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Sunderland secured their place in the League One play-off final against Wycombe as they beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 on aggregate.

The Black Cats won the first leg 1-0 as Ross Stewart pounced on a defensive mistake to convert one-on-one against the goalkeeper.

Wednesday came out firing at Hillsborough in the second leg and eventually found their equaliser in the tie as Lee Gregory put them ahead on the night. However, Alex Neil’s team dug in deep and sent the away fans into raptures as Patrick Roberts scored the goal to send them to Wembley in the 93rd minute.

Whilst the ex-Manchester City gem will take plaudits because of his tie-winning contribution at the end of the match, Sunderland’s real play-off hero was central defender Bailey Wright.

The Australian enforcer was sublime at the heart of the backline as he put in an almost faultless display full of character and quality.

Roker Report writer Philip West showered the former Bristol City tank with praise, tweeting: “Bailey Wright, what a warrior. Bloodstained shirt, blood trickling down his face, but he was an absolute rock tonight. That’s what playing for this club is about. Heart of a lion.”

These comments illustrate the commitment shown by Wright throughout the game as he put his body on the line for his team. He was throwing himself in the firing line to block shots and made sure that he was the first to react when balls were sent into the penalty box.

As you can see from these statistics, via SofaScore, the defender was superb out of possession. He dominated the opposition as he won the majority of his physical battles, which backs up West’s praise of his performance on Monday night.

On the ball, the Australian completed five of his 11 long pass attempts and had 45 touches throughout the match. Wright spent the bulk of his time defending his own goal rather than being in possession for the Black Cats and, as such, his statistics are not overly impressive on this front.

However, his defending was enough to get the job done for Sunderland, and the fans will surely have enjoyed his passion and commitment at the back. They will want to see their players leaving everything out on the pitch, and that is what the 29-year-old did against Sheffield Wednesday.

AND in other news, Neil can blow SAFC supporters away with £3.4k-p/w gem who was made “in a laboratory”…

Celtic enjoyed a comfortable afternoon in the Premiership as they strolled to a routine 2-0 win on Sunday to send them six points clear at the top of the table.

Kyogo Furuhashsi opened the scoring in the first half and then Jota, who set up the first goal, sealed the three points with an 87th-minute strike.

The Hoops dominated the match as they ended the game with 74% of the ball and 22 efforts on goal, with Ross County fortunate that they only conceded twice.

Whilst Jota scored and assisted a goal in the match, the real star of the show for Ange Postecoglou was central defender Cameron Carter-Vickers.

It is easy to point at the attackers and praise them for scoring the goals to win the match but all of their work is built on the back of a strong platform. The solid defence allows the likes of Jota and Kyogo to go and do what they want to do without worrying about constantly needing to drop deep to win the ball back – allowing the opposition to press up on them.

Carter-Vickers was outstanding in central defence as he stood strong at the back and was reliable in possession. He played a major role in Celtic’s dominance throughout the game and the forwards should be thanking him for making their lives easier.

As per SofaScore, he won 85.7% (6/7) of his individual duels and made five clearances, one interception and one block to help his side to a clean sheet. This shows that he was superb defensively as he won the vast majority of his battles with Ross County players and did not allow himself to be beaten by the opposition – keeping them away from Joe Hart’s goal.

On the ball, he completed 85% of his passes from 62 touches and created one chance from centre-back. He is not expected to do anything special in possession from his position but Postecoglou will be delighted with his assuredness on the ball.

The £20k-per-week defender continues to impress at the heart of the defence and fans will surely be wanting to see him back at Parkhead next season on a permanent basis.

In the Premiership this season, the on-loan Tottenham man has averaged a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.36 across 29 matches. Celtic have kept 16 clean sheets in those games and the latest one came with the help of his sublime display against Ross County on Sunday.

AND in other news, Source: Celtic on course to seal “immense” summer signing, Ange will be buzzing…

MS Dhoni has asked for Tests to be played at venues that have a history of supporting the format with big attendances, and has appreciated the support received from the Bangalore crowd during the course of India’s victory against Australia. Of India’s 10 Test venues – Hyderabad being the newest – Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Mohali and to an extent Delhi are known for their lukewarm response to Test cricket.”Maybe some of these centres where people come up to see Test matches can be given preference over some other centres where people don’t come in large numbers to watch Test matches,” Dhoni said. “After all, if taken in the right sense, we are the performers in the circus, but you need the circus to be full. It [this comment] should be taken in the right sense.”Dhoni and his men liked what they saw in Bangalore. Three of the days – the weekend and the final day – were almost sold out. “It really helps the players who are on the field,” Dhoni said. “Frankly speaking, in the 45th or 50th over, when the fast bowler comes for his second or third spell, it’s the crowd that gets him going, apart from the fact that he is supposed to do well for the team and the country. You need some kind of a motivation, and especially because we’re used to playing IPL and ODIs in front of 30000 or 40000 or 50000 people, you want that kind of a crowd.”Throughout the last five days, the spectators have been India’s 12th man. They cheered every special effort by the Indians, appealed when the bowler appealed, got off their seats when Sachin Tendulkar and other batsmen played good strokes, and appreciated every good effort by the fielders. Some of them booed the Australians, but many were appreciative.”It was a remarkable crowd,” Dhoni said. “Throughout the five days there were good crowds, and on the final day it was literally house full. You could see as many people in the stands as in a Twenty20 or ODI match. They supported good cricket more than anything else.”They did get their money’s worth. Not only did they watch their home side complete a clean sweep against Australia, they saw Tendulkar go level with Virender Sehwag as the Indian with the most double-centuries; they saw Cheteshwar Pujara, the debutant, play an innings he wouldn’t mind as his epitaph; they saw M Vijay, a stylish batsman, add substance to his game at Test level; they saw Ricky Ponting bat beautifully but fall disappointingly short; they saw Zaheer Khan and Ben Hilfenhaus create wickets on flat pitches. The Indian team thanked the crowd with a deserved lap of the ground.

كشف الدولي البلجيكي إيدين هازارد، عن المعاناة التي يتعرض لها في ريال مدريد، قبل الانضمام للشياطين الحمر استعدادًا لبطولة كأس العالم التي ستنطلق اليوم.

بلجيكا تتواجد في المجموعة السادسة مع كرواتيا والمغرب وكندا، وتبدأ أولى مبارياتها مع المنتخب المغربي يوم 27 نوفمبر الجاري.

وقال هازارد في تصريحات لصحيفة “ليكيب” الفرنسية: “لقد عشت سنوات فاشلة مع ريال مدريد، لم يكن من الطبيعي أن أتعرض لكثير من الإصابات ولم أتمكن أبدًا من إظهار ما يمكنني فعله”.

طالع أيضًا.. هازارد عن إصاباته المتكررة: شيء لا أستطيع شرحه.. لعبت 500 مباراة مع تشيلسي بدون مشاكل

وأضاف: “بالنسبة لي أنا لم أفز حقًا بـ دوري أبطال أوروبا، لقد لعبت بعض الدقائق، كما حدث في الدوري، لم يكن لدي أي تأثير، وكنت جيدًا قبل أن يرحل زيدان، لقد كان حزينًا بالنسبة لي رحيله، لأنني كنت أحبه كثيرًا”.

وعن علاقته بـ كارلو أنشيلوتي: “لم أتحدث كثيرًا مع أنشيلوتي، ربما مرة واحدة فقط، 5 دقائق في بداية الموسم، لكنني لست من اولئك الذين يذهبون للتحدث مع المدربين دائمًا لمعرفة ما يجب أن يحدث، هو مدرب ويرى كيف أتدرب وأريد المشاركة، لا يحتاج لتوجيه”.

وأردف: “لأكون صريحًا لم يعد لدي هذا المستوى الذي كنت عليه في مونديال 2018، ولا أخجل من قول ذلك، ربما كنت من بين العشرة الأفضل في العالم، ولكن الآن جسدي لم يسمح لي، ومع ذلك، لا يزال لدي القدرة”.

اختتم: “نحن أقل قوة كمنتخب من مونديال روسيا، ولكن لدينا شباب أقوى من جيل 2018 يمكن أن يصنعوا الفارق في المباريات الكبيرة، دائمًا ما تريد أن تظهر أفضل ما لديك، لدينا دي بروين وكورتوا ولوكاكو، وعدد كبير من أصحاب الخبرة”.

MatériaMais Notícias

Novo camisa 10 do Vasco após a saída de Nenê, Evander estreou com o pé direito na Libertadores, na noite desta quarta-feira, no Chile. Ele fez os dois primeiros gols do Cruz-Maltino na goleada de 4 a 0 sobre a Universidad Concepción, na casa do adversário. O garoto de apenas 19 anos disse que a atuação foi inesquecível.

-Nem nos meus melhores sonhos imaginava isso. Foi uma partida inesquecível.Sempre pensamos em jogar bem, hoje não foi diferente. Mas fazer esses dois gols fica marcado na minha vida – disse o atleta.

O jovem meia não mostrou-se intimidado com a pressão por comandar o setor de criação da equipe na partida contra os chilenos. Ele sonha em fazer história com a camisa 10 do Vasco.

-Time grande tem pressão desde pequeno. Entramos para jogar bola e conseguimos um grande resultado. Essa camisa tem um peso enorme, muitos jogadores já vestiram, e quero fazer a minha história – garantiu.

RelacionadasVascoBlog do Garone: Vasco iguala sua maior goleada na história da LibertadoresVasco31/01/2018VascoVasco passeia em Concepción e sai na frente para seguir na LibertadoresVasco31/01/2018

Newcastle United lost their third successive Premier League match on Sunday as they were hammered 5-1 by Tottenham away from home.

The Magpies failed to capitalise on their lead in the first half as Fabian Schar’s free-kick found a way past Hugo Lloris and into the bottom corner.

Ben Davies soon equalised for the hosts with a flicked header, before goals from Heung-Min Son, Matt Doherty, Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn sealed a fantastic win for Antonio Conte’s men.

A number of players failed to showcase the best of their talents in the drubbing and one man who struggled badly was centre-forward Chris Wood.

The attacker, who scored five goals in four games for his country over the break, has not been able to hit his best form since making the switch to St. James’ Park in January. He has scored once in 11 Premier League matches for the Toon since the club paid £25m to sign him from relegation rivals Burnley in the winter window.

Frank McAvennie said earlier this year that the New Zealand international is “struggling” and his performance against Spurs was in line with that comment. He caught the eye in the wrong way as it was noticeable how anonymous he was throughout the match at the top end of the pitch.

Off the ball, he did very little. As per SofaScore, he did not win a single ground duel and failed to make any clearances, tackles, interceptions or blocks. This shows that he did not successfully press from the front to force Tottenham players into making mistakes, putting more pressure on the Magpies defence as their striker was not leading the defensive effort.

In possession, he was useless. As per SofaScore, he only completed six passes in his 70 minutes on the field, completing 60% of his attempts to find a teammate. He had one shot, that was off target, and did not complete any dribbles, key passes, long balls or crosses as he lost the ball six times from 15 touches.

This shows that he offered nothing to the team as an offensive threat. He did not make himself enough of a nuisance to the opposition defence and failed to get himself involved in the game. Instead of forcing the issue and trying to impose himself on Spurs, he struggled to get a touch of the ball.

The Magpies flop had fewer touches (15) than Martin Dubravka (38) and Howe will surely be hoping for more involvement from his number nine, irrespective of how the match went. It was a disappointing showing and his struggles continue…

AND in other news, PIF set to “lead the race” to sign forward for NUFC who will be a “joy to watch”…

Everton have been one of the most active Premier League clubs during the transfer window, and with good reason.

The Toffees are in desperate need to turn their season around after a disappointing first half to the campaign. In order to rectify that situation, they have made three signings already in the first two weeks of January, and Rafael Benitez and co may not be finished yet.

What’s the word?

The Everton manager took to his press conference ahead of today’s match against Norwich to give an update on the club’s next steps in the winter transfer window, teasing the potential of more signings to come.

Benitez revealed: “We are always looking to strengthen the squad. The reality is we’ve balanced the books, which I think is a positive. We are open to any good option.”

“At the moment we’re happy with the three we’ve brought. But we are open-minded.”

This week has been a busy one at Goodison Park, with fan favourite Lucas Digne sold to Aston Villa after three-and-a-half years with the Merseyside club, and Anwar El Ghazi signing on loan until the end of the season, and Benitez isn’t ruling out further business yet.

Fans will be buzzing

Everton fans haven’t had an easy ride supporting their team this season, and many have definitely made no secret of their disappointment over poor performances, walking out of matches at Goodison Park and planning protests against the owners and the manager.

This transfer window has provided Benitez with the opportunity to change the trajectory of the club by signing new players and freshening up the squad, in the hope that a fresh perspective will help the Toffees climb back into the top half of the table, where they are expected to finish this season.

It is important that Everton start to pick up results, as they have a run of winnable games against bottom half teams such as Leeds United, Brentford, Aston Villa and Newcastle coming up over the next few weeks. That should give them the ideal opportunity to ascend to a much more comfortable position in the Premier League if they can capitalise.

For now, the manager’s claim that the Toffees are “open” to making further additions this month should bring some overdue happiness to the Goodison Park fan base, as the current squad just haven’t been delivering the goods.

In other news: Alan Myers makes January transfer window prediction regarding Everton

لا يريد كارلو أنشيلوتي أن يقع ريال مدريد أو غرفة الملابس في النشوة، وهذا هو السبب في أنه أوضح أنهم ليسوا مثاليين ولا يقهرون.

في الواقع، أوضح أنهم على المستوى الجماعي ينظرون كثيرًا في المرآة، على الرغم من أنه على المستوى الفردي شكر والدي لاعبي كرة القدم لجلبهم الكثير من المواهب إلى العالم.

ويلتقي ريال مدريد مع إشبيلية غدًا السبت في منافسات الدوري الإسباني، وظهر أنشيلوتي في مؤتمر صحفي خاص بالمباراة. 

وقال في تصريحاته التي نشرتها صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية: “الفريق بخير، في ديناميكية رائعة، كل مباراة لها قصتها، وإشبيلية يحاول الخروج من لحظة صعبة، إنهم يظهرون الالتزام والسلوك وسيكلفنا ذلك، لا توجد مباريات سهلة”.

وسُئل أنشيلوتي عن تجديد عقد لاعبه توني كروس وأجاب: “أعتقد أنه سيستمر، إنه أفضل من العام الماضي عندما واجه مشاكل في البداية، لقد تحدثت معه وهو هادئ للغاية”.

اقرأ أيضًا | بنزيما: حققت أحلام حياتي الثلاثة.. ولست فوق زيدان ورونالدو

وعن التوقف المحتمل للدوري، استطرد مدرب ريال مدريد: “أنا لا أعرف شيئًا عن هذا، لدي بالفعل أشياء أخرى لأفكر فيها وسأعطيك إجابة عندما أكون أكثر وعيًا”.

وعما إذا شعروا بأنهم لا يقهرون، رد أنشيلوتي: “لا، في التاريخ لم يكن هناك فريق لا يقهر، أي فريق يمكن أن يهزمك، لا يوجد فريق لا يقهر، هذا ما نشعر به، نريد أن نستمر في الأداء الجيد”.

وأكد أنشيلوتي عودة تيبو كورتوا بعد غياب حارس المرمى للإصابة في المباريات الماضية، وأوضح جاهزية لاعبيه: “عاد كورتوا، وخرج سيبايوس فقط، وتعافى الباقي، إذا أجريت بعض التغييرات، فسيكون من المفترض أن أتجنب المشاكل المستقبلية، لن أغير كثيرًا”.

وشدد مدرب ريال مدريد: “أنا لست قلقًا بشأن الهدوء الذي نعيشه، تأتي لحظات معقدة وليس لدينا شك في هذا، لا أعرف متى، لكنها ستأتي، وعلينا أن نكون مستعدين”.

وعن لاعبه أسينسيو، أفاد أنشيلوتي: “أسينسيو جيد جدًا، إنه يريد أن يلعب مثل أي شخص آخر، لقد أتم الدقائق القليلة التي قضاها وهو أحد اللاعبين الذين يمكنهم اللعب منذ بداية المباراة”.

وفيما يتعلق بتوقيت كأس العالم في نوفمبر المقبل وبالتالي إيقاف المسابقات لحين نهايته، أشار أنشيلوتي: “إنه عدو الجميع، كل مدرب لديه لاعبون يذهبون إلى كأس العالم، إنه شيء علينا جميعًا تقييمه”.

وأكمل: “سنقيمه عندما تنتهي كأس العالم، أعتقد أن هذا جزء من الموسم يساعد، اللاعبون جيدون لكأس العالم، كلهم ​​تقريباً في أفضل حالاتهم لأننا في أكتوبر”.

وامتدح أنشيلوتي لاعبه السابق سيرجيو راموس ومدافع باريس سان جيرمان الحالي قائلاً: “لا يزال أحد أقوى اللاعبين في العالم، هذا العام جيد، لدي لاعبون فازوا بدوري أبطال أوروبا مع 40 عامًا مثل مالديني، إذا اعتنوا بأنفسهم يمكنهم المضي قدمًا”.

وإذا كان سيرفع الرهان مع فالفيردي بشأن عدد أهدافه، رد المدرب: “لن أرفع الرهان لأنه يستطيع هزيمتي أيضًا، نحن سعداء من أجله لأنه شخص جيد”.

وتطرق المدرب للحديث عن عودة إيسكو الذي يلعب الآن في صفوف إشبيلية قائلاً: “أنا سعيد برؤيته يلعب ورؤيته غدًا، أنا مغرم به جدًا، لقد كان لاعب كرة قدم رائعًا في هذا النادي وشخص رائع بالنسبة لي”.

وسُئل أنشيلوتي ما الذي يمكن أن يحسن في ريال مدريد الحالي، وأجاب: “الاستمرارية هي لمسة يجب علينا دائمًا متابعتها، التزام جماعي قوي دائمًا، لكن في بعض الأحيان ننظر كثيرًا في المرآة، هناك العديد من الأشياء التي يمكن تحسينها على المستوى الجماعي، ولكن على على المستوى الفردي، لا يمكننا تحسين أي شيء’ علينا أن نشكر والدي اللاعبين، الذين قدموا لنا لاعبين ممتازين”.

وإذا كان سيمنح مزيدًا من الدقائق للاعبين مثل كامافينجا أو أسينسيو اللذين يلعبان في كأس العالم، أتم أنشيلوتي: “هذا صحيح، علينا تقييم الأمور الأخرى عند اتخاذ القرار”.

Sunderland have the opportunity to pull off a shock and reach the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup tonight as they face Arsenal away from home.

The Black Cats face the Premier League side two divisions above them and, therefore, will go into the game as the heavy underdogs and may be able to play with freedom without the weight of expectation weighing them down.

They come into the game off the back of a 1-1 draw with Ipswich at Portman Road in League One at the weekend, leaving Lee Johnson’s side third in the table.

How many changes will Johnson make? Here is our predicted XI…

We are predicting that he will make three alterations to the side, with Elliot Embleton, Denver Hume and Corry Evans coming in.

Leon Dajaku is reportedly set to miss out on the clash due to injury, which opens up a spot on the right for someone to come in. Hume came on to replace him at right wing-back at Portman Road and could slot in for him tonight at The Emirates, after winning four of his seven duels and completing three tackles despite playing in an unfamiliar position.

In midfield, Evans is reportedly fit for the game and could make his return. He could start ahead of Carl Winchester after the Northern Irishman’s worrying showing at the weekend. As per SofaScore, he lost four of his five ground duels and was dribbled past twice, without making a single tackle, interception, block or clearance.

This shows that he was too easily beaten in the middle of the park and, against a Premier League side, Johnson may want the experience of Evans to solidify the team. The 31-year-old has averaged 2.5 tackles and interceptions per game in League One, showing that he has the defensive nous to make interventions.

Finally, Alex Pritchard could be axed from the tip of the midfield. The £30k-per-week flop struggled against Ipswich, as he failed to create a single chance whilst winning just one of his four individual duels, and could now lose his place in the team.

Embleton, meanwhile, came off the bench and managed one key pass and won two of his three duels in just 27 minutes on the pitch. That cameo may be enough to convince Johnson to axe Pritchard from the XI in order to start the former Blackpool loanee.

Celtic have been dealt a huge injury blow ahead of their upcoming Scottish Premiership clash.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by the Glasgow Times, Ange Postecoglou revealed that both Joe Hart and Kyogo Furuhashi missed Celtic’s 0-0 draw with St. Mirren on Wednesday evening through injury, before claiming that the duo look unlikely to be available for the Bhoys’ trip to St. Johnstone on Boxing Day.

Speaking about why the pair missed the St. Mirren game, the 56-year-old manager said: “All of them were unavailable, none of them were rested. I don’t know where that came out. I don’t rest players, if they want a rest they can have a rest when they’re 45. Everyone who wasn’t playing tonight was unavailable. Either suspended or injured so that’s the case.”

And, when asked whether they could make a return to first-team action on Sunday, Postecoglou continued: “Not sure. We’ll see, it’s unlikely that anyone will definitely come back into it. There’s a couple who might be close but we’ll see over the next couple of days how they recover.”

Postecoglou will be fuming

Considering just how important both Hart and Kyogo have been for Celtic since their respective arrivals at Parkhead this summer, the news that both players look unlikely to make a return from injury for the St. Johnstone clash is sure to have left Postecoglou fuming.

Indeed, over Kyogo’s 13 Premiership appearances, the £1.8m-rated centre-forward has scored eight goals and created four big chances for his teammates, as well as earning an average SofaScore match rating of 7.07.

Meanwhile, over Hart’s own 17 league outings, the £1.8m-rated goalkeeper has kept nine clean sheets and made an average of 1.7 saves per game, with these returns seeing the former England international average a SofaScore match rating of 6.95.

As such, should Celtic indeed be without the duo once again on Sunday afternoon, it would undoubtedly reduce Postecoglou’s chances of taking all three points from the fixture, with anything but a win being rather disastrous for the Hoops’ title chances this season – as Wednesday’s draw with St. Mirren left the Bhoys six points adrift of the current Premiership leaders.

In other news: Forget Bitton: £15k-p/w Celtic dud who lost 80% duels cost Ange dearly vs St. Mirren