March 2019 – Football Flame

31Mar

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Roma humiliated by Napoli after 4-1 loss

Napoli humiliated Claudio Ranieri's Roma with a 4-1 win in the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday consolidating second place, 15 points behind runaway leaders Juventus in Serie A.Arkadiusz Milik put the visitors ahead after two minutes with Dries Mertens, Simone Verdi and Amin Younes adding three more in the second half to inflict another blow on the hosts' Champions League ambitions next season.Juventus continued their march towards an eighth consecutive Serie A title with on-form teenager Moise Kean scoring the only goal against Empoli on Saturday.Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli have almost no chance of winning the title with nine games to go, but extended their cushion on third-placed Inter Milan to ten points before Luciano Spalletti's side host Lazio later on Sunday."I expected a performance like thi...

31Mar

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BUNDESLIGA

Schalke ease relegation fears with Hannover win

Schalke 04 eased their Bundesliga relegation fears after Suat Serdar's first-half strike to grab a 1-0 win over fellow struggler Hannover on Sunday. Schalke captain Benjamin Stambouli set up Serdar to score with a volley in the 39th minute. It came against the run of play as the visitors had done very little in attack and had been dominated in terms of possession and goal chances. But Schalke's first win since interim coach Huub Stevens returned for his third stint lifts the side six points clear of the relegation zone with seven rounds remaining. The team had previously gone eight games without a win in all competitions.Hannover dropped to last following Nuremberg's first win in 21 games the day before. Thomas Doll's team has now endured seven defeats from eight games.

30Mar

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LALIGA

Lionel Messi brace sends Barcelona 13 points clear

Lionel Messi continued his remarkable run of form with a second-half double as Barcelona continued their march towards the La Liga title on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Espanyol. The visitors gave their city rivals a tough game at the Camp Nou, but Messi's chipped free-kick with 19 minutes to play and a late second sent the reigning champions 13 points clear at the top ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid's game at Alaves later on Saturday.Messi has now netted eight times in his last four games for Barca, and leads the way in the La Liga scoring charts with 31 goals, 13 ahead of teammate Luis Suarez. Ernesto Valverde's men struggled to break down Espanyol early on, with Messi, Suarez and Ivan Rakitic all wasting half-chances in the first period. Barcelona saw a penalty appeal wave...

30Mar

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PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola provides Sergio Aguero fitness update after Fulham victory

Pep Guardiola hopes Sergio Aguero has not suffered a serious injury.The Manchester City striker limped off early in the second half as City returned to the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win. Aguero scored his side's second goal after Bernardo Silva fired the opener at Craven Cottage before he was replaced by Gabriel Jesus."He says he felt something, but hopefully he's not injured," said Guardiola."He decided on not continuing. Hopefully it will not be a big issue."We'll see tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow."City have now won 11 of their last 12 and Guardiola insists they must win their last seven matches to hold off Liverpool."Seven games left for the Premier League, and it's easy: we have to win every game to be champions."We have a tough, tough opponent. But that's the chall...

30Mar

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LALIGA

Odion Ighalo disclose why he rejected Barcelona loan move

Odion Ighalo says he was offered the chance to join Barcelona in the January transfer window but turned it down because he “deserves better”.The Nigeria international moved to Changchun Yatai from Watford in 2017 and then signed for Shanghai Shenhua in February.However, he could have been playing at the Camp Nou for the rest of the season but didn’t fancy playing back-up to Luis Suarez.“My agent spoke to me about a loan interest from Barcelona. The club wanted a striker with La Liga experience and someone who understands Spanish football,” he said.”It was meant to be a six-month loan and strictly as a back-up striker. It was nice to hear that Barcelona were interested and any footballer would be more than happy to take it. ”But with due respect I had just finished as the second t...

30Mar

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PREMIER LEAGUE

Rafa Benitez insist he is not afraid of losing Ayoze Perez

Rafa Benitez insists there is no need to worry about Ayoze Perez’s admission that he could look to leave Newcastle United after a five-year cycle.In an interview in his native Spain, Perez suggested there will be a time when he could look to return to his homeland to take the next step in his career. It will be five years ago this summer when the 25-year-old arrived from Tenerife and his current contract does not expire for a further two seasons. But Perez’s comments could encourage teams in Spain to make a move, even though he has enjoyed another productive campaign in which he has scored seven goals to help Newcastle edge towards safety. Perez has previously interested in the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid but such moves would be much harder for him to nail down now given an indiffer...

30Mar

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SERIE A

Serie A: Cagliari thrash Chievo to move away from relegation zone

Cagliari eased their relegation fears in Serie A with a 3-0 win over 10-man Chievo, who remain rock bottom of the table.Fabio Pisacane, Joao Pedro and Artur Ionita scored in the first half to give Cagliari their first away win in the league since September, and any faint hopes of a Chievo comeback were ended in the 52nd minute when Fabio Depaoli was sent off for a second bookable offence.Chievo made the brighter start but it was the visitors who took the lead with their first significant attack after 16 minutes when Pisacane headed home from Luca Pellegrini's cross. The home side rallied and Perparim Hetemaj's shot from the edge of the penalty area was saved by Alessio Cragno, but Cagliari doubled their lead in style in the 33rd minute, Pedro firing home a first-time s...

30Mar

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SERIE A

Cristiano Ronaldo injury update ahead Juventus Champions league tie against Ajax

Cristiano Ronaldo is a doubt for Juventus' Champions League tie against Ajax, his manager has confirmed.Ronaldo, who is on course to win his fourth Champions League title in succession this season, injured a thigh muscle during Portugal's Euro 2020 qualifier against Serbia in midweek.Although the 34-year-old played down the severity of the injury in a post-match interview, Massimiliano Allegri stated on Friday that he could miss the first leg of the quarter-final against the Dutch club as he recovers."He's already started to move but won't return to training until he feels fit. There is a risk he'll miss the first leg against Ajax," Allegri said."We have to be careful because we're in a tricky period of the season. It's better he misses one match and comes back when he's 100...

29Mar

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PREMIER LEAGUE

Everton boss Marco Silva reveals the reason for their inconsistent form

Marco Silva has highlighted one key trait he believes has held his side back this season.Everton have suffered an inconsistent campaign up until this stage, at one point finding themselves as high as sixth in the Premier League table before slipping down to the 11th place they currently occupy. The Blues will be looking to continue a recent upturn in form, however, with a visit to the London Stadium to face West Ham on Saturday evening.Silva's side have gained seven points from their previous four matches, but the manager knows they could and should have got even more. And the boss believes that his team's lack of mental strength throughout this term has been holding them back from securing more points."It’s important to know as much as I can about the players," Silva told the Telegr...

29Mar

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PREMIER LEAGUE

Eric Dier and Serge Aurier ruled out of Tottenham visit to Liverpool with injury

Tottenham Hotspur ruled out Eric Dier and Serge Aurier for Sunday's Premier League trip to Liverpool, manager Mauricio Pochettino has said.Dier suffered a groin injury in England’s 5-0 win over Czech Republic last week and was forced to withdraw from Gareth Southgate’s squad for their visit to Montenegro.“He (Dier) has been ruled out. It’s not a big issue but he needs to recover from the problem he suffered against the Czech Republic with the national team,” Pochettino told a news conference on Friday. “One week, 10, days, two weeks. We’ll see how it is going to improve. He was running today but we need to wait for the evolution (of the injury). “Him, Harry Winks and Serge Aurier are going to be out for the weekend.” Midfielder Winks is continuing on-field rehabilitation after a groin inju...