West Brom 0-3 Manchester City: Yaya Toure stars on Sterling debut

The 32-year-old midfielder netted twice in the first half, while Vincent Kompany’s well-taken header after the break sealed a comfortable win for Manuel Pellegrini’s men


Two first-half goals from Yaya Toure and a header from Vincent Kompany helped Manchester City seal a comfortable 3-0 victory over West Brom on Monday evening.

Toure opened the scoring after nine minutes as his shot went through the legs of David Silva before Craig Dawson’s deflection took the ball past Boaz Myhill.

The 32-year-old midfielder added his second 15 minutes later as he met Wilfried Bony’s lay-off with a neatly curled effort into the corner of the net.

Kompany wrapped up the victory in the second half with a fine header at the near post from Silva’s corner.


City’s £49 million summer signing Raheem Sterling was handed his official debut, while Sergio Aguero made a late appearance from the bench.

West Brom, meanwhile, handed debuts to Rickie Lambert, James McClean and James Chester.

City began the match on the front foot and were quickly rewarded for their spell of pressure.

Having received the ball from a Jesus Navas cutback on the edge of West Brom’s box, Toure scuffed an effort that trickled past Myhill following deflections from Silva and Dawson.

Toure’s second was the result of a well-worked move by City as the Ivorian received Bony’s perfectly weighted lay-off on the edge of the area and placed his effort beyond the reach of Myhill.

Another Dawson deflection saw Bony’s shot drift wide shortly after the half-hour mark, while Sterling missed a golden opportunity to mark his debut with a goal as he failed to beat Myhill after being sent through one on one.

West Brom, who announced the club-record signing of Salomon Rondon from Zenit earlier on Monday, barely threatened during a miserable first half and when Saido Berahino did eventually find the net just before the break, he was flagged offside.

After the break, Sterling again saw a tame effort kept out by Myhill, while Lambert curled a free-kick narrowly over the bar, and Berahino squandered a great chance at the other end.

Victory was sealed for City in the 59th minute when Kompany escaped Lescott to head Silva’s corner beyond Myhill from a tight angle.

Emery: Sevilla can reach football's top level

The coach sees the Uefa Super Cup clash against Barcelona as the level his side should aspire to reach regularly from now on

Sevilla’s Uefa Super Cup meeting with Barcelona represents the type of stage Unai Emery wants his club to test themselves upon more frequently.

Emery led Sevilla to the a successful defence of the Europa League in May with a 3-2 win over Dnipro in the final.

That booked a Super Cup clash with Barca, who lifted the Champions League trophy thanks to a 3-1 victory over Juventus in June.

Sevilla will compete in Europe’s premier club competition in 2015-16, and Emery sees Tuesday’s game in Tbilisi as a measure of his team’s progress.

“It is one more chance, we want to take advantage against a great opponent who are favourites to win the game,” he said.

“The opportunity we have is that we always want to play a lot of games against Barcelona in the future.

“It will mean we are at the top level of football. Tomorrow is a continuation of what we achieved last season.

“We deserve to be here. We make the leap into the Champions League, where we find the best teams in the world. We want to challenge those teams with our capabilities.

“Barcelona are favourites but we will go there with the dream we can spring a surprise. If we beat them, it will boost our confidence and our profile, and give us much-needed impetus for the campaign ahead.

“We have to find ways of reducing the gap between the sides, and when we do, we have to use them to stop Barca. We must approach this tie with the idea of overcoming the differences between the teams.”

Pirlo sluggish as NYCFC fall to Red Bulls – how the international stars fared in MLS

Goal takes a look at the performances from the top international stars in the United States, including the Italian’s struggles alongside NYCFC’s foreign heroes

New York City FC entered their debut MLS season with the hope of bringing in enough star power to win over the city’s fans and make the Red Bulls irrelevant in the market. With the talent the club has acquired, they surely won the marketing race against their rivals. On the field, however, the Red Bulls have proven that they are the team to beat in the Big Apple.

Maybe the signing of a bunch of players past their primes wasn’t such a good idea for NYCFC after all. But it all depends on whether the team cares more about selling jerseys or winning matches.

With big names like Andrea Pirlo, David Villa and Frank Lampard starting alongside each other for the first time, City looked like a force heading into Red Bull Arena on Sunday night — but only on paper. Once the whistle blew, it was easy to see why Red Bulls fans heckled the opposing side with a “City Retirement Home” sign as their team cruised to its third straight win over them with a 2-0 victory.

It will surely take time for NYCFC’s newest stars to adjust to the North American league and they’ve only been together for a few weeks since the arrival of Pirlo. But age is clearly going to be a factor for them, with the club’s three best players in their mid-30s and not getting any younger.

Pirlo was the biggest flop of the New York derby. The 36-year-old did not look like a player who helped guide Juventus to the Serie A title and Champions League final, carelessly giving the ball away in the midfield and botching a corner kick. Fitness is clearly an issue for the Italian, but time is running out on the season.

City are currently sitting outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture in eighth place. Meanwhile, the Red Bulls, who are led by Bradley Wright-Phillips (30), Sacha Kljestan (29) and Dax McCarty (28), are sitting pretty in second.

Here is a run down of how the international stars fared in MLS this week… 

Steven Gerrard, LA Galaxy

Last game: LA Galaxy 3-1 Seattle Sounders

Key stats: 90 minutes, 3 shots, completed 64 of 73 passes

Notes: Gerrard had a quiet afternoon in his fourth game since joining the Galaxy from Liverpool, but the 35-year-old made international headlines when he sent a message to his former club before the match.

Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC

Last game: Toronto FC 1-2 Sporting KC

Key stats: 90 minutes, 1 assist, 4 chances created

Notes: Giovinco assisted Michael Bradley’s goal, but Sporting KC would respond with two unanswered goals of its own. The Italian now ranks first in MLS with a combined total of 27 goals and assists after notching a midweek hat trick against Orlando City.

26-20 – Sebastian Giovinco (26) and @b_feilhaber22 (20) now rank #1 and #2 in Goals + Assists in @MLS 2015 (Kamara tied at #2). Battling.

— OptaJack (@OptaJack) August 8, 2015

Frank Lampard, NYCFC

Last game: NY Red Bulls 2-0 NYCFC

Key stats: 86 minutes, 4 shots, 7 recoveries, completed 30 of 43 passes

Notes: Not only did Lampard get trolled by Red Bulls fans for his age, the former Chelsea star also got nutmegged by Mike Grella in the buildup to the Red Bulls’ second goal. It was not the best of days for the midfielder in the Big Apple derby.

Felipe goal. Grella nutmeg on Frank Lampard included. #NYvNYC pic.twitter.com/W4gZPoUZtj

— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) August 10, 2015

Kaka, Orlando City

Last game: Orlando City 0-0 Philadelphia Union

Key stats: 90 minutes, 3 chances created, completed 40 of 44 passes

Notes: After sitting out last Wednesday’s match against Toronto due to a “small injury,” Kaka returned to action in a scoreless draw against the Union.

The march onto the pitch. #ORLvPHI #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/e4ChJscnDB

— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) August 8, 2015

Giovani dos Santos, LA Galaxy

Last game: LA Galaxy 3-1 Seattle Sounders

Key stats: 69 minutes, 1 goal, 1 assist

Notes: Dos Santos made his MLS regular-season debut with a goal and assist just days after scoring for the Galaxy in the Concacaf Champions League. But his personal highlight of the day may have come when he met David Beckham prior to the match. “It’s an honor and it gives me a lot of pride to have a player of his stature show his support. It makes me very happy and that makes me think that the decision I took is even a better one,” the Mexico international said.

David Villa, NYCFC

Last game: NY Red Bulls 2-0 NYCFC

Key stats: 90 minutes, 5 shots, 4 chances created

Notes: Villa joined Pirlo and Lampard in disappointing 500 traveling NYCFC fans in Harrison, New Jersey. His highlight of the night came when he ripped Felipe Martins’ shorts on national TV.

Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy

Last game: LA Galaxy 3-1 Seattle Sounders

Key stats: 90 minutes, 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 chances created

Notes: After his team went down a goal early on, Gyasi Zardes tied the match and Keane knocked in the winner just after halftime to help LA win its fifth straight home game.

Shaun Wright-Phillips, New York Red Bulls

Last game: NY Red Bulls 2-0 NYCFC

Key stats: 24 minutes, 2 shots

Notes: While Red Bulls fans were making fun of the older NYCFC players, veteran midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips came on halfway through the second half to help his team hold on for the derby win. His brother, Bradley, scored for the home side.

“Your team is a retirement home, only signing players past their prime.” *Shaun Wright-Phillips backs away*

— Maxi Rodriguez (@FutbolIntellect) August 9, 2015

Obafemi Martins, Seattle Sounders

Last game: LA Galaxy 3-1 Seattle Sounders

Key stats: Did not play

Notes: The Sounders now have gone 0-8-1 since Martins went down with a groin injury.

Obafemi Martins did not travel with the team for tomorrow’s Sounders-Galaxy match

— Matt Pentz (@mattpentz) August 9, 2015

Didier Drogba, Montreal Impact

Last game: Montreal Impact 1-1 NY Red Bulls

Key stats: Did not play

Notes: Drogba signed with the Impact last month and plans on taking his time to get fit before making his debut.

.@didierdrogba in the house. #MTLvNY pic.twitter.com/1G4xJxeX5x

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 6, 2015

Barcelona – Sevilla Preview: Rakitic confident of Super Cup success

The Croatian midfielder feels his side are in good shape as they look to kick off the season with victory against their Spanish rivals

Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic is full of confidence that his side can claim the next trophy of a possible sextuple when they face Sevilla in Tuesday’s Uefa Super Cup in Tbilisi.

Spain’s strength in European club football was underlined by the respective successes of Barca and Sevilla in the Champions League and Europa League finals at the end of last season.

Sevilla defended their title with a 3-2 victory over Dnipro, while Barca completed the treble thanks to their 3-1 triumph over Juventus.

Barca have recent experience of glory on this occasion, with victories in 2011 and 2009, although they were defeated 3-0 by Sevilla in the 2006 showpiece.

And Rakitic, who moved to Camp Nou from Sevilla in 2014, believes the Catalan giants can enjoy a repeat of 2009, when they lifted six trophies.

“Nobody wants to do that more than we do,” he said. “But we have to take things each step at a time. And the first chance is on Tuesday in Tbilisi.

“We are confident in ourselves and in our strengths. We’ll work even harder than we did last year. But we know that there will be hard times this season too.

“We’ve got a strong team and I just try to be myself. I like taking on responsibilities, as I have done at all the clubs I’ve played for. My role won’t change because Xavi has gone. I am Rakitic and I have my own virtues.”

Barca will be without Neymar, who has been diagnosed with mumps, while Adriano, Douglas, and Jordi Alba are all injured.

Sevilla’s Michael Krohn-Dehli, a fresh arrival from Celta Vigo in the off-season, concedes his side are underdogs, and that Tuesday’s clash may come too soon for all the new signings to gel.

“Maybe yes, maybe no. We will find out after the game,” he said.

“It’s true that with so many new players we need a bit of time to adapt and get to know each other. In any case, we are ready to go out and play well and we want to win.

“Barca have won the league, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. However, last season as a Celta player I was able to win at Camp Nou. In a game you always have a chance.”

Pedro's future will be sorted soon – Luis Enrique

The Barcelona coach refused to reveal whether the winger will be leaving Camp Nou, but hopes the matter is resolved before the start of La Liga

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique says the future of Manchester United target Pedro will be sorted soon.

Barca and United have already agreed a fee that will see the winger move to Old Trafford in the near future.

The Catalan club are in action against Sevilla in the Uefa Super Cup in Tbilisi on Tuesday night and Pedro is expected to feature after Neymar was ruled out due to illness.

Barca are also keen on signing Celta Vigo forward Nolito as a possible replacement for the winger, but will only push through a deal once Pedro’s move to Old Trafford has been finalised.

Pedro is keen to leave as he seeks more first-team opportunities and there is a gentleman’s agreement allowing the player to depart for a cut-price of €30 million.

Neymar’s mumps, which will also see him miss the Spanish Supercopa double-header against Athletic Club on August 14 and 17, could hold up the move slightly, but Luis Enrique admitted on Monday: “Pedro’s future will be resolved shortly because there is not long to go until the transfer market closes.”

Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Sevilla, he added: “The season is about to start and it’s time to focus. Every competition is a challenge and we will have to see what we do and what our rival does to see who deserves the title.”

Barca won the treble last season and will now look to replicate the six titles won in 2009 by Pep Guardiola’s great Blaugrana side as they compete in the Spanish and European Super Cups and the Club World Cup at the end of the year.

“Our work has gone to plan and we arrive in a good moment,” Luis Enrique said.

In Neymar’s absence, the Asturian coach lined up his side with Pedro in attack in Monday’s training session – alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

And on the Uruguayan, he said: “Suarez had a spectacular year. He was very important for us and few could have matched him. He will have the same role again this season.”