UEL : ARSENAL CHELSEA ke suku akhir | Sevilla Inter tumbang

Luka Jović (Eintracht Frankfurt)

France issues vs. Colombia give Didier Deschamps a major problem

Jaringan France - Oliver Giroud'11 Thomas Lemar'26

Jaringan Colombia - Luis Muriel'28, Radamel Falcao'62 Juan Fernando Quitero'85

PARIS, France -- Manager Didier Deschamps was absolutely livid after his France side let a two-goal lead slip to fall to a 3-2 defeat against Colombia on Friday evening at the Stade de France.

Sources told ESPN FC that he laid into his players in the dressing room, labelling their second half performance "unacceptable" and slammed their attitude, lack of effort and lack of concentration. He made sure to add that if they play like this at the World Cup in the summer they won't go far!

Deschamps rarely loses it. It is only the third time since he took over in 2012 that he has a real go at his players. The first time was away in Albania in June 2015 (a 1-0 defeat) and the second was at half-time against Ireland in the round of 16 at Euro 2016 when his team were 1-0 down at half-time before Antoine Griezmann scored twice to give them a 2-1 win.

The former Juventus manager has not lost much in the last six years with France (just 15 times in 72 matches) but Friday's loss is surely the worst.

Going 2-0 up inside 26 minutes, the first half was everything good you can expect from this France team, even though Luis Muriel quickly got a goal back to make it 2-1. Paul Pogba, left on the bench by Didier Deschamps, was not missed and instead the front four of Kylian Mbappe, Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Thomas Lemar played well together. Lemar and Mbappe, especially, were dazzling; Blaise Matuidi and N'Golo Kante bossed the midfield. It all looked great.

The second half, however, was the total opposite. France lost all control and stopped playing as a team. They could not put three passes together and neglected their defensive duties; they took their eyes off the ball; they never managed to respond to Colombia's tactical change at half-time to a 4-2-3-1 formation and were overrun in midfield as the South Americans found spaces between the lines.

With the Stade de France sounding like the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Melendez in Barranquilla, the French started making mistakes under pressure: Kante lost the ball leading straight to Colombia's second goal; Muriel almost scored again after nicking the ball off Raphael Varane before Samuel Umtiti gave a way a silly penalty for what led to the winner.

The players are to blame for the arrogance, complacency, a lack of effort and team spirit that contributed to the defeat, but what about Deschamps? His apathy also cost France the game.

He didn't change anything tactically despite his team's struggles and should have reacted to Colombia's switch of tactics. Instead, he stood watching like he had no answers or plan B. His 4-4-2 formation worked for 35 minutes, but then it showed its limits. There is a reason why no other major nation plays a 4-4-2. However, Deschamps insists that it is his best option.

ni apahal main laga2 kepala nih? 😆😆

Some of his substitutions, all planned before the game, didn't make much sense (Florian Thauvin, Wissam Ben Yedder, Pogba) in that context because the problem was as much the tactics as the personnel.

The defeat also showed a major lack of leadership in his team. There was no one capable of rallying his teammates to turn things around and come out fighting. There was no one aggressive enough to cope with the Colombians' hunger and determination.

Corentin Tolisso may have done so but the Bayern Munich midfielder was out injured; Laurent Koscielny as well but he was left on the bench while Varane and Umtiti were bullied in the second half.

Ospina menumbuk bola jauh dari diterpa oleh Oliver Giroud

Suddenly, Tuesday's game in St Petersburg against Russia becomes massively important. France have to bounce back and Deschamps has to get things right. The coach cannot afford a second defeat in a row, especially against a very average team.

He had planned to rotate his team but now the pressure is on. Does he give the players who failed against Colombia another chance or does he send a strong message to the squad by sending out a brand new team? It is a tough choice and when asked on Friday after the game, he had no answers, saying he would watch the Colombia match again on Saturday and then make a decision.

CHELSEA AND LEICESTER CITY SAFELY THROUGH IN EMIRATES FA CUP AFTER FRIDAY NIGHT TIES

Chelsea marched into the Emirates FA Cup sixth round as Willian scored twice during a comfortable 4-0 win against Championship side Hull City. 

Frenchman Olivier Giroud, signed from Arsenal on deadline day, scored his first Chelsea goal and assisted both Willian strikes.

Pedro rounded off the scoring as Chelsea scored four in the first half.

The Blues went ahead after only two minutes as Willian scored a curling effort from outside of the penalty area. 

And it was 2-0 on 27 minutes as Pedro raced onto a through ball from fellow Spaniard Cesc Fabregas.   

Willian then linked well with Giroud just past the half hour mark to score his second of the game, while the Frenchman scored his first Chelsea goal following debutant Emerson Palmieri's cross. 

Hull improved considerably after the break and David Meyler had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Willy Caballero, while Willian hit the post late on for a rampant Chelsea.

Meanwhile, England international and Sheffield-born Jamie Vardy proved the match winner as Leicester City booked their place in the next round of the Emirates FA Cup after beating Sheffield United 1-0. 

But it was the returning Riyad Mahrez that proved the creative spark for the Foxes. 

Mahrez provided the cross for Vardy to head home the all-important winning goal just after the hour mark.

Sheffield United created clear cut opportunities of their own, with Enda Stevens and George Baldock going close for Chris Wilder’s men. 

But the Blades were unable to find an equaliser late on, while Vardy had a late effort ruled out for Leicester for offside. 

Oliver Giroud vs Watford (Chelsea Debut) - EPL 05/02/2018

Mkhitaryan endures miserable debut as Arsenal slump at Swansea

Welcome to Arsenal, Henrikh Mkhitaryan. You would feel sorry for the new arrival if this was -- in any way -- a surprise, but The Armenian international surely knew what he was joining: A side, whose 3-1 defeat to the team at the bottom of the Premier League, could not be described as a shock.

Sam Clucas scored twice and Jordan Ayew added the other when taking advantage of a comical error by Petr Cech. As the hosts roared to victory, it seemed long ago that Nacho Monreal gave the away side a lead in the first half. From there it was textbook Arsenal, with plenty of pleasant football but nothing to show for it.

It has been like this for so long that such a result won't change anything. Or, at least, while Arsene Wenger is still in charge. The Liberty Stadium bounced at the end as their team celebrated a win that followed victory in their last league games vs. Liverpool, while the Arsenal fans slunk home as they have done many times before.

Against Swansea, the Frenchman came on for what is set to be his last Gunners' appearance
There was a slight surprise on the Arsenal teamsheet, not so much on the pitch but the bench, where new signing Mkhitaryan sat beside Olivier Giroud, despite the French striker's apparently impending move to Chelsea.

In the wake of his side's disappointing display in South Wales, Wenger paid tribute to his departing forward.

It's a tribute to Olivier (that he played) because he is a guy who gave great service to the club, he never let us down on the commitment front and saved us many times,' Wenger said.

'I took him from Montpellier and made him a strong international player for France. We have come together through good and bad but always his behaviour was top, top class.' 

Tahniah Olivier GIROUD - FIFA PUSKAS AWARD 2017

Arsenal striker receives accolade for best goal scored in 2017 for his scorpion kick against Crystal Palace

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud said he was "delighted" to receive the Puskas award at the Best FIFA Football Awards on Monday.

The Frenchman was voted the winner of the accolade, awarded for the best goal of 2017, for his extraordinary scorpion kick against Crystal Palace in January.

Giroud's strike beat competition from Venezuela Under-17 women's striker Deyna Castellanos and South African goalkeeper Oscarine Masuluke.

"I'm delighted to receive this trophy today in front of legends of football,” said Giroud. “Now l'd just like to thank the people who voted for me. I would like to congratulate the 10 nominees who scored amazing goals too."

The award was decided by a jury of club and international coaches, media representatives and fans.

UEL : Giroud berjaya tunai janji (1-0)

BELGRADE – Pengendali Arsenal, Arsene Wenger gembira penyerang sensasinya, Olivier Giroud menunaikan janji untuk meledak gol kemenangan dalam aksi Liga Europa menentang Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda) dengan keputusan 1-0 semalam.

Sebagai rekod, penyerang antarabangsa Perancis itu menjaringkan gol tunggal The Gunners selepas menyudahkan hantaran Theo Walcott hasil gerakan cantik yang dimulakan oleh Jack Wilshere pada minit ke-85.

Menurut Wenger, pemain berusia 31 tahun itu memiliki mentaliti juara yang diperlukan oleh pasukannya selepas mencatat keputusan hambar apabila tewas 1-2 di tangan Watford dalam aksi Liga Perdana England (EPL) sebelum ini.

“Pada masa rehat, dia telah memberitahu kepada saya bahawa dia akan menjaringkan gol kemenangan dan sikap positifnya itu membuatkan dirinya sukar untuk diganti oleh penyerang lain.

“Dia berjaya menunaikan janji dan bukan itu sahaja, dia telah meledak gol yang luar biasa dengan menyudahkan hasil gerakan cantik Walcott dan Wilshere.

Olivier Giroud has been directly involved in eight goals in his past eight European starts for Arsenal

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger once again gave youngsters such as Reiss Nelson a chance to impress

“Apa yang pasti, saya akui ini adalah perlawanan yang cukup sukar dan Red Star berjaya memberi cabaran buat kami. Namun, saya gembira apabila penjaga gol kami, Petr Cech berjaya menyelamatkan beberapa percubaan bahaya pasukan lawan.

“Barisan pertahanan kami juga mantap dan saya harap mereka dapat kekal konsisten dalam aksi EPL menentang Everton (esok),” kata pengendali kelahiran Perancis itu. – AGENSI

Man of the match - Jack Wilshere

Wilshere punched a hole in the home side's defence with a moment of quality that will only enhance his chances of a first Premier League start of the season

UEL : ARSENAL menang lagi (2nd team)

• Arsenal continued their perfect start to life in the Europa League with an eventful win over BATE Borisov
• Theo Walcott scored twice in the first 22 minutes to put the Gunners in command in the Group H showdown
• Defender Rob Holding netted his first goal for the club to extend the visitors' lead before BATE responded
• Three minutes after going 3-0 down, the home side gave themselves a lifeline thanks to a Mirko Ivanic goal
• Shortly after the break, however, Olivier Giroud restored the three-goal lead with his 100th Arsenal goal

Abe Giroud hero of the day | Permulaan baik buat The Gunners

Giroud the hero for new-look Arsenal

Arsenal's Olivier Giroud said Arsenal "kept the faith" after delivering a late winner in Saturday's wild 4-3 win over Leicester to open the Premier League season.

The Gunners twice fell behind before Arsene Wenger put on Giroud and Aaron Ramey in what turned out to be an inspired double change as both substitutes scored to provide the victory

Giroud got the winner with an 85th-minute header, and he told Sky Sports afterward that Arsenal never doubted they could come back.

"Obviously I knew that I was going to have a chance so we tried to push," he said. "We kept the faith and kept believing in our game to push hard.

"We've been courageous to the end and thank God we won the game."

Wenger said he was happy Giroud decided to stay at the Emirates after having the opportunity to move on this summer following the signing of Alexandre Lacazette.

Alexandre Lacazette's goal - after 94 seconds - is the joint quickest opening goal to a Premier League season

"I love the man and the player. He's a fantastic guy and he's committed," the manager said. "He doesn't want to leave and I'm happy he wants to stay.

"At one stage I opened the door for him as I knew I had many strikers, and in the end he decided to stay.

Wenger acknowledged it would be difficult to give playing time to all of his attackers, but was happy with all the contributions on Friday night.

There was controversy in the build-up to Arsenal's equalising goal for 3-3 with a handball before Aaron Ramsey's strike

"Going forward and character wise we have been great. We had some avoidable goals which we conceded and overall we have to work on that," he said.

"It's impossible to keep them happy when strikers don't play. We have many games and hopefully I can give games to all the strikers. They all deserve to play."

Petr Cech has seen better days after conceding three goals, and he said Leicester did well to pounce on Arsenal's errors.

"We started really well and I thought we could stay in control. Then we made mistakes and they punished us," he said. "They had chances and then we had to chase.

"There were difficult moments when we were down and we managed to get out of that and it's great to see."

Gol menarik Giroud bantu kemenangan 2-0 ke atas Crystal

1. Arsenal cruise to win, move back up to third place

A comfortable victory for Arsenal means they're back up to third place behind Chelsea and Liverpool at the Premier League's midpoint. This was a quietly impressive display from the Gunners lit up by a moment of magic from Olivier Giroud to open the scoring.

On paper, this looked like a peculiar Arsenal side. Without Mesut Ozil, who is ill and also likely to miss the team's midweek trip to Bournemouth, there was an unusual lack of creativity in the side. Alex Iwobi was handed Ozil's No. 10 role while Alexis Sanchez and Lucas Perez played on the flanks, with Giroud retained up front after his winner against West Brom on Boxing Day.

EPL : MU 1 ARSENAL 1

“We were not sharp enough and not fluent enough, but in the end we scored a great goal.”- Wenger

It wasn't the win he would've wanted - but the boss certainly enjoyed @_OlivierGiroud_'s last-minute equaliser

• Mourinho: We are the unlucky ones
• Wenger: We lacked sharpness today

The Gunners had Olivier Giroud to thank for rescuing a 1-1 draw against Man United after what was probably their worst performance of the season. The France international's thumping late header was brilliantly timed and the fact that it was Arsenal's only attempt on target for whole game tells you a significant part of the story.

Once more at Old Trafford, the Gunners failed to perform and when Juan Mata put United ahead midway through the second half, it was tough to see how Arsenal would get anything...