Premier League
Chelsea held by Liverpool in first game after Potter’s sacking
Chelsea wasted a host of chances to beat Liverpool as the troubled Blues were held to a 0-0 draw on Tuesday in their first Premier League match since Graham Potter’s sacking.
Potter was axed on Sunday after the former Brighton manager’s disastrous reign climaxed with a wretched home defeat against Aston Villa.
Chelsea are seeking their third permanent manager of the campaign, with Potter hired in September following Thomas Tuchel’s shock dismissal.
In the meantime, Bruno Saltor, a member of Potter’s backroom staff, made his managerial debut as Chelsea interim boss.
Bruno managed to coax a lively performance from Chelsea, but – as was so often the case under Potter – they paid the price for a lack of cutting edge.
Chelsea remain 11th, leaving them with an uncertain future despite the massive investment in new signings made by Chelsea owner Todd Boehly since he took over last year.
“These have been emotional days and the players have been able to keep focused. It’s a difficult season for them. To come back from what we have had in the last few days is incredible,” Bruno said.
“I have asked the players to play with their hearts and I think we saw that on the pitch. We create chances and I think we deserved to win.”
Liverpool hardly looked much better as a third successive league game without a win damaged their faint hopes of finishing in the top four.
Eighth-placed Liverpool are seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham in the race to qualify for the Champions League.
“I saw a lot of great challenges, people flying into tackles and that’s what we need,” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said.
“That’s what we have to build on it. If things don’t go your way you have to fight through this and make steps. Sometimes smaller ones, sometimes bigger ones. This was a smaller one.”
In response to Liverpool’s dismal 4-1 defeat at Manchester City on Saturday, Klopp dropped Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold as the Reds boss made six changes.
It was Chelsea who made the stronger start of the two troubled teams and Mateo Kovacic’s shot was blocked on the line by Ibrahima Konate.
Reece James saw his fierce finish disallowed for offside against Enzo Fernandez, while Wesley Fofana was narrowly off target with a headed chance.
Chelsea’s Kai Havertz dragged a good chance wide from N’Golo Kante’s pass.
Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez forced good saves from Kepa Arrizabalaga as Liverpool finally threatened just before half-time.
Kovacic blazed a glorious chance over soon after the interval, while Havertz’s effort was disallowed for handball when the German’s shot hit Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker and rebounded into the net off his arm.
Leicester’s first game since Brendan Rodgers’ departure on Sunday ended in a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes, led by caretaker bosses Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler after Rodgers’ exit by “mutual agreement”, have now gone seven league games without a win and sit second bottom of the table.
Ollie Watkins put Villa ahead in the 24th minute and although Harvey Barnes equalised after 35 minutes, Leicester’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was sent off in the 70th minute for a second booking.
Bertrand Traore’s 87th-minute curler, his first goal for Villa since 2021, piled on the misery for Leicester.
Leeds climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win against fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest at Elland Road.
Orel Mangala bagged his first goal in English football to fire Forest ahead.
But Jack Harrison equalised eight minutes later with a close-range finish after Keylor Navas spilled Marc Roca’s shot.
Luis Sinisterra put Leeds in front in first-half stoppage time, cutting inside and curling his shot into the far corner.
Leeds are two points clear of the relegation zone, while Forest are outside the bottom three on goal difference.
Third-bottom Bournemouth remain in deep trouble after a 2-0 home defeat against Brighton.
Albion took the lead in the 28th minute through teenage forward Evan Ferguson’s audacious backheel, with Julio Enciso’s first goal for the club wrapping up the points in injury time.
– 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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