..::Football IV::..

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'Everybody can miss' - Rashford backs Pogba after 'simple' decision to hand penalty to midfielder


Marcus Rashford says that he has no issues with Paul Pogba's penalty on Monday despite the Frenchman missing from the spot as Manchester United dropped points.The Red Devils were forced to settle for a draw with Wolves on Monday at the Molineux Stadium, with Anthony Martial and Ruben Neves scoring in either half of the teams' second Premier League match of the season.

But Manchester United could have seized the lead in the second half through Pogba, who fired his spot-kick into a diving Rui Patricio as the World Cup winner opted for power over placement.

Patricio's save was enough to seal a tough point for Wolves while earning Pogba plenty of criticism for missing his fourth penalty of the calendar year.

Following the match, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reiterated that both Pogba and Rashford have been designated as penalty takers, and the latter says he has no problem with conceding Monday's spot-kick to the former despite the miss."Paul wanted to take it. It’s that simple. Everybody can miss a penalty," Rashford told Sky Sports.

"He’s scored countless penalties for us and throughout his career. It’s normal to miss one. We forget about that now."We go again in the next game and if we play how we played today, with a bit more urgency, we’ll be fine."

He added: "It’s simple. If you want to take it, you take it. I took one last week so for me it’s no problem for him to take one this week. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t score but it’s football."

Pogba's decision to take the penalty was criticised by former Manchester United star Gary Neville, who said that he was "fuming" when he saw the midfielder step up to the spot .But Rashford backed his team-mate and said that both he and Pogba are confident from the spot, and that whoever takes the next one will have plenty of belief when the situation arises once again.

"The confidence that you’re going to score the goal is always the same. And so it should be," he said."We practice pretty much all week and we score the majority of the time so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have the confidence to take the penalty.

"Like I say, it’s unfortunate we didn’t score it but it’s not on him it’s as a team. We take that forward into the next game."Next up for Manchester United is a clash with Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday.

 

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'Exemplary professional' Sanchez will get back to his best at Inter, says former Udinese team-mate Di Natale


Alexis Sanchez is an ‘exemplary professional’ and will rediscover his top form at Inter, according to former team-mate Antonio Di Natale.The Chile international could bring his Manchester United ordeal to an end with an initial loan deal back in Serie A, a league in which he played alongside Di Natale for Udinese between 2008 and 2011.

His struggles at Old Trafford have been well documented and, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had spoken of his belief in the forward to come good, his exit will come as a relief to plenty of United fans.

But legendary forward Di Natale, who scored 210 Serie A goals throughout his career, thinks Inter are well set up for Sanchez to shine once again.“Sanchez to Inter would be an extraordinary coup and a gamble that both parties could win comfortably,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Alexis is an exemplary professional, someone who always arrived early for training sessions and never held back during a match. He is returning to Italy, where he left an excellent reputation, and he was strongly wanted by a great coach like Conte, who had asked for his signature back when he was at Juventus.

“He has all the ingredients needed for a great season. Alexis needs people to have faith in him and I am sure he’ll do well with Conte. I think he had some fitness problems over the last 18 months and he certainly had difficulty settling in at Manchester United.”

Italy represented Sanchez’ first destination in Europe after bursting onto the scene at Chilean side Cobreloa in the 2005-06 season. Signed in 2006, he spent two more years back on loan in South America before settling into the Udinese first team. Three seasons further on, he was signed by Barcelona.

Recently, though, he has looked a shadow of his former self. Confidence and consistency are key for him, according to Di Natale, who thinks he can find both playing in Antonio Conte’s system behind Romelu Lukaku.“Sanchez has to play consistently and feel important to give his best,” he said.“That didn’t happen in Manchester, but it’s impossible to doubt his talent.

“He’d also be playing the 3-5-2 system with Conte, which he had at Udinese under Francesco Guidolin and allowed him to become a decisive player. He’ll have Romelu Lukaku by his side and as a second striker, Alexis becomes impossible to mark with his pace and power.

“You’ll see, he will score many goals. His time in England seemed to be over as he needed a new challenge and Inter are the right club for a relaunch, with Conte the best coach to get him back to the top level.

“I can assure you, Sanchez will want to prove himself in Serie A.”

 

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Pogba suffers racist abuse on social media after Man Utd penalty miss


Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has, after his penalty miss in a Premier League clash with Wolves, become the latest player to be subjected to racist abuse online.The France international spurned the opportunity to earn the Red Devils all three points during a trip to Molineux.

He was given the chance to fire Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in front from the spot on Monday, but saw an effort from 12 yards saved by Rui Patricio.

The game in the West Midlands ended 1-1, with Ruben Neves cancelling out Anthony Martial’s opener.Pogba stepping up for penalty duty was questioned by plenty on the night, but some criticism on social media took the argument too far.

In what is becoming an alarmingly common occurrence, the World Cup winner found himself the target of vile comments from trolls.He is the third player in the space of a week to have faced such insults.On Sunday, Reading striker Yakou Meite called out his abusers after seeing a penalty saved in an outing for the Championship side against Cardiff.

He had stepped off the bench for the Royals before missing a 91st-minute effort.
Prior to that, Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham also suffered racist abuse after failing from the spot.

The England international missed the decisive penalty in the Blues’ UEFA Super Cup meeting with domestic rivals Liverpool.Frank Lampard condemned the abuse his frontman faced, with the Chelsea manager left “disgusted” by the actions of some so-called fans.The Blues also spoke out as a collective in a statement which slammed the “abhorrent posts”.

Lampard has called for social media companies such as Twitter to do more when it comes to policing the comments that appear on their platforms.Many of those which appeared on Monday in relation to Pogba have since been deleted, while a number of accounts have been taken down.

United have spoken out on the incidents, though, saying in a statement: "Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse aimed at Paul Pogba last night and we utterly condemn it.

"The individuals who expressed these views do not represent the values of our great club and it is encouraging to see the vast majority of our fans condemn this on social media also."Manchester United has zero tolerance of any form of racism or discrimination and a long-standing commitment to campaigning against it through our #AllRedAllEqual initiative.

"We will work to identify the few involved in these incidents and take the strongest course of action available to us. We also encourage social media companies to take action in these cases."

Twitter's terms and conditions claim that action will be taken “against behaviour that targets individuals with hateful conduct”.The general consensus is, however, that much more needs to be done in an effort to rid football and wider society of racism and other forms of prejudice.

Anti-racism charity Kick It Out revealed in a report made public in July that reports of racist abuse increased during the 2018-19 campaign by 43 per cent from 192 cases to 274.

 

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'Attack Pogba, you attack us all' - Rashford & Maguire unite behind Man Utd team-mate following racist abuse


The vile abuse suffered by Paul Pogba on the back of his penalty miss for Manchester United against Wolves has seen both his club and team-mates rally around the World Cup winner.

The France international became a target for social media trolls after failing from the spot in a 1-1 draw at Molineux.Pogba is the latest in a long line of professional footballers to have been subjected to such attacks over recent weeks.

United have condemned those responsible for the latest comments and vowed to take action against those involved.

A statement from the Premier League club read: “Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse aimed at Paul Pogba last night and we utterly condemn it.“The individuals who expressed these views do not represent the values of our great club and it is encouraging to see the vast majority of our fans condemn this on social media also.

“Manchester United has zero tolerance of any form of racism or discrimination and a long-standing commitment to campaigning against it through our #AllRedAllEqual initiative.

“We will work to identify the few involved in these incidents and take the strongest course of action available to us. We also encourage social media companies to take action in these cases.”While being able to call upon the full support of his club, Pogba also has the backing of his United team-mates.

Marcus Rashford is among those to have taken to social media himself in an effort to bring an end to the racist abuse and to point out that such attacks are considered to be a slight on the Old Trafford “family”.The England international forward said: “Manchester United is a family. Paul Pogba is a huge part of that family. You attack him you attack us all...”

Summer signing Harry Maguire has also blasted back at the actions of a prejudiced minority.

He said after learning of the abuse suffered by Pogba: “Disgusting. Social media need to do something about it...

“Every account that is opened should be verified by a passport/driving licence. Stop these pathetic trolls making numerous accounts to abuse people.”

 

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Liverpool and Man City the real title contenders, says Tottenham keeper Lloris


Liverpool and Manchester City are the 'real contenders' for the Premier League title this season, says Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, despite his side holding the latter to a draw.

Spurs earned a point against Pep Guardiola's champions at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday after they came from behind twice through Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura to snare a 2-2 result.

City had a late strike ruled out by VAR for handball in contentious circumstances to leave just Liverpool and Arsenal with 100 per cent records in the Premier League after the opening two games.

Tottenham enjoyed one of their strongest seasons in years under Mauricio Pochettino last campaign, securing another top-four finish and reaching a first Champions League final.However, they ultimately faded in their domestic pursuits and were outclassed for the European crown by Liverpool in Madrid.

Speaking after Spurs' impressive point against City at the weekend, France international Lloris stated that his side are aware they are the third runner behind a two-horse race for the title, and that his team need to improve their consistency in avoiding soft defeats.

“One thing that we try to improve this season: if you cannot win, it’s important to not lose the game, especially against an opponent like Manchester City,” the keeper said in the Evening Standard following his side's efforts on Saturday.

“If you want to stay in contact with the best team in the Premier League, it’s important to get this feeling. There were some games that we lost [last term] that we should have drawn. We all know the difficulty of playing at City, so it’s a good feeling to build confidence.

“With humility, Liverpool and City are the real contenders. We’re going to try our best to challenge for top spot, but it’s difficult to find the consistency.

“We just need to try to use the experience of the last few years in the best way and it’s about details — to not lose a game, especially a game you do not deserve to win. You draw, you take a point and it’s very good because your rivals share the point with you.

“Now it’s just to keep the consistency. Consistency is the key.”

 

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'Maybe I can finish my career next year' - Ronaldo hints at potential retirement


Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo remains unsure when he will retire, saying it could be as soon as next year or he could play into his 40s.

Ronaldo, 34, has continued to star after joining the Old Lady last year, scoring 28 goals in 43 games in all competitions and helping the Italian giants win another Serie A title in 2018-19.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is uncertain when he will stop playing, although he intimated that it may not be far away.

"I don't think about that," Ronaldo told TVI on Tuesday.
"Maybe I can finish my career next year... but I can also play up to 40 or 41."I don't know. What I always say is to enjoy the moment. The gift is excellent and I have to continue to enjoy it."

Along with numerous individual honours, Ronaldo has won a record five Champions League titles (four with Real Madrid and one with Manchester United), three Premier League crowns, two La Liga trophies, and one Serie A title.

Ronaldo wants to make history and is seemingly motivated by setting records.
"Are there any football players who have more records than me?" he asked."I don't think there are any footballers who have more records than me."His team-mate Sami Khedira likened the ex-Manchester United attacker's standing in football to the role of superstars in other sports - and as having the work ethic of legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

"Ronaldo is an example for all sportsmen, like LeBron James in basketball or Tom Brady in American football," Khedira told Kicker."Or like [Gianluigi] Buffon.When the boys see Gigi pushing weights for 45 minutes, at 41, they understand his love for this sport and can only think, ‘I can do it too’.

"Older players are a great motivator for the younger ones."With Serie A having a later start to the season than Europe's other strong leagues, Juventus begin their campaign to win a ninth straight Scudetto away to Parma on Saturday.

They face a tough opening to the season, with fixtures against Fiorentina (away) and Napoli (home) to follow after their opening weekend match.

 

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'Sanchez is still a great player' - Van Persie backs Man Utd flop to turn career around amid Inter links


Former Manchester United star Robin van Persie has backed Alexis Sanchez to recover from a nightmare spell at Old Trafford and regain the form that once saw him marked as one of the world's elite forwards.Alexis was the subject of a fierce transfer tug of war back in January 2018 between United and their Manchester rivals City, with the Red Devils eventually gaining the upper hand to sign the Chilean from Arsenal.

But the player has proved a bitter disappointment at Old Trafford, falling far short of expectations amid injuries and apparent crises of confidence under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Now his time in England may be drawing to a close, with Inter strongly linked with an initial loan move to cut his United hell short.And Van Persie suggested that a fresh start may be exactly what Alexis needs to relaunch his career.“He doesn’t look happy to me,” the ex-Netherlands international explained to BT Sport.

“I can’t properly judge it because I am not working with him but when I see him play I rarely see him smiling.“Of course, I get it when you are playing you need to be serious and you want to win but after you score a goal you can smile, because that is the point of football.“We all play football because we like it and if you like something you should smile.”

If Alexis does complete a move to Inter he will be the second United man to seek sanctuary at San Siro this summer.

Romelu Lukaku is already confirmed in the Nerazurri squad after suffering in a similar vein to the Chilean at the Premier League giants.Van Persie believes that the pressure of performing at Old Trafford can be too much even for players of Lukaku and Sanchez's ability.“I think in the first couple of months after his move he was happy and he was playing well," he said of Alexis.

“Mentally he needs to find that happiness again because if you are happy then you are fitter, you want to create and you want to have fun.“So I think he should find a way to be happier again.”“I don’t know if it’s the pressure. Pressure is something you can’t see or touch but he has to manage that in his head“But he is still the same great player.

“He has it all: he’s fast, he can assist, he can dribble, and he can score.“There is just a lot of negativity around him from fans and people who have opinions on social media.

“Maybe it’s all become a little too much for him. He just needs to block it out, find his true happiness and just enjoy football.”

 

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'I believe I can be a successful coach' - Henry eager for second chance following disastrous Monaco spell


Thierry Henry still believes that he can be a successful coach despite falling flat at Monaco, as the former Arsenal star waits for his next chance to prove himself as a manager.The French legend took charge at his former club in October 2018 following Leonardo Jardim's dismissal, stepping into a Monaco team in a relegation fight.

That fight got no better under Henry, who was sacked just three months later and replaced by Jardim after four wins and five draws from 20 matches in charge.

But Henry says that, despite that setback, he still sees himself as someone that can coach at a top-level club if just given the chance."

"I don’t think about the negative, I think about the positive. That’s why I went to Monaco and that’s why I still want to be a coach. You think about having a positive impact," he told the Telegraph.

“Call me crazy if you want, but I love football and I believe I can be a successful coach. I’m not thinking about the pain, I’m not thinking about failure. I don’t like easy. I like to lead and it’s on me to make it happen. The same when I joined Arsenal as a player, the same when I went to Belgium with Roberto. It’s an evolution.

“Communication and honesty from the start is key. What’s the job? Is the job to stay up, is the job to win the League or be in the Champions League? "But how and what is success? Is success improving players? Ultimately, results are the most important thing, but I want to improve players as well.”

Henry acknowledges that his time at Monaco is poor, but the legendary striker also says he stepped into a task that was quite difficult.The Frenchman was handed a squad that ended up finishing 17th at the end of the season under Jardim.

Henry also says he expected to be given more time to fix the team and mould it to his vision, but he was never given that time as Monaco moved on in an attempt to secure their survival from relegation.

“There is something I always say,” Henry said. “You win or you learn, and, as you can imagine, I learned a lot. I still have Monaco in my heart, it’s the club that gave me my first opportunity as a player and gave me my first opportunity as a coach, so I will always be thankful to the people who gave me that, people who are there, some are gone.

“My heart talked at the time. I wanted to go back to where I started everything. I have zero regrets about what happened. It was a very difficult task and I felt that if I’d had more time I could have done more. But if you don’t get results, no matter what the circumstances, you have to go.

"All I would say is that if you don’t pass that line and sit on the bench, then you don’t know everything. I’ve heard a lot of people give their opinion on what happened at Monaco and, boy, they were wrong, but I will never go into details.

“If I knew I only had three months, then maybe I would have acted a different way, but I was trying to plan something for the future and doing that in such a little amount of time is very difficult.“I’m proud of what we did achieve with such a young team. We had to win in Caen and Amiens, and those six points were very important. I had no doubt that team was going to stay up because there was enough quality.

“I came out of it fully reassured that’s what I want to do, zero doubt about it. I saw some of my ex-coaches after I left and they said ‘now you can say you are a coach because you’ve been sacked. Now you are a coach Thierry’. I am not complaining and I can only say thank you to everybody, but to build a legacy and build something for the future, it takes time.”

 

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Fiorentina sign Bayern Munich legend Ribery


Bayern Munich legend Franck Ribery has signed for Fiorentina, the Serie A club announced on Wednesday.

The 36-year-old, who won a record nine Bundesliga titles during his stay in Germany, has penned a two-year deal with the Florence-based side to take him through until 2021.

The former France international brought the curtain down on a 12-year stay with the Bavarian giants last season after helping them to another domestic triumph.

Having started his career with his hometown club Boulogne in 2000, he spent spells with Ales, Brest, Metz and Galatasaray before moving to Marseille in 2005, where he made his name, helping the club to back-to-back Coupe de France finals.

He subsequently moved to Bayern two seasons later, in 2007, for a then club-record fee of €25 million (£22.9m/$27.7m), where he helped the club dominate German football for the subsequent decade, winning his first title in his maiden season.

Along with his domestic league triumphs, was also a six-time DFB-Pokal Cup winner and, in 2013, was a member of the Bayern team that memorably achieved the treble after they lifted the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.In 2008, he was named German Footballer of the Year, making him one of only five foreign players to date to be awarded the honour, while he came third in the Ballon d'Or race in 2013.

At international level, Ribery was called up to the national team for the first time in 2006, playing a part in their World Cup near-miss against Italy in Germany, and he would go on to become a consistent presence until 2014, when he retired from representative football following the World Cup in Brazil, which he missed through injury.

All in all, he won 81 caps for his country and scored 16 goals.Ribery becomes Fiorentina's seventh arrival of the transfer window, joining players such as former Bologna midfielder Erick Pulgar and ex-Sassuolo striker Kevin-Prince Boateng in signing for Vincenzo Montella's outfit.

The former Viola boss took the reins in Florence for a second time in April, following the resignation of Stefano Pioli, with the club just avoiding a close shave with relegation from Serie A last season.

 

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'Racism has no place on our platform' - Twitter set to meet with Man Utd in wake of Pogba abuse


Representatives from Twitter are set to meet with Manchester United within the next several weeks to discuss how to better police racist behaviour on the platform following a number of tweets aimed at Paul Pogba.Pogba was the subject of racist abuse following Monday's 1-1 draw with Wolves, a match that saw the French star miss from the penalty spot as the Red Devils settled for just a point.

United swiftly condemned those responsible for the comments and vowed to take action against those involved, while the midfielder's Man Utd team-mates were quick to take to social media themselves to defend Pogba.

Harry Maguire was among those to call for Twitter to play their part in helping to eradicate racism from the platform, and a spokesman from the social media site says that a meeting involving Manchester United, anti-racism organisation Kick It Out and any other party looking to help is imminent.

"Over the next few weeks, Twitter representatives will meet with Manchester United, Kick It Out and any other civil society stakeholders interested in hearing about the proactive work Twitter is doing to address online racist abuse towards certain footballers in the UK," a Twitter spokesman told Sky Sports News.

"We have always maintained an open and healthy dialogue with our partners in this space, but we know we need to do more to protect our users. Racist behaviour has no place on our platform and we strongly condemn it."To this end, we look forward to working more closely with our partners to develop shared solutions together. In the meantime, for Twitter's part, we will continue to proactively monitor the conversation, and take aggressive enforcement action when content violates our rules."

Twitter had previously agreed to meet with Kick It Out to discuss how to handle racist abuse in the aftermath of an incident involving Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, who was targeted online after missing in a penalty shootout loss to Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup.PFA deputy chief executive Bobby Barnes says that he believes players may soon be forced off the platform and social media in general if the abuse continues.

"Towards the back end of last season, we saw a few incidents creeping back into the grounds, which we were obviously very concerned about," Barnes told Sky Sports ."We're now heading towards a new battleground of social media. Players have opened up and engaged with the fans, but there's a situation now where you're starting to question whether players should even be on it at all.

"The one thing social media has done is make players more accessible. It would be a real shame if a small minority of idiots were to spoil that."Pogba and Manchester United are set to return to action this weekend against Crystal Palace.

 

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Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2019.08.24

Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2019.08.24

Norwich City Vs Chelsea

Brighton Vs Southampton

Manchester United Vs Crystal Palace

Sheffield Vs Leicester City

Watford Vs West Ham

Liverpool Vs Arsenal

​

 

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Manchester United Vs Crystal Palace

Manchester United Starting Line-up

De Gea
Wan Bissaka
Lindelof
Maguire
Shaw
Pogba
McTominay
James
Lingard
Rashford
Martial

Crystal Palace Starting Line-up

Guaita
Ward
Cahill
Kelly
van Aanholt
McArthur
Milivojevic
Kouyate
Zaha
Ayew
Schlupp
​

 

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Good Luck Manchester United!
​

 

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Manchester United 1 - 2 Crystal Palace:Crystal Palace record Premier League first as they stun Man Utd at Old Trafford

Crystal Palace have made their own piece of Premier League history, beating Manchester United for the first time in the competition.

The Eagles have crossed swords with the Red Devils on a regular basis since the English top-flight underwent a makeover in 1992.Palace have spent time out of the top tier, but had faced United on 20 occasions heading into a latest showdown on Saturday.


No victories had been collected from those previous outings, with just four points collected down the years.

Only one of those had come at Old Trafford, with a 0-0 draw played out last season.Palace finally boast bragging rights over the Red Devils following a dramatic encounter at the Theatre of Dreams.

Jordan Ayew fired them in front in the 32nd minute, with United well short of their best in the first half.Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side then spurned a glorious opportunity to level matters as Marcus Rashford missed from the spot.

Daniel James appeared to have rescued a point when he netted a minute from the end of normal time, but there was to be one more twist in the tale.An uncharacteristic error from David de Gea allowed Patrick van Aanholt to drive home a stoppage-time winner.

He is only the second man to have netted beyond the 90th minute to claim a Premier League win over United, and the first to do so at Old Trafford.
Thierry Henry is the only other player to have downed the Red Devils in that style.
Palace now have plenty to celebrate after finally get one over on United.
Having become accustomed to slipping up in Premier League action, a long wait for a win has come to an end.



Their last triumph over United came way back on May 11, 1991.They prevailed 3-0 that day, while you have to turn the clock back 30 years to find the Eagles’ last win at Old Trafford.

That came on December 9, 1989, with that contest also ending 2-1 in their favour.

 

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Norwich City 2-3 Chelsea: Tammy Abraham double hands Frank Lampard first Blues win

It was Chelsea who opened the scoring after just three minutes through Abraham's well-taken goal, only for the hosts to equalise only 156 seconds later as local boy Todd Cantwell side-footed home from close range after some lovely build-up play.
In what was an action-packed first half at a sun-drenched Carrow Road, however, the visitors soon found themselves back in front thanks to Mason Mount's composed finish (17).
Norwich fought back, though, as the in-form Teemu Pukki made it five goals in his first three Premier League appearances to level matters again on the half-hour mark, only for Abraham to win it with his second goal midway through the second half.
The visitors - who lost Pedro in the warm-up, to be replaced by Ross Barkley - made the perfect start in East Anglia as Cesar Azpilicueta got free to the right byline, before finding the unmarked Abraham in the area.
And the striker showed great confidence to beat Tim Krul with an accurate finish into the corner of the net, not that his and his team's celebrations lasted for long as Norwich soon levelled.
Cantwell was strong in the box, before releasing Pukki down the inside left channel, and from the Finland striker's low cross, there was Cantwell to side-foot home from close range.

It was raining goals as back came Chelsea as Christian Pulisic's clever ball found Mount in the box, with the young midfielder keeping his cool to work some space with quick feet, before burying a shot past Krul for his second strike in a week.
That was not the end of the first-half scoring, though, with the hosts back on level terms on the half-hour mark after excellent play from Emiliano Buendia, whose lovely through-ball picked out Pukki.

And the in-form Finn kept his cool to beat Kepa Arrizabalaga from an acute angle as Norwich's famed recovery powers were once more there for all to see.
In the end, however, Chelsea's extra experience and class began to show, with the visitors winning a ding-dong affair midway through the second half thanks to that man Abraham.

The impressive Mateo Kovacic powered forward through midfield, before finding his forward and despite having a lot of work to do, the England international managed to find the target from the edge of the box with a low drive past a flat-footed Krul.

 

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Real Madrid 1-1 Real Valladolid: Guardiola denies Zidane's men

Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Valladolid in their first home game of the season on Saturday.Karim Benzema's precise strike with eight minutes to play looked enough to earn Zinedine Zidane's side a second win from two LaLiga matches in 2019-20, only for Sergi Guardiola to level late on.

Madrid started their first home game of the season with none of their new signings in the first XI, as Zidane put faith in Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Isco despite weeks of speculation over their futures.


It was Bale who looked likeliest to break the deadlock in the first half, prodding a first-time effort just wide of the left-hand post and sending a header over the crossbar.

James also twice came close with a good strike and a header, but Valladolid goalkeeper Jordi Masip was left relatively untroubled despite Madrid's dominance.Luka Jovic was sent on from the bench for his home debut and struck the crossbar with a header from Bale's cross - his first touch of the game.

Waldo Rubio was denied by Thibaut Courtois while Guardiola just failed to turn in a cross on the break, and Benzema's sharp turn and finish from 18 yards out - his 150th LaLiga goal - looked to have punished those misses.

That was until the 88th minute, when Guardiola raced into space behind Raphael Varane and prodded the ball through the legs of Courtois.

 

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Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal: Table-topping Reds deal Gunners more Anfield pain

Mohamed Salah scored twice as Liverpool maintained their 100 per cent Premier League record by beating Arsenal 3-1 at Anfield.

Joel Matip's header and Salah's second-half brace ensured the Reds moved three points clear at the top of the table, with the Gunners staying second despite suffering a fourth straight away defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League.

Although Lucas Torreira recorded an 85th-minute reply, Liverpool's victory means they have won 12 consecutive Premier League matches, breaking the club's record in the competition, while they are now up to 42 home league games without defeat.


Adrian's gaffe in the 2-1 win against Southampton did not cost Liverpool last time out but he was at fault again in the early stages, racing out of his goal to slice a clearance straight to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who could only lob a bouncing ball just wide.

Mistakes continued to come at both ends. Dani Ceballos gifted Sadio Mane a chance but the forward fired his shot too close to Bernd Leno, then Jordan Henderson's lapse allowed Nicolas Pepe to race away, though he could not beat Adrian.

Liverpool took the lead in the 41st minute, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz distracted by Virgil van Dijk and leaving Matip to meet Trent Alexander-Arnold's right-wing delivery, with another corner from the full-back headed over by Mane before the break.

Arsenal were unable to cope with Liverpool after the restart, David Luiz pulling back Salah in the box with the forward hammering the resulting penalty into the top-left corner.Salah then span away from the Brazilian centre-back on Liverpool’s right flank, cut inside and slotted a trademark left-footed finish across Leno to make it 3-0.

Only Liverpool easing up prevented further Anfield misery for Unai Emery's men, with substitute Torreira beating an unsighted Adrian from inside the box for a late consolation.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Schalke 0-3 Bayern Munich: Lewandowski hits hat-trick

Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick to take his goal tally to five in two games as he fired Bayern Munich to their first Bundesliga victory of the season in a 3-0 defeat of Schalke.

After finishing with his lowest goal return for four years in 2018-19, plundering 22 league goals, the Poland international has started the new campaign in electric form and Schalke failed to contain him.

Any hopes Schalke boss David Wagner had of taking points from his first home game in charge were cast into doubt when Lewandowski converted a first-half penalty.


The 31-year-old saved his best for the second half, when he curled a spectacular free-kick into the top corner and then added a third to wrap up a comfortable victory.

Bayern coach Niko Kovac took the opportunity to hand a debut to loanee forward Philippe Coutinho in the last 35 minutes, and after a frustrating start to the season the champions are starting to look more like themselves.

Schalke goalkeeper Alexander Nubel, heavily linked with a move to Bayern during the close season, made a good reaction save to keep a powerful Lewandowski header out after 15 minutes.When Schalke's loanee full-back Jonjoe Kenny made a clumsy sliding challenge on Kingsley Coman four minutes later the referee had no option but to award a penalty that Lewandowski calmly stroked into net.

The second half was just four minutes old when Corentin Tolisso won a free-kick 25 yards from goal, prompting Lewandowski to unleash a scintillating strike that swerved away from Nubel and into the top-left corner.

With 15 minutes left, Coman burst down the right and crossed to the edge of the box where Lewandowski had time to take a touch before rattling a low shot into the bottom-right corner of the net to add gloss to the result.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Parma 0-1 Juventus: Chiellini on target for reigning Serie A champions

Juventus started their bid for a ninth consecutive Serie A title with a narrow, but thoroughly deserved, 1-0 win over Parma at Stadio Ennio Tardini on Saturday.

New boss Maurizio Sarri was absent from the dugout as he is recovering from pneumonia, but he will be buoyed by a performance that suggested they will once again be the team to beat this season.Giorgio Chiellini scored the only goal of the game after 21 minutes, while Cristiano Ronaldo saw a goal ruled out for offside before the interval.

Juve were unable to add a second despite dominating throughout, although it mattered little as they comfortably kept Parma at arm's length to start the season in familiar fashion.The visitors started with a spring in their step and should have gone ahead after 12 minutes, Ronaldo's header from 10 yards fizzing narrowly over.

Wojciech Szczesny pawed away Roberto Inglese's instinctive effort at the other end before Chiellini opened the scoring, the veteran defender diverting home Alex Sandro's scuffed volley from 10 yards.

Ronaldo should have doubled their advantage eight minutes later but flashed wide after being played in by Gonzalo Higuain.

There was more frustration for the Portugal international before the break when he saw a goal disallowed by VAR for offside. He lashed home superbly from a tight angle but replays showed he was marginally offside as he raced to collect Douglas Costa's pass.Parma started the second half with more intent than they had shown in the opening 45 minutes, although they struggled to breakdown Juve's resolute defence.

Ronaldo clipped over from Costa's pull-back on the hour mark before Parma goalkeeper Luigi Sepe kept out the former Real Madrid's star's powerful drive from 20 yards.

The Bianconeri eased up in the closing stages, rarely looking like they would add a second, but the damage had been done by their defensive colossus in the first half.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Solskjaer promises to stick with Lingard despite dry spell


Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has defended Jesse Lingard's poor start to the season, insisting his "energy" is important to the way Manchester United play.

Lingard, 26, struggled in the opening two games against Chelsea and Wolves and was hauled off after 56 minutes in Saturday's dismal 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace.

The England international, who finished last season with five goals in all competitions, has not scored in the Premier League since Solskjaer's first game in temporary charge against Cardiff City in December.

But the United boss is adamant that he will remain an integral part of his side, though 17-year-old Mason Greenwood, who replaced him against Palace, is pushing for more playing time.When asked if he was concerned by Lingard's early season form, Solskjaer said: "No. We stick together.

"Jesse's not scored any goals in the last three games, no, but he's been a big part of our team and will continue being an important part."The energy he gives us is lively, but we felt Mason [Greenwood] had to come on and create something and we'll see more of Mason."

Alexis Sanchez was once again overlooked amid the possibility of a switch to Serie A side Inter.Solskjaer concedes the Chile international might well leave Old Trafford but is prepared to use him if he stays.

"Alexis is a quality player and we don't have loads of options," he added. "So, if there's an offer good enough for the club and him, maybe he'll go. If not, he's still our player and he's a quality player, no doubt. He's been training well."



Luke Shaw was replaced in the first half by Ashley Young after feeling tightness in his hamstring, although Solskjaer is hopeful he will be fit enough for the trip to Southampton next weekend.

"We will do the scans [Sunday] but he felt something in his hamstring," the manager said. "Hopefully he won't be too bad and will be back for Southampton."United are in action again next Saturday when they visit Southampton at St Mary's.