The Guardian

Tottenham v Roma: Europa League – live

Submitted by daniel on Thu, 28/11/2024 - 19:00

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Updated at 21.29 CET

Disallowed goal for Roma's El Shaarawy!

Wowzers. What a goal. But is he offside? Yes he is. It is a delightful flick over the last defender by Dybala. El Shaarawy volleys it unerringly into the far corner, a goal reminiscent of Kylian Mbappé’s cracker in the World Cup final in 2022. But the winger is adjudged offside by the VAR.

Updated at 21.26 CET

Goal! 20 min: Tottenham 1-1 Roma (Ndicka)

Dybala strokes over a free-kick after a needless foul from Tottenham – Ndicka gets up and deflects the ball into the roof of the net off his shoulder! Super delivery, and a good header, even if it included a slice of luck.

Updated at 21.22 CET

Updated at 21.20 CET

The Son penalty.

Updated at 21.10 CET

Goal! 5 min: Tottenham 1-0 Roma (Son penalty)

Boom! A lovely penalty struck sweetly into the net with the goalie going the wrong way.

Updated at 21.22 CET

Penalty for Spurs.

There it is.

Updated at 21.08 CET

First half kick-off!

Here we go.

The teams are out. Postecoglou and Ranieri exchange a few friendly words on the sideline. I couldn’t think of a time Spurs had played Roma, and indeed, this is the first competitive meeting between the sides.

Updated at 21.01 CET

On pundit duty, Peter Crouch predicts a “reasonably comfortable” win for Spurs.

“You need to move on quickly,” Postecoglou tells TNT Sports of that win at City. “It was a good day for us. We played well, and you need to against the best in the business. It’s a different challenge tonight. And it’ll be a good challenge.

Will Roma have a new manager bounce? “It will be a tough game. They’ve had a difficult start to the season. Europe is a bit of an escape from that for all clubs, a chance to kickstart your season … Claudio’s come in, they lost against Napoli: tonight will be a tough game.”

And finally on Fraser Forster: “He’s been around a long time and he’s a big part of the club. He’s already played in the Europa League this season so he’s not going in cold. He’ll do well.”

Thank you to Mats Hummels for reminding me: this is a crucial game for Roma’s European hopes:

“This game is incredibly important for us,” he said. “It’s possibly our last chance if we want to finish in the top eight but we need points anyway to reach the next round and turn things around for our team and our club. It’s a very difficult game but it’s also a big chance. We’re playing a very strong team but we can show we’re able to play at a much higher level.”

Bryan Cristante, on the bench for Roma tonight, is the player who swung that England v Italy Euro 2020 final in the Azzurri’s direction. In my opinion.

Updated at 20.49 CET

Chelsea have beaten Heidenheim 2-0 in the Europa Conference League.

As for the Europa League table, Spurs sit eighth as we go to press.

Roma are 21st out of 36.

Rodrigo Bentancur’s ban applies to domestic matches only, by the way:

David Hytner

Guglielmo Vicario has had surgery to repair an ankle fracture that he sustained in Tottenham’s 4-0 Premier League win at Manchester City on Saturday. The news has rocked the club so soon after such a morale-boosting result and it will deprive them of one of their key players and leaders at a busy time of the season.

Isn’t it lovely to reminisce about those pre-Brexit days when Ranieri led Leicester to the Premier League title?

But that was then, and this is now, and all that.

Will Unwin has Manchester United v Bodø/Glimt right here:

Four changes for Tottenham then, with Forster in nets, while Gray, Bentancur and Johnson also come in.

It’s a first start for Mats Hummels among three changes for Roma: Paulo Dybala also comes back into the side.

Updated at 21.00 CET

Team news

Tottenham (4-3-3): Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Gray; Sarr, Bentancur, Johnson; Kulusevski, Solanke, Son (capt.). Substitutes: Austin, Whiteman, Bissouma, Udogie, Maddison, Bergvall, Werner, Olusesi, Williams-Barnet, Hardy, King.

Roma (3-4-2-1): Svilar, Mancini, Hummels, Ndicka; Celik, Kone, Paredes, Angelino; Dybala, El Shaarawy; Dovbyk. Substitutes: Marin, Ryan, Cristante, Pellegrini, Abdulhamid, Soule, Le Fee, Baldanzi, Saelemaekers, Zalewski, Pisilli, Sangare.

Updated at 20.15 CET

Preamble

Ange Postecoglou said this is “a really pivotal part of the season”. He was speaking before his Tottenham players opened an industrial-sized can of whup-ass for Manchester City at the Etihad last Saturday, so hats off to him, the pivot has initially been positive.

But Spurs have eight more matches to squeeze in before Christmas, starting with Roma this evening, and such a congested spell will provide a stern test for Project Postecoglou and Ange-ball. For every 4-0 thrashing of the Premier League champions there seems to be a shock defeat by the likes of Crystal Palace or Ipswich, so the jury remains out on Tottenham’s long-term prospects under the Greek-Australian.

Whatever happens tonight should be fun, though, because Claudio Ranieri is back in charge of Roma for the third time in his career. The 73-year-old’s first match in charge as caretaker manager was a 1-0 defeat by Napoli last Sunday. Can the wily old fox derail Ange’s festive plans? We’re about to find out.

Kick-off: 8pm UK

Updated at 20.22 CET

The Guardian

Shock for Tottenham as Guglielmo Vicario has surgery on fractured ankle

Submitted by daniel on Mon, 25/11/2024 - 20:52

Guglielmo Vicario has had surgery to repair an ankle fracture that he sustained during Tottenham’s 4-0 Premier League win at Manchester City on Saturday. The news has rocked the club so soon after such a morale-boosting result and it will deprive them of one of their key players and leaders at a busy time of the season.

Spurs have not put a timeframe on the goalkeeper’s absence but he stands to be a long-term casualty. The manager, Ange Postecoglou, will most likely turn to the 36-year-old backup Fraser Forster, who has started three times so far this season – once in the Carabao Cup, twice in the Europa League.

Spurs face Roma in the European competition on Thursday night before embarking on a run of nine games in December, including the Carabao Cup quarter-final at home against Manchester United.

Vicario was hurt in a collision with the City winger Savinho just before half-time, only to play on and complete the 90 minutes of surely the most eye-catching victory of Postecoglou’s tenure. Vicario was seen limping as he went through the post-match mixed zone – the area where journalists wait to talk to the players – and scans revealed the damage.

Vicario wrote on Instagram: “I played 60 minutes at the Etihad with a broken bone in my ankle, giving absolutely everything I had for the team. Unfortunately there was no way around this one. I needed surgery.

“I’m disappointed I won’t be able to help the team for a while. A massive thank you to the doctors and the staff. The operation went well, and from tomorrow I’ll be working hard to come back stronger, fitter, and ready to give my all for you again. Thank you to the Spurs fans for all the love. See you soon on the pitch.”

Spurs said in a statement: “We can confirm that Guglielmo Vicario has today undergone surgery for a fracture of his right ankle. He will be assessed by our medical staff to determine when he can return to training.”

Vicario played a key role against City, making saves to deny Erling Haaland. Postecoglou was without his first-choice centre-halves Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven at the Etihad Stadium, with the latter not expected back from a hamstring problem until mid-December. Romero’s injury is not as serious.

The Guardian

Super Spurs sink City and Amorim era begins at United – Football Weekly

Submitted by daniel on Mon, 25/11/2024 - 16:09

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today; Manchester City are thrashed by Tottenham to make it five losses on the spin and leave them eight points behind Liverpool after the Reds’ win on Sunday. City are lacking in midfield but Spurs were brilliant – in particular the aging (his words) 28-year-old James Maddison.

Elsewhere, Liverpool are clear at the top after their 3-2 win over Southampton and Mohamed Salah is brilliant once again. Martin Ødegaard’s return to the Arsenal side has reminded everyone just how good they can be.

Plus: Steve Cooper sacked by Leicester, Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United managerial debut and the rest of the Premier League is wrapped up.

Support the Guardian here.

The Guardian

Tottenham rout Manchester City 4-0 to leave Pep Guardiola reeling

Submitted by daniel on Sat, 23/11/2024 - 19:53

“Sacked in the morning” was the ecstatic taunt from Tottenham fans aimed at Pep Guardiola when Pedro Porro’s third was rammed in under a classic Mancunian downpour that had abated by the end of Manchester City’s fifth consecutive defeat.

The right-back prospered as Ange Postecoglu’s men did all evening: by ransacking the champions who, despite Guardiola’s defiance that he is up for arresting the slide, were clueless, as illustrated by Brennan Johnson’s added-time fourth, when, for a countless time, City fell to the quick-break.

You have to go back to 2006 for the last time City suffered five reverses in a row. That dire run ended at a sixth and do not bet against Guardiola’s iteration matching this – Feyenoord are here next on Tuesday – as his famed tactical brain is drawing a blank.

Before kick-off, Rodri’s Ballon d’Or triumph was honoured, the Spaniard presented in front of a huge neon sign that spelled his name in white bulbs. When he was injured against Arsenal here in September, his manager vowed to solve the key No 6’s absence. At the moment Guardiola is failing.

City had been careless in their losing sequence, lacking the usual cold ruthlessness that cuffs aside many foes, and they were again in a dire opening half. Three of the reverses were 2-1, the other 4-1, so of their total of 41 goals in 17 games in all competitions – 22 in 11 league outings before this game – only four had come in the run of defeats.

This showed how the attack had dipped, while being breached eight times told the defence’s story. To try to remedy the latter, in City’s first home match in a month, Guardiola drafted in John Stones and Manuel Akanji from the loss at Brighton last time out, with Bernardo Silva coming into midfield, for Matheus Nunes, who was a substitute alongside the also-dropped Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Mateo Kovacic was absent through injury.

But inside 13 minutes Spurs raided the reshuffled City pack. Dejan Kulesevski, after mugging the dawdling Josko Gvardiol along the right, skipped infield and dropped the ball perfectly for James Maddison, whose run closed with a volley past the helpless Ederson.

What followed from Gvardiol and for City was just as bad. This time the left-back’s loose pass was collected by Maddison, who found Son. The No 10 curved around the back of his captain to take a return for a one-two as sweet as the dink over the diving Ederson.

Gvardiol scrunched his face in despair and Guardiola discarded his jacket.

Before and after the goals, Erling Haaland’s normal unerring aim was off, the No 9 either missing the target completely or crashing the ball where Guglielmo Vicario or Ben Davies’s legs could repel it.

City, as per recent form, could not grip midfield and so throttle the visitor. Instead, Tottenham were a white wave flowing through them at will as when the unmarked Dominic Solanke tingled Ederson’s fingertips from mid-range, as Son had earlier done from an angle on the left.

Spurs’ 4-2-1-3 posed City’s narrow (and rare) 4-3-3 questions they struggled to answer, Guardiola’s middle trident of Rico Lewis, Ilkay Gündogan and Silva his solution to Kovacic and Rodri being absent.

During a team pow-wow on 40 minutes while Vicario received treatment, Guardiola was a whirl of thigh slaps and semaphored instructions, but Son was soon in again and only his indecision saved City.

Spurs were good value for their interval lead and Guardiola needed to conjure some magic to revive his troops.

Nathan Aké jogged on for Stones for the second half and Guardiola swapped Silva and Savinho to the right and still he scratched his head as Savinho ceded possession. Next, the 53-year-old appeared lost when the rampant Spurs registered a third. City, again, broke down deep in the opponent half and from here they were ran through, as Kulesevski passed to Son down the left who returned to the Swede.

His sliced ball to Solanke had the No 9 in behind on the opposite wing, he teed up Pedro Porro, and the defender who made zero mistake.

The rain, falling all day, became a deluge that soaked the devastated Guardiola. City’s response was to probe and press. Haaland skimmed the bar on swivelling, and Gvardiol’s shot was blocked and a later volley skied, and you wondered about Kevin De Bruyne’s fitness as despite being a substitute he was not yet called for.

Once more the counter nearly pierced City, only Ederson’s reflexes palming away Kulesvski’s effort. Guardiola, on 74 minutes, sent for De Bruyne and Jack Grealish, who superseded Lewis and Savinho.

But despite rallying, City remained toothless, and Spurs, comprehensively, deserved victory

The Guardian

Manchester City v Tottenham: Premier League – live

Submitted by daniel on Sat, 23/11/2024 - 17:44

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Some much-needed succour for the champions here. Since the start of last season, according to a graphic flashed up by Sky Sports, no team has recovered more points from losing positions than Manchester City. That probably doesn’t come as a huge surprise, but there it is nonetheless.

Updated at 19.24 CET

HALF TIME: Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur

City started fast … then came off the rails. Or more accurately, were barged off them by some sensational Spurs attacking. City are staring down the barrel of a fifth straight defeat in all competitions, though both teams will doubtlessly be thinking about this …

… so don’t go anywhere. Huge second half coming up!

Updated at 19.06 CET

Updated at 18.57 CET

GOAL! Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Maddison 20)

It’s James Maddison’s 28th birthday today, and he’s having a party. City give the ball away again, Gvardiol playing a poor blind pass in from the right touchline. Maddison snaffles, then rolls across to Son, who holds up the ball on the edge of the area. Maddison has continued running diagonally, and Son finds him with a return down the inside left. Maddison squares up to Ederson and dinks over the keeper and in. Wow!

Updated at 18.58 CET

GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Maddison 13)

Well this scoreline is absolutely absurd! City could easily be two or three up, but they’re trailing! Kulusevski brushes off Gvardiol down the right. He cuts back before curling a sensational cross over the stranded Stones and towards Maddison, who sidefoots the dropping ball into the bottom left. What a goal! What a weird game football can be sometimes!

Updated at 18.50 CET

Updated at 18.40 CET

Updated at 18.44 CET

Spurs get the ball rolling … and lose it within seconds. Foden advances down the right and Bissouma cynically clips him from behind. The tackle on 12 seconds, the booking on 16. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Yves!

Updated at 18.42 CET

Rodri may be missing from the Manchester City line-up, but he’s in the house tonight. The main Etihad lights are dimmed and the influential midfielder comes onto the pitch, kissing his Ballon d’Or before raising it to the sky in front of tall lights that spell out RODRI in Elvis ‘68 Comeback Special style. And then the teams come out, City in blue, Spurs in white. We’ll be off in a minute.

Updated at 18.34 CET

Ange Postecoglou talks to Sky. “A lot of internationals are coming back … Madders has been training with us and is probably one of the fresher ones … we’re mindful of the fact we’re going to have to have a little of the ball today … start well that way … Brennan will play a huge part when he comes on … when you play City, if you give them too much of the ball they’ll cause you problems … we’ll probably move Kulusevski wide … he’s done well against City in that area.”

Pep Guardiola is asked by Sky Sports whether his new contract will give his team a positive boost. “Positivity depends on the way we play … it is how you have to perform … winning games … we have had many injuries … many are now coming back which is good news for us … it is nice to see players available to play.”

He’s also asked who will take up the Rodri role in the Ballon’ d’Or winner’s absence now Mateo Kovačić is out for a month. Rico Lewis? Pep smiles enigmatically. “You will see it.”

Updated at 18.10 CET

The 3pm kick-offs have finished, and it’s getting tight at the top. Arsenal have beaten Nottingham Forest 3-0 while Brighton won 2-1 at Bournemouth. Throw in Chelsea’s earlier 2-1 victory at Leicester, and the chasing pack are closing in on second-placed City. Meanwhile ten-man Brentford’s staunch goalless draw at Everton pushes Spurs into the bottom half of the table, for a couple of hours at least.

Manchester City make three changes in the wake of their 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion. John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Manuel Akanji are back in; Matheus Nunes and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey drop to the bench, while Mateo Kovačić is absent through injury.

Tottenham also make three changes after their 2-1 loss against Ipswich Town. James Maddison, Yves Bissouma and Ben Davies return to the starting XI, with Brennan Johnson dropping to the bench, Cristian Romero injured, and Rodrigo Bentancur suspended.

Updated at 17.36 CET

The teams

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Lewis, Gundogan, Silva, Savinho, Foden, Haaland.

Subs: Ortega, Ake, Grealish, De Bruyne, Nunes, Wright, Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly, McAtee.

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie, Sarr, Bissouma, Maddison, Kulusevski, Son, Solanke.

Subs: Forster, Spence, Hardy, Gray, Bergvall, Olusesi, Johnson, Werner, Lankshear.

Referee: John Brooks

VAR: Michael Salisbury

Updated at 17.34 CET

Preamble

We’ve just had an international break, and yet it feels like these two never went away. They’ve hardly been out of the news all week: Pep Guardiola with his new two-year extension to his Manchester City contract, Spurs dealing with the Bentancur Imbroglio. In that sense there’s more of a feel-good vibe around City right now … but then Spurs have only lost their last two matches, while City have lost their last four. Six and two threes.

Thing is, lads, look, listen mate, it’s Dr Tottenham, they’ve found themselves in this sort of state before; City, in their modern guise, not so often. Pep not at all. So it’s going to be interesting to watch the gilded champions attempt to bounce back. They don’t particularly enjoy playing Spurs, either, and that’s not even 1981 FA Cup final-infused DNA: Spurs beat City’s reserve team last month in the League Cup, while dealing them last-minute blows on two of their last three visits to the Etihad, here and here. Those two matches were sandwiched by this one, to be fair, and that’ll be the peg on which City today hang their hat. All of which is a long-winded way of saying, this could be great fun, because recent history – and indeed both matches of that epic 1981 clash - suggests pretty much anything could happen. Kick-off is at 5.30pm GMT. It’s on!

The Guardian

Ange Postecoglou admits pressure is on Tottenham at pivotal point

Submitted by daniel on Fri, 22/11/2024 - 22:30

Ange Postecoglou has admitted his position will be under “a lot of scrutiny” if he has not lifted Tottenham out of mid-table by Christmas. The club play at Manchester City on Saturday – the start of what Postecoglou called a “pivotal” nine-game sequence in 29 days – and he was keen to highlight the fine margins at work.

If Spurs had beaten Ipswich at home on the Sunday before last, they would sit third in the Premier League. They have the second-best goal difference in the division, are into the Carabao Cup quarter-final – where they have a home tie against Manchester United – and are going well in the Europa League.

Instead, they were beaten by Ipswich – they have lost before each of the three international breaks – to lag in 10th. Postecoglou made a fast start to his Spurs tenure, winning eight and drawing two of 10 league matches at the beginning of last season. Since then his record in the competition reads W17 D5 L17.

“It’s a significant period and at the end of it we could be in a decent position for a strong second half of the year,” Postecoglou said. “You can build some momentum or if things don’t go well you could get yourself into a bit of a grind. So it’s going to be a really pivotal part of the season. If we’re still 10th then people won’t be happy, I won’t be happy. But we might not be 10th.

“If we had beaten Ipswich, we’d be third and I reckon this press conference would be much different. I’m not going to let my life be dictated by one result. I take a wider perspective because I know how fickle it can be. But we need to address our position. And if we’re 10th at Christmas it won’t be great – for sure. Rightly so, there’d be a lot of scrutiny and probably a lot of scrutiny around me. That’s not where I plan for us to be.”

Postecoglou, preparing for his 50th league game in charge, said Spurs were “definitely a better side than we were last year”. He also remembered where the club were when he took over. They had finished eighth, failing to qualify for Europe, and were about to embark on a squad overhaul in terms of personnel and style.

“I think there’s enough there that shows we are progressing and developing into the team we want,” Postecoglou said. “The key is the next 50 games: if they can be, in totality, better than the first 50? First, that means I’m here. Second, I think we’ll be in a good space. I firmly believe we’re on the right path. I firmly believe in this squad of players. I firmly believe we will have success. But I can see why outwardly, if you put a pin in it right now, it doesn’t look that way.”

Postecoglou reported that Cristian Romero would miss the City game as he looks to recover full fitness after hamstring and toe problems. The manager’s other first-choice centre-half, Micky van de Ven, is out with a hamstring injury, meaning Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies are likely to start.

Romero came off at half-time for Argentina against Paraguay on Thursday of last week and missed his country’s game against Peru on Wednesday. His daughter, Lucy, was born on Tuesday. Postecoglou admitted Romero had not been properly fit for a few weeks and he was asked whether he might have had second thoughts about him travelling to South America.

“Yeah, you do,” Postecoglou replied. “But there’s always a line there, especially with someone like Romero, where you’ve got to trust his judgment as well. He understands the responsibility he has.

“I think when he went away, he realised that this is not healing the way we want it to. I said: ‘Just have a break. We need you 100% fit.’ As much as we’d love to have him out there, it’s best for him he gets totally over everything. He had the birth of his daughter this week, which is a significant event in his life. It’s important for him to pause a little bit and just spend some time with his family. He’s kind of over both [injuries] now. But we’ll just wait.”

Postecoglou also addressed the fallout from Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-game ban for making a racial slur against his teammate Son Heung- min. The club are understood to have not fined him and want the FA’s suspension reduced to the minimum tariff of six matches but their appeal has been criticised for its bad optics, particularly as their position is that Bentancur has made a mistake. The seventh game of his ban is against Liverpool.

“I couldn’t care less who it is against and, yes, the appeal is worth it,” Postecoglou said. “We still have a judicial process. That’s why appeals are there. We think it was harsh, we think it should have been the minimum [punishment] and we’ll go through that process.”

The Guardian

Rodrigo Bentancur has not been fined by Tottenham over racial slur

Submitted by daniel on Fri, 22/11/2024 - 12:12

Tottenham have not fined Rodrigo Bentancur for using a racial slur against teammate Son Heung-min despite their midfielder being found guilty of “aggravated misconduct” by the Football Association.

Bentancur was handed a seven-match ban and £100,000 fine by the FA this week, but the Guardian has learned that his club have not punished him.

Tottenham have backed Bentancur in regards to the remarks he made about Son in a TV interview in June while in his native Uruguay. In it, the 27-year-old was asked to provide a shirt belonging to a Spurs player. “Sonny’s?” Bentancur replied. “It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.” Spurs have accepted the FA’s guilty finding but are appealing against the length of his ban and hope to get it reduced to six matches.

The club’s position is understood to be based on their conclusion that Bentancur did not intend any offence in making the remarks, and that he was attempting to push back against a question he found offensive. In his defence at the FA hearing, Bentancur claimed he was responding sarcastically to the interviewer, who had referred to Son as “the Korean”.

Bentancur issued a public apology for any offence caused the day after the interview was broadcast, as well as apologising to Son in person, which the Spurs captain accepted. Rather than punish Bentancur, Tottenham are understood to have decided to provide more diversity and equality training for their players, which took place over the summer. Bentancur has also been ordered to attend an additional face-to-face education programme by the FA.

The Uruguay international’s seven-match ban begins with Saturday’s visit to Manchester City and he is due to miss five further Premier League games, as well as the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United on 19 December.

Tottenham have appealed against the length of the ban imposed on Bentancur, but with FA regulations stating that the minimum suspension for aggravated misconduct is six matches the best they can hope for is a one-game reduction. If successful, the player would be able to return to Ange Postecoglou’s side for the Premier League visit of Liverpool on 22 December.

Tottenham declined to comment in regards to their decision not to fine Bentancur.

The Guardian

Tottenham appeal against length of Bentancur’s ban for Son comments

Submitted by daniel on Wed, 20/11/2024 - 15:27

Tottenham have appealed against the length of the ban imposed on midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur for comments he made about his teammate Son Heung-min. The Football Association announced on Monday that Bentancur would serve a seven-match domestic suspension, covering six Premier League fixtures and a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United.

The 27-year-old Uruguay international was charged with misconduct in September after a television interview he gave in his home country in June, with the reference to Son’s race making it an aggravated breach. Bentancur was asked to provide a shirt belonging to a Spurs player. “Sonny’s?” he replied. “It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”

Spurs said: “While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe. Rodrigo will remain suspended from domestic competitions while the appeal is heard and the club will make no further comment during this time”.

The standard minimum ban where such a breach is established is six matches, so Spurs may be hoping to get a one-match reduction in the suspension.

Bentancur apologised to Son on Instagram for his remarks and the Spurs captain accepted that apology on the same platform. “I’ve spoken with Lolo [Bentancur]. He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised,” Son said.

“Lolo would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all. We’re past this, we’re united and we will be back together in pre-season to fight for our club as one.”

Bentancur, whose ban begins with Saturday evening’s trip to Manchester City, was also fined £100,000.

The Guardian

What do the weekend’s attendances tell us after WSL took centre stage?

Submitted by daniel on Mon, 18/11/2024 - 19:00

There was apprehension among home supporters at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday. A fear of defeat, a regret that this fixture, the north London derby, was not being played a month earlier when Arsenal were limping towards the exit of Jonas Eidevall as manager. The mood was up too; 28,852 fans were in attendance and in good spirits, regardless of the result they may have expected.

That’s only 46% of the stadium’s capacity but it felt comfortably full, the lower tier packed and a spray of fans extending into the upper. The large pocket of Arsenal followers in the corner were in full voice, scarves spinning, a block of red and white set against the deep blue and white around them. It was a normal matchday, the rivalry there, but as with most women’s football matches there was a family-friendly feel. It’s not manufactured – it doesn’t need to be. It is just a natural consequence of cheaper tickets that would likely extend to men’s matches if people could afford to take their families.

Shortly before the final whistle in a game that ended 3-0 to the visitors there was an exodus – when attendances are up in the tens of thousands, beating the post-match traffic becomes a thing. But there was also a need to rush away for those hopping south for the day’s top-of-the table clash between Chelsea and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. The Baller FC and Women’s Professional Game collaboration, taking 50 fans between the two fixtures, gathered outside to pose for photographs as music blared from a speaker. It was a little gimmicky, but wh o cares?

Coming out of Fulham Broadway station, sweaty and stretching, sardines spilling from a can on to the platform, that speaker could be heard again, acting the pied piper as fans swarmed towards the Bridge. The attendance for the subsequent encounter, that Chelsea won 2-0 after breaking the deadlock in the 75th minute, was 19,499. The atmosphere was tense, fraught with emotion, the crowd keenly engaged with the chess match taking place before them.

Further south, at the Amex Stadium, 4,638 fans saw Brighton’s thrilling 3-2 victory over West Ham. And on Sunday it was the turn of Goodison Park, Villa Park and the King Power Stadium to host Women’s Super League action, with every WSL and Championship game taking place at main stadiums on the same weekend for the first time. There were 9,823 at the Merseyside derby, 2,673 at Villa Park and 5,405 in attendance for Manchester United’s 2-0 win at Leicester.

These figures were below the heights reached by Arsenal as a patient three-year plan to move from three to eight WSL games a season at the Emirates paid dividends. The record for a WSL match was set in February, when 60,160 fans saw Arsenal’s victory over Manchester United. That was followed by 60,050 at the same venue a month later for the visit of Tottenham, which also topped the previous record of 59,042 in December 2023 for Arsenal’s 4-1 defeat of Chelsea.

A concerted marketing, commercial and ticketing strategy has guided the Gunners to this point. The commitment to hosting the women’s team at the Emirates with increasing frequency makes a statement about how Arsenal value their female players and sets a tone that says fans should do so too. The rest of the league are closer to the start of this journey.

However, with eight WSL games and a minimum of three Champions League matches at the Emirates this season, there has been a dip in attendances – 41,818 for Arsenal’s opening-day 2-2 draw with Manchester City, 25,480 for the 0-0 with Everton, 45,860 for the 2-1 loss to Chelsea and 22,467 for the 5-0 defeat of Brighton. These are respectable figures but should we be worried that Arsenal are no longer selling out the ground, and that other teams are struggling to hit the 10,000-attendance figure?

For Arsenal, games at the Emirates becoming the norm will naturally see some fans picking and choosing which they attend before they are fully invested in the journey of the team. And that will come as the relationship between the team and fanbase strengthens. It takes time. Arsenal are three steps ahead of the rest, but they show what is possible and demonstrate how to get there.

With no major tournament for the Lionesses last summer there was no post-tournament boost, and selling out big stadiums is not something that will happen overnight. Rather it will take focused and patient work. Establishing a fanbase that is emotionally and financially invested is no mean feat. No growth goes upwards in a straight line; there will be dips and moments when progress slows. As long as the overall trajectory is up, there is nothing to worry about.

The Guardian

Rodrigo Bentancur hit with seven-match ban for comments about Son

Submitted by daniel on Mon, 18/11/2024 - 11:58

Rodrigo Bentancur has been banned for seven domestic matches by the Football Association for using a racial slur against his Tottenham teammate Son Heung-min.

The midfielder, who has also been fined £100,000, denied the charge, which the FA brought in September and described as an “aggravated breach” of its rules as it included a “reference to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.” It related to a TV interview that Bentancur gave in June while on international duty with Uruguay. In it, he was asked to provide a shirt belonging to a Spurs player. “Sonny’s?” Bentancur replied. “It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”

The independent regulatory commission found the charge to be proven and the suspension will begin immediately, ruling Bentancur out of Spurs’s Premier League games against Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool, plus the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United. He will be available again for the trip to Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day. Bentancur can continue to play in the club’s Europa League ties.

The 27-year-old’s absence is a blow for Ange Postecoglou, who has counted on Bentancur, starting him in seven of the team’s 11 league fixtures this season, including the most recent two. He also started the former Juventus player in the previous round of the Carabao Cup last month, when Spurs beat Manchester City.

Bentancur said sorry to Son in private after the interview was broadcast and also issued a public apology. “Sonny brother! I am sorry for what happened, it was a joke in bad taste,” he wrote on social media. “You know that I love you and would never disrespect you, or hurt you or anyone. I love you brother!”

Son revealed in September that Bentancur had “almost cried” when apologising to him. “I love Rodrigo,” Son said. “I repeat, I love him, I love him. He knew and he apologised straight afterwards. We are all human and all make mistakes and we learn from it.”

The Guardian

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