Premier League
Brighton blitz woeful Wolves in 6-0 thrashing
Brighton & Hove Albion crushed a woeful Wolverhampton Wanderers 6-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, with Deniz Undav, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck all scoring two goals each to earn the Seagulls their biggest top-flight victory.
The win was a welcome boost for manager Roberto de Zerbi after a week in which his team were beaten on penalties by Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals and lost 3-1 to struggling Nottingham Forest in the league.
“We suffered a lot in the last two games,” the Brighton manager told the BBC. “This answer today was fantastic. Today was my best game as a coach.”
Four of the goals came in a frenetic first half, with Undav opening the scoring in the sixth minute when he stuck out his left foot to guide Welbeck’s cheeky backheel past Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.
Gross doubled the home team’s lead seven minutes later, sidefooting Julio Enciso’s cross into the roof of the net, and volleyed home Brighton’s third in the 26th from another assist by Enciso.
Welbeck killed off any hopes of a Wolves comeback when he outjumped Maximilian Kilman at the back post to head home Pervis Estupinan’s cross in the 39th minute and scored again three minutes after halftime from just outside the box.
Brighton got their sixth in the 66th after Sa played a poor ball to Matheus Nunes, who crumbled under pressure from Undav, allowing the German to steal the ball and chip the keeper to seal Wolves’ heaviest defeat of the season.
Victory catapulted Brighton back firmly into the race for Europe, with De Zerbi’s side staying eighth but cutting the gap to seventh-placed Liverpool to a point with a game in hand.
The Seagulls are also two points behind Aston Villa in sixth spot and fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have both played two games more.
“I think we deserve to achieve our target, Europe, but we shall see,” De Zerbi added. “We can achieve. The most important thing is not to lose our DNA and style.”
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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