Rangers duo condemn racist abuse
Rangers centre-half Emmanuel Fernandez and winger Djeidi Gassama have called out vile racist abuse they received on social media following Sunday's 2-2 draw with Livingston.
Celtic interest in Chivas defender Armando Gonzalez is also heating up, with the club reportedly joining Barcelona and West Ham in inquiring about the 22-year-old's wage demands.
Loftus-Cheek carried off after collision
England midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek suffers a head injury during AC Milan's defeat by Parma.
Chelsea are not “a nasty team” – Blues “inexperience” called into question by pundit
Chelsea’s ‘inexperience’ has once again been called into question this weekend after they dropped more points against Burnley.
It was the second relegation battling team that Chelsea had dropped points to in a row now, drawing 2-2 with Leeds United in their last league game, then drawing 1-1 against Burnley on Saturday afternoon. In both games, Chelsea threw away a lead.
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The game couldn’t have started much better for Chelsea. After just 4 minutes, a rapid move saw Moises Caicedo pick out Pedro Neto’s clever run with a superb through ball.
The Portuguese winger whipped a low cross in for the in form Joao Pedro, who bundled the ball in. The crowd were roaring, and everyone expected a comfortable win with some nice football along the way. But it didn’t work out that way.
Chelsea threw it away late on
Andrey Santos looks disappointed. (Photo by Jasper Wax/Getty Images)
Burnley started to find their feet in the game and after Wesley Fofana got sent off around 70 minutes for his second yellow card offence, it looked inevitable that the away side would find the equaliser – which they did in stoppage time.
Chelsea’s lack of discipline has been spoken about a lot, and pundit Owen Hargreaves believes he has a theory on why it’s happening.
Hargreaves puts it down to inexperience
Hargreaves said: “You know what, Chelsea are not even a nasty team, some teams back in the day were properly nasty, got nasty red cards, they’re all quite silly red cards the ones they have got.
“I think it’s inexperience. Again, it goes back to recruitment. They spent so much money on this squad, they’ve got some brilliant attacking players.
“The centre-back position and the goalkeeper they need to address, you need experience in there. You think they had Thiago Silva, one of the best and they just let him go for free.
“They’ve got all these talented young players, but I don’t think having just young players in the centre-back position is the right decision.”
Flick talks Bernal, Cancelo, Lamine, Bardghji, Joan Garcia after Barcelona 3-0 Levante
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick was a satisfied figure after his side delivered a convincing performance against Levante.
With pressure building in the La Liga title race, the Catalan giants responded in the best possible way.
Speaking after the match, Flick made it clear that the early goal set the tone for everything that followed.
“Scoring early was very important; we saw the confidence we had from the start. As the game progressed, we improved and deserved to win,” he began.
Bernal’s starting spot
The manager highlighted how the team grew stronger as the match unfolded.
Marc Bernal was on the scoresheet. (Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
Against a deep defensive block, patience and structure were key, and Barcelona showed both.
One of the talking points before kick-off was the inclusion of Marc Bernal in midfield. Flick was asked whether he wanted more control in the centre of the park and how he assessed the youngster’s performance.
The Barcelona manager explained the tactical reasoning behind his selection.
“When you play with such a low block, you need help from the midfielders, who come up from the second line. Marc is a great player for the future. I hope he has a bright future if he stays healthy.”
On Joao Cancelo
Another player who caught the eye was Joao Cancelo. The Portuguese full-back was heavily involved in attacking phases and constantly pushed forward.
Flick did not hold back in his praise. “He was fantastic, he created chances and that’s what I want to see. He showed his strengths. He can help us a lot.”
The victory also allowed Barcelona to regain the La Liga lead from Real Madrid, something Flick acknowledged but refused to overhype.
“It’s important and positive. We had the opportunity after Saturday’s result and we took advantage of it. But there’s still a long way to go. Today we gave the response we needed.”
Lamine Yamal’s substitution
Lamine Yamal was taken off. (Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
There was also discussion around Lamine Yamal and his visible frustration after being substituted. Flick downplayed any drama surrounding the teenager.
“What reaction? Was he angry? That’s normal. For me, the most important thing is that we won and we also have players who deserve to play, like [Roony] Bardghji.
“I liked his attitude when he came on. That’s it. You guys make a big deal out of everything Lamine does. If he’s upset because he was substituted, that’s only human.”
The manager ended by praising two more key contributors. On Bernal’s overall display, he said,
“He’s done a great job, he’s given us structure with the ball, he knows where he needs to be at all times, controlling the ball. I like watching him play,” and regarding goalkeeper Joan Garcia,
“He helps us a lot in the back line and is very useful to us,” he concluded.
Source: AS
Shields beats Crews-Dezurn to retain title
Claressa Shields defended her undisputed heavyweight crown by beating fellow American Franchon Crews-Dezurn by unanimous points decision at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
In her first outing of an $8m (£6.1m) multi-fight deal, Shields was a 100-90 victor on the scorecards of all three judges as she retained her WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC titles.
The 30-year-old is unbeaten in 18 professional outings following the 10-round bout, which included plenty of fiery exchanges between Shields and 38-yer-old Crews-Dezurn.
"I felt like I had to take my time. Franchon hits hard and she's tough," said Shields.
"She was trying to cause an upset and got me with some shots.
"She's a heavy-hitting diva and that's one of the best fights I've been in my professional career, especially at 10 rounds. It was fun. I had to watch my ass every round.
"I think today I showcased my skills, my offence, my defence and body shots. I almost had her out in round seven, but she just wouldn't go."
Shields beat Crews-Dezurn three times as an amateur and on their professional debuts in 2016.