Premier League
Man City move top as Chelsea and Newcastle continue to rise
Manchester City continued their imperious home form to ease to a 4-0 win over Southampton and move top of the Premier League as Chelsea and Newcastle United also enjoyed comfortable victories to show their top-four ambitions.
City, who had trounced Manchester United 6-3 last week, barely had to break stride against Southampton, with Joao Cancelo, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez netting before Erling Haaland struck the fourth goal to stretch his scoring streak to 10 straight matches in all competitions.
City have won all five of their Premier League games at the Etihad Stadium, scoring 24 goals in the process.
The victory took champions City top of the table with 23 points after nine matches and cranked up the pressure on early title rivals Arsenal, who host Liverpool on Sunday with the chance to reclaim the lead.
Chelsea continued to show signs of improvement under coach Graham Potter as they strolled to a 3-0 win at home to Wolves, who are without a manager after sacking Bruno Lage last week.
Former Chelsea forward Diego Costa made his first start for the visitors but Potter’s side were dominant and secured a third consecutive win in all competitions thanks to goals from Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja, moving up to fourth in the table on 16 points.
Newcastle climbed up to fifth with an emphatic 5-1 home victory over Brentford, one year and one day after the completion of their Saudi Arabia-backed takeover.
Bruno Guimaraes, a 40-million-pound arrival from Olympique Lyonnais and one of the club’s biggest signings since the takeover, scored in each half on a memorable afternoon for the club, who were languishing in the relegation zone when the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquired the club from previous owner Mike Ashley for a reported 300 million pounds ($333 million).
Bournemouth came from behind to beat Leicester City 2-1, scoring two goals in the space of five second-half minutes to and inflict a fifth consecutive away defeat on Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Patson Daka gave Leicester the lead in the 10th minute but Philip Billing and Ryan Christie scored in the second half to continue Bournemouth’s superb record under interim manager Gary O’Neil, who has won two games and drawn three since succeeding Scott Parker.
The result put renewed pressure on Leicester coach Rodgers, whose side are 19th in the table with only four points.
-Reuters
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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