Man City humiliates Tottenham for 16th straight Premier League win

MANCHESTER, England — Arms wrapped around his head, Kevin De Bruyne was writhing in agony on the turf.

A stamp by Dele Alli, the Tottenham dynamo prone to hot-headed eruptions, typified the rough treatment faced by De Bruyne’s Manchester City on Saturday.

Tottenham just couldn’t cope against the exhilarating force of a team which is steamrollering opponents and the English football records.

De Bruyne’s right ankle was fortunate to escape serious damage being inflicted by the thrust of Alli’s boot. Alli was fortunate to avoid a red card, and De Bruyne was seething.

Payback came within a couple of minutes when the ball was bulging in the Tottenham net. De Bruyne lashed a shot past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to net City’s second in a 4-1 victory over last season’s runners-up.

With a record 16th successive English top-flight win, City surged 14 points clear of both Manchester United, which travels to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, and champion Chelsea.

The Premier League chasing pack is slipping further into the distance.

Mesut Ozil needs to take more risks in front of goal - Arsene Wenger

LONDON -- Arsene Wenger has urged Mesut Ozil to take more risks in front of goal following his wonder-strike that handed Arsenal a 1-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday.

Ozil scored a difficult left-foot volley in the 23rd minute -- the kind of effort that usually ends up high in the stands -- which was enough to earn three points. It was only his third goal of the season but another reminder that the playmaker, who is much more known for his assists, can be a lethal finisher as well.

Wenger described the volley as "superb," adding that it's the kind of thing he wants to see more of from Ozil.

"You know he can deliver it, and it's important for him to take the risk to do what he did," Wenger told a news conference.

"Because usually he's a guy who, 99 percent of the time in these positions he controls the ball and gives it to somebody else. So I'm happy that he took the gamble to finish. And happy as well that he scored a very important goal."

Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Jack Wilshere, Alexandre Lacazette, Hector Bellerin and Alex Iwobi all missed good chances to kill off the game, which allowed the visitors to put Arsenal under pressure for the last 10 minutes, but Newcastle's finishing also let them down.

Arsenal: Cech 6 – Bellerin 6, Koscielny 6, Monreal 5, Maitland-Niles 6.5 – Ozil 8, Xhaka 4, Wilshere 7 – Iwobi 5 (Welbeck 5), Lacazette 6 (Giroud 5), Sanchez 6 (Coquelin 5).

Newcastle United: Elliot 7 – Yedlin 6, Lascelles 6.5, Lejeune 5, Manquillo 5.5 – Murphy 7 (Gayle 5), Merino 6 (Diame 5), Hayden 5, Atsu 6 (Ritchie 5) – Joselu 7, Perez 6.

Man of the match: Ozil.

Referee: Stuart Attwell. 

Ozil will be a huge loss to Arsenal if he leaves. Goals like the one he scored on Saturday are the kind of moments that stave off outright rebellion. Arsenal may not have a chance of winning the league but if they can watch Ozil every week, it is a decent consolation.

Some curmudgeons (a bad-tempered or surly person) still damn Ozil because he does not throw himself into tackles but he remains a delight to watch, a feast of exquisite technique and clever vision, a player whose mind works at a faster speed than many of his rivals. And many of his teammates.

GW 18 - Crystal kembali menggegar | Leicester tumbang di stadium sendiri

Christian Benteke sinks Leicester to end Crystal Palace’s away drought

Christian Benteke heads home Crystal Palace’s first away in the Premier League since 23 April. Photograph: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC 

Christian Benteke blasted his way back into Roy Hodgson’s good books by scoring his first goal for seven months and creating another for Wilfried Zaha before Bakary Sako gave a suitably emphatic look to Crystal Palace’s first away win of the season. 

Palace had not even mustered a goal on their travels this season but they were worthy winners here, the south London side showing the zest and sharpness that was strangely absent from a Leicester team that came into the game in vibrant form.

Wilfried Ndidi being sent off following a piece of simulation in the second half seemed apt on a day when Leicester played like a poor imitation of their recent selves. 

Benteke, meanwhile, was far removed from the hapless figure who was lambasted by Palace fans and team-mates after defying orders and missing a late penalty against Bournemouth last Saturday.

Wilfried Zaha lashes home Palace’s second. Photograph: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

Patrice Evra: Marseille suspend defender after kicking fan during warm-up (bbc.com)

Marseille have suspended Patrice Evra after he kicked a fan in the head before his side's Europa League defeat at Vitoria Guimaraes on Thursday.

Footage showed the 36-year-old former Manchester United defender aiming an acrobatic kick at a supporter at the side of the pitch during the warm-up.

Evra will be interviewed before any disciplinary action is decided.

A Marseille statement also condemned the "unacceptable behaviour" by a "handful of provocateurs".

European football's governing body Uefa charged France international Evra with violent conduct earlier on Friday, with the full-back suspended for "at least one game".

French newspaper L'Equipe reported that Marseille supporters had been jeering Evra for about half an hour while the players prepared for the game, which the Ligue 1 side lost 1-0.

The player had gone over to the fans to talk to them - but the situation escalated.

Evra, who was named as a substitute, was dismissed before kick-off, and Marseille began the game with 11 players.

"As a professional and experienced player, Patrice Evra could not respond in such an inappropriate way," the statement added.

"In addition, the first results of the internal investigation conducted by the club reveal unacceptable behaviour on the part of a handful of provocateurs who uttered particularly serious hateful attacks against the player, even though the latter and his team-mates warmed up for an important game."

His former Manchester United and France team-mate, Mikael Silvestre, told BBC Sport Evra had "no future" at Marseille, but that the incident would not be the end of his career.

How it happened

• Named as a substitute, Evra begins warming up with his team-mates before the game
• The former Manchester United left-back appears to be the target of songs and abuse from the crowd for about 30 minutes
• Evra approaches the Marseille fans, about 500 of whom had travelled to Guimaraes
• He volleys a ball towards the crowd, but some of his team-mates come over and look to calm the defender down
• Evra climbs over the billboards and looks to confront spectators who have come towards the front of the stand
• The 36-year-old returns to the pitch, but a group of fans approach the billboards and Evra appears to kick one of them
• Evra is led away to the substitutes' bench, but is sent off by the referee and watches the game from the stands

UEL : ARSENAL sekadar seri telor sahaja

We've qualified from Group H... ...but it's not quite the result we were looking for tonight

Wenger - It was a fair result
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/wenger-it-was-fair-result#h7Sijd25SOAICGrS.99

it was fair result - wenger-

UCL Result : Chelsea terkono ngan AS Roma | X Real la kena ngan SPURS

Dele Alli double rocks Real Madrid for historic Tottenham victory

Dele Alli, right, celebrates giving Tottenham the lead against Real Madrid with Kieran Trippier, who supplied the cross for the goal. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

To put this result in perspective, it had been five years since Real Madrid last experienced what it was like to lose a Champions League group game. They had won this competition three times out of the past four seasons and, though it didn’t particularly feel that way here, don’t discount the possibility of that famous old pot returning to the Bernabéu again next May. Not yet, anyway.

However, this was the night when the most successful club side in Europe found out the hard way why Mauricio Pochettino and his players have attracted so much acclaim over the past few years. It was the night Dele Alli nutmegged Sergio Ramos and, by the end, Cristiano Ronaldo could be seen dragging his fingers down his cheeks in frustration. For Spurs, it went better than they could possibly have dared to hope and, without exaggeration, sparked the sort of euphoria that should embolden them now to think they can actually win this competition. 

Yes, let’s not get carried away, but what other conclusion is there when they have taken apart the 12-times winners? “It wasn’t that we played badly,” Zinedine Zidane, Madrid’s manager, said. “We just came up against the better team.”

Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur scores his side’s second goal via a big deflection off Sergio Ramos, left. Photograph: Michael Zemanek/BPI/Re/Shutterstock

Dele Alli and his Spurs team-mates applaud the fans after a famous victory. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian

 Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo pulls a goal back for the visitors, via Eric Dier’s left boot. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Christian Eriksen clips in Spurs’ third. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Eriksen celebrates. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian