Kevin De Bruyne's move to Napoli is all-but complete, with the Manchester City legend prolonging his career in Europe.
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
| Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱 |
Chelsea finally managed to get a win on the board having lost their last three games, beating Southampton 4-0 at Stamford Bridge and taking all three points with goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella.
Enzo Maresca’s men held 60% possession, taking 19 shots in the game, creating seven “big chances” and generating 2.32 xG compared to Southampton’s 0.62 xG.
With the Blues scoring four goals and keeping their first clean sheet since their 0-0 draw with Everton back in December, there were plenty of top-level performances, with a few individuals in particular standing out slightly more than others.
Enzo Fernández has made 31 appearances for Maresca’s side so far this season, scoring four goals, providing eight assists and totalling 2,295 minutes played.
Chelsea’s vice-captain (taking the armband in Reece James’ absence) was brilliant yet again, making things tick in midfield, dropping deep to progress play through the lines, making seven key passes, completing four out of five long balls, creating three big chances and winning five out of five ground duels.
But another superb performer against Southampton was Cucurella, who, along with his goal, made a whopping six tackles in the game, winning eight of his nine ground duels, showing his commitment to getting stuck in and doing the dirty work.
But it’s the mixture of his hard work and off-ball intensity blended with his calm ability to invert into midfield, pick up little pockets of space and keep things ticking, allowing others to play with more freedom.
It could well be argued that he’d now walk into the leading teams in the divisions…
Since joining the Blues in 2022 for a fee of around £60m, the Spaniard has had a roller coaster of a time at Chelsea, going from out of favour and out of form, to one of their top performers, a fan favourite and potentially the best left-back in the league – as ex-Blues man William Gallas has tipped him to become.
Cucurella has made 89 appearances in his time at Chelsea, scoring five goals, providing seven assists and totalling 6,897 minutes played.
|
Cucurella vs Lewis-Skelly & Robertson comparison |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 mins) |
Cucurella |
Lewis-Skelly |
Robertson |
|
Goals + Assists |
0.20 |
0.08 |
0.03 |
|
Progressive Carries |
1.09 |
1.69 |
2.26 |
|
Progressive Passes |
3.65 |
4.94 |
6.46 |
|
Shots Total |
0.63 |
0.16 |
0.56 |
|
Key Passes |
0.61 |
0.36 |
1.71 |
|
Tackles |
2.00 |
2.53 |
1.52 |
|
Blocks |
1.52 |
0.12 |
0.39 |
|
Interceptions |
0.73 |
0.48 |
0.77 |
|
Ball Recoveries |
4.26 |
3.86 |
4.01 |
|
Aerial Duels Won |
0.87 |
0.36 |
0.16 |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
|||
When comparing Cucurella’s metrics this season to Myles Lewis-Skelly at Arsenal and Andrew Robertson at Liverpool, you can see just how good the Spaniard is, not only making the most ball recoveries and blocks, but also offering output now, getting forward and showing his technical quality too, as well as his aggression and tenacity off the ball.
Cucurella was described as “phenomenal” by one notable analyst on X (formerly Twitter), praising his 1v1 defensive capabilities and his technical quality. His ability to invert into midfield, provide underlapping and overlapping runs in the final third, and even chip in with goals now, makes him one of the very best in his position.
With Robertson coming to the back end of his Liverpool career and Lewis-Skelly being tipped to move into midfield in the near future, you can put your money on the fact both Arsenal and Liverpool would snap at the chance to have Cucurella in their sides if given the chance.
100% duels won: 9/10 Chelsea ace is rapidly becoming more vital than Palmer
Chelsea ended their dismal recent run with a 4-0 win over Southampton last night.
1
By
Ethan Lamb
Feb 26, 2025
The Belgian was blunted in a deep role but the Egyptian shoulders greater blame for squandering the spot-kick on a disastrous day for the Cityzens
Pep Guardiola made a huge tactical blunder as Manchester City fell to a shock defeat in the FA Cup final by a resilient Crystal Palace. The Catalan over-thought it to an absurd agree and fielded no natural holding midfielders in a move reminiscent of the 2021 Champions League final defeat by Chelsea.
Eberechi Eze, a transfer target for City in the last two years, struck the only goal of the game but the final will be overshadowed for the decision not to send Dean Henderson off for handling outside his area. But City only have themselves to blame for losing a second cup final in a row, as Omar Marmoush saw his penalty saved by Henderson and Guardiola made yet more bizarre moves from the sidelines.
Before kick-off City's fans paid homage to Kevin De Bruyne in his last final for the club in an impressive tifo funded by fans with the help of Erling Haaland. But De Bruyne was the victim of Guardiola's outlandishly attacking formation, which meant he and Bernardo Silva had to act as holding midfielders to accomodate Marmoush, Savinho, Haaland and Jeremy Doku.
The tactics led to City dominating the early stages of the game and hemming Palace into their own area, only for the Eagles to swoop and score with their first attack. Munoz came down the right in a sweeping move and curled a low cross into Eze, who met it first time to beat Ortega.
Palace could and perhaps should have been reduced to 10 men when Henderson used his hand outside of the area to beat the ball away from Haaland's grasp. City did get a decision in their favour when Silva was fouled by Tyrick Mitchell but Marmoush took the kick ahead of Haaland and his low shot was pushed away by Henderson.
The goalkeeper repelled a dangerous effort from Doku and De Bruyne should have done much better on the rebound. The second half followed a similar pattern as City did most of the talking but Palace held firm. The Eagles thought they had doubled their lead when Daniel Munoz struck at the near post but the goal was ruled out for offside against Ismaila Sarr in the build-up.
Haaland skied an effort down the other end and then headed over the bar. The ball then fell to De Bruyne on the edge of the box but he shot wide. Moments later the final whistle went, rounding off an infuriating day for Guardiola and his side.
GOAL rates Man City's players from Wembley Stadium…
Arsenal have been named as surprise contenders to sign a striker who’s weighing up the possibility of terminating his deal, with Mikel Arteta’s side believed to be positioning themselves to tempt him with a north London move.
Arsenal preparing for crucial Premier League clash with West Ham
With news that defender Takehiro Tomiyasu will join Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus in being out for the rest of this season, after undergoing surgery on his right knee to fix a persistent injury, Arteta’s options are growing thinner by the week.
Arsenal can now sign star striker for just £33m after rejected January bid
They attempted a deal in the winter.
2 ByEmilio Galantini Feb 19, 2025
There is still hope for the Gunners to pip Liverpool in the Premier League title race, though, with Liverpool dropping points again in a 2-2 draw away to Aston Villa on Wednesday evening.
Arsenal can close the gap to five points with victory at home to West Ham on Saturday, and it is likely Arteta will go with the same attacking line-up which eventually beat Leicester City 2-0 at the King Power in dramatic late fashion.
West Ham (home)
February 22nd
Nottingham Forest (away)
February 26th
Man United (away)
March 9th
Chelsea (home)
March 16th
Fulham (home)
April 1st
Mikel Merino was brought on as an emergency striker to bag a last-gasp brace in the final ten minutes against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side, but it is unclear whether Arteta will start with the Spaniard up top against West Ham.
Their clash with the Hammers comes as yet another crucial 90 minutes for Arsenal in their quest to win a first domestic league crown in 21 years, and their lack of options, particularly in the forward area, has attracted criticism towards the Gunners’ recruitment policy.
Arsenal made a low-ball offer for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins in the January window, which was rejected out of hand by Unai Emery’s men, with the north Londoners eventually opting not to pursue a deal, despite Villa’s willingness to negotiate at a fee of £60 million (David Ornstein).
As such, they will have to wait until this summer to bring in a world-class centre-forward. Arteta did hint at the possibility of signing a free agent for Arsenal recently, but the names available wouldn’t do much to upgrade the squad’s attacking choices.
Roberto Firmino thinking about terminating Al-Ahli deal with Arsenal interested
Now, a very left-field potential target has emerged in the form of former Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino. The South American, who starred under Jürgen Klopp with 111 goals in 362 appearances for the Reds before departing, could depart current club Al-Ahli in unceremonious fashion.
As per a Spanish media source, Firmino is thinking about terminating his Al-Ahli contract, with Arsenal opening the door for him and in position to potentially entice him with a switch back to England.
The 33-year-old earns a staggering £302,000-per-week in the Middle East, which would make him Arsenal’s highest earner, and it is likely he’d need to settle for a lesser wage if he were to agree a transfer to the Emirates.
Despite scoring 10 goals and assisting five others across all competitions for the Pro League side this season, Al-Ahli decided to leave him out of their league squad list in favour of new arrival Galeno – plunging Firmino’s long-term future into doubt.
MatériaMais Notícias
Na tarde desta segunda-feira (6), a técnica Pia Sundhage convocou a Seleção Brasileira Feminina para a disputa de amistosos preparatórios, em junho, e também para a Copa América, em julho, na Colômbia. As palmeirenses Duda Santos, Ary Borges e Bia Zaneratto estão na lista.
continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasPalmeirasPalmeiras x Botafogo: 20 mil ingressos já foram vendidos para duelo no BrasileirãoPalmeiras06/06/2022Fora de CampoJogo da Seleção gera ‘treta’ entre Casimiro e torcedores do PalmeirasFora de Campo06/06/2022Fora de CampoCom amistoso da Seleção, Globo alcança maior audiência nas manhãs desde ouro olímpico no futebolFora de Campo06/06/2022
GALERIA
> Veja os astros que estão fora da Copa do Mundo
TABELA
> Clique e confira a tabela completa do Brasileirão Feminino!
O Brasil encara a Dinamarca, no dia 24/6 e, quatro dias depois, mede forças com a Suécia. Ambos os encontros acontecem em território europeu.
Vale lembrar que o calendário do futebol feminino tem uma pausa para a disputa de competições de seleções. Assim, as jogadoras citadas, que já representaram a Amarelinha pelo menos uma vez, não desfalcam o Verdão.
Campeãs em sete das oito edições da Copa América realizadas, Pia e suas jogadoras buscam não só mais um título, mas também uma vaga para a Copa do Mundo de 2023, além da passagem para os Jogos Olímpicos de Paris, em 2024.
No caso do Mundial, as três melhores seleções se classificam, mas para as Olimpíadas há apenas uma vaga em jogo.
Veja as datas dos jogos preparatórios da Seleção Feminina:
Brasil x Dinamarca – 24/6, às 14h
Brasil x Suécia – 28/6, às 13h30
تحدث جود بيلينجهام لاعب وسط ريال مدريد عقب الفوز أمام إشبيلية في منافسات بطولة الدوري الإسباني، مساء الأحد.
وحل ريال مدريد ضيفًا على إشبيلية بملعب “رامون سانشيز بيزخوان” في إطار مباريات الجولة السابعة والثلاثين للدوري الإسباني.
وتغلب ريال مدريد على خصمه إشبيلية بهدفين دون مقابل، وسجل له كيليان مبابي وبيلينجهام.
وأكد بيلينجهام خلال تصريحاته أن الفريق حزين على خسارة لقب الدوري الإسباني لصالح برشلونة، ويأمل في التتويج بكأس العالم للأندية.
وقال بيلينجهام في تصريحات لتليفزيون ريال مدريد: “نحن سعداء بالفوز، ولكننا حزينون بعض الشيء لأننا أردنا القتال من أجل اللقب في هذه المباريات القليلة الأخيرة”.
وعن هدفه في شباك إشبيلية، أضاف: “كانت لعبة جيدة، وكنت هناك لتسجيل هدف سهل”.
اقرأ أيضًا | أنشيلوتي: مودريتش وريال مدريد سيتخذان القرار المناسب.. والخجل عائق أمام رامون
وبشأن زميله كيليان مبابي، متصدر ترتيب هدافي الدوري الإسباني، أفاد: “إنه أمر لا يُصدق، إنه لاعبٌ رائع وشخصٌ رائع، من الرائع وجوده في فريقنا”.
وعن بطولة كأس العالم للأندية التي يشارك فيها ريال مدريد، وتنطلق يوم 14 يونيو القادم، أتم: “إنه لقب جديد، وآمل أن نفوز به، إنه حلم الفريق والنادي”.
ويتواجد ريال مدريد في مجموعة تضم أندية الهلال السعودي، وباتشوكا وريد بول سالزبورج.
Barcelona have reportedly met with Hansi Flick's agent, Pini Zahavi, as they look to offer the German a contract extension amid their superb form.
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
| Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱 |
The home side collapsed inside 23 overs as the match ended before lunch on the third day
Alex Malcolm01-Jul-2022
Travis Head bagged his first Test wickets in a remarkable spell•Getty Images
Australia’s spinners tore through Sri Lanka’s line-up as they lost 10 wickets inside 23 overs in a staggering collapse to lose the opening Test in Galle inside two-and-a-half days.Nathan Lyon and Travis Head took four wickets each and Mitchell Swepson two, as Sri Lanka were bundled out for 113. Australia needed just five runs to win and knocked them off with ease to win by 10 wickets before lunch on the third day and go 1-0 up in the series.It was Australia’s first Test win in Sri Lanka since 2011, which was also the last time they won in Galle. It was also the first time Australia have won in Sri Lanka batting second, with their seven other wins coming batting first. Sri Lanka’s defeat was just the fourth time a team had lost in Galle in the 21 instances teams had won the toss and batted first. Sri Lanka have suffered three of those four losses in the last 18 months.Lyon finished with nine wickets for the match and marched into the all-time top 10 Test wickets-takers, while Head took stunning career-best first-class and Test figures of 4 for 10. Such was the spinners’ dominance, captain Pat Cummins did not bowl a ball in Sri Lanka’s second innings. Despite Lyon’s performance, Cameron Green was named Player of the Match for his vital 77 on day two on a difficult batting surface.Sri Lanka’s batting was reckless and hapless as they tried to follow Australia’s first innings approach of positivity and decisive strokeplay. But the decision-making and execution was flawed on a surface that spun more and more by the minute throughout a crazy two hours of cricket.Sri Lanka were without their most experienced and in-form batter Angelo Mathews after he was ruled out of the Test having tested positive for Covid-19 last night. Mathews took a rapid test after feeling unwell and the positive result meant he was withdrawn from the game on the third morning and replaced by Oshada Fernando.Sri Lanka did make the perfect start to the day with the ball, bowling Australia out for 321 in the second over of the morning. Asitha Fernando ripped through Cummins and Swepson with two superb reverse swinging yorkers at 137kph. Asitha benefitted from a ball change after Sri Lanka’s original ball was pocketed by a spectator last night when Cummins hit Jeffrey Vandersay out of the ground off the last ball of the second day.Mitchell Swepson was soon among the wickets•Getty Images
They made a rapid start to their second innings taking 17 runs off Mitchell Starc’s opening over. It was the most expensive opening over in Test cricket in the last 10 years as Starc’s radar went awry to gift Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne four boundaries between them. Starc’s spell lasted two overs and cost 23. Lyon opened the bowling from the other end and bowled unchanged while Swepson came on in the fifth over.Sri Lanka’s batters tried to continue their positive approach but it bordered on reckless as they lost wickets at regular intervals and offered numerous other chances. Lyon picked up Karunaratne for the second time in the match as the left-hander tried to sweep the wrong length. His thin under edge was expertly held by keeper Alex Carey.Nissanka also fell trying to sweep, trapped lbw to Swepson as a legbreak skidded on straight and hit him on the back leg infront of off.Kusal Mendis and Oshada tried to maintain the aggression. Mendis slapped a powerful slog sweep to get off the mark while Oshada launched Swepson straight down the ground for six. But they failed to pick their moments to attack. Both men were missed at leg slip off Lyon with Warner unable to clutch two very tough chances in three balls. But it mattered little. Mendis fell sweeping to the wrong length. Some extra bounce caused a top edge that carried to a very well-placed Swepson three-quarters of the way to the fine-leg rope.Oshada continued to ride his luck miscuing balls in the air short of fielders before driving hard at a Swepson legbreak out of the rough outside off and nicking it to slip.Dhananjaya de Silva was fortunate to survive a stumping chance after running randomly at Lyon and being beaten through the gate, with Carey unable to glove it. Cummins then made the bold move to swap Swepson for the part-time offspin of Head against the two right-handers.It paid a handsome dividend with Head striking twice in his first over. He ripped a classic offbreak out of the rough and through the flawed defence of Dinesh Chandimal to crash into middle and leg. Three balls later Dhananjaya staggeringly shouldered arms to a ball also spinning into middle and leg thinking it might turn down the leg side. The only thing more shocking than the leave was Kumar Dharmasena’s decision to give it not out. Australia had no hesitation in reviewing successfully.Ramesh Mendis fell the same way as Kusal, top edging a poorly executed sweep to fine leg. Niroshan Dickwella tried to continue his reverse-sweeping deeds of the first innings only to find cover point with Marnus Labuschagne taking an outstanding catch diving to his left.Head picked up two more in his third over. He ripped another stunning offbreak from the rough through Vandersay’s defence to hit the top of leg. Lasith Embuldeniya was the last out, trapped plumb lbw, but again a review was needed to overturn Dharmasena’s not out decision.David Warner finished it in four balls with two blows, one a reverse sweep over short third, and then a six over wide long on.
Stumps If day three of the first Test in Chattogram belonged to Tamim Iqbal, the fourth day was all about Mushfiqur Rahim. Not only did he become the first Bangladesh batter to reach 5000 runs in Test cricket, his eighth century in the format also made sure Bangladesh stayed ahead in Chattogram at the end of day four.Mushfiqur’s 105, to go with Tamim Iqbal’s 133, and half-centuries from Litton Das and Mahmudul Hasan Joy helped Bangladesh declare their first innings on 465 for 9, and secure a lead of 68 runs in reply to Sri Lanka’s first innings score of 397.Dimuth Karunaratne and Oshada Fernando then started their second innings steadily before the latter was run out needlessly for 19. Lasith Embuldeniya, the nightwatchman, had a few nervy moments but did his job before being bowled off the final ball of the day by Taijul Islam. At stumps, Sri Lanka had reached 39 for 2, still trailing Bangladesh by 29 runs. Karunaratne was unbeaten on 18, and will be joined by Kusal Mendis, in all likelihood, tomorrow morning.The start of the day started was delayed by 30 minutes because of rain but once play resumed, it did not take long for Mushfiqur to reach the 5000-run mark. He began the day just 15 runs away from the landmark and breached the milestone with a deflection off his gloves down to fine leg shortly after the first drinks break. Adopting a cautious approach, Mushfiqur surged ahead and soon reached his century after lunch, his first in Test cricket in more than a year.Bangladesh resumed their day on 318 for 3, with Litton and Mushfiqur picking up from where they had left on the third evening. Both batters were cautious but made sure no wickets were lost as Bangladesh reached 385 for 3 at lunch. The Sri Lankan bowlers, much like the third evening, lacked the bite and could not get much out of the surface.However, the visitors came back well in the second session. Rajitha struck straight after lunch, first removing Litton before uprooting Tamim’s middle stump the very next ball. Litton, in particular, would be kicking himself for missing a third Test hundred after edging an innocuous short and wide first ball after lunch to the wicketkeeper. The ball to Tamim, though, was a good one. Coming back to bat after retiring hurt at tea on the third day, Tamim went for the expansive drive to a fuller delivery. However, Rajitha, bowling from around the wicket, got the ball to angle in and it crept between Tamim’s bat and pad to hit the middle stump.Shakib, having survived a close chance at short leg, was rattled by a bouncer barrage from Asitha Fernando. He was hit by the pacer on the helmet, and soon after was dismissed going for the pull shot for 26.Mushfiqur, meanwhile, held his own at the other end even as things started heating up in the middle. There were a few glares and words exchanged with Asitha, but the batter remained firm. He reached his century with a faint tickle off Asitha down the leg side and celebrated wildly.Mushfiqur’s 282-ball vigil finally ended after tea, when looking to play the sweep against Embuldeniya, he missed the line and found his stumps in a mess. Taijul Islam and Shoriful frustrated the Sri Lankans with a 26-run stand before Asitha sent Taijul back. Bangladesh declared their innings on 465 for 9 after Shoriful, struck on the hand by a bouncer, retired hurt.Sri Lanka toiled away and bowled well in patches, particularly in the middle session on both the third and fourth days. However, a couple of wicketless sessions cost them. Rajitha, who was not even part of the playing XI and came in as a concussion sub for Vishwa Fernando, was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 4 for 60.Sri Lanka started their second innings well with both Karunratne and Oshada looking comfortable. However, a direct hit at the bowler’s end from Taijul sent Oshada packing. Karunaratne also had an escape when he mistimed a drive back to Nayeem Hasan, but replays showed the ball had just fallen short of the bowler.Embuldeniya gave Karunaratne good support, but the surface started to show tricks late in the day with the odd-ball staying low. How Sri Lanka survive the final day remains to be seen.
Manchester City’s losing streak is over.
On Wednesday night, the Sky Blues swatted aside Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the Etihad, with Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Jérémy Doku all on target.
This ended a sequence of four successive Premier League defeats, while the Citizens were winless in seven across all competitions overall, completely collapsing against Feyenoord during the only game they didn’t lose the previous mid-week, failing to win a match in which they were 3-0 up for the first time since May 1989.
Thus, with many of Man City’s key performers over 30, Ederson, John Stones, Mateo Kovačić, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and İlkay Gündoğan to name but a few, Pep Guardiola has plenty of pondering to do, having signed a two-year contract extension in mid-November.
However, the form of Kyle Walker in particular has been alarming; more on him shortly.
Manchester City's drop in standards
The absence of Rodri, who suffered an ACL injury against Arsenal in late September, is often cited as the primary reason for Manchester City’s decline.
Of course, this is a factor, but there is certainly more to it, as the numbers below suggest.
For so long during their four-in-a-row dominance of the Premier League, Pep Guardiola’s team were completely water-tight at the back, conceding very few chances and, therefore, goals.
2024/25
8.79
1.42
1.29
2023/24
7.66
0.94
0.87
2022/23
7.66
0.84
0.84
2021/22
6.21
0.65
0.68
2020/21
7.18
0.79
0.82
However, they were brutally exposed during recent hammerings at the hands of Tottenham and Liverpool, with their midfield overrun and back-line given little-to-no protection, meaning the fear factor that they boasted for so long has vanished as fast as quicksand.
A large reason for that has been their right-back…
Kyle Walker's rapid decline
For so long, Manchester City could count on Walker’s recovery speed to get them out of jail, but Michael Cox claims they had become “overly reliant” on this meaning, now his lightning-quick pace is no longer there, they are not set up to cope.
Journalist Aaron Catterson-Reid described Walker’s performances in apt words; his “decline has been insane”, with Spurs’ fourth goal at the Etihad, scored by Brennan Johnson from mere picometres out, the starkest example of this with Timo Werner, freshly introduced as a substitute, sprinting past Walker like very few have ever been able to do before.
In the past, Man City could play a seemingly kamikaze-high defensive line but would rely on the England veteran sweeping up in behind, if an onrushing attacker was able to break their offside trap.
As Kevin Garside writes, Walker is used to being “quicker than any opponent he faced” before pointing out that Antoine Semenyo, Adama Traroé and now the aforementioned Werner have all breezed beyond him in recent weeks, showing that the superpower he once possessed for so long is no more.
The likes of Espanyol’s Omar El Hilali, Vanderson of Monaco and former Man City academy graduate Jeremie Frimpong have all been linked as potential replacements and, the way this season is going, it will surely be Walker’s last donning a blue shirt.
Forget Gundogan: Man City star who had 98% passing could be Pep's new Rodri
Manchester City emphatically returned to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.
ByKelan Sarson Dec 5, 2024