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Ruthless Liverpool goes 13 points clear in EPL with rout of Leicester City
Freshly crowned Club World Cup champion Liverpool took a giant stride towards its first English top flight title in 30 years with a 4-0 Boxing Day rout of closest challenger Leicester City. เล่นคาสิโนสดผ่านSAGaming
Roberto Firmino, who scored the winner in the extra time victory over Flamengo in Qatar, grabbed a double as Jurgen Klopp's high flyers stretched their lead at the top to 13 points with a remarkable 17th win from 18 English Premier League matches.
In a one-sided encounter at Leicester's King Power Stadium, substitute James Milner from the penalty spot and an inspired Trent Alexander-Arnold added the other goals in a stunning victory.
Full back Alexander-Arnold provided the assists for both Firmino's goals, the first the opener on 31 minutes, his firm header beating Kasper Schmeichel's despairing dive.
Mo Salah came close to adding a second either side of the break, but it finally came with 20 minutes remaining as a corner hit Caglar Soyuncu's arm and Liverpool was awarded a penalty.
Substitute James Milner's first touch was to slot home the spot kick and soon after the Alexander-Arnold -- Firmino double act was up and running again as the Brazilian forward scored his second from a precise low pass.
It was Alexander Arnold's 20th assist since the start of last season and he rounded off a superb performance with a goal of his own with 12 minutes remaining to seal a memorable victory.
"We played really good football after all the traveling and intense period, yes it is the best performance of the season and we controlled it, to get four goals is something to be proud of," the England international told Amazon Prime Video.
Schmeichel was unhappy with the penalty award as his side slumped to a second straight defeat after losing 3-1 to Manchester City at last Saturday.
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Club World Cup: Roberto Firmino extra time winner as Liverpool sees off Flamengo
Liverpool won the Club World Cup for the first time as Roberto Firmino struck in extra time to finally see off the spirited challenge of South American champion Flamengo.
Firmino's 100th minute goal secured a 1-0 victory for Jurgen Klopp's men in the Khalifa Stadium in Doha Saturday to win a competition that had seen them beaten in previous finals three times, including by Flamengo in 1981.เอาชนะเกมสล็อต
Brazilian star Firmino, who had seen an earlier second half effort rattle the post, finished confidently after a fine move involving Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane.
Flamengo might have equalized in virtually the final action of the match, but substitute Lincoln blazed over from close range.
But overall, European champion Liverpool deserved its victory, which might have been secured earlier after initially being awarded a 90th minute penalty in normal time.
Mane looked to have been tripped by Flamengo defender Rafinha as he was about to shoot, but on VAR review Qatari referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim overturned his original decision.
Any sense of injustice felt by Liverpool was quickly dispelled by Firmino's clinical strike, receiving Mane's pass before twisting and turning to beat Flamengo goalkeeper Diego Alves.
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Manchester United and Sheffield United share six-goal thriller
Manchester United and Sheffield United shared a six-goal thriller in the English Premier League on Sunday at Bramall Lane.
For 70 minutes, the visitors had been outfought and outplayed as Sheffield United -- the Premier League's surprise package of the 2019/2020 season -- took a deserved 2-0 lead.
But three goals in seven minutes turned the game on its head as Brandon Williams, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford looked to have secured a remarkable comeback win for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team.
The notion of Manchester United securing sagaming three points had looked a distinctly unlikely scenario for much of this game.
It was as if the visitors were suffering death by a thousand cuts as the Blades -- a nickname which is a nod to Sheffield's history of steel production -- tore into their opponents at every opportunity.
Early on goalkeeper David de Gea make a superb double save to first deny John Lundstram and then David McGoldrick during a bright opening period for the promoted team.
"When you are 2-0 down you have to go for it, play with less fear and just go for it," Solskjaer told Sky Sports.
"It's a great experience for our young players because it's not easy to come back at a place like this.
"It's mixed emotions," added Solskjaer. "We cannot be happy, we have not performed for the majority of the game but we turned it around and we showed what we could be capable of.
"We have to do it now for a whole game. We know we can, we just have to show it."
Manchester United is now ninth in the Premier League table on 17 points, 20 behind league leaders Liverpool and nine behind fourth-placed Chelsea. Sheffield United is sixth on 18 points.
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Luis Enrique back as Spain boss, months after daughter's death
Luis Enrique has been reappointed as Spain's national team coach, five months after he left the job to spend more time with his family during his daughter's battle with bone cancer.
The nine-year-old died in August.
Enrique had also been absent from the Spanish camp for three months before resigning in June.
His former assistant, Robert Moreno, had taken over duties in Enrique's absence and guided Spain to Euro 2020 qualification but he will leave his role immediately to make way for the returning boss.
"Luis Enrique had our promise that he had the doors of the national team open since the moment he left," said Luis Rubiales, president of the sagaming Royal Spanish Football Federation.
"This is a project that started with the qualification of the Euro and will continue until the Qatar World Cup and we want to wish Luis Enrique a happy return to his job."
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Brescia fans criticize Mario Balotelli after he was racially abused
Fans of Brescia have criticized Mario Balotelli after the Italian international was racially abused during last Sunday's match against Hellas Verona.
Balotelli threatened to leave the pitch during his side's 2-1 loss, picking up the ball in the second half and kicking it towards the fans that were directing monkey chants at him.
The 29-year-old had to be consoled by his Brescia teammates and opposition players, who eventually persuaded him to continue playing.
But the Brescia 1911-Ex Curva Nord, a fringe ultra group, have criticized their own player and labeled him arrogant.
"The fact that he lives in Brescia and wears our jersey, however, does not raise him above everything and everyone and the arrogance that seems to shine through him all the time is not justifiable, especially when วิธีเล่นufacasino you wear it on the pitch and it becomes a cause for destabilization for the team and tension and embarrassment for the fans," the statement reads.
Brescia is second from bottom in Serie A and in a relegation fight to stay in Italian football's top flight. The club's coach Eugenio Corini was sacked after the Verona defeat and was replaced by Fabio Grosso
"If he was not psychologically ready to face supporters like those in Verona and -- above all -- a delicate game as that of last Sunday, in which a city (Brescia) played to stay in Serie A and manager -- who is among the most beloved of all -- was playing his last chance, he had to say it aloud and give way to someone less nervous than himself; nobody would have been p****d off, on the contrary," added the Brescia 1911-Ex Curva Nord statement.
"This obviously does not mean that some chants are legitimate and acceptable, but neither that Verona fans are all racists and that the Verona curva is a sort of KKK den, as some would make people believe (this is also demonstrated by the fact that to 'seriously' provoke Balotelli were only a few fans, also not linked to the main chants of the curva)."
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Verona handed partial stadium ban over racist abuse towards Mario Balotelli
Italian football club Hellas Verona has been given a one-match partial stadium closure following racist abuse aimed at Brescia striker Mario Balotelli.
Serie A's disciplinary tribunal on Tuesday ordered the club to close the Poltrona Est Stand, the section of its stadium where the abuse was heard in Sunday's game, for its next home fixture against Fiorentina on November 24.
Balotelli, born in Italy to Ghanaian parents, threatened to leave the pitch during his side's 2-1 loss, picking up the ball in the second half near the corner flag and kicking it towards the fans that were abusing him with monkey chants.
He was stopped by teammates and Verona players, who consoled the 29-year-old. The game did continue and Balotelli scored a วิธีเล่นUFACASINO stunning goal in the 85th minute.
Verona also confirmed earlier on Tuesday that it had banned the head of the club's Ultras Supporters Group, Luca Castellini, from its matches until June 30, 2030 for "considerations and expressions utterly contrary to the ethical principles and values of this club."
In an interview with Radio Cafe on Monday, Castellini said that Verona fans were merely being "irreverent" and that Balotelli could never be considered completely Italian.
Italy international Balotelli responded to ยูฟ่าเบทคาสิโน Castellini in an Instagram story on Monday saying his comments had "nothing to do with football."
"You are getting into social and historical situations that are bigger than you, you small-minded people," he added.
