Page 32 - Football

ISL: Borja Herrera's late goal helps FC Goa rescue a point against NEUFC

Borja Herrera scored a stoppage time goal, forcing NorthEast United FC to share the spoils with FC Goa as the two sides played out a scintillating 3-3 draw in Indian Super League here on Friday. Besides Herrera, Armando Sadiku netted two goals for Goa while Nestor Albiach, who also scored a brace, and Alaeddine Ajaraei were the scorers for NorthEast United. Both teams went hammer and tongs with their respective frontline while the defenders had a tough day in office. The Highlanders started the game on the front foot courtesy of their extremely flexible attack, with Jithin MS, Alaeddine Ajaraie, and Nestor Albiach all interchanging positions. They were rewarded for the bright start as Nestor ran into the FC Goa penalty box like a hot knife through butter before nestling the ball into the back of the net in the sixth minute. In the 45th minute, the hosts earned a penalty after Mohammed Ali Bemammer brought down Drazic in the danger area. Sadiku shouldered the responsibility of taki

Manchester United owner Ratcliffe refuses to show support for Erik Ten Hag

Manchester United minority owner Jim Ratcliffe refused to say if he had faith in manager Erik ten Hag on Friday. The British billionaire, who bought a 27.7% stake in the 20-time English champion in February, has overhauled United's soccer department. He said the decision over Ten Hag's future rested in the hands of the executive he has put in place to run the club. Ten Hag is under intense scrutiny after another troubled start to the season and, asked if he had faith, Ratcliffe told the BBC, I don't want to answer that question. "I like Erik. I think he's a very good coach, but at the end of the day it's not my call, it's the management team that's running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects. Ratcliffe assumed control of United's soccer operations after investing $1.3 billion for his minority stake. The sporting side had previously been under the control of the majority owning American Glazer family. A new CEO, Omar Berrada, an

FIFA says no to outright suspension of Israel, will investigate claims

FIFA stopped short of suspending the Israeli soccer federation on Thursday, but asked for a disciplinary investigation of possible discrimination alleged by Palestinian soccer officials. A senior FIFA panel overseeing governance will separately investigate the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine, soccer's governing body said after a meeting of its ruling Council. The Palestinian soccer federation has consistently asked FIFA for more than a decade to take action against the Israeli soccer body for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements in its leagues. The compromise decisions came more than four months after Palestinian officials had urged FIFA to suspend Israel's membership at a meeting in May. The request to FIFA's congress in May also cited international law violations" in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict and directed the soccer body to its statutory commitments on human rights and against ...

AIFF overturns NEUFC player Asheer Akhtar's red card, downgrades to yellow

The All India Football Federation's disciplinary committee on Wednesday upheld a wrongful dismissal claim by NorthEast United FC on behalf of defender Asheer Akhtar. In accordance with the decision, the committee has rescinded the red card shown to Akhtar, and downgraded it to a caution (yellow card) "for reckless play nature as suggested concerning the technical report". Akhtar was sent off in NorthEast United FC's Indian Super League match against Kerala Blasters at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday. The committee, in its decision, stated, "After reviewing the documents submitted by the player and on basis of the technical report given by the chief refereeing officer (Trevor Kettle), the wrongful dismissal review panel has unanimously agreed that the player was incorrectly sent off for serious foul play. The committee expressed its view that "the player was wrongfully dismissed", and that it "upholds the claim filed by the club on behalf of the player".

ISL 2024-25: FC Goa aim first home points against NorthEast United FC

FC Goa will look to continue their winning momentum and secure their first home win of the season when they face a struggling NorthEast United FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) here on Friday. FC Goa have struggled in their last two home fixtures, losing to Jamshedpur FC and Mumbai City FC. But the Gaurs returned to winning ways against East Bengal last week with a narrow 3-2 victory in Kolkata, while the reigning Durand Cup champions NEUFC, who played out a 1-1 draw with Kerala Blasters FC, are still in search of their first win. FC Goa will look forward to young players stepping up in the absence of a few seniors due to injuries and head coach Manolo Marquez urged that the team needs to adapt to situations better than the previous games. "We have a lot of things to improve on. It's true that the other day, we played good in some moments, and we need to learn to manage the situations better," Marquez said. "We have players with experience, who are injured. We have played a lot

Miami's Lionel Messi wins 46th career trophy, lifts MLS Supporters Shield

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami have another trophy, along with home-field advantage throughout the Major League Soccer playoffs. Messi scored twice in the final minutes of the first half, goalie Drake Callender stopped a penalty kick in the 84th minute and Inter Miami beat the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew 3-2 on Wednesday, wrapping up the Supporters Shield given annually to the team with the best regular-season record. It was Messi's 46th major trophy won for club or country, extending his record for the most by any men's soccer player in history. And it is the second he has won with Inter Miami, this Supporters Shield being added to the Leagues Cup trophy the Herons claimed shortly after Messi joined the club in 2023. We knew this was a group that could fight for this, Messi said. Luis Suarez also scored for Inter Miami, which will open a best-of-three first-round playoff series in the final weekend of October. If the team wins that series, it would have the right to hos

Manchester United players are 'mad' about Tottenham loss, says Ten Hag

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said his players are mad about their humbling loss to Tottenham in the Premier League. A 3-0 defeat on Sunday at Old Trafford saw some United fans leave early and others boo at the final whistle, with the result leading to scrutiny over Ten Hag's position. United is 13th in the standings and has lost three times in eight games in all competitions this season. It plays Porto in the Europa League on Thursday and the Dutchman wants to harness his players' anger to turn their form round. As always when we are not winning, we are very disappointed and we are also mad, mad with ourselves and especially when you lose a game like Sunday, Ten Hag said Wednesday. "We are mad and from the madness we have to get motivation and go onto the next game. Mason Mount is not available for the game because of a head injury and a further knock, Ten Hag said. He added that he hoped Luke Shaw would return after the upcoming international break.

Atletico gets 3-game partial stadium ban after trouble in Madrid derby

Atletico Madrid must close part of its Metropolitano stadium for three matches because of fan trouble in the derby against Real Madrid in the Spanish league at the weekend. The Spanish federation's competition committee said Wednesday that fans will not be allowed in a section that seats about 5,000 behind one of the goals at the Metropolitano. Atletico can appeal the decision. The section is where fans threw objects on the field after Madrid scored a goal in Sunday's league derby, prompting the referee to send the players to the locker rooms and interrupting the game for more than 15 minutes. At least one person who threw the objects was identified. The club said it would apply its internal policy for serious offenses to those involved in this incident. The match ended 1-1, with Atletico equalizing in stoppage time.

Messi back in Argentina's squad for WC qualifiers vs Venezuela and Bolivia

Lionel Messi will return to Argentina's national team for the South American World Cup qualifying matches against Venezuela and Bolivia. The 37-year-old star had missed recent matches because of an ankle injury. Coach Lionel Scaloni announced his squad Wednesday for the matches at Venezuela on Oct. 10 and five days later in Buenos Aires against Bolivia. Messi did not play the two previous rounds after sustaining an injury in the Copa America final against Colombia. Argentina won 1-0. Argentina leads South American qualifying with 18 points, followed by Colombia (16) and Uruguay (15). The top six teams will qualify for the 2026 World Cup, and the seventh position will play an international playoff for a berth. ___ Squad: Goalkeepers: Walter Bentez (PSV Eindhoven), Gernimo Rulli (Olympique Marseille), Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid) Defenders: Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Germn Pezzella (River Plate), Marcos Acua (River Pla

UEFA Champions League highlights: Bayern, Real suffer shock away defeats

Unai Emery's side presented a difficult challenge for the Bavarians, who couldn't get past keeper Emiliano Martinez on the night.

UEFA Champions League matches on Oct 2: Liverpool, Real, Bayern in action

With Kylian Mbappe included in the traveling squad for the Real Madrid's UCL clash on Wednesday, the fans could be seeing a surprise comeback from injury for the 25-year-old forward.

Newcastle set up 4th-round meeting with Chelsea in English League Cup

Newcastle set up a fourth-round match against Chelsea in the English League Cup by beating fourth-tier AFC Wimbledon 1-0. Fabian Schar's coolly taken penalty in first-half stoppage time earned Newcastle a victory that was significantly more comfortable than the scoreline suggested. The game was played a week after the third-round fixture was scheduled to take place. It had to be rearranged and played at Newcastle's St. James' Park after flooding caused severe damage to the pitch at Wimbledon's Cherry Red Records Stadium. A crowd of 51,739 watched the rearranged game. Newcastle manager Eddie Howe made eight changes to the team which started Saturday's 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the Premier League. Schar was one of those retained and tucked away the spot kick after Wimbledon defender Joe Pigott was adjudged to have fouled Miguel Almiron in the area.

Borussia Dortmund fans blast 'UEFA mafia' for Champions League changes

Borussia Dortmund fans have made their opposition to Champions League reforms clear with a huge tifo blasting European soccer's governing body UEFA. The supporters displayed the words UEFA mafia behind one of the goals before Tuesday's match against Scottish team Celtic, above a banner saying You don't care about the sport all you care about is money! Another banner above showed a website link making clear the banners referred to Champions League reforms. This season UEFA has changed the structure to Europe's premier competition to add four more teams. The group stage has been scrapped for a league system with each of the now 36 participating teams playing eight opponents once in a first phase of the competition. Also before Tuesday's game, Celtic fans flew Palestinian and Lebanese flags.

Italy bid to host women's Euro 2029 ahead of co-hosting men's Euro 2032

Italy joined a busy bid race on Tuesday to host the 2029 European Championship in women's soccer, aiming to involve cities that will not stage games at the men's Euro 2032. Italy is competing with Germany, Poland, Portugal and a joint Denmark-Sweden project in expressing interest in the marquee women's tournament to UEFA. The decision by UEFA's executive committee is due in December next year. Across the Alps in neighboring Switzerland from Italy's announcement, the Women's Euro 2025 host launched ticket sales Tuesday for its tournament with a penalty shootout at 3,454 meters (11,333 feet) above sea level featuring former international players. The 2025 edition, being played in Switzerland next July 2-27, and the 2029 tournament Italy wants to host are 16-team events using eight stadiums. The men's Euro 2032 will be co-hosted by Italy and Turkey likely using five stadiums in each country for the 24-team, 51-game event. Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina said in a

ISL: Hyderabad get first point of season after 0-0 draw vs Chennaiyin FC

Hyderabad FC opened their account after a goal-less draw against Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) here on Tuesday. Hyderabad FC were down to 10 men after Parag Shrivas was sent off in the 71st minute when he got a second yellow card after a foul on Chennaiyin FC forward Connor Shields. However, the home team held together admirably well to keep the Marina Machans at bay and earn their first points of the campaign and register name on the points table. Boosted by the presence of Goddard and Allan Paulista upfront, Hyderabad FC seemed eager to attack right from the onset. They stretched the Chennaiyin FC backline by dragging their defenders wide as the duo of Goddard and Paulista entered the box from the centre to pounce upon the open spaces. One such instance in the ninth minute saw them come touchingly close to breaking the deadlock, with the opposition's backline being caught off-guard. Goddard was barely a few yards away from goal when he squared off a delivery for

UEFA Champions League highlights: ARS beat PSG; City, Barca get first wins

Premier League outfit Arsenal secured a comfortable win against French heavyweights Paris Saint Germain (PSG), as Mikel Arteta's men won 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium to get their first win of UCL 2024

UEFA Champions League 2024: Arsenal vs PSG live match timings and streaming

Both sides have met just twice over the years, and both games ended in a draw. With nothing to separate the teams, this game will surely tip the scales in favour of one or the other.

Mumbai City FC aims happy homecoming against high-flying Bengaluru FC

Mumbai City FC would look to notch their first win of the Indian Super League (ISL) this season and move up the points table when they face high-flying Bengaluru FC in a clash between two heavyweights here on Wednesday. Bengaluru have made a commanding start, winning all their three outings so far to sit atop the points table, while Mumbai are surprisingly placed at 11th after two away matches, with just one point. Mumbai have found the back of the net in their previous eight matches at home and are looking to equal their longest such ISL run, having done so in nine meetings between October 2022 and February 2023. Interestingly, they have also won their previous three matches versus Bengaluru. Bengaluru have scored one-third of their goals in the competition this year within the opening 15 minutes, the highest such rate for any team so far. Mumbai City head coach Petr Kratky said his team needs to avoid conceding goals from set-pieces. We need to get better in the area where it's

Messi and Inter Miami are on the brink of the MLS Supporters' Shield

There are any number of ways for Lionel Messi and Inter Miami to wrap up the Supporters' Shield and claim the No. 1 overall seed for the MLS Cup playoffs that start later this month. Here's the easiest path: Win on Wednesday. The preseason Major League Soccer title favorites with a lineup featuring Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets are on the brink of another trophy. They can clinch the Supporters' Shield, given to the team with the top MLS regular-season record, on Wednesday night with a win at Columbus. It's a great opportunity for us," Inter Miami midfielder Matias Rojas said. We're taking it step by step. This team has built itself one step at a time. So, on Wednesday, we will go to win and achieve that goal. It would take total collapse over their final three matches for Inter Miami to not go into the playoffs with the No. 1 overall seed, and the Supporters' Shield would become the second trophy in club history following the Leagues Cup title that was won i

UEFA Champions League matches on Oct 1: Dortmund, City, and Barca in action

The new league stage now features 36 teams taking part in a single league, where the top 8 teams will earn automatic qualification to the knockout stages.