Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal must learn to control matches after throwing away another lead late on in their 1-1 draw with Sheffield United.
John Fleck s deflected shot seven minutes from time cancelled out Gabriel Martinelli s ninth goal of the season in Saturday s Premier League clash at Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have dropped 13 points from winning positions this term as many as they did in the whole of 2018-19 having also let advantages slip against Chelsea and Crystal Palace in recent weeks.
Arteta concedes a lack of focus has cost his side since he replaced Unai Emery in December but denies the Gunners lack leaders in their ranks to help see games through.
It s more to do with game management, he told reporters. We can talk about the things that happ…
Former US international Michael Parkhurst has extended his contract with Danish Super League club FC Nordsjælland.
Parkhurst, 27, made 115 MLS appearances for New England Revolution before heading to Denmark in 2008.
The improved deal with Nordsjælland will see him remain at Farum Park until the end of 2012.
He s signed a one-year extension, Parkhurst s agent Lyle Yorks said.
He likes the club, and they are doing well, Yorks said.
They are competing to be in the Champions League. He wanted to stay. (Signing with a winter expiration) does keep MLS as an option for him.
Parkhurst, a former MLS Rookie of the Year, has impressed at right-back this season, and is the only player for second-placed Nordsjælland to play every minute.
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Desperate to try and find a Champions League boost in midweek, Manchester City will welcome Club Brugge to the Etihad on Wednesday night.
Manchester City
Starting with the hosts, while many would have expected Manchester City to pick up a routine victory at home against Crystal Palace over the weekend, it was an afternoon to forget for the defending Premier League champions. Putting in a flat display at the Etihad and suffering a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Eagles, Head Coach Pep Guardiola has had to deal with a difficult week. Along with suffering their second top-flight loss since opening up the 2021/22 campaign, the Sky Blues also saw their EFL Cup reign come to an abrupt end in the capital. Crashing out thanks to a penal…
Bukayo Saka has returned to training with Arsenal, easing fears regarding his chances of featuring for England at the World Cup.
Saka was forced off in the 27th minute of Sunday s 5-0 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest following a heavy challenge from Renan Lodi, having assisted Gabriel Martinelli s opener.
The youngster s injury led to fears he might not be fit to feature in Gareth Southgate s squad for Qatar, but on Wednesday, Mikel Arteta confirmed Saka had overcome the problem.
With Arsenal looking to top their Europa League group by beating Zurich, Saka has joined Oleksandr Zinchenko and Mohamed Elneny in making a return to training.
They are in different stages, obviously. Mo had a long-term injury but has recovered in a really good way and …
Bayern Munich dished out a 4-0 defeat to local rivals Nuremberg in the Bundesliga with Mario Gomez bagging another brace.
Gomez got the league leaders off to the perfect start, nodding in Bastian Schweinsteiger s cross within the first two minutes against a distinctly lacklustre Nuremberg side.
Schweinsteiger and Franck Ribery added further goals before half time, and then Gomez s 10th league goal of the season in the 68th minute settled the three points for Bayern.
Bayern remain top of the league on 25 points, four clear of Schalke who were impressive 3-1 winners over Hoffenheim.
Veteran Raul put the hosts ahead in the 28th minute before Vedad Ibisevic equalised for Hoffenheim in the 63rd minute.
Schalke replied through a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar pen…
The Portuguese FA has issued a second criticism of the venue for the first leg of their Euro 2012 playoff with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Representatives from the Portuguese FA had already launched a complaint to UEFA regarding the state of the turf at the Bilino Polje in Zenica.
The governing body for European football dismissed Portugal s request to have the match moved to a different stadium, stressing an expert had been hired to keep the turf in a good condition.
But after studying photos of the pitch, Portuguese FA sporting director Carlos Godinho has expressed further concerns about the state of the surface ahead of Friday s match.
The turf is even worse than it was when it was first inspected, after the play-off draw, he told Lusa.
We lamen…
Peter Crouch said he wants to sign a new deal with Stoke City amid interest from West Brom.
Crouch is out of contract at the end of the 2014-15 Premier League season and the ex England international is rumoured to be a target of former manager Tony Pulis, who is now in charge at The Hawthorns.
Pulis signed Crouch from Tottenham in August 2011 but the towering 33-year-old is happy to stay at Stoke.
I don t know what will happen in the future but at the moment, for the foreseeable future, I am happy playing for Stoke, Crouch said.
My contract is up at the end of the season so I don t know what the future will hold, but at the moment I will just continue to do what I do – that is work hard and hopefully score some goals.
It is nice to hear whe…
Wolves forward Pedro Neto has extended his contract with the club until 2025.
The 20-year-old, who joined Wolves from Braga following the end of a two-year loan stint at Lazio in 2019, has been rewarded for an impressive first season in the Premier League.
He scored three times in 29 appearances for Nuno Espirito Santo s men as they finished seventh in the English top-flight.
And he was understandably delighted to see his hard work pay off with an offer of fresh terms.
It s been amazing being here. I love being here; the family that we are building, all the club, it s been fantastic for me, so I m very happy, he told the club s official website.
This new deal shows I m working very hard and I was expecting it because I worked for it. I always wo…
Former Manchester City and England defender Joleon Lescott has left Aston Villa to join AEK Athens, the Greek club have announced.
The 34-year-old, who joined Villa from West Brom in September 2015, had not featured for the Championship side this term, and has now penned a two-year contract in the Greek capital.
Lescott infuriated Villa fans for commenting that relegation from the Premier League was a weight off the shoulders and was close to joining Scottish giants Rangers earlier this month, only for the move to fall through after he failed to agree personal terms.
It has not been disclosed whether AEK have paid a transfer fee for Lescott, who accumulated 26 England caps, scoring one goal, and won the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup during a five-year sti…
Darren Bent has revealed that he has held talks with Aston Villa over a new contract with the club, .
The striker, who was frozen out at Villa Park under previous manager Paul Lambert, is currently on loan with Championship promotion hopefuls Derby County.
However, the former Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland, Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town man is confident of rebuilding his Villa career under Tim Sherwood, once has finished in attempts to help the Rams reach the Premier League.
Bent moved to the Midlands side in January 2011, and has since scored twenty-five goals in seventy-two appearances for the club in all competitions though he has spent the majority of the past two seasons out on loan.
He has been capped thirteen times for England, scoring fo…