Premier League
Ten Hag hails Garnacho wonder goal but says too soon for Rooney, Ronaldo comparisons
Alejandro Garnacho’s spectacular strike for Manchester United on Sunday could well be the goal of the season, his manager Erik ten Hag said, but he said it was too soon to be comparing his young player with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 19-year-old scored with a stunning overhead kick in the third minute to fire United to a 3-0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park, leaping to meet Diogo Dalot’s cross with an acrobatic scissor kick into the top right corner that instantly drew comparisons with former United striker Rooney.
“The season, still many games to play, but probably already the goal of the season,” Ten Hag told reporters. “It was incredible.”
The Argentinian teen said he himself couldn’t believe he had scored.
“I didn’t see how I scored, I just listened to the crowd and said ‘Oh my god,’” Garnacho told NBC. “One of the best goals I’ve scored, I’m very happy.”
The strike echoed goals by Rooney and fellow former United striker Cristiano Ronaldo, particularly Rooney’s bicycle-kick stunner during the 2011 Manchester derby.
“I can’t believe it,” former United captain Gary Neville said on the Sky Sports broadcast. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a stadium where I’ve seen an overhead kick as good as that – and I was there on the day that Rooney scored his in the Manchester Derby.”
Ten Hag, however, was uncomfortable comparing Garnacho so quickly with two of the club’s biggest names of recent years.
“Don’t compare,” said the manager, who served a one-game suspension on Sunday and so was not on the touchline.
“I don’t think it’s right. They all have their own identity, but for Garnacho to go that way, he has to work very hard. And you have to do it on a consistent basis. And so far, he’s not.
“But he has definitely high potential to do some amazing things. It is not the first time we saw this. But if you want to be a player like Rooney or Ronaldo, you have to score 20, 25 goals in the Premier League and that’s not easy to get. But potential, he has.”
The goal silenced the Goodison Park crowd except for the travelling United supporters who loudly sang “Viva Garnacho.”
Even Everton manager Sean Dyche marvelled at what he called a “lifetime goal.”
-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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