Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo scored one goal and made another as they overwhelmed struggling Newcastle United 4-0 on Sunday to ensure they will spend Christmas Day top of the Premier League, a position Liverpool occupied in the last three seasons.
The visitors were gifted the opening goal in the fifth minute when Cancelo acrobatically crossed for Ruben Dias to head into an empty net after a mix-up between Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and defender Ciaran Clarke.
Cancelo added a second in the 27th minute, cutting in from the right wing and capping off a solo run with a stunning strike to silence the home crowd.
Newcastle were denied what looked to be a clear penalty on the half-hour mark when City keeper Ederson clattered into Ryan Fraser, but neither referee Martin Atkinson nor the VAR decided to intervene.
“I am not too sure what happened with VAR and the referee, the goalkeeper wipes out Ryan and it is a stonewaller, a clear penalty,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said.
Things got worse for Newcastle as Mahrez turned home Kevin De Bruyne’s cross from the left with a deft volley in the 63rd minute to notch his 50th Premier League goal after a lengthy VAR review.
“I was quite sure I was onside as I saw the defender running with me so I didn’t think I was offside,” Mahrez said.
Newcastle had introduced Allan Saint-Maximin off the bench at halftime for Joe Willock but they only managed one effort on target over the 90 minutes – a close-range header from Callum Wilson that forced a superb one-handed save from Ederson.
Sterling’s industrious performance on the wing was rewarded in the 86th as Gabriel Jesus drove the ball across the goal and the England forward slammed it home to complete the rout.
Champions City top the table on 44 points, four ahead of second-placed Liverpool, who visit Tottenham Hotspur later on Sunday, and six clear of Chelsea in third after they were held to a 0-0 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers. read more
Newcastle stayed second-bottom on 10 points and City manager Pep Guardiola thought they contributed to their own downfall.
“A good result, not a good performance. We were lucky but Newcastle did not defend well for the first goal and a brilliant action from Joao Cancelo for the second goal,” he told the BBC
Wolves hold reluctant Chelsea to goalless draw
Chelsea’s title ambitions suffered a further blow after they were held to a goalless draw by Wolverhampton Wanderers at a misty Molineux Stadium on Sunday, a match the visitors had asked the Premier League to postpone before kickoff.
Chelsea trail leaders Manchester City by six points following another frustrating afternoon after their midweek draw against Everton, as they created few chances and rarely troubled Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.
The home side came closest to breaking the deadlock when Daniel Podence had the ball in the back of the net, but the effort was correctly ruled out after striker Raul Jimenez strayed offside in the build-up.
Chelsea, who had only six players on the bench including two goalkeepers after seven COVID-19 infections depleted their squad, had asked the Premier League to postpone the game.
Manager Thomas Tuchel said Chelsea were “angry” at the decision to play, one he felt was “very hard to understand”.
“I don’t care about the point. I am pleased with the performance, especially in the second half. The first half was a bit of a struggle for us, we had to grow into the game,” Tuchel told Sky Sports.
Ronaldo buys Brazilian second division club, Cruzeiro
Retired Real Madrid and Brazil striker Ronaldo has bought a controlling stake in his former club Cruzeiro, the player and the club said on Saturday.
Ronaldo, who played for Cruzeiro as a teenager in the early 1990s before going on to become one of the most successful centre forwards in footballing history, did the deal with the help of Brazilian investment bank XP (XP.O).
T he transaction, which was done through Ronaldo’s Tara Sports company and is still subject to what the bank called “a series of conditions,” sees the 45-year-old invest 400 million reais ($70 million) in the Belo Horizonte club, which has spent two years in Brazil’s second division.
“I am so happy to have concluded this operation,” Ronaldo said in a video posted by the Cruzeiro president, adding, while holding one of the club’s blue shirts, that he wants to “give back to Cruzeiro and take them where they deserve to be.”
“We have a lot of hard to work to do. There’s nothing to celebrate yet but we bring a lot of hard work and the ambition to make Cruzeiro great again.”
It is the second foray into management for the former PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona and Corinthians striker. Ronaldo bought a 51% stake in Spanish club Real Valladolid in 2018.
Neither he nor Cruzeiro provided any significant details but XP said in a statement “it seeks to help the Brazilian football industry with professionalisation, capitalization and opening new opportunities.”
Ronaldo posted a blue heart and a fox – the Cruzeiro mascot – on Twitter, and a club spokesperson confirmed the deal.
Cruzeiro also told the fans they were “phenomenal”, in a reference to Ronaldo’s nickname as a player, “Ronaldo Fenomeno”.
The deal comes a few months after the Brazilian Congress sanctioned a law allowing football clubs, historically fan-owned and closed off to outside investors, to become businesses.
“This is the first bit of business in a relevant new front for the investment banking market in Brazil, the country of football,” said Jose Berenguer, CEO of Banco XP.
“I have no doubt this is transformational in the history of Brazilian sport. We will have clubs that are stronger, with the capacity for global investment. Brazilian football will never be the same again.”
($1 = 5.6959 reais)
