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Pep Guardiola might claim his side have a 'one percent chance' of overhauling the tie, but his shiny new weapons can make all the difference

Manchester City approached the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie with Real Madrid as if it were 2023 all over again. And for a brief period it felt like we were watching the very same team that demolished Los Blancos on the way to winning the treble. John Stones was sitting in front of the defence and boldly strolling around midfield; Kevin De Bruyne was ahead of him; Jack Grealish was strutting up and down the touchline, his foot stuck to the ball; Erling Haaland was heavily involved in attacks and scoring; Ederson was saving every shot he faced.

But City were soon reminded that the treble season was a distant memory, that two years is a long time in football and the same movie they have seen time and time again in 2024-25 started to play out. Grealish pulled up injured, De Bruyne's powers faded, Bernardo Silva was easily beaten in midfield, Ederson misplaced kicks and City threw away their lead, turning a lovely advantage for the second leg in Madrid into a daunting deficit that not even the most optimistic of Blues could see them pulling off. Pep Guardiola looked inconsolable in his post-match press conference while Stones was lost for words.

But on Saturday against Newcastle, City left their past behind and looked to the future, fuelled by their shiny new signings. Abdukodir Khusanov had Alexander Isak in his pocket, Nico Gonzalez patrolled midfield with power and elegance, giving no indication he was making his Premier League debut, and up front, Omar Marmoush scored a hat-trick in the space of 14 minutes, turning what was expected to be an unforgiving afternoon for City against top-four rivals into a highly enjoyable day out.

All of a sudden, Wednesday's trip to the Spanish capital looks far more appealing. Now City have plenty of reasons to believe that they can raid Santiago Bernabeu and come back with a last-16 place in their pocket…

GettyImpact signings

City have had an ever-growing list of problems this season, but against Newcastle it felt as if it only took two players for most of their issues to suddenly fade away. Khusanov enjoyed a fine display, especially after his nightmare debut against Chelsea, but the victory was primarily constructed by Gonzalez and Marmoush, the most lucrative and exciting acquisitions of the club's mega shopping spree in January.

Neither player started against Madrid, as Marmoush got just six minutes of action plus added time, coming on just as his new team capitulated from 2-1 up to 3-2 down. But if he and Gonzalez get the nod at the Bernabeu, City stand a real chance of turning the tie around.

Marmoush had not had the easiest start to life with his new club since his £59 million ($74m) move from Eintracht Frankfurt, with City being embarrassed 5-1 by Arsenal and then being given a real FA Cup fright by Leyton Orient. It was not the biggest surprise, then, that he was only on the bench against Madrid. But against Newcastle, he showed exactly why he was the second-highest provider of goals and assists in Europe's top five leagues behind Mohamed Salah, and why City were so keen to snap him up.

The Egyptian played off the left of City's attack and that was where he made his first move from, dancing into the area before firing over the bar. But from then on, he moved like a centre-forward and finished like one too.

AdvertisementAFP'He has something we miss'

Marmoush's first goal was an instinctive one-touch lob after latching on to a punt from Ederson. He took two touches to fashion the second goal, one to bring Ilkay Gundogan's threaded pass under control and the other to dispatch it into the bottom near corner. His third was relatively easy, put on a plate for him by Savinho, but he made no mistake with another first-time strike. As he celebrated the first hat-trick of his career, it was tempting to wonder how City might have fared had Marmoush started against Madrid.

"He has something that we miss for all the quality of our players, his pace in behind, he has a lot of pace, he's a good taker, a good finisher," said Guardiola. "I called some contacts in Germany because I have friends there. I asked a few things and there was a high opinion in many things; his behaviour in training sessions, goals. He's young and comes here to make his career."

Marmoush does not just offer goals and running in behind the defence; he offers a potent alternative threat to Haaland, who has had to shoulder an unhealthy amount of responsibility for City's goals this season. Before Saturday, the Norwegian had 39 percent of City's total goals in the Premier League, with 19 strikes. Phil Foden was next with seven goals – albeit with five of them coming within an 11-day period in January – and Josko Gvardiol was third with five. With that first-half haul alone, Marmoush shot into the team's top five of league scorers in 2024-25.

GettyTwin threat

Marmoush offers City's players more passing options and presents a twin problem for their opponents, who must now keep a lid on one of the most productive players in Europe in addition to trying to shackle Haaland. As former City goalkeeper Joe Hart put it on 'Match of the Day': "That threat is always there now. It's not just Haaland they have to take care of." Alan Shearer added: "Everything about his game was impressive. Already he has a good understanding with Haaland. Newcastle couldn't live with him."

Will Real Madrid be able to? Haaland finally broke his duck against Los Merengues last week at the fifth time of asking, but there was a sense that he was City's only real threat. The Champions League holders also had to field an improvised defence at the Etihad, but will be bolstered in the second leg by the return of Antonio Rudiger, who was Haaland's nemesis in last season's quarter-final tie. Now, though, the Germany international also has another problem to worry about in Marmoush.

Although it was not on display against Newcastle, Marmoush also has a formidable supply chain. In addition to his 19 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt in the first half of this season, he notched 11 assists in the Bundesliga and Europa League. There is a strong case for him to start against Madrid instead of De Bruyne, who had a minimal impact in the first leg.

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Getty 'Mini-Rodri's' huge presence

While Marmoush understandably hogged the headlines on Saturday, Guardiola seemed keener to highlight the influence of his second-biggest signing from January. He waxed lyrical about Gonzalez, the £50m ($63m) deadline-day purchase from Porto, saying of the midfielder: "The presence of Nico helped a lot, the 50/50s. If there are 10 balls. he wins seven of them."

Guardiola also put the former Barcelona youngster in lofty company when he compared him to City's most influential player of all, whose long absence has cast a shadow over the team for the last five months. "He's like a mini-Rodri. It's a big compliment," Guardiola said, before quickly adding: "He's miles away from Rodri, he's the best, but we have the feeling he'll help us in the last part of the season with his presence. This presence that in the Premier League you have to have. His presence with long balls and [going] backwards where Rodri was really important."

Gonzalez lost all three of the tackles he attempted according to the post-game statistics, but he got a roar of approval from the Etihad faithful when he robbed Tino Livramento late in the game, putting his 6'2 frame to good use. Gonzalez's towering presence also helped free up Gundogan from defensive duties, which he has struggled with this season and indeed throughout his career. He also helped shield Khusanov and provided a further layer of protection along with Stones, who is looking like the player he was two seasons ago now he appears to have conquered his injury problems.

Just when it looked like West Ham United were back on track following their victory over Manchester United last week, they came crashing back down to earth on Saturday afternoon.

Julen Lopetegui would have seen the win against the Red Devils as a potential turning point in their season, but a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest will see him head straight back to the drawing board.

The Spaniard wasn’t helped by his side going down to ten men before the halftime whistle, as Edson Alvarez received two yellow cards in the space of seven minutes.

Edson Alvarez let West Ham down vs Forest

The midfielder was making just his fifth Premier League start of the season as Lopetegui added him into a midfield partnership alongside Guido Rodriguez, with Lucas Paqueta and Crysencio Summerville ahead of them.

During his time on the pitch, Alvarez took 29 touches, completed only 64% of his passes, and won four of his seven total duels contested.

After 39 minutes, he was booked after foolishly tugging Murillo’s shirt, before sliding in to foul Anthony Elanga minutes before the whistle blew for the interval, resulting in him being given his marching orders.

Already trailing by a goal to nil, it was going to be harder than ever for the Irons to recover as they duly conceded twice in the second half to lose 3-0 and suffer another damaging defeat.

Despite the Mexican being sent off, he wasn’t the worst performer in the West Ham side on Saturday afternoon. That honour belongs to Rodriguez.

Guido Rodriguez’s game in numbers vs Forest

When Lopetegui signed the Argentinian World Cup winner for free in the summer, it was looked upon as a shrewd piece of business.

After nine Premier League starts, the midfielder had yet to demonstrate his class, despite arriving with a solid reputation.

Guido Rodriguez’s stats vs Forest

Touches

26

Passes (completed)

17 (23)

Tackles

0

Possession lost

7

Total duels (won)

3 (0)

Key passes

0

Via Sofascore

He was hooked at halftime after a turgid display in the first half where he won zero duels, completed just 17 passes, failed to succeed with any of his four long ball attempts, and lost possession seven times.

Rodriguez even committed a foul – resulting in a booking – was dribbled past once and made zero tackles during his woeful 45 minutes on the pitch.

Tom Rennie, editor of talkSPORT, criticised the South American for his display, as he described him as “ineffective” due to his lack of qualities in midfield.

It now remains to be seen whether Lopetegui will continue to persist with him in the centre of his midfield, after such a poor first-half display from the summer signing, who joined from Real Betis on a free transfer.

The Spaniard is a man under pressure. With a clash against Everton up next, anything other than a positive result could see his position become untenable, which is why he will need to be careful with his team selection and could immediately ditch Rodriguez from the starting XI.

أعلنت رابطة البريميرليج عن فوز المصري محمد صلاح بجائزة لاعب شهر فبراير في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وتنافس محمد صلاح على الجائزة، مع خمس لاعبين، بعد الأداء المميز الذي قدمه مع ليفربول في فبراير.

وساهم محمد صلاح في 10 أهداف، وتشمل الأهداف ضد بورنموث (هدفان)، وإيفرتون، وولفرهامبتون، وأستون فيلا، ومانشستر سيتي. 

وتفوق محمد صلاح على زميله في ليفربول، دومينيك سوبوسلاي، وكل من بيتو (إيفرتون)، جان فيليب ماتيتا (كريستال بالاس)، يانكوبا مينتاه (برايتون)، جيد سبينس (توتنهام).

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وأصبح محمد صلاح أكثر اللاعبين حصولا على جائزة لاعب الشهر في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز بـ7 مرات، ليتساوى مع سيرجيو أجويرو لاعب مانشستر سيتي السابق، وهاري كين، لاعب توتنهام السابق.

وسبق وحصل محمد صلاح على جائزة لاعب الشهر في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، في نوفمبر لعام 2017، وشهري فبراير ومارس في عام 2018، وأكتوبر 2021، وأكتوبر 2023، ونوفمبر 2024.

ويتصدر محمد صلاح ترتيب هدافي الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز بـ 27 هدفًا، وساهم بـ 19 تمريرة حاسمة خلال 29 مباراة هذا الموسم.

Bavuma also said he was looking forward to “unpacking” with Enoch Nkwe, who resigned as assistant coach last week

Firdose Moonda01-Sep-2021

Temba Bavuma, South Africa’s white-ball captain, has confirmed that the national team’s culture is still in its cultivation stage and it is “nowhere near the end product.”Bavuma was speaking from Sri Lanka, where South Africa begin a limited-overs series on Thursday, their first since the resignation of assistant coach Enoch Nkwe last week. Under any other circumstances, the departure of an assistant coach would not make as many headlines as Nkwe’s has, but against the backdrop of the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings, in which head coach Mark Boucher has been implicated, and Cricket South Africa’s (CSA’s) confirmation that Nkwe cited “concerns about the functioning and culture of the team environment,” as part of his reasons for stepping down, the dressing room is in sharp focus and Bavuma did not shy away from explaining some of its inner workings.”Culture is something that’s an ever growing thing. If I look at when I came into the team 2014-15, there was a certain type of team culture, displayed in the public through Protea Fire and that had a certain purpose and meaning behind it. The main custodians, the guys who had that responsibility of building that culture, unfortunately are not here – guys like Faf (du Plessis), JP (Duminy), Dale (Steyn), and AB (de Villiers). Now we have a different set of senior players who have the responsibility of building a new culture and that is still within its early stages,” Bavuma said.”For us, it’s about the younger guys and instilling the right values and cultivating that culture. It is in that stage. It is something that we are still cultivating. Conversations are happening amongst the team – hard, hard conversations are happening amongst the team, amongst management levels, conversations that are challenging each other, all with the view of cultivating an environment that allows guys to play at their best but most importantly have that proper sense of belonging.”Among the challenges to creating a cohesive new culture, in a new era, is the split-captaincy. South Africa moved from an all-format captain in Faf du Plessis to what became an interim all-format role for Quinton de Kock, to sharing the leadership between Dean Elgar in Tests and Bavuma in ODIs and T20Is – with Bavuma also Elgar’s deputy in the longest format.They’ve only just begun their skippering duties and have been on tour – of West Indies – together and it seems there’s still a lot to learn about each other. “The other thing we need to consider is that we’ve got two captains in myself and Dean Elgar, and Dean and I give ourselves an opportunity to share ideas as to how we would like to take the team,” Bavuma said. “He has his philosophy of doing things, I have my philosophy, so in getting us to meet at some type of a halfway point, there is that balancing act. I’ve said a lot, but in terms of the culture, it’s something that we are cultivating. It’s definitely not anywhere near the end product.”Elgar is not in Sri Lanka, where South Africa will not play any Tests, so the next time he and Bavuma will combine is for the home summer which is set to kick off with a series against India. By then, Bavuma will have taken the team to the T20 World Cup, with a new and yet-to-be-named assistant coach. CSA are in the process of appointing Nkwe’s successor as well as conducting an inquiry into Nkwe’s claims.Meanwhile, Bavuma is hoping to do some fact-finding of his own and would like to meet Nkwe, under whom he played for a season on the domestic circuit, to understand his gripes. Asked how he feels about Nkwe’s expressions of concern, Bavuma admitted it has affected him.”It does make me feel some type of way. I haven’t had an opportunity to have a formal discussion with Enoch but probably when I get back to South Africa, I’d like to sit down with him and maybe unpack it a bit,” Bavuma said. “I’d like to hear it from him. He is the subject here, at the end of the day. If there is merit (to Nkwe’s assertions), as a member of the team, it’s something I will take on board and have a discussion amongst the team.”However, Bavuma emphasised that the team has already been doing the work to build a better culture. “In saying that, among some of the senior players in the team, and the conversations we have had, we’ve looked at ourselves and seen how best we can do things. That’s not to say the culture is an unhealthy one. Every team has areas which they can improve on and you have to have those conversations to identify those areas,” he said. “In terms of understanding it a bit more, from Enoch’s point of view, probably when I get back to South Africa and when things are toned down a bit with the schedule, I will have a conversation with him and see what comes of it. “From a cricketing point of view, Bavuma described Nkwe’s resignation as a “big loss,” especially for him.”For me, personally, he was a good sounding board, and a person who I used to test my ideas against,” Bavuma said. “I guess it helped that I had working experience with him from domestic level. As a player, I can only wish him well in his future endeavours and I am sure wherever he is, he will supporting and rooting for us.”

تحدث دييجو سيميوني، المدير الفني لفريق أتلتيكو مدريد، عن تعادلهم المثير في مباراة الثلاثاء مع فريق برشلونة، في بطولة كأس ملك إسبانيا 2024/25.

واستضاف ملعب “مونتجويك” مباراة الفريقين في ذهاب نصف نهائي كأس ملك إسبانيا، حيث تعادلا بنتيجة 4/4 (لمطالعة التفاصيل كاملة من هنا).

وكان أتلتيكو مدريد متقدمًا في النتيجة بهدفين دون رد، قبل أن يحقق برشلونة ريمونتادا حيث تعادل ثم تقدم بنتيجة 4/2، ولكن الأتلتي لم يستسلم ليظفر بتعادل ثمين قبل موقعة الإياب.

وقال سيميوني، في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية: “لم ندافع بشكل جيد في الركلات الركنية، بدأ برشلونة الشوط الثاني بشكل أفضل، أصبحت النتيجة 4/2 وكانت لدينا فرصة جريزمان”.

وأضاف: “التغييرات منحت الفريق حيوية وشجاعة في الأمتار الأخيرة للهجوم بمزيد من اللاعبين، لم تكن المباراة سهلة والحقيقة أن اللاعبين لديهم روح المنافسة التي أحبها”.

وواصل: “قاتلنا عندما أصبحت النتيجة 4/3، ثم سنحت لنا فرصة سورلوث وتعادلنا، مباراة مفتوحة، برشلونة خصم صعب للغاية، ولكن لدينا أدواتنا”.

وأفاد: “النتيجة 4/2 صعبة أمام خصم مثل برشلونة، لا يزال هناك طريق طويل لنقطعه حتى مباراة الإياب (2 أبريل)، هناك العديد من المباريات المقبلة، خاصة مباراة السبت ضد أتلتيك بلباو، سيأتي الوقت للتفكير في تلك المباراة”.

وأوضح: “تسجيل برشلونة هدفين أمامنا من ركلة ثابتة هو أمر مزعج، يمكننا أن نتحسن، ولكن أمام فريق مثل برشلونة من المستحيل ألا يسجل هدفًا أمامك، لكي تفوز أمامهم عليك تسجيل الأهداف، قلب النتيجة في ملعب برشلونة لم يكن سهلًا، سنواصل المنافسة كما نفعل”.

واعترف: “عندما تقدمنا 2/0، قلت لنفسي (لا تفرحوا كثيرًا لأن الأمر لن يكون سهلًا)، وعندما أصبحت النتيجة 2/2 قلت أن ذلك يحدث، وبنتيجة 4/4 أنهينا ليلة جعلت جماهيرنا سعيدة للغاية”.

With away games against Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester City in the Premier League and Atalanta in the Champions League, Arsenal were handed an incredibly tough set of fixtures to kick off this season. Yet, they’ve come away with two draws, two wins and a real chance of going one step further this season.

Mikel Arteta has utterly transformed the Gunners from a team that would regularly get turned over in big games to a team that can go toe-to-toe with the best in the world, and were it not for a split second in which they lost concentration, they would have come away from the Etihad with all three points despite being down a man for 55 minutes or so.

The good news for the North Londoners is that after a few weeks of elite competition, their game this evening in the League Cup is against League One side Bolton Wanderers, and while they must treat the game with the same respect as any other, the manager can afford to make several changes, one of which should be dropping Gabriel Martinelli.

Why Arteta should bench Martinelli

Yes, one of the stars that Arteta should look to drop for tonight’s cup clash is Martinelli, but not because he was poor against City, but quite the opposite.

Despite plenty of criticism over the last few weeks for his fairly underwhelming start to the season, the manager opted to start him on Sunday, and the young Brazilian more than repaid him for doing so by putting in a performance that should buy him more time to get back to his best among the fans.

In the first half, when the Gunners had all 11 players on the pitch, the former Ituano gem was an effective outlet down the left, and after making a well-timed run from their quick free-kick, he laid the ball off to Riccardo Calafiori, who proceeded to score a goal of the season contender.

However, when the manager opted to keep him on over Saka in the second half, he really stepped up and showed another impressive side to his game.

Even though the attacking opportunities entirely dried up, he put in a monumental defensive shift and ran himself into the ground, and as you can see from his heatmap, he spent most of the game just in front of the penalty area, putting his body on the line to stop City from scoring.

His efforts earned him a well-deserved 8/10 from football.london’s Kaya Kaynak, and while he probably would have wanted to see the game out, Arteta had to take him off in the 87th minute as he was exhausted, so he should be rested for tonight’s game as well.

Why Sterling should start

So, with Martinelli earning himself a rest for tonight’s fixture and Leandro Trossard unable to play due to his second yellow against City, it’s the perfect opportunity for Arteta to start a player he once helped turn into one of the most dangerous goalscorers in the country: Raheem Sterling.

The 29-year-old has only made a few substitute performances for the club so far, and while he’s not looked great, he deserves a chance to show the fans what he can do.

Moreover, while the Englishman’s stock has fallen since leaving the Etihad two years ago, his raw output has remained reasonably impressive despite the circus that has been Chelsea Football Club.

For example, in his first campaign with the Blues, the “unbelievable” winger, as Arteta dubbed him, scored nine goals and provided four assists in 38 games. Last season, he did even better, racking up ten goals and eight assists in 43 appearances.

This means that over the last two campaigns, the Kingston-born dynamo has maintained an average of a goal involvement once every 2.61 games, which is undoubtedly a good enough output to be the club’s backup winger and start in games like this.

Sterling’s Chelsea record

Season

22/23

23/24

Appearances

38

43

Goals

9

10

Assists

4

8

Goal Involvements per Match

0.34

0.41

All Stats via Transfermarkt

Ultimately, Martinelli needs and deserves a rest following his sensational efforts on Sunday, so Arteta should start Sterling in his place.

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The talented international has no future in North London.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes Sep 24, 2024

يرى فاروق جعفر، نجم الزمالك السابق، أن أكبر مشكلة تواجه الفريق الأبيض هي الأمور المالية، حيث تعتمد الإدارة على القروض لدفع مستحقات اللاعبين وتجديد العقود، مُنتقدًا الصفقات التي تم التعاقد معها خلال الفترة الماضية.

وقال فاروق جعفر في مداخلة عبر برنامج “لعبة والتانية”، على إذاعة “ميجا إف إم”: “أرى إن أكبر مشكلة لفريق الزمالك هي الأمور المالية، الإدارة حصلت على قرض ومن خلاله يتم دفع مستحقات اللاعبين وتجديد العقود، وتم إنشاء لجنة للكرة من أجل اختيارات صفقات جديدة”.

وأضاف: “بعد حصول اللاعبين على مستحقاتهم المتأخرة، أعتقد أن الأمور ستتغير في الفترة القادمة، ثم النظر لملف الصفقات، لو الزمالك فعل هذه الأمور سيعود للانتصارات”.

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وعن اهتمام الزمالك بالتعاقد مع محمد شريف، قال: “(العملية مش رغي، إنك عايز تجيب لاعب وإنت مش هتعرف تجيبه)، الفريق يمتلك في مركز الهجوم سيف الجزيري وناصر منسي وحسام أشرف، والثلاثي جيد وقد يكونون أفضل منه”.

وأوضح: “الفريق يحتاج إلى التدعيم في مراكز حساسة، (الموضوع مش موضوع خناقة وإنك تجيب صفقة للرد على صفقة بن شرقي)،  ومع إحترامي أنت تريد ضم لاعبين من بتروجيت وفاركو، تضم لاعبين من أندية تكافح من أجل عدم الهبوط، لاعبون اعتادوا على التعادل والخسارة”.

واستكمل: “الزمالك ضم صفقات أجانب الموسم الماضي والحالي، صعب يرتدون القميص الأبيض، لاعبون لا يلعبون في دوري الدرجة الثالثة حتى، ويدفعون في لاعب منهم 800 ألف دولار، كان الأولى دفع هذا الملغ للاعبين المتأخرة مستحقاتهم”.

واختتم فاروق جعفر تصريحاته مُعلقًا على انتقال أشرف بن شرقي إلى النادي الأهلي، قائلًا: “لست حزينًا، الزمالك يمتلك لاعبين قد يكونون أفضل منه، وعلى النادي أن ينظر للمستقبل، ولا ينظر إلى الأهلي بأنه ضم لاعب فلا بد أن نضم لاعب أفضل منه، الزمالك ناد كبير ولا يجب أن يتعامل من خلال رد الفعل، لم يكن هناك اهتمام من الزمالك بـ بن شرقي قبل ذلك لأنه لم يكن يلعب أساسيًا مع فريقه”.

نجح فريق الكرة الأول بنادي قطر في تحقيق فوز قاتل على الشمال بهدفين مقابل هدف، في المباراة التي أقيمت بينهما اليوم ضمن منافسات الدوري القطري.

المباراة أقيمت على ملعب استاد سحيم بن حمد ضمن منافسات الجولة الرابعة عشر من عمر البطولة المحلية القطرية.

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ويضم نادي قطر بين صفوفه ثنائي الأهلي السابق أحمد عبد القادر والجنوب إفريقي بيرسي تاو.

وشهدت الدقيقة 38 من عمر اللقاء تسبب أحمد عبد القادر في طرد بابكر سيك حارس مرمى فريق الشمال بعد خروجه من منطقة مرماه والتحامه هوائيًا باللاعب المصري. أحمد عبد القادر يتسبب في طرد حارس الشمال 

وتقدم فريق قطر في الدقيقة الثالثة من الوقت بدل الضائع من عمر الشوط الأول عن طريق عطاء جابر، مستغلًا تمريرة عبد القادر ليسدد من داخل منطقة الجزاء.

ثم تعادل فريق الشمال في الدقيقة 82 بهدف سجله بغداد بونجاح عن طريق ركلة جزاء نجح في تنفيذها.

وفي الدقيقة العاشرة من الوقت بدل الضائع نجح أحمد عبد القادر في تسجيل هدف قطر الثاني عن طريق ركلة جزاء.

بتلك النتيجة يرتفع رصيد قطر إلى 14 نقطة محتلًا المركز الثامن في جدول ترتيب الدوري القطري، ويتجمد رصيد الشمال عند 19 نقطة محتلًا المركز الخامس. أهداف مباراة قطر والشمال اليوم

Bayern Munich and England star Harry Kane has hit back at criticism from Dietmar Hamann that he doesn't score enough goals in big games.

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Kane preparing for key Bayern fixturesResponds to recent criticismDefends record at BayernFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Kane has been a hit at Bayern since moving to the Bavarian giants from Tottenham, scoring 64 goals in just 62 matches. The striker bagged his fourth hat-trick of the season last time out against Augsburg to take his current tally for the campaign to 14 goals in 11 Bundesliga games.

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Despite his excellent record, Kane did fail to win a trophy in his first season at the Allianz Arena. He has also come in for criticism from Hamann for his record in big games and has been told "he still has to prove that he is worth €100 million." The England striker was asked about the comments ahead of Bayern's next game in the Champions League and defended his record for Bayern Munich.

WHAT KANE SAID

He told reporters: "Yeah maybe it's a little bit out of context. I think if you look at my goals last season against some of the bigger teams: Dortmund away, Stuttgart — all those types of games … Yeah maybe it's taken a little out of context, but look, I try to to score in every game, I try to help the team in every game. Obviously this week is a really big week and we know that. As the striker in the team and the goal scorer in the team, I want to help the team by scoring goals, for sure, But as always, I always feel like my performances are more than just goals, both with and without the ball. So, if we get three wins and I don't score, I'll be happy and the coach will be happy so that's the most important thing."

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Kane has now scored 50 Bundesliga goals in 43 games – a new record for the competition. No other player in Bundesliga history has needed so few games to reach this milestone.

Celtic have identified a potential new addition this summer, and the move seemingly already has the approval of Brendan Rodgers ahead of the new Scottish Premiership season.

Adam Idah in limbo

After helping fire Celtic to the title and scoring the winner in the Scottish Cup in a phenomenally successful loan spell at Parkhead, Adam Idah's future remains unclear. Speaking straight after the Cup win, Rodgers insisted he wanted to keep the Norwich man, who found the net nine times in 19 games after joining on loan in January.

"The board know how I feel on Adam, that was the reason for bringing him in,” Rodgers said. “He’s been a real catalyst for us, especially over the last few months.

“He’s been absolutely immense for us and he’s clearly someone I’d like to do something with."

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But there has been little positive movement on a deal since, and the 23-year-old striker is wanted by new Norwich boss Johannes Hoff Thorup.

“Like we said from day one, he’s a vital part of the group and of the squad here. Adam’s working hard in training, a good guy with good energy. He’s really doing well and I hope it’s obvious for him and everyone that he will play a vital part for this team.”

Now part of the pre-season group at Carrow Road, a move for Idah is looking somewhat complicated despite his clear desire to play north of the border. As a result, Celtic have reportedly begun looking elsewhere.

Celtic enquire for goalscorer

Now, HITC report that Celtic have had early enquiries over Scottish Premiership marksman Lawrence Shankland, who is also thought to be a target for fierce rivals Rangers. The £3k-per-week Hearts striker scored 31 times in all competitions across 2023-24, including 24 in the Scottish top flight.

Lawrence Shankland's last three league seasons

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

Appearances

26

37

37

Goals

5

24

24

Assists

4

4

5

Min per goal/assist

200

103

110

It was not a fluke either, with his talents long having been evident. Speaking earlier in the season, Brendan Rodgers admitted the striker had been on his radar since his first spell at Celtic Park, during which time Shankland was at Ayr.

"When I was here the first time he was a player that was on the radar. I heard people speak about and any time I saw him in clips you could see he was a goalscorer.

"Having come back and seen him in the Premiership playing, he's a boy who looks superconcentrated in the games. He's got really good technique, uses his body well to protect the ball, scores all types of goals.

"So he's a very good player and one that we have to manage well."

With Idah's £8m valuation considered too high for Celtic, they are now "stepping up" their pursuit of last season's golden boot winner north of the border, and have "made enquiries" about landing the striker ahead of Rangers, with Shankland thought to be valued at around £3m.

However, they will have to overturn their rivals, with Rangers still thought to be in "pole position" for his signature. But should Celtic act fast, they may be able to hijack the move.