Manchester City are moving in the right direction but Chelsea run counter to the assumption that Champions League arrivistes can’t quickly break into the cartelThey say history is written by the winners, but what they don’t always tell you is that records and statistics can also come to the rescue of the less successful.Both Arsène Wenger and Pep Guardiola have been on the defensive over the past few days, pointing out that their clubs are relative ingenues in Europe and not to be compared with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United. “It is not like Arsenal won the European Cup five times before I arrived,” Wenger said, appealing for a measure of perspective after the disappointing 5-1 defeat at...
It was raining goals in Manchester on Tuesday but where does City’s 5-3 win over Monaco stand alongside other great Champions League nights?Dynamo Kyiv’s wonderful team of the late 1990s deserved a Champions League final – but on a pulsating night at a packed Olympiyskiy they threw away the best chance they would ever have. It was exquisite fare for much of the evening and, when Andriy Shevchenko squeezed in his second goal of the night two minutes before half-time, seemed to be going precisely as the old master Valeriy Lobanovskiy had designed. Moments later Michael Tarnat’s daisycutter of a free-kick restored some doubt but Vitaliy Kosovskiy’s 50th-minute goal – capitalising on some sloppy defending – suggested Dynamo would cut...
Manager has time to relax as Arsenal’s much-changed team avoid major upset against non-league Sutton United to reach FA Cup quarter-finalsFor all the talk of Cup magic this was in the end an orderly out-ground experience for Arsenal, a 2-0 fifth-round victory that felt by the end like a gently convalescent night out in the southern suburbs. Gander Green Lane is a clattery low rise lodged between rows of pebble-dashed semis, its edges marked out by a row of scaffold-pole huts and the remains of a venerable wood and ironwork stand. Before kick-off Arsène Wenger could be seen signing autographs in the car park, smiling fondly on the touchline and generally looking like a man rather enjoying being in such...
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was Manchester United’s match-winner again, Burnley were tormented by Lincoln and themselves, and Arsenal need to pitch in at SuttonZlatan Ibrahimovic was the match-winner again for Manchester United and his late goal against Blackburn Rovers was another fine and composed finish to add to his season’s collection. That made it 24 goals in all competitions and the Swede has now scored in the FA Cup, Coppa Italia, Copa del Rey and Coupe de France. For United, he has been a stellar signing and there is a reason why the prolific forward can get away with statements such as the one after his midweek hat-trick against St Etienne when he declared: “Wherever I went I won, so I am...
The struggles to replace Sir Alex Ferguson is a cautionary tale that ought to be heeded by those who want Arsène Wenger to leave ArsenalIt probably won’t surprise anybody who has followed the life and times of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to know that when he was rich enough to afford the house of his dreams in Malmo – a mansion, painted pink, “as big as a castle” – it didn’t particularly bother him that somebody was already living there. Ibrahimovic, as you may have gathered, is not short of self-confidence and turned up one day with his partner, Helena, to knock on the door and introduce himself. “We’re here because you’re living in our house,” was one way to break the...