Sport
Leeds United win after beating Fulham in a 7-goal thriller
Leeds win after beating Fulham in a 7-goal thriller. Leeds’ opening two Premier League games this season have seen 14 goals, the most in a top-flight side’s opening two matches since Wolves in 1962-63. Leeds came out on top in a seven-goal thriller against Fulham in their first Premier League home game for 16 years.
After losing 4-3 at Liverpool on the opening weekend, this was the second week running that Marcelo Bielsa’s side were involved a frenetic end-to-end affair. Helder Costa’s fifth-minute goal for the hosts sparked the contest into life, with his powerful close-range effort going in off the underside of the crossbar.
However, Aleksandar Mitrovic levelled the scores with a penalty after Robin Koch had fouled Joe Bryan. Leeds were soon back in front though, with Poland midfielder Mateusz Klich stroking in a penalty after Bryan had fouled Patrick Bamford.
Bamford’s placed effort just after the interval put Leeds firmly in charge and they looked to have sealed the win when Costa added a fourth from Bamford’s cross. But Bobby Decordova-Reid’s low drive and Mitrovic’s second goal of the day for the Cottagers set up a dramatic finale.
Good times return to Elland Road
Tony Blair was the UK prime minister and American TV sitcom Friends had just aired its final episode the last time Leeds featured in a Premier League fixture at home. Yet Costa’s thumping finishes off the underside of the Fulham crossbar after five minutes was a perfect reminder that the good times have returned to Elland Road.
A narrow opening-day defeat at champions Liverpool illustrated the strides they have made under Argentine boss Bielsa. But this time their adventurous attacking and energetic style was rewarded with all three points – although it was still a performance underscored by moments of naive defending.
Bamford and Costa in particular, excelled for the hosts leading from the front at every opportunity. Costa‘s pace and trickery repeatedly occupied more than one visiting defender at a time as he constantly demanded the ball. Not only did that invaluably create space for his team-mates, but he was also at his clinical best scoring with both of these two shots resulting in goals.
Bamford’s showing as Leeds’ lone striker will also have pleased Bielsa. In a system that means the 27-year-old is likely to have to sacrifice himself at times, Bamford superbly created Costa’s goal on the left. And he showed a cool head to convert his only real chance of the game from Klich’s pass.
Fulham pay for defensive lapses
While Fulham boss Scott Parker has already conceded his team are likely to lose more games than they win this term he will have been disappointed by the way they gifted Leeds their opening goal.
For the second week in succession, his team conceded from a corner and were punished for a lapse in concentration and poor organisation. Bryan’s push on Bamford will also go down as a moment that was easily avoidable with the full-back and central defender Denis Odoi both caught out of position. However, unlike their home defeat by Arsenal, Fulham did at least show the character to respond against a side that had beaten them 3-0 in the corresponding fixture last term.
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s sleight of foot and drive in midfield helped to kick-start the comeback, as he brushed off recently capped England midfielder Kalvin Phillips to play in Decordova-Reid. Former Lyon defender Kenny Tete also marked an impressive Premier League debut with a fine cross, from which Mitrovic scored his second of the game.
‘This won’t be a constant’- what they said
Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “This won’t be a constant all year. It is very difficult to maintain the efficiency [in front of goal] we have had in these first two games.
“The characteristics of our game is to create goalscoring opportunities. In these two games we have created very little but we have scored all our chances. “We have had two very different games. Against Liverpool, we tried to get close to a very big rival and today we tried to not be caught by Fulham. Both were very difficult games.”
Fulham boss Scott Parker speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “There were a lot of encouraging things. You go 4-1 down away from home and they could really drop their heads. I didn’t see that in my team. I saw a real character and determination.
“The biggest thought in my head is that you cannot give up goals that we have given up today. You can’t expect to score four or five goals to win football matches in this league.
“If you give up goals too easy you aren’t going to win many. I just worry that a red bolt doesn’t go off for us. We need to smell it [danger] and sense it in those moments that are crucial in games. Sometimes we are a bit too nice. “I see an innocence about them not being streetwise. Overall there are a lot of positives but there was one negative which I realise is going to be the difference between us getting results or not.”
Mitrovic’s golden touch
- Leeds’ opening two Premier League games have seen 14 goals this season (F7 A7), the most for a top-flight side’s opening two matches since Wolves in 1962-63 (F12 A2).
- Since the start of last season, Fulham’s Mitrovic has scored more league goals than any other player in England’s top four tiers (28).
- The seven goals scored between Leeds and Fulham was the most in a Premier League game between two newly promoted teams since Wolves 4-3 Leicester in October 2003.
- After winning their first ever Premier League game in Yorkshire (1-0 v Leeds in April 2002), Fulham have lost their past eight top-flight trips to the county by an aggregate score of 6-22.
- With Bamford and Klich’s goals vs Fulham, Leeds have had two different players each score in the opening two matchdays of a Premier League season for the first time.
- There have been four penalties in Leeds’ first two Premier League games this season; the most in a team’s first two games in a single campaign since Bolton in 2002-03 (also four).
- Costa’s strike after five minutes is the earliest Leeds have scored a home Premier League goal since April 2003, when Mark Viduka scored after four minutes against Fulham.
- Costa became the 70th different player to score a Premier League goal for Leeds, and the second Portuguese to do so after Bruno Ribeiro.
What’s next?
Leeds travel to Sheffield United for their next Premier League game on Sunday 27 September (12:00 BST).
Fulham host Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, 23 September (19:00). They resume their Premier League duties when they welcome Aston Villa to Craven Cottage on Monday, 28 September (18:00).
Source BBC News
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Soccer fans in Nigeria have expressed their confidence that the Super Eagles will win the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
The Nigerian team qualified for the finals after defeating South Africa in the semi-final round of the competition. They face hosts Ivory Coast for the last game of the tournament today.
This will be the second match between both teams. The elephants of Ivory Coast suffered a 1- 0 defeat in their encounter with the Super Eagles at the group stage. Nigerian soccer fans say they are confident that the team will also win the final game.
Moshood Olatunji says, “We’re taking the cup. We’re not bragging and we’re not being pretentious and we’re not underestimating any group. But I think the Nigerian team started slow and they really worked as a team. The thing they had that I could see was the teamwork. They play for each other, they’re not playing for the coach, they’re actually playing for each other as a team. And I think if they carry that attitude into the finals, there’s no stopping us.”
Maxwell Ogbaje says, “I’m not surprised that we got to where we are today. We actually have a strong team. We have been at our best. It’s not just by chance, people see it that the one zero, one zero has always been a lucky thing, but it’s not. There’s actually good effort from the team that has brought that success.”
“Let them keep doing what they are doing especially the back 5. It’s a fantastic tactic that the coach Peseiro has been able to knock the boys with, so they should do what they do. They should be tight behind and they should take their chances. They should hit them on the counter and I believe if they are able to do that and they stay together, then Nigeria will be able to carry the day,” says Sam Maimagani.
It’s the eighth time Nigeria has made it to the finals in the Africa Cup of Nations and the 4th for Ivory Coast.
Nigeria is already a three-time winner of the Africa Cup of Nations and a triumph in today’s encounter will make it the 4th in 10 years.
A win for Ivory Coast will make them a three-time champion of the AFCON. Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu is expected to be at the game today to cheer the Super Eagles to victory.
Source: SABC
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Bayern Munich leapfrogged rivals Borussia Dortmund to clinch their 11th consecutive Bundesliga title in a last-day drama in German football on Saturday, May 27.
In a climactic season finale, Bayern Munich ended up celebrating an unexpected title win while Dortmund’s dream of their first league trophy since 2012 was left in tatters following a 2-2 draw with Mainz.
Dortmund were leading by two points before their last match for the season but were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Mainz on Saturday, allowing Bayern to finish in first place with a goal difference.
RB Leipzig and sensational Union Berlin are third and fourth respectively and will also compete in the Champions League next season.
Hertha Berlin and Schalke 04 have been relegated, while VfB Stuttgart will go into the relegation playoff.
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India is looking to a new generation of talented young cricketers led by teenage batter Shafali Verma to propel them to a first Women’s T20 World Cup title this month. Long-serving skipper Mithali Raj and record-breaking fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, trailblazers for women’s cricket in India, both retired last year.
New captain Harmanpreet Kaur said both players are still on hand to give advice, but it is time to look forward. Whenever we need they are always available to us, that’s what you expect from senior players,” the 33-year-old told a recent press conference.
“Nobody can fill their places, but the young girls who are getting the chances are doing well. One of the players who has grabbed her chance is Verma, an attacking opening batter who led India to victory in the inaugural U19 T20 World Cup in South Africa last month.
The 19-year-old will be back on familiar ground for the T20 World Cup, which is again in South Africa. It starts on February 10 and India are chasing a breakthrough first title, having been runners-up behind hosts Australia in the last edition, in 2020. Their first match is against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 12 in Cape Town.
Verma made her international debut at the age of just 15 and was in the team that reached the T20 World Cup final in 2020.
She also played in the one-day World Cup and was a member of the Indian side which took silver at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The youngster looks up to big-hitting England batsman Liam Livingstone for inspiration and considers Indian great Sachin Tendulkar a role model. After captaining India to victory in the U19 World Cup, Verma said: “This is just the beginning.”
“When I entered the Under-19s, I only focused on winning the Under-19 Cup and we have won that today,” ESPNCricinfo quoted her as saying. I will look to take this winning confidence with me and win the senior World Cup.”
Besides Verma, the India team also includes Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh. The women’s game is making inroads in the cricket-mad country, with the inaugural Women’s Premier League set for March, ahead of the men’s IPL.
Last month, India’s cricket board auctioned off five women’s IPL teams for $572.5 million. The new generation “are ready to be the representatives of the modern generation of women’s cricketers”, cricket journalist Sharda Ugra told AFP.
“The women’s IPL is going to start and they are the perfect representation of the kind of Indian women cricketers that belong to the T20 generation. They have the right mindset and they are very, very talented.
Source: eNCA
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