Arsenal survive Bournemouth scare, as Aston Villa bounce back in title race

With a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Bournemouth, Declan Rice overcame a knee injury to increase Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to six points.

Evanilson scored the Cherries’ opening goal on Saturday thanks to a improbable Gabriel Magalhaes error, but the Brazilian quickly recovered.

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With the opening goal, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said, “We made it harder for ourselves.” However, I adore Gabi’s character and the team’s character, which have evolved over the years.

Due to knee swelling, Rice was doubtful after missing Tuesday’s 4-1 defeat to Aston Villa.

The England international made two composed starts before the hour mark, helping him double his season total.

Bournemouth hoped thanks to Eli Kroupi’s excellent strike, but Arsenal comfortably escaped defeat at Manchester City, who host managerless Chelsea in their match on Sunday.

When Arsenal conceded after just 10 minutes, Pep Guardiola’s men had a glimmer of hope.

Jurrien Timber and Gabriel mishit their cross-field passes to Gabriel, who then slotted past Evanilson for his season opener.

In midweek’s match against Villa, the towering centre-back from Arsenal scored again with a strong effort and scored just six minutes in the equalizer.

Noni Madueke’s deflected cross was saved by Gabriel, who scored his 20th Premier League goal since joining the Gunners in 2020, seven more than any other defender.

Since being promoted to a more advanced role this year, Rice has also become a valuable source of important goals.

Martin Odegaard had a perfect pick-up, and he slotted in from the edge of the box to give the visitors a 56-minute lead.

As Rice drew his cut-back, Bukayo Saka created Arsenal’s third as he came off the bench.

We knew it wasn’t going to be simple, Rice said in response to the attacking threat they posed.

“To get three points from us after not getting the best of our first half means a big win,” he said.

The key is to maintain momentum with three points.

Bournemouth is still without a victory after 11 games ended on October 26.

Only five teams have this season scored more Premier League goals than Andoni Iraola’s men, though.

A nervy conclusion was created by Kropi’s stunning long-range strike.

But Mikel Arteta’s men persevered to make yet another significant breakthrough in the pursuit of a Premier League title after 22 years.

Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins scores the team’s second goal against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

West Ham was “embarked” at Wolves while Villa defeated Forest.

Aston Villa moved into second place in the Premier League after beating struggling Nottingham Forest 3-1 at their home fortress to lessen the pain caused by Arsenal’s midweek mauling.

Unai Emery’s side took a deserved lead with Ollie Watkins’ strike just before half-time, and John McGinn scored twice for the visitors on either side of a Morgan Gibbs-White goal.

With a 4-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, Villa’s 11-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt, giving doubts about their ability to keep the title in check.

However, they still have a strong track record at Villa Park, winning 11 of their previous games with a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in August.

After their humiliating defeat at Arsenal, Villa boss Emery revealed to Sky Sports that his players and coaching staff had met.

He said, “I’m so happy,” “I’m so happy.” Our confidence and energy had to be regained. The energy we produce here at Villa Park was extremely important.

Forests compete with one another. We discussed our current situation with the players and staff after the Arsenal game, including how we are faring this season, how we are feeling, how we must maintain consistency, and how to work together and be strong.

On a bitingly cold day in Birmingham, Villa made a positive start, but the team struggled to make their dominance felt.

However, in the final moments of a half, when they had nearly 80% of the lead, the in-form Watkins broke the deadlock.

Morgan Rogers’ kick was fired in the England international’s fourth goal in three games when he received the ball outside the area.

In the 49th minute, McGinn side-footed home from a Matty Cash cross to double Villa’s lead.

Villa appeared to be moving in the opposite direction, but in the 61st minute, Forest were back in the lead thanks to a superb finish from Gibbs-White, who skidded past Emi Martinez before the diving Villa.

Even though there were defenders nearby, Forest goalkeeper John Victor inexplicably vacated his goalmouth in the 73rd minute to try to get a long ball from Youri Tielemans in the area.

Scotland midfielder McGinn stepped over Victor and strode the ball into the empty net from far outside the area while remaining calm.

Villa improved to 42 points, one point ahead of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who host Chelsea without a manager on Sunday.

Forest, who have now lost to League One for the fourth consecutive season, are one place above West Ham, who lost 3-0 to bottom-of-the-table Wolves.

Nuno Espirito Santo, the manager of the struggling Hammers, said: “This is not what we want to show. The first half was embarrassing.

Senegal beat Sudan to reach AFCON quarterfinals as Pape Gueye grabs brace

South Africa manager to show ‘no mercy’ to Cameroon at AFCON 2025

When he faces his former team in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday, South Africa coach Hugo Broos has promised to show “no mercy” to Cameroon.

At Al Medina Stadium in Rabat, Broos will lead Bafana Bafana out against the country that he helped to win the 2017 AFCON championship in Gabon.

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The game for me will undoubtedly be a special one for tomorrow. A portion of a nation’s heart stays with you when you win an AFCON, but tomorrow I can’t have mercy for them because I want to win the game, according to Belgian Broos, who spoke to reporters in Morocco on Saturday.

They are a young, very talented team with good fighting spirit and mentality, which means we must work hard to defeat them if we want to defeat them. ”

Despite a chaotic start to the tournament, Cameroon managed to earn seven points out of a possible nine in the group stage in Morocco.

A few weeks prior to the opening game, the football federation’s president and Indomitable Lions legend Samuel Eto’o fired coach Marc Brys, who was replaced by David Pagou.

In the final, I would have preferred to face Cameroon, Broos said.

With all the changes in their team, I was surprised and curious to see Cameroon. Although they did not have a lot of preparation time, the coach did a good job, and the match will be challenging for us. ”

No mercy will be shown tomorrow, he added. You can be certain. All that matters is that I must win the game. ”

South Africa upset before Cameroon test because Morocco AFCON was set up.

The 73-year-old also expressed anger at tournament organizers for forcing his team to spend 45 minutes driving to Rabat’s hotel.

If Morocco defeats outsiders Tanzania in their last-16 tie, the hosts will face Morocco in the quarterfinals.

I don’t understand why the Confederation of African Football (CFA) permitted that. Because it makes me unhappy, Broos complained.

Bafana Bafana, who have qualified for the 2018 World Cup, are hoping to at least equal their 2024 Cup of Nations semifinal success.

However, their coach acknowledges that, given the level of competition still available, it might be a difficult order.

We came here with the same level of ambition as we did two years ago, but I said this competition would be much harder.

Trump: US ‘captures’ Maduro in ‘dead of night’

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Nicolas Maduro and his wife will “face American justice,” according to US President Donald Trump, who claims they “successfully captured” them in the middle of nowhere. Trump asserted that the US would continue to rule Venezuela until a “safe… and prudent” transition of power is achieved.

Real Madrid to ‘push deadline’ for Mbappe to make Atletico Super Cup return

Despite having a knee injury, Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe will miss Sunday’s La Liga home game against Real Betis, but coach Xabi Alonso has indicated that the forward is working toward being ready for the Spanish Super Cup semifinal against Atletico Madrid.

The 27-year-old France captain has a sprained left knee, which equals Cristiano Ronaldo’s club record of 59 goals scored in a calendar year for Real in their 2-0 La Liga victory over Sevilla on December 20.

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Initial expectations were made that a sideline injury would last at least three weeks.

On Saturday, Alonso told reporters, “We’ll definitely miss Kylian.” We must have faith in the players who will play tomorrow.

We’ll see as we go. We will do everything we can to get him back as soon as possible, but we must wait and see how things turn.

We’ll be making pushbacks to the deadlines; It is largely a matter of emotions. What time is possible? That is the inquiry. I’m not sure. The Super Bowl We sincerely hope. ”

Before a slump in their performance in November, Alonso’s men were five points clear at the top. Before being shocked by Celta Vigo at home in December, they drew three league games in a row, giving defending champions Barcelona a four-point lead over them in the title race.

Vinicius Jr., a forward, has a goalless run that Real’s decline in form has caused. The 25-year-old Brazilian winger, who scored 22 goals last season, hasn’t found the net since October and has only struck five times in all competitions this term.

Vini looks good, upbeat, and smiling when asked how Vinicius is doing after being booed by a fan base during their most recent game at the Bernabeu against Sevilla. We all had a good time recovering from the break.