Sports

EPL: Arsenal Begin Season on Winning Note, Beat Palace 2-0

Published

4 years ago

August 5, 2022

Eric

Arsenal opened the Premier League season with a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace on Friday, thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s first-half header and Marc Guehi own goal at Selhurst Park.

The Gunners avoided a repeat of their 2-0 defeat at Brentford on the opening night of last year’s season for a perfect start as they aim to reach the Champions League for the first time in seven years.

Arsenal ensured there was no repeat of their disastrous start to last season as Mikel Arteta’s men saw off Crystal Palace to open the 30th season of the Premier League.

The Gunners were beaten 2-0 at Brentford on the opening night of last year’s season, which triggered their worst start to a league campaign for 67 years.

But they backed up their blistering pre-season form as Gabriel Martinelli’s first-half header and a late Marc Guehi own goal made amends for a 3-0 defeat at Selhurst Park in April.

That defeat sparked a run of five defeats in the final 10 games of the season to cost Arsenal a place in the Premier League top four for a sixth straight year.

But the board has kept faith with Arteta and backed the Spaniard with over £100 million to spend in the transfer market.

Gabriel Jesus’ arrival to fill the need for a centre-forward has been Arsenal’s marquee signing of the summer and the Brazilian nearly marked his debut in style after just four minutes.

Jesus slalomed through the centre of the Palace defence and when his initial effort was blocked, Martinelli should have done better than slot the rebound wide of the target.

The visitors were utterly dominant in the opening quarter, but it took a set-piece to make the breakthrough.

Another debutant Oleksandr Zinchenko nodded a corner back across goal and Martinelli’s header had just enough power to beat Vicente Guaita.

Palace had suffered a far more problematic pre-season with a number of key players left at home during a tour of Australia due to their coronavirus vaccination status.

The Eagles took half an hour to find their feet, but will be disappointed not to have at least taken a point once they got to the tempo of the game.

Arsenal were guilty of causing their own problems in raising the Palace fans from their slumber as a clearance from Aaron Ramsdale was charged down and fortunately for the England goalkeeper rebounded to one of his own defenders.

Ramsdale made amends before the break with a fine stop to deny Odsonne Edouard’s header levelling before the French striker had another effort deflected inches over the bar.

Palace penned Arteta’s men back in the second period, but again failed to take their chances when they came along.

Eberechi Eze was the most guilty as he fired tamely into Ramsdale’s body with just the Arsenal number one to beat.

Arsenal had barely even threatened on the counter-attack in the second half, but got lucky to give themselves breathing space for the final five minutes.

Bukayo Saka’s driven cross caught his England teammate Guehi off guard as the Palace centre-back’s header flew into his own net.

Sports

FIFA Lists Six Females Among 52 Referees for 2026 World Cup

Published

2 weeks ago

April 10, 2026

Eric

FIFA on Thursday unveiled its list of match officials for the June 11-July 19 World Cup, including 52 referees, six of whom are women.

Football’s governing body will also take 88 assistant referees and 30 video match officials, who hail from all six confederations and 50 member associations.

“The selected match officials are the very best in the world,” said Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s chief refereeing officer.

“They were part of a wider pool of officials that was identified and monitored over the past three years. They have attended seminars and officiated at FIFA tournaments.

“In addition, their performances in domestic and international matches were regularly assessed.”

The World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the biggest in history, with a 48-team line-up and 104 matches to be played.

There are 41 more match officials than at Qatar four years ago, where 32 teams played 64 matches.

“The fact that six women match officials have been selected continues a trend that was started four years ago in Qatar as we aim to further develop women’s refereeing,” Collina said, with six women having already refereed in 2022.

AFP

Sports

AFCON 2025: CAS Overturns CAF Verdict

Published

4 weeks ago

March 25, 2026

Eric

African football has been plunged into fresh uncertainty after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) provisionally suspended a controversial ruling that stripped Senegal of their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and awarded it to Morocco.

In an interim decision issued on Monday, CAS accepted Senegal’s appeal against the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Appeals Board and ordered a “freeze” on the implementation of its verdict.

The move effectively places the 2025 AFCON title in legal limbo pending a full hearing.

The dispute stems from a chaotic final played in January 2026, where the Teranga Lions of Senegal defeated the hosts, the Atlas Lions of Morocco, 1–0 after extra time. The match took a dramatic turn late on when a contentious penalty was awarded to Morocco.

Although the spot kick was missed, Senegal’s players briefly walked off the pitch in protest, prompting confusion before play eventually resumed, and the match was concluded. Weeks later, Morocco’s federation challenged the outcome, citing provisions within AFCON regulations relating to match forfeiture.

On March 17, CAF’s Appeals Board ruled in Morocco’s favour, declaring that Senegal’s walk-off constituted a breach severe enough to forfeit the match. The result was overturned to a 3–0 victory for Morocco, with Senegal stripped of the title.

Senegal swiftly condemned the decision as unjust and escalated the matter to CAS, arguing that the sanction was disproportionate and undermined the integrity of the on-field result.

CAS has now sided, at least temporarily, with Senegal’s request for urgent intervention.

By granting provisional measures, the tribunal signalled that enforcing CAF’s ruling before a full hearing could cause irreparable harm, particularly in a case involving the revocation of a major continental title.

The immediate consequence is that AFCON 2025 currently has no officially recognised champion. The trophy remains unassigned while legal proceedings continue.

Sports

AFCON 2025: George Weah Urges CAS to Overrule CAF’s Verdict

Published

1 month ago

March 21, 2026

Eric

African football legend George Weah has criticised the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for stripping Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and awarding it to Morocco.

CAF’s Appeal Board overturned Senegal’s 1–0 victory in the Rabat final after ruling that the team’s walk-off during a late penalty incident constituted a forfeit. The result was subsequently recorded as a 3–0 win in favour of Morocco, crowning the hosts as champions.

Reacting to the decision, Weah, a former Ballon d’Or winner and three-time African Player of the Year, argued that match outcomes should be determined on the pitch, not in post-match rulings.

“In football, the referee on the pitch is the final authority. Once a match is completed, the result obtained on the field must stand,” he said.

Weah warned that overturning completed matches sets a dangerous precedent for the sport.

“There is no sporting justification to nullify a match completed under the referee’s authority.

Otherwise, we risk a slippery slope where committee decisions override on-field calls,” he added.

The former AC Milan forward further stated that the ruling undermines the integrity and credibility of African football, raising concerns over fairness and consistency.