..::Football IV::..

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Manchester City 2 Fulham 0: Brahim Diaz leads holders into EFL Cup last eight

Manchester City's EFL Cup defence continues after they eased into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over fellow Premier League side Fulham, Brahim Diaz getting both goals.

Pep Guardiola included the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane in his starting XI, but teenagers Phil Foden and Diaz were the ones to really catch the eye in a straightforward outing at the Etihad Stadium.

City made light work of Fulham in the first half and were unlucky to not add further goals to Diaz's early opener, as they wasted numerous opportunities.


Diaz doubled his tally just after the hour and City subsequently eased to victory, but De Bruyne's late withdrawal may give Guardiola some cause for concern.Fulham struggled to get out of their half in the first period and Diaz put City ahead 18 minutes in, his close-range effort deflecting past Sergio Rico.Danilo then went close, clattering a shot against the right-hand post from a tight angle in the box.

Sane should have done better just after the half-hour mark, blasting a half-volley well over from a decent position after an intricate move involving De Bruyne and Foden.Jesus also failed to find the net on the stroke of half-time, Rico tipping his 18-yard effort wide.

City's dominance showed no sign of abating after the break and Jesus nodded just wide early on from a rare accurate Sane cross.Jesus went even closer in the 65th minute when Rico nudged his effort on to the post, but Diaz was there to slam home his second of the day.

City suffered the blow of losing De Bruyne to an apparent knee injury late on after a tangle with Timothy Fosu-Mensah, but the Belgian walked off unaided and the hosts booked their passage regardless, with Leicester City or Southampton their next opponent.

 

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Ramsey can play anywhere in Europe - Giggs


Aaron Ramsey can play anywhere in Europe, according to his international manager Ryan Giggs.

The midfielder is being linked with a move away from London and has been given limited game time at Arsenal since he failed to come to terms with the club over a new contract earlier this season.Ramsey has started only six times in the Premier League this campaign, and Giggs wants to see him get more minutes to prepare him for Wales duty.

Via Sky Sports, the former Manchester United winger wrote: "He won't be short of offers as he's a talented player. He's one of those players that, if he plays a full season, will get 10-15 goals from midfield and that's a very attractive player to have in any side."He's friends with Gareth Bale so obviously he'll be able to tell him what it's like to play abroad and Aaron's certainly got the talent to play anywhere in Europe but that will totally be his decision.

"As long as he's playing regular football, that's all I really care about."
The 27-year-old has been linked with Premier League rivals such as Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United as he looks set to leave on a free transfer this summer.

Barcelona have also been linked with the playmaker who has been compared to the likes of Andres Iniesta and Xavi in the past.Ramsey's club manager, Unai Emery, has told him to focus on his football, but Giggs is hopeful he will be able to break back into the Gunners first team.

"Of course you want your players settled but from my point of view it's just a case of him playing regularly, that's all you want as an international manager." Giggs continued.

"Wherever that may be is obviously out of my hands but I just want him playing.
"I've been asked a lot about Aaron Ramsey leaving Arsenal next summer and all I can say is that when he comes to camp with us he's always ready, he's a great professional and this contract situation has never affected him so far."

 

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Figo: Ronaldo makes Juventus a Champions League threat


Cristiano Ronaldo makes Juventus a much bigger threat to win the Champions League this season, according to Luis Figo.

Ronaldo has made a fine start to his Juventus career following his €100 million (£88m/$114m) move from Real Madrid, scoring seven goals and adding four assists in 10 Serie A games this season.That production has helped Juventus make a near-perfect start to their domestic campaign, with nine wins and a lone draw thus far.

Juventus’ dominance of Italy existed prior to Ronaldo, however, and the Portugal star was brought in to get the club over the hump in Europe, where they have made two finals in the last five years but came out the losers both times.

And though Ronaldo has not yet managed to find the net in his two Champions League games this season, Figo sees Ronaldo as ‘the best in the world’ and thinks he makes Juventus a stronger contender.

"Juventus have more options now,” Figo told DAZN . “Cristiano guarantees quality and goals because he is a winner — the best in the world.“Juventus have more chances to win Champions League this year".In many ways, Ronaldo’s career journey mirrors his former international team-mate Figo’s.

Both came through Sporting CP, with moves to prestigious clubs in Manchester United and Barcelona respectively, before each made the move to Real Madrid.
Figo also left Madrid toward the latter stages of his career for Italy, joining Inter and was part of sides that won Serie A four straight seasons.

In addition to playing with Cristiano for Portugal, the retired star also played alongside the Brazilian Ronaldo during his time at Madrid, and concedes for a long time he believed his former team-mate was the superior goalscorer.However, Figo admitted his opinion may have changed on the matter.

"Until a few years ago I thought that the Brazilian was the best for scoring,” Figo said when asked about the two players. “They both guarantee many goals".

 

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'I want to feel glory with Tottenham' - Pochettino looking toward Spurs future


Mauricio Pochettino is focused on building a "long-term project" at Tottenham despite being touted for the vacant manager's role at Real Madrid.

Pochettino's name has been linked with Los Blancos since the departure of Julen Lopetegui on Monday, the Spurs coach having reportedly interested Madrid as a replacement for Zinedine Zidane earlier in the year.Despite those reports, Pochettino signed an extension with Spurs in May, committing his future to the club until 2023.

And he is not letting talk of Madrid affect his plans of turning Tottenham in challengers for silverware in the Premier League and Europe.

"We work with the responsibility to create a long-term project," Pochettino told a media conference."Today in football it's about the present, it's about getting good results quickly and as soon as possible. It's so difficult to talk about projects.

"At the same time you need to try to anticipate the things that are going to come.
"We always work to try and win games tomorrow but if the club is not prepared with a plan for the future, in the end you are going to fail.

"I think the success here is that we always work in thinking of today but also in thinking of tomorrow, and I think that's the most important thing. I work like I'm going to be here for all of my career."

He added: "I think we're in the middle of the [journey] and I don't believe that it's the end of something."The reality is we are very close to finishing the new stadium, we're very close to creating, in facilities, one of the best clubs in the world.

"For me it's so exciting to be here at Tottenham, helping the club to achieve the last level. I think we're so close to getting the last level. I want to feel the glory with Tottenham."But first of all we need to finish the stadium, move there, finish the facilities here, be settled, make our stadium home again and work so hard to try to be competitive."

Spurs face Wolves at Molineux this weekend, and Pochettino knows Nuno Espirito Santo's side will be a tough nut to crack despite only being 10 games into their Premier League return."We are going to face a team that are playing really well," he said. "Of course, it will be a massive challenge for us, it will be a very competitive game.

"It is a game we need to win and after defeat to Manchester City we need a good position in the table. We are also thinking in [terms of] performance and not just the three points.

"They [Wolves] always face big teams and are very competitive and very good. I think they have a lot of very good players and are doing very well from the beginning of the season."

Pochettino will again be without Victor Wanyama for the trip to Wolves due to a knee injury, the midfielder joining Eric Dier (thigh), Danny Rose (groin) and Jan Vertonghen (hamstring) on the sidelines.

 

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Leicester 'to do Vichai proud' after hardest week of our lives - Vardy


Jamie Vardy says the last seven days have been the hardest of his life as Leicester City prepare to play their first match since the death of chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

Srivaddhanaprabha was one of five victims when his helicopter crashed outside the King Power Stadium around an hour after Leicester's 1-1 draw with West Ham on Saturday.

His death has seen tributes laid outside the Premier League club's home ground, while Leicester players and staff gathered on the pitch with the Srivaddhanaprabha family to pay their respects.

Leicester's EFL Cup clash with Southampton was postponed following the news, but they will return to action in the Premier League against Cardiff City this weekend.

Vardy is determined to honour Srivaddhanaprabha with a victory after a harrowing week for everyone involved with the club.
"It's been the hardest week of everyone's lives," he told Sky Sports. "We came in on the Monday, there wasn't any training, it was more of people going for a walk, having little chats, obviously remembering all the good times from Khun Vichai.

"He wasn't just a chairman, he literally was part of your extended family and that's just the person he was."It didn't matter who you were, he would always make sure he made the time for you and as the pictures show, he was always smiling and those will be the things that we'll never forget and will always be ingrained in your mind.

"I think everyone's going to have different reactions to it, some people will be affected more than others but I think the main thing is all coming together even stronger and making sure that we do Vichai proud."On the Cardiff clash, Vardy added: "We all spoke about it, about wanting to play. It's what Vichai would have wanted.

"That's what we're going to do, we know what we've got to do. We're going to go out there and honour his name, put in a performance that will hopefully get the win. "I know people are saying the result doesn't matter, but for us as lads we want to try and make it a positive result.

"It's going to be tough, it's going to be very emotional, but we've all sat down and had a chat, and one thing we wanted to make sure we did is play this game and honour the man himself."

Srivaddhanaprabha's funeral is due to begin in Thailand on Saturday, and Vardy confirmed the Leicester squad will be in attendance."It will be massively important," said the forward. "We're a close knit group, like one big family.

"And one of the main reasons for that is Vichai, so for us to be there is massively important."

 

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Mourinho aims dig at journalist as Alexis and Lingard return for Man Utd


Jose Mourinho has confirmed Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard are fit to return for Manchester United – while also taking a swipe at a journalist who allegedly leaked his team for recent matches.

Sanchez has missed United’s last two matches with a groin injury while Lingard hasn’t featured since the Carabao Cup defeat to Derby County in September with a similar problem.However, both players have taken part in full training this week and are in contention for Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth.

The game the Vitality Stadium has come too soon, though, for Marouane Fellaini, Antonio Valencia and Diogo Dalot as United aim to secure back-to-back victories for the first time since they beat Watford and Young Boys in mid-September.

"Ask Samuel,” was Mourinho's response when asked to give his team news at Friday's press conference, in reference to Manchester Evening News journalist Samuel Luckhurst, who correctly reported that Romelu Lukaku would be dropped for Sunday's win over Everton.“We work tactically, we improve some fitness levels," he continued. "We improve some of the players that were almost there but not there - Lingard, Alexis - these kind of players, that were already available but not yet at a good level.

“Dalot and Fellaini are still out. The only one that went one step behind was Antonio Valencia with some problem in his knee. But Lingard and Alexis, now I can say ‘ready.’”Speaking of Valencia, Mourinho joked about a video published by the Ecuadorian on social media this week showing him training in the gym at Carrington.

“I watched something funny in his Instagram where he says ‘work, work, work,’ in the gym,” said Mourinho. “He should say ‘work, work, work, alone because I am injured and cannot train with the team'.

“He couldn’t train with the team so I think it looked like he was working really, really hard and he was but without the ball and without the team so tomorrow you can imagine he is not selected because he is not ready.”

United head into their trip to the Vitality Stadium sat eighth in the Premier League table - two places below Bournemouth in sixth.

 

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Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2018.11.03

Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2018.11.03

Bournemouth Vs Manchester United

Cardiff City Vs Leicester City

Everton Vs Brighton

Newcastle Vs Watford

West Ham Vs Burnley

Arsenal Vs Liverpool

Wolves Vs Tottenham

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Bournemouth lage form eka hodai so hoda fight ekak denna wenawa win karanna

Good luck Manchester United!
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LA Liga Fixtures 2018.11.03

LA Liga Fixtures 2018.11.03

Leganes Vs Atletico Madrid

Real Madrid Vs Real Valladoid

Valencia Vs Girona

Rayo Vallecano Vs Barcelona
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Serie A Fixtures 2018.11.03

Serie A Fixtures 2018.11.03

Inter Vs Genoa

Fiorentina Vs Roma

Juventus Vs Cagliari
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Bundesliga Fixtures 2018.11.03

Bundesliga Fixtures 2018.11.03

Leverkusen Vs Hoffenheim

Bayern Vs Freiburg

Augsburg Vs Nurnberg

Schalke Vs Hannover

Wolfsburg Vs Dortmund

Hertha Berlin Vs Leipzig
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Bournemouth 1 Manchester United 2: Rashford's late winner lifts Mourinho's men

Marcus Rashford scored a stoppage-time winner as Manchester United came from behind to triumph 2-1 at Bournemouth in the Premier League.Rashford had already missed a golden opportunity on the rebound when Ashley Young's free-kick hit the crossbar, but he came up trumps for Jose Mourinho's men at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.

Paul Pogba's left-wing cross was chested down by the England forward, who kept his composure to fire past Asmir Begovic and earn United their first away league win in three attempts.


Anthony Martial earlier levelled for United, scoring for the fourth Premier League game in a row, as Bournemouth's fine start - Callum Wilson scoring an early opener - counted for nothing.
David de Gea had already made a good save with his legs to deny Ryan Fraser when Wilson's sixth Premier League goal of the season and 50th strike for the club gave Bournemouth a deserved 11th-minute lead.

After a Bournemouth corner was half-cleared, a superb Lewis Cook pass sent Stanislas through in the right channel and his low cross was perfect for Wilson to tuck away past De Gea.Martial's hot streak continued with the equaliser in the 35th minute, the forward slotting home a pass from Sanchez, who started for United in the absence of injured striker Romelu Lukaku.

Bournemouth started the second half on top and De Gea reacted quickly to save an instinctive flicked finish from the again impressive David Brooks, then Martial's clever play sent Luke Shaw through but the left-back was denied by Begovic.

Young's free-kick struck the woodwork but Rashford should have converted the rebound, instead seeing his effort blocked by Nathan Ake, with Brooks clearing off the line as Pogba tried to turn the ball home.

Rashford made amends with a dramatic 92nd-minute winner, however, collecting a Pogba cross and keeping cool to snatch the points with his first Premier League goal since September.

 

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Congratulations Manchester United!

Martial,Rashford & Pogba

Godak watina win ekakhoda comeback ekakKeep it up Manchester United keep it up

& next Juventus away match
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Real Madrid 2 Real Valladolid 0: Solari lucky to secure winning start in LaLiga

Real Madrid escaped from a largely uninspiring display with two late goals securing a fortuitous 2-0 win over Real Valladolid in Santiago Solari's first LaLiga match in charge.

Vinicius Junior came off the bench to force an own goal off Kiko Olivas in the 83rd minute before Sergio Ramos ensured the European champions finished a poor showing on an upbeat note with a penalty five minutes later.Valladolid had rattled the crossbar twice in the second half and will count themselves highly unfortunate not to have further opened the wounds inflicted during last weekend's El Clasico humiliation.

Solari, who replaced the sacked Julen Lopetegui following that 5-1 loss, presided over a 4-0 Copa del Rey victory over third-tier Melilla in the first match of his caretaker stewardship, but for the first 80 minutes this was a sobering reminder of the work needed to mend a misfiring side.

Marcelo's absence afforded Sergio Reguilon a LaLiga debut and the left-back, the target of Ramos' fury during a training ground incident last month, created early opportunities that Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale both wasted.

The malaise eventually spread to the other end as only wasteful finishing from Antonito and Enes Unal prevented the home fans' whistles from growing louder.

Valladolid looked the more likely to break the deadlock after the interval with Thibaut Courtois' crossbar denying both Ruben Alcaraz and Toni Villa.

But it was to be a cruel end for the impressive visitors as Vinicius' heavily deflected shot left Jordi Masip with no chance, before Fernando Calero's sloppy foul on Benzema allowed Ramos to snap his side's five-game winless run in LaLiga, moving them temporarily to within four points of leaders Barcelona.

 

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Inter 5 Genoa 0: Gagliardini grabs double in impressive Barcelona warm-up

Inter warmed up for the visit of Barcelona on Tuesday with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Genoa at San Siro.

Two goals from Roberto Gagliardini, either side of Matteo Politano's strike, and late Joao Mario and Radja Nainggolan goals moved Luciano Spalletti's side back into second place in Serie A as they won a fourth home league match in a row for the first time in 12 months.

Inter's seventh top-flight win in succession came despite the likes of Mauro Icardi, Matias Vecino and Nainggolan starting on the bench, leaving them in good shape to face Barca in a key Champions League match next week.


Gagliardini put Inter ahead after only 14 minutes, pouncing on a loose ball in the box to prod home from six yards, with the goal standing after a quick check from the referee with the VAR crew.

Two minutes later, the home side had their second. Politano reached Joao Mario's pass ahead of his man and fired low past goalkeeper Ionut Radu for his second goal of the season.

Genoa showed a little improvement before the break but Inter put the result beyond question just three minutes after the restart, when Gagliardini blasted in after Radu had reacted brilliantly to deny Ivan Perisic.

Krzysztof Piatek was summoned from the bench and immediately headed straight at Samir Handanovic from a corner, but Inter's lead could have been greater had Joao Mario and Lautaro Martinez showed a little more composure on the break.

Genoa offered little else to threaten a late comeback, as their run without an away win against Inter stretched to 13 league games, and the Nerazzurri made the victory more one-sided with an injury-time flurry: Joao Mario turned into space and drilled past Radu left-footed from the edge of the box, before substitute Nainggolan headed in the Portugal midfielder's cross with the last touch of the game.

 

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Leganes 1 Atletico Madrid 1: Simeone's men disappoint as Carrillo levels late on

Guido Carrillo's late equaliser prevented Atletico Madrid from going top of LaLiga as Leganes held their underwhelming visitors to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

Diego Simeone was missing Diego Godin, Koke and Diego Costa due to muscular problems for the short trip to Butarque, and without them their performance was disappointing - Carrillo pegging them back late on.

In an unremarkable first period, Leganes looked the slightly more promising and did at least go close on a couple of occasions, though quality was lacking from both sides.


Atletico improved slightly after the break and eventually went ahead through Antoine Griezmann's free-kick, but substitute Carrillo secured the strugglers a deserved point eight minutes from time with his third goal of the season.
After a tight opening Leganes should have taken the lead 21 minutes in, but Youssef En-Nesyri headed a corner delivery just over from about nine yards.Recio then went close with a 25-yard free-kick which curled just wide of the left-hand post a few minutes later.

But the fiercely contested first half produced few other highlights at either end.Ivan Cuellar had to be alert just after the break, racing out to pounce on the ball at the feet of Gelson Martins – making his first LaLiga start since joining from Sporting CP.But Cuellar was poor for Atletico's breakthrough, as he failed to dive for Griezmann's 30-yard free-kick and watched as it hit the net.

Atletico could not hold on, however, and Leganes got an arguably justifiable equaliser in the 82nd minute – Carrillo tapping in from close range after Rodri Tarin's effort came back off the crossbar.

Griezmann should have restored their lead in stoppage time, but he fired over from Filipe Luis' cut-back and Atletico were consigned to stalemate.

 

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Bayern Munich 1 Freiburg 1: Holer puts pressure back on Kovac



Lucas Holer's 89th-minute strike earned Freiburg a deserved 1-1 draw in a dramatic finale to their Bundesliga clash with Bayern Munich, putting the pressure back on Niko Kovac.Bayern looked set to extend their winning run to five games courtesy of Serge Gnabry's effort 10 minutes from time, but Holer darted between Niklas Sule and Jerome Boateng to give the visitors a share of the spoils.

The Bavarian giants were jeered by the Allianz Arena crowd following a tepid first half in which Robert Lewandowski wasted a glorious opportunity to put them in front.


Gnabry appeared to have spared the Poland international's blushes, but Holer's clinical late finish meant Bayern fell four points adrift of leaders Borussia Dortmund, who beat Wolfsburg 1-0, and are now without a win in four home matches in all competitions.
Bayern had over 70 per cent possession and completed more than double the number of passes Freiburg managed in the first half, but Alexander Schwolow remained largely untested in the visitors' goal.

Lewandowski has scored 13 Bundesliga goals against Freiburg but failed to add to his tally in the 26th minute when he got his footing wrong while bearing down on goal and stabbed a tame effort at the goalkeeper from six yards.Referee Felix Zwayer denied Bayern a penalty after reviewing video footage of the ball striking Manuel Gulde's hand in the area before the hour mark.

Kovac sent on Franck Ribery and Thomas Muller in an attempt to inject a spark to his team's attack, but it was Gnabry who made the difference, taking full advantage of the space afforded to him by Nicolas Hofler by drilling into the bottom-right corner.

Bayern were unable to hold on for the win, though, as Holer stretched to connect with Christian Gunter's cross to deny Manuel Neuer a clean sheet in his 200th Bundesliga appearance for Bayern.

 

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West Ham 4 Burnley 2: Anderson, Hernandez down visitors late on


West Ham showed admirable character as two-goal Felipe Anderson and Javier Hernandez netted late on to secure a 4-2 win over Burnley after twice seeing the visitors peg them back in a thrilling encounter.Chris Wood had seemingly earned Burnley a share of the spoils 13 minutes from time, but the impressive Anderson and substitute Hernandez struck in the final stages to end the visitors' resistance.

West Ham looked to be taking a deserved 1-0 lead into half-time thanks to Marko Arnautovic's early effort, but Burnley – who rode their luck in the first period – levelled just before the interval through Johann Gudmundsson.


Wood cancelled out Anderson's first goal of the day towards the end with a header which seemed to leave West Ham – who before the match had dropped more points from winning positions than any other Premier League team – facing a draw, but the Brazilian's second put them back on track.Hernandez wrapped things up on the break in stoppage time to end a run of four matches without a win.

It took West Ham just 10 minutes to make the breakthrough, though they had a helping hand as Arnautovic pounced on James Tarkowski's feeble backpass and slotted beyond Joe Hart.

Steven Defour escaped unpunished when appearing to trip the lively Grady Diangana in the area, and Burnley capitalised on the stroke of half-time – Gudmundsson producing a neat finish when played through by Ashley Westwood.Anderson restored the hosts' lead in the 68th minute when latching on to Diangana's throughball, only for Wood to head in a Robbie Brady corner and level things up soon after.

But Burnley were unable to hold on, Anderson getting his second in the 84th minute, squeezing an effort past Hart after Mee blocked Arnautovic's initial shot.And Hernandez – introduced for Pedro Obiang in the 61st minute – put the game to bed at the end after racing on to Michail Antonio's pass.

 

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Everton 3 Brighton and Hove Albion 1: Clinical Richarlison and fired-up Coleman seal points


A Richarlison brace and Seamus Coleman's first goal since January 2017 gave Everton a 3-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion at Goodison Park.The Brazil forward's fifth Premier League goal of the season put Marco Silva's men ahead after 26 minutes but their advantage was short-lived – Lewis Dunk heading the Brighton equaliser seven minutes later.

Everton's strong start to the second half proved key as long-serving Toffees right-back Coleman restored a lead Richarlison would enhance 13 minutes from time.


Victory moves Everton up to ninth in the table, while Brighton are 12th – enjoying a three-point cushion between themselves and West Ham in 13th
Gylfi Sigurdsson made a horrible hash of his shot on the end of Coleman's 11th-minute cutback.

The Iceland midfielder more than made up for that error by driving the hosts forward on the break from a Brighton corner, exchanging passes with Bernard and slipping a deft pass behind the visiting defence for Richarlison to gleefully smash home.

Everton remained in the ascendancy, with Alireza Jahanbakhsh fortunate not to be penalised for a clumsy challenge on Lucas Digne in the box, but they levelled when Dunk climbed above Zouma to power past Jordan Pickford.

Idrissa Gueye drilled a 20-yard strike against the inside of the right post in the 48th minute, with Theo Walcott unable to covert Bernard's pacey cross from the loose ball.Coleman found the precision his team-mates lacked a few moments later, driving beyond Mat Ryan from the edge of the box.

Dunk wrapped up an all-action outing in forgettable fashion when his woeful blind pass towards centre-back partner Shane Duffy was seized upon by Richarlison, who finished with aplomb from a tight angle after skipping away from Ryan.

 

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Cardiff City 0 Leicester City 1: Gray goal seals emotional Foxes win

Demarai Gray's second-half goal was enough to help Leicester City to an emotional 1-0 Premier League win over Cardiff City in their first game since the death of owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

The 60-year-old was one of five people killed when a helicopter they were travelling in appeared to lose control shortly after taking off from the King Power Stadium following last Saturday's 1-1 draw with West Ham.After impeccably observed pre-match tributes, both sides contributed to a fiery and frenetic first-half, which saw the crossbar struck at both ends.

The game's decisive moment came after 55 minutes when Gray turned home from 10 yards after a fine cross from Ben Chilwell, sparking an outpouring of emotion from the Foxes' players and travelling support after a tragic week.
Leicester – who lost Harry Maguire to injury after 27 minutes – almost fell behind on the half-hour mark when Victor Camarasa's 25-yard free-kick cannoned back off Kasper Schmeichel's crossbar.

Wilfred Ndidi – who scored the late equaliser in last Saturday's draw with West Ham – then headed wide from six yards after rising highest to meet James Maddison's inswinging corner.

Leicester were denied a blatant penalty in first-half stoppage time, referee Lee Probert failing to punish Sol Bamba after the Bluebirds defender had diverted Jamie Vardy's close-range effort onto the crossbar with his arm.Schmeichel denied Josh Murphy from an acute angle in the opening stages of the second period before Gray's second league goal of the season broke the deadlock in the 55th minute.

Chilwell picked out the winger with a superb cross from the left, allowing the 22-year-old to stroke past Neil Etheridge from 10 yards, although Probert booked him for removing his shirt to reveal a tribute to Srivaddhanaprabha.

Cardiff pushed hard in the closing stages, but Leicester – who might have added a second when Vardy was smartly thwarted by Etheridge – held firm to claim maximum points after a challenging and emotional week.