Sports
Manchester United pull surprise 2-1 win over Liverpool
Despite Mohamed Salah’s late strike, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford had given Manchester United their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Old Trafford on Monday.
Though Manchester United had started the weekend bottom of the Premier League, they have moved above Liverpool after the monday Night win for their new Dutch manager.
Jurgen Klopp’s men are yet to win three games into the new season, which has dimmed the hope of Liverpool’s expected title challenge
United fans began the evening with a protest march on Old Trafford against the Glazer family’s ownership of the club ahead of the match against Liverpool.
Supporters’ group ‘The 1958′ had urged fans to join a march from the Tollgate pub to the Trinity statue outside the stadium. The group said the protest was against “an ownership that is systematically starving and killing the greatest football institution in world football, for greed.”
The Glazers have regularly taken sums of money out of the football club, and with United’ s debts having risen to nearly £500m in recent financial accounts, an increase of 11.8 per cent from last year. Dividend payments have been made to shareholders in recent months, despite last season’s poor performance, and fans have been dispirited by what appears to have been a shambolic summer transfer window.
A social media movement encouraging supporters to boycott the game in the wake of an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Brentford last weekend failed to materialise.
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Despite victory jubilation of a first league win over Liverpool since 2018, chants of “we want Glazers out” dominated most part of the march
Ten Hag responded to the concession of four goals inside 35 minutes at Brentford by dropping Cristiano Ronaldo and captain Harry Maguire among four changes.
Having earned the negative accolade of being first United manager in more than a century to lose his first two games, the former Ajax manager got the rythm he desired in an explosive opening half hour that marred Liverpool dream
Anthony Elanga should have opened the scoring when he curled off the base of the post after two passes from Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes carved Liverpool wide open.
Defensive miscalculation had been a re-occuring decimal of Liverpool’s winless start to the season as they failed to learn their lesson for the opening goal on 16 minutes.
A neat one-two between Elanga and Christian Eriksen opened up the Liverpool defence once more and when the ball was cut back to Sancho, he left James Milner on the floor before coolly tucking in.
Milner bounced back up to confront Virgil Van Dijk for his role in the goal as the Dutch defender sat off Sancho.
Alisson Becker was then forced to tip Eriksen’s dipping free-kick over before the visitors were able to restore some order in the closing stages of the first half.
United nearly gifted them an equaliser when Fernandes blasted Milner’s header towards his own goal and was fortunate to see the ball rebound back off Lisandro Martinez on the line.
Liverpool’s reluctance to refresh Klopp’s midfield options will face more scrutiny in the final days of the transfer window.
With Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita out injured, the 36-year-old Milner showed his age and Klopp had precious few options to turn to on the bench with new 75 million euro (£64 million, $77 million) striker Darwin Nunez serving the first of a three-match ban for being sent off on his home debut.
Liverpool’s lack of energy in midfield paved the way for United’s second goal as Jordan Henderson’s poor touch presented possession to Anthony Martial and his perfect through ball set Rashford free to score his first goal since January.
Real Madrid forward, Vinicius Junior has been ruled out for nearly a month due to a hamstring injury in his left leg, the club confirmed in a statement on Monday.
The injury, which was revealed following tests by the club’s medical team, means the Leaderboard Brazilian will miss vital fixtures, including the upcoming Champions League clash at Atalanta on December 10 and Wednesday’s match against Liverpool at Anfield.
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Vinicius, who played the full 90 minutes in Madrid’s 3-0 La Liga victory over Leganes on Sunday, had provided the assist for Kylian Mbappe’s opening goal.
He took to social media to express his frustration with the congested football schedule, writing, “The crazy calendar… now to recover.”
The injury comes at a time when Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has been outspoken about the strain of an increasingly packed football calendar.
Perez criticized both UEFA and FIFA for expanding their match schedules, with the Champions League now featuring eight group-stage games instead of six, along with an additional round that some teams may face if they finish outside the top eight.
Perez lamented the growing number of fixtures, saying, “This season we could play 82 matches—63 percent more matches organized by UEFA and FIFA, from 22 to 36.
There have already been nine cruciate ruptures this season in La Liga alone, the same number as all of last season. Specialists point to fatigue as the cause.”
Vinicius has been one of Real Madrid’s standout players this season, shining alongside summer arrival Mbappe.
The forward has scored four goals in the Champions League and eight in La Liga, making him a key contributor to the team’s attack.
However, Madrid’s European campaign has been underwhelming, with two losses in their first four group-stage matches, including a 3-1 defeat to AC Milan, leaving them 18th in the expanded group table.
Meanwhile, Liverpool, managed by new coach Arne Slot, leads both the Premier League and the Champions League group stage, further intensifying the pressure on Madrid.
Leicester City have announced the immediate dismissal of Steve Cooper as the club’s manager, following their 2-1 loss to Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.
The club confirmed the decision in a statement published on its official website on Sunday, titled “Leicester City Part Company With Steve Cooper.”
In the statement, the Leicester City board acknowledged Cooper’s efforts but cited the need for a change in leadership.
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“The Board recognizes the hard work and commitment Steve Cooper has shown during his tenure but believes now is the right time for a new direction,” the statement read.
The defeat to Chelsea at the King Power Stadium capped a string of underwhelming performances that have left the Foxes struggling in the league.
Bayern Munich’s star striker, Harry Kane, has firmly responded to recent criticism by delivering a stunning performance on the pitch, setting a new Bundesliga record for the fastest player to reach 50 goals.
Kane’s second-half hat-trick in Bayern’s 3-0 home victory over Augsburg on Friday not only propelled the team eight points clear at the top of the table but also saw him hit the milestone in just 43 games, surpassing Erling Haaland’s previous record of 50 goals in 50 matches.
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The England captain’s clinical display included two penalty goals, extending his remarkable streak to 25 consecutive penalties scored for both club and country since his last miss against France in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals.
This hat-trick marked Kane’s seventh in the Bundesliga since joining Bayern in the summer of 2023.
The 31-year-old’s hat-trick comes after he faced criticism during the international break, with some suggesting he should make way for Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.
Addressing the doubters, Kane stated, “I’m used to that now,” acknowledging that the pressure of being a top striker is part of the territory. “I’m experienced enough to know that comes with being one of the top players, one of the top strikers.”
Despite the criticism, Kane feels he is in the best form of his career. “All I can do is do my talking on the pitch, like I did tonight,” he said, reinforcing his focus on letting his performances speak for themselves.
Kane also mentioned he has yet to speak with incoming England manager Thomas Tuchel, who also resides in Munich, but anticipates a conversation about his experiences and how the team can improve under the new coach.
“I’m sure we’ll have a conversation on the experiences I’ve had, the good and bad things, and what we can improve,” he added.
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