Liverpool 1 Manchester City 1 (aet, 1-3 pens): Caballero seals spot-kick Wembley glory for Pellegrin
Willy Caballero was the hero as Manchester City claimed the first major silverware of the season by beating Liverpool 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes of the League Cup final at Wembley.
Liverpool had won all five of their previous cup finals that had gone to a shoot-out, but the City goalkeeper – playing in place of Joe Hart in domestic cup competitions this term – saved from Lucas Leiva, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana to allow Yaya Toure to net the winning spot-kick.
In the match itself, Sergio Aguero had forced Simon Mignolet to tip his shot onto the post, but the Liverpool goalkeeper should have kept out Fernandinho s strike from a tight angle early in the second half.
City squandered a number of chances to win it in 90 minutes and…
Arsene Wenger hailed Jack Wilshere s football brain and has backed the out-on-loan midfielder to one day become the manager of Arsenal.
Wilshere is a graduate of the Arsenal youth academy, making his first-team debut under Wenger in 2008 as a 16-year-old.
He has since gone on to make over 150 appearances for the north London club, but has found opportunities limited in recent seasons, largely due to injury.
Wilshere was sent out on a season-long loan to Bournemouth on transfer deadline day in the hope of rediscovering his form at the top level.
But, while some may see that as the end of the road for the 24-year-old at the Emirates Stadium, Wenger insists Wilshere is firmly in his plans for the future.
I hope personally that he stays her…
Spain will have to win in Portugal if they are to reach the Nations League Finals after suffering a shock 2-1 home defeat to Switzerland in Group A2 on Saturday.
As Portugal cruised to a comfortable 4-0 win over Czech Republic, Luis Enrique s side failed to make the most of their superiority in Zaragoza and slumped to a first defeat since the 2021 Nations League final loss to France.
Spain had great difficulty converting possession into a goal threat, at no point in the first half looking likely to cancel out Manuel Akanji s opener.
Marco Asensio did inspire Jordi Alba s equaliser early in the second half, but an Eric Garcia own goal almost instantly had them playing catch up again and a second equaliser never materialised.
Despite their dominance of the…
A stable side playing with assurance and calm to lead rivals whose array of expensively assembled parts are failing to produce the expected return.
This is a familiar narrative for El Clasico in recent years but, as Barcelona prepare to host their sworn enemies at Camp Nou on Saturday, Zinedine Zidane s Real Madrid have flipped the script.
During his swashbuckling playing days, Zidane was the most lavish recruit of Florentino Perez s Galacticos period, with a transfer fee that stretched Madrid s elastic balance sheets more than Luis Figo, Ronaldo or David Beckham.
Perez s label for his flawed method of team building was Zidanes y Pavones – a pledge to blend his global stars with unheralded homegrown players such as centre-back Francisco Pavon, who handily provi…
Liverpool and Benfica played a surprisingly interesting second leg of their encounter in the quarterfinals of the Champions League at Anfield on Wednesday.
Following a 1-3 win last week at the Estadio da Luz, Liverpool believed they were certain to progress when Ibrahima Konate scored the opening goal in the 21st minute. The young French defender was the one who broke the deadlock in the first leg as well. Goncalo Ramos restored what seemed a brief moment of hope for Benfica in the 32nd, as Roberto Firmino struck twice after the break (55 , 65 ) to move the Merseysiders far ahead. The visitors, however, refused to give up and after substitute Roman Yaremchuk pulled another one back in the 72nd, Darwin Nunez equalized with nine of the 90 left on the clock.
With two more …
Paris Saint-Germain will focus on helping Neymar recover emotionally from his latest injury setback, said Mauricio Pochettino, who is confident they have the squad to win without him.
Neymar was ruled out for up to four weeks after suffering an adductor injury in PSG s Coupe de France clash with Caen on Wednesday.
He will miss Tuesday s trip to Camp Nou to face his former club Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash.
The timeline also puts him in doubt for the return leg at the Parc des Princes on March 10.
Neymar spoke of his immense sadness in an Instagram following news of his injury.
And asked about the Brazil forward ahead of their Ligue 1 clash with Nice, PSG boss Pochettino said: We have been speaking since the in…
Barcelona snatched a late equaliser as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano.
Florian Lejeune’s late own goal rescued a point for Xavi’s side but their slip-up opened the door for Real Madrid and surprise leaders Girona to extend their advantage in the title race.
Vallecano made most of the running in the first period and got their reward with a stunning Unai Lopez volley in the 39th minute.
Barcelona went in search of an equaliser in the second period as chances from Pedri, Ferran Torres and Joao Cancelo all went begging but Lejeune’s 82nd-minute own goal gave the Catalan giants a reprieve.
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Vallecano made a bright start and had the first chance of the game but Isi Palazon’s eff…
Sporting Lisbon are interested in signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in the January transfer window, according to . Ronaldo has slammed United and their manager Erik ten Hag in a television interview with Piers Morgan, and it does not seem that that he will play for the former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners again.
Ronaldo returned to United in the summer of 2021 and is out of contract at the Red Devils at the end of the season. The former Real Madrid and Juventus star played well last season, but under Ten Hag, he is really struggling for playing time at Old Trafford and is not happy at his current situation.
Sporting are willing to sign Ronaldo, but the Portuguese giants have made it clear that he would want him to take a wage-cut. Moreo…
The Glazer family have owned Manchester United since 2005.
However, a change of owners could be on the cards, with Saudi Arabia s crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman reportedly interested in buying the club.
Sunday s focus will be on a crunch clash with arch rivals Liverpool, but talk of a takeover at Old Trafford dominates the headlines in our look at the day s gossip.
TOP STORY – UNITED BRACED FOR NEW APPROACH
According to The Mirror, Saudi Arabia s crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman is set to make a new offer to purchase Manchester United.
The Glazer family have owned United for 14 years, and they are not prepared to sell having reportedly turned down two offers from Bin Salman already.
Man Utd braced for third takeover bid f…
Former Real Madrid midfielder Lucas Silva has signed for Gremio on a contract until December 2023.
The Brazilian midfielder was described as the future of Madrid by then-coach Carlo Ancelotti upon signing from Cruzeiro for a reported €14million in January 2015.
After struggling to establish himself in the first team Silva was loaned to Marseille the following season, but his European career was halted when a mild arrhythmia in his heart was discovered ahead of a temporary switch to Sporting CP in July 2016 that consequently fell through.
The former Brazil Under-23 star spent 18 months back on loan at Cruzeiro, winning successive Copa do Brasil titles before his time with the club ended last June.
Madrid released Silva from his contract in September and…