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Manchester City 4-0 Real Madrid

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Manchester City

Manchester City delivered a relentless performance laced with outstanding quality to overpower holders Real Madrid and reach the Champions League final against Inter Milan in Istanbul.

City has lost two previous semi-finals to Real but they made no mistake here at a joyous Etihad Stadium to now stand one step away from claiming the trophy that has always stayed tantalisingly out of reach for Pep Guardiola’s team.

And their display in a magical first half, in particular, will live long in the memory as the masters of this tournament were left bewildered by City’s brilliance.

It maintained a seemingly unstoppable march towards a treble of Champions League, Premier League – which can be won with victory at home to Chelsea on Sunday – and the FA Cup, where they play Manchester United in the final at Wembley.

Manchester City

Real keeper Thibaut Courtois performed heroics to save two Erling Haaland headers early in the first half but he was powerless to stop Bernardo Silva’s close-range finish after 23 minutes, the Portugal midfielder scoring a looping header for the second eight minutes before half-time.

City faced the occasional threats from Real after the break, Ederson saving well from David Alaba and Karim Benzema, but they were no match and when Manuel Akanji’s header deflected in off Eder Militao 14 minutes from time the celebrations started.

Substitute Julian Alvarez then wrapped up the dominant win with a late strike after latching onto a brilliant Phil Foden pass.

City will play Inter on 10 June as they look to win the Champions League for the first time.
City have put themselves in a magnificent position to become only the second English club to win the Treble first claimed by Manchester United in 1999.

City look to have finally broken Arsenal in the Premier League title race and will be overwhelming favourites to beat Inter Milan, although the desire to keep this feat for themselves will provide fuel and inspiration for United in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

Guardiola’s side have somehow found ways to miss out on the Champions League in the past but the addition of Haaland’s sheer menace as well as more defensive steel makes it difficult to see how they will not find a way past surprise finalists Inter.

City made a Real side full of experience and quality look several classes beneath them in a first half that will be among the finest this stadium has seen, the dazzling interplay, fierce intensity and pace giving them a two-goal advantage that would have been far more but for the excellence of Courtois.

This night had a special atmosphere even before kick-off and victory will taste even sweeter after the pain of last season’s loss at the same stage, when City were almost in the final only to concede two stoppage-time goals and eventually go out.

The Champions League has inflicted various levels of anguish on City despite their domestic dominance but if they perform anything like this in Istanbul it is hard to see an efficient but unspectacular Inter side having enough to trouble them.

Real should never be written off with their history of success but there was an end-of-an-era feel about the manner of this defeat.

The side who put Liverpool and Chelsea out of the Champions League with the minimum of fuss looked its age here as City ran the holders ragged.

Luka Modric was taken off and replaced by Antonio Rudiger just after the hour, the 37-year-old’s future at the Bernabeu uncertain, while even Karim Benzema, 35, was unable to pose his usual threat.

Real will refuse to stand still and the way they were outclassed here may only speed up the rate of change, with England’s teenage sensation Jude Bellingham looking set to arrive to supplement the next generation midfielders alongside Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni.

Whether the great Carlo Ancelotti remains in charge will also be a point of debate with change often in the air if Real go a season without winning either La Liga or the Champions League.

Whatever the outcome, the Italian manager keeps his place in history as the only coach to win this tournament four times.

Source: .bbc

Football

Jack Hinshelwood saves and scores as Brighton beat Brentford

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Jack Hinshelwood saved on the line and then headed a winning first Premier League goal for Brighton & Hove Albion as the south-coast side came from a goal down to beat visitors Brentford 2-1 on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old academy product put the Seagulls ahead in the 52nd minute, after the two sides had been 1-1 at the break, when he nodded into the bottom left corner off a cross from captain and man of the match Pascal Gross.

Moments earlier Hinshelwood had made a block on the line from substitute Yoane Wissa after Neal Maupay also had a shot stopped. Brighton moved up to seventh on 25 points with Brentford 11th on 19.

The visitors took the lead through a 27th-minute penalty after their first meaningful attack, with top scorer Bryan Mbeumo coolly stroking home for his seventh goal of the season as Jason Steele dived the wrong way.

Vitaly Janelt had won the penalty when he surged into the area and was pulled down by Jan Paul van Hecke.

Brighton levelled four minutes later when Gross shot left-footed into the bottom corner off a pass from Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma. Mbeumo went down and had to be helped off in the 37th in a big blow for the Bees, with Wissa coming off the bench to replace him.

Source: eNCA

In other news – Emtee plans to move out of South Africa

Emtee reveals he will be relocating to another country, but he will keep representing South Africa wherever he is. The rapper made this known on Wednesday while tweeting his next plan.

Emtee

Emtee whose real name is Ndevu Mthembeni says he wants to move out of SA because of the death threats. Read more

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Football

Germany keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen will undergo surgery on a lower back injury

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Marc Andre ter Stegen

Barcelona and Germany keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen will undergo surgery on a lower back injury, the 31-year-old said on Tuesday. Ter Stegen missed Barca’s recent games after being ruled out of Germany’s friendlies following an injury sustained while training with his country during last month’s international break.

“After intensive conversations with the medical team of the Club and various supporting experts, we decided to undergo a surgical procedure,” Ter Stegen wrote on his Instagram account.

“The break obviously annoys me. It is the right and safe decision in order to come back in the best conditions for my Club @fcbarcelona and National Team @dfb_team.Barcelona put no timescale on his return, but local media reports said Ter Stegen would be out for several weeks and could miss the Champions League knockout stages in February.

The former Borussia Moenchengladbach player has made 17 appearances for the Catalan side this season, keeping eight clean sheets. He received the Zamora Trophy last season as the best goalkeeper in LaLiga, conceding 18 goals in 37 games, helping Barca to their first league title since 2019.

In other news – Murdah Bongz and DJ Zinhle having a good moment while performing at a show

Murdah Bongz and DJ Zinhle inspire fans with their union, as they exuded love while performing together at a recent show.

Murdah Bongz and DJ Zinhle

The former Black Motion member shared photos of himself and his wife being mushy and cozy while operating the DJ desk.It was take your wife to work day,” he captioned the post. Read more

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