Category: Sport News

MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that his team’s challenge to win the Premier League this season could end if they fail to beat West Ham United tomorrow.

City are likely to go into the London Stadium 10 points behind league leaders Arsenal if Arsenal beat Everton earlier in the day.

Although City still have a game in hand and home advantage when they face Arsenal next month, Guardiola insists his team cannot afford to drop points again.

“The league is the hardest trophy to win. I always believe the Premier League is the hardest and we are still in the competition, but if we lose points it will be over,” said Guardiola.

City also need to bounce back quickly after a heavy 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, which has left their chances of advancing to the quarter-finals slim.

Guardiola has won six Premier League titles in his nine seasons with City since arriving in England.

However, last season saw City fall far behind when they finished in third place, 13 points behind champions Liverpool.

“Now it’s a satisfaction to be in this situation. Last season we weren’t in this situation at the level of the season we are at now,” he said.

Meanwhile, West Ham are still in the relegation zone, but have lost only two of their last 11 matches in all competitions.

The team is now just one point from safety and has also managed to advance to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

BILBAO, Spain: Barcelona’s teenage star, Lamine Yamal, scored a beautiful goal to give Barcelona a 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in La Liga action earlier this morning.

The result allowed the defending champions to once again extend their four-point lead at the top of the league over Real Madrid, who had previously narrowed the gap after beating Celta Vigo yesterday.

Yamal curled a shot into the top corner of the goal in the 68th minute to separate the two teams at the San Mames Stadium after a tense match.

Barca coach Hansi Flick made several changes to his starting lineup ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 visit to Newcastle.

Following that, Barcelona displayed a lackluster performance in the first half with limited chances and the game far from their best performance.

Ferran Torres struggled in attack after a lacklustre start to 2026, while Athletic had some of the better chances in a lacklustre first half.

Joao Cancelo almost scored an own goal early in the game when the ball hit the goalpost, while Selton Sanchez managed to get past the defence but Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia did a brilliant job of snatching the ball from him.

Ernesto Valverde’s team also managed to break through Barcelona’s goal before the break but Inaki Williams’ goal was disallowed after he was ruled offside.

In the second half, Barcelona demanded that Alejandro Rego be shown a red card after fouling Dani Olmo, while Athletic players demanded that Pau Cubarsi be sent off for bringing down Williams, but the referee only showed a yellow card in both situations.

Yamal, who was somewhat subdued throughout the first hour, finally broke the deadlock after successfully overcoming the tight control of Athletic’s defender, Adama Boiro.

Substitute Pedri passed to Yamal before Boiro slipped and the 18-year-old finished off the opportunity with a solid shot into the top corner that hit the post before diving in.

The goal was Yamal’s 19th in all competitions this season.

LONDON: Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior has issued a stern warning to his players to improve their discipline following Pedro Neto’s latest red card.

A 2-1 defeat to Premier League leaders Arsenal at the Emirates saw Chelsea win just two of their last six matches in all competitions.

Chelsea are currently sixth in the league and will face Aston Villa this Wednesday, three points behind Liverpool in the race for next season’s Champions League spot.

Disciplinary problems have become a thorn in the side this season as Neto became the ninth Chelsea player to be sent off in all competitions, seven of them in league action.

Rosenior, who took over from Enzo Maresca in January, said Neto had apologised to his team-mates after being shown a red card in the 70th minute.

“My job is to build a culture of accountability. If you make a mistake, it’s okay, admit it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“But you have to take responsibility for the original mistake. If I make the wrong lineup, I have to take responsibility. The players are the same,” said Rosenior.

According to him, he wants to see a change in attitude, not just an apology.

“I need to see an improvement in behaviour. Not just Pedro. We have unnecessary yellow cards, protests to the referee, unjustified fouls.

“If we want to get to the next level, we need to take conscious steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“If you look at our data, when there are enough 11 players on the field, the winning percentage jumps up. That in itself should be motivation to stay disciplined.

“I can’t afford to go through the season with a red card every two or three games. So I have to adjust the selection based on who has shown improvement in that aspect,” he said.

LONDON: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is confident Viktor Gyokeres can make a big impact on his team’s bid to win four trophies this season, after the striker showed impressive performance in recent matches.

Gyokeres, who joined Arsenal from Sporting Lisbon earlier this season, had previously struggled but is now starting to find his best touch.

The 27-year-old striker scored twice in the 4-1 win over Tottenham last weekend, taking his goal tally to eight in all competitions in 2026.

With 10 goals in the English Premier League (EPL) this season, Gyokeres has surpassed the number of goals scored by any Arsenal player in the league last season.

Arteta believes Gyokeres’ performance is improving as he better understands his teammates and the EPL style of play.

“One success leads to another. When you score your first goal or have a good performance, you understand your team-mates, your opponents and the league better. It all helps,” Arteta told reporters yesterday.

“He is definitely a great striker. We need to support him, understand how he plays and he also needs to understand the team and the league. I think we are on the right track,” he stressed.

Regarding Gyokeres’ somewhat shaky confidence at the start of the season, Arteta said it depended on the player himself, while emphasising the high pressure placed on him.

“I’m sure because many times in training our defenders said, ‘When you face him, it’s a nightmare’,” said Arteta.

Arsenal will face Chelsea in the EPL campaign at midnight tomorrow with the aim of maintaining a five-point lead at the top of the league.

Closest challengers Manchester City can close the gap to two points if they win at Leeds tonight, making this weekend’s match even more important.

In addition to the league, Arsenal also advanced to the last 16 of the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen, as well as qualifying for the League Cup final against Manchester City and the fifth round of the FA Cup.

“We are excited to play in the next round of the Champions League. We qualified based on our performance in the group stage, but now we have to analyse Leverkusen and find a way to win,” said Arteta.

Gyokeres’ solid performance comes at a perfect time for Arsenal, who are top of the league and competing in three other competitions, giving the team a strong chance of winning all four trophies.

Arteta insisted his team’s focus now is to maintain momentum, manage pressure and ensure every player understands their role in pursuing success this season.

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) coach Luis Enrique admitted his team still has a lot of room for improvement after advancing to the last 16 of the Champions League by eliminating Monaco early this morning.

The Spanish manager said this after a 2-2 draw in the second leg of the play-offs which saw PSG advance 5-4 on aggregate.

“We got the toughest draw in the league phase and we are used to playing games like this against anyone,” said Enrique.

PSG held a 3-2 lead from last week’s first leg, but Maghnes Akliouche put Monaco ahead on a night at the Parc des Princes to level the aggregate.

A red card for Monaco’s Mamadou Coulibaly early in the second half opened up space for PSG to equalise through Marquinhos before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put them back in front.

However, despite playing with a shortage of players, the club from Monaco still managed to equalize through Jordan Teze, and Wout Faes even missed the best chance to drag the match into extra time.

“Of course we can and want to improve our game, but there is always an opponent and we know how difficult this match will be,” said Enrique.

“The next game might be easier, no? Chelsea or Barcelona – not too bad. But if there’s a team that’s ready, it’s us.”

PSG are currently leading Ligue 1 and still have a chance to defend the Champions League title they won for the first time last season.

They have also won the UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Intercontinental Cup and French Champions Trophy this season, all via penalty shootouts.

However, there is a view that the Qatari-owned club has yet to reach the level of performance seen in the second half of last season when they defeated European rivals before thrashing Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final in Munich.

“We knew it would be difficult and we were not surprised by Monaco,” Enrique insisted.

“We showed fighting spirit and ability to overcome problems, but this competition is difficult. It is important for us to improve our performance and that is what we will do.”