Category: RSS English

Northern Ireland booked their place at Women’s Euro 2022 on Tuesday night by securing a 2-0 win over Ukraine.

Going into the game, Kenny Shiels’ side only required a draw on the night after they won 2-1 in the first leg thanks to goals from Rachel Furness and Simone Magill.

They nearly took the lead inside six minutes when goalkeeper Kateryna Samson flapped at a corner, but Laura Rafferty narrowly poked wide. Magill then forced Samson into a fairly routine save just before the half hour mark. Ukraine struggled to carve out many chances with the scores level at 0-0 going into the break.

Early in the second half, Northern Ireland would find the breakthrough with Cliftonville’s Marissa Callaghan showing tenacity and composure to finish from a tight angle. Ukraine again offered little in response, with Chloe McCarron nearly setting Magill up for a second goal before full time.

In the closing minutes of stoppage time, Nadene Caldwell added some gloss to the scoreline, rounding the goalkeeper to make it 2-0 on the night. Before the game, Shiels claimed that his team of largely amateurs reaching Euro 2022 would be one of the sport’s all-time great underdog stories.

He was similarly emotional after the victory, saying: “I look at my staff, grown men, over there crying. I am nearly in bits myself. It is down to the girls at the end of the day. When I came in in 2019 the girls were traumatic, in bits, in pieces, and I was a new face.

“But they were self-driven and took it on. You have to take it in context, you look at Rory McIlroy and Steven Davis for what they have done for Northern Ireland. This here, far and away, is the best ever sporting achievement for Northern Ireland. For the UK, actually.”

From the AMEX – Brighton moved another point clear of the relegation zone as they played out a disappointing draw with injury-hit Everton on Monday night.

In a tale as old as time, the Seagulls dominated possession and had the better chances, with Lewis Dunk forcing a good save from Robin Olsen in the second half.

Olsen was the busier of the two keepers, making three saves to Robert Sanchez’s one, but the contest ultimately lacked quality with Everton in particular missing striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin who was ruled out through injury.

Here’s the player ratings from the goalless draw on the south coast.

Robert Sanchez (GK) – 6/10 – Very nearly gifted Richarlison an opening with a heavy touch but just about recovered. Wasn’t worked in the first half but pulled out a regulation stop to deny James Rodriguez.

Ben White (CB) – 6/10 – Galloped forward well on occasion. Another steady performance.

Lewis Dunk (CB) – 6/10 – Always comfortable bringing the ball forward and distributed well. Clattered into Richarlison for a yellow card. Tested Olsen with an opportunistic header.

Joel Veltman (CB) – 6/10 – Cut out a few Everton counters. Has grown in stature as the season has worn on and Monday night was another composed display from the former Ajax man.

Pascal Gross (RWB) – 6/10 – Definitely not your conventional right wing back. The position certainly doesn’t get the best out of Gross and he was quiet throughout.

Adam Lallana (CM) – 5/10 – Could have set Welbeck up but didn’t put enough weight on the pass and the chance went begging. Guilty on a number of occasions of choosing the wrong option.

Yves Bissouma (CM) – 7/10 – An acrobatic overhead kick landed just on top of the goal. Always busy with the ball at his feet, topping the dribble standings alongside Trossard with three, and also made five tackles.

Jakub Moder (LWB) – 6/10 – Caught a volley sweetly early on that went wide after some intricate play. Nearly set up Welbeck but his cross was cleared.

Leandro Trossard (AM) – 6/10 – Buzzed around and looked lively in and around the box. Like Lallana, guilty of overthinking on the counter.

Neal Maupay (ST) – 5/10 – Had a good opening blocked by Mina as the game started to open up. Some lovely moments of link-up in the first half but also set up an Everton counter with a loose ball into the middle of the pitch and turned like a truck when presented with shooting chances later on.

Danny Welbeck (ST) – 5/10 – Pretty anonymous in the opening period. Saw a bit more action in the second period and got some shots away but none particularly troubled Olsen.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh – N/A

Dan Burn – N/A

Robin Olson (GK) – 6/10 – Like Sanchez, didn’t have a shot to save in the first 45 minutes. Did excellently to tip Dunk’s flicked header over the bar.

Ben Godfrey (CB) – 7/10 – Probably Everton’s standout defender. Made one superb block and was assertive all night long in the tackle.

Yerry Mina (CB) – 6/10 – An important block denied Maupay from close range. Pretty solid all in all before an injury ended his outing before the hour mark.

Michael Keane (CB) – 6/10 – Marshalled his defence well, especially once Mina was withdrawn. Booked for a reducer on Lallana.

Seamus Coleman (RWB) – 6/10 – The Everton captain was extremely vocal throughout and got forward well down the right. Great block to deny Lallana. Was guilty of losing possession too easily at times, mind.

Mason Holgate (CM) – 7/10 – Moved into midfield, where he has played before though it’s obviously not his natural position. Some of his passing was brilliant, including one raking crossfield pass to pick out Coleman. Important header to deny Welbeck, too.

Gylfi Sigurdsson (CM) – 5/10 – Neat and tidy in possession but delivered no cutting edge when Everton got forward.

Tom Davies (CM) – 5/10 – Messed up the first big opening of the game, heading wide when unmarked from Coleman’s delivery. Sent one shot blazing over before he was substituted.

Lucas Digne (LWB) – 6/10 – A pretty reserved outing from the Frenchman. On course to beat his best assist tally in England with two needed to beat his haul of seven in 2019/20, but he had little opportunity to create anything here.

James Rodriguez (SS) – 5/10 – Sent a free kick sailing over Sanchez’s goal early on. His quality might have been the difference between the sides on another day but it wasn’t to be.

Richarlison (ST) – 5/10 – Led the line in Calvert-Lewin’s absence. Had just 15 touches in the first half – only goalkeeper Olsen and Welbeck (both 14) registered fewer. Similarly quiet in the second.

Alex Iwobi – 5/10 – Great chance to win it late on but sent his effort well wide.

Nathan Broadhead – N/A

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Kieran Tierney will likely miss the rest of the season with injury.

Tierney was forced off partway through the Gunners’ 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at the beginning of April. Earlier this week the club revealed that the Scot has suffered a knee injury which would rule him out for between four and six weeks.

However, Arteta provided new information on Sunday following Arsenal’s comfortable victory at Sheffield United, suggesting that Tierney’s will not be involved again before the end of the current campaign. “Kieran is out, probably for the season,” he said (via Goal).

The news is a significant blow for the Gunners as they enter the home stretch of the Premier League season. It leaves them short at left-back, with Granit Xhaka forced to fill in during their meeting with the Blades. Scotland will also be concerned by the news of Tierney’s injury as the defender is one of Steve Clarke’s most high-profile players.

Despite fielding a misshapen team, Arsenal still breezed to a much needed 3-0 win over their stricken hosts. Alexandre Lacazette bagged a brace at Bramall Lane – the first the result of a fine team move – while Gabriel Martinelli grabbed his first goal since returning from a serious injury.

“We had a really strong performance. The clean sheet was needed and we were very composed with the ball. Overall I’m very happy,” Arteta added.

The Spaniard was also full of praise for his side’s first goal in which Bukayo Saka and Dani Ceballos combined intricately on the edge of the box before Lacazette applied the finish.

“It was a typical Arsenal goal, really high quality. He [Laca] is playing really well at the moment,” he beamed.

Granit Xhaka’s Arsenal career has hardly been stellar since his arrival at the Emirates Stadium in 2016.

In many ways, the Switzerland international probably owes the fact he’s still at the club to the pure lack of options available to Mikel Arteta and his predecessors.

Let’s be honest, getting substituted and throwing the captain’s armband on the floor in disgust in front of your own fans is a pretty hard thing to come back from at most clubs.

Regardless of the reason why he’s still in north London, he’s been afforded more than his fair share of opportunities to work his way back into the good books of the Arsenal fans, yet so far he’s only managed to make himself an even bigger villain.

His back catalogue of calamitous errors which have led to goals is a sight to behold, with his blunder at Burnley a few weeks ago possibly the worst of the lot.

The 28-year-old was restored to Arteta’s starting XI for their clash with Slavia Prague in the Europa League on Thursday night, for what now looks like the club’s only realistic chance of securing Champions League football for next season.

While it may not have been a brilliant technical display from him – as there was obviously a whole host of fouls committed in the centre of the field – his attitude and drive on the night looked far removed from the player we’ve seen throwing his arms in the air and sulking so often in the past.

In a drab affair, the Swiss midfielder was the only player in an Arsenal shirt who showed any kind of willingness to press the visitors and try to force a mistake.

Often the Arsenal front three of Willian, Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka would be completely immobile as the Slavia backline comfortably passed the ball between themselves, yet Xhaka was the one sprinting 30 yards to hurry them and trying to force the issue.

With 15 minutes of the game to play, Arteta rolled the dice and went in search of a crucial goal to swing the balance of the tie in Arsenal’s favour.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe and Gabriel Martinelli were all introduced, and they made an instant impact as Pepe handed Arsenal the lead, but without the Xhaka there would have been no opening goal.

The midfielder picked up the ball just outside his own box and had the composure to take a touch and look up rather than hooking the ball aimlessly clear with Slavia players beginning to surround him. His perfectly-weighted ball over the top picked out Aubameyang and he in turn laid it on a plate for Pepe.

Xhaka isn’t suddenly a midfield genius by any means; there is ability in those moody boots, but so far his attitude seems to have been the biggest flaw in his game.

His performance against Slavia couldn’t have been more different to the Xhaka we’ve come to know over the past five years, and he was rewarded with a starring role in the build-up to the Arsenal opener.

While the night may have ultimately ended in disappointment for Arteta as the Gunners surrendered their lead with almost the last kick of the game, he can be pleased with the performance of his much-maligned midfielder. Xhaka continues to show the fight he did on Thursday night, he could soon work his way back into favour with the Arsenal fans.

How many times have we heard the word ‘unprecedented’ over the last 12 months?

Alright, we get it, we’re being forced to live through one of the most mental periods in the history of the world – stop reminding us how ‘unprecedented’ it all is.

That being said, no matter how bad things get, you can always rely on certain teams to churn out the same old meltdowns that they’ve become synonymous with over the years. Take Chelsea for example, they’ve enjoyed their fair share of success in recent times, but no matter how good things get we all know there’s a collapse on the horizon.

Thomas Tuchel’s arrival at Stamford Bridge had seen the Blues embark on a fine run of form – picking up ten wins and four draws in the German’s first 14 games at the helm – but Saturday’s embarrassing 5-2 defeat to Premier League strugglers West Brom left their unbeaten run in tatters.

Shortly after the humiliating defeat to Sam Allardyce’s side, Antonio Rudiger and Kepa Arrizabalaga decided it would be a good idea to have a fight at the club’s training ground, with Tuchel ultimately forced to send his compatriot home from the session.

Here we go! The meltdown is in full swing, this is what we expect to see! Well, we thought it was…

Chelsea headed to Sevilla on Wednesday evening to face Porto in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie. While Tuchel’s side have recently given themselves a good shot of achieving Champions League qualification via their league standing, the chance to dine at Europe’s top table next season could also be secured by winning this year’s competition.

With a relatively straight forward tie against Porto in the last eight, the Champions League represents a great opportunity for Chelsea to book their place in next season’s edition of the competition, so defeat in Sevilla would have been the perfect way to really kick-start the collapse.

Instead they went and produced a professional performance and pretty much cemented their place in the last four of the competition. Huh? This wasn’t meant to happen.

Tuchel’s side never really looked like being tested by their Portuguese opposition, and when Mason Mount produced a moment of brilliance to break the deadlock it suddenly started to look like a case of will Chelsea score enough to end the tonight or not?

While the Blues didn’t really create a whole host of gilt-edged opportunities, they looked solid defensively and had enough quality going forward to keep the Porto backline busy. A seemingly tepid piece of build-up play sparked into life with ten minutes to play as Olivier Giroud smashed the crossbar, before Ben Chilwell capped off a superb night’s work.

The England left-back pounced on a mistake by Porto midfielder Jesus Corona, carrying the ball past Agustin Marchesin before tapping into an empty net.

While a two-goal lead obviously doesn’t mean Chelsea can afford to take their eye off the ball going into the second leg, Porto’s performance did little to suggest Tuchel’s side have anything to worry about.

Was it scintillating? No. Have they absolutely put the tie to bed? No. Did they produce about as accomplished a performance as you could ask from a side given they recently suffered their first defeat under their new boss and needed to steady the ship? Absolutely.

The commitment and desire of Chelsea squads of the past have often been called into question, with the current squad’s attitude also questioned at times, but the Blues’ display against Porto was full of character and they can be pleased with their work.

These really are unprecedented times.

Going by the form book, Manchester City vs Borussia Dortmund had the potential to be one of the most one-sided Champions League quarter-finals in history.

Prior to kick off, City had failed to win just one of their previous 26 fixtures. Over the same period Dortmund had lost five, leaving them well adrift of the Bundesliga top four. Two key players, Jadon Sancho and Axel Witsel, were also missing for the visitors.

Despite this, BVB were holding a sizeable psychological trump card; namely, City’s Champions League quarter-final hoodoo.

On the surface Craig Shakespeare and Pep Guardiola have very little in common. Shakespeare is never found without a ball under each arm, nestled against his great British beer belly. He is also always covered head to toe in whatever free tracksuit he can get his hands on.

Guardiola, meanwhile, treats the touchline as his own personal catwalk, repping the latest designer brands and cologne. In addition, the former Barcelona boss has a team of expensively assembled backroom staff to carry his balls for him, an idea that (probably) makes Shakespeare feel physically sick.

Perhaps the only similarity between the two coaches is that the furthest they have ever taken an English team in the Champions League is the quarter-finals. Shakespeare’s Leicester City bowed out to Atletico Madrid back in 2017, while Guardiola’s Cityzens have a list of four vanquishers. These range from the illustrious, in the case of Liverpool, to the ridiculous, in the cases of Monaco, FC Porto. and Lyon (with all due respect to them all).

On Tuesday night when Dortmund came to town, this troubling history seemed to be playing on Guardiola’s players’ minds. Against an impressive but Shakespeare-less Leicester on Saturday they were effortlessly dominant, functioning as smoothly as any Premier League team of the past decade.

This was not the case against the Bundesliga side. For all of the problems Phil Foden caused the Dortmund defence, for all of the surging Kevin De Bruyne runs and for all of Riyad Mahrez’s creativity, this was still a nervy evening with the all-conquering City guilty of several careless errors. The most notable of these was Ederson’s horrific attempt to deal with a long ball just after the half-hour mark.

Sprinting out from goal, the Brazilian carelessly took a touch and had the ball nipped off his toes by the impressive Jude Bellingham. Ederson blushes were only saved by a trigger happy referee who wrongly blew up for a foul before the ball crossed the line. This ruled out the possibility for VAR to correct the decision.

Ruben Dias – a genuine contender for several end of the season awards – also seemed rattled by the ‘curse’, or perhaps it was just the presence of Erling Haaland. Dias made a few uncharacteristic errors in the second half, while Kyle Walker’s wastefulness in possession might be blamed on this mental pressure as well.

Physiological factors may also explain the buildup to Dortmund’s potentially crucial away goal. In the preceding period City were all over their opponents, but as has often been the story when they have met lesser opposition in the quarter-finals, that killer instinct was missing.

As a result, Dortmund could knock them out with a 1-0 win next Wednesday, and while that may seem unlikely given their leaky defence you would not necessarily bet against them outscoring Guardiola’s charges on the night.

If things do go awry (again), it will be impossible for City not to cast their minds back to this evening where a more relaxed performance, free from the baggage of their disappointing past, might have put them in a far stronger position.

West Ham knew the task that lay in front of them when they travelled to the West Midlands on Monday evening.

Win and you’re in the driving seat for the top four.

That wasn’t meant to be an easy task against Wolves, but apparently no-one told that to Jesse Lingard.

We’re fast running out of superlatives to describe the form he has shown since joining the Irons on loan in January, but in 45 explosive minutes at Molineux, he took things up yet another level.

His goal was one thing. After some great build-up play between Pablo Fornals and Vladimir Coufal, he took it to Wolves by himself, dissecting the home midfield with a slaloming run before passing beyond Rui Patricio into the bottom corner.

It was his sixth goal in eight league games for West Ham, and it’s a wonder what confidence does to a player. Before Wolves were able to catch their breath, he had already engineered a second goal out of nothing.

Catching the ball at the corner flag, he turned Nelson Semedo inside-out with a wonderful turn, and sent the ball into the path of Arthur Masuaku, who picked out Fornals to double the lead.

By this point, Wolves were visibly terrified of going near him, and that was evident in the Irons’ third. There were five home defenders facing Lingard as he charged into their half, but no-one dared to put a foot in, and he calmly played in Jarrod Bowen to put the game seemingly out of sight.

The home side had a go at getting back into it, and Leander Dendoncker and Fabio Silva set up a nervy finish. But the damage had been done by an explosive first 45, and West Ham edged into the top four.

Lingard’s numbers since joining on loan from Manchester United are ridiculous. He’s now scored six and assisted four in just 11 appearances, and looks completely transformed. If he keeps that up, he’ll be heading to Euro 2020 with England in a couple of months time.

More pertinently from a West Ham perspective, though, there is every chance he will be heading to Europe with them soon after.

If he can keep creating goals out of nothing in their final eight matches, then the Champions League is very much in sight – and with that would surely come a substantial offer to sign him permanently.

It’s Leicester City up next on Sunday, and that’s a game that will tell us a lot about West Ham’s credentials. Watching Lingard this evening, though, you wouldn’t want to be Jonny Evans, Wesley Fofana, or whichever poor soul is tasked with marking him.

As this is a football website, you may be wondering why on Earth we are reporting on Jon Rahm.

Rahm is one of the best golfers in the world, winning a host of major events since turning professional in 2016 and prior to that he was the top ranked golf amatuer for a record 60 weeks in a row.

So, what has he done to earn his very own article on 90min?

As well as being a world renowned golfer, Rahm is also a diehard Athletic Club fan, frequently posting about his beloved side on his social media. Recently, Bilbao favourite Aritz Aduriz gave him a signed shirt – but that is not what this article is about.

Instead, Rahm has caught our eye by christening his newborn with an absolutely stupendous, football inspired name. He announced the news of the birth of his son on Instagram, saying: “Kepa Cahill Rahm, was born 4/3/21 at 12:15am. Momma Kelley is doing great and recovering. Kepa is also in great health. He is 7.2 lb and 20.5inch, big boy from the Basque Country. Without a doubt the greatest day of my life!”

First and foremost, well done Jon for correctly recognising that having a child should be the best moment of your life. Gary Neville, who once said that winning a Premier League title was a better feeling than his children being born, could learn a thing or two from you.

Second, thank you for blessing us by gifting your son two strong footballing names. To be fair, no wonder an Athletic fan would want to thank Kepa Arrizabalaga by naming their child after him. Getting over £70m for a goalkeeper with hands as buttery as his is definitely cause for celebration.

Will Kepa take after his namesake Gary or Tim (Cahill) we wonder? Either way he is bound to be good in the air.

The international break is over and club football is back!

The Premier League returns this weekend and one of the standout fixtures sees third place Leicester host runaway leaders Manchester City.

After a rocky few weeks threatened to derail the Foxes’ bid to secure Champions League football, Brendan Rodgers’ side picked up two impressive league wins prior to the international break as well as booking their place in the semi-final of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win over Manchester United.

Meanwhile, the City juggernaut continues to steamroll its way through any opposition who dare come before them. Any hopes that their defeat to city rivals United might see the wheels falls off a little were soon banished as Pep Guardiola’s side won all of their next four outings, conceding just two goals in the process.

Here’s 90min’s preview of what promises to be a mouth-watering encounter…

When is the match? Saturday 3 April
What time is kick off? 17:30 GMT
Where is it being played? King Power Stadium
TV Channel: Sky Sports Main Event (UK), fuboTV (US)
Referee: Paul Tierney
VAR: Timothy Wood

Rodgers will have been keeping a keen eye on the members of his squad involved in international duty over the past couple of weeks, with Dennis Praet potentially putting himself in contention for a start with a fine display for Belgium against Belarus.

The Foxes will be without James Justin and Harvey Barnes for the visit of the champions elect, while James Maddison, Ricardo Pereira, Cengiz Under and Wes Morgan are all expected to undergo late fitness tests.

Despite the recent announcement that Sergio Aguero would be leaving the club at the end of the season, it’s tough to see Guardiola affording the frontman a farewell tour over the next few months given his lack of regular football this season.

The Catalan tactician has a fully-fit squad at his disposal for the trip the the King Power Stadium on Saturday, and he too will likely make one or two decisions based on how much international football his players were involved in recently.

Leicester: Schmeichel; Evans, Soyuncu, Fofana; Albrighton, Ndidi, Tielemans, Praet, Castagne; Iheanacho, Vardy.

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling.

Leicester

Leicester 3-1 Manchester United – 21/03/2021
Leicester 5-0 Sheffield United – 14/03/2021
Brighton 1-2 Leicester – 06/03/2021
Burnley 1-1 Leicester – 03/03/2021
Leicester 1-3 Arsenal – 28/02/2021

Manchester City

Everton 0-2 Manchester City – 20/03/2021
Manchester City 2-0 Borussia Monchengladbach – 16/03/2021
Fulham 0-3 Manchester City – 13/03/201
Manchester City 5-2 Southampton – 10/03/2021
Manchester City 0-2 Manchester United – 07/03/2021

When these two sides met earlier in the season Guardiola’s side were absolutely blown away by the Foxes, with a Jamie Vardy hat-trick helping Leicester secure a convincing 5-2 with at the Etihad Stadium.

However, the City of the opening few months of the season were a far different proposition to the side we’ve been treated to over the past few months. Guardiola’s men have one hand on the Premier League trophy, though their defeat to United in early March proves they’re not invincible.

Both these teams love to attack, and with the Foxes frontline looking razor sharp of late, we should be in for an absolute cracker.

Prediction: Leicester 2-2 Manchester City

There’s been a lot of talk lately surrounding England’s wealth of options at right-back.

While Kyle Walker, Reece James and Kieran Trippier were named in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the March internationals, the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be expecting to be in the picture when the Three Lions boss names his squad for the European Championship this summer.

Meanwhile, with Matty Cash, Tariq Lamptey, Max Aarons and James Justin all viable options for Southgate moving forward, it’s fair to say he’s in for his fair share of selection headaches.

However, with so much talk about who will be given the nod at right-back, there’s been little mention of England’s left-back dilemma.

Ben Chilwell was afforded a start in England’s first 2022 World Cup qualifier against San Marino, and while people will be quick to point out the strength of the opposition (or lack of) as England easily dispatched of international football’s whipping boys, there was a clear emphasis on England attacking from the left-hand side – something the Chelsea man facilitated brilliantly.

Manchester United’s Luke Shaw was given his chance against Albania, and he too produced an impressive display as England made it two wins from two.

Southgate opted to shuffle his pack yet again at home to Poland on Wednesday night, with Chilwell restored to the starting XI, and he again did his bid to be his county’s first-choice right-back no harm at all.

The Three Lions again looked to attack predominantly from the left, with Chilwell using his pace and energy to stretch the Poland backline and open up the game.

The visitors simply couldn’t cope with the Chelsea man’s runs and were it not for a wayward Phil Foden header Chilwell would have notched himself an assist in the opening eight minutes of the game.

Of course, as England come up against stiffer opposition in their bid to be crowned European champions this summer, Chilwell will be required to do so much more than just be able to provide an attacking outlet on the left-hand side and surge forward all game.

Despite his lofty £50m move to Chelsea in the summer, the former Leicester man has been accused of being shaky defensively at times throughout his career. However, his display against Poland did little to suggest Southgate had any worries with the defensive side of the Chelsea man’s game.

The next time Southgate comes to pick a Three Lions squad, he’ll be selecting the players looking to end England’s years of major tournament hurt at Euro 2020. Both Chilwell and Shaw will undoubtedly be named in said squad, but as for who gets the nod in the starting XI – it really is anyone’s guess.

Shaw is enjoying his finest season since joining United in 2014, and while Chilwell may have struggled to adapt to life at Chelsea since his move to Stamford Bridge last summer, he’s shown the character and the quality to be able to firmly cement his place in Thomas Tuchel’s plans going forward.

One thing’s for sure though, Southgate has a huge selection headache ahead of him, and it’s not just the right-back spot he needs to be thinking about.