Premier League
How Manchester City’s 52-match unbeaten home run at home ended with shock 4-0 loss to Spurs
Manchester City’s misery continued with a shock 4-0 Premier League rout by Tottenham Hotspur at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, marking the first time in Pep Guardiola’s dazzling managerial career that he has lost five games in a row across all competitions.
James Maddison scored twice in the span of seven first-half minutes, while Pedro Porro netted shortly after the break and Brennan Johnson added a fourth goal deep in added time to end City’s club record run of 52 consecutive home matches unbeaten in all competitions.
City remain second in the table on 23 points but are five points adrift of leaders Liverpool, with the Reds having a game in “In eight years we have never lived this kind of situation. Now we have to live it and break it, winning the next games, especially the next one. Now we see things in one way, maybe in a few weeks we see it differently.”
It was City’s most lopsided loss in their history at Etihad, and their three consecutive league losses are also a first during Guardiola’s eight-plus seasons as boss.
“These are rare days, to come to the champions and especially City considering how they have dominated over the last few years in Europe as well,” Maddison, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Saturday, told Sky Sports.
hand, while Spurs climbed to sixth on 19 points after 12 games.
“In this moment we are fragile defensively,” said Guardiola, who signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday. “We started really well as normal but we could not score and then after that we conceded. After that we conceded some more which is difficult for our emotions right now.
“To come home with four-nil is special, these are the days you remember and I think it’s important we enjoy it.”
Guardiola’s four-time defending champions had 23 shots to Tottenham’s nine and will rue the missed chances, including three in the first half from striker Erling Haaland alone.
But they were all over the place defensively and paid the price in the 13th minute when Maddison sprinted in to side-foot home a beautiful long cross from Dejan Kulusevksi. Maddison doubled the lead seven minutes later when he chipped the ball over grounded goalkeeper Ederson.
Porro put the match out of reach in the 52nd minute when Dominic Solanke cut back the ball for the Spaniard who unleashed a first-time effort past Ederson, and then substitute Johnson added one more in the 93rd minute.
Timo Werner sprinted down the left past Kyle Walker before sending a low cross across the face of the goal that Johnson slid to knock in, watched by City’s shell-shocked fans.
It was the joint-biggest defeat for Guardiola, who had lost 4-0 three previous times, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and with City, in a 4-0 defeat to Everton in 2017.
City last lost a competitive home game by four-plus goals when Arsenal beat them 5-1 in 2003 at Maine Road.
-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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