Author: admin

LONDON: Viktor Gyokeres scored twice to end a nine-match goal drought as Arsenal produced a furious second-half display to thrash Atletico Madrid 4-0, extending their perfect record in the Champions League, early this morning.

Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli opened the scoring before two goals from Gyokeres completed the Gunners’ goal celebration, all of which came in a 13-minute period around the hour mark.

The English Premier League leaders are now joined by two giants, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan, at the top of the group, as the three teams that have collected a full nine points from their opening three matches.

The Gyokeres’ previous decline in scoring has been the only minor concern for Mikel Arteta in what has been a promising start to the season.

The Swedish striker, who was signed from Sporting Lisbon to fill the void left by Arsenal’s prolific striker, has scored just three goals, all at home against Leeds and Nottingham Forest, in his previous 11 appearances.

“Hopefully this will be the start of a beautiful run of goals,” said Arteta.

“That’s why we brought him here. He has high standards for himself, but we also really appreciate all his contributions to the team.”

Atletico, on the other hand, have continued to fail to win away from home this season and the way they collapsed after an hour of play must have worried coach Diego Simeone.

Another clean sheet means Arsenal have now conceded just three times in 12 games in all competitions this season.

Declan Rice’s free kick deflected beautifully to Gabriel who headed it into the corner of the goal.

Myles Lewis-Skelly then passed the ball straight to Martinelli who deflected the shot into the corner of the goal for his third goal in three consecutive Champions League matches.

Gyokeres finally ended his goal drought when his close-range effort was deflected by defender David Hancko, causing Jan Oblak to miss.

Three minutes later, Gyokeres was again in the right position to head home Gabriel’s header from Rice’s corner for his second goal.

“It’s been a while, but we’ve still won games, so this period has actually been pretty good,” said Gyokeres.

“As a striker, of course you want to score goals. It was nice to get two goals tonight and this win shows our true level.”

LISBON: Cristiano Ronaldo set a new record as the top scorer in World Cup qualifying, but Portugal had to settle for a 2-2 draw as Hungary scored a late equaliser to delay their ticket to the 2026 tournament.

After Attila Szalai put the visitors ahead, two first-half goals from Ronaldo almost ensured Roberto Martinez’s side qualified early for the 2026 World Cup.

However, Dominik Szoboszlai emerged as Hungary’s hero when he equalised in injury time, reviving his country’s hopes of qualifying for the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

“We’re getting closer to our goal! Come on, Portugal!” Ronaldo said on the X platform after the match.

Martinez’s squad currently leads Group F with 10 points, five points ahead of Hungary.

“We failed to manage the game well in the last 10 minutes,” he admitted.

“If you don’t finish the game, you have to know how to control it until the final whistle. Today we stopped playing and Hungary punished us.”

Portugal had previously defeated Hungary in a dramatic five-goal thriller in Budapest and once again the opponents proved they were not an easy team to beat.

Hungary took the lead as early as the eighth minute when Szalai headed in Szoboszlai’s corner.

But Ronaldo, still leading the attack at the age of 40, quickly equalised from a pass from Nelson Semedo.

It was the Al-Nassr star’s 40th goal in the World Cup qualifying campaign – surpassing the record of Carlos Ruiz of Guatemala (39 goals).

Ronaldo added another goal before the break with a neat finish following a Nuno Mendes pass for the 143rd international goal of his career.

PARIS: France’s sensational striker, Kylian Mbappe, has been confirmed to be out of the 2026 World Cup qualifier against Iceland on Monday after suffering a right ankle injury.

According to an official statement from the French Football Federation (FFF), Mbappe — who is currently with Real Madrid — had previously suffered a minor injury to his right ankle and had to be taken off early during France’s 3-0 win over Azerbaijan in Paris yesterday.

In the match, Mbappe scored the opening goal before being fouled twice by the opposing defense, including a hard tackle by Rustam Ahmedzade, which caused an injury to the same part.

“His ankle is sore and he got hit in the area again. He asked to be taken off because the pain was quite serious,” said France coach Didier Deschamps after the match.

The FFF explained that after returning to the Clairefontaine training center, Mbappe spoke with Deschamps who then agreed to release him back to Real Madrid without a replacement.

Mbappe’s absence adds to a long list of strikers who have been ruled out this month, including Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Marcus Thuram and Bradley Barcola.

France remain top of Group D after three matches without defeat.

Les Bleus will confirm their ticket to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico if they win over Iceland and Ukraine fail to beat Azerbaijan.

In the victory over Azerbaijan, besides Mbappe, Adrien Rabiot and Florian Thauvin also scored.

MANCHESTER: Harry Maguire is keen to sign a new contract with Manchester United before the end of the year.

The 32-year-old centre-back is now entering the final eight months of his current contract, but further talks have already begun between the club and Maguire’s representatives.

United’s director of football negotiations, Matt Hargreaves, is said to have held preliminary talks with the player’s agent.

Maguire previously received an automatic one-year extension in January at the request of manager Ruben Amorim, who also added the former captain to the club’s new leadership group in the summer.

Although United tried to reduce David de Gea’s wages before the goalkeeper left the club two years ago, Maguire is expected to remain on his original contract.

His salary has been reduced by 25 percent after United failed to qualify for the Champions League in May 2024, leaving him earning around 140,000 pounds a week.

Amorim also gave the former Leicester player the confidence to return to the captaincy for the League Cup match against Grimsby Town in August – the first time Maguire has led the team since losing the captaincy under Erik ten Hag in July 2023.

Despite no longer being called up to the England squad, Maguire has enjoyed two stellar seasons at Old Trafford since a £30 million move to West Ham failed to materialise.

A dramatic 121st-minute winning goal against Lyon in the Europa League quarter-finals last April and consistent performances have made him a favourite with United fans again, after previously being frequently jeered during pre-season tours in Australia, the United States and Ireland.

Maguire is now the oldest central defender in the United squad and has played in 38 of Amorim’s 50 games.

Since joining United from Leicester in 2019 for £80 million — a world record for a defender — Maguire has made 253 appearances, and recently received a special award frame from director of football Jason Wilcox to celebrate his 250th appearance for the club.

NAPLES: Rasmus Hojlund celebrated a brilliant night in the European Champions League when he scored two goals to help Napoli beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, early this morning.

The Danish striker, who joined Manchester United before being loaned to Napoli, celebrated the victory by showing off the Champions League badge on his shirt.

The action reminded United fans that several of their former stars are now increasingly prominent on the European stage, while Ruben Amorim’s squad failed to qualify for this season’s tournament.

Hojlund, who was sidelined by Amorim after Benjamin Sesko came on, opened the scoring in the 36th minute through Kevin De Bruyne’s pass.

Sporting equalised from the penalty spot, but De Bruyne’s cross was again key as Hojlund headed home the winning goal.

De Bruyne praised Hojlund’s sharpness by comparing him to former Manchester City teammate Erling Haaland.

“I think Rasmus is maturing and his style is very similar to Haaland. They both like to attack space and are dangerous in front of goal,” said De Bruyne.

Hojlund has now scored three goals in five appearances for Antonio Conte’s side, with his loan including an obligatory buy-out clause of £38 million.

Besides Hojlund, several other former United players also stole the spotlight.

Anthony Elanga, who left Old Trafford for Nottingham Forest before moving to Newcastle, emerged as man of the match after helping the Magpies to a 4-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise.

Marcus Rashford continues to shine with Barcelona with six goals in six matches.

The England international provided the assist for Ferran Torres’ goal against Paris Saint-Germain, although the defending champions came from behind to win 2-1.

In Germany, Marcel Sabitzer, a former United loanee, was also named man of the match as Borussia Dortmund beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1.

Meanwhile, Alejandro Garnacho helped Chelsea to a narrow 1-0 victory over Benfica at Stamford Bridge when he was involved in the only goal of the match.