7M Weekly - Goodbye, Man City?!
Posted Friday, August 19, 2016 by 7M Sport
Summer festival draws to a close, but the soccer feast never stops. Those who impressed at Euro 2016 set out on their new journey with their clubs. Premier League sent a signal of new season as cracking games kicked off last weekend. Champions Leicester created a record last season, and they seem to keep it going. But at least this time, it turned out to be a poor one. They were upset by newly promoted Hull. And this was the first time for the reigning champions to lose their opening round since 1989-90 season. Anyway, this was a quite sedate opening weekend of the new EPL season. Let's check it out:
* Premier League Matchday 1
Hull City 2-1 Leicester City: The Tigers shocked the Premier League defending champions in the opening day of the new season. Adama Diomande broke the deadlock with a fantastic overhead kick. Although Riyad Mahrez found the equalizer through a penalty, Robert Snodgrass sealed the win for the home side. 2-1! This is the first time for the reigning champions to lose their opening round since 1989-90 season.
Manchester City 2-1 Sunderland: This game was Pep Guardiola's coaching debut in Premier League. Kun Aguero took the lead for the Blues via an early penalty. Adnan Januzaj's through ball found Jermaine Defoe, and the latter equalized the score. In the 87th minute, Patrick McNair unfortunately produced an own goal to give Guardiola his first win in Premier League.
Bournemouth 1-3 Manchester United: Juan Mata broke the stalemate in the first half, and Wayne Rooney's header turned the score into 2-0. In the 64th minute, Zlatan Ibrahimovic found the net through a shot from outside the box. Later on Adam Smith pulled a goal back for the home side, but the damage had done. Jose Mourinho got a perfect start as his side picked up a win in his first Premier League game in charge.
Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool: Liverpool came from behind to beat Arsenal in a 7-goal thriller at the Emirates Stadium. Coutinho scored a brace for the Reds. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers pulled 2 goals back for the Gunners, but it did not make a difference as Jurgen Klopp's side grabbed their first win.
Chelsea 2-1 West Ham: After a goalless first half, Eden Hazard converted a penalty into 1-0 in the 46th minute. However, James Collins' volley turned both sides back to the same level. Finally, Diego Costa scored the winner two minutes before the full time whistle. Antonio Conte also took his first win of the new season.
* Spanish Super Cup
Barcelona 3-0 Sevilla (agg. 5-0): Arda Turan scored a brace as Luis Enrique's side eased to a resounding 3-0 win over Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup second leg at Camp Nou. As a result, Barcelona thrashed Sevilla 5-0 on aggregate and claimed their record 12th Super Cup triumph.
* German Super Cup
Borussia Dortmund 0-2 Bayern Munich: These two German powerhouses met again in German Super Cup and Dortmund won their last two encounters with Bayern in this competition. But this time Bayern had the last laugh thanks to goals from Arturo Vidal and Thomas Muller. Bayern lifted the Super Cup trophy for the fifth time.
* Champions League Playoffs
Steaua Bucuresti 0-5 Manchester City: Kun Aguero scored a hat-trick, but also missed two penalties, as Manchester City thrashed Steaua Bucuresti 5-0 in their Champions League Playoffs clash. With such a big advantage, City nearly secured a place in the Champions League group stage this season.
* Palace agree fee for Benteke
Crystal Palace have agreed a ï¿¡27m fee for Liverpool forward Christian Benteke.
After a disappointing signing of Emmanuel Adebayor last season, the Eagles have been eagerly searching for a reliable centre-forward all summer and appear to have finally landed their coveted man.
The deal will include add-ons that could see the fee go past ï¿¡30m, allowing the Merseysiders to recoup most of the ï¿¡32.5m they paid Aston Villa for the Belgium international last year.
Palace have previously had a bid of ï¿¡23m with ï¿¡7m worth of add-ons rejected by the Reds, but now they have struck a deal that suits all parties.
However, is this a worthy deal since Benteke played a terrible season after a successful one? It seems like Crystal Palace is willing to take a chance on the 25-year-old who has been in a roller coaster ride.
* Mile Jedinak joins Aston Villa on three-year deal
Crystal Palace is determined to make their mark on this season. Prior to Benteke's arrival, they completed a deal with Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee. The Lions have completed a three-year deal for Mile Jedinak. The Australian had lost the captaincy at Palace after four seasons, with Scott Dann replacing him.
Jedinak becomes this Championship side's sixth signing of the summer. The 32-year-old made 179 appearances for Palace and scored 10 goals after joining from the Turkish side Genclerbirligi in 2011.
* Hart ready to go
Pep Guardiola is proving instantly that he is not afraid to make big decisions, and now Joe Hart wants to leave Manchester City on loan, sparking a scramble between Everton and Sevilla to sign him.
City's longest serving player accepts he will not win back his No.1 spot after being brutally axed by Guardiola and wants to quit the Blues this month.
He may not even make the bench with Guardiola set to sign Chilean keeper Claudio Bravo from Barcelona this week to take over from Willy Caballero as City's first-choice goalkeeper.
The 29-year-old realises this would be a hammer blow to his status as England's No.1 and wants to go before the transfer window closes on August 31.
* Jose Fonte keen to join Manchester United
Southampton defender Jose Fonte favours a move to Manchester United over Arsenal.
Jose Mourinho is a firm admirer of the Portuguese defender and would like an experienced centre-back to play alongside Eric Bailly.
Arsene Wenger is desperate to sign a centre-back and holds an interest in Fonte, who he views as a solution to the Gunners' injury problems in defence.
However, according to the Manchester Evening News, The 32-year-old prefers a move to Old Trafford over the Emirates and is keen on working with his compatriot Mourinho.
* CR7 & Bolt showed gesture
After grabbing his 7th gold medal in Olympic Games, Jamaica sprinter Usain Bolt exuded his love for Real Madrid by showing his victory gesture with Los Blancos' goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo.
* Pogba revealed new haircut for Man Utd
Manchester United new signing Paul Pogba revealed new haircut for his second Red Devil debut. The Frenchman rejoined at Old Trafford with a marked ï¿¡89m transfer from Juventus.
* Man Utd youngster takes photo with Arsenal legend
With smile on the face, Man Utd striker Marcus Rashford took the opportunity to snap with Thierry Henry as the Arsenal legend visited Carrington training ground on Tuesday.
* Willian visited Big Ben with his wife
After a narrow 2-1 win against West Ham on Monday, Chelsea midfielder Willian decided to have a rest. The Brazilian enjoyed singing samba songs with his friends in London Eye, then took a visit of Big Ben on Tuesday with his wife Vanessa Martins.
* Joao Havelange passed away
Former president of FIFA Joao Havelange died in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, he died at the age of 100. Havelange took over Sir Stanley Rous to become the 7th FIFA president. And this former Olympic swimmer and water polo player for Brazil was the first non-European to lead this world class football governing body. He helps changed the team number of World Cup from originally 16 to 32.
* Boateng named Germany Footballer of the Year
Germany Footballer of the Year is often awarded to the attacking players, but Boateng battled it out to become the first defender since Jurgen Kohler(1997) to be granted this honour. The 27-year-old received 163 votes to beat goal-machine Thomas Muller into second place. With only 19 Bundesliga appearances last season, the Bayern Munich defender was apparantly astonished at this award.
* Podolski retired from Germany duty
Summer is the festival season, especially this year——exciting Euro 2016 in romantic France, fantastic Olympics in colorful Brazil. But apart from this, there is a moment of parting. Podolski announced retirement from Germany's national team following Schweinsteiger in late July. Here below is a review of his highlights on international duty:
1. 19-year-old Podolski made his international debut for Germany on 6 June 2004.
2. Podolski played for Germany at Euro 2004 as the youngest player in the squad.
3. Podolski scored his first ever World Cup goal in 2006. He was also named World Cup's Best Young Player following a brilliant campaign.
4. Podolski netted four goals in Germany's 13-0 landslide win over San Marion in Euro 2008 qualifying round.
5. Podolski scored the first goal in Germany's 2010 World Cup opening game, a match that ended in a 4-0 win for the Germans.
6. Podolski made his 100th appearance in the third of Germany's Group B games during Euro 2012.
7. Podolski was part of Germany's World Cup champion squad of 2014.
8. Podolski was included in Low's final 23-man squad for Euro 2016.
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