Friday, 29 April 2016
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Iheanacho buat Stoke menderita
MANCHESTER – Dua gol disudahkan Kelechi Iheanacho pada minit ke-64 dan ke-74, disertai jaringan Fernando Reges serta Sergio Aguero meletakkan Stoke City dalam keadaan sengsara pada aksi saingan Liga Perdana England di Stadium Etihad malam tadi.
Kemenangan tersebut sekali gus merangsang lonjakan semangat kepada skuad bimbingan Manuel Pellegrini itu untuk menghadapi Real Madrid menjelang aksi saingan separuh akhir Liga Juara-Juara yang dijadualkan minggu depan.
Pada aksi perlawanan malam tadi, Manchester City terlebih dahulu terpaksa bekerja keras untuk mengawal pergerakan pemain Stoke yang terdesak mendapatkan kemenangan selepas skuad bimbingan Mark Hughes itu dibelasah Tottenham Hotspur 4-0, Rabu lalu.
Bagaimanapun, kelekaan jentera pertahanan menyebabkan jaring gawang Stoke digegarkan City pada minit ke-35 menerusi jaringan Fernando.
The Citizens kemudian mengukuhkan kedudukan pada minit kecederaan babak pertama menerusi sepakan penalti yang disempurnakan Aguero.
Memasuki babak kedua, Stoke yang tampak goyah dalam usaha mengawal aksi serangan City ternyata gagal mengekang keghairahan skuad The Citizens menambah jaringan apabila Iheanacho menyudahkan jaringan selepas memanfaatkan hantaran dilakukan Pablo Zabaleta pada minit ke-64.
Selang 10 minit kemudian, City menambah derita Stoke apabila pemain kelahiran Nigeria itu sekali lagi menggegarkan jaring gawang skuad pelawat sejurus menerima hantaran Wilfried Bony.
Tiga mata yang diraih ke atas Stoke meletakkan City pada kedudukan tangga ketiga liga dengan kutipan keseluruhan 64 mata. - Agensi
Hadiah istimewa buat penyokong Hang Tuah (kosmo)
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LAYAK beraksi dalam saingan Piala Malaysia musim ini menjadi impian Melaka United dan mahu menjadikan kejayaan itu sebagai hadiah buat penyokong setia skuad Hang Tuah selepas kali terakhir bersaing merebut piala berprestij itu tujuh tahun lalu.
Berada di puncak Liga Premier selepas menewaskan Kuala Lumpur 2-1 kelmarin meningkatkan lagi keyakinan para pemain bimbingan ketua jurulatih, Mat Zan Mat Aris untuk terus beraksi cemerlang, sekali gus menjamin tempat dalam kelompok lima pasukan terbaik pada pusingan pertama ini.
Mat Zan memberitahu, layak menempatkan diri dalam kempen Piala Malaysia itu turut membakar semangat pasukan untuk terus cemerlang dan meraih kejayaan bersama Melaka United.
“Alhamdulillah, sudah tentu kemenangan menewaskan Kuala Lumpur adalah satu kegembiraan kepada kami kerana pertemuan itu amat penting untuk kita mendapat tiga mata. Kuala Lumpur adalah lawan yang kuat dan bukan mudah untuk kita menang.
“Walaupun telah layak ke Piala Malaysia ini bukan satu kelegaan tetapi lebih kepada pencapaian untuk kami dan ia juga amat bermakna kepada rakyat di negeri ini keseluruhannya turut gembira dengan kejayaan Melaka United,” katanya.
Pada aksi kelmarin, Melaka United dikejutkan dengan jaringan awal Kuala Lumpur menerusi Anselmo Arruda da Silva pada minit pertama, namun pasukan tuan rumah bangkit menyamakan kedudukan melalui Ilija Spasojevic pada minit ke-27 sebelum Jasmir Mehat menghasilkan gol kemenangan tiga minit kemudian.
Mat Zan turut memuji persembahan para pemain yang menggalas tugas dengan baik selain tidak mudah putus asa dan tetap bersemangat sehingga wisel penamat biarpun ketinggalan pada awal babak pertama.
Sementara itu, Spasojevic berkata, biarpun perlawanan itu sangat sukar, namun kerjasama daripada rakan-rakan sepasukan adalah resipi utama untuk mereka meraih kemenangan penting itu.
“Rasa sangat letih bertemu dengan Kuala Lumpur, namun ia amat mengujakan apabila kita menang dan melayakkan diri ke Piala Malaysia. Saya berbangga dengan pasukan ini kerana dapat berikan kegembiraan kepada para penyokong dan terima kasih kepada semua yang sentiasa hadir memberi sokongan,” katanya.
MSL : KEDAH JDT sama handal
MOHD. AMIRUL IZWAN (empat dari kanan) cuba meredakan ketegangan para pemain Kedah dan Johor DT pada perlawanan Liga Super di Stadium Darul Aman, Alor Setar malam tadi.
IMPIAN Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) untuk menebus kekecewaan setelah tewas kepada Kedah minggu lalu tidak kesampaian apabila sekadar seri 1-1 dalam aksi Liga Super di Stadium Darul Aman, Alor Setar malam tadi.
Skuad Helang Merah yang masih segar dengan kemenangan 2-1 pada aksi separuh akhir pertama Superbest Power Piala FA pada 16 April lalu terlebih dulu di depan menerusi jaringan Badrol Bakhtiar seawal minit pertama.
Tersentak dengan jaringan itu, anak-anak buah Mario Gomez yang terdesak memburu gol menggandakan asakan sehingga menimbulkan keadaan tegang akibat beberapa kekasaran dalam kalangan pemain, namun dapat dikawal dengan baik oleh pengadil perlawanan, Mohd. Amirul Izwan Yacob.
Skuad Harimau Selatan akhirnya mampu menarik nafas lega sebelum masuk ke bilik persalinan apabila memperoleh sepakan penalti yang disempurnakan dengan baik pemain import, Juan Martin Lucero pada masa tambahan babak pertama untuk menjadikan kedudukan 1-1.
Johor DT yang tekad melunaskan dendam tewas di gelanggang sama Sabtu lalu mempunyai beberapa peluang untuk menjaringkan gol, namun dipersiakan barisan depan.
Dalam pada itu, impian Sarawak untuk meraih kemenangan di laman sendiri di Stadium Negeri, Kuching tidak kesampaian apabila sekadar seri 1-1 dengan Pahang.
Tuan rumah terlebih dulu di depan menerusi jaringan Juninho Aparecido pada minit ke-30, sebelum pemain import Tok Gajah, Dalibor Volas menyamakan kedudukan pada minit ke-56.
Sementara itu, Kelantan bangkit daripada kekalahan 3-4 kepada Pahang Rabu lalu dengan menjadikan Terengganu sebagai mangsa untuk meraih kemenangan ketiga daripada sembilan perlawanan Liga Super pada aksi di Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV, Kota Bharu.
Wan Zack Wan Haikal Wan Nor mencuri tumpuan penyokong The Red Warriors apabila menjaringkan dua gol pada minit ke-13 dan m-62, manakala Fakhrul Zaman Wan Abdullah Zawawi menghasilkan gol ketiga pada minit ke-89.
Di Stadium Hang Jebat, Melaka, Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) gagal memanfaatkan peluang untuk meraih kemenangan ke atas Selangor yang beraksi 10 pemain selepas Mohd. Nazmi Faiz Mansor dilayangkan kad merah pada minit ke-71 apabila sekadar seri tanpa jaringan.
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Liga Premier : Melaka Utd teratas dll keputusan
Jasmir Mihat muncul wira pasukan Melaka United selepas menjaringkan gol kemenangan pasukannya sekaligus memadam rekod tanpa kalah Kuala Lumpur dalam saingan liga musim ini.
KUANTAN 4-2 Sime Darby
N9 Matrix 3-1 Perlis
Sabah 0-1 JDT II
DRB Hicom 4-0 ATM
Uitm 0-3 PKNS
Friday, 22 April 2016
Tuesday, 19 April 2016
Time for Wenger, Martinez to go?
The art of positive thinking is clearly an important one in football. Confidence is crucial, and a large part of a manager's job is to encourage this sort of attitude, which is one of the reasons why Claudio Ranieri and his breezy approach has been so successful at Leicester.
Managers are essentially part-tacticians, part-psychologists. Their job is to get the best out of their players using whatever means necessary, meaning that it sometimes doesn't really matter if what they're saying is true, as long as it has the desired positive impact.
The mentality of being a successful Premier League manager is something most of us can only observe and speculate on, with judgements about their behaviour potentially harsh. That said; there are some occasions when departure from reality becomes rather alarming. Which brings us to Arsene Wenger and Roberto Martinez.
To say that Martinez, the Everton manager, is relentlessly upbeat would be an understatement of the first order. This is a man who would make Tigger look like Eeyore, constantly gushing about how wonderful his team are and how beautifully they've played. This of course would be fine if Everton were riding high in the league, their success undeniable and their football as free-flowing as Martinez's words of praise.
But they're 11th in the table, closer to the relegation zone than the top four and their draw against Southampton at the weekend ensured their final home points total for the season will be their lowest ever in the top-flight.
Martinez's comments reached a peak level of absurdity after their draw with Crystal Palace last week. Granted, they had to play the final 38 minutes with 10 men after James McCarthy was sent off, but the manager declared a point against a side that have won once in 2016 to be "more than a decent result" and went on to exclaim: "It was an incredible, positive performance. The resilience and hard work, and to be able to be so solid, was great...To play like that with 10 men, it was incredibly satisfying."
It's also worth noting that discontent in the stands at Goodison Park is probably at its highest in at least 15 years, with banners supporting Leighton Baines after the left-back had to apologise for suggesting the "chemistry" was not right in their squad, plus a fan was moved to confront Martinez during the Southampton draw.
It should go without saying that any manager should be able to go about his job without threat of physical violence, but it's possible that the fans are so unhappy not just because they're watching their most talented squad in a generation be squandered, but that the manager's public attitude seems to suggest that everything is fine.
There are other examples too, most notably recently declaring that he wouldn't sell Tom Cleverley "for any money in the current market." Hopefully someone jokingly bids £60million to test his theory on that one. Hearing Martinez emote with such gusto is a little like watching a man enthuse about a building's great structure and solid foundations as it slowly collapses behind him.
With new investors gaining more influence at the club, in theory Martinez will have to do something fairly impressive to persuade them to keep his job (such as a victory in the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United this weekend, the reaching of which should not be ignored), but there hasn't been much suggestion that his position is in much danger.
Everton might be wise to look at another manager who tends to accentuate the positives to observe the danger of sticking with someone like that for too long.
Before the almost parodic Arsenal performance against Crystal Palace (dominate possession, fail to turn that superiority into goals, drop points after a moment of carelessness, an ineffectual Theo Walcott cameo) that left the Gunners 13 points off the top of the Premier League and in danger of surrendering their top four place, Wenger struck a similar "Everything's fine, nothing to see here" tone.
"If you look at the top three teams, you will see they have not changed their team a lot," said Wenger on Saturday in discussing his plans for the summer transfer window. "We have to strengthen our squad but it's not obvious to find the players despite the money the English clubs will have. We are already working but we have to find the players and that is not easy.
"You cannot dismiss that the players are young: Alex Iwobi is 19, Mohamed Elneny is 23, Francis Coquelin 24, and they will be stronger next year, but you need to keep a core of players and strengthen where we can. The team is going the right way."
The right way? To most observers Arsenal look like a team going nowhere, neither forwards nor back, treading water and producing the same results, season after season, with the manager presenting the same positive yet seemingly oblivious front. With Wenger, the constant theme is tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow: whether he's talking about money that will be available, or they'll be fine when the squad is healthy, or the players are young and will be better next year, he constantly asks Arsenal fans to believe in a bright future that never materialises.
Arsenal are, and have been for some time, stagnant, a team that is constantly very good but always not quite good enough. This is partly the fault of those at the club who are not strong enough to remove the manager that has got them in that state, but mainly the manager himself, seemingly trying to fool himself and everything else that things will get better, that it's all going to be fine. Of course he could be taking a very different position behind closed doors, but if he is, it isn't showing in their results or performances.
Each season Arsene Wenger's Arsenal flirt with a title run only to then falter and finish fourth.
A team that includes Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Laurent Koscielny and Petr Cech are better than fourth place with no hope of catching the leaders, just as one featuring Ross Barkley, John Stones, Romelu Lukaku and James McCarthy is better than mid-table nothingness.
Wenger's words and attitude, while not with the same almost comic unrealistic positivity, are very reminiscent of Martinez's, and can lead to ignoring serious issues as they arise, and thus to stagnation. Everton aren't at Arsenal's stage of inertia just yet, but they could be before too long.
Stoke jd mangsa belasahan Spurs (0-4)
Tottenham produced an outstanding display to thrash Stoke and move five points behind leaders Leicester with four games of the season remaining.
Man of the match - Christian Eriksen (Tottenham)
Arsenal sia2kan peluang walaupun dah leading...puiii
Arsenal manager frustrated side's dominance led to only a point against Palace
Arsenal extended their unbeaten run over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon but Arsene Wenger expressed his frustration as his side dropped points in their bid to secure a top-four finish in the Barclays Premier League.
The 1-1 draw at Emirates Stadium means Arsenal have lost only one of their last 14 matches against the Eagles but that was no consolation to Wenger, whose team enjoyed 72% possession but could not build on the first-half goal scored by Alexis Sanchez.
"I'm very disappointed," Wenger said. "Despite the high level of possession we had, we did not create enough chances.
"We lacked a bit of sharpness on the day and we did not play with enough pace in the final third."
Arsenal are fourth, level on points with Manchester City and 13 behind leaders Leicester City after a run of two wins from their last seven matches.
Wenger says his team must be wary of Manchester United, who are four points behind in fifth.
Yannick Bolasie celebrates a late equaliser to all but end Arsenal's faint hopes of winning the title
Time for a change? Arsenal supporters have voiced their displeasure in recent weeks and clearly want change
Saturday, 16 April 2016
Aguero ledak 3 gol benam The Blues si setan biru
Manchester City striker Aguero takes a tumble under a strong challenging from Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas
- Sergio Aguero hits hat-trick against 10-man Blues to send City third as Kevin De Bruyne shines again
- Sergio Aguero opened the scoring for Manchester City in the 33rd minute applying a superb finish to a swift counter
- Aguero doubled the advantage with another brilliant City goal on the break after great work by Kevin De Bruyne
- The Argentinian striker sealed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Thibaut Courtois had been sent off
Kevin De Bruyne, who has been in brilliant form since returning from injury, escapes the challenge of John Mikel Obi
BPL Results : Rashford's goal gives Man United victory | Rafa Benitez wins first game @NewCastle
The England international leaps in the air to celebrate his third goal since signing for Newcastle in January
Newcastle supporters at St James' Park go wildly after boosting their hopes of playing Premier League football next season
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