Category: Games

Manchester City beat Leeds United 3-1 on Wednesday in an English Premier League Week 17 match.

The first half seemed destined to end goalless until Manchester City midfielder Rodri found the net in the 46th minute at Elland Road in Leeds.

The Citizens picked up where they left off in the second half when Norwegian star Erling Haaland scored in the 51st minute.

Haaland netted again in minute 64 to score his 20th goal in the league and give a 3-goal lead to his team.

Pascal Struijk brought one back for Leeds with his header in the 73rd minute.

The Citizens raised their points to 35 and kept their chase of leaders Arsenal, who has 40 points.

Leeds United is in the 15th spot in the table with 15 points.

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Source: Anadolu Agency

England right-back Reece James on Wednesday said he is “devastated” to miss the World Cup in Qatar due to a knee injury.

“Devastated. The minute I injured my knee, I knew the turnaround to make the World Cup would be tight, but I always felt it was possible,” the 22-year-old said on Twitter.

“I’ve worked harder than I ever thought I could to give myself the best chance of going and truly believed I could help the team.”

In October, Chelsea said Reece sustained the injury in a match against AC Milan, and was expected to “be out for eight weeks.”

However, Reece was said to start jogging this week as Chelsea manager Graham Potter confirmed he could recover before the tournament.

“Good luck to the boys. I’ll be back soon. Stay safe & sending love,” James said.

Manager Gareth Southgate is expected to finalize England’s World Cup squad soon as the international competition kicks off on Nov. 20.

James has 15 international caps, and he helped England reach the UEFA EURO 2020 final.

England will play against Iran, US and Wales in World Cup Group B.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Reigning champions France will head to the 2022 FIFA World Cup without injured stars Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante as the Les Bleus team was unveiled Wednesday.

Head coach Didier Deschamps selected the Real Madrid duo of Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana, Olympique Marseille pair Matteo Guendouzi and Jordan Veretout and Adrien Rabiot from Juventus for the center of the park.

The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), will help France \ as the 25-man squad was announced on the French football body’s (FFF) website.

Benzema, 34, missed the 2018 World Cup but the experienced forward was recalled for the UEFA EURO 2020.

In addition, Kingsley Coman, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Christopher Nkunku will shape France’s attacks in Qatar.

France will face Australia, Denmark and Tunisia in World Cup Group D.

Qatar 2022, the first World Cup ever to be held in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, will start Nov. 20.

France’s World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (West Ham United), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Rennes)

Defenders: Lucas Hernandez, Benjamin Pavard, Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Jules Kounde (Barcelona), William Saliba (Arsenal), Raphael Varane (Manchester United)

Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Matteo Guendouzi, Jordan Veretout (Olympique Marseille), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus)

Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)

Source: Anadolu Agency

Polish football star Robert Lewandowski on Wednesday was awarded the European Golden Shoe, winning the award in back-to-back years.

Now a Barcelona forward, Lewandowski scored 35 goals for his ex-club Bayern Munich in the 2021-22 German Bundesliga season to bag this prestigious award for a second time.

The European Golden Shoe award was given to the top scorer of the European leagues each season.

Lewandowski, who received his award from former Barcelona captain Carles Puyol, thanked his former team and teammates for this honor.

The 34-year-old, who will play for Poland in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, emphasized that Brazil and Argentina are favorites in the organization and it will be a difficult tournament.

Former Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), is still the record holder with six European Golden Shoe awards.

The prestigious award was first given to Portuguese football legend Eusebio da Silva Ferreira – largely known as Eusebio – in the 1967-68 season as he scored 42 goals for Benfica.

Tanju Colak became the only Turkish player to win this award with 39 goals scored for Galatasaray in the 1987-88 season.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2003-GA car was sold for $14.8 million at an auction in Geneva on Wednesday.

“From World Champion to world record holder, the most successful Ferrari F2003-GA car is now the most valuable modern F1 car in history. The car Michael Schumacher drove en route to his sixth title has sold for CHF14,630,000 ($14,873,327 USD) at Sotheby’s Luxury Week in Geneva,” RM Sotheby’s said on Twitter.

In 2017, another Schumacher-driven Ferrari, which was F2001, was sold for $7.5 million by Sotheby’s in New York.

Germany’s Schumacher, 53, remains in recovery since suffering a head injury in a skiing accident in December 2013.

He was placed in a medically induced coma for several months after the accident. His family was allowed to move him back home in September 2014.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The English Premier League will restart on Monday, eight days after the 2022 FIFA World Cup’s culmination.

The league will resume with the Brentford vs. Tottenham Hotspur match in Brentford on Monday, Dec. 26.

The game at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium will kick off at 1230GMT.

Tottenham Hotspur are fourth with 29 points in 15 matches.

Mid-table Brentford have 19 points.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Brazilian forward suffered a hamstring injury in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals against Croatia on Dec. 9 and is set to miss multiple fixtures, including the Brentford game.

“I spoke with the medical department. They told me we need three to four weeks. His injury was a serious injury,” Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte said in a pre-match press conference on Friday.

Tottenham Hotspur’s archrivals Arsenal are on top of the league as they collected 37 points in 14 matches.

Spending a dream season in the English to-tier division, London club Arsenal will face city rivals West Ham United on Monday.

West Ham United have 14 points to come 16th in the league.

The match at the Emirates Stadium will begin at 2000GMT.

Arsenal’s nearest opponents in the 2022-23 campaign are second-place Manchester City.

Manchester City have 32 points in the league to be after the Gunners.

The Manchester team will visit Leeds United on Wednesday.

The match at Elland Road will start at 2000GMT.

Leeds United have 15 points to be in the 15th position.

Being in the third spot in the standings, Newcastle United, who have 30 points this season, will meet Leicester City in an away match on Monday.

Newcastle United had an excellent form to enter the World Cup break, having won their five matches in a row.

Leicester City collect 17 points to sit in the 13th position.

The Leicester City vs. Newcastle United match at the King Power Stadium will kick off at 1500GMT.

Premier League fixtures

Monday:

Brentford – Tottenham Hotspur

Crystal Palace – Fulham

Everton – Wolverhampton Wanderers

Leicester City – Newcastle United

Southampton – Brighton and Hove Albion

Aston Villa – Liverpool

Arsenal – West Ham United

Tuesday:

Chelsea – Bournemouth

Manchester United – Nottingham Forest

Wednesday:

Leeds United – Manchester City

Source: Anadolu Agency

Manchester City won a goal duel against Liverpool on Thursday, beating them 3-2 in an English League Cup (Carabao Cup) Round of 16 match.

Norwegian star Erling Haaland drew first blood for The Citizens in the 10th minute at Etihad Stadium.

Liverpool’s Fabio Carvalho responded in kind 10 minutes later, and the first half ended 1-1.

Man City started the second half fast as Riyad Mahrez brought the lead to The Citizens once again in the 47th minute.

But just one minute later, Liverpool’s Egyptian star Mohamed Salah leveled the score once more.

Nathan Ake made it 3-2 for Manchester City in the 58th minute and they came out on top with this score when the final whistle was blown.

Manchester City advanced to the English League Cup quarterfinals by eliminating reigning champions Liverpool.

Source: Anadolu Agency

China’s retail sector is expected to show a slow recovery during its reopening phase from the pandemic, Fitch Ratings said Thursday.

Retail sales are expected to “stay muted” during the initial phase of reopening due to an anticipated sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, possible labor shortages in the retail workforce and weak consumer confidence in employment and income prospects, the rating agency said in a statement.

“We expect retail sales growth to remain sluggish in the near term as COVID-19 spreads rapidly, discouraging outdoor shopping. Spiraling confirmed case numbers in the past few weeks have also dampened labor productivity and caused widespread disruptions in manufacturing supply chains,” the statement said.

Online retail sales, in addition, are anticipated to also be affected due to logistics disruptions, according to Fitch.

Shoppers are expected to refrain from making online purchases to avoid delivery couriers or tainted packages, while rising infections among couriers have resulted in cancelled orders and backlogs in distribution, it added.

Fitch said China’s retail sales volume contracted 5.9% in November compared to the same month last year, while the unemployment rate remained high at 5.7% in November, up from 5% a year earlier.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Barcelona’s Polish star Robert Lewandowski has been honored with the 2022 Golden Foot Award at a ceremony held in Monaco.

Before accepting the prestigious award at the Grimaldi Forum on Wednesday, Lewandowski, 34, had his footprint molded.

“I am very happy. I am very proud. And for me, it’s a huge honor to win this award, Golden Foot. Because I know that everything what I am doing and I did. I know how hard I have to work for this,” Lewandowski said in a video before the ceremony.

“Also, what is important in our lives (is) that we are trying to do and to be also the good,” he told the ceremony.

Lewandowski, a longtime Bayern Munich forward who helped it win multiple German Bundesliga titles, in 2020 earned a UEFA Champions League trophy with the club.

This July he left Bayern Munich to join Barcelona.

Also on Wednesday, Türkiye’s Fatih Terim, who previously coached the Turkish national team, Galatasaray, Italy’s Fiorentina and AC Milan, won the Golden Foot award in the legends category.

Terim secured the 2000 UEFA Cup with Galatasaray, and bagged eight Turkish top-tier Super Lig titles as head coach.

He was Türkiye head coach in the UEFA EURO 96, 2008, and 2016.

The Terim-led Türkiye played in the semifinals in the EURO 2008.

The Golden Foot is a prestigious international award that is given to football figures and players for their athletic achievements and personality, and can only be won once.

Source: Anadolu Agency