Heung-min Son had a goal and an assist on Toby Alderweireld’s late winner as Tottenham Hotspur beat Arsenal 2-1 in a home North London Derby on Sunday.
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Alexandre Lacazette scored a spectacular goal for the Gunners to give Mikel Arteta’s men an early lead, but Arsenal sees its rivals climb above them and into eighth place on 52 points.
Arsenal’s 50 points drop them into ninth place, four back of seventh-place Sheffield United. The Gunners are in danger of missing out on European competition for the first time since 1996.
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Europe without Arsenal? Eighth-place looks set to deliver the Europa League to the Premier League thanks to Man City’s European ban and Arsenal and Spurs are locked in a four-team battle for seventh and eighth. Sheffield United’s 54 points lead the pack by 2 over Spurs and the Blades don’t have a soft out on the schedule with Leicester, Everton, and Southampton. Spurs have Newcastle, Leicester, and Palace and a 2-point lead on Arsenal. The Gunners have Liverpool, Villa, and Watford, while Burnley has 50 points and faces Wolves, Norwich, and Brighton.
A very Mou second half wins it: Arsenal was the better team on the day but Mourinho got goalkeeping from Hugo Lloris whenever Spurs opened the door in the second half. Mourinho let Arsenal have the ball with the hopes of conjuring danger in different parts of the field. Spurs registered seven shots on target and, like Arsenal, could’ve had more goals had the keepers not played quite well. But Spurs were credited with the only “big chances created” of the game as Arsenal’s best opportunities were supreme individual efforts from Aubameyang and Lacazette.
You’d say Son by default given his goal and assist, and he could’ve had a hat trick had Martinez and David Luiz each denied him from close range, but advanced stats site SofaScore makes a brilliant case for the notes industrious day of Lucas Moura, who had two key passes, 10 tackles, and charged in 26 duels to win 16.
Emiliano Martinez leapt high to snare an in-tight Harry Kane chance.
Hector Bellerin then roasted Ben Davies on the right flank to play an invitation through the 18 that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang couldn’t pick up.
That’s when the fireworks started, Lacazette having some time with the ball outside the 18 and lashing an absolute piledriver past a flying Hugo Lloris.
But Spurs had an answer when Heung-min Son beat David Luiz to a wayward Sead Kolasinac pass and popped the ball over a desperate Martinez for 1-1 in the 19th minute.
Davies hammered a shot that Martinez pushed off the bar in thrilling fashion as the game passed the half-hour mark.
Nicolas Pepe answered that shot with a curled shot wide at the other end.
Aubameyang tore into a 26-yard free kick that just missed the far post in the 40th. Pepe then pumped another shot to Lloris as Arsenal crept closer to a second goal.
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The second half began tamer, with Hector Bellerin winning a corner kick and Shkrodan Mustafi popped an overhead kick into the hands of Lloris.
Aubameyang then smashed the woodwork in the 59th minute before Pepe won a free kick on the edge of the 18.
Mikel Arteta took off Nicolas Pepe for fellow live wire Bukayo Saka with 20 minutes to play.
Martinez made an incredible save on Son when Kane drove the left side of the box and cut back for the South Korea, only for the keeper to react so well.
Lloris made a fine stop on an Aubameyang arrow for the far corner in the 79th.
That’s when Alderweireld put Jose Mourinho’s men on top with his close-range header of Son’s corner.
Kane hit the post in the 83rd as Spurs aimed for comfort.
Pep Guardiola has put down a marker as Manchester City beat Real Madrid to reach the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.
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He now wants his Manchester City side to go on and reach the holy grail and win the Champions League, the trophy their Abu Dhabi owners crave above all others.
Man City beat Real Madrid 2-1 in their Round of 16 second leg, and 4-2 on aggregate, as Guradiola outwitted Zinedine Zidane over two legs to set up a winnable quarterfinal against Lyon in Lisbon, Portugal next Saturday.
Asked by BT Sport after the game what this win against Real Madrid means for Man City and their mentality, Guardiola did not play down their chances.
“For us, it is of course important, we beat them twice. Zizou never lost one knockout game. You see the calm and personality they play with, they are good,” Guardiola said. “But we are here to try and win the Champions League. It is just one step. If we think that is enough, we will show how small of a team we are. To win the Champions League you have to beat the big clubs.”
Man City will face one of those big clubs, likely Bayern Munich or Barcelona, in the semifinal stage of the Champions League but first they have to get past underdogs Lyon, who stunned Juventus as Memphis Depay has led the Ligue 1 side to the last eight.
“I spoke to the scouting department and they told me ‘be alert’ and we have eight days, we will enjoy this tonight and tomorrow, then we will start to think about Lyon,” Guardiola said when asked about their quarterfinal opponents.
Man City are the heavy favorites to beat Lyon and they are the bookies’ favorites to win the Champions League overall.
Pep Guardiola has now piled the pressure on his team to prove just how good they are and even without the injured Sergio Aguero, and with Fernandinho playing at center back, they eased past Real Madrid.
Manchester City have fallen at the quarterfinal stage when favorites in each of the last two seasons and Guardiola knows this is their best chance to win their first-ever Champions League trophy as Bayern Munich or Barcelona are very good, but not unbeatable, if they get past Lyon.
Guardiola looks hungry and he badly wants to win the Champions League for the first time since 2011 as he failed to win the trophy at Bayern Munich and in his first three seasons at Man City.
The stars are aligning for Man City to deliver the one trophy Guardiola hasn’t won since he arrived in Manchester in 2016 and the one trophy the club hasn’t won since their Abu Dhabi owners took over in 2008.
In this year, just a month after they overturned UEFA’s decision to ban them from the Champions League for two seasons, success would surely taste even sweeter for everyone connected with Man City.
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Juventus – Lyon was mean to be a straightforward comeback win for the home side to reach yet another UEFA Champions League quarterfinal.
It was anything but as Lyon shocked Juventus to dump Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. out of Europe as Maurizio Sarri’s side continued their poor form since the restart.
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Juventus won 2-1 on the night, as Ronaldo scored twice but Juve came up one goal short and for the second season running Ronaldo has failed in his quest to lead the Italian giants to the Champions League title.
As for Lyon, who haven’t played in over 5 months as the French league was cancelled in April due to the coronavirus pandemic, they put in a heroic display as they now face Manchester City in Lisbon, Portugal in the last eight on Aug. 15.
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Lyon got off to the perfect start in Turin, but it was fortunate, as Houssem Aouar won a very dubious penalty kick as VAR checked the decision but somehow it stood.
Memphis clipped home a delicious panenka to put Lyon 1-0 up and leave Juventus needing to score three goals on the night to advance.
Lyon 1-0 up at Juventus, 2-0 up on aggregate. Woah.
? @TUDNUSA #UCL pic.twitter.com/xEACxBQIUA
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) August 7, 2020
Federico Bernardeschi went close and Anthony Lopes saved well from Ronaldo’s free kick as Lyon sat back and soaked up pressure.
Juventus won a penalty kick before half time, as Memphis handled Miralem Pjanic’s free kick but it look harsh as his arm wasn’t in an unnatural position.
Ronaldo slotted home the spot kick to make it 1-1. Game on.
At the start of the second half Ronaldo smashed home a beauty to make it 2-1 as Juve needed one more goal to advance to the last eight.
El Bicho lo hizo de nuevo, con un cañonazo tiene a la Juve más cerca que nunca de la remontada ?
?? @juventusfces (2) 2-1 (2) @OL ??
?https://t.co/1vYGMvZsYQ? @Galavision#ForzaJuve I #JuveOL I #UCL pic.twitter.com/3yg60uWm2C
— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) August 7, 2020
Ronaldo was everywhere and he then set up Gonzalo Higuain to head home, but his effort was off target from close range.
And Juve couldn’t find one more goal to send them through as Lyon advanced on the away goals rule and shocked everyone by dumping the Italian champions out of Europe.
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Manchester City – Real Madrid was a fairly straightforward win for the hosts, as they reached the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals by beating the 13-time European champions 2-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate.
[ MORE: Champions League predictions ]
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring for Man City after a bad mistake from Raphael Varane was ruthlessly punished. Real’s Eden Hazard and Karim Benzema combined well at times and although Ederson denied them early on, Benzema pulled one back in the first half as Rodrygo’s cross was nodded home by the French striker.
Benzema and Jesus both went close for either team in the second half and the latter made the most of another big mistake from Varane to make it 2-1 and seal Man City’s spot in the quarterfinals for the third-straight season with relative ease.
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Here’s a look at what we learned from the Etihad, as Manchester City – Real Madrid was an open affair but the hosts always looked in control.
Pep Guardiola is like Indiana Jones entering the desert on his way to reaching the holy grail. Lisbon is now his ‘Canyon of the Crescent Moon’ as Man City have a quarterfinal, semifinal and final between them and footballing immortality. Man City have longed for Champions League glory and given their successful appeal against their two-season UEFA ban, they will now stride into Lisbon, Portugal as the favorites to be crowned champions of Europe. They strolled past Real Madrid and even without the injured Sergio Aguero, you’d fancy them to sweep all before them to reach the promised land. Man City have always found a way to mess things up in the Champions League but this season feels different. They gave up their Premier League trophy easily to Liverpool but it seemed like the Champions League was always the main focus this season. They now face Lyon in the quarterfinals and then their toughest test, likely either Barcelona or Napoli in the semifinals. Guardiola knows the holy grail is within reach as he is closer than ever to finally delivering the trophy Man City’s Abu Dhabi owners have built this whole project to win.
¡¿Pero qué estás haciendo, Varane?! Error increíble del francés y el City parece matar la eliminatoria. ?@mancity 2(4)-(2)1 @realmadrid#ManchesterCity | #RealMadrid | #UCL
? En vivo ? TUDN | @unimas?? https://t.co/F2YFQT9QhW pic.twitter.com/5rUUyU47WW
— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) August 7, 2020
Missing captain and legendary Sergio Ramos through suspension from the first leg, Real Madrid needed young defender Edgar Militao to step up in is place. They did not need silky smooth defender Raphael Varane to give the ball away early on to give up a cheap and avoidable goal. Although Real recovered from that early error, they failed to get Luka Modric on the ball as much as they wanted to and Eden Hazard and Benzema only showed flashes of promise. Just when it seemed like Real would push hard for a second goal which would have taken the game to extra time, Varane made another big mistake. And that was that. After impressing in La Liga since the restart and winning the Spanish title, Real Madrid looked remarkably subdued as perhaps a few weeks off before this game impacted them. The Kings of Europe will have to wait another year to add another crown to their collection. Manchester City – Real Madrid was historic, as it marked the first time Zinedine Zidane has ever lost a Champions League game in the knockout rounds. The way his team limped out of Europe was surprising and disappointing for Real Madrid.
This is set up perfectly!#MCFC 1-1 #RMFC #UCLpic.twitter.com/ahb5r1IwKY
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) August 7, 2020
It was a surprise to see Phil Foden start ahead of David Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva in a game of this magnitude but there’s always a method to Pep’s madness. And it isn’t madness, is it? It’s genius. Just like he did in the first leg at Real Madrid, Pep raised eyebrows as he started a central midfielder (Foden this time, Kevin de Bruyne in the first leg) as a false nine. Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling were rampant from each flank early on, putting defenders under pressure in their own box, and that was how they opened the scoring. But Man City then failed to build on that lead and let Real back into the game. Pep changed things around at half time and Jesus looked more comfortable centrally and so too did Foden. It was a small tweak but it got Man City back on track and Guardiola’s tactical nous made the difference, even though Man City were handed the win on a platter thanks to Real Madrid’s shaky defensive display.
Error garrafal en la defensa que le cuesta el primero al Madrid. ¿Se va el equipo merengue? ?@mancity 1(3)-(1)0 @realmadrid#ManchesterCity | #RealMadrid | #UCL
? En vivo ? TUDN | @unimas?? https://t.co/F2YFQT9QhW pic.twitter.com/rtT5sSmO5J
— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) August 7, 2020
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Cristiano Ronaldo amazing goal video? Cristiano Ronaldo amazing goal video.
Yep, we’ve all been here before.
Ronaldo, 35, smashed home an unstoppable shot to put Juventus ahead on the night and level on aggregate against Lyon ini the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg, as the Portuguese superstar scored his second of the game in style.
Season after season, Ronaldo does this time and time again as he’s now scored 37 goals in all competitions for Juventus this season. He’s 35. This just isn’t normal and all of those who doubted Ronaldo’s move to Juventus should watch him deliver week in, week out and be made to eat their words.
As for this game, he turned it on its head as things did not start well for Juventus at all.
After Memphis Depay scored an early penalty kick to put Lyon ahead in Turin, that meant Juventus had to win at least 3-1 on the night to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.
Ronaldo scored a penalty just before half time to make it 1-1 and the comeback was on, then this stunning strike made it 2-1 on the night to Juventus and set up a grand finale.
Watch on in awe as Ronaldo cut in from the right and smashed home with his ‘weaker’ left foot. Safe to say that Ronaldo will have a sore back after carrying Juventus.
El Bicho lo hizo de nuevo, con un cañonazo tiene a la Juve más cerca que nunca de la remontada ?
?? @juventusfces (2) 2-1 (2) @OL ??
?https://t.co/1vYGMvZsYQ? @Galavision#ForzaJuve I #JuveOL I #UCL pic.twitter.com/3yg60uWm2C
— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) August 7, 2020
Follow @JPW_NBCSports