Soccer News

Madrid (AFP) – Barcelona were held 0-0 by Rayo Vallecano in their opening game of the La Liga season and had captain Sergio Busquets sent off late on.

The Catalans had 21 shots on goal and the majority of possession at the Camp Nou but were unable to break the deadlock.

Barca boss Xavi started close-season signings including defender Andreas Christensen, winger Raphinha and striker Robert Lewandowski, who were only able to feature after being registered with the league late on Friday.

The five-time Champions League winners had to comply with La Liga’s strict financial controls before being able to confirm the likes of ex-Bayern Munich attacker Lewandowski in their squad ahead of the new campaign.

The hosts dominated the opening half an hour as Lewandowski was denied a goal on his competitive debut. 

The Poland forward was judged to be offside from an Ousmane Dembele pass before his delicate chipped finish was cancelled out.

As rain fell at the Camp Nou in temperatures of 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit) Pedri came close to breaking the deadlock with 10 minutes of the half to play but his curling effort flew past the post.

Despite their first half control Marc ter Stegen ensured the sides stayed level at the break with a fine save to stop Rayo’s Alvaro Garcia during injury time.

Barca continued their onslaught on the Rayo defence but were unable to beat goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski, who was involved in two heavy collisions on his line within the first 10 minutes of the second half.

With half an hour to play Xavi brought on Frenkie de Jong for Gavi despite the Netherlands midfielder being linked with a move away from Catalunya to lighten club debt, which forced Lionel Messi to leave 12 months ago.

– Falcao goes close –

Xavi’s Rayo counterpart Andoni Iraola also made changes in the final 30 minutes including giving experienced Colombia striker Radamel Falcao his competitive debut.

With nine minutes left De Jong combined with Lewandowski but the 33-year-old’s shot skimmed the upright.

Seven minutes later another Barca summer signing was denied a goal as midfielder Franck Kessie, who arrived from AC Milan, was offside before beating Dimitrievski.

Xavi’s side ended the game with 10 men as club skipper Busquets was red-carded for an elbow on Falcao in the fourth of eight injury time minutes.

Less than 60 seconds later, Falcao thought he had scored the winner, and claimed Rayo’s third straight win over the Catalans, but was found to be offside and the visitors held on for the point.

Earlier, 21-year-old winger Alex Baena scored twice on just his eighth La Liga appearance as Villarreal beat Real Valladolid 3-0.

Forward Joselu claimed a point for Espanyol at Celta Viga with a 97th minute winner with a 2-2 draw after the Galicians’ veteran striker Iago Aspas scored his side’s opening goal of a season for a third straight campaign.

On Sunday, champions Real Madrid head to promoted Almeria while, on Monday, Atletico Madrid head south to face Getafe.

On Friday, Osasuna stunned Champions League qualifiers Sevilla 2-1 in the opening fixture of the campaign.

Read more: https://worldsoccertalk.com/2022/08/13/new-look-barca-frustrated-by-rayo-in-season-opener/

Milan (AFP) – AC Milan got off to a winning start in their Italian title defence with a hard-fought 4-2 win over Udinese on Saturday as Denzel Dumfries’ stoppage-time strike earned Inter Milan a late win at Lecce.

Champions Milan bounced back from going behind with less than two minutes on the clock to claim the three points thanks to two goals from Ante Rebic, a Theo Hernando penalty and a strike from Brahim Diaz.

The margin of defeat was harsh on Udinese who acquitted themselves well in front of a raucous home crowd at the San Siro.

However three points and four goals were the perfect way for Milan to kick-off what is likely to be a tight title tussle in Italy, with no clear favourite ahead of the start of the campaign.

“We can do better, there were a lot of positives but and other things on which we can improve but that normal for this period of the season,” said Pioli to DAZN.

Fans at a packed San Siro roared “we are the champions” as the team came out on a balmy summer’s evening in Milan, but they were soon stunned into silence when Rodrigo Becao met Gerard Deulofeu’s corner with a header which squeezed past Mike Maignan.

Milan responded and were ahead with less than a quarter of a hour gone after a long VAR check on a clash between Davide Calabria and Udinese’s Brandon Soppy led to Hernandez smashing in his 12th-minute spot-kick. Rebic swept home the hosts’ second three minutes later.

Udinese were livid at the decision to award Milan’s penalty, described as “without any logic” by the club’s technical director Pierpaolo Marino.

A hugely entertaining first half ended with the Milan fans again wondering what was going on thanks to Adam Masina, whose diving header in the fourth minute of added time levelled the scores in spectacular fashion.

Masina then calmed the home side’s nerves when he handed Diaz a tap-in to put Milan back ahead, unwittingly nodding Hernandez’s cross into the Spaniard’s path.

Diaz was at the heart of things again in the 68th minute, pressuring Roberto Pereyra in the Udinese area before nicking the ball and rolling back a low pass which Rebic stretched to push in the fourth which sealed the win.

– Dumfries steals the show –

Dumfries stole the headlines on Romelu Lukaku’s return to Serie A with a 94th-minute strike just as Inter looked to have dropped points at newly-promoted Lecce.

Lukaku nodded home from close range with just 81 seconds gone to give Inter the lead at the Stadio Via del Mare, an ominous sign for Lecce as he had netted against the southern side on his Italian top flight debut in 2019, a 4-0 thumping for Inter at the San Siro.

However Marco Baroni’s side, pushed on by passionate home support, refused to be cowed by their more illustrious opponents and drew level less than two minutes after half-time through Assan Ceesay, who slipped in a precision finish after being neatly put through by Federico Di Francesco.

Kristijan Bistrovic and Lameck Banda both stung Samir Handanovic’s fingers in the Inter goal but the away side had chances to win as they pressed in the latter stages.

Dumfries headed off the post and Lukaku was denied by flying goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone just before the Netherlands wingback bundled in the winner which was harsh on the spirited hosts.

Silvio Berlusconi’s Monza were given a reality check in their first ever Serie A match, beaten at home 2-1 by Torino.

Aleksei Miranchuk opened the scoring two minutes from the break on his Torino debut, expertly finishing off Antonio Sanabria’s through ball following a quick passing move.

Sanabria doubled the away side’s lead with an acrobatic scissor kick midway through the second half, much to the disappointment of Berlusconi who was in the stands at the Stadio Brianteo.

Atalanta won Saturday’s other early match, 2-0 at Sampdoria through goals from Rafael Toloi and Ademola Lookman.

Read more: https://worldsoccertalk.com/2022/08/13/champions-milan-off-to-winning-start-dumfries-steals-show-for-inter/

Paris (AFP) – Neymar continued his outstanding run of form at the start of this season with a brace, while Kylian Mbappe marked his return to the side with a goal as Paris Saint-Germain trounced Montpellier 5-2 in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Mbappe had a first-half penalty saved in his first competitive outing of the campaign after suspension and injury, but he made up for that by converting following a Neymar corner in the second half.

Earlier, Falaye Sacko’s own goal gave PSG a 39th-minute lead at the Parc des Princes, and Neymar netted a spot-kick to make it 2-0 at the break.

Neymar nodded in his second and his side’s third goal six minutes after the break, before Wahbi Khazri pulled one back for Montpellier.

Mbappe got the fourth goal on the night for the reigning French champions, and Neymar thought he had a hat-trick only to be denied by an offside decision.

However, recent signing Renato Sanches came off the bench to score PSG’s fifth, with Enzo Tchato pulling another back for Montpellier at the death.

The Parisians have won all three competitive outings at the start of this campaign, scoring 14 goals already under new coach Christophe Galtier.

Neymar has five goals to his name.

Read more: https://worldsoccertalk.com/2022/08/13/neymar-scores-brace-mbappe-on-target-in-psg-victory/

London (AFP) – Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said he had the “main responsibility” for a humiliating 4-0 loss away to Brentford on Saturday left the one time kings of English football bottom of the Premier League.

Brentford, who only ended a 74-year absence from English football’s top flight with promotion to the Premier League in August 2021, scored four goals inside the opening 35 minutes to spark joyous scenes at their west London ground.

United fell behind in woeful fashion when goalkeeper David de Gea somehow let a Josh Dasilva shot slip through his grasp before Mathias Jensen struck as the visitors failed to play out from the back.

Ben Mee then exposed United’s frailty from set-pieces for his first Brentford goal and Bryan Mbuemo rounded off a stunning counter-attack 10 minutes before half-time.

Former Ajax manager Ten Hag had seen his United reign begin with Brighton recording their maiden win at Old Trafford last week, but this defeat plunged the Red Devils to the bottom of the table for the first time in 30 years.

– ‘Open-heart surgery’ –

“You have to take responsibility on the pitch as a team and as individuals, that’s what we didn’t do,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports.

“What I asked them to do is play with belief and take responsibility for the performance. We have to work on that.”

He added: “The manager is responsible as well. He has the main responsibility and I’ll take that and work on that.”

In a separate interview with the BBC, the United manager said his team had to be “ready for the battle”.

United were last crowned champions of England in the 2012/13 season in manager Alex Ferguson’s final campaign before retirement.

But while Ten Hag was keen to bolster his squad, he was adamant the team he sent out at Brentford were far better than this result indicated. 

“It is clear we need players but I don’t want to think about that in this moment,” he said.

“The good players we had should have been better. I hoped for a better start, but still I have to believe because I have seen good things but the two games from now are disappointing.”

Former Manchester United and England full-back Gary Neville, a longstanding critic of the Glazer family, the club’s US-based owners, slammed the hierarchy at Old Trafford for failing to give Ten Hag adequate support.

“Manchester United have known for eight to 10 months they needed to rebuild the squad for the summer,” said Neville, now a Sky pundit. 

“(Former manager) Ralf Rangnick said it was open-heart surgery.

“To not get the players in early, the quality of the players, the number of players that Erik ten Hag needed to be able to start the season, is baffling and difficult to forgive.”

Read more: https://worldsoccertalk.com/2022/08/13/blame-me-says-ten-hag-after-brentford-battering-leaves-man-utd-bottom/

London (AFP) – Erik ten Hag’s bad start as Manchester United manager descended into an embarrassment as a 4-0 thrashing by Brentford on Saturday left the Red Devils bottom of the Premier League.

The former Ajax boss’ reign began with Brighton’s first ever win at Old Trafford last weekend, but much worse was to come as the Bees punished a series of errors to score four times in the first 35 minutes.

Josh Dasilva’s strike slipped through David de Gea’s grasp to open the floodgates before Mathias Jensen pounced on United’s attempt to play out from the back to make it 2-0 inside 18 minutes.

Ben Mee then exposed the visitors’ frailty from set-pieces for his first Brentford goal and Bryan Mbuemo rounded off a stunning counter-attack 10 minutes before half-time to sink United to the bottom of the table for the first time in 30 years.

The jubilant home support taunted Ten Hag with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning.”

But the Dutch coach has inherited a rabble rather than being the root cause as United lost a seventh consecutive away league match for the first time since 1936.

“We all have seen the game. I think Brentford were more hungry and we conceded goals to individual mistakes,” said Ten Hag. “You can have a good plan but that puts the plan in the bin.”

United have now conceded four goals or more seven times in the Premier League since the start of last season.

The arrival of £57 million ($69 million) centre-back Lisandro Martinez from Ajax has done little to shore up United’s leaky defence and questions will be asked of why Ten Hag has left Raphael Varane on the bench in favour of the Argentine and the out-of-sorts Harry Maguire.

Ten Hag did recall Cristiano Ronaldo to the starting line-up, but the wantaway five-time Ballon d’Or winner played a part in the opening goal.

Ronaldo went to ground too easily seeking a foul as he was surrounded by Brentford bodies. Dasilva’s shot should still have been a comfortable save for De Gea, but the ball squirmed underneath the Spaniard.

“It was a horrible day,” said De Gea. “I feel like I cost the team.” 

– ‘Memories for life’ –

De Gea compounded that mistake eight minutes later with an attempted pass to Christian Eriksen, who was outmuscled by his former teammate Jensen, and the Dane coolly slotted home to double Brentford’s lead.

Martinez’s diminutive 5ft 9in (1.8m) frame was raised as a red flag for his ability to adapt to the physicality of the Premier League.

And the Argentine was beaten at the back post by Mee for the third goal after Ivan Toney headed a corner across goal.

Credit to Brentford in just their second season in the English top-flight for 75 years may get swept away in the waves of criticism coming United’s way.

But Thomas Frank’s men produced a stunning move to tear United open again for their fourth goal.

Toney was released down the left wing and picked out Mbuemo with a precise first-time pass for the Frenchman to race in behind Luke Shaw and finish low past De Gea.

“These players keep giving me and the fans memories for life,” said Frank.

Ten Hag made his feelings clear at the break with a triple substitution with Shaw, Martinez and Fred the scapegoats.

United did at least stop the bleeding after the break and should have had at least one consolation as Ronaldo looped a header over before Eriksen’s effort lacked the power to beat David Raya.

The damage, though, was long since done for Ten Hag and worse could still be to come.

United host Liverpool, who beat their historic rivals 5-0 and 4-0 last season, in their next game on August 22.

Read more: https://worldsoccertalk.com/2022/08/13/man-united-bottom-of-table-for-first-time-in-30-years-after-4-0-rout/