Erik ten Hag: Sir Bobby Charlton will always remain an inspiration to Man Utd
Erik ten Hag believes Sir Bobby Charlton will always remain an inspiration to Manchester United as they prepare for their first home game since the World Cup-winner died on Saturday. Tributes to Charlton, who was 86, will take place before Tuesday’s Champions League fixture against Copenhagen, in the form of a minute’s silence, a wreath being placed on Charlton’s seat in the directors’ box and players and club staff wearing black armbands. Charlton will also be remembered in the official programme for both the Copenhagen match and Sunday’s derby against Manchester City. There will be a minute’s applause prior to the City match as well as expressions of remembrance via flags and banners in the stadium. Fans have already been flocking to Old Trafford to leave flowers, scarves and messages around the statue of Charlton, Denis Law and George Best – the ‘United Trinity’ – which is located outside the ground. And when asked if Charlton would be an inspiration for his side not only on Tuesday but beyond, Ten Hag pointed to the statue. “He is in front of Old Trafford,” Ten Hag said. “With Denis Law and George Best. He is always with us. They are always a huge inspiration for us, every day, and in every game.” Ten Hag cited Charlton as an inspiration for his players in Saturday’s 2-1 win away to Sheffield United, secured by Diogo Dalot’s winner, but a match at Old Trafford will be an opportunity for the entire club to pay tribute on and off the pitch. Ten Hag wants to mark the occasion with a victory, something United badly need in the Champions League after opening their Group A campaign with defeats against Bayern Munich and Galatasaray, while they have stuttered in the Premier League too. “First we want to win as a tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton, but also you want always to do that in a certain way and that is what we are aiming for,” Ten Hag added. “It is not always possible in football, sometimes you don’t play that well but you have to find a way to win. “I was happy on Saturday that we could show tribute with a win but also with the way we scored that second goal.” Although they ground out the victory, United were again far from their best in Saturday’s win over the Blades, with social media full of grumbling from fans amid a pedestrian start to the campaign. But Ten Hag said he continues to feel the firm backing of the supporters inside Old Trafford, and expects a special atmosphere on Tuesday night. “It’s always special every night at Old Trafford, the fans are always so behind us,” the Dutchman said. “I remember the last game, the home game against Brentford, even when the game is not going in our direction they stayed behind us in difficult moments and moments of adversity around Manchester United the fans are still with us and we are with the fans, we are fighting together. “Definitely tomorrow after the passing away of Sir Bobby Charlton, their hero, their legend, their giant, I’m sure there will be an even more emotional evening tomorrow.” Read More Mikel Arteta hopes to be talking about football after Arsenal’s trip to Sevilla Jean Kleyn: RWC final with South Africa ‘outside realm of thinking’ months ago Joe Root acknowledges growing uncertainty surrounding future of ODI cricket 5 things we learned from England’s progress through the Rugby World Cup Jonny May backs ‘genius’ Steve Borthwick to crack the code of rugby with England Muddled selection, ageing squad and no new blood – England’s World Cup problems
2023-10-24 11:30
From Aguero winner to Keegan dismay, Spurs-Chelsea joins Premier League classics
Chelsea ended Tottenham’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season with an extraordinary 4-1 win over their London rivals on Monday evening. A hat-trick from Nicolas Jackson helped Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino enjoy a successful return to his former club, but only after a pulsating contest with two red cards and five disallowed goals. Here, the PA news agency looks at 10 of the greatest games in the Premier League era. Manchester City 3 QPR 2 (May 2012) Perhaps the most significant of all. City started this game knowing a win would earn them a first Premier League title but when they went 2-1 down – even against 10 men – it looked as though rivals Manchester United would take the trophy. However, Edin Dzeko scored in the second minute of time added on to level and Sergio Aguero (or, to quote Sky commentator Martin Tyler, “Agueroooooooooo”) won both the match and the title with 93:20 on the clock. Arsenal 4 Tottenham 4 (October 2008) Best remembered for David Bentley’s stunning opener for Tottenham against his former club, this game saw Spurs come back from 4-2 down to earn a point. Trailing to Bentley’s amazing volley, the Gunners exposed Spurs’ weakness at defending set-pieces to lead through Mikael Silvestre and William Gallas. Emmanuel Adebayor added a third for the hosts before Darren Bent pulled one back. When Robin van Persie restored Arsenal’s two-goal cushion it had looked all over, but Harry Redknapp’s men showed a new resilience and Jermaine Jenas’ late strike gave them hope before Aaron Lennon struck at the death. Liverpool 4 Newcastle 3 (April 1996) Sure to feature on everyone’s classic list, this was the game which saw Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan slump over the front of the dugout as his side’s title chances went up in smoke. Liverpool came back from 2-0 down to level, only to see Faustino Asprilla make it 3-2 seconds later. Stan Collymore soon levelled and then won it two minutes into added time, with Tyler again taking over with his line of “Collymore closing in”. Newcastle 4 Arsenal 4 (February 2011) The game that demonstrated why supporters should never leave early. When Theo Walcott scored for Arsenal 44 seconds into this game it set the tone for a blistering period of away play, with Johan Djourou and Van Persie, who netted twice, putting Arsenal 4-0 up. However, the game turned as Abou Diaby saw red for Arsenal and Newcastle mounted a stellar comeback. Two penalties from Joey Barton and a Leon Best goal gave them a foothold, but they still needed a brilliant 87th-minute volley from Cheick Tiote to get a point. Leicester 3 Arsenal 3 (August 1997) Perhaps best remembered for Dennis Bergkamp’s brilliant solo goal, this game had far more to it. The Dutchman’s wonder goal, which sealed his hat-trick, was actually to put Arsenal up after Matt Elliott had scored in the third minute of stoppage time for Leicester to make it 2-2, but there was still time for Steve Walsh to score another dramatic goal and make it 3-3. Norwich 4 Liverpool 5 (January 2016) Reds boss Jurgen Klopp lost his glasses amid wild celebrations on the touchline after Adam Lallana’s last-minute strike gave Liverpool an astonishing first Premier League win of 2016. Klopp’s men had trailed 3-1 with under 30 minutes to go, then led 4-3 before Sebastien Bassong’s stoppage-time goal levelled matters. But there was still time for substitute Lallana to mis-hit a shot into the ground and secure a 5-4 victory. Chelsea 2 Arsenal 3 (October 1999) Nigeria forward Kanu took centre stage as the Gunners mounted a terrific comeback against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Headers from Tore Andre Flo and Dan Petrescu got Chelsea 2-0 up, but then Kanu took control. He pulled two back from close range in regulation time and then, in stoppage time, broke free, skipped past goalkeeper Ed de Goey by the corner flag and then curled in the winner from an improbable angle. Tottenham 4 Leicester 4 (February 2004) Just 18 days after squandering a 3-0 half-time lead against 10-man Manchester City to be dumped out of the FA Cup, David Pleat’s Spurs needed a late equaliser from Jermain Defoe to avoid another embarrassing defeat in the league. Defoe had put the home side 2-1 up after 13 minutes and Robbie Keane made it 3-1 before half an hour had elapsed, but Les Ferdinand pulled one back against his former club before James Scowcroft was sent off. Leicester’s 10 men improbably took the lead through goals from Ben Thatcher and Marcus Bent before Defoe’s leveller. Tottenham 4 Arsenal 5 (November 2004) Four years before the 4-4 thriller at the Emirates, White Hart Lane hosted a similarly high-scoring affair prolific tie between the two local rivals. The home side took the lead through Noureddine Naybet, but Arsenal equalised through Thierry Henry and then went 3-1 ahead through Lauren, who converted a penalty won by Freddie Ljungberg, and Patrick Vieira. Jermain Defoe pulled one back almost immediately before Ljungberg and Ledley King traded goals and, although Robert Pires added Arsenal’s fifth nine minutes from time, Freddie Kanoute’s goal made for a frantic finish. West Ham 5 Bradford 4 (February 2000) West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop suffered a broken leg just minutes into the game to hand a debut to 18-year-old Stephen Bywater, who conceded four goals but still ended up on the winning side. The comeback from 4-2 down started with 25 minutes left when Frank Lampard and Paolo Di Canio argued over who would take a penalty, Di Canio eventually winning the tussle and converting from the spot. Joe Cole soon equalised and Lampard scored the winner from the edge of the box with seven minutes remaining. 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2023-11-07 19:17
What to expect in Thursday’s Champions League draw
The draw for the group stage of the Champions League will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Thursday evening. Here the PA news agency explains how it will unfold. When is the draw? The draw is due to start at 5pm UK time on Thursday evening. How will it work? The 32 teams will be split into eight groups of four, with the four seeding pots not set to be confirmed until Thursday morning. The identity of the final qualifiers will not be known until Wednesday evening. Pot 1 will feature European champions Manchester City, Europa League winners Sevilla and six domestic champions. Pots two to four will be based on the UEFA club coefficient rankings. As usual, teams from the same country will be kept apart until at least the quarter-final stage. Pairings and any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw. What else do we need to know about the format? September 19 and 20 October 3 and 4 October 24 and 25 November 7 and 8 November 28 and 29 December 12 and 13 The teams play each other home and away between September and December as usual, with the top two progressing to the Champions League last 16. The teams finishing third enter the Europa League knockout round play-offs, where they will face the runners-up from the Europa League group stages for a place in the last 16 of that competition. What else should we expect on Thursday night? UEFA plans to announce the four winners of its 2022-23 awards – men’s player and coach, plus women’s player and coach – during the draw ceremony. There will be particular focus on the women’s awards amid the unfolding crisis in Spanish football – two of the country’s World Cup-winning team, Aitana Bonmati and Olga Carmona, are nominated for the player award while Jorge Vilda is nominated for the coach award. What else should we look out for this season? This season marks the final year of the group stage as we have come to know it. From next season the 32-team group stage will be replaced by a 36-team league phase, with each team playing eight matches on a seeded basis. It will be worth keeping an eye as the season progresses on the country coefficients, which are based on the collective performance of a country’s clubs in the three UEFA men’s club competitions. One team each from the two best-performing countries will secure additional places in the league phase, under changes agreed at UEFA Congress in Vienna last year. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Savannah Marshall would relish rematch with rival Claressa Shields in MMA cage England Women to get same match fees as men after Ashes summer boosts profile Daniel James injury blow for Wales ahead of Euro 2024 qualifier against Latvia
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