World news

Arsenal 5-0 Wolves (Xhaka 11,14′, Saka 27′, Jesus 58′, Kiwior 78′)

EMIRATES STADIUM — Beginnings, endings and everything in between coalesced under a cloak of glorious sunlight as the season Arsenal fans learned to love again came to its conclusion.

The endings were perhaps the most pronounced; final, forced admissions of defeat, the obliteration of the last iotas of strained hope. There would be no guard of honour. The Premier League trophy never floated onto the Emirates turf atop a plinth.

Someone, somewhere, was particularly adamant they were having the greatest day of their life, thank you very much, having parted with tens of thousands of pounds for a match which once promised immortality.

Another finale was Granit Xhaka’s, crowned by sneaking into the penalty area to score twice in three minutes on his 297th and what is expected to be final Premier League appearance for Arsenal. A last vestige of the Arsene Wenger era, allowing Xhaka to join Bayer Leverkusen is confirmation the Gunners will now only shop for football’s finest delicacies.

The effects of losing his grit and experience for a less weather-beaten but also less battle-hardened model may be more severe than anticipated in an already immature dressing room.

Ultimately played against the backdrop of perceived failure, Arsenal’s performance, however sumptuous and slick, was slightly spoiled, muffled, lacking *something*, like listening to the Moonlight Sonata on the tube. They returned to the form which once dragged them to the Premier League’s summit on an afternoon conspicuously significant for its lack of significance.

The beginnings are less obvious but no less exciting. Next season will be the first since Wenger’s retirement in which Arsenal begin among the title favourites, yet what this team wants to or will become is still unclear. This final day was the culmination of a circle of lost and rediscovered identity, of a club returning to what it considers its rightful place. It was also the start of a future burdened once more by the weighty responsibilities attached to that identity.

At King’s Cross station, Newcastle fans had conquered the westbound Piccadilly Line platform, black and white and glad all over, speakers screeching the Champions League anthem. Heading the other way, one Arsenal fan brazenly jibed “they’re not used to it.” “Neither are we” came the sober reply.

This is the immovable reality for Mikel Arteta’s side. Competing for silverware in Europe’s two most monied and prestigious competitions presents obstacles they are currently underprepared for, demands depth and strength and experience they desperately lack.

With 84 points, this was Arsenal’s best league campaign since the Invincibles – their third full season under Arteta and the third consecutive improvement. Perhaps the most momentous decision they must make to continue this constant advancement is what their relationship with Manchester City will be.

Having poached Pep Guardiola’s favourite disciple and two City stalwarts in recent seasons, Arsenal have undoubtedly taken significant inspiration from the Etihad. Arteta’s shamanic aura and preference for the spiritual-theatrical is unmissably Guardiolan, as are substantial parts of his tactical philosophy.

Given many consider Guardiola to be the greatest active manager, this is not inherently a disadvantage. Yet conventional wisdom suggests followers will, by definition, always trail behind. City nabbed the managerial guru and most of the boardroom from Guardiola’s Barcelona side, yet have largely forged their own path to the footballing perfection they finally appear to have achieved.

Arsenal are increasingly desperate to discover their own perfection and the strength to stave off impatience in this quest will be fundamental. Do they continue learning from the City model, or venture out on their own? If next season’s improvement is not so obviously linear, do they possess the mental fortitude to continue investing wisely and naturally evolving, or will they wantonly splurge and attempt to force change at the first sightings of failure?

Always faithful to his amateur therapist shtick, Arteta said “I need to reflect, think and visualise, feel what the best way is going to be to bring this group of players to a different level.”

He also reasserted Arsenal’s intentions to reach the top, saying “we want to be the best, and in order to do that, we’re going to have to improve.

“We didn’t expect to finish where we are. It’s a lot but it’s still not enough to win it. If we want to be the real deal, we have to be much better.”

The Spaniard was coy about Arsenal’s potential transfer business, yet highlighted his appreciation of the unity which has taken his side this far: “I’m really interested in understanding what we have in-house, how we can improve, maximise what we have and take them to the next level. We don’t want to lose that cohesion around the team, that understanding.”

Endings have enjoyed their moment in the north London sun, now is the age of beginnings. Renewing William Saliba’s contract, which expires next summer, is a priority, as is ensuring the acquisition of one or both of Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo.

Between his Hispanic twang and the travails of a tannoy system, most couldn’t make a word out from Arteta’s parting speech, but it didn’t matter. They whooped and hollered and cheered all the same, knowing that for this Arsenal side, everything is still just a beginning.

from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/YlfGm0z

Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle (Trippier OG 27’ | Gordon 9’)

STAMFORD BRIDGE – With the sun glaring down on Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are one team who cannot be accused of suddenly operating as if they are already on the beach. After all they have spent most of the season exerting themselves as if they had nothing to play for.

This time, it was true, but it remains an indictment of the way apathy has set in across the club, as Frank Lampard‘s final game in charge was marked by his side securing their lowest Premier League finish since 1994.

There was at least a quiver of anticipation as the news emerged ahead of kick-off that Mauricio Pochettino had finally signed a three-year deal, with his appointment set to be officially confirmed in the coming days.

The arrival of some much-needed direction will be welcome, though that did not prevent Lampard being given a fond farewell. A “Frank Lampard’s Blue and White Army” banner travelled across the Matthew Harding Stand, while the Shed saluted Cesar Azpilucueta with a blue and white tifo.

By the time Anthony Gordon, playing in an unfamiliar role at No. 8, had put Newcastle in front just six minutes in, those white placards had already been transformed into paper airplanes, competing with the beach balls thrown nonchalantly from the away end behind the goal line.

The bare-chested travelling Geordies were singing of trips to Madrid and Italy, on one of the rare 22-degree days when it made sense for so many of them to be topless. Chelsea, by contrast, do not have a Champions League campaign to look forward to, nor European football of any kind. The Pochettino era will begin amidst huge uncertainty over what the squad will look like, and the only real inevitability is that a sizeable overhaul will be needed.

Lampard has tried to revive spirits by giving opportunities to homegrown players, as he did in his first spell in charge, but there is likely to be an exodus of them too, led by Mason Mount and which could also feature Ruben Loftus-Cheek – who appeared to wave an emotional goodbye during his substitution – Trevoh Chalobah, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Conor Gallagher. Next season Chelsea’s identity could be more muddled than ever.

If Lampard has achieved one thing it is taking the sting out of a season that dwindled into nothingness after Thomas Tuchel’s exit.

The vitriol aimed at Graham Potter has been replaced by indifference. Polite applause for Thiago Silva, deservedly named Player of the Year even if the bar was spine-bendingly low. A brief roar when Raheem Sterling turned past Elliot Anderson and his strike bounced off Kieran Trippier’s leg, onto his hand and into his own net.

There was plenty of that: the art form of “last day of the season defending”. A welcome relief for Newcastle, who have often been embroiled in the relegation drama unfolding at Goodison Park and the King Power. For Chelsea, it is a wake-up call. The last time they had a season resembling this – in 2015-16 they finished 10^th and replaced Jose Mourinho with Guus Hiddink – Antonio Conte came in and they won the league the very next season.

Nobody is seriously expecting that at first from Pochettino, only the restoration of a proper system, even a bit of entertainment, and the introduction of an accomplished backroom team that will improve raw players like Noni Madueke and Lewis Hall.

Pochettino was not an instant hit in his first season at Spurs, which was spent clearing out dead wood and transforming the squad’s mentality. That would be a good start at Chelsea, for whom this miserable campaign could not end soon enough.

from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/9LnRB7l

Luton defender Tom Lockyer says he’s “feeling very much myself” after spending the night in hospital following his collapse during Saturday’s Championship play-off final triumph over Coventry.

Lockyer was taken to hospital 10 minutes into the Wembley final and watched the rest of the game from his bed as the Hatters beat Coventry 6-5 on penalties to secure Premier League promotion.

His parents had been taken to see him in Wembley before the 28-year-old was taken for checks. And Lockyer issued a statement on his Instagram account last night.

“Well not quite where I thought I’d be celebrating at the final whistle!” he wrote, accompanied by a picture of him celebrating Luton’s promotion with friends and family.

“I would just like to say a massive thank you to the amazing physios and doctors at @ltfc_official and Wembley for the swift and thorough response. A much scarier moment for everyone else than myself I am sure!

“Commiserations to @coventrycityfcofficial a fantastic opponent over 3 games which had to be decided by penalties.

“I am currently in hospital under precaution and will stay here overnight for further tests in the morning. I am feeling very much myself, helped by the way the lads left it all out on pitch! It’s such an honour to be part of this team… Premier League baby.”

Lockyer fell to the floor just eight minutes into the final, and received treatment from medical staff before being taken off on a stretcher. Broadcasters Sky Sports did not show a replay of the incident, but pictures showed Lockyer receiving oxygen.

Luton’s Carlton Morris spoke to the ex-Bristol Rovers and Charlton centre-back on the phone as his teammates celebrated on the Wembley turf on Saturday. When asked whether the squad would pay Lockyer a visit, boss Rob Edwards said: “I’ve said to Carlton when we were out on the pitch that if we can then we will. Carlton was speaking to him on the phone.

“I don’t want to get in the way but if I’m allowed I’d love to go and see him. As a group we’re so tight but I’m not sure 40 odd people are allowed to go and see someone at hospital so we’ll have to check on that.

“I’m just so thankful he’s ok because that’s all that matters. That’s why I wasn’t really able to enjoy any of the celebrations at the end because all I cared about was Locks.”

Promotion means Luton are back in the top flight for the first time since 1992, when they were relegated on the eve of the Premier League era. None of the XI that started the final at Wembley were even born then.

Edwards added: “The staff were really good. They said that he’s ok and was speaking and everything else and we were able to calm everyone down.

“I made sure that the first thing I said was to back that up and then it was a case of focus and doing it for Locks. That was the message.”

Luton are due to hold a promotion parade at St George’s Square on Monday, although it is not known if Lockyer will be present for the celebrations.

The club have confirmed the bus will leave Kenilworth Road and arrive at St George’s Square around 12.15pm, with fans able to gather there from 10.30am.

from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/Q6dxIMy

How do you follow up a miracle?

That is the question exercising Darren Moore and Sheffield Wednesday ahead of Monday’s promotion decider against Barnsley, a game they have arrived at via the most improbable comeback in play-off history at Hillsborough.

Having dredged their reserves to overturn a four-goal first-leg deficit against Peterborough on a famous Hillsborough night, minds have had to be re-focused. The bigger prize is still to be claimed.

Three times Moore mentioned it in a dressing room address after Peterborough that has, predictably, gone viral.

“Listen boys, we’ve got one more, we’ve got one more. Enjoy tonight but we’ve got one more,” he says before midfielder Barry Bannan, Wednesday’s talisman, chips in to praise the way Moore and his in-house psychologist Tom Bates managed to transform their mentality.

Listen to this… pic.twitter.com/5d77tkV076

— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) May 18, 2023

They will require all of that focus to beat opponents who did the double on them in the regular season, the second win part of a precipitous fall which saw Wednesday tumble out of the automatic promotion spots despite accruing 96 points.

“I’m very confident. If you can’t take something from that win against Peterborough then don’t bother turning up,” former Owls icon Chris Waddle tells i.

“People will say Barnsley beat them twice but this is a one-off, it’s at Wembley. It finishes that day, someone will be crying and I hope it’s Barnsley.”

Inevitably given the size of the club, the expectation will be on Wednesday. It has been a rollercoaster season: 96 points, a record number of clean sheets, but Moore has faced criticism for the collapse that saw Ipswich and Plymouth steal the two automatic promotion spots.

Ash Rogers, of Owls podcast The Wednesday Week, was at London Road for the first leg and says the atmosphere was “toxic” after the 4-0 defeat. But unity has well and truly returned ahead of Wembley, with the club selling 44,000 tickets for the final.

“The support is outstanding considering what has happened in the last few years. We’ve had 23 years out of the top flight, 40 years without a trophy,” he says.

“I know people talk of the nerves of Wembley but I can’t wait. I’ll enjoy it. Last Thursday was an ‘I was there moment’ and I think Monday will be the same.”

All eyes will be on Moore who, despite leading League One for so long this season, has faced criticism from some quarters for a lack of “Plan B”.

“I feel for Darren, the job is promotion, if they do that on Monday then he’s done it,” Waddle says.

“He’s spoken well, he’s been honest, he’s got on with it. It’s just the top two got away from them when they had their little dip.

“Did the players get found out, did they get nervous? I don’t think it was his fault because the formation and system didn’t change. Sometimes managers get blamed but you have to point your finger at the players.”

Rogers, too, speaks in support of a man who “just gets it”. “Whatever happens on Monday, he should stay,” he says.

The scale of Wednesday’s potential is emphasised by the demand for tickets in South Yorkshire, which sold out before going on general sale.

The Chansiri ownership has spanned eight years but after an initial push with funds, they have plateaued. Waddle yearns for a “transformative” takeover to take the club back to the level they were at when he played at Hillsborough and competing for major honours.

“It’s a club that could maintain Premier League status, they’re one of the clubs that could go into that league and survive. They’re a long way from it at the moment but potentially they could do it,” Waddle says.

“I’m very surprised that no-one has come in over the years and thought, like they have done with Newcastle and other teams like that, ‘this is a project and we could end up with a lot of rewards’.

“(Owner Dejphon) Chansiri has had his time in my eyes. He put money in originally but if you look at the last few years they’ve signed a lot of players on free transfers but they don’t spend much money anymore.

“If you were looking for somebody to take over, then without a doubt Sheffield Wednesday would be a great option for somebody.”

They will be hoping the long road back starts on Monday.

from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/L2BNFSK

Some clubs may be “on the beach” heading in the Premier League’s final day on Sunday but there are still potentially millions of pounds riding on each game.

It has become a cliché to suggest those already safe from relegation or taking part in dead-rubber matches will have their minds instead on upcoming holidays during the off-season.

And while some will have to wait to pack their bags given international matches are around the corner, the higher-ups at domestic clubs will be eager for their players to first focus on winning a final three points for their side before swapping the boots for flip-flops.

That is because each Premier League position is worth a widely reported £2.2m although the league have not published the exact position-by-position amounts for some time.

Nevertheless, on top of matchday, broadcast and commercial revenue, the Premier League’s merit-based system offers clubs a greater amount the higher they finish up.

Champions Manchester City are therefore expected to collect around £44m for winning the title, while Southampton will pick up just £2.2m for finishing bottom.

Premier League prize money by position

An estimate based on £2.2m per position:

• 1^st – £44m
• 2^nd – £41.8m
• 3^rd – £39.6m
• 4^th – £37.4m
• 5^th – £35.2m
• 6^th – £33.0m
• 7^th – £30.8m
• 8^th – £28.6m
• 9^th – £26.4m
• 10^th – £24.2m
• 11^th – £22.0m
• 12^th – £19.8m
• 13^th – £17.6m
• 14^th – £15.4m
• 15^th – £13.2m
• 16^th – £11m
• 17^th – £8.8m
• 18^th – £6.6m
• 19^th – £4.4m
• 20^th – £2.2m

The three-way relegation scrap for the two remaining places between Everton, Leicester and Leeds will also see 17^th collect around £8.8m – a helpful figure, although celebrations for one side on Sunday will be centred around the fact another season of Premier League football awaits.

And of course, all clubs earn a greater amount beyond that of the Premier League’s own prize money. For example, Manchester City’s 2021-22 accounts highlighted they made £54.5m in matchday revenue, £249.1m in broadcast revenue, and £309.4m in commercial revenue.

A closer look at the Premier League table shows there are a number of positions where clubs are fighting it out beyond the bid to avoid relegation.

Heading into the final round, Manchester United hold a two-point lead over Newcastle in the “race” to finish third, although in truth both are already savouring the prospect of Champions League football next season.

Below that, Liverpool will finish fifth and Brighton sixth, with a three-way jostle for seventh featuring Aston Villa, Tottenham and Brentford. Villa know victory over Brighton on Sunday will guarantee a place in next season’s Europa Conference League.

Fulham’s top-half finish is secure, with Marco Silva’s side certain to come 10^th as they are four points behind Brentford and eight ahead of Crystal Palace.

Both Palace and Chelsea could yet finish 11^th, the latter experiencing a season to forget in the Premier League, while Wolves could yet beat the Blues to 12th. A 13th place finish is the best that either West Ham or Bournemouth can hope for.

The Cherries could yet be leapfrogged by Nottingham Forest into 15^th, having avoided the final-day relegation battle when beating Arsenal last weekend, a victory that also confirmed Manchester City’s fifth title in six years.

from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/4DkTPGa

WEMBLEY STADIUM — Nine years ago, Luton Town ended a promotion season with an away win against Hyde and returned to the Football League. So if they ask for a minute or two or six weeks to process what happened at Wembley and the three years leading up to it, it would probably be fair to wait a while as they collect their thoughts.

You would struggle to describe anything about Luton Town as Premier League. But everyone is screaming about Premier League with red faces and orange shirts and they’re absolutely right and we are wrong. Football keeps on turning and there will be another fairytale along sometime soon. But until then, Luton have the monopoly. It will take a while to eclipse this one.

The temptation when absorbing sport in the moment is to melodramatise and hyperbolise. So you take a few steps back to take it all in one shot and…there was still too much drama for one day, even with 20 minutes of injury time.

Three disallowed goals, two wonderfully constructed actual goals, a final that swung one way and then the other until you stopped trying to guess what would happen next because it would only make you look like a fool. And then penalties, cruel but inevitable and expertly taken until the last. It seems unjust to even mention Fakaty Dabo’s name.

This was a special play-off final, perhaps even unique given the strands that intertwined between Luton Town and Coventry City.

Freed From Desire, suddenly a retro football classic in the 2020s, is usually played after full-time to congratulate the winners. At Wembley on Saturday, the interminable DJ made the admittedly excellent decision to play it before the game.

For roughly four minutes, both ends of the national stadium jumped and sang as if to celebrate victory – we’ll dance and then we’ll fight. Coventry City and Luton Town have been freed from just about everything else over the last few years; desire might as well be next.

The Championship play-off final is the best fixture to attend as a neutral bar none, although it is rarely a feast of entertainment. Nowhere else in sport in this country will you get so many people in one place, roughly split equally between two competitors, where the outcome means so much. Accept no flimsy imitations from your other sports. This is it.

And it shows. On Wembley Way, when you can see your upcoming fate but can’t quite feel it yet, there is false bravado and beery cheer in the sun that could trick you into thinking you were here for a good time. Then you get to your seat and see the pitch and something does a backflip deep in your stomach. It can be released only through noise. Every goalkeeper catch brings a roar, every contested throw-in an appeal as if pleading for your life.

Luton were the more direct, which can often help early in monstrously important contests simply because there are fewer actions that can go wrong because your muscles have been replaced by jelly.

In some ways, Luton exist in one true state in which they are endlessly attempting to create a chance from a cross or pull-back. They win 50-50s and headers and play crossfield passes – this is not agricultural, you understand – but they are never happier than when one of Carlton Morris or Elijah Adebayo is ushering the ball to an overlapping runner and then demanding it back. It is effective and it is magnificent to watch.

Chances came and chances went and those in blue began to feel a little less so. With half-time came renewed energy and with the second half came the moment, the only time that Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres connected. The sky-blue smog hanging over Wembley tells you all you need to know. Yet it was merely a temporary relief, a well-meaning but ultimately pointless shot of adrenalin and hope that they cursed in the end.

Coventry will run what might have been; how could you not? Outside the stadium, hundreds marched in silence like the haunted faces of those marching home from war. Everything becomes a joke at your expense: the PA announcer hoping everyone had a lovely day; the megaphone voice imploring you to visit the fan park. All they wanted was to be anywhere but here feeling anything but this.

WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE! #COVLUT | #COYH pic.twitter.com/gFgR6Ulc3N

— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) May 27, 2023

Still, they know only too well that history is written by and for the winners. This was Luton’s day and this will feel to their supporters like their month and year too. If some might suggest it is merely a counterbalance to their bad times, that’s not how it works.

The football pyramid decides who deserves what. It might be the fault of many or the fault of one, a single bad decision or the collective trauma of a hundred, but you end up where you end up. There is no VIP pass, no “Errr this is awkward but we really shouldn’t be in this division”.

So just like 2014 in non-league, Luton are where they deserve to be. People will mistakenly talk of mini-miracles – ignore them. The intangibles that do exist – guts, resolve, patience, hope, belief – are powered by people who knew what they were doing and, more than anything, remained committed to their ideals when the Premier League wasn’t even a daydream.

The details and the difficulties will be along soon, but they will be drowned out by the glorious songs of victory for a while. Allow them that. Luton Town are Premier League and, to them right now, nothing feels as if it could ever matter more.

from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/T9QCpOa

Luton have said that Tom Lockyer is “responsive and talking” after their captain collapsed in the opening 10 minutes of the Championship play-off final against Coventry City at Wembley Stadium.

The 28-year-old, whose goal against Sunderland sent the Hatters into the final, fell to the floor with no other player around him with just eight minutes played.

Initially, it looked as though he had suffered an innocuous injury, however it quickly became apparent that the situation was far more serious as medical teams from both sides rushed onto the pitch to tend to him.

Sky Sports did not broadcast a replay of the incident and pictures showed Lockyer receiving oxygen. A stretcher was brought onto the pitch and after around five minutes of treatment, Lockyer was carried off for further assessment.

Sky Sports confirmed at half-time that Lockyer was “awake” and “conscious” and that he had been taken to hospital with Luton verifying that shortly after the second half commenced.

We are able to report that after collapsing on the pitch, Tom Lockyer has been taken to hospital for further tests.

He is responsive and talking to his family, who are with him.

We are all with you, Locks #COYH

— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) May 27, 2023

The club tweeted: “We are able to report that after collapsing on the pitch, Tom Lockyer has been taken to hospital for further tests.

“He is responsive and talking to his family, who are with him. We are all with you, Locks.”

Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman said: “Football goes out the window when something like that happens.

“We are just grateful to hear the news that he’s conscious and on his way to the best place for him right now.

“All our thoughts and prayers are with Tom Lockyer and hopefully he has a quick and speedy recovery.”

More to follow…

from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/qpo1fke