napoli Vs Real Madrid

​

 

[ironmantoko]

Arsenal Vs Bayern gonna be huge