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Showing posts from August, 2021

England's most memorable World Cup Qualifiers

Ahead of England's upcoming world cup qualifiers, let's take a look at some of England's most memorable moments at this stage of the competition. There' heroic defending against Italy, late drama against Greece and a memorable night in Munich. Keep reading for more memories Italy 0 - 0 England - Qualification for France 98 is secured England only needed a point from their final match to qualify for the following summer's World Cup. Easier said than done when that final match is Italy away.  A battling and sometimes heroic display from the Three Lions earned them a 0-0 draw and qualification was secured. Not a lot of flair from the attacking players but the point was well deserved. Watch some of the highlights from the game in the video below. Germany 1 - 5 England - Even Heskey scored Germany had beaten England at the start of the end of the qualifying campaign. A disappointing end to the reign of Kevin Keegan and an awful way to say goodbye to the old Wembley S...

Transfer Deadline Day: Three of the best

Transfer deadline day happens twice a season and is always a crazy day.  Who can forget Dimitar Berbatov moving to Manchester United in August 2008? Or how about Mesut Özil moving to Arsenal in 2013? Dimitar Berbatov - Tottenham to Manchester United in 2008 Earlier on this dramatic deadline day, it had appeared that Manchester City were going to shatter United's hopes after they had a bid of more than 20 million pounds accepted by Tottenham. United ultimately got their man and the Bulgarian would go onto win two Premier League titles and a League Cup whilst at Old Trafford.  At the time of the transfer, one Manchester United fan said: "Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez, Berbatov - Is there a better attacking outfit? Now we are really ready to attack European football like we have done domestically." There is constant debate about the overall effectiveness of 'Berba' during his time at Old Trafford. Some United believed he was the world class addition needed at the time, o...

Spurs 1 - 0 Watford

Tottenham maintained their 100% start to the season against Watford. The win means Spurs will top the table going into September's international break. Watford are 12th. They were made to work hard for their victory by a Watford side who were unfortunate to concede when Son's inswinging free-kick deceived the Watford goalkeeper and found the bottom-right corner. 📬 He always delivers. pic.twitter.com/jICUySCtWo — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 29, 2021 Nuno Espirito Santo became just the second Spurs boss to win his first three league games in charge of the club. The last man to accomplish that was Arthur Rowe in 1949. Nuno Espirito Santo spoke with BBC Sport: "We worked hard. The boys have been very committed to our idea on how we want to be. We still have a lot of things to improve. Performances help create this atmosphere. "We go beyond our own limits when we need to. This is what the boys did today. It was a tough game." Harry Kane, who was un...

Rangers beat Celtic at a packed Ibrox

Rangers, with manager Steven Gerrard and several players absent after a Covid outbreak, made it seven derbies in a row without losing. The victory moves Rangers to within a point of Hibernian and Hearts at the summit. Celtic are now in sixth place after two defeats in four matches. Ange Postecoglou has now become the first Celtic manager since Tony Mowbray in 2009 to lose his first Old Firm derby. Watch the video below to see and hear some reaction from Rangers. The Celtic view Everyone associated with Celtic will obviously be disappointed with the result as their form had improved in recent weeks following an opening day defeat to Hearts. If they are to retain the title this season, they will need to win at least two of the remaining matches against Rangers. On this showing, and against a depleted Rangers side, that looks unlikely. The video below explores some of the immediate reaction from a group of Celtic fans. Previous matches and moments involving the two clubs What's th...

Premier League review: 28th August 2021

It was another thrilling day of Premier League action, let's take a look a closer look at the action. West Ham United finished the day on top of the Premier League. How many people would bet on them staying there? Manchester City thrash woeful Arsenal Manchester City outplayed ten-man Arsenal on a sunny afternoon at the Etihad Stadium. Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres scored in the first 12 minutes. Any hope Arsenal had of a comeback was ended when midfielder Granit Xhaka was sent off for lunging into a challenge on Joao Cancelo Greater Manchester Football: Manchester City score five against woeful Arsenal https://t.co/StWkcpCUgw — News Ball (@UKNewsBall) August 28, 2021 Ten-man Chelsea hold Liverpool Chelsea frustrated Liverpool in a fast and furious Premier League encounter to earn a hard-fought point. They were reduced to 10 men after Reece James' first-half sending-off. You can see some of the highlights in the tweet below. Give it a watch! A strong and resilient perfo...

Some of the most shocking transfers ever

With Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Manchester United instead of signing for Manchester City, Greater Manchester Football have taken a look at some of the most shocking transfers involving Manchester United and Manchester City.  We also explore some other controversial signings.  Carlos Tevez to Manchester City in 2009 This was a strange one. Tevez had spent the previous two seasons at Old Trafford, where he won the Premier League twice and the Champions League in 2008.  The Argentinian had claimed he was never offered a new contract at United. He was the latest signing to join the ongoing revolution across the city.  City announced the transfer with this cheeky poster. How good was Carlos Tevez at Manchester City? Click here to find more news from across Greater Manchester More Manchester City news can be found here Michael Owen to Manchester United in 2009 The former Liverpool striker  signed for United  in 2009 after being released by recently relega...

Champions League draw: Man City to face PSG and Chelsea drawn against Juventus

Premier League champions Manchester City will face Paris St-Germain, RB Leipzig and Club Bruges in the Champions League group stage. 2021 winners Chelsea will come up against Serie A side Juventus, Russian club Zenit St Petersburg and Swedish side Malmo. Manchester United face Villarreal, who beat them in the 2021 Europa League final. They will also play Italian club Atalanta and the Swiss side Young Boys. Liverpool are in a tough group that features Atletico Madrid, Porto and AC Milan. Social media reaction It has to be argued that out of all the English teams, Manchester United will probably be the happiest. They will be wanting to improve on their last Champions League campaign where they knocked out at the Group Stages. More Manchester United news from Greater Manchester Football.  🏆 Our completed #UCL group looks like this... What do you reckon, Reds? 👊 #MUFC | #UCLdraw — Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 26, 2021 Chelsea will also be relatively happy with their draw ...

Memorable matches and moments involving Celtic and Rangers

Celtic and Rangers have played each other over 400 times in major competitions: Rangers have won 166 matches, Celtic have gained 159 wins.  Let's have a look at some memorabie moments involving the iconic clubs.  The first encounter The first game between Celtic and Rangers was a friendly in 1888. It´s thought that around 2,000 people were in attendance. It is believed that this could have been greater but for the International Exhibition taking place the same day through in the West End. More Celtic news can be found here This is the place for all the Rangers news Rangers 3 - 2 Celtic. 2002 Scottish Cup Final An extraordinary final that was settled by a late header from Lovenkrands. The goal caused complete mayhem in the Rangers end of the ground. You can relive that incredible match by watching the highlights below. Celtic 6 - 2 Rangers. 2000 A game that is still spoken about by Celtic fans today. The game was a sign that Celtic were on the cusp of something sp...

League Cup Barrow 0 - 6 Aston Villa -

Cameron Archer scored three as Aston Villa eased into the next round of the League Cup with a 6-0 win at League Two Barrow   He scored first goal of the night before Anwar El Ghazi added two, one from the penalty and then volleying home from close in to make it 3-0 at the break.Archer dinked in a lovely finish for his second before Frederic Guilbert smashed goal number five. The teenager completed his hat-trick with a low shot late on. More football news can be found by clicking here It was a dream first start for the club for Archer, who spent last season on loan at Solihull Moors. He was one of ten changes boss Dean Smith made from Saturday's win over Newcastle. Archer will hope his goals have put him in the reckoning to be included in the squad against Brentford at the weekend. Barrow competed well at times but were playing catch-up from the tenth minute when El Ghazi got in behind and squared for Archer to slot in his first from six yards out. Reaction The Barrow manager ...

Guess who's back? Levante 3 - 3 Real Madrid

Real Madrid and Levante played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in La Liga The game saw Gareth Bale's first La Liga goal since 2019 and an outfield player end up in goal. The Wales legend scored from Karim Benzema's pass but Roger Marti levelled 28 seconds after the restart. ⚽️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 | Gareth Bale opens the scoring for Real Madrid against Levante this evening. A first goal of the season for the Cymru captain 🙌 [🎥 @PremierSportsTV ] pic.twitter.com/YIwZ7yhV7d — welshfootie (@welshfootie) August 22, 2021  Jose Campana volleyed Levante ahead but Vinicius Jr levelled. Rober Pier put Levante back into the lead but Vinicius made it 3-3 with a clever finish before Levante goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez was later sent off. Wild weekend gets wilder... Levante keeper sent off, outfield player about to go in goal... minutes to go (but imagine plenty of time added on) and it's still 3-3 against Real Madrid — Gabriele Marcotti (@Marcotti) August 22, 2021 He dashed twenty yards outs...

Ross County 2 - 4 Rangers

Steven Gerrard told the media that his Rangers side needs to be more ruthless.  They began a massive week with a 4-2 victory over Ross County.  (Footage below courtesy of the SPFL.) Jordan White's late penalty pulled it back to 3-2 before Scott Arfield eventually put the game beyond the hosts. Rangers had surged ahead through Joe Aribo and Connor Goldson header. Harry Clarke responded after Alfredo Morelos restored the two-goal margin. 🐃🇨🇴⚽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/o1pUgAnXuG — Alfredo Morelos (@morelos2106) August 22, 2021 Gerrard's men are now only a point off the top and are away with a 1-0 lead against Alashkert of Armenia in the second leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursdat. Celtic then visit Ibrox for Sunday's Old Firm derby. He told Sky Sports after the match: "It was a really strong away performance, a lot of our attacking play was quality and we could have scored more goals," "I'd like to see us be more ruthless - I can see goals five ...

Crystal Palace 0 - 0 Brentford

Brentford kept their second successive clean sheet as their impressive start to life in the Premier League continued. The Bees named an unchanged starting eleven from that win against Arsenal, but offered little attacking threat in the opening stages. Ivan Toney went close with a shot from distance. The Brentford manager tiold Match Of The Day: “I think we slightly edged it to be the better side. We won the ball a lot of times in good areas, but we didn’t have the quality to put a good counter-attack chance together. “We ended the first half on top, which pleased me in many ways. We need a little bit more confidence and composure. But I think it is a positive that we have another level to take from this game."   The Palace perspective Patrick Vieira has argued that his side's performance in 0-0 draw with Brentford does give them hope for the rest of the season. He added that he is confident that the fans will remain patient as he looks to change the playing style at Selhurst P...

Brest 2 - 4 PSG

PSG were without a number of superstars including Lionel Messi and Neymar. They still had more than enough for Brest as they made it three wins out of three to top Ligue 1. Ander Herrera's scored a volley and a Kylian Mbappe added header put to PSG in control before Franck Honorat pulled a goal back. Other stories from our network Idrissa Gueye then fired in from way out, but PSG's opponents refused to lie down with Steve Mounie side-footing in. Another former Manchester United player in Angel di Maria then decided the contest for good with a cracking lob. Click here for more football news Despite all those absentees, Pochettino's squad still featured still included a host of stars including Mbappe, Achraf Hakimi, Giorginio Wijnaldum and Marco Verratti. PSG fans in the stadium and on Twitter were clearly happy with the result.  Their next game is against Reims, will Lionel Messi make his debut?  ❤️💙 #WeAreParis pic.twitter.com/zgvGThjhJt — Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG...

Premier League Weekend Preview

The second weekend of the Premier League season is almost here. There could be even more goals this weekend.  Let's have a quick look at where they might come from. Can Manchester City recover from their poor start? City followed up their defeat in the Community Shield with a 1-0 defeat away at Tottenham. Will a return to the Etihad Stadium and their biggest crowd since March 2020 see City recover from that poor start? Can Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea make it two wins from two? Three of the teams looking to take City's crown will all be hoping to make it two wins from two. Liverpool face Burnley, Chelsea play Arsenal and Manchester United travel to Southampton. Check out the Premier League website and some of the tweets below for all the latest news. More news and stories on Manchester United can be found by heading to Greater Manchester Football. A Twitter List by UKNewsBall Can the Brentford bandwagon continue? Everyone was impressed with Brentford's wi...

Celtic impress in Europa League win

Celtic's recent great form continued as they took a huge step towards the next stage of Europa League  after a pulsating victory against AZ Alkmaar. You can see all the highlights in the video below. Kyogo Furuhashi scored from Tom Rogic's fantastic cross to open the scoring in the first half and make it six goals in six games since signing for Celtic. In the second half. Kyogo teed up James Forrest, whose deflected effort reached the back of the net.  The fantastic football on show brought about a great atmosphere from the Celtic fans. They will be hoping to comfortably secure their passage to the Group Stage in the next round.  Celtic fans singing You’ll Never Walk Alone before kick off tonight pic.twitter.com/N12NYGGquK — Fitba Culture 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@fitbaculture) August 18, 2021 We played some outstanding football. Wee man from Japan scored the opener followed by Jimmy Forrest. Wizard of Oz superb. Joe Heart another Clean Sheet. Paradise Rockin Green Brigade ...

Manchester United announce Varane signing

Manchester United have announced the signing of Raphael Varane, keeping him at the club until 2025 The French defender is one of the most decorated players in world football and has amassed over 19 trophies in his career so far. This includes four Champions Leagues, three La Liga titles and the 2018 World Cup. More Manchester United news can be found here Varane was unveiled to Man United's support before their 5-1 thrashing of Leeds. He later told the Manchester United website: "Manchester United is one of the most iconic clubs in world football and the chance to come here and play in the Premier League is something I couldn’t turn down. “There is a lot more that I want to achieve in my career and I know I’m joining a squad full of great players who will all have the same determination to win matches and trophies.  "Having spoken to the manager I can see how much progress has been made over the last few seasons and I now join a group ready to play at the highest level....

And we're off: Brentford 2 - 0 Arsenal

Brentford celebrated their arrival in the Premier League with a superb victory over Arsenal as they opened their league campaign in style. We have previously asked if Brentford can survive and thrive in the Premier League.   Judging from the highlights in the video below, it looks like they can! Brentford fans celebrated wildly at full time. This was a result and performance that instantly turns the spotlight on Mikel Arteta. He certainly needs an improvement on last season and this was an appalling start to the campaign. Throughout the 90 minutes, Brentford were showing the pedigree that made them such a thrillinmg side on their journey to biggest stage of English football.  Post match reaction This is what Arteta said after the match. As you can imagine, the reaction to this tweet was mixed. 🗣 “It’s a very disappointing night. We needed to start in a very different way." #BREARS — Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 13, 2021 One Arsenal fan replied: "Arteta if you have ...

What's next for Rangers?

Rangers crashed out of the Champions League after losing to 10-man Malmo at Ibrox. The 2021 Scottish Premiership champions levelled the  tie on aggregate with Alfredo Morelos's goal, and at times looked well placed when Malmo's Bonke Innocent was sent off before half-time. Antonio Colak then changed the outcome of the when  he scored two goals in four minutes early in the second half. Despite dominating the ball and creating a fistful of chances, Rangers were unable to respond. For Rangers, a Europa League play-off awaits against Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty or Alashkert of Armenia. More football news can be found here You can see and listen to Steven Gerrard's reaction in the video below. Gerrard added: "The most frustrating part is we've lost the second half to 10 men. To be 1-0 up and then go 2-1 down, a bit of fear and panic set in. We've got the second-half performance wrong and that's on all of us. "We've lost three games out of four and,...

The journey to Wembley has started

The new Emirates FA Cup season began on Saturday 7th August.  News Ball has reports from some of the extra preliminary rounds from around the country. West Didsbury & Chorlton 1-3 Avro Avro won their first ever FA Cup game at their third attempt, defeating West Didsbury & Chorlton 3-1 thanks to a Louis Potts hat-trick. Avro had gone into this game having never played an away FA Cup game. Check out the report below from Greater Manchester Football. FA Cup: West Didsbury & Chorlton 1-3 Avro #FACup @AvroFC #WestDidsbury https://t.co/2ioL5ed305 — Greater Manchester Football (@_GMCRFootball) August 10, 2021 Jersey Bulls score 10 in competition debut  Jersey Bulls marked their FA Cup debut by racking up double figures against Horsham YMCA. This was also a club record. FULL TIME | We are so proud of our players' performance today 🤯 Thank you to all the supporters who managed to get a ticket for todays game and we hope to welcome you back to Springfield Stadium ...

Scottish Premiership review

Let's look back at an interesting weekend of Scottish football Celtic 6 - 0 Dundee Kyogo Furuhashi scored three as Celtic thrashed Dundee to give Ange Postecoglou a fantastic first Scottish Premiership victory in front of 24,500 fan. Despite a difficult and troubling start to life in Scotland, Postecoglou was given a warm reception from those allowed into the stadium as the Australian took charge of his first home league game. Dundee United 1 - 0 Rangers Rangers long unbeaten run is over! Jamie Robson's goal just after 60 minutes was enough to earn Thomas Courts his first league win as Dundee United manager and condemn Steven Gerrard's side to a first league defeat since losing to Hamilton  in March 2020. 🗣 "I think I can say with some conviction that we just about shaded that one today. It was a perfect day today." 🎥 Hear from Head Coach Tam Courts and goalscorer Jamie Robson after today's 1-0 victory over Rangers. #UnitedTogether pic.twitter.com/tzMFB...

Lionel Messi: Best moments at Barcelona

It has been announced that Lionel Messi's time at Barcelona is over.  At 16 years, four months, and 23 days old, Messi made his first team debut when he came on in the 75th minute during a friendly against José Mourinho's Porto in November 2003. His career has been extraordinary. Let's take a look at some of his best moments.        April 18, 2007 Messi emulates fellow Diego Maradona with this amazing goal, ghosting through half of Getafe’s side while his teammates could only watch in awe. It was at this time when people started to talk about him being one of the world's best. How good is this goal? See Messi at his best by watching the video below. Some have argued that this is his best goal.  OTD in 2007 📅 Lionel Messi did his best Diego Maradona impression v Getafe 🐐 His best ever goal? 🤔 #FCB pic.twitter.com/vuiZgDmFPh — GiveMeSport Football (@GMS__Football) April 18, 2019 May 2, 2009  Messi scores twice in a 6-2 thrashing of Real Madrid...

Football League news and scores: 7th August 2021

It's the first weekend of the football season and this is the place for all the latest news and scores. The first game of the season has already taken place AFC Bournemouth 2 - 2 West Bromwich Albion: The Baggies twice came from behind on the opening night of the Championship season as Valerien Ismael's Baggies drew with Scott Parker's Bournemouth. Social media posts If you can't make a game this weekend, this is the page for you. The tweets below contain all the latest news and scores from the matches. We have already looked into which teams might be in contention for promotion from the Championship to the promised land of the Premier League. Read more here.   A Twitter List by UKNewsBall Players and teams to watch out for this weekend Fulham's Harry Wilson Fulham were already one of the' favourites to bounce straight back to the top-flight - their squad is packed with players who know how to win promotion from this league. The statement signing of Harry W...

Community Shield 2021 preview

Manchester City and Leicester City face each other in the traditional curtain-raiser to the football season.  Both teams will be looking to build on their success from last season. Very few Leicester fans will forget their 5-2 thrashing of Man City last season. Whilst it is not considered a major trophy, it us always nice to win Leicester have never won it, whereas Man City have won it on six occasions. Their last appearance came in 2019 when they beat Liverpool on penalties.  Rumours persist about Man City signing a number of players. It will be interested to see who they sign and whether they make an appearance at Wembley. 🚨 Manchester City on verge of agreeing deal with Aston Villa to sign Jack Grealish for £100m. If everything goes to plan 25yo will finalise personal terms, take medical & complete move. Most expensive signing in British history @TheAthleticUK #AVFC #MCFC https://t.co/HnUxEi5A4P — David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 4, 2021 Leicester would have...

Championship Preview: Who's going to get promoted?

The Championship is one of the most exciting leagues in the world. This season promises to be no different. Have a read of the teams that could be in contention for the Premier League Sheffield United Last season was a disaster for Sheffield. Finishing bottom of the Premier League and changing their manager half way through the season. They did have some positives though. Beating Manchester United was a definite highlight. On their return to the Championship, they will be hoping for a good start a chance to banish the nightmares of that Premier League campaign.   Bournemouth Their second season back in the Championship. Bournemouth will certainly be one of the favourites to gain promotion but will need to make their home ground a fortress again.  West Brom Another team relegated looking to bounce straight back. Despite relegation, who will ever forget their 5-2 over future European champions Chelsea. What they will be looking for is stability at managerial level. Valé...