PREMIER LEAGUE - NEWS

Arsenal FC Team News: Ramsey And Bellerin Ruled Out, Wilshere To Undergo Surgery

Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that midfielder Aaron Ramsey and young right-back Hector Bellerin will miss the Champions League opener against Dinamo Zagreb.

Earlier in the day it was confirmed that midfielder Jack Wilshere, who was sidelined with a hairline fracture in his left fibula, will have to undergo an operation to correct the injury. A small plate will be inserted in the midfielder’s left leg and he is expected to be sidelined for another three months.

Arsenal FC are already suffering their annual injury-crisis. Only five games into the season, three players have been ruled out for lengthy periods. Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky have underwent knee surgery, while Wilshere is scheduled to be operated on this week.

Ramsey and Bellerin didn’t travel to Zagreb

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arsene Wenger confirmed that Ramsey and Bellerin didn’t travel with the squad to Zagreb.

The news that midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Hector Bellerin are unavailable for the clash against Zagreb will only add to the woes of the manager. Mathieu Debuchy is expected to comeback in the starting line-up in place of Bellerin, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Theo Walcott could be seen filling in on the right wing.

Per Mertesacker has returned in training having missed the last two games due to injury, but the German was involved in a minor car crash on Monday, while returning from training. Wenger feels Saturday’s clash against Chelsea FC could be seen as a more realistic date for the return of the German defender.

Chelsea FC Team Update: Falcao Ruled Out Of Champions League Tie As Oscar Returns From Injury

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s opening Champions League tie against Maccabi Tel-Aviv, manager Jose Mourinho confirmed that Radamel Falcao remained unavailable due to a ‘little problem’ while announcing Oscar’s return from injury.

Chelsea have been woefully out of form and inconsistent this season and will be looking to bounce back to their winning ways as they start their Champions League campaign against Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Mourinho will be keen on putting forth an emphatic performance in order to ease the pressure on the team.

Little problem, a little problem. But nothing important.

As reported by the Express, Mourinho will be without the services of Radamel Falcao who suffered a ‘little problem’ and was therefore excluded from the squad.

“Little problem, a little problem. But nothing important.

“He’s not in the squad. He had a little problem in some tendon in training, not important. Not for long. Just for this game.”

However, the manager will be pleased to have Oscar back in the fold after the Brazilian returned from a knee injury. Mourinho revealed that though the midfielder was free from injuries, he wasn’t match-fit but expected him to feature in the Champions League tie.

“Fit, because not injured. Yes. Fit with condition top? No. But involved in the game. Selected, yes.”

With Thibaut Courtois ruled out for three months following a knee injury, Jose Mourinho will be banking on Begovic to guard Chelsea’s goal at Stamford Bridge.

Steven Gerrard Accused Of Racism And Jealousy By Former Teammate

Liverpool FC legend Steven Gerrard has been accused of racism by former teammate El-Hadji Diouf, after the midfielder claimed that the Senegalese was the biggest flop at Anfield during his time with the club.

Gerrard in his book, My Story, which is being serialised by The Daily Mail, has claimed that El-Hadji Diouf didn’t care about football and that it appeared as though football got in the way of his social life. Diouf scored a total of three goals in his three seasons at Anfield, before being loaned and eventually sold to Bolton Wanderers.

Here’s the excerpt from the book where Gerrard blasts El-Hadji Diouf:

We had finished as runners-up to Manchester United the season before and a combination of Diouf, Salif Diao and Bruno Cheyrou was supposed to drive us to the title. It was probably the biggest waste of £18m in Liverpool’s history.

We finished the season in fifth place and Diouf had sealed his place at the top of the list of Liverpool signings I liked least.

It seemed to me that Diouf had no real interest in football and that he cared nothing about Liverpool.

But after a while I decided Diouf simply wasn’t your usual footballer. It seemed to me as if football got in the way of his social life.

Liverpool are not a team that welcomes blacks — El-Hadji Diouf

However, the former Senegalese international has hit back at the accusations of Gerrard. The 34-year-old has accused Gerrard of racism and  even went as far as saying that the English midfielder is jealous of him. Diouf also revealed that he had warned last season’s flop Mario Balotelli of Liverpool FC’s treatment of players who are black, unless they are English.

Speaking to Senegalese radio station, Radio Future Media, as quoted by Express, he said:

“We all saw how he made life difficult for Mario Balotelli in Liverpool.

“I warned him. Liverpool are not a team that welcomes blacks unless they are British. Otherwise, you have no chance. This is common knowledge.

“Gerrard has never liked black people. When I was in Liverpool, I showed him that I was black, I’m not English, but I will not let him walk all over me. All the time I spent there, he never dared to look me in the eye.

“Gerrard is just jealous. What I have done in football, he did not. When I came to Liverpool, I came up with the status of boss and he lives there.

“I am respected in world football, the greatest football experts have appointed me among the seven best players in the World Cup, the top 100 players of the century.

“Several big players do not belong. Everywhere I go out of my country, they worship me. [Gerrard], wherever he goes outside his city of Liverpool, will be insulted.”

Morata Stunner Helps Juventus Seal Comeback Win Against Manchester City

Italian champions Juventus cast their early-season woes aside by beating in-formManchester City 2-1 in their opening Champions League Group D fixture at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

Last season’s beaten finalists, Juve have lost two and drawn one of their first three Serie A games and went behind in the 57th minute when Vincent Kompany pressured Giorgio Chiellini into scoring an own goal.

The Juventus centre-back protested with justification that he had been fouled, but his side drew level 13 minutes later through Mario Mandzukic before Alvaro Morata curled home a fine 81st-minute winner.

“Well done to the boys, because I think they played a really good game against an excellent team that has outstanding players,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.

“It’s a pretty delicate moment for us. It’s not easy to win here and I think the players played extremely well.”

Manchester City’s perfect start to the season was ruined

After five straight wins in the Premier League, it was a first setback of the season for Manuel Pellegrini’s City, whose home form has bedevilled them in their unsuccessful attempts to progress beyond this tournament’s last 16 in the last four seasons.

They have won only three of their last 12 home games in the competition and find themselves on the back foot already ahead of their next match away to Borussia Moenchengladbach on September 30.

“It’s disappointing. I don’t think we deserved to lose,” said City manager Pellegrini.

“We had better chances and played better than Juventus. It was a typical Champions League game. Both teams didn’t create many chances, but we had more possession.

“It was not a tactical problem. Juventus just scored two beautiful goals.”

Allegri admitted on the eve of the game that his side had been scarred by their dismal domestic form and he will have been alarmed to see their defences breached inside two minutes.

Fernandinho drove forward from midfield and slipped a pass into the path of Raheem Sterling, whose low shot was blocked by Gianluigi Buffon.

Both sides were largely reduced to pot shots in the first period, Fernandinho going closest for City with a wicked 25-yard effort that drew a collective intake of breath from the home fans.

The hosts spent the first part of the second period inside their own half, but in the 57th minute they broke through in circumstances that left Juventus fuming at Slovenian referee Damir Skomina.

Juventus claimed their first win of the season

David Silva’s left-wing corner appeared to have been headed in by Kompany, but replays revealed that the Belgian had in fact pressured Chiellini into heading the ball into his own net.

Suddenly Juve were all at sea, Buffon producing a superb double-save to thwart first Sterling and then Silva, before beating away an effort from Wilfried Bony.

The action quickly switched to the other box and Buffon’s opposite number Joe Hart was obliged to parry a scuffed shot from Stefano Sturaro.

It had been a quiet night for former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, who was jeered after slicing a volley wide, but in the 70th minute he created the equaliser with a glorious, arcing left-wing cross that the airborne Mandzukic touched home.

After five Premier League clean sheets, it was the first goal City had conceded this season.

City had been readying £54 million ($83.3 million, 73.5 million euros) record signing Kevin De Bruyne and he came on for Sterling, before Kompany succumbed to a calf injury, with Nicolas Otamendi going on for his debut.

Kompany wore a glum expression as he took his seat on the bench and his mood was not improved when the ball bounced off Aleksandar Kolarov and into the path of Morata, who bent a sweet left-foot shot in off the left-hand post.

Sergio Aguero, surprisingly named on the bench after Pellegrini had ruled him out of the game with a knee injury, made a late entrance, but the closest City came to an equaliser was a Yaya Toure curler that Buffon acrobatically palmed behind.

Luke Shaw Suffers Horrific Injury As Manchester United Go Down To Hard Working PSV

Manchester United saw their Champions League return turn into a nightmare on Tuesday as they not only fell 2-1 against PSV Eindhoven but also lost full-back Luke Shaw with a double fracture of the leg in their Group B opener.

Despite an opening goal by winger Memphis Depay against his former Dutch club, United — who dominated throughout — failed to capitalise on their chances and goals from Hector Moreno and Luciano Narsingh gave the hosts victory.

Shaw ruled out for months after double fracture in leg

However, worse than the defeat was the injury to Shaw, which came just 15 minutes into the match following a crunching Moreno tackle, leaving the England international with a double fracture that requires an operation when he returns to Manchester and could put his participation at Euro 2016 next summer in jeopardy.

Shaw was wheeled off the field breathing through an oxygen mask to loud applause from PSV’s fans before being substituted by Marcos Rojo for his first appearance of the season.

“It’s horrible. When he was going in the dressing room, he was with the oxygen mask, he was crying,” United manager Louis van Gaal said after the match.

Asked how long he thought Shaw’s recovery would take Van Gaal said: “I am not a doctor, so I can’t say. A double fracture, it generally takes six months, but you can never say in advance.”

Around half an hour after being wheeled off, though, Shaw took to Twitter to vow that he would make a full recovery.

“Thank you everyone for your messages, words can’t describe how gutted I am, my road to recovery starts now, I will come back stronger,” he tweeted.

Mexican international Moreno, who broke his own leg in last year’s World Cup against the Netherlands, afterwards profusely apologised.

“I just feel really bad because I was involved in the accident,” he told journalists.

“I’m really sorry. I think I played the ball.

“I just hope he’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Louis Van Gaal has only won twice in 11 attempts against PSV

The result continued Van Gaal’s poor record at the Philips Stadium with Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar and now with United, winning just twice in 11 attempts.

The former Netherlands coach, who took over the reins at Old Trafford last year, saw his run of bad luck continue in the southern Dutch city with PSV tenaciously clinging on to a narrow lead for an historic win.

The 21-year-old Depay struck in the 41st minute when fellow Dutchman Daley Blind slid him in to slice past two PSV defenders and then find the back of PSV goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet’s net with a crisp left-foot finish.

As promised, Depay celebrated his goal in front the fans who used to revere him, but United’s fortunes were short-lived when PSV struck back just before half-time.

Mexico defender Moreno’s header from a Maxime Lestienne corner glanced off Blind’s head, before beating David de Gea and Ashley Young on the line.

PSV laid their cards on the table in the second half, with right wing Luciano Narsingh heading in a beautifully-timed Lestienne cross past De Gea to find the left hand corner of the United goal.

Although Depay impressed throughout the first half, United were rail-roaded by PSV’s dogged defence.

PSV’s defence was up against the wall but impressed with their rigorous resistence, while United’s French multi-million pound signing Anthony Martial several times failed to capitalise in front of goal.

Despite a furious United onslaught in the second half, led by Young, PSV’s defensive formation held firm to open their account with maximum points.

The Philips Stadium erupted in huge celebrations at the final whistle with PSV celebrating a successful return to the competition for the first time since the 2008/09 season.

It was also PSV’s first Champion’s League victory over United since 2000.