Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer explains how Alejandro Garnacho played his “best game” in a Chelsea shirt in their 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
MATCH REPORT: Chelsea 3-0 Wolves
Match of the Day’s Alan Shearer breaks down the performance of Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko who failed to capitalise on two very good opportunities in their 2-2 draw with Tottenham in the Premier League.
MATCH REPORT: Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Manchester United
Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho has started slowly but is beginning to show the kind of form that used to get Manchester United fans excited.
The Argentine, 21, got two assists during the 3-0 win over Wolves on Saturday, setting up the opening goal for Malo Gusto and the third for Pedro Neto, with Joao Pedro scoring the other after good work from livewire substitute Estevao Willian.
This was the first time Garnacho has had two Premier League assists in the same game, with the feat coming in his 99th appearance in the competition.
Yet it has taken time for Garnacho to play this well for Chelsea, having left under a cloud at Old Trafford.
Garnacho was exiled into the so-called ‘bomb squad’ by United manager Ruben Amorim and negotiations with Chelsea took a long time before his £40m move was completed in the final days of the summer transfer window.
That absence from competitive action left Garnacho looking short of fitness when arriving at Stamford Bridge, with no goals or assists in his first six matches.
However, Garnacho is now delivering, with two goals and two assists in his latest four matches.
When asked about Garnacho after the match, Maresca said: “He has had an open mind since we started. Last season he struggled a bit then got better and better. Garnacho has been very good on the left side.”
The advice to Garnacho that has drawn prime form from the youngster has been a simple one.
His Chelsea prospects depend on him adhering to it.
“Work hard – this has been the main message when he joined us,” Maresca said. “In terms of quality on the ball we know he is good; to play with us he has to work hard.
“On the ball he’s doing well, but also off the ball he’s working hard.
“He arrived from a club where he was not training 100% so his physical condition was not good. Slowly now he is better.
Garnacho was ridiculed by supporters of League One side Lincoln City on his first start for Chelsea, lasting just 59 minutes during a poor display in the Carabao Cup.
The winger has been eased in at Stamford Bridge, without completing a match until playing the full 90 minutes in the win against Wolves.
It was an impressive performance, featuring fantastic link-up play with his compatriot Enzo Fernandez.
Garnacho won a free-kick with his first action of the game and Fernandez’s resulting shot was saved.
Midfielder Fernandez, captaining the team in the absence of regular skipper Reece James, later clipped a pass into Garnacho, whose shot was saved from close range and was the best attempt during the first half.
In the second half, Garnacho’s in-swinging cross was headed in by unlikely scorer Malo Gusto to break the deadlock and ease pressure on a team who had been booed off at half-time.
Garnacho sprinted into space to set up Pedro Neto’s goal that sealed victory.
The assists came after Garnacho spared Chelsea’s blushes with an equaliser against Azerbaijani side Qarabag in the Champions League on Wednesday, after he came on as a half-time substitute when his team were trailing.
Garnacho also performed strongly in the 1-0 win at Tottenham a week ago, having scored his first goal in a defeat at home to Sunderland two weeks ago.
Maresca’s best attack for the biggest matches now tends to feature Garnacho ahead of rival left-winger Jamie Gittens.
There remain further questions for Garnacho in his Chelsea career though.
His goals last season for United came against Southampton, Brentford and Leicester, and in a heavy defeat to Newcastle.
Chelsea ended Saturday sitting second in the Premier League table.
The Blues have played one game more than Manchester City, Liverpool and Bournemouth, who all play on Sunday, but a win before the international break leaves a positive feeling around the club.
Chelsea are also the division’s top scorers with 21 goals from 11 games, but that would have been a difficult statistic to believe during a first half played at a lethargic pace.
“I was very worried before this game,” said Maresca. “These are the worst games, they’re tricky. Everyone is thinking it’s going to be easy.
“I can understand in the first half people were not happy because we didn’t score. Then when Estevao came on the energy raised because people love that kind of player.”
The 18-year-old Brazilian has largely been limited to substitute appearances in the Premier League as he acclimatises to English football.
Maresca said this week that the youngster, who moved from his homeland in the summer, had complained about the cold weather in London, and the manager warned him to expect it to get worse before it gets better on that front.
“You can see his talent,” said Maresca of Estevao. “We are trying to help him to adapt and give him the right minutes.
“He arrived from Brazil, he needs time to adapt, but he’s going to start games for us in the future.”
Chelsea next face a trip to Turf Moor after the international break to face Burnley on 22 November.
They remain in the EFL Cup, where they have had a seemingly favourable draw away to League One side Cardiff City in the quarter-final, and they have a glamour game at home to Barcelona in the Champions League coming up three days after the Burnley test.
Star attacker Cole Palmer is due back from injury in December, which could provide a further boost as Chelsea aim to qualify for the Champions League through at least a top-four or top-five finish this season.
Maresca’s “word hard” message to Garnacho is reflected in his wider view of how Chelsea can reach their targets.
Michael van Gerwen overcame Beau Greaves in a thriller as reigning champion Luke Littler opened his Grand Slam of Darts title defence with a victory.
Three-time world champion Van Gerwen looked to be cruising to a win at 4-2 in Wolverhampton, only for 21-year-old Greaves to win back-to-back legs to take the match to a decider.
Doncaster’s Greaves had three darts to take out 52 for victory but could not finish, before Van Gerwen saw out the match.
Greaves, who beat Littler in October to become the first woman to reach the World Youth Championship final, must now beat former champion Gary Anderson on Sunday to stay in the competition.
It was smoother sailing for Littler, 18, as he continued his 100% record at the tournament with a 5-1 win against Karel Sedlacek.
The world number two, a winner on his debut in 2024, was frustrated by dropping a single leg.
“I was obviously looking for the whitewash,” said Littler.
“I just thought to myself, when I lost the bull, you’ve got to get off to a quick start. Anyone has to – it’s only first to five. That’s what I’ve done. But yeah, not the best that I dropped the leg.”
Littler is aiming to take Luke Humphries’ spot at the top of the rankings by the year’s end, but the world number one made an emphatic start to his bid for a second Grand Slam of Darts title as he breezed past Alex Spellman.
The 30-year-old hit two maximums as he completed a straightforward 5-0 victory, helping him to the top of Group A after Michael Smith’s 5-3 win against Nathan Aspinall.
Elsewhere, Gerwyn Price was beaten by Rickey Evans, Wessel Nijman overcame Josh Rock and Stefan Bellmont beat James Wade.
Daryl Gurney 4-5 Connor Scutt
Martin Schindler 2-5 Luke Woodhouse
Nathan Aspinall 3-5 Michael Smith
Gary Anderson 3-5 Niko Springer
Luke Humphries 5-0 Alex Spellman
Luke Littler 5-1 Karel Sedlacek
Michael van Gerwen 5-4 Beau Greaves
Stephen Bunting 4-5 Alexis Toylo
Danny Noppert 5-4 Lukas Wenig
Damon Heta 5-1 Martin Lukeman
Chris Dobey 5-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Ricky Evans 5-4 Gerwyn Price
Stefan Bellmont 5-4 James Wade
Cam Crabtree 5-1 Jonny Clayton
Wessel Nijman 5-4 Josh Rock
Nearly a month after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the death toll in Gaza is still rising amid reports of more killings, as the ongoing search for bodies from under the rubble continues.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Saturday that the total number of people killed in the enclave since October 7, 2023, had risen to 69,169, after more of the dead were identified and more bodies recovered.
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Israeli attacks have killed more than 240 Palestinians since the ceasefire deal came into effect last month, the ministry said.
On Saturday, there were reports of yet more killings. The Israeli military said that it killed one Palestinian who had crossed the so-called yellow line and approached Israeli soldiers operating in northern Gaza.
The yellow line is a demarcation line to which Israeli forces agreed to withdraw under the United States-brokered truce to end the war.
The Israeli army said it killed another Palestinian in southern Gaza, who had also crossed the yellow line and allegedly “posed an immediate threat” to its troops.
Israel has continued to fire at Palestinians, including families, who approach the demarcation line.
Adding to the death toll, a Palestinian child was killed after an explosive device left behind by Israeli forces in the city of Khan Younis detonated, according to Nasser Hospital.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt to be reopened for urgent medical evacuations.
About 4,000 Palestinian patients have left Gaza through Rafah for treatment in Egypt and elsewhere, with another 16,500 patients still waiting to get medical care abroad, according to the WHO.
“The Rafah crossing is a vital exit for medical evacuations and a key entry for health supplies into Gaza. Egypt remains one of the main destinations for patients needing urgent care,” the agency wrote in a social media post.
In the occupied West Bank, military raids and settler attacks continued in an apparent drive to force Palestinians from their land, as part of the Israeli government’s illegal settlement expansion across the territory.
Israeli settlers attacked a group of Palestinian villagers, activists and journalists who had gathered on Saturday to harvest olives in the town of Beita, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli anti-apartheid activist, who was helping Palestinians harvest their olives, described to Al Jazeera how a group of dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked with clubs.
The settlers descended from a hill and “started hurling … huge rocks at us, and we had to flee”, Pollak told Al Jazeera.
He said the assault led to more than a dozen injuries that required medical attention, including a journalist who was bludgeoned by the settlers, and a 70-year-old activist who had his cheekbone and jaw broken.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said in a statement that five journalists – Ranin Sawafteh, Mohammed al-Atrash, Louay Saeed, Nasser Ishtayeh and Nael Bouaitel – were injured in the assault.
The syndicate condemned the attack, calling it a “war crime aimed at killing them”.
The Reuters news agency confirmed that two of its employees, a journalist and a security adviser accompanying her, were among those injured in the attack.
Israeli settlers have been carrying out near-daily assaults on Palestinian farmers and their lands during this year’s olive harvest in the occupied West Bank, targeting one of the most vital symbols of Palestinian heritage and livelihood.
The harvest comes amid a wave of settler violence. The United Nations says at least 126 attacks have been recorded since September in 70 towns and villages, with more than 4,000 olive trees and saplings vandalised or uprooted.
On Saturday, Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinian homes in the village of Raba, southeast of Jenin, under the protection of armed Israeli soldiers, who entered the village at the same time as the attacks, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The military also ramped up its attacks on Saturday, shooting and injuring a man during a raid in the Far’a refugee camp, south of Tubas, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Soldiers arrested a 13-year-old in the town of Yabad, near Jenin, after beating him in the street, and a young man in the town of al-Mazraa ash-Sharqiya, near Ramallah.
Separately, in ar-Ram, north of occupied East Jerusalem, a Palestinian man was shot in the leg near Israel’s separation wall and transferred to a medical facility in Ramallah, according to Wafa.
Kim Kardashian has informed her fans about her bar exam after her new lawyer show was panned by critics. Despite her recent focus on acting, Kim has said she isn’t giving up on her dream of becoming a lawyer.
The 45-year-old reality TV star – who plays lawyer Allura Grant in Ryan Murphy’s All’s Fair – revealed she did not pass the California Bar Exam, the final step in her process to become an attorney. She wrote on Instagram Stories: “Well…I’m not a lawyer yet, I just play a very well-dressed one on TV.
“Six years into this law journey, and I’m still all in until I pass the bar. No shortcuts, no giving up just more studying and even more determination. Thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged me along the way so far.
READ MORE: Kim Kardashian rejoices as she graduates from law school after six years of studying
“Falling short isn’t failure – it’s fuel. I was so close to passing the exam and that only motivates me even more. Let’s Go!!!!!!!!!!!.” Kim previously enrolled in a four-year apprenticeship with a San Francisco law firm in 2018 and took the baby bar exam – which signifies the completion of the first year of study for students taking unaccredited law classes – three times before passing it in 2021.
She also reportedly passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) in March. She first revealed she was awaiting her exam results in October, when she shared that she was hoping to “be qualified” to practice law “in two weeks”.
Kim is said to have shared the results of her exam one day before the results were made public as she wanted to be honest with her fans. A source close to Kim told TMZ: “She decided to share the news before the results were public on Sunday because she’s been so open about her journey the entire time – and knew fans would be super interested.”
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Kim offered insight into the type of lawyer she would want to be. “Maybe in 10 years, I think I’ll give up being Kim K. and be a trial lawyer,” she said. “That’s what I really want.”
The mother-of-four, who is following in the footsteps of her famous lawyer father, the late Robert Kardashian, continued, “I always want to be growing, curious and evolving, and I want to see wherever that takes me.”
Her failing of the bar exam and the comments about not “using shortcuts” come after she admitted that she’s used some studying hacks that have not worked out for her. One method she will likely never use again is ChatGPT.
“I use it for legal advice, so when I need to know the answer to a question, I’ll take a picture and snap it and put it in there,” Kim explained, sharing her study strategy during an appearance on Vanity Fair’s Lie Detector Test series. But she pointed out: “They’re always wrong. It has made me fail tests all the time. And then I’ll get mad and I’ll yell at it, ‘You made me fail! Why did you do this? And it will talk back to me.”