Saturday, July 18, 2015
THE GUNNERS IN FORM
Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil all found the net in the dominant win in Singapore as the Gunners won the trophy despite Ross Barkley's superb consolation
Arsenal cruised to a comfortable 3-1 win over Everton in the final of the Asia Trophy on Saturday.Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil found the net in a commanding performance from the FA Cup holders, for whom former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech enjoyed a solid debut outing - despite being beaten late on by Ross Barkley's excellent finish.
Wenger's side looked the more accomplished from the outset and took the lead midway through the first half when Walcott and Cazorla linked for the England man to score.
Provider turned goalscorer when Cazorla coolly doubled the advantage after 58 minutes, while Ozil put the finishing touches on an excellent evening's work for Arsenal four minutes later.
Arsenal - 4-0 winners against a Singapore Select XI in the semi-finals - forged ahead in the 22nd minute when Walcott poked past Joel Robles after racing onto Cazorla's lofted pass.
Walcott's pace posed a threat again 10 minutes later when he escaped down the left, only to overhit his cross beyond the reach of Olivier Giroud.
It was the Gunners who continued to force the issue, with Aaron Ramsey dragging a shot wide from 20 yards, while Giroud drew a smart stop from Joel.
Yet Everton could still have gone in at the break level had it not been for Cech's fingertip save from Steven Naismith's header, with the ball coming off the crossbar and Arouna Kone's follow-up effort - which struck Gareth Barry - being disallowed for offside.
A frantic start to the second half saw a host of chances go begging, with Ozil glancing a header wide, Luke Garbutt forcing Cech into a full-length save, and the lively Walcott side-footing narrowly wide of the far post.
Cazorla was more precise, though, cutting onto his left foot and finding the bottom corner from the edge of the box just before the hour mark.
After Kone headed Phil Jagielka's cross over the crossbar, the game was ended as a contest when Ozil confidently poked home from six yards after being sent clear by Cazorla.
Roberto Martinez's men did manage to grab a consolation through Barkley's superb 76th-minute strike into the top corner, but Arsenal deservedly lifted the trophy.
NASRI ON FIRE?
The French midfielder gave Manuel Pellegrini's side a
victory in a drab match in Queensland while there was no debut for new
£49 million signing Raheem Sterling
Sterling completed his protracted £49 million transfer to the Etihad Stadium from Liverpool on Tuesday and was an interested onlooker as his new team-mates put on a superb display in an entertaining game at the Cbus Super Stadium in Robina.
Manuel Pellegrini's men were clearly a class above their A-League opponents, who had an excellent goalkeeping performance from Tando Velaphi to thank for keeping them in the match until the closing stages.
But there was nothing that Velaphi could do about the winning goal four minutes from time, as Nasri expertly controlled a cross from the right before lashing an unstoppable volley into the top corner from 15 yards.
The first half was played at a tempo not usually associated with pre-season fixtures but it did not take long for the Premier League side to assert themselves and take control.
The outstanding Yaya Toure went closest to breaking the deadlock for the tourists 20 minutes in with a trademark, curling free kick that crashed off the crossbar.
Melbourne were struggling to cope as Toure & Co. moved through the gears and Jesus Navas forced Velaphi into a fine save down to his right on the half-hour mark.
But for all of Manchester City's dominance, Melbourne should have been ahead soon after when Stefan Mauk missed the best opportunity of the match. An incisive breakaway from John van't Schip's side ended with a low cross-shot by Robert Koren, which Mauk somehow contrived to put over the bar from little more than three yards with Willy Caballero stranded.
Toure continued running the show after the break but more heroics from Velaphi - who denied Bruno Zuculini and Nasri in quick succession - kept the scores level.
It was always going to take something special to beat Velaphi and Nasri provided just that in the 86th minute. The Melbourne keeper got a hand to the Frenchman's stinging, rising volley but his effort simply had too much power and gave the tourists the win their performance merited.
Friday, July 17, 2015
I CANT CHOOSE BETWEEN RONALDO AND BALE SAYS BENITEZ
The coach declined the opportunity to select a favourite between his two forwards and praised the quality and variety of the club's attack
Real Madrid boss Rafael Benitez says trying to choose between Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale is like making a parent pick their favourite child.
The relationship between the pair was the subject of considerable scrutiny last season, with some supporters criticising Bale for failing to pass to his superstar team-mate when through on goal.
Speaking at a press conference before his team's International Champions Cup match against Roma on Saturday, Benitez was asked by Goal if the 26-year-old could soon become the more prominent member of the Madrid attack.
"You can ask my daughter if she prefers my wife or me. The father or the mother. It's not easy," he said.
"Ronaldo, Bale, all of them – they are so good. For me it's not a problem. James (Rodriguez), Isco, (Karim) Benzema, Ronaldo or Bale, we have an option with all of them.
"Ronaldo is a key player for us, Gareth will be a key player for us. But the same will be Benzema, James, Isco, (Toni) Kroos, (Luka) Modric. We have a fantastic team. We have to keep improving the squad, keep working hard with the players that we have."
Benitez, a former Real Madrid 'B' player and coach, has won La Liga with Valencia and lifted the Champions League at Liverpool, but now faces undeniably the biggest challenge of his career.
The 55-year-old knows he will face intense scrutiny at the Bernabeu, but believes his inside knowledge of the club will enable him to succeed where others have failed.
"If you analyse what I have to do every day, it's more or less the same," he said.
"It's a football team and you have to train, to coach, prepare the training sessions and (for) the game. So it's more or less the same.
"Obviously you have more media, more people around watching you. For me it doesn't change too much. I have to concentrate on my job and try to do my best in the things that I know. Coaching the team and trying to have a winning mentality.
"(I do) have an advantage. I know the city, I know the fans, I know the club. So that is an advantage."
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Although not named as part of the pre-season tour squad, the Blues have invited their latest recruit, yet to be officially announced, to Montreal to bond with his new team-mates
Chelsea appear to have finally wrapped up a deal for a long-time target, with Oscar inadvertently revealing the deal by sharing a photo of his new team-mate in full Blues training gear on the club's pre-season tour.
The Premier League champions have touched down in Montreal for the first leg of their pre-season preparations on the other side of the Atlantic, with new signing Asmir Begovic among the group.
But one name left off the official travelling party was Brazilian teenager Kenedy, whose transfer has yet to be official announced by Chelsea - but the deal appears to be a mere formality.
Oscar, flanked by compatriot Ramires and Brazilian-born Diego Costa, shared a group photo of the trio and their latest South American team-mate, captioning the picture with a welcome message.
"Welcome @keenedy_ this new stage of your life!" wrote the playmaker, who has been linked with a move to Juventus this summer.
But, with Kenedy not named among the official travelling party, it remains to be seen whether he will receive any game time during the club's pre-season matches - especially with Copa America participants Filipe Luis, Willian, Juan Cuadrado and Radamel Falcao yet to join up with the squad.
Bayern agree Vidal fee with Juventus
Getty ImagesThe Bavarians have negotiated a €40 million deal for the Chilean star, with the two clubs ironing out the finer details ahead of a move to the Bundesliga
The Chile international is expected to wrap up a move to the Bundesliga champions for €40 million plus add-ons after his agent Fernando Felicevich met with the club to discuss terms on a four-year deal.
Pep Guardiola has been integral in the Bavarians' pursuit of the 28-year-old, who was heavily linked with moves to Real Madrid and Arsenal over the summer.
Though a key member of Juve's renaissance in the past four Serie A-winning years, the feeling within the club is that he is replaceable.
Vidal's contract is due to expire in the summer of 2017 - giving rise to fears that they would receive a much lower fee in a year's time.
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