Kenya Insights

Tag: Premier League

  • FA Cup Stunner: Liverpool Is Knocked Out By Second-Tier Plymouth in Fourth Round

    FA Cup Stunner: Liverpool Is Knocked Out By Second-Tier Plymouth in Fourth Round

    Premier League leader Liverpool was knocked out of the FA Cup by second-tier struggler Plymouth after losing 1-0 in a stunning fourth-round upset on Sunday.

    It ended any hopes of a quadruple of major trophies for Liverpool, which leads the Premier League by six points with a game in hand, finished top of the revamped first stage of the Champions League and has reached the English League Cup final.

    Ryan Hardie’s 53rd-minute penalty proved to be the winner for Plymouth, a club from the southwest of England which is in last place in the second-tier Championship and recently fired Wayne Rooney as its manager.

    Liverpool fielded a heavily rotated lineup, without stars like Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk, and it backfired.

  • Chelsea Sign Amougou After Felix Moves To Milan On Loan

    Chelsea Sign Amougou After Felix Moves To Milan On Loan

    AC Milan have signed Portuguese forward Joao Felix from Chelsea on loan for the rest of the season, while Chelsea have brought in French midfielder Mathis Amougou from Saint-Etienne on an eight-year contract, the Premier League club said on Tuesday.

    British media reports said Amougou, 19, joined Chelsea for a fee of about 12 million pounds ($14.98 million).

    Felix joined Chelsea from Atletico Madrid in August on a seven-year deal for a reported fee of 46 million pounds ($57.16 million), but the 25-year-old has struggled for game time in his second spell with the Premier League club.

    Since his arrival at Chelsea, Felix has started just three league games despite scoring on his club debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers — his only league goal this season.

    At Milan, Felix will work with Portuguese coach Sergio Conceicao.

    France U-19 international Amougou, who joined Saint-Etienne as a youth player in 2021, has made 17 Serie A appearances for newly-promoted side this season.

    “It’s an honour for me to sign for such a big club like Chelsea. They believe in young players and the process they have in place to develop us is fantastic,” Amougou said in a statement.

    Milan, who drew 1-1 with Inter Milan in Sunday’s derby, are eighth in the Serie A and play AS Roma in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday. Chelsea, fourth in the Premier League, visit Brighton & Hove Albion for an FA Cup tie on Saturday.
    (Reuters)
  • Rice Says Arsenal Ready To Hunt Down Liverpool After Thrashing Man City

    Rice Says Arsenal Ready To Hunt Down Liverpool After Thrashing Man City

    Arsenal remain comfortably adrift of relentless Premier League leaders Liverpool despite a 5-1 hammering of Manchester City on Sunday but midfielder Declan Rice says there is a determination to hunt them down.

    Rice provided two assists as Arsenal sent a reminder to Liverpool that they are not about to give up the chase.

    Liverpool are six points in front of second-placed Arsenal with a game in hand and have shown little sign of slipping up in their pursuit of a 20th league crown.

    But Rice says there is still a long way to go.

    “Liverpool are still quite far in front especially with the game in hand and with them winning yesterday you know going into the game that you have to win,” Rice told Sky Sports.

    “It’s more disappointing the games like Aston Villa when we were 2-0 up and dropped points because we could be up there closer to Liverpool.

    “But we will be there and we will keep pushing. We do need others to help us but we know what the goal is and that’s to hunt them down and win the Premier League.

    “We need to stay positive and I’m sure we will be fine.”

    Arsenal had fallen just short in the last two seasons as City kept Mikel Arteta’s side at bay to extend their title-winning streak to a record four-in-a-row.

    On Sunday, goals by Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri effectively removed City from the title equation.

    “It is a great day for us, especially with the necessity that we had to win the game. The manner that we have done it I am really pleased,” Arteta said.

    “Overall, we scored some beautiful goals and the team showed a high competitive level.”

    Arteta was full of praise for teenager Lewis-Skelly, whose impressive display was capped with his first Arsenal goal.

    “You need big individual performances to beat (Man City). Myles was certainly one of them, the maturity he showed and competitiveness as well,” Arteta said.

    “He plays with that personality and he’s scored a beautiful goal. He has been pushing us since he has been with us. We like his character and personality. He has so much courage.”

    (Reuters)

  • Man United Lose At Home Again As Mateta Double Earns Palace Win

    Man United Lose At Home Again As Mateta Double Earns Palace Win

    Manchester United’s woeful home form this season continued as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat by Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.

    Despite United chasing a fourth successive win in all competitions, Palace were much the better side in the first half at Old Trafford, passing up several chances to capitalise on their superiority.

    The visitors did make one count after 64 minutes, Jean-Philippe Mateta reacting first after the ball had come off the crossbar to give his side a deserved lead.

    United upped the ante in search of an equaliser but lacked ideas, with Mateta condemning the hosts to a seventh home league loss this term with a late second, helping Palace climb above 13th-placed United into 12th in the standings.

    United came into Sunday’s encounter on the back of their best run under new manager Ruben Amorim, having secured a third successive win in all competitions at Steaua Bucharest on Thursday.

    Amorim has, however, yet to taste back-to-back league wins since he took charge in late November. No United manager since Tommy Docherty in 1972-73 has had to wait so long to achieve that.

    After a pre-match tribute to those who died in the Munich air disaster 67 years ago, Kobbie Mainoo, playing in an unfamiliar central striker role, went close to giving United the perfect start, striking the post with a deflected shot.

    Palace, in fine away form having won four of their previous five on the road, looked the more threatening early on, with defenders Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell going close to an opener.

    The visitors continued to press, with Mateta denied by a brilliant save from Andre Onana as halftime approached.

    Needing improvement after again failing to score in the first half of a league match – now 18 goalless opening periods in 24 this season – United pushed forward after the break.

    Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was finally called into action, denying Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte with smart saves, but Mateta’s close-range finish, after Maxence Lacroix’s header had hit the crossbar, was what the visitors’ endeavour merited.

    For all their pressure, United openings failed to materialise, with Mateta finishing off a Palace counter in the 89th minute to send the away supporters into raptures.

    United defender Lisandro Martinez was carried off on a stretcher in the second half with what looked like a serious knee injury.

    (Reuters)

  • Here To Stay! Haaland Signs New Man City Deal Until 2034

    Here To Stay! Haaland Signs New Man City Deal Until 2034

    The Norwegian joined City from Dortmund in 2022 and has scored 111 goals in 126 games for the club since.

    The striker’s previous deal, which reportedly included a release clause, had been due to expire in 2027.

    Haaland’s new deal would see the striker remain with City until his 34th birthday should he stay at the club until its expiry in nine-and-a-half years’ time.

    The length of Haaland’s deal is the longest in the Premier League, eclipsing the nine-year deal Cole Palmer signed with Chelsea last August.

    “I am really happy to have signed my new contract and to be able to look forward to spending even more time at this great club,” said Haaland.

    “Manchester City is a special club, full of fantastic people with amazing supporters and it’s the type of environment that helps bring the best out of everybody.

    “I also want to thank [manager] Pep [Guardiola], his coaching staff, my team-mates and everyone at the club as they have all helped me so much in the past couple of years.”

    Txiki Begiristain, City’s director of football, said: “The fact he [Haaland] is signed for so long demonstrates our commitment to him as a player and his love for the club.”

  • Arsenal Beat Everton But Title Wait Goes On

    Arsenal Beat Everton But Title Wait Goes On

    Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Everton proved in vain as their hopes of a first Premier League title for 20 years were crushed on the final day of the season on Sunday.

    Mikel Arteta’s side began the day needing a win and for Manchester City to fail to beat West Ham United — a scenario that few inside The Emirates Stadium believed would happen.

    All hope looked lost when Idrissa Gueye’s deflected free kick put Everton in front and City led 2-0 but Takehiro Tomiyasu levelled before halftime at around the same time that West Ham halved the deficit at City.

    Kai Havertz fired home Arsenal’s winner late meaning they ended the season with six successive victories but they had to settle for the runners-up spot for the second successive season as City wrapped up a record fourth consecutive title by beating West Ham 3-1.

    Arsenal ended with 89 points to City’s 91.

  • City Beat Arsenal On The Line To Clinch Fourth Consecutive EPL Title

    City Beat Arsenal On The Line To Clinch Fourth Consecutive EPL Title

    Manchester City edged out Arsenal on the line to clinch their fourth consecutive English Premier League title following a 3-1 victory over West Ham on the final day of action on Sunday.

    City became the first ever team in Premier League history to win four titles in a row, while Arsenal were left licking their wounds despite laboring to a 2-1 victory over Everton at the Emirates Stadium in London.

    Two goals from Phil Foden in the first half set Pep Guardiola’s team on course for its latest title. Mohammed Kudus pulled a goal back for West Ham with a stunning overhead kick, but Rodri restored City’s advantage as it marched toward a sixth title in seven seasons.

    Guardiola’s team needed to beat West Ham at Etihad Stadium to be certain of the title, having gone into the game two points clear at the top of the standings.

    Foden helped ease any potential nerves among the home fans when firing City ahead with a brilliant goal inside two minutes.

    Receiving a pass from Bernardo Silva, Foden side-stepped West Ham midfielder James Ward-Prowse and unleashed a left-foot shot outside the area that rocketed into the top corner. The goal was timed at just under 80 seconds.

    Foden, England’s footballer of the year, added a second in the 18th minute when converting Jeremy Doku’s cross from close range.

    Kudus produced a moment of magic in the 42nd with an acrobatic overhead kick that might have given Arsenal hope of an unlikely comeback.

    But it didn’t take City long to extend its lead again after the break as Rodri fired low a effort from the edge of the box that West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola could not keep out despite getting a hand to the ball.

    City ended the season with 91 points — two more than Arsenal.

    (AP and BBC)