Sports Bulletin: Sunday, April 4th, 2021
- Results And Reaction From The Premier League
- Lukaku Strike Sends Inter One Step Closer To Clinching Scudetto
- Napoli 4-3 Crotone: Simy Nwankwo And Victor Osimhen On Target
- PSG 0-1 Lille: Neymar Sees Red In PSG Defeat
- Transfer Talk: Pep Guardiola Explains How “Impossible” Financial Demands Could Hinder City’s Bid To Replace Sergio Aguero This Summer & More.
- Ashleigh Barty Beats Bianca Andreescu To Retain Miami Open Title, Italian Teenager Jannik Sinner Sets Up Final Date With Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz After Defeating Roberto Bautista Agut
PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS AND REACTION
Arsenal 0-3 Liverpool: Jota Brace Downs Arsenal
Goals from substitute Diogo Jota (2) and Mohamed Salah saw Liverpool defeat Arsenal 3-0 at the Emirates to make it three consecutive away wins for Jürgen Klopp’s men.
The Reds are now within two points of the top-four places following Chelsea’s 5-2 capitulation in the hands of West Brom earlier in the day.
Leicester City 0-2 Manchester City: City Go 17 Points Clear
Benjamin Mendy and Gabriel Jesus each scored second half goals to take Manchester City 17 points clear at the top of the table and within 11 points of being crowned Premier League champions.
“The champions are Liverpool, they have the crown – but we are close to taking it”
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola.
City’s attention now shifts to the Champions League, where they face Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday as they continue their quest for the quadruple this season.
Chelsea 2-5 West Bromwich Albion: Tuchel Suffers First Defeat Since Moving To England
Matheus Pereira and Callum Robinson each scored twice as 19th-placed West Brom inflicted the first defeat of Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea tenure on Saturday.
The Baggies produced a classic Sam Allardyce team performance to displace the hosts who had captain Thiago Silva sent off inside the opening 30 minutes.
“We started really well, we pressed and didn’t sit back. I had three weeks to think about this game and sort the tactics. We said, ‘Let’s go, let’s go challenge them’ and it worked extremely well.”
West Brom manager, Sam Allardyce.
The result means Chelsea are now only two points clear of Liverpool as well as West Ham United, who have a game in hand, while Allardyce’s West Brom move to within seven points of 17th-placed Newcastle.
Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion have contacted West Midlands Police after Republic of Ireland striker Callum Robinson was racially violated on social media after coming off the bench to score twice at Stamford Bridge.
Premier League Full Time Results: Saturday, April 3
- Chelsea 2 – 1 West Brom
- Leeds 0 – 2 Sheffield United
- Leicester 0 – 2 Man City
- Arsenal 0 – 3 Liverpool
Upcoming Fixtures
SUNDAY, APRIL 4TH
- Southampton 12:00 Burnley
- Newcastle 14:05 Tottenham
- Aston Villa 16:30 Fulham
- Manchester Utd 19:30 Brighton
MONDAY, APRIL 5TH
- Everton 18:00 Crystal Palace
- Wolves 20:15 West Ham
All times are subject to change and set in West-Central African format.
ITALIAN SERIE A
Napoli 4-3 Crotone: Two Super Eagles Strikers on Target
Over in Naples, Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen and Simy Nwankwo were both on target for their respective clubs, as Napoli rallied to a 4-3 victory over Crotone at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Saturday.
Simy, who scored twice, has now bagged 15 goals in 29 Serie A appearances this season, while Osimhen took his tally to four league goals, as he looks to get back in the act after spending the better part of this season out injured.
Bologna 0-1 Inter Milan: Lukaku Strike Sends Inter One Step Closer To Clinching Scudetto
Romelu Lukaku’s first half goal was the difference as leaders Inter Milan beat Bologna 1-0 away from home to go eight points clear at the top of the table.
The result means the Nerazzurri take another step towards a first scudetto since their famous treble winning 2009-10 season.
Elsewhere, title rivals AC Milan played out a disappointing 1-1 draw against Sampdoria at San Siro, while titleholders Juventus needed a 79th minute header by Cristiano Ronaldo to rescue a point at Torino in the Turin derby.
Serie Results: Saturday, April 3
- AC Milan 1 – 1 Sampdoria
- Torino 2 – 2 Juventus
- Bologna 0 – 1 Inter Milan
- Atalanta 3 – 2 Udinese
- Benevento 2 – 2 Parma
- Cagliari 0 – 2 Hellas Verona
- Genoa 1 – 1 Fiorentina
- Lazio 2 – 1 Spezia
- Napoli 4 – 3 Crotone
- Sassuolo 2 – 2 Roma
FRENCH LIGUE 1
PSG 0-1 Lille: Neymar Sees Red In PSG Defeat
Paris Saint-Germain have fallen three points behind leaders Lille to second place on the table, after Saturday’s match between the pair ended 1-0 in favor of the away side.
Jonathan David, 20, broke the deadlock for Lille from a deflected shot in the 20th minute, leaving PSG desperate for an equalizer.
Tempers soon began to fly with time running out. PSG’s Neymar and Lille’s Tiago Djalo were both shown second yellow cards late on after the latter reacted rashly to a push by his PSG counterpart.
Maurizio Pochettino’s side are now three points behind Christophe Galtier’s, with only seven games before the end of the season.
TRANSFER TALK
Manchester City Manager Explains “Impossible” Financial Demands Could Hinder The Club In Bid To Land Aguero Replacement This Summer
City are in search of a new striker this summer after announcing that the club’s all time highest goal scorer Sergio Aguero will leave the Etihad at the expiration of his contract this summer, but manager Pep Guardiola believes they could be put off by “impossible” financial demands.
Guardiola, whose City side have been linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Braut Haaland, said:
“I don’t know what is going to happen but at these prices we are not going to buy any striker.
“It’s impossible. We cannot afford it. All the clubs are struggling financially, us as well.
“Today there is more chance we will not buy a striker next season.”
More Transfer News
- Manchester United’s Spain midfielder Juan Mata, 32, is set to be offered a new one-year deal at the club, according to Star.
- Head of football Sebastian Kehl has admitted Borussia Dortmund may reach a point where they are unable to keep hold of 20-year-old Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, according to Goal.
- Haaland has overtaken Barcelona’s Argentine striker Lionel Messi, 33, as Manchester City’s top transfer target despite manager Pep Guardiola saying the club are unlikely to buy a replacement for Messi’s departing compatriot Sergio Aguero, 32, according to Mirror.
- Haaland is believed to want to move to Real Madrid but the Spanish side will not make an offer for the player and will wait for him to make the first move and signal his departure from Dortmund, according to AS.
- Arsenal may have to consider selling young stars such as England winger Bukayo Saka, 19, in order to raise the funds to sign Real Madrid’s Norway midfielder Martin Odegaard, 22, permanently, as well as other new players to overhaul the squad, according to the Times.
- Manchester United will have to hand top earner David de Gea a huge pay-off with the 30-year-old Spanish goalkeeper set to leave Old Trafford in the summer, according to Mirror.
- Paris St-Germain and Argentina striker Mauro Icardi, 28 is emerging as a target for Manchester United as a long-term replacement for compatriot Edinson Cavani, 34, according to Teamtalk.
- Atletico Madrid are keen to sign Tottenham and England midfielder Harry Winks, 25, who has been struggling for playing time under Jose Mourinho, according to Sky Sports.
- West Ham manager David Moyes is not concerned that the current loan deal for Manchester United and England midfielder Jesse Lingard, 28, does not include an option to buy, according to Mail.
- Former Chelsea and England captain John Terry, who is part of the backroom team at Aston Villa , has emerged as a contender for the vacant Sheffield United manager’s job, according to the Mirror.
- Manchester United are exploring the possibility of signing 18-year-old Portuguese defender Nuno Mendes from Sporting Lisbon and could offer 28-year-old Brazilian Alex Telles in return, according to the Record (in Portuguese).
- Barcelona are considering a summer move for Real Betis’s French international Nabil Fekir but the 27-year-old has also been linked with Arsenal, according to Estadio Deportivo.
- Juventus’s French midfielder Adrien Rabiot, 26, who has been linked with Everton, could also be a target for Barcelona, according to Calciomercato.
- Eintracht Frankfurt’s Dutch defender Jetro Willems, 27, and Crystal Palace’s English winger Andros Townsend, 29, could both be returning to Newcastle this summer, according to the Chronicle.
TENNIS – Miami Open
WTA: Ashleigh Barty Beats Bianca Andreescu To Retain Miami Open Title
World number one Ashleigh Barty has successfully defended her Miami Open title after an ankle injury forced opponent Bianca Andreescu to retire, with Barty leading 6-4, 4-0.
2019 US Open champion, Andreescu’s night was ended when she fell in the third game of the second set and couldn’t carry on with the match, despite receiving medical attention.
“It’s never the way you want to finish.
“I feel for Bianca because she has had a lot of injuries and I hope it doesn’t hamper her season too much.
“This is the first time I have defended a title and I’m excited we could kick-start a long season in the best possible way.”
Miami Open champion, Ashley Barty.
ATP: Italian Teenager Jannik Sinner Sets Up Final Date With Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz After Defeating Roberto Bautista Agut
The 19-year old Italian is set to become only the fourth teenager in history to appear in the men’s finals of the ATP Miami Masters, after rallying to a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over the Bautista.
The other semi-final saw Polish 26th seed Hurkacz dispatch Russian fourth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the final.
What's Your Reaction?
