Category: News

16 August 2014 21:33

Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey was pleased to avoid another opening-day disappointment after his injury-time strike sunk 10-man Crystal Palace.

Arsene Wenger’s team headed into Saturday’s Premier League match on a high following their emphatic 3-0 win over Manchester City in last Sunday’s Community Shield at Wembley.

But Palace, playing on the back of Tony Pulis’ shock departure as manager on Friday, absorbed early pressure before debutant Brede Hangeland headed them into 35th-minute lead at the Emirates Stadium.

It evoked uncomfortable memories of Arsenal’s 3-1 collapse at home to Aston Villa on the opening day of last season, although Laurent Koscielny eased fears by hauling Wenger’s men level in first-half stoppage time.

Frustrations continued after the break, but, following a second yellow card for Palace winger Jason Puncheon in the 89th minute, Ramsey pounced on set-piece uncertainty to steal a 2-1 win – Arsenal’s first on the Premier League’s opening weekend since thrashing Everton 6-1 in 2009.

“The last few seasons we struggled in the first game of the season and we nearly did,” the Wales midfielder told BBC Sport.

“It was important we kept on trying and we came away with the win.

“I didn’t have the best of games but I kept on trying, kept getting into the right areas and finally, in the 93rd minute, it went in.”

Having scored the winner against Hull City in last season’s FA Cup final and Arsenal’s second against City last weekend, Ramsey is enjoying a hot streak in front of goal.

“He has something of a rare gift – that is to be where you need to be in the box,” said Wenger on Sky Sports, where he offered praise to Palace for their display.

“Credit to Palace – they worked hard, were physically very strong and very organised.

“We gave ourselves a difficult task. They gave us big problems and defended very well

“We keep going – that’s one of our strengths and it paid off.

“The change of pace in the final third [could have been better]. That is usually one of our strengths.

“Is it down to the quality of defending or the fact that we are not there physically yet? Maybe a bit of both.”

Ramsey agreed with his manager’s assessment and noted that Pulis’ influence lived on in Palace’s performance.

“They were very hard to break down. They lost their manager earlier in the week, but you would never have known that,” he added.

“Tony Pulis got them playing really well and they picked up a lot of points towards the end of last season. You could see they were well organised and it was difficult but we came away with the three points.”

16 August 2014 21:05

Laurent Blanc conceded that he does not know the severity of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s injury after Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 win over Bastia.

The Ligue 1 champions claimed their first league win of the new campaign thanks to goals from Lucas Moura and Edinson Cavani at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.

However, Ibrahimovic, PSG’s top scorer for the last two seasons, lasted only 16 minutes before he was substituted with what Blanc described as “a strange injury.”

“Initially, I thought he had taken a knock,” Blanc said. “But no, it is his rotation where he gets injured.

“He felt a sharp pain on his right side. It is a strange injury.

“I’m not a doctor and I do not know if it’s serious, but knowing Ibra, the pain had to be quite strong for him not to finish the game.”

Ibrahimovic was not the only PSG player to suffer an injury, with midfielder Thiago Motta reportedly suffering a broken nose after appearing to be headbutted by Bastia striker Brandao in the tunnel after the game.

But, while Blanc will be far from happy with injuries to two of his key players, having already lost Thiago Silva to a hamstring problem, he was pleased with this side’s defensive improvement following their disappointing season-opening 2-2 draw at Reims.

“This match confirms what I thought of Reims, who were very good at the technical level,” Blanc, who handed a Ligue 1 debut to big-money signing David Luiz, added.

“But my team was not more ready today [Saturday]. The difference is that today we were very serious defensively and some attacks from Bastia have been mastered by Paris.

“This is the big difference between the two games.”

16 August 2014 21:01

Celtic put off-field controversy to one side as they romped to a 6-1 Scottish Premiership win over Dundee United on Saturday.

The defending champions thrilled Celtic Park from the off, Callum McGregor having hit the post and Gary Mackay-Steven passing up a great chance before on-loan Manchester City defender Jason Denayer capitalised on poor set-piece defending to mark his debut with a fourth-minute goal.

The on-going furore surrounding Celtic’s reinstatement to the UEFA Champions League at Legia Warsaw’s expense continued to dominate the build-up to the match, but a feel-good factor had returned by the time that Kris Commons’ free header and Stefan Johansen’s strike made it 3-0 before the break.

It meant Dundee United’s unbeaten start to the season was in tatters and Celtic were five goals to the good when John Rankin netted a 71st-minute consolation, Anthony Stokes’ free-kick and Jo Inge Berget’s header extending the glut of home goals.

Berget’s second was the final act of an emphatic display and Celtic sit second in the fledging table behind Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who secured a 2-0 win at Motherwell.

Greg Tansey smashed home a low shot three minutes from the end of a first half that the visitors dominated at a wet and windy Fir Park.

Substitute Aaron Doran found the top corner with aplomb to seal the points a minute from time.

Hamilton Academical are up to third, above Dundee United due to the latter’s badly hit goal difference, after recording a second Premiership win in four days with a 1-0 success against St Johnstone.

Darian MacKinnon’s deflected 15th-minute effort proved to be the only goal of the game, although the midfielder produced heroics at the other end by twice clearing off his own line.

Dundee made it three draws from as many league outings this term as they were forced to share a 1-1 scoreline with 10-man Partick Thistle at Dens Park.

Gary Fraser sent a rasping shot into the top corner to give the away side a fourth-minute lead, but Craig Wighton levelled matters nine minutes into the second period.

Dundee were awarded a 60th-minute penalty, with the added bonus of Thistle goalkeeper Scott Fox being sent off for his part in a tussle following Danny Seaborne’s foul on James McPake.

But substitute goalkeeper Paul Gallacher kept out Gary Harkins’ spot-kick and Dundee were unable to make their numerical advantage count.

Ross County remain bottom and without a point from three games after Kilmarnock left Dingwall with a 2-1 victory.

Josh Magennis and Tope Obadeyi scored headers either side of the break before County’s Liam Boyce nodded a goal of his own to set up a grandstand finish.