West Ham ended Manchester City’s reign as EFL Cup holders by knocking them out on penalties in the tournament’s last 16. The Citizens had won four titles back-to-back. The two teams’ attempts to break the deadlock in regular time proved to be fruitless – but not for the lack of trying. Youngster Cole Palmer – who led City in attack – had his shot saved by West Ham’s Alphonse Areola, the Frenchman stopping a close-range shot with his feet. The PSG loanee also made two good saves from Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones in the second half, forcing the game to be decided through penalties. In the shootout, Phil…
Author: 1X Team
The Blaugrana confirmed that Ronald Koeman will no longer take charge of the first team following their 1-0 defeat against Rayo Vallecano in La Liga. The loss against the Madrid-based side was their second in quick succession and fourth since the start of the season. The club confirmed the Dutchman’s departure through an official release, thanking him for his services and confirming that he will bid farewell to the squad on Thursday, October 28. The writing had been on the wall for Koeman, who lost fan support slowly across his spell. The Dutchman’s reluctance to abide by Barcelona’s principles -…
South African skipper Temba Bavuma has expressed that the team were surprised with Quinton de Kock’s recent stance on the Black Lives Matter issue. Despite winning the game against West Indies convincingly, the Proteas had plenty of other news clouding over their performance. De Kock was kept away from the playing XI after he decided to not take a knee during South Africa’s opening game against Australia, or show any gesture towards supporting the movement. He was spotted with his hands over hips, almost appearing ignorant in the eyes of the watching world, which did not go down well with the…
Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid has formally applied for the role of head coach of the Indian senior men’s team. Having remained in coaching duties as mentor of a couple of IPL teams and head coach of the youth setup, the legendary cricketer is all set to take over the role once Ravi Shastri steps down after the T20I World Cup 2021. PTI has also reported that Paras Mhambrey and Abhay Sharma have applied for the role of bowling coach and fielding coach, respectively. Both candidates are considered favorites to take over if Dravid gets the big job, as they have been working with…
While the Dutchman is enduring a difficult spell at Barcelona, the club is hoping to bring one of Jurgen Klopp or Thomas Tuchel to replace him at the end of the season. Barcelona’s latest loss leaves them ninth in the table and Ronald Koeman fighting for his job. He oversaw a 2-1 defeat on the weekend against fierce rivals Real Madrid and was confronted by angry fans outside the stadium subsequently. Reports emerged following the loss that the head coach will be given three more games to save his job, starting with the midweek fixture against Rayo Vallecano. Fresh rumors have now emerged…
It is that time of the year when speculations and anticipations hover over reality in the world of football. With the award being cancelled in 2020 due to the interruption by COVID-19, the Ballon d’Or is back with a bang, and there is more than one deserving winner. Some leaks on social media suggest that Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, the man who was touted as the “Undisputed winner” when the award was cancelled last time, has grabbed the prize on the back of a sensational Bundesliga season. A couple of months before the passing of German legend Gerd Muller, Lewandowski…
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba took on social media to address the many rumours floating around, which suggested he had snubbed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after the humiliating 5-0 defeat to Liverpool at the Old Trafford. The Sun had reported that the Frenchman had shelved contract talks until the current manager was taken out of position. He tweeted a screenshot of the article by the tabloid, saying it was fake news and then put up an Instagram story where he accused the journalists of using his names for the sake of clicks. “Tabloid press once again wants to create polemic with…
Chelsea needed penalties for the second successive round to beat their opponents in the EFL Cup. Elsewhere, Arsenal scored twice to dump Leeds United out of the competition, inflicting further misery on Marcelo Bielsa’s men. Late injury troubles meant that Chelsea were without Lukaku, Werner, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Kante, and Loftus-Cheek for the game against the Saints. Saul Niguez – who has had a rough start to life in London – came into midfield to partner Mateo Kovacic and nearly scored his first Blues goal from a corner in the early stages, only to be denied by a superb acrobatic save from Fraser Forster. Forster, however, couldn’t do much about Kai Havertz’s…
Olivier Giroud scored the only goal of the game as the Rossoneri leapfrogged Napoli at the top of the Serie A table. Milan’s win over Torino was their sixth successive success in the league – they remain unbeaten since the start. Injury troubles, COVID-19 outbreaks, contract disputes, and European commitments have threatened to derail AC Milan’s season. Nonetheless, the Rossoneri will spend at least half of matchday 10 on top of Serie A after beating Torino 1-0 in their latest domestic obligation. Theo Hernandez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to the squad after spending recent weeks on the sidelines, but lacking match fitness, they only made…
Desptie a 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in Saturday’s Clasico – and a shaky start to the season – Barcelona will permit head coach Ronald Koeman three more games to save his job. Barcelona’s defeat against Los Blancos was the latest low of Koeman’s tenure. The ex-Blaugrana player has endured a difficult time at the club and is seeing more and more fans turn against him with each reverse. The latest one resulted in an angry mob surrounding his car as he attempted to exit the Camp Nou complex following the game. When asked about the confrontation, the Dutchman claimed it…