ARSENAL bounced back from their bad December with an emphatic 5-0 victory against struggling Crystal Palace at the Emirates. The Gunners had won just once in five league games before meeting Palace and had tumbled out of the FA Cup at home to Liverpool. Palace fell behind early on thanks to a Gabriel header and goalkeeper Dean Henderson was credited with an own goal on 37 minutes. Trossard added a third on 59 minutes and the scoring ended in added time with a brace from Martinelli. Palace’s fans were less than happy and towards the end of the game, a series of banners were raised among the travelling contingent. The fans were calling for the removal of manager Roy Hodgson as well as club owner Steve Parish. There were also some uncomfortable scenes before kick-off as police tried to remove a drum from travelling fans.
Bayern Munich are apparently keen on signing Kieran Trippier of Newcastle United. The 33 year-old England international only joined Newcastle from Atlético Madrid in a £ 12 million deal in 2022 but Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel is eager to sign a right back and is a big admirer of Trippier. Newcastle coach Eddie Howe is also a fan of Trippier and would loathe to let him go. Howe may be persuaded if he could sign Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich, a player he would like to see in the club’s black and white shirt.
There was a shock for Asian Cup favourites Japan when Iraq beat them 2-1 in their group stage meeting. Aymen Hussein scored two goals for Iraq in the first half and Japan pulled one back in added time at the end of 90 minutes through Endo. Iraq have qualified for the knockout phase with maximum points from their two games. Japan have still to secure a place in the last 16 and will face Indonesia in their third group fixture who also have designs on going through. South Korea were close to suffering a shock defeat against Jordan. They were 2-1 down with the clock ticking beyond 90 minutes, despite going ahead early on through Son Heung-min, but an own goal from Al-Arab gave South Korea a point.
As the Women’s Super League returns, Arsenal’s Leah Williamson has spoken out about the number of fixtures that top players have to deal with. Williamson, one of many women who have endured ACL injuries, believes that there have been “unsustainable demands” made by FIFA and UEFA. Williamson’s club, in 2022-23, played 37 competitive games (22 league) and Chelsea, the champions, played 40. The problem seems to be with internationals, however. England’s women, for example, played 20 games in 2023 of which 13 were World Cup and Nations League fixtures. In other words, it was an extraordinary year. Other friendlies and the Arnold Clark competition (seven games) took the number up to 20. Arsenal and Chelsea’s men played 49 and 50 times respectively in 2022-23, but the England team had 10 games in 2023, of which two were friendlies.
GAME OF THE PEOPLE 