London was given a taste of what it feels like to have thousands of boisterous, tribal supporters descend on the city, but the scene was largely peacefulSo this is how it feels to be there when the English turn up, to be over there when we go over there. On a night of confusion, anxiety and some mild outbreaks of violence around the Emirates Stadium, London had a taste of what it feels like to be caught on the hop by thousands of boisterous, tribal, boozed-up football fans in search of a space to call their own for the night. Related: Alexis Sánchez soothes nerves after Cologne and fans give Arsenal a fright The visitors were largely well behaved, the...
The two clubs, almost touching distance apart, had played a derby in every division except the top flight – but met on Friday for something special“It’s a clásico that’s a little different to all the rest,” the captain said. Through the metal gate, a few home fans were standing by the bus wanting to catch a glimpse of the players before heading off quietly but most had already gone, standing to applaud at the end and departing soon after. Somewhere above him in one corner of the stand the away supporters were still there though, belting out their version of Bad Moon Rising – a couple of hundred of them bouncing about, palms hammering against the fence. A small line...
Protest banners provided the backdrop to victory over Schalke as fans rail against the club president’s plan to take majority control of the club with an exemption to the 50+1 ruleOn paper, it was exactly as Hannover 96 would have wanted it for their return to the Bundesliga. There was a capacity crowd of 49,000 inside the HDI-Arena for their first home game back in the top flight and by the end of it, a second win from two games sent them into the international break in the fledgling table’s top four, shoulder to shoulder with Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and (equally improbably) Hamburg.In reality, there were more mixed feelings than euphoria as André Breitenreiter’s team extended their perfect start...
Harmony has broken out on and off the pitch, so much so that their coach referred to Sunday’s 2-2 draw at the Bernabéu as a ‘lovely spectacle’“Every time you looked left and the men in white attacked, you thought: ‘We could lose this,’” said the Valencia coach, Marcelino García Toral. “But every time you looked right, my good side, and we attacked, there were real chances to score.” So Marcelino looked left, right and back again while behind him everyone in the Santiago Bernabéu stand did the same, accelerating to the end. Left, where Neto pushed Karim Benzema’s header against the post on 92.38; right, where Simone Zaza wriggled into the area on 93.22, the winner there before him until,...
Leonardo Jardim always planned for departures and his side’s 6-1 demolition of Marseille shows they will not relinquish their Ligue 1 crown without a fightBy Adam White and Eric Devin for Get French Football NewsIt is 15 January 2017. Monaco are top of Ligue 1. Leonardo Jardim’s side left Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome with a triumphant 4-1 win and three points to move them above Nice. And there they remained until Valère Germain rounded off an injury-time counterattack to seal a win against St Étienne and the Ligue 1 title in May. That victory against Marseille included a double from Bernardo Silva, a delightful lob from Thomas Lemar and an 89th-minute cameo from Kylian Mbappé. Up to this point, Mbappé had...