Such has been the war of words between Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte it is easy to forget that a vitally important top-four battle will break out on the Old Trafford pitch on Sunday. From the moment Conte’s Chelsea thrashed Mourinho’s Manchester United 4-0 to kickstart their 2016-17 Premier League title charge, a simmering tension has existed between the pair, who both won the Premier League in their first season in England - and both with the London side. This season the discord erupted into open dislike with insults flying backwards and forwards. In October, Mourinho said Conte was the kind of manager who “they cry, they cry, they cry when a player is injured”, while Conte suggested the Portuguese was far too interested in what was going on at the club where he was once worshipped.
Mourinho’s comments in January that not “behaving like a clown on the touchline” did not betray a lack of passion appeared to be directed Conte’s way. Even if it were not, Conte took the bait and hit back in no uncertain terms, accusing Mourinho of suffering from amnesia although his original remark, later clarified, spoke of “senile dementia”. Mourinho stoked the fires by dragging up a 2011 match-fixing saga that Conte was implicated in. “I think I will still make a few (mistakes). What never happened to me and will never happen is to be suspended for match-fixing,” Mourinho said. Conte, who always denied any wrongdoing in that affair, was furious and described Mourinho as “a little man with a very low profile” as the bad blood began to boil. So there would appear to be egos as well as points at stake this weekend as United and Chelsea strive to bolster their hopes of finishing in the top-four behind runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City. United and Chelsea are four points and one point respectively above fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who could ramp up the pressure by winning Sunday’s early kickoff at Crystal Palace. The stakes will already be high enough without any pre-match trash talking as Mourinho will be desperate to avoid a fourth defeat in five matches against Chelsea since taking over at United in 2016. He certainly will not want to hear the chants of “you’re not special any more” from Chelsea’s visiting fans -- the same ones who lauded him for winning seven trophies in two spells as the Blues’ manager, including three league titles. Victory, and a first league double over United for eight years, would see Chelsea move level on points with Mourinho’s side, with 10 games of the season remaining. A win for United, however, would leave Chelsea glancing anxiously behind them. “The next game is always the most important because it’s where you can get the three points,” Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta said. “At the moment we are getting closer and closer to the end of the season, so we have to get the points.” Chelsea may reap the benefit of having 24 hours more recovery time from their Champions League exertions, having drawn 1-1 with Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. United ground out a 0-0 draw in Sevilla on Wednesday, but will surely be more adventurous against Conte’s side.
London: Newcastle United’s manager Rafa Benitez would have taken a victory against just about anyone on Sunday, such was his side’s predicament, but a 1-0 win over Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United would have tasted that bit sweeter. Huddersfield Town’s 4-1 home victory over Bournemouth earlier in the day meant Newcastle started their home clash against United in the Premier League’s bottom three. Yet they responded with a gritty display, riding their luck at times to take the points courtesy of Matt Ritchie’s 65th-minute winner which propelled them from 18th to 13th. The result also left second-placed United a whopping 16 points behind leaders Manchester City and looking anxiously over their shoulders in what looks like becoming a tense battle for the remaining Champions League places. Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Saturday had lifted the north London club to within four points of United and Liverpool sliced the gap to two after Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah scored in a nonchalant 2-0 win at Southampton in Sunday’s late kickoff. Fifth-placed Chelsea can move to within three points of United with victory at West Brom on Monday.
There was a warm handshake between Benitez and Mourinho when the final whistle sounded at a tumultuous St James’ Park to confirm Newcastle’s first home league win since October. But their previous history has been marked by frostiness -- a result of former Liverpool manager Benitez twice getting the better of Mourinho’s Chelsea in Champions League semi-finals. The fact that they have both managed Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, with Mourinho enjoying a superior record, meant Benitez’s triumph on Sunday, only his second in the Premier League against Mourinho, had added meaning. Ritchie rifled a shot past David De Gea in the 65th minute to punish a profligate United side who wasted several good chances with Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez culpable. Newcastle dug deep for their manager and debutant keeper Martin Dubravka made several superb saves. “They fought like animals,” Mourinho said of Benitez’s side. “Newcastle’s players gave the sacrifices all managers like to see. Were they lucky? Yes. But sometimes you deserve that luck. They fought for their lives and that’s a beautiful thing.” TOO SLICK Martial was denied by a great save from Dubravka and had two efforts cleared off the line after the break. Sanchez inexplicably failed to fire into an empty net after rounding Dubravka, shortly before Ritchie struck the winner. “We had games in the past when we conceded late. We got lucky with some shots, but we showed the character, the commitment and the desire today,” Benitez said. Liverpool were too slick for a feeble Southampton as they condemned the south coast side to a place in the bottom three. Salah punished a mistake and squared for Firmino to score in the seventh minute and the livewire Egyptian then stroked home the second before halftime after a snappy passing move. United have 56 points, Liverpool 54 and Tottenham 52 with Chelsea on 50. It is equally tight at the bottom where the so-called trap door is looking more like a revolving door. Huddersfield escaped the bottom three on Sunday as they snapped a five-game losing sequence. Alex Pritchard fired Huddersfield in front after seven minutes and although Junior Stanislas levelled, the hosts were ahead again before the break thanks to Steve Mounie’s 27th-minute header from Aaron Mooy’s delivery.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho offered only the briefest explanation as to why he dropped the club’s record signing Paul Pogba for Saturday’s 2-0 Premier League win over Huddersfield Town at Old Trafford. The Frenchman had been criticised for his midweek performance in the 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, during which he was substituted in the 63rd minute after having an animated conversation with Mourinho on the touchline. On Saturday, the manager refused to go into details about what was said but a video was widely shared on social media showing the Portuguese gesticulating at the Frenchman. The upshot was Pogba dropped to the bench for the first time since joining United for 89 million pounds ($125.67 million) in August 2016, with 21-year-old midfielder Scott McTominay named in his place. Asked why the Frenchman had been left out, Mourinho said: “Just change, try different qualities with different players.” Pogba eventually came on as a 65th-minute substitute for Jesse Lingard in a disjointed United performance that still saw United close the gap on leaders Manchester City to 13 points.
“We had to be patient but had to keep the intensity high and the pressure. We had to break down the Berlin Wall organised so well by (Huddersfield manager) David Wagner,” said Mourinho. Although Pogba has delivered some excellent displays this season, he has also been criticised on several occasions, notably for his rash sending off against Arsenal. Mourinho also said that Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini, who limped off injured against Spurs, has undergone knee surgery and will be out for at least two months. ”He had surgery this morning,“ said Mourinho. ”I don’t want to be very specific. It’s not the end of his season, not at all. It’s a small intervention in his external (lateral) meniscus and I want to believe that by the end of March he can be back. “If he can be back by the end of March, I hope we have a big April and a big May still to play in more than one competition.”
LONDON : Manchester United’s new signing Alexis Sanchez scored on his home debut in a 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town as they took advantage of a slip by cross-town rivals and Premier League leaders Manchester City on Saturday. After City had been held 1-1 at Burnley, their daunting lead over United was reduced to 13 points when Jose Mourinho’s side eventually overcame a defensive Huddersfield side. It took 55 minutes before Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock after which Sanchez won a penalty, had it saved by Jonas Lossl, but tucked away the rebound in the 68th. City paid the price for missed chances as they drew at Turf Moor with Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s 82nd minute equaliser earning Burnley a point.
City had dominated possession but, after taking the lead with a fine strike from Brazilian Danilo in the 22nd minute, the visitors failed to press home their advantage. Raheem Sterling produced one of the misses of the season from two metres out and Burnley made the most of that let-off. “We are frustrated in terms of the result but the performance was outstanding against a Burnley side who are the most British of teams in terms of long balls and the way they play,” said City manager Pep Guardiola. City have 69 points from 26 games, ahead of United on 56 with third-placed Liverpool (50) at home to Tottenham Hotspur (48), who are fifth, on Sunday, while Chelsea (50), in fourth, visit mid-table Watford on Monday. RELEGATION BATTLE Huddersfield’s defeat at Old Trafford dropped them into the bottom three for the first time since being promoted as Southampton and Swansea City both moved above them. Bottom club West Bromwich Albion lost 3-2 at home to Southampton on an emotional day at the Hawthorns, where there was a minute’s applause for the home side’s former striker Cyrille Regis, who recently died aged 59. Albion led early on through Egyptian defender Ahmed Hegazi but were rocked by three goals in a quarter of an hour either side of halftime. Southampton held on after Salomon Rondon’s goal to secure a first win in 13 league games, leaving Albion four points adrift at the bottom with 20 points. Improving Swansea earned a valuable point with Federico Fernandez’s equaliser at Leicester City, for whom Jamie Vardy scored his 13th goal of the season in all competitions. Bournemouth consolidated their place in the top 10 by coming from behind to beat Stoke City 2-1 and, on a good day for the south-coast sides Brighton & Hove Albion beat West Ham United 3-1 to draw level with them on 27 points.
London: Manchester City tightened their stranglehold at the top of the Premier League on Wednesday by trouncing bottom club West Bromwich Albion 3-0 as nearest rivals Manchester United suffered a chastening 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. Pep Guardiola’s runaway leaders, whose new record signing Aymeric Laporte enjoyed an impressive debut, surged 15 points clear of their neighbours, who were outplayed by Spurs at Wembley after Christian Eriksen scored in just under 11 seconds. The last night of the transfer window provided a fascinating backdrop to the midweek fixture list with Chelsea’s final-day signing Olivier Giroud doubtless shocked at Stamford Bridge to see the champions suffer a remarkable 3-0 loss to Bournemouth. Manchester City’s 12th straight league home win, thanks to goals from Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero, took them to 68 points - level with Tottenham Hotspur in 1960-61 as the best record by any club after 25 matches of an English top-flight season. Manchester United are on 53 points with Chelsea dropping to fourth on 50, the same as third-placed Liverpool. Spurs moved to within two points of the pair on 48. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City took their tally of goals in all competitions this season to 100 when the outstanding De Bruyne, who had provided a superb first-half assist for Fernandinho to shoot home, scored their second.
Frenchman Laporte, signed from Athletic Bilbao for a City club record of 57 million pounds ($80.9 million) on Tuesday, slotted into their defence comfortably. His debut left Guardiola enthusing: “Yesterday he made the first training session but today we saw how good he is. He made an amazing, amazing performance.” The match of the night at Wembley, though, played in front of a record crowd for a Premier League game of 81,978, proved a disappointing one for Jose Mourinho as his own major signing Alexis Sanchez failed to shine after United had conceded a “ridiculous” early goal. Eriksen cashed in with a neat finish after Spurs had launched a long ball straight from kickoff that was flicked on by Harry Kane and Dele THIRD FASTEST Timed at just under 11 seconds, it equalled the third fastest goal scored in the Premier League era after the 10-second efforts netted by former Spurs favourite Ledley King and Newcastle United’s Alan Shearer. When Phil Jones, who was bullied by Kane for the first goal, hammered the ball clumsily into his own net when trying to clear from Kieran Trippier’s cross midway through the first half, Mourinho conceded that the own goal “mentally killed us”. “After 10 seconds, we made a ridiculous mistake,” Mourinho told reporters. “My players have watched the Tottenham kickoff many, many times. It was a really, really bad goal.” Antonio Conte suffered one of his worst Premier League defeats at Chelsea after three second-half goals in the space of 16 minutes from Callum Wilson, Junior Stanislas and Nathan Ake earned Eddie Howe his best top-flight win with the Cherries. “We have to accept it’s a bad result and understand that we have to fight this season,” Conte told the BBC. West Brom’s defeat left them rooted at the foot of the table while Southampton also remain in the bottom three despite largely dominating while coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at home to fellow strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion. Brighton are just a point above the relegation zone alongside Newcastle, who have now not won a home league match in eight attempts after goalkeeper Karl Darlow’s 85th-minute own goal earned Burnley a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park. Stoke City’s goalless draw with Watford also left them alongside Newcastle and Brighton, just four points ahead of West Brom.
The January transfer window slammed shut on Wednesday after a frantic month of activity during which Barcelona completed the biggest deal by signing Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool and Premier League clubs spent heavily across the board. ENGLAND The Premier League clubs’ purchasing power was evident again in January but unusually the big money went on defenders. Early in the window, Liverpool made Virgil van Dijk the world’s most expensive defender by splashing out a world record 75 million pounds ($106 million) to sign the Dutchman from Southampton. Liverpool badly needed more quality in their back line but the improvement in the squad was undermined by the departure of Brazil attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for a transfer fee reported at about 142 million pounds. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has also not been afraid to spend big on defenders - his signing of French centre-half Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao for a club record fee of 57 million pounds means they have spent more than 200 million pounds on defenders and a keeper since the end of last season. City lost out on some attacking talent, though, with Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, long linked with a move to The Etihad, opting instead to join rivals Manchester United with Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving the opposite way. City also failed to agree a deal with Leicester City for midfielder Riyad Mahrez. While Arsenal fans were disappointed to see Sanchez go, the London club splashed out a club-record transfer fee to sign Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a reported 65 million pounds from Borussia Dortmund.
They also got a pleasant surprise when Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil signed a new contract until 2021, though their France striker Olivier Giroud was shipped out to rivals Chelsea. Tottenham Hotspur were also active on deadline day, signing Brazilian winger Lucas Moura from Paris St Germain for 25 million pounds. SPAIN Barcelona will feel the most pleased of all the Liga sides with their January transfer business after capturing coveted playmaker Philippe Coutinho for a club record 142 million pounds and signing Colombia defender Yerry Mina. The signings of Coutinho, 25, from Liverpool and Mina, 23, from Palmeiras will rejuvenate Ernesto Valverde’s ageing squad and buttress his already brilliant side, which has an 11-point lead in the table and look destined to win a 25th league title. Cup-tied Coutinho cannot help Barca in the Champions League but the Brazilian already looks to be on the same page as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez and has been praised by team mates for his early performances, with Gerard Pique saying he has “Barca DNA”. Colombian defender Mina, 23, was signed as a direct replacement for the departing Javier Mascherano, who is 10 years his senior, while Barca have temporarily cut loose inconsistent winger Gerard Deulofeu, loaning him to Premier League Watford. Champions Real Madrid have strangely not boosted their squad to help their crumbling campaign, with coach Zinedine Zidane saying he did not want new signings despite his side sitting in fourth place an embarrassing 19 points adrift of Barca. The Frenchman’s stance may have blocked a move for Spain goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga who according to local media had passed a medical with Real and was on the verge of a move but eventually signed a new contract with Athletic Bilbao. Bilbao made their most expensive sale ever with French defender Aymeric Laporte moving to Manchester City for 65 million euros and then swiped Inigo Martinez from local rivals Real Sociedad for 32 million. Barca’s closest title challengers Atletico Madrid made no high profile signings in January but got a huge lift with Spain forwards Diego Costa and Vitolo able to play after the ban on the club registering new players expired. Costa has added extra aggression to their underperforming attack although he has also reminded Atletico of his infamous problems with fitness and discipline, getting sent off on his full debut and sustaining a muscle problem later in January. Perhaps the most eye-catching moves, however, saw Saudi Arabia’s Fahad Al-Muwallad, Yahia Al-Shehri and Salem Al Dawsari join Levante, Leganes and Villarreal respectively as part of an agreement between La Liga and the Arab state’s authorities. ITALY Serie A clubs largely stayed out of the transfer window in another indication of their relatively limited spending power. The main moves were outwards with AS Roma selling full back Emerson Palmieri to Chelsea for around 22 million euros and Genoa letting 16-year-old prodigy Pietro Pellegri leave for AS Monaco for slightly more, according to Italian media. Roma forward Edin Dzeko was also the subject of speculation over a move to Chelsea, with every game reported as being possibly his last, but that move fell through. Neither of the leading pair, Napoli and Juventus, made any signings although the former had been chasing Sassuolo winger Matteo Politano. AC Milan, having splurged 230 million euros in the summer, spent nothing at all in January after UEFA rejected the club’s request to waive its breakeven “Financial Fair Play” rules under a so-called voluntary agreement. UEFA cited “uncertainties in relation to the financing of the loans to be paid back in October 2018 and the financial guarantees provided by the main shareholder.” Neighbours Inter Milan, also being monitored by UEFA over the breakeven rule, had warned beforehand that there would be no spending spree on their part. Their only signings were Brazilian midfielder Rafinha and Argentine defender Lisandro Lopez on loan from Barcelona and Benfica respectively. They also chased Paris St Germain midfielder Javier Pastore without success. Underachieving Portuguese Euro 2016 winner Joao Mario was loaned out to West Ham United and forward Gabriel Barbosa to Santos, the club he arrived from 18 months ago, although the Brazilian had already been on loan at Benfica. “We can do better by making sure that our players play to their potential,” said Inter coach Luciano Spalletti. “That gets over difficult moments.” GERMANY The sale of Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal for 56 million pounds ($79 million) dwarfed any signings made by Bundesliga clubs, again showing the remarkable spending power of their English counterparts. The biggest buys by Bundesliga sides were Dortmund’s 21.5-million-euros capture of Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji from FC Basel, and Germany forward Sandro Wagner’s move to Bayern Munich from Hoffenheim for 13 million euros. Wagner, 30, began his career at Bayern and returned after a 10-year absence, having played at half a dozen clubs, all in the Bundesliga. In a similar move, another veteran striker, Mario Gomez, returned to his first club VfB Stuttgart nine years after departing. Dortmund, who are sixth in the table and 19 points behind leaders Bayern, were the most active team, also signing Michy Batshuayi on loan from Chelsea while defenders Marc Bartra and Neven Subotic both left. Most other clubs forked out one or two million euros at most while RB Leipzig, Hoffenheim, Hertha Berlin, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Augsburg and Hamburg SV spent nothing at all. Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong, a player with a bruising reputation, signed for Mainz 05 at the age of 33 and the same club also signed Nigerian Anthony Ujah from Liaoning FC.
MADRID: Football clubs across the world splashed out a record $6.37 billion on players during 2017 with English teams again the biggest spenders, FIFA’s Global Transfer Market Report said. The total paid out was about 33 percent more than in 2016 as English clubs led the way with a net spend of $988 million on squad improvement. Deals such as Romelu Lukaku’s 75 million-pound move from Everton to Manchester United and Alvaro Morata’s 60 million-pound switch from Real Madrid to Chelsea put English teams at the top of the list. But those individual deals were eclipsed by Brazilian forward Neymar’s move from Barcelona to Paris St Germain in a world-record transfer worth 222 million euros ($263 million).
The fee was over double the previous record which took France midfielder Paul Pogba to Manchester United from Juventus for $126 million. “Spending growth is driven by a relatively small group of clubs,” the report said, with over two-thirds of the total amount spent by 50 clubs in 13 different countries. The average transfer fee for a player in the top 50 most-expensive moves was $48.4 million, up from $35.2 million in 2016. The report shows that only 15.8 percent of transfers involved fees being paid from one club to another. Fees paid to agents also increased significantly. English clubs forked out a reported $125.7 million on intermediary payments and $447 million was handed over worldwide – up from $387 million in 2016. Brazil was the country most involved in international transfers with 1,755 of their players switching teams in 2017. Two hundred and fifty four Brazilian clubs conducted international transfer deals with Germany (143), England (132), Argentina (111) and Spain (98) making up the top five. Spanish clubs received the most money in transfer fees ($840.4 million), but Portuguese ones posted the highest net receipts of $707.5 million.
London: Debutant Alexis Sanchez had little trouble adjusting to his new place in Manchester United's line-up as he assisted the opening two goals in the Premier League club's 4-0 FA Cup fourth round win at Yeovil Town on Friday. Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera both benefited from the Chilean's presence either side of halftime, while Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku scored late on as the 12-times FA Cup champions overcame a spirited performance from the League Two hosts. United will discover their fifth round opponents when the draw is made on Monday, two days before they return to Premier League action at Tottenham Hotspur. Despite a shaky start to the match, it proved to be a very happy evening for manager Jose Mourinho to mark his 55th birthday, a day after committing his future to Old Trafford until 2020.
The Portuguese coach, who previously criticised his side for their lack of intensity in falling to lower league side Bristol City in the League Cup last month, this time hailed his side's 'correct attitude' and singled out the maturity of his new signing in particular. "Everybody is happy that he (Sanchez) comes because good players want good players and Alexis is a fantastic player for us," Mourinho told the BBC. "And the question as well is which one is going to be axed, where is he going to play - it is not about that for us. For us it is the fact that we have a fantastic group of attacking players and he's another one with a bit more maturity, more experience." Yeovil started the brighter of the two teams in front of a packed Huish Park and had the first shots on goal, Jordan Green in particular testing stand-in United goalkeeper Sergio Romero after 15 minutes. However, they went behind after 41 minutes when Sanchez played in Rashford who was fortunate that Yeovil defender Thomas James hesitated to clear, allowing the English striker to put the ball in. Hopes of an upset were further dashed in a swift United counter-attack around the hour mark, with Sanchez once again the provider to the overlapping Herrera, who rifled in with his left foot. Sanchez's replacement Lingard continued his recent fine run of form by running into the opposition penalty area late on and firing in his 12th goal of the season in all competitions. Lukaku then grabbed his third goal of 2018 with a close finish to cap a flattering win for Mourinho's men.
Manchester: Manchester United head coach Jose Mourinho stressed on Alexis Sanchez's decision to sign for the club over arch-rivals Manchester City and said he did not join the club because of the money poured at him. "I know that if other clubs did not get him it's not a problem of money, for sure. "That's not a problem of money. You go and analyse the numbers and Manchester City spent more money than us, Chelsea spent more money than us, I think even Everton spent more money than us. I don't think that's not the problem. "I don't know. Alexis could go everywhere. He had lots of choices. He decided to come here and you have to ask him why," Mourinho was quoted as saying by ESPNFC on Thursday.
City were jostling with United for the Chilean's signature this month. Sanchez eventually moved to Old Trafford from Arsenal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan signing for the Gunners in return. "I think Alexis reminds me a little bit of the history -- I don't know, it's not a history, almost a metaphor -- when you see the tree with amazing oranges at the top of the tree and cannot get there," Mourinho added. "You say: 'Oh, I got the lower ones because I don't like the ones at the top.' You like the ones at the top. "They are so nice, so orange, so round, so full of juice but you cannot get there so you say: 'I don't want to go there' or 'I didn't like it, I prefer the other ones.' It reminds me of that story," the Portuguese continued. It was widely reported that City finally pulled out of the race as they could not match United's bid. The Chilean star forward has signed a four-and-a-half year deal at Old Trafford.
Source: News Agency
