LONDON: Manchester City are one game away from a historic treble after Ilkay Gundogan scored twice to beat Manchester United 2-1 in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s men completed a domestic double at Wembley and can become just the second side, after United in 1998/99, to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season should they beat Inter Milan to become European champions for the first time on June 10.
Gundogan scored the fastest goal in FA Cup final history after just 12 seconds.
United levelled on 33 minutes through Bruno Fernandes’ penalty after Jack Grealish was harshly penalized for handball.
But the City captain, in what could be his final game for the club on English soil with his contract expiring at the end of the season, volleyed home the winner six minutes into the second-half.
“Everyone knows the FA Cup is the most beautiful domestic club competition in the world, so to win this trophy again and complete the double is amazing for us,” said Gundogan.
“We have a chance to do something special and win the treble and we do not want to let this opportunity pass us by.”
The first ever major final between the Manchester giants had the most explosive of starts.
Most of the 83,000 crowd were still taking their seats from the pre-match festivities when Victor Lindelof’s headed clearance sat up perfectly for Gundogan to volley home a stunning strike after just 12 seconds.
That appeared to set the tone for the Premier League champions.
Rodri headed into the side-netting moments later before Erling Haaland failed to get a clean connection on Gundogan’s enticing cross.
United were barely able to get across the halfway line in the first half hour, but got the break they needed to get back into the game.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s header back across the City box brushed the arm of Grealish and referee Paul Tierney was instructed to review the incident by VAR.
Despite City’s protestations, Tierney pointed to the spot and Fernandes coolly sent Stefan Ortega the wrong way.
The Portuguese’s celebrations in front of the City fans were met with a flurry of objects thrown from the stands, one of which struck Lindelof.
City boss Pep Guardiola was also showing his fury at the officiating as VAR did not intervene seven minutes before half-time when Kevin De Bruyne was wiped out by Fred inside the area and no penalty was awarded.
At the other end, United passed up a great chance to turn the game around before half-time when Raphael Varane fired high and wide at the back post from a corner.
Having fought so hard to gain a foothold, United were made to pay for another slow start in the second-half.
Gundogan was the goalscorer again as he fired home from De Bruyne’s free-kick.
But more questions will be asked of whether David De Gea remains the right man to be United’s number one goalkeeper after the 32-year-old Spaniard’s sluggish attempt to keep it out.
De Gea did at least make a big saves to keep United in the game from De Bruyne and Haaland, while Gundogan was denied a rare FA Cup final hat-trick by the offside flag.
United rallied in a tense finale as Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho flashed efforts inches off target.
The ball came back off the City bar in a goalmouth scramble deep into stoppage time.
However, the Red Devils could not find the goal to deny Guardiola an 11th major trophy as City boss and protect the unique legacy of Alex Ferguson’s great side 24 years ago.
Only Inter in Istanbul in a week’s time now stand between City and matching the greatest achievement English club football has ever seen.
Ilkay Gundogan double secures FA Cup for Manchester City over United at Wembley
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Ilkay Gundogan double secures FA Cup for Manchester City over United at Wembley
- Pep Guardiola’s men completed a domestic double at Wembley
- Only Inter in Istanbul in a week’s time now stand between City and historic treble
How Ronaldo’s arrival turned Riyadh into top footballers’ favored destination
- Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Shabab among Saudi clubs reshaping global football landscape
- The announcement that top clubs would be privatized ushered in a new, golden era
RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo opened the door and the rest followed.
What was a one-man mission to put the Saudi Pro League on the world map just a few months ago, has become a full-blown revolution.
So much so that when Brazilian superstar Neymar joined Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain in August, it felt more like the apogee of a project rather than the scarcely believable.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s announcement that Saudi Arabia’s top clubs would be privatized has ushered in a new, golden era for football in the Kingdom, with Riyadh’s clubs leading the way.
When Ronaldo was first linked with a move to Al-Nassr, the reports were dismissed as fanciful across the world. On Dec. 31, 2022, the perception of Saudi football changed overnight.
Suddenly, a move to the SPL was not just attractive, but almost irresistible for some of the world’s top players.
Al-Hilal were not going to take lightly losing their Saudi Pro League and AFC Champions League titles last season. A major rebuilding operation has seen Portugal’s Reuben Neves join from Wolves and Serbia’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic arrive from Lazio; two players at the peak of their careers. This put to rest the argument that leagues in the Middle East and GCC were retirement homes for players nearing the end of their careers.
Senegal’s Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea, and Brazil’s Malcom from Zenit Saint Petersburg, had already joined the Blues, before Neymar’s landmark announcement was followed by the arrival of Moroccan goalkeeper Yasine Bounou (Sevilla) and Serbian forward Alexander Mitrovic (Fulham).
At Al-Nassr, the club that started the deluge of foreign imports, Sadio Mane (Senegal) from Bayern Munich, Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia) from Inter Milan, Seko Fofana (Ivory Coast) from RC Lens, and Alex Telles (Brazil) from Manchester United, have made the move to Riyadh as bona fide stars and not just Ronaldo’s supporting cast.
The late summer transfer window additions of Spanish international defender Aymeric Laporte from Manchester City, and Portuguese midfielder Otavio from Porto, will only bolster the Yellows’ bid to become champions this season.
Rounding up Riyadh’s trio of iconic clubs are Al-Shabab which in 2022-2023 finished fourth in the SPL and for long periods of the season were seen as genuine title contenders.
Belgium’s Yannick Carrasco joined from Atletico Madrid and will forge a midfield partnership with Ever Banega, the Argentinian who has already enjoyed a fine career with Shabab since 2020.
Meanwhile Colombian midfielder Gustavo Cuellar has made the move across to Riyadh after spending four trophy-laden years at rivals Al-Hilal.
Keeping goal behind this international trio is Kim Seung-gyu of South Korea, who joined Al-Shabab last year.
Last season, when Ronaldo said that within a few years the Saudi Pro League would be ranked in the world’s top five competitions, cynics scoffed at the pronouncement.
It seems his words could become true even quicker than he might have anticipated because global broadcasters are now screening live matches from the SPL on a weekly basis, and international players are increasingly looking to make Riyadh their new home.
Taliban send all-male team to Asian Games but Afghan women come from outside
- One, sent from Afghanistan where women are now banned by the Taliban from participating in sports, consists of about 130 all-male athletes
- Another, competing under the black, red and green flag of the elected government, is drawn from the diaspora of Afghan athletes around the world, and includes 17 women
HANGZHOU, China: In the first Asian Games since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, two teams of athletes are arriving in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, looking very different.
One, sent from Afghanistan where women are now banned by the Taliban from participating in sports, consists of about 130 all-male athletes, who will participate in 17 different sports, including volleyball, judo and wrestling, Atel Mashwani, a Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Afghanistan’s Olympic Committee, told The Associated Press.
Another, competing under the black, red and green flag of the elected government the Taliban toppled in 2021, is drawn from the diaspora of Afghan athletes around the world, and includes 17 women, according to Hafizullah Wali Rahimi, the president of Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee from before the Taliban took over.
Rahimi, who now works from outside Afghanistan but is still recognized by many countries as its official representative on Olympic matters, told reporters at the team’s official arrival ceremony late Thursday that the athletes are there for the love of sports.
“We want to be keeping the sports completely out of the politics so the athletes can freely, inside and outside their country, do their sports activity and development,” he said.
Rahimi’s contingent at the welcome ceremony was entirely male, but he said the women were on their way, consisting of a volleyball team that have been training in Iran, cyclists from Italy, and a representative for athletics from Australia.
He did not respond to an emailed request on Friday seeking more details.
The games official opening ceremony is on Saturday.
Although the Taliban promised a more moderate rule than during their previous period in power in the 1990s, they have imposed harsh measures since seizing Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were pulling out after two decades of war.
They have barred women from most areas of public life such as parks, gyms and work and cracked down on media freedoms. They have banned girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade, and prohibited Afghan women from working at local and non-governmental organizations. The ban was extended to employees of the United Nations in April.
The measures have triggered a fierce international uproar, increasing the country’s isolation at a time when its economy has collapsed and worsening a humanitarian crisis.
Rahimi said that the previous government had been working hard to increase women’s participation in sport since the previous Taliban regime, and that it had increased to 20 percent.
“We hope it comes back, of course,” he said. “Not only the sport, we hope that they’ll be back allowed to schools and education, because that’s the basic rights of a human.”
Sheffield Utd boss says football is ‘worst sport’ for racism
- United goalkeeper Wes Foderingham took to Instagram to reveal he had suffered from “racism and family threats”
- Heckingbottom revealed police have spoken to the former Rangers keeper about the incident
LONDON: Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom says football is the “worst sport” for racism, calling for tougher punishments to stamp out abuse.
United goalkeeper Wes Foderingham took to Instagram to reveal he had suffered from “racism and family threats” after last week’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham.
Heckingbottom revealed police have spoken to the former Rangers keeper about the incident, which he said reflected a larger problem in society.
“You can say it’s all social media and people are tough on there and they can say what they want,” he said on Friday. “You can take it away, but it is deeper than that because it’s inside people.”
He added: “It’s sad — I think we are the worst sport for it. I don’t know if it’s the profile but we are the ones who get the most.
“There have been big improvements, in society and our game, so we have to just continue being harder and stronger and every time we get a prosecution let’s make those punishments harder.”
The Blades take on Newcastle on Sunday aiming for their first victory of the season.
They were minutes away from winning at Tottenham last week before conceding two goals deep into stoppage time.
Saudi Olympic Committee president arrives in Hangzhou for Asian Games
- Saudi delegation comprises 193 athletes competing in 19 sports
- Kingdom’s table tennis team lose 3-0 to world champions China
HANGZHOU: Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, president of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee, is leading the Kingdom’s delegation to the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
According to a media statement on Friday, Al-Faisal arrived in the host city ahead of Saturday’s opening ceremony and was welcomed by Prince Abdullah bin Fahd, the delegation’s director, and Abdulrahman Al-Harbi, the Kingdom’s ambassador to China.
The Saudi delegation comprises 193 athletes, who will compete in 19 sports in the Games, which conclude Oct. 8.
Since the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok, Saudi athletes have won 61 medals (25 gold, 13 silver, 23 bronze) in total.
Chinese President opens Asian Games
China’s President Xi Jinping will officially launch the Asian Games on Saturday in the presence of Asian presidents and representatives and the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, at the Big Lotus Stadium in Hangzhou.
The stadium, which accommodates over 80,000 spectators, will host both the opening and closing ceremonies.
Having been delayed for a year due to COVID-19, the 19th Asian Games will host 12,000 athletes representing 45 countries, making it one of the largest so far.
Saudi rower moves on to Group B competitions
Saudi rower Haya Al-Mami has advanced to the Group B competitions after she finished sixth in the semifinals of the women’s single sculls (W1x) on Friday.
The Group B competitions determine rowers’ ranking from 6-12 and will take place on Sept. 25.
Her fellow Saudi athlete Rakan Ali Riza came in third place in the Group C competitions of the men’s single sculls (M1x) category.
Saudi table tennis team lose to world champions
The Kingdom’s table tennis team played China, the world champions and gold medalists at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Jakarta 2018 Asian Games, on Friday. The Saudi team — Ali Al-Khadrawi, Turki Al-Muteiri, and Azam Alam — lost 3-0. Their next match in Group A is against Vietnam.
The Green Falcons prepare for Vietnam
The Saudi Arabian U-23 football team trained on Friday ahead of their final match in the group stage against Vietnam, which takes place on Sunday. The Green Falcons are currently second in Group B.
Basketball team concludes training camp
The Saudi basketball team concluded their six-day training camp in Hangzhou with two friendlies against local clubs, winning both games. The Saudi team are in Group A with Kazakhstan, Iran, and the UAE. Their opening match is against Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
Handball and archery
The Kingdom’s handball and archery teams arrived in Hangzhou on Friday. The handball team have been placed in Group D along with Iran, Mongolia, and Japan. The squad consists of 16 players, who will play their first match against Japan on Sunday.
’Eiffel Tower’ lights up quiet suburb in Chinese city of Asiad host Hangzhou
- Tianducheng is a quirky relic of the country’s turn-of-the-century craze for everything foreign
- The tower is one of many replicas of Western architecture that dot the country where developers once looked to Europe and North America for inspiration
HANGZHOU: As decorative fountains frame a view of the Eiffel Tower and a fashionable young woman walks a poodle nearby, you might mistake China’s Tianducheng neighborhood for Paris — if not for the concrete towers in the distance and Chinese signs on every shopfront.
Built in the 2000s, the residential area lies on the outskirts of Hangzhou, the city hosting around 12,000 athletes for the Asian Games that open on Saturday — a key stop for many of the world’s top athletes before the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Tianducheng is a quirky relic of the country’s turn-of-the-century craze for everything foreign.
Apartment blocks decorated with the City of Light’s iron balconies and mansard roofs flank a “boulevard” where motorized delivery tricycles zip past a braised duck-head stall.
Pensioners clutching plastic bags of groceries pause to take in the sights under a grey sky, while weathered horse statues rear up from a fountain that could have come out of the Jardin du Luxembourg.
Once advertised as a luxury community and a venue for French cultural festivals, Tianducheng languished for years with unfilled shop units and uninhabited apartments before Hangzhou’s booming tech industry brought eager buyers to its leafy avenues.
The tower is one of many replicas of Western architecture that dot the country where developers once looked to Europe and North America for inspiration, including a British-inspired Thames Town in Shanghai and a subtropical Interlaken in tech hub Shenzhen.
And in Jujun, a 2001 development in outer Beijing that literally translates to “Orange County,” McMansions complete with parched lawns bring a slice of Southern California to the Chinese capital.
They are relics of a bygone era, with China’s communist leaders clamping down on “bizarre,” foreign-inspired structures in recent years.
