Premier League
Sanchez strikes late as Spurs sink Watford
Davinson Sanchez snatched a last-gasp winner as Tottenham beat struggling Watford 1-0 to extend Antonio Conte’s unbeaten start on Saturday (Jan 1).
Sanchez broke Watford’s stubborn resistence deep into stoppage-time at Vicarage Road.
The Colombia defender’s header gave Tottenham a fifth win in their last seven Premier League matches.
Conte remains unbeaten after eight league games as the Italian continues to revive a club in turmoil when he was hired to replace the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo.
Tottenham move up to fifth place, just two points behind fourth placed north London rivals Arsenal with two games in hand.
Watford are the only side yet to keep a Premier League clean-sheet this season and are on a club top-flight record run of 28 successive matches without one.
Claudio Ranieri’s side sit just two points above the relegation zone after a sixth successive defeat.
In a bid to boost their survival hopes, Watford had refused to release Emmanuel Dennis for the Africa Cup of Nations.
A Nigeria Football Federation statement said Dennis had been excused because Watford were “baring fangs”.
Dennis, who has eight goals this term, didn’t take long to show why Watford were so keen to keep him.
He created an early chance as he slipped in Juraj Kucka, who twisted to make space for a shot straight at Hugo Lloris.
Tottenham threatened for the first time when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg fired over after Watford’s Craig Cathcart failed to clear Lucas Moura’s cross.
Harry Kane had scored five goals in his previous appearances on New Year’s Day and the Tottenham striker was hunting another with a powerful drive well held by Daniel Bachmann.
Hojbjerg teed up Sergio Reguilon for a ferocious strike from the edge of the area, but Bachmann was equal to the blast.
Kane should have opened the scoring after half an hour, the England captain seizing on Imran Louza’s mistake to rifle just wide.
He went close against soon after the interval, spinning his marker on the edge of the area for a rising effort that Bachmann tipped over.
Watford had been focused on keeping Conte’s men at bay, but they finally mustered a noteworthy move when Josh King’s shot forced a good save from Lloris.
Bachmann was all that stood between Tottenham and three points as the Austrian repelled Son Heung-min’s strike from Moura’s pass.
Watford thought they had earned a penalty when Joao Pedro’s raid was halted by Lloris’s challenge but, to the Hornets’ intense frustration, the VAR check when in Tottenham’s favour.
There was a five-minute delay in the closing stages while medics rushed to deal with a supporter apparently taken ill in the Graham Taylor stand.
It proved a crucial moment as Tottenham won it deep into the time added on for that stoppage.
Son won a free-kick out on the left and his set-piece was perfectly placed for Sanchez to nod home from close-range.
-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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