Premier League
JESUS AND MOHAMED PUT LEICESTER ATOP IN ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP LEAGUE
Both Jesus and Mohamed scored in the Sunday Premiership tie of Manchester City and Liverpool to put scores at 1-1 and thus enable Leicester to go atop of the English Premiership on Sunday.
Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus’ cancelled out a first half penalty goal by Mohamed Salah. But it was a great escape for Liverpool who could have gone atop of the league table if they had won. But they barely escaped a defeat as Manchester City were left to rue Kevin De Bruyne’s missed penalty.
A flying start from Liverpool was rewarded with Mohamed Salah’s 13th minute penalty, but Gabriel Jesus levelled for Pep Guardiola’s men before De Bruyne failed to hit the target from the spot three minutes before halftime.
The score line, puts former champions, Leicester City, to retain its top of the Premier League, after a highly contentious penalty by Jamie Vardy was enough to beat Wolves at King Power Stadium.
Vardy took his tally for the season to nine goals after sending Rui Patricio the wrong way, with Wolves’ players incensed the spot-kick was given after Max Kilman handled Dennis Praet’s cross.
Wolves claimed Kilman had no time to move his hand out of the way but referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot after consulting the pitchside monitor.
Portugal keeper Patricio saved a second Vardy penalty with his leg before half-time – Leicester’s eighth Premier League spot-kick of the season – after Rayan Ait-Nouri brought down James Justin.
Wolves threatened an equaliser after half-time, 19-year-old Wesley Fofana producing an excellent challenge to deny Pedro Neto a certain goal, Kilman fired over from close range, while Kasper Schmeichel made an outstanding flying save to keep out Ruben Neves.
Leicester replace Tottenham, who beat West Brom earlier in the day to go top, at the summit.
Leicester had to dig deep in the second half as Wolves came back strongly but Brendan Rodgers’ side head into the international break on the back of six straight wins.
Three of those have come in the past week, the Foxes hammering Leeds and, in Europe, Sporting Braga before Vardy scored for the fourth successive game to see off Wolves.
Having qualified for the Europa League group stages by finishing fifth last season, Rodgers’ side are handling the busy workload of Thursday-Sunday football with aplomb.
They were hungry chasing the ball and intelligent when they had possession.
Christian Fuchs went close with a low drilled attempt, Vardy forced Patricio to tip his ferocious attempt over and substitute Harvey Barnes was denied a late goal by a deflection.
Having turned 34 on Thursday, the Denmark keeper remains a key ingredient of this hard-working side and showed great agility to deny Wolves an equaliser.
But for Schmeichel’s wonderful save, Wolves would have headed back to the Black Country with a point.
Neves’ shot from the edge of the penalty area was heading for the net before the Dane stuck out a strong hand to divert it away.
Wolves will be upset by the circumstances that led to Vardy scoring his ninth goal in eight games.
Their players surrounded Taylor after he awarded the penalty for Kilman’s handball after watching the incident on a screen.
Wolves started sluggishly but sprung into life after Patricio kept out Vardy’s second penalty which Wolves did not bother protesting.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have made a solid start to the season but the Wolves boss has much to ponder during the international break – not least his side’s lack of goals. They have managed just eight in the top flight – only the bottom four have scored fewer.
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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