Category Archives: UK Football

Ighalo brace sends United into last eight clash against Norwich

UK Football

Derby County’s hopes of reaching the quarterfinals of the FA Cup for the first time in more than two decades were dashed at Pride Park as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United beat them 3-0. The win, secured thanks to a brace from Nigerian forward Odion Ighalo, means that there will no be EFL teams (Championship or lower) in the last eight of the FA Cup.

There were six lower division teams left in the competition when the draw for the fifth round was made, but none of them were able to progress further. Reading came the closest- they took Sheffield United to extra time before falling to a Billy Sharp goal.

FAC Continue reading Ighalo brace sends United into last eight clash against Norwich →

Champions League Ro16- Victory for all three German clubs

Champions League, German Football, UK Football

The first leg of the Round of 16 Champions League ties went quite well for German sides, with all three Bundesliga sides still in the competition all registering victories.

Two teams- Leipzig and Bayern, were on the road in the first leg, with BVB having home advantage for their tie against Paris Saint Germain.

In comparison to last season’s Round of 16, when German sides struggled against English opposition, this year’s been different. Both Leipzig and Bayern claimed priceless away victories, the former winning 1:0 against Spurs and the latter beating Chelsea 3:0 at Stamford Bridge.

CLR

BVB also registered a 2:1 win primarily thanks to the brilliance of Erling Braut Haaland. PSG’s away goal gives them hope ahead of the second leg, but Dortmund will certainly not go down without a fight at Parc des Princes.

Even Leverkusen, who were there in the Champions League but dropped down to the Europa League, registered a fine 2:1 first leg win over Porto in their Round of 32 tie. Porto are normally CL regulars and no pushovers, and this makes for an enthralling second leg. There were also victories for Eintracht Frankfurt against Salzburg (4:1) and Wolfsburg over Malmo (2:1) in the same competition.

Will we see all six German sides involved in European competition currently progress to the next round?

United determined to hold on to Pogba

Champions League, Spanish Football, UK Football

According to headlines in the Spanish press, Manchester United are keen to hold on to Paul Pogba and are determined not to let their French star go to Real Madrid. Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane is a long term admirer of his compatriot, and despite splashing out millions in the summer market, is keen to bring the medio to the Bernabeu.

However Marca say United are not willing to budge from their 200 million euro tag for Pogba, which may force Zidane to look at alternative options like Christian Eriksen or Donny van de Beek.

Marca Pogba

Chelsea 1:1 Eintracht Frankfurt- Last remaining German team in Europe eliminated after penalty shootout

Europa League, German Football, UK Football

Germany’s last remaining representatives in continental competition were eliminated on Thursday night as Eintracht Frankfurt lost on penalties. The visitors, who had been thrashed 6:1 by Leverkusen over the weekend, gave it their all, and were leading 3:2 in the shootout before Martin Hinteregger shot his spot kick straight at Kepa, and the Spaniard’s save changed the complexion of the game. Hazard and David Luiz scored from their penalties, and Goncalo missed his as Frankfurt lost 4:3 in the shootout.

We now have an all-English Europa League final in Baku later this month between Arsenal and Chelsea.

EL

Four teams to battle it out for first ever Nations League Trophy

UK Football

In exactly a month’s time from now, Portugal will play host to the 2019 Nations League finals. The inaugural edition of the tournament is down to the final four, and it’s perhaps not the quartet many would’ve expected when the competition began in September last year. Portugal, Switzerland, England, and the Netherlands are the four semi-finalists with the winner to be crowned the first ever Nations League champions. Bar England, none of the other three made it to the last four of the World Cup. The Netherlands didn’t even qualify for the quadrennial extravaganza in Russia, but have managed a mini resurrection of sorts. Continue reading Four teams to battle it out for first ever Nations League Trophy →