Premier League
MAN CITY’S GUARDIOLA WILL WATCH MAN UNITED’S LIVERPOOL CLASH AS TITLE TRIUMPH LOOMS
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will tune into Manchester United’s clash with Liverpool on Sunday (May 2) as he counts down to a third Premier League title in four seasons.
Guardiola’s side moved 13 points clear at the top with a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday and will be crowned champions if second placed United lose to Liverpool at Old Trafford.
If City don’t get a helping hand from Liverpool, they still have four games left to earn the one victory required to seal the trophy, starting at the Etihad Stadium against Chelsea next Saturday.
After second-half goals from Sergio Aguero and Ferran Torres saw off Palace, Guardiola was asked if he would rather win the title on home turf.
“No, as soon as possible,” he said.
“I will take a look at the Manchester United game and what happens, happens, but the most important thing is the fact we do not need them to be champions.
“Again it is in our hands. If we don’t win it tomorrow, we try to do it next week, if not next week, the next week. We have four games to be champions.”
Aguero’s superb strike was key to City’s success after Palace had been able to frustrate the visitors in the first half.
Aguero, City’s record goalscorer, will depart at the end of the season, following a difficult year where he has struggled with injuries.
Guardiola was quick to pay tribute to the Argentine striker after his 258th City goal.
“He is an absolutely top, legend, extraordinary player behaving as the most humble and nicest human being and it is not easy to find that,” Guardiola said.
“That’s why I love him as a man, another player in his situation and what he has done could create conflict and a difficult situation.
“When one guy is beloved like he is for all our fans, it is not just for scoring a thousand million goals. It is because he is something that the people realise, that you cannot hide away as a person.
“This season we took a decision, a difficult one, one of the toughest ones I took especially because he was injured for a long time and this club next season needs to make another step to maintain this level for a longer time.”
City remain on track for a treble and turn their focus to Tuesday’s meeting with Paris Saint-Germain, where they could progress to a first ever Champions League final.
Guardiola’s team hold a 2-1 lead from the first leg in Paris and having Aguero firing on all cylinders would be a welcome boost for the crucial second leg.
“What he has done in this club will remain forever and we want to finish the best way possible,” Guardiola said.
“And he is going to help us in the Champions League and going to help us in the Premier League to finish it.”
-AFP
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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