Chelsea gets 13th straight win, Liverpool maintains pursuit

LIVERPOOL, England—Chelsea fought off a dogged Stoke for a record-equaling 13th successive Premier League win as Liverpool maintained its pursuit of the leaders with a victory over Manchester City.

Thanks to Saturday’s 4-2 win, Chelsea will enter the second half of the season holding a six-point advantage over Liverpool in Antonio Conte’s first season in charge of the London club.

Juergen Klopp is also satisfied with Liverpool’s progress as he looks to deliver the club’s first title since 1990 by chasing down Chelsea over the next 19 games.

“Can you imagine how annoying it is when you have won 13 games in a row and another team is only six points behind,” Klopp said after Liverpool’s 1-0 win over City. “It is unbelievably difficult this league.”

It was Pep Guardiola with little to celebrate on New Year’s Eve as City slipped 10 points behind leader Chelsea.

Chelsea has emulated Arsenal’s 2002 side by reeling off 13 wins in a row in the same season and it’s thanks to Willian’s double.

Goals from Gary Cahill and Willian were canceled out by Stoke duo Bruno Martins Indi and Peter Crouch. When Willian put Chelsea in front for a third time in the 65th minute, Stoke could find no way back this time and Diego Costa added a fourth.

“When you win a lot there is a great danger to be satisfied, to be relaxed, to think, ‘OK, but we won a lot in the past, now if arrive the draw, if we don’t lose, if we don’t win it’s not important,'” Conte said. “No. My players showed me great will, great will to fight, great will to win, great will to take this great achievement for us. I’m pleased for them and they deserved this. I’m their coach, but they deserved this.”

Georginio Wijnaldum’s eighth-minute header secured Liverpool’s fourth successive league win. Wijnaldum will take the plaudits for providing his second goal of the season, but Adam Lallana’s contribution underscored how the midfielder is an essential ingredient in the title bid.

It was Lallana’s seventh assist of the season—he has also scored seven—that set up Wijnaldum. The Dutch midfielder climbed above City defender Aleksandar Kolarov to meet Lallana’s well-placed cross from the left flank before planting a header beyond goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

“It was kind of a wild game,” Klopp said. “It was intense. It’s not about having a philosophy, it’s about adapting to the quality of the opponent and in this case we needed to defend from a compact formation.”

Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba scored late goals in the 85th and 86th minutes to rescue a fifth successive win for Jose Mourinho’s United.

Grant Leadbitter had given Middlesbrough the lead but United gave the watching former manager Alex Ferguson the perfect 75th birthday gift.

“If the fans remember this not just for Sir Alex’s birthday but for the kind of performance we had, I think it’s a great tribute,” Mourinho said.

United’s in-house television channel received a shock after the game when nine-time Olympic Usain Bolt called in with his analysis.

Leicester moved six points clear of the relegation zone on Saturday after the struggling champions ended a three-game winless streak courtesy of Islam Slimani’s header. Leicester moved up one spot to 15th.

Swansea’s miserable form continued in the first game following Bob Bradley’s firing. Benik Afobe and Ryan Fraser scored first-half goals and substitute Josh King completed a comfortable win for Bournemouth in the 88th minute.

In the final five minutes of the first half, Shane Long put Southampton ahead and Matt Phillips equalized. But Hal Robson-Kanu struck a second-half winner for West Bromwich Albion before Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk was sent off in the 88th for bringing down striker Salomon Rondon.

Burnley moved closer to mid-table safety powered by Andre Gray’s hat trick against relegation-threatened Sunderland.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Chelsea, Conte standing out as normality returns to EPL

MANCHESTER, England — In one sense, normality has returned to the English Premier League after the craziness of Leicester’s improbable surge to the title last season.

The top six on Christmas Day are the teams most pundits predicted would be challenging for the title: Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United.

There’s nothing normal about Chelsea’s current form, however.

After 11 straight wins, Chelsea leads the league by six points from Liverpool, heading into the hectic period of festive fixtures that is unique to British soccer. Only once — Arsenal in 2001-02, with 13 straight wins — has a top-tier club had a longer winning streak in one season since World War II.

In the first year of the “super-coach” era in the Premier League, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is standing head and shoulders above the rest, although it needed a September switch to his favored 3-4-3 formation to get the team to click.

With a stingy defense (two goals conceded in the last 11 games), a dynamic midfield marshalled by N’Golo Kante and a forward line led by the league’s top scorer, Diego Costa, there are no apparent weaknesses in Conte’s lineup. On current evidence, it’s hard to see how the team from southwest London can be stopped.

One thing is for sure, there’ll be no miracle sequel for Leicester in the Premier League. Languishing in 15th place in the 20-team standings, the reigning champions are closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League qualification spots.

It’s back to the heavyweights challenging for the title. And Chelsea is the big favorite.

Title Race

One factor is particularly helping Chelsea and Liverpool in their quests for the title: No European competition.

Such was the extraordinary nature of last season that neither team qualified for the Champions League or even the Europa League. That failure is now allowing them to focus purely on the domestic games, give their players more rest, and have a full week of preparation for Premier League games.

Chelsea hasn’t dropped a point since a 3-0 loss at Arsenal on Sept. 24, during which Antonio Conte changed formation to a 3-4-3 and hasn’t looked back. Like Chelsea, Liverpool has two losses so far.

Man City is in third place, a point behind Liverpool, as coach Pep Guardiola gets to grips with the physical and non-stop demands of English soccer, including no rest at Christmas. Arsenal is a further two points back on 34 points in fourth, Tottenham has 33 and Jose Mourinho’s Man United has 30. For United, some 13 points behind Chelsea, the target has already switched from winning the league to securing Champions League qualification with a top-four finish.

Chelsea has three tough away games left — at Spurs, Liverpool and United — and is proving adept at eking out 1-0 wins. Four of its last six games have finished with that scoreline, including the last three.

Pick of the Players

While Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho, Man City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante and Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez have starred in patches, Diego Costa has been the only player to have had a consistent impact this season.

Last season, the Spain striker appeared to be more interested in picking fights than scoring goals. Costa is a changed man, though, and has scored a league-high 13 goals while providing five assists.

Five of the goals were winners (against West Ham, Watford, Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace), an overhead kick earned a draw at Swansea, and another goal sparked a come-from-behind win at Man City in December.

Emerging Talent

There’s another “Harry” making a splash at White Hart Lane.

The 20-year-old Harry Winks is a central midfielder who is getting a run in Tottenham’s first team, starting four of the past eight games at the expense of internationals like Moussa Sissoko and Eric Dier. He scored against West Ham on his full league debut in November and is an intelligent passer with a good technique.

Mauricio Pochettino is renowned for giving youth players a chance to shine during his time at Southampton and now Tottenham. Harry Kane has matured into one of the best strikers in the Premier League under Pochettino, and Winks could be next in line.

Surprise Team

When it was announced in August that West Bromwich Albion had been bought out by Chinese investors, the future of manager Tony Pulis looked precarious despite his record of never having been relegated from the Premier League.

The new owners were wise to keep hold of the 58-year-old Pulis.

Away from the likely title contenders, West Brom is proving to be the best of the rest in the Premier League and at one point early in December was in the top six.

Known for setting his teams out with a solid defensive structure, Pulis has added some flair up front in forwards Nacer Chadli — a club-record signing in the offseason — and Matt Phillips, who operate behind Salomon Rondon. The Baggies have scored three or more times in four games this season, testament to their new-found attacking approach.

Points to Prove
The season started with rival coaches Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho expected to be battling it out for the title. The way things are going, they’ll be fighting just to secure Champions League qualification.

Both coaches have had tough spells in the first season with their respective clubs, with Mourinho in particular criticized for public outbursts against his players and a run of poor results over September and October. United has won its last three league games to get back on track, but a current position of sixth is not good enough.

Guardiola started his City tenure with 10 straight victories but has only won six of his next 17, raising questions about his tactics, the team’s defensive stability and whether Guardiola can get to grips with English soccer.

It will help Guardiola to have Sergio Aguero on the field. The Argentina striker has missed seven of City’s 17 league matches through suspension, and needs to make amends in the second half of the season.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Costa heads leader Chelsea to 11th Premier League win in row

LONDON — Demonstrating their efficient transformation under Antonio Conte, Chelsea’s players reeled off an 11th successive victory in a Premier League season for the first time Saturday.

Diego Costa’s header secured a 1-0 win at struggling Crystal Palace, sending the leaders nine points clear of Liverpool and Arsenal.

It came on the first anniversary of Jose Mourinho being fired with the west London club a point above the relegation zone. Apparent harmony in the dressing room has replaced the “palpable discord” with the players which triggered Mourinho’s exit.

Although the wins are racking up, Chelsea might soon pay for its inability to kill off games with the Palace success completing a hat trick of 1-0 victories.

The defense, though, is watertight under Conte, keeping nine clean sheets in the winning run that started after a 3-0 humbling at Arsenal and the switch to a three-man defense.

“The manager must be a tailor and try and find the right fit for the team,” said Conte, the former Italy and Juventus coach. “For sure, for me, it wasn’t easy to arrive and understand very quickly the characteristics of my players. I needed a bit of time.

“I tried a different solution before changing the formation, but I think the most important thing is the mentality, our strong mentality. Also hard work during the week — tactical work, physical work, analysis.”

With mist descending on the Selhurst Park field, the only goal in the lunchtime kickoff came from Chelsea’s first attempt on target in the 43rd minute.

Costa rose above Scott Dann to meet Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross and net his 13th goal of the season. The Spain forward has eclipsed last season’s haul for Chelsea before the halfway point has been reached.

“If we’d arrived here today without the right concentration and focus, the will to fight and go into battle with your opponents, we’d have lost this game for sure,” Conte said. “Instead, we have great quality but the players are putting that quality into the team.”

Chelsea, though, will have to cope without Costa at home to Bournemouth on Dec. 26. Chelsea’s top-scorer picked up a fifth booking of the season for a tackle on Joe Ledley before scoring.

Midfielder N’Golo Kante, who also accumulated five yellow cards with his second-half caution, also has two weeks off before the New Year’s Eve game against Stoke.

Palace manager Alan Pardew might also have an enforced break — unless results improve. Chelsea condemned Palace to an eighth loss in 10 games to leave the south London club three points above the relegation zone.

“Chelsea are very sound defensively and didn’t really give us any chance to get at them as much as we’d have liked,” Pardew said. “They were confident in their defending, (with) good shape and discipline to their actions, and did enough offensively to edge it.”

Chelsea equaled the 2009 team’s 11-match winning run set across two seasons in 2009.

Arsenal’s 14-match winning run in 2002 remains a Premier League record — for now. –Rob Harris/AP

source: sports.inquirer.net

Euphoria in streets of Leicester as outsiders take EPL title

Ecstatic fans rushed into the streets of Leicester on Monday as the outsiders won the Premier League in a triumph seen as the most astonishing in the history of English football.

Dancing crowds dressed in the team’s blue jerseys hugged each other and chanted songs honouring heroes such as manager Claudio Ranieri and striker Jamie Vardy, linchpins of Leicester City’s first title triumph in its 132-year history.

“There is only one Ranieri,” chanted fans in celebration of the Italian boss.

“This year I got married and had a baby, but this tops it all,” said Steve Robinson, 26.

“It’s going to be a big and long party, because we have waited a long time for this,” added tourist guide Steve Bruce.

Thousands bearing blue and white flags celebrated beside the King Power stadium and the cathedral where the skeleton of Richard III was buried after it was discovered under a carpark in 2012 — a fact seen by some to have brought the Midlands city luck.

Fans circled the city centre blaring their car horns, while others warned that European giants such as Barcelona were next in their sights as Leicester prepare to enter the Champions League for the first time.

“We’re coming for you, (Lionel) Messi!” shouted Chris Whiting, 20, in a reference to Barcelona’s star Argentine forward.

At Hogarths pub nearby, fans had cheered on Chelsea to prevent second-placed Tottenham Hotspur getting the win they needed to prolong the title race until Saturday, at least.

After the 2-2 draw confirmed Leicester were champions, supporters jumped in elation and disbelief.

“I’m going to party! I’ve been supporting Leicester since I was 14 years old, can you imagine what this means for me?” said Caroline Wilkins, 60, who added she watched the match with a friend because her husband hates football.

“I feel on top of the world, I feel I’m in heaven!”

Whiting said he had started to fear the title might slip through Leicester’s fingers when Tottenham were two goals up in the first half of the game.

“I still can’t believe it… I started worrying about the next game,” Whiting said.

‘This is a dream’

Christine Norton, aged in her 60s, left the pub when Spurs scored the second goal but returned when Chelsea managed to equalise.

“I told them: if I leave, they’ll draw,” Norton said. “And here I am, I am really happy, this is a dream.”

The city had been dyed blue in the build up, with one bar selling cappuccinos decorated with Vardy’s face, a restaurant selling fried blue fish, and a supermarket even dying their sausages blue.

Marc Wilks, who was selling T-shirts reading “Champions 2015-2016. Leicester Kings of England” said the party would continue for some time to come.

“It’s been a fantastic day, very good for the business,” Wilks said.

At the start of the season, few believed it was possible for a club representing a city of 330,000 people to beat London’s five Premier League teams and Manchester’s two to the title.

Before the campaign started, bookmakers had offered 5,000-1 against Leicester winning the championship.

But fans got their payback for a lifetime of scorn and taunts by Leicester’s great local rivals, Nottingham Forest, who won the English league once and the European Cup twice in the 1970s but now languish in the second-tier English Football Championship.

Student Karishma Kapoor, 20, was laughing all the way to the bank after betting £2 ($2.93, 2.54 euros) on Leicester winning at the start of the season — giving her a payout of £10,000 ($14,650, 12,700 euros).

“We are a lot into football at home. So this summer we were discussing the season ahead in my grandma’s house and we decided to bet one pound each with my auntie,” Kapoor said.

“I would like to save some of it, go on holiday, hopefully and pay for my brother to go on a trip to a Champions League game.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Ronaldo remains doubtful for 2nd leg vs Man City

MADRID — Real Madrid has been keeping quiet about Cristiano Ronaldo’s injury, and his presence in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals is likely to remain a mystery until just before next week’s game against Manchester City.

Ronaldo underwent new tests on his injured hamstring on Wednesday, but Madrid did not reveal the extent of the problem or how long the Portugal forward will remain sidelined.

He was expected to play in Tuesday’s first leg in Manchester, but watched the 0-0 draw from the bench after failing a physical just before the game.

There have been widespread rumors about the injury, but the only clue since the game has come from a post on Ronaldo’s official Instagram account, which simply said, “Don’t worry be happy,” along with a photo of him smiling. He later also posted photos of him exercising in a gym, including one where he is flexing his muscles.

Before the game in England, television cameras caught him saying that he still wasn’t fully fit.

“I’ll wait for the next match,” he said in Portuguese, apparently while talking to other players. “If it was a final, I would play.”

Spanish media has published various versions of the injury, from a full muscle rupture that will keep him out for the rest of the season to a minor ailment that should heal quickly. The sports daily AS suggested that Ronaldo would undergo “stem cell treatment” to try to recover in time for next week’s game at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.

Coach Zinedine Zidane spoke only briefly about Ronaldo following Tuesday’s game.

“He felt something and wasn’t comfortable,” Zidane said. “Hopefully he will be fit for the second leg.”

The coach and other team officials had previously downplayed the problem, saying the forward would likely be ready for the first leg.

Ronaldo picked up the injury toward the end of a 3-0 win over Villarreal in the Spanish league on April 20, when he tried a volley inside the area and fell awkwardly. He seemed to be in pain and, after getting up, put his hand on the back of his right leg. Ronaldo walked off the pitch just before the final whistle, leaving the team with 10 men.

It’s almost certain he will miss Saturday’s Spanish league game at Real Sociedad, having been sidelined for last Saturday’s 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano. His team is one point behind Barcelona and Atletico Madrid with three rounds to play.

Ronaldo had played in every Spanish league game this season, and had scored seven goals in his previous seven matches in all competitions before missing the game against Rayo.

He is the leading scorer in both the Spanish league and the Champions League, where he has 16 goals from 10 games, one shy of the record he set in the 2013-14 season, when Madrid won its 10th European title.

Zidane may also be without forward Karim Benzema, who left Tuesday’s game because of a knee problem that has been bothering him for some time.

“They are two important players and we hope that they are back for the second leg,” Zidane said. “We’ll take it day-by-day and look at it with the doctors.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Mahrez named England’s Player of the Year

Leicester City’s Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez on Sunday became the first African player to be named English football’s Player of the Year, as voted for by his fellow professionals.

The 25-year-old French-born Algerian international, outstanding in Leicester’s incredible charge towards the Premier League title, received the trophy at a lavish awards ceremony in London.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli was named Young Player of the Year at the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) awards.

Paying tribute to his team-mates, Mahrez, who succeeds Chelsea’s Eden Hazard as the winner of the prize, told the ceremony: “All the credit is for them, seriously.

“And for my manager (Claudio Ranieri) and the staff. Without them I wouldn’t receive this award and I wouldn’t score. It’s the team spirit, and I want to dedicate it to them.

“I’m very grateful to receive this award, it’s a pleasure. It’s extra special because if the players vote for me it’s because they’ve seen I’ve been great this year so I’m happy.

“But it’s more team things. Without my team-mates I wouldn’t get this award.”

Mahrez is the first African to win the award and just the second non-European, after Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, then of Liverpool, in 2014.

A £400,000 ($580,000, 514,000 euro) signing from French Ligue 2 side Le Havre in January 2014, Mahrez has contributed 17 goals and 11 assists to help put Leicester on the brink of becoming English champions for the first time.

He had scored the opener in the Foxes’ 4-0 thrashing of Swansea City earlier in the day at the King Power Stadium, which left Claudio Ranieri’s side eight points clear of second-placed Tottenham with three games left to play.

– Giggs award -Mahrez was then flown by helicopter to the ceremony as he pipped club colleagues Jamie Vardy and N’Golo Kante as well as West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet, Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil to the award.

Alli, 20, held off competition from Kane, Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland, Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho and Everton duo Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley to take the young player gong.

Alli, who won Football League Young Player of the Year 12 months ago, joined Tottenham from third-tier Milton Keyes Dons in 2015 and was expected to be used sparingly in his first season at White Hart Lane.

However, he has been outstanding in midfield for Spurs and has already won six caps for England, scoring once.

He was not there to pick up his award in person as Tottenham play West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Monday, but recorded a video message.

“Sorry I can’t be there tonight, but we have a big game tomorrow. Thank you for to everyone who voted for me,” Alli said.

“I feel honoured to win such a prestigious award and thank you to my friends, family and all the staff at Tottenham.”

Manchester United great Ryan Giggs, now the assistant to manager Louis van Gaal, followed in the footsteps of his former manager Alex Ferguson by winning the PFA Merit Award.

Manchester City midfielder Izzy Christiansen won the PFA Women’s Player of the Year award, with Sunderland forward Beth Mead taking home the young player equivalent.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Moyes concedes Liverpool are favorites in 'biggest game'

LONDON - Manchester United manager David Moyes conceded that Liverpool probably start as favorites to win what he described as "the biggest club game in England" when they meet at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Liverpool is second in the Premier League, seven points behind leaders Chelsea with a game in hand, but 11 points clear of United, who are sixth with no realistic chance of retaining their title.

Former Liverpool striker Ian Rush said earlier on Friday that Liverpool go into the match as the clear favorites and Moyes did not disagree.

"Their league position suggests they are ahead of us and they possibly do come here as favorites. Liverpool are having a very good season and we will have to do everything we possibly can to beat them."

Liverpool, which has won its last four league matches, has not finished above United since 2002 and although the team looks like doing so this season, Moyes told reporters at his pre-match news conference that United still had plenty to play for.

"It would be a big boost for us to win on Sunday," he said. "I think everyone knows the importance of Manchester United v Liverpool games.

"I think it is the biggest game in the country. There is great history between the two clubs going back years and I think this is the biggest club game in the Premier League."

Liverpool (18) and United (20) have won 38 league titles between them.

United, who finished champions five times and runners-up three times in Alex Ferguson's last eight seasons in charge at Old Trafford, have not finished outside the top three since 1991, but they will almost certainly do so this season.

Moyes, who has had a difficult introduction since succeeding Ferguson at the start of the season, said there was plenty of positives to take from their recent form, having kept clean sheets in their last three league matches.

"We are not in as strong a position as we'd like, but we are normally very good coming into the final furlong and we have big games coming up this month. Our motivation is to make sure we keep progressing," he said

Only defeat

Their only defeat in the last six weeks was a 2-0 reverse at Olympiakos in a Champions League last 16 first leg last month.

Moyes added: "With the exception of Olympiakos we have been progressing and improving. I see signs of it in training, the players are looking well and sharp and I am looking forward to it."

Striker Robin van Persie appeared on Thursday to allay fears that he was looking to move away from Manchester United by saying he wanted to stay beyond the end of his current contract and that he had learnt a lot from Moyes' training sessions.

"It's nice of Robin. Robin is happy here and we are very pleased about that," a naturally delighted Moyes said.

"He has a couple of years left on his contract and I am sure that's something the board will look at. I have always said we have two outstanding forwards in Wayne Rooney and Robin.

"Both of them are capable of winning games on their own and both are pivotal international players for Holland and England and are the sort of players any side in Europe or the world would want in their team.

"I am delighted to have them here and that both of them want to be Manchester United players is even better."

Winger Nani has returned to the United squad ahead of Sunday's match at Old Trafford, while Rafael, Javier Hernandez and Jonny Evans all have a chance of being involved, Moyes said. - Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com