Vivianne Miedema has become the WSL all-time leading scorer, after bagging a hat-trick in Arsenal’s crushing 6-1 win over north London rivals Tottenham.
Miedema signed for the Gunners back in 2017 and has not stopped scoring since. She started up front for her side in Sunday’s derby and helped put Spurs to the sword.
Katie McCabe got Arsenal off to the perfect start, netting inside four minutes before Miedema scored her first of the game just three minutes later. Caitlin Foord then converted in the 15th minute. Miedema added two more goals in the first half and Foord then grabbed another after the break.
The 24-year-old has now netted 52 times in 50 WSL appearances at an astounding rate of 83-minutes per goal (via BBC Sport).
Her derby day hat-trick saw her overtake Manchester City winger Nikita Parris at the top of the all-time scoring charts, the latest in a long line of career accolades. Miedema’s fine performances last season saw her awarded the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award and the previous campaign she won the PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year.
She is also the Netherlands all-time leading scorer with 69 goals in 89 appearances and has already won league titles in both Germany, for Bayern Munich, and England.
In terms of the WSL goal record, there are several competitors who could overtake her during the current campaign. Manchester City and England striker Ellen White is currently on 48 goals but has only netted once so far this season. Meanwhile, Miedema’s Arsenal teammate Jordan Nobbs has 44 to her name.
Chelsea forward Beth England is another contender. She currently sits on 42 goals but did not start in her side’s 3-1 victory over City on Sunday.
SPLIT – Tim Nasional (Timnas) Indonesia U-19 kembali menggelar pertandingan di Kroasia. Rencananya pada Selasa 20 Oktober 2020 pukul 15.45 WIB, Timnas Indonesia U-19 akan menghadapi Bosnia Herzegovina di Stadion NK Omis, Split, Kroasia.
Laga ini merupakan yang kedua tim asuhan Shin Tae-yong bertemu Bosnia, negara asal Edin Dzeko. Sebelumnya di laga perdana yang digelar pada 25 September 2020, David Maulana dan kawan-kawan kalah 0-1 dari tim asal Eropa Timur tersebut.
(Shin Tae-yong saat pimpin sesi latihan Timnas Indonesia U-19)
Tentu, pengalaman di laga perdana akan dijadikan pelajaran bagi Amiruddin Bagas Kaffa dan kawan-kawan untuk tampil lebih baik di laga nanti. Terlebih pelatih Shin Tae-yong selalu menekankan anak asuhnya untuk berkembang dari pertandingan ke pertandingan.
“Saat ini kami terus mematangkan permainan. Melawan Bosnia Herzegovina, persiapan kami tetap seperti pertandingan sebelumnya. Tentu kami ingin pemain terus meningkat dan berkembang kemampuannya,” kata Shin Tae-yong mengutip dari laman resmi PSSI, Senin (19/10/2020).
Dalam laga ini, Timnas Indonesia U-19 masih dapat diperkuat dua pemain andalnnya, Witan Sulaeman dan Elkan Baggott. Rencananya, Witan dan Elkan Baggott baru kembali ke klubnya masing-masing pada Sabtu 24 Oktober 2020.
Kehadiran Elkan Baggott yang bertinggi badan 196 sentimeter, membuat Timnas Indonesia U-19 dapat bersaing di udara dengan pemain-pemain Bosnia yang memiliki tinggi badan di atas rata-rata pesepakbola Tanah Air. Berkaca kepada pertemuan pertama, saat itu Bosnia benar-benar memanfaatkan keunggulan mereka di bola-bola udara.
“Bosnia Herzegovina tim yang bagus dan postur mereka besar. Tentu uji coba ini harus dimanfaatkan dengan baik oleh para pemain,” lanjut pelatih yang membawa Korea Selatan lolos ke Piala Dunia U-20 2017 tersebut.
(Beckham Putra, gelandang Timnas Indonesia U-19)
Optimisme juga diapungkan gelandang Persib Bandung, Beckham Putra Nugraha. Adik dari Gian Zola ini enggan Timnas Indonesia U-19 kembali kalah dari Bosnia.
“Tentu kami seperti biasa terus melakukan persiapan yang baik jelang menghadapi Bosnia Herzegovina. Kami akan berjuang keras dan tidak ingin kalah lagi dari mereka,” kata Beckham.
Persiapan matang mesti dilakukan Timnas Indonesia U-19. Sebab, pada 2021 dua turnamen besar sudah menunggu mereka, yakni Piala Asia dan Piala Dunia U-20 2021.
Arsenal v Sheffield United – Premier League | Pool/Getty Images
Tony Adams chỉ ra sai lầm của Mikel Arteta sau trận đấu với Manchester City
Trận cầu tâm điểm đêm qua giữa Manchester City và Arsenal đã diễn ra cực kỳ gay cấn với bàn thắng duy nhất của Raheem Sterling. Mặc dù rất nhiều nỗ lực, nhưng Arsenal của Mikel Arteta đã không thể nào có được bàn thắng gỡ hòa, đành ngậm ngùi nhận trận thua rời Etihad.
Ở trận đấu này, Arsenal đã ra sân với hàng hậu vệ 3 người bao gồm David Luiz, Gabriel Magalhaes và Kieran Tierney. Và hai người đá cánh là Bukayo Saka và Hector Bellerin đã không có quá nhiều cơ hội để tham gia tấn công khi Manchester City là đội kiểm soát trận đấu.
Sau trận đấu Tony Adams, huyền thoại của Arsenal chia sẻ:“Tôi nghĩ đã đến lúc chơi với hàng thủ 4 người. Tôi đã nói điều đó từ đầu mùa giải,” Adams nói với Premier League Productions.
“Hàng thủ 3 người giúp bạn thắng các trận đấu cúp, nhưng nó không giúp bạn giành chức vô địch. Nếu anh ấy muốn xây dựng cho tương lai. Tôi nghĩ anh ấy gặp vấn đề với Hector, tôi nghĩ khả năng phòng ngự của anh ấy hôm nay không tốt chút nào.
Nhưng tôi muốn anh ấy lùi về nơi hàng thủ 4 người. Bây giờ họ đã có Gabriel, hãy cho anh ấy một đối tác.”
London: Atlet lompat jauh British kembali menyimpan impian untuk beraksi di Olimpik selepas meraih ribuan pound menerusi derma daripada orang ramai.
Dan Bramble bertugas sebagai pemandu penghantaran barang selepas kehilangan dana dan menyaksikan kemudahan latihan di London ditutup akibat pandemik Covid-19.
Tetapi kini dia dapat kembali menjalani latihan secara sepenuh masa selepas memperoleh derma lebih £12,000 (RM64,200).
Hampir £9,000 (RM48,200) daripada kesemua jumlah derma itu adalah sumbangan daripada seorang individu.
Juara dalam dewan British berusia 30 tahun itu yang terlepas beraksi di kempen kelayakan Sukan Olimpik Rio 2016, mensasarkan untuk layak ke Sukan Olimpik Tokyo yang ditangguhkan pada tahun depan.
Bramble yang berasal dari Chesterfield, Derbyshire, berkata, wang yang berjaya dikumpul secara dalam talian itu membolehkannya meneruskan misinya.
“Sejujurnya saya tak tahu apa hendak diperkatakan. Terima kasih semua.
“Secara realistik, inilah peluang terakhir saya untuk beraksi di Olimpik dan mahu memberikan impak,” katanya.
Bramble berkata, pekerjaan sebagai ‘budak penghantar’ jelas sukar termasuklah bagi atlet profesional sepertinya kerana perlu melalui banyak pergerakan pada setiap hari.
“Sedar tidak sedar fizikal saya bertambah kuat,” katanya.
LONDON – Timo Werner merasa girang setelah berhasil mencetak gol perdana untuk Chelsea di Liga Inggris 2020-2021 setelah ditadangkan dari RB Leipzig pada bursa transfer musim panas 2020 silam. Tak hanya satu, pemain asal Jerman itu mencetak dua gol sekaligus, brace nama istilahnya.
Chelsea pada pekan kelima Liga Inggris musim ini menjamu Southampton pada Sabtu 17 Oktober 2020. Mereka memimpin dua gol melalui sepakan Werner pada menit 15 dan 18.
Dua menit jelang babak pertama usai The Saints—julukan Southampton—berhasil menyamakan kedudukan. Gol dicetak lewat tendangan pemain Tim Nasional Inggris, Danny Ings.
Pada babak kedua, Southampton berhasil membuat skor menjadi 2-2. Che Adams membawa gol penyeimbang pada menit 57.
Pasukan Frank Lampard yang tampil agresif kembali memperlebar jarak gol. Werner yang berpeluang mencetak gol ketiganya, tidak melakukan tembakan. Dia memberikan bola kepada rekan senegaranya Kai Harverts, yang berdiri bebas, sehingga pemain berusia 21 tahun dengan mudah mencetak gol di menit ke-59.
Namun, poin sempurna Chelsea di kandang mereka harus buyar. Southampton berhasil mencetak gol lewat proses tendangan bebas. Theo Walcott yang menjadi penendang melakukan operan matang ke dalam kotak penalti yang disempurnakan J Vestergaard melalui sundulan pada menit 90+2.
Menyikapi hasil imbang setelah unggul 2-0 membuat, Werner kecewa. Dia menilai bahwa timnya terlalu banyak memberikan kesempatan tim lawan untuk menciptakan peluang membuat gol.
“Babak pertama kami bermain sangat baik sampai gol dari Southampton. Ketika Anda mendapatkan gol dua atau tiga menit sebelum paruh waktu, itu bukan situasi yang mudah karena Anda harus memiliki pemikiran yang jelas di babak kedua karena dua gol lebih baik dari satu gol,” mengutip laman Premier League, Minggu (18/10/2020).
“Di babak kedua Southampton memberi banyak tekanan pada kami dan terus menekan kami dengan garis pertahanan tinggi,” tambahnya.
“Saya pikir kami memberi mereka terlalu banyak kesempatan untuk mencetak gol. Kami seharusnya memenangkan pertandingan,” lanjut dio.
“Saya senang dengan gol saya tetapi pada akhirnya saya ingin memenangkan pertandingan. Ini adalah hari dimana saya 50 persen bahagia dan 50 persen tidak,” pungkas Werner.
Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur – Premier League | Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may not be popular – nor a tactical genius, but fair play, the bloke is brave.
With the pressure well and truly stacked on the under-fire Norwegian boss, Solskjaer went big and selected the whackiest, most easily-criticised starting lineup in his Old Trafford tenure. Out went the blabbermouth Paul Pogba, while fan favourite Mason Greenwood was nowhere to be seen. Not even in the squad.
Anthony Martial’s suspension narrowed his choices even further, and it all looked pretty bleak. However, this perfect storm in a teacup allowed one forgotten man to make a surprise return to the Premier League fold.
Juan bloody Mata.
The Spaniard is all too regularly written off as being miles off the pace of the top-flight now, with fans cursing his shot legs, lack of speed across the ground and inability to scrap it out in the world’s most physical division.
What they forget though, is that he has been living with those deficiencies for years now, and has adapted his game to highlight his strengths. Those strengths just happen to be exactly what Man Utd need.
Not that it’s very appealing to see the former Chelsea man’s name on the teamsheet. “The guy can’t run fast, so he’s clearly not a good footballer!” – The words probably muttered by somebody, somewhere (definitely on Twitter).
Let’s be honest, he doesn’t stand a chance in the pre-match buildup when he is taking the role of an incredibly expensive Pogba, or diamond in the rough Greenwood. Supporters love seeing a player take on an opponent, skinning him alive and leaving him coughing and spluttering in the dust.
But you don’t need three of those players.
Marcus Rashford is one of the best in the business at burning in behind a defence, while Martial and Greenwood both possess very similar qualities. Too similar, in fact. Supporters would almost always prefer to see a speedy lineup of a rapid trident than the guile and invention of a slower, more unorthodox footballer.
But around the world, some of us are beginning to see it all slightly differently. The English public have finally woken up to the magic of Jack Grealish, and they crave the moments of ingenuity that he can provide at the drop of a hat for the Three Lions, ahead of Jadon Sancho or Raheem Sterling.
Mata is a tougher sell. He’s older, not English, and stands as a reminder of Man Utd’s barren years without a Premier League trophy.
Many Red Devils would certainly have hoped to have moved on from the diminutive star by now. After all, the current crop of youngsters have been bedded in to replace him, not to compete with him. Yet, here we are.
Just when he seems to be entirely out of the picture, Mata finds his way back. It makes sense, too. Newcastle are a team that play the deepest, most defensive football in the top flight, and the chances of running into acres of space behind the backline are zero.
Steve Bruce sets his side up to frustrate with a low block, meaning any pace becomes irrelevant against 11 men penned into their own penalty area. What a game like this requires is someone who thinks on a different wave to everyone else. A player who can cut teams open with a surprise pass, or whose delivery and final ball is so accurate that his teammate need only a split second to latch on and apply the finish.
What a game like this required was Jonny Mata.
The Spaniard was involved throughout, laying on an assist for Bruno Fernandes, before the offside flag robbed him of his delight. Mata was not to be denied on this night though. He dragged Man Utd level with a perfect corner which attacked Harry Maguire’s head, cancelling out Luke Shaw’s nightmare own goal.
From that moment on, he grew into the game. The 32-year-old caused Jamal Lewis so many problems on the right flank, running behind and then dropping deep, confusing the full-back with his crafty movement. The experienced showed, as he created endless pockets of space for himself in those wide areas, and then looked to move infield or cut killer balls behind the defence.
He could have got another assist with a gorgeous defence-splitter through to Rashford, but the forward’s touch let him down. Not something that happens to Mata too often, funnily enough.
Inevitably, he got his rewards in the buildup to the second – and crucial goal. He received the ball in the middle of the park, and in the blink of an eye he whipped a stunning pass around the corner to Rashford, who played in Fernandes, and he did the rest.
It was a brilliant, brilliant team move, and one that would never have been executed, had the usual suspects been doing their classic trick of speeding head down behind their marker. Man Utd got their win in the end, and a flattering 4-1 scoreline papers over the cracks somewhat.
But Solskjaer deserves credit for taking a risk in his lineup selection, and his players deserve equal merits for repaying their coach’s faith.
Run away from Mata all you want lads – but he’ll always catch you up, no matter how slow he is.
Atletico de Madrid v Villarreal CF – La Liga Santander | DeFodi Images/Getty Images
Tiền vệ người Ghana chia sẻ về việc phong tỏa thông tin để đến với Arsenal
Vào ngày cuối của kỳ chuyển nhượng mùa hè, Arsenal đã kích hoạt điều khoản giải phóng hợp đồng trị giá 50 triệu euro để chiêu mộ thành công tiền vệ Thomas Partey từ Atletico Madrid. Ngôi sao người Ghana hứa hẹn sẽ tăng cường chất thép đáng kể cho tuyến giữa Pháo thủ, đồng thời giúp quá trình luân chuyển bóng giữa các khu vực trở nên mượt mà hơn.
Tuy nhiên bên cạnh vấn đề chuyên môn, những cổ động viên đội chủ sân Emirates cũng rất quan tâm đến quyết tâm thi đấu của ngôi sao sinh năm 1993. Và trong một phát biểu gần đây, Partey đã giải đáp thắc mắc này.
Anh chia sẻ về khoảng thời gian còn chơi bóng tại quê nhà Ghana, khi đó Partey đã được Atletico Madrid mời thử việc. Tuy nhiên để đảm bảo khao khát của bản thân không gặp bất kỳ chướng ngại nào, cầu thủ 27 tuổi chỉ tiết lộ bí mật cho cha mình.
“Bố tôi biết chuyện nhưng sau đó tôi bảo ông ấy đừng nói với ai,” Partey chia sẻ trên trang chủ Arsenal. “Có một câu nói rằng khi mọi người biết về động thái của bạn, họ có thể làm phiền bạn. Điều này chủ yếu đến từ Ghana vì tôi đang chơi với bạn bè của mình và bạn không bao giờ biết ai đó đang nghĩ gì, vì vậy chúng tôi chỉ cần giữ bí mật cho đến khi mọi người nhìn thấy thông tin chính thức.”
