Back in 2009, the Republic of Ireland missed out on a World Cup invitation courtesy of a Thierry Henry handball. That didn't go over very well. You know what did go over well? Armenian Valeri Aleksanyan's cheeky own-goal in the 42nd minute of today's Euro qualifying match, for it helped kept the Republic alive in its quest to participate for the Intracontinental Title next year. Since they finished second in their group, they'll be among eight sides vying next month for four remaining slots. Now for the downside: A second yellow card and injury means they might be without top forwards Kevin Doyle and Robbie Keane for qualifying. Rep. of Ireland/Armenia [Sky Sports] Ireland beat unlucky Armenia to make playoffs [YahooUK!]
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will always be grateful to Pep Guardiola for the time they spent together at Manchester City.
Arteta was Guardiola s assistant for three years before taking the top job at Arsenal in 2019.
The duo now find themselves going head-to-head at the top of the Premier League, with the Gunners leading the way, one place ahead of chasing champions City.
Arsenal travel to Southampton on Sunday looking to restore their four-point advantage following City s 3-1 win against Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
Speaking ahead of the game at St Mary s, Arteta expressed his gratitude for his time at City and the things he learned working under Guardiola.
I learned a lot about being at the top from Pep, he said. The standards that ar…
Mikel Arteta was unsure when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would return as he reflected on a really sad FA Cup elimination for Arsenal.
The Gunners went down to a 1-0 defeat at Southampton on Saturday, their hopes of retaining the trophy ended in the fourth round.
Arsenal played without captain Aubameyang, who had to leave the team in the hours before kick-off for personal reasons.
Amid reports attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard is set to join from Real Madrid, Arteta expressed regret at his side s exit.
Really sad to be out of the competition, he said to BT Sport. Disappointed to be out and the way we conceded.
We are looking in the market and will see what we can do.
The teams meet again at St Mary s on Tuesday for a Premier League cl…
Jack Grealish was buzzing when Gareth Southgate decided to remain as England manager after the World Cup, and believes that call will reap rewards at next year s Euros.
England start their qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 on Thursday when they face Italy, who beat the Three Lions in the Euro 2020 final, before hosting Ukraine three days later.
It will be England s first encounter since their World Cup quarter-final defeat to France in December.
Southgate was considering his future ahead of England s campaign in Qatar, but elected to stay on, sticking with a contract that expires next year.
The decision proved to be a popular one among the England squad, with many of the players having been given their debut by Southgate, who has been in charge since 2016…
Luke Shaw surveyed the wreckage of Manchester United’s latest defeat and admitted: “It’s just not good enough.”
The Red Devils went down 2-0 at West Ham to slip to their 13th loss from 26 matches this season.
They have now gone four matches in a row without scoring for the first time since 1992 after another limp display.
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— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
“It’s just not good enough really, we have to win games and that’s it,” full-back Shaw told TNT Sports.
“We keep losing games, losing points and we’re making it very hard for ourselves – especially that second half, it’s not good enough.
“In the first half, we controlled the game, I think we had chances again. If we scor…
Everton have signed Netherlands international forward Arnaut Danjuma on a year-long loan from Villarreal, the club have confirmed.
The 26-year-old, who has played six times for his country, spent the second half of last season at Tottenham after they hijacked a deal for him to move to Goodison Park in January.
He scored only once in the Premier League for Spurs, netting during the 3-2 home defeat to Bournemouth in April.
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— Everton (@Everton)
He was Villarreal’s top scorer during their run to the Champions League semi-final in 2022 but subsequently fell out of favour and was made available for loan.
Bournemouth signed him to try to salvage their top-flight status in January 2020 but he failed to register a goal a…
Jan Oblak will only consider his Atletico Madrid future once their Champions League run is over.
The Slovenian goalkeeper has been touted as a possible target for Chelsea after impressing over six seasons with Atletico.
Ahead of their clash with RB Leipzig on Thursday, Oblak said all his focus was on that quarter-final as Diego Simeone s side attempt to become champions of Europe for the first time.
Winning the Europa League two years ago strengthened Atletico s resolve to go on and win the Champions League, the competition in which they were runners-up in 2013-14 and 2015-16.
This is not the time for that, now it s Leipzig, he told AS when asked about rumoured Chelsea interest.
I reflect on the season when the last game is over and hopefully w…
Harry Maguire has yet to play for Manchester United this season but could be part of the England squad announced on Thursday as Gareth Southgate deals with defensive headaches.
The Euro 2020 runners-up continue the road to next summer’s tournament with a qualifier against Ukraine in Poland on September 9, before playing a friendly in Scotland three days later.
There have been few surprises in recent selections and that theme is likely to continue when Southgate names his squad for the double-header at St George’s Park on Thursday.
The England boss is expected to largely stick with the tried and tested, meaning the likes of and Maguire, Kalvin Phillips and Jordan Henderson may get the nod despite questions over their international futures.
Maguire was …
England and Scotland will meet for the 100th time in competitive internationals on Friday in a match that could prove pivotal to their respective Euro 2020 campaigns.
The Three Lions began Group D with a 1-0 win over Croatia at Wembley, while Scotland suffered a 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic, Patrik Schick scoring from a header and then a quite remarkable strike from near the halfway line.
This is typically a high-scoring match: these teams have met 32 times previously at England s national stadium and none of those matches has ended goalless. In the 21st century, this fixture averages four goals per game, with England scoring 11 and Scotland five overall.
Victory for Gareth Southgate s side would guarantee their place in the last 16, while a positive result is …
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Two sides who will be desperate to claim a first-leg Europa League advantage on Thursday evening, Brighton will make the trip to Italian icons Roma.
Starting with the hosts, while Roma might have continued to show some extended domestic inconsistencies this season, the Wolves are in the midst of a recent purple patch. Picking up some perfect momentum over the weekend as they stormed their way to a stellar 4-1 romp away at Monza, Daniele De Rossi’s men should find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Extending on their Europa League adventure on February 22nd after edging their way past Dutch giants Feyenoord, Roma have won all of their previous four appearances across all competitions. Likewise, aside from an action-packed 4-2 l…
Manchester City have moved to try to extend Ilkay Gundogan s stay at the Etihad Stadium in recent months.
The 32-year-old signed a four-year deal with City in 2019, meaning he is out of contract at the end of this season.
However, Gundogan has been in and out of the City starting line-up in recent months and has been weighing up his future.
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Ilkay Gundogan s heart is set on leaving Manchester City for Barcelona in the off-season, claims SPORT.
Barcelona head coach Xavi is eager to land the German midfielder, who scored a double on the final day of last season to clinch City the Premier League title, for his versatility.
The report claims Gundogan feels it is time to move on from Manchester, having …