List of All Articles with Tag 'football'

Kirk Herbstreit snubbed the Georgia Bulldogs big time in his prediction for how the first College Football Playoff rankings will look like when revealed on Tuesday. What did he get so horribly wrong with UGA?!

Mikel Arteta hailed “top-level” Eddie Nketiah after the England striker hit a first Premier League hat-trick in a convincing 5-0 win over bottom club Sheffield United. Nketiah scored the first three goals as the Gunners ran out comfortable victors, with Fabio Vieira’s penalty and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s first goal for the club completing the rout. The victory took Arsenal up to second place, two points behind leaders and north London rivals Tottenham as Arteta’s men remain unbeaten after 10 league games. With Gabriel Jesus facing a few weeks out with a hamstring issue, Nketiah has once again been tasked with filling his boots at centre-forward. His touch and finish for the opening goal proved he can do the job as the England international set the Gunners on their way to a victory over the rock bottom Blades. He doubled the lead after half-time and rifled home a memorable third – before ending the game with the captain’s armband. “For me, he’s top-level,” Arteta said after the win. “He has started eight out of the 10 Premier League games. So that tells you how much we trust him, how much I trust him and and the importance that he has in the team. “I’m really happy for him, an academy player to experience in the Premier League a hat-trick. He needs to enjoy the moment. He fully deserves it and hopefully there are many more to come. “He’s got an eye for goal. You look at the stats from his last 10 years. What he’s done is remarkable and he needs minutes, opportunities and service and if he gets that, Eddie is going to score goals, that’s for sure.” Arsenal are yet to suffer a league defeat this season but Arteta revealed he gave his players an “alert” in training this week after some tough fixtures either side of the October international break. “They took the game in a really serious way because I gave them on Thursday a big alert because of the context and the difference in the game that we have to play today with the previous Man City,Chelsea and Sevilla games and I’m really happy how they approached it. “Obviously they come from the national team, so we beat City, we come from national team, we have to go to Stamford Bridge and we did what we did in Stamford Bridge. “Then you have to go to Seville and that’s a really really stressful week with what they were experiencing in the last few weeks as well.” Sheffield United remain bottom and with just one point from their opening nine games. Paul Heckingbottom’s side are also struggling with injuries – but he was not ready to use that as an excuse for a bad day at the office. “Arsenal had a lot of the ball first half but Wes (Foderingham) had one save to make,” he said. “Second half, the goals were really poor that we conceded and probably a reflection of how I thought the game was – they outfought us as well as outplayed us in the first half and that is what good teams can do. “We are down to the bare bones and missing some big personalities and physicality.” Read More England were ‘desperate to win’ after Tonga provocation – Shaun Wane Exeter run riot against sloppy Sale Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola claims maiden Premier League win over Burnley Matty Ashton at the double as England seal series win over Tonga Everton financial reports just another thing to deal with – Sean Dyche Steve Borthwick’s plans for England’s Six Nations campaign well under way

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany had no qualms about the lengthy delay to check an offside call late on in their 2-1 Premier League loss at Bournemouth, but was incensed by the decision not to review a handball in the final moments of the match. The Clarets suffered an eighth defeat of the campaign after goals by Antoine Semenyo and Philip Billing cancelled out Charlie Taylor’s sweet strike in the 11th minute. A controversial moment occurred after 89 minutes when Jay Rodriguez fired into the bottom corner and – although it was immediately ruled out for offside – video assistant referee David Coote at Stockley Park took six minutes to review the incident. Initially a green line was drawn to signal it was onside before a new line was drawn, which showed red and it was eventually ruled out, but Kompany was left stunned that a supposed handball by Chris Mepham was not checked in the eighth minute of added time. Mepham and Burnley substitute Sander Berge tangled from a Taylor cross which resulted in Bournemouth goalkeeper Andrei Radu making a close-range save that appeared to be from Berge’s head, but Kompany stated it was actually via Mepham’s hand. “It’s obvious at this moment in time, I will not have anything other than disappointment,” Kompany said. “I want to address the first thing for me now which is the last thing that happened in the game. The handball situation in the box. “Games get played on a knife edge but I am trying still to wrap my head around what happened in that moment of time. “We take five to seven minutes to review the offside or not offside. The line goes green which means goal, the line goes red which means it is not a goal. “OK, I am a person who always believes in the fact they have taken their time because they want to make the right decision. And a decision gets given against us. “Tough one to take but then when the situation happens in the last moment of the game and we don’t take time to review the handball? “There is no call to the referee to delay play when the players have called for it and the staff on the bench, we could see with a wide angle that there was a handball. “It is the hand that brings the ball down. And there is no check, no delay for the restart and the ball goes and we lose the game. I am trying to understand what is happening in that moment.” Kompany revealed he did speak with referee Sam Barrott after the match. He added: “Yeah, I think for the first time in my career since I have been a manager I have actually politely and calmly gone to ask for a word of explanation from the officials. “They were very open with me and they seemed surprise by the fact we would have liked this (handball) to go to VAR, so it means no one from VAR has told them it was worth reviewing. When you look at it, it is as blatant as it can be. “I’m fairly confident this one would have taken them 15 seconds (to review).” While Kompany was flabbergasted, Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola was able to toast a first Premier League win at the 10th time of asking thanks to Semenyo’s fine solo goal and Billing’s 76th-minute lob from 40 yards. “Obviously happy, relieved because I think it was a needed victory for us,” Iraola said. “Probably when you are in this situation everything costs a lot more. It happened today. We really deserved to win today but with the last VAR decision of the offside, we had to suffer until the end. “For sure we all were remembering the Brentford game in stoppage-time and thinking it cannot happen again, because we didn’t deserve – we deserved to win clearly the game.” On the handball, Iraola admitted: “I haven’t seen it.” Read More Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta: What Eddie Nketiah has done is remarkable England were ‘desperate to win’ after Tonga provocation – Shaun Wane Exeter run riot against sloppy Sale Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola claims maiden Premier League win over Burnley Matty Ashton at the double as England seal series win over Tonga Everton financial reports just another thing to deal with – Sean Dyche

Check out the top quarterback prospects' performances in Week 8 of college football season and see who stood out.

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Jude Bellingham scored twice – including a dramatic injury-time winner – as Real Madrid came from behind to beat arch-rivals Barcelona 2-1 on Saturday. The England midfielder struck a stunning equaliser after 68 minutes at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium and then settled his first El Clasico with a close-range volley in the dying moments. Barcelona had led at the interval through former Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan. Real’s Bellingham-inspired fightback took them back above Girona to the top of LaLiga and left Barca third, four points behind. Bellingham has now scored 13 goals in as many appearances in what has been a remarkable start to his Real Madrid career. Barca took the lead on six minutes when Gundogan combined with fellow former City player Ferran Torres and calmly fired past Kepa Arrizabalaga. Vinicius Junior spurned a chance to level and Barca almost doubled their advantage when Fermin Lopez struck the post. Real also hit the woodwork when Dani Carvajal drove against the post before the break. Lopez hit the post again early in the second half and Kepa reacted quickly to deny Ronald Araujo on the rebound. Real began to rally in the latter stages with Aurelien Tchouameni having a powerful drive touched onto the frame of the goal. Bellingham then took charge of proceedings when he brilliantly curled home a shot from 25 yards. The game could still have gone either way and Robert Lewandowski had a chance to put Barca back ahead when he fired over 10 minutes from time. It was Bellingham who was to have the final say, however. The 20-year-old was once again in the right place at the right time as he pounced to clip home after a Cavajal cross was flicked on by Luka Modric. Read More England were ‘desperate to win’ after Tonga provocation – Shaun Wane Exeter run riot against sloppy Sale Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola claims maiden Premier League win over Burnley Matty Ashton at the double as England seal series win over Tonga Everton financial reports just another thing to deal with – Sean Dyche Steve Borthwick’s plans for England’s Six Nations campaign well under way

Harry Kane scored his second hat-trick of the Bundesliga season – including one from his own half – as 10-man Bayern Munich bounced back from a goalless first 45 minutes to beat nine-man Darmstadt 8-0 on a wild afternoon at the Allianz Arena. Joshua Kimmich was sent off after just four minutes, but red cards for Klaus Gjasula and Matej Maglica ensured the hosts had the man advantage at the break, the first time three men have ever been sent off in the first half of a German top-flight encounter. Kane broke the deadlock six minutes after the restart but it was his second goal, a magnificent effort from inside his own half, that was the highlight of a contest that also saw him pick up an assist on the first of two goals for Jamal Musiala before striking in his 12th goal from nine matches of this still-new Bundesliga season. Leroy Sane, who set up Kane’s third, scored two of his own while Thomas Muller also contributed to the heaviest defeat in the visitors’ history.Things got off to a dramatic start when Kimmich brought down Marvin Mehlem at the edge of the area and was shown a straight red, deemed to have prevented the visitors from a clear goal-scoring opportunity after just four minutes. Bayern were initially awarded a penalty after Gjasula was judged to have tripped Konrad Laimer, but on review referee Martin Petersen overturned his decision, determining Gjasula was the last man and the incident occurred outside the penalty area – resulting in the Albanian’s 21st-minute dismissal and a free-kick for the hosts. Darmstadt were holding their own against the Bundesliga title-holders in the 10-v-10, even holding the shot advantage through the first 37 minutes, but became the architects of their own undoing when Maglica caught up with Kane in nearly the exact same spot as the previous red-card incident. The outcome was also the same though the visitors, down to nine men, were able to sustain the deadlock to half-time despite threats from Kane and Sane, who had a goal chalked off for offside. It was a different story after the restart when Kane broke the deadlock with a diving header to open the scoring six minutes into the second half, five minutes before Sane tapped home Laimer’s cross from six yards. Then it was Musiala’s turn, extending to the advantage to 3-0 with an assist from Kane and throwing open the floodgates in the process as Sane bagged his brace with an 18-yard strike past Schuhen four minutes later. Then came Kane’s piece de resistance, a world-class strike from just beyond the halfway line, sending Marcel Schuhen on a futile scramble as he watched the ball touch down in the back of his net. https://x.com/FCBayernEN/status/1718281482190438463?s=20 Muller made it six with his first goal of the season before Musiala slotted past Schuhen for Bayern’s seventh, and while the Darmstadt keeper made a few good saves, desperate not to see his side lose by double-digits, he could not keep out Kane. The England captain, hungry for more, latched into a perfect pass from Sane to complete his hat-trick and relentless Bayern’s second-half rout. Read More Matty Ashton at the double as England seal series win over Tonga Chelsea need to find nasty streak and goals will come – Mauricio Pochettino Everton financial reports just another thing to deal with – Sean Dyche Steve Borthwick’s plans for England’s Six Nations campaign well under way England ‘feeling the heat’ of World Cup implosion – Marcus Trescothick Erik ten Hag admits Man Utd ‘have a way to go’ as they prepare for derby day

Eddie Nketiah returned to the Arsenal starting line-up with style as the England forward hit a first Premier League hat-trick in a 5-0 win over bottom club Sheffield United. Mikel Arteta made five changes for the visit of the Blades and it was Nketiah – in for the injured Gabriel Jesus – who proved the difference and ended a memorable afternoon wearing the captain’s armband. Substitutes Fabio Vieira and Takehiro Tomiyasu wrapped up the points late on with a penalty and a close-range finish respectively on an afternoon where Arsenal’s fringe players took centre-stage. Martin Odegaard dropped to the bench in the most eye-catching of Arteta’s alterations, which also saw Emile Smith Rowe make his first league start since May 2022. The victory took Arsenal up to second place, two points behind leaders and north London rivals Tottenham as Arteta’s men remained unbeaten after 10 league games. For the Blades, this was a galling afternoon where – once their resolute defence was breached for the first goal just before the half-hour mark – the writing was on the wall. The travelling fans sang the name of under pressure manager Paul Heckingbottom but they have still yet to see their team win on their return to the top-flight, with just one point on the board. With Jesus facing a few weeks out with a hamstring issue, Nketiah has once again been tasked with filling his boots as Arsenal’s go-to centre-forward. His touch and finish for the opening goal proved he can do the job as the England international set the Gunners on their way to a comfortable victory over the rock bottom Blades. Wes Foderingham would have expected to be busier in the opening half but he was on hand to push a rasping Gabriel Martinelli strike wide of the post five minutes before the break. The second goal arrived five minutes after the interval, Foderingham this time flapping at a Bukayo Saka corner with the ball dropping to Nketiah, who arrowed a shot into the top corner. A VAR check for a potential foul on the United goalkeeper failed to save the visitors. Nketiah, who made his England debut of the bench in 1-0 friendly win over Australia earlier this month, saved the best for last. Collecting a pass from Smith Rowe, the 24-year-old rifled home from 20 yards to complete his hat-trick. Saka, captain in the absence of Odegaard and Jesus, was replaced soon after and – to cheers from the home supporters – gave the armband to Nketiah. Nketiah initially picked up the ball to take a late penalty awarded after a lengthy VAR check by referee Tim Robinson after Vieira had been caught by Oliver Norwood. But instead Vieira dusted himself down to send Foderingham the wrong way and further extend the lead. Tomiyasu rounded off the scoring deep into added time after Mohamed Elneny’s flick on from a near-post corner was deflected into the path of the Japan defender.

Barcelona host Real Madrid in the first Clasico of the season as Jude Bellingham gets his first taste of one of the biggest games in world football. Barcelona won last season’s La Liga crown as they surged to their first league title since 2019 under Xavi. The champions are undefeated this season with seven wins and three draws but trail leaders Real Madrid by one point. Madrid’s new signing Bellingham has made an astonishing start to life in the Spanish capital with 11 goals in his first 12 games for the club since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer. The 20-year-old England star will now take centre stage in El Clasico, which is not available on UK television, as Real Madrid look to get revenge on Barcelona for last year’s title win. Follow the latest updates from El Clasico and get the latest odds and tips here. Read More Ballon d’Or shortlist: Who are the nominees for 2023 award? Jude Bellingham once again proves he is the key for England’s Euro 2024 hopes

The Week 9 slate of the 2023 college football season is upon us. You have some games to watch. Here are the matchups, start times, announcers and TV schedules for every game on Saturday, Oct. 28.

Mauricio Pochettino lamented that Chelsea were “not nasty enough” in attack as Brentford won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to send his team to a third home Premier League defeat of the season. Victory for the visitors, earned with second-half goals from Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbeumo, maintained their 100 per cent record on this ground since being promoted to the top flight in 2021 and ended Chelsea’s run of three league games unbeaten. The hosts failed to take advantage of a first half that they largely dominated, going close through Noni Madueke who struck the crossbar on his first start of the season. Marc Cucurella should have made more of the chance when Cole Palmer found him unmarked inside the box with a finely weighted ball, the defender lacking the power and precision needed to trouble goalkeeper Mark Flekken. From there, familiar frailties crept into Chelsea’s play and it was little surprise when they fell behind on 58 minutes, Pinnock storming past the ineffectual Axel Disasi to get on the end of Mbeumo’s cross and power his header inside Robert Sanchez’s near post. The goalkeeper was left embarrassed in added time when he was caught out going up for a corner and left the goal empty for Mbeumo to tap home Brentford’s second. Chelsea’s woeful home form has seen them win only once at Stamford Bridge in the league since March, a run that now stands at 13 matches going back to March. And after failing to score here for the 10th time in all competitions in 2023, Pochettino was left to rue the ease with which the visitors coped with his side’s attacking threat. “It’s a clear analysis,” he said. “After the first half we should score and we didn’t. When you dominate and create chances, and you don’t concede chances and the opponent didn’t cross the halfway line, we should score. If you don’t score, you need to blame ourselves. We were not nasty or clinical in front of the goal. “Sometimes you need some luck to score. It would change the game in the second half. But I think we gave them belief because we didn’t score. The second half, we can’t concede the kind of goal that we conceded and that’s why we lost the game. “(We have had) bad luck. (Christopher) Nkunku proved he can score in the big leagues and was injured in the last pre-season game. This type of thing didn’t help. We need to recover (Armando) Broja. Nicolas Jackson is affected for different reasons, he’s young and needs time to adapt. That’s obvious.” The first half ended with the manager remonstrating with a supporter near the dugout who expressed dissatisfaction with Jackson’s lack of involvement. The striker had come to the touchline to receive instruction but was criticised from the stands for his performance, prompting Pochettino to come to his defence. “It was a moment where we all felt frustrated,” he said. “After 40 minutes we’d played really well and created chances, but didn’t score. In that moment the energy was down in the stadium. “(Jackson) came to me and we were talking about positions on the pitch and I gave some direction to him. One fan said ‘wake up’. I said to stop talking in this way, support the players, we need support. It was very respectful.” Brentford boss Thomas Frank reflected on a game in which his players weathered first-half pressure and grabbed their chances when they arrived. “I think our first half wasn’t that good,” he said. “Chelsea were good first half, you see their exciting potential. If I was a Chelsea fan I’d be positive about them. It’s a bad result (for them), but I’m convinced it will come. “I said at half time we need to believe, I didn’t see that enough in the first half. We didn’t give away big chances away, but we gave too much away. “The first goal always changes the dynamic of a game. The way we defended was fantastic.” Read More Matty Ashton at the double as England seal series win over Tonga Everton financial reports just another thing to deal with – Sean Dyche Steve Borthwick’s plans for England’s Six Nations campaign well under way England ‘feeling the heat’ of World Cup implosion – Marcus Trescothick Erik ten Hag admits Man Utd ‘have a way to go’ as they prepare for derby day Son Heung-min hails Guglielmo Vicario for ‘unbelievable saves’ in win at Palace

Everton boss Sean Dyche insists his side is not feeling the pressure following reports of a possible 12-point deduction for alleged financial breaches. The Toffees are preparing to travel to West Ham on Sunday and will look to bounce back to winning ways following their 2-0 derby defeat to Liverpool last week. News surfaced this week about a potential violation of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability regulations during the period leading up to the 2021-22 season but Dyche denies it has added any pressure to him or his side heading into the weekend. He told a press conference: “Ever since I’ve been here there has been pressure. “There is pressure on all sorts around Everton Football Club and we’ve been trying to stay calm within lots of different challenges here. I think we mostly have done, trying to get things right on the pitch, trying to change the noise and putting a more positive feel about the club, not just the team. “We are trying to do that and once we get there another thing comes up so it’s just one of those things.” Everton come into the match having won three of their last five in all competitions despite a tricky start to the season which saw them wait six games for their first league win of the season. Dyche always thought his side were playing well without getting the results they deserve but has recently seen his side convert performances into points. He added: “Three out of four and then the game last week I think it’s fair to say was affected by a decision (not to send off Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate). I think we all know that. “That’s slightly an anomaly in such an important game but I’ve said all season the performance levels have generally been good, obviously there’s things to work on but lately they have been good. “There is a good feel about the group, the energy, the commitment to the cause has been good. Some of the quality has been good so we have to continue to work and find a tune.” West Ham started the season well but have had a slight dip in form, having not won in their last two league games before losing their first European game of the season in midweek to Olympiacos. Despite those recent results, including a 4-1 thrashing from Aston Villa, Dyche is expecting the best of the East London side and thinks David Moyes’ teams are never easy to match up against. He said of the ex-Toffees boss: “A lot of the things you usually get with his team, usually they are competitive. “They work but they can play as well and try to find that balance between a team that can defend but can also attack, so of course his sides are always difficult to play against – certainly from my experience.” Read More Steve Borthwick’s plans for England’s Six Nations campaign well under way England ‘feeling the heat’ of World Cup implosion – Marcus Trescothick Erik ten Hag admits Man Utd ‘have a way to go’ as they prepare for derby day Son Heung-min hails Guglielmo Vicario for ‘unbelievable saves’ in win at Palace Luka Doncic scores 49 with four straight three-pointers to beat Brooklyn Texas Rangers win World Series opener in extra innings