Liverpool strengthened their position in second place in the English Football League with a 2-0 win over hosts Sheffield United. 0-1, and Manchester United a hard-fought victory over its guest. Chelsea 2-1.

In the first game, Dutchman Virgil van Dijk (37) and Poland’s Dominik Soboslai (90+4) scored Liverpool’s goals.

The Reds went into the match after narrowly escaping the net of their visitors Fulham last Sunday, when they turned a 2-3 deficit into a maddening 4-3 win 10 minutes from time.

Liverpool lifted their tally to 34 points in second place, two ahead of Arsenal, who beat Luton Town 4-3 on Tuesday in the opening round of the standings, and two clear of third-placed Aston Villa. Fifth-placed City have dropped to fourth, ahead of Tottenham and United, their sixth in a row with 27 points each.

The role comes a day after Sheffield ditched their coach Paul Heckingbottom (46) and re-hired Chris Wilder.

Heckingbottom became the first manager in the league to lose his position this season after Sheffield United had managed just one win in 14 games before facing Liverpool.

Sheffield United opened the scoring 12 minutes after the opening whistle, but Liverpool’s Irish goalkeeper Gaomin Kelleher blocked James McDee’s effort following a counter-attack.

Liverpool responded by winning possession and Van Dijk was able to score after a corner kick into the area, followed by a right-footed shot past Al-Tayer (37).

Liverpool tried to settle the score early in the second half when their Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah had a dangerous chance, but the latter’s shot was successfully blocked by Sheffield goalkeeper Wesley Fotheringham (56).

Liverpool coach German Jurgen Klopp brought on Uruguayan Darwin Nunes and Harvey Elliott in place of Colombian Luis Diaz and Salah (67), aiming to disrupt attacking efforts.

Nunes added the second goal after a perfect pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold faced the goalkeeper, but the latter saved with his foot (77).

As the game was taking its final breath, Liverpool scored a convincing goal, Nunes stole the ball and passed it to Soboslaj, alone with the Sheffield goalkeeper, and he fired into the net (90 + 4).

Manchester City continued their poor run of form, failing to win for the fourth consecutive match, losing 0–1 at Aston Villa, 4–4 against Chelsea, 1–1 against Liverpool, and 3–3 against Tottenham after three draws.

Jamaican Leon Bailey (74) scored the only goal of the match.

Aston Villa have continued their performances this season as they are unbeaten in their last four matches (3 wins and a draw) and have established themselves as serious contenders for a ticket to the Champions League next season.

Aston Villa put in a good performance and outplayed their rivals for several periods, especially in the first half, where they were a dangerous side and in the 45th minute the referee disallowed a goal for Brazilian Douglas Luiz’s clearance. field during the attack.

The home side scored the winning goal just before the final quarter of an hour (74) after Bailly’s individual effort saw a powerful ball bounce off the feet of Portugal defender Ruben Dias.

Manchester United restored the winning tone after going down 0-1 at Newcastle in the last round, and beat their visitors Chelsea 2-1.

Scott McTominay scored two goals (19 and 69) for the Red Devils, Portuguese Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty kick early in the match (9), and Cole Palmer scored the Blues’ goal (45). )

Chelsea’s tie is frozen in tenth place with 19 points.

Dutch coach Eric den Haag’s side got off to a poor start to the match when they missed a penalty nine minutes after the opening whistle, which the referee awarded following a foul on Brazilian Anthony by Argentine Enzo Fernandez.

United succeeded in opening the scoring through McTominay with a shot from inside the penalty area (19), but before the end of the first half Chelsea equalized following Palmer’s shot into the right corner (45).

In the second half, McTominay stepped up to the rescue again and scored the winning goal with a header following a cross pass from Argentina’s Alejandro Carnacho (69).

Bournemouth beat Crystal Palace 2-0 and Brighton beat Brentford 2-1.

Brighton are in eighth place to increase their score to 25 points, while Brentford are eleventh with 19 points.

Nigerian Alex Iwobi (30th and 74th), Mexican Raul Jimenez (34th and 54th) and Scottish Tom Cairney (86th) scored alternately as Fulham beat Nottingham Forest 5-0.

The Qatar Football Association announced on Wednesday that Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz has been relieved of his duties without explaining the reasons, replacing Al Waqra club coach Spaniard “Dentin” Marquez Lopes to lead the Asian Cup. It will look to defend its title in early 2024.

The federation said in a statement that “Queiros’ tenure has come to an end by mutual consent between the two parties,” adding, “All thanks and appreciation to Coach Queiroz for the time he has overseen the training of our national team.”

He later said in a post that the deal with Marquez came “after the positive results he achieved with Al-Waqra Sports Club”, thanking the club for “the cooperation and agreement to hire the coach”. Drouton occupied the Belgian club before taking charge of Al-Waqra in 2018. Currently fourth in the local league.

Queiroz was appointed last February on a four-year deal with the aim of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup after Spain suffered three defeats in the first round of the 2022 World Cup under coach Felix Sanchez. 3 matches in group stage.

During his participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, he lost 1–2 to Haiti, drew 1–1 with Honduras, and then beat Mexico 1–0. They lost 4-0 to Panama in the quarterfinals.

Queiroz led the Qatar national team in the first two matches of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the first against Afghanistan (8-1) and the other against India (3-0), after losing to New Zealand in a friendly. A clean sheet and a 1-1 draw with Russia last September.

At the Jordanian International Championship last October, they drew 0-0 with Iraq before winning on penalties, then suffered a 4-0 defeat against Iran.

In total, he led Al-Annabi in 12 matches, winning 5 times, losing the same and drawing twice.

Queiroz wrote on his Instagram account on November 21 after winning his second match in World Cup qualifying: “On the field, our performance was very efficient and ambitious. Off the field, what’s next? We have to do better. Train and be more.” “In preparation. We need to continue to get the chance to play and compete. Now our preparation camp for the Asian Cup begins.”

The 70-year-old Portuguese coach played in World Cup finals 4 times, once with his country’s national team and 3 times with Iran, which he twice oversaw for a decade.

Queiroz coached Iran at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals, as well as Portugal in 2010, and led South Africa to the 2002 finals, but he resigned before the tournament.

Apart from Spanish Real Madrid (2003-2004), the Portuguese also oversaw the national teams of the United Arab Emirates, Colombia and Egypt, and served as assistant to Scottish Alex Ferguson at Manchester United for two seasons.

Messi won the 2023 Sportsman of the Year award

15 minutes ago

League Plus – Argentina and Inter Miami striker Lionel Messi has been named Time magazine’s sportsman of the year.

Messi joined Miami last July and scored 11 goals in 14 matches in all competitions to help the team lift the League Cup, its first title.

The 36-year-old also won his eighth Ballon d’Or in October.

“Lionel Messi did the seemingly impossible this year when he signed for Inter Miami: turned America into a soccer nation,” Time magazine said.

Messi’s arrival led to an increase in spectator attendance, ticket prices, sales of merchandise and viewing of American League matches, the magazine said.

The striker won the award alongside gymnast Simone Biles, swimmer Michael Phelps and NBA star LeBron James.

After leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of his contract, Messi said he had an emotional desire to return to his boyhood club Barcelona, ​​but the move never materialised.

Then it moved to Miami or the Saudi Professional League, which has invested heavily in foreign talent over the past two seasons.

He told Time magazine: “My first choice was to return to Barcelona, ​​but that was not possible.” “I tried to come back and it didn’t happen.”

He continued, “It is also true that I later thought a lot about going to the Saudi league, I know the country and they have developed a very strong competition that could become an important league in the future.

He concluded, “It was either Saudi Arabia or the American Football League, both options seemed very interesting to me.”