European Super Football

Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 3 Bayern Munich Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane received a warm welcome back at his former club Tottenham Hotspur, where fans gave him a standing ovation as Bayern edged out Spurs 3-2 in a pre-season friendly. Returning to his old stomping ground for the first time since leaving for Bayern in a £86.4 million deal last summer, Kane came on as a late substitute. The England captain was met with applause both when he entered the pitch and later, when he took a solo lap of honour after the match. Alongside Eric Dier, who joined Bayern from Tottenham in January, the pair were honoured by Spurs before kick-off, receiving gifts in recognition of their contributions to the club. Premier League: Summer 2024 news and stories (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) Before the game, Tottenham also introduced their new signings (Dominic Solanke, Archie Gray, and Lucas Bergvall) to the home crowd. Once the match began, Dejan Kulusevski gave Spurs the lead, but Bayern responded wi...

Real Madrid 2 - 1 Chelsea First-half goals from Dani Ceballos and Brahim Diaz secured a win for Madrid despite Noni Madueke’s header, exposing Chelsea’s defensive frailties once again. Chelsea have conceded 12 goals across five pre-season games in America, having gone 4-0 down in two of those matches and managing to win just one. Ceballos capitalised on a deflected Lucas Vazquez shot to score in the 19th minute. Eight minutes later, Diaz rounded the new goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen to score from a tight angle past the Dane, who was making his first start at the Bank of America Stadium. Chelsea pulled one back in the 39th minute as Madueke headed in Enzo Fernandez’s cross at the far post. Maresca made no substitutions at half-time, but his slightly adjusted team appeared more solid, playing out a dull goalless second half. The best chance of the half was a missed one-on-one opportunity for Christopher Nkunku. Carlo Ancelotti's side were still without many of their star players, b...

Manchester City 4 - 2 Chelsea Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick to lead Manchester City to a 4-2 pre-season victory over Chelsea in Columbus. Haaland, 24, scored two quick goals in the first five minutes, taking advantage of two mistakes by Chelsea.  The first goal came from a loose pass by Tosin Adarabioyo, with Levi Colwill fouling Haaland for a penalty, which the Norwegian scored after a re-take. Haaland then doubled City's lead, intercepting a misplaced pass and scoring.  Pre Season: Celtic thrash Chelsea (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) Click here for more Manchester City news and stories In the second half, City added two more goals, with Raheem Sterling's mistake allowing Oscar Bobb to score, followed by Haaland's hat-trick goal after another error from Malo Gusto. Despite Chelsea scoring twice, City secured the win.  Both managers blamed the "dry" pitch for the errors. City will now face Manchester United in the Community Shield, while Chelsea will pla...

Manchester United 3 - 2 Real Betis Manchester United lifted the Snapdragon Cup, at the stadium of the same name, after they deservedly beat Real Betis. After Iker Losada's opener for the opposition, Erik ten Hag's men had to come from behind to get the win. The Red Devils achieved this in style, scoring three first-half goals in a fantastic 13-minute spell. The first was scored by Marcus Rashford from the penalty spot. Amad then followed up with a screamer before Casemiro scored a tap in.  Diego Llorente's second-half header did make it a closer contest, at least in terms of the scoreline. From a United perspective, it was another night when the manager was able to give more valuable minutes to aa decent number of his squad. Could Casemiro be back to his best? It seems the Brazilian will now stay at United for at least another season. This shouldn't be a problem if Casemiro plays next season like he did against Real Betis. The 32-year-old midfielder was everywhere, ...

Team K League 3 - 4 Tottenham Hotspur Son Heung-min scored twice, helping Tottenham narrowly defeat a team of top players from South Korea's top flight with a 4-3 victory. Dejan Kulusevski started the scoring at the 29-minute mark before South Korea and Spurs captain Son made a significant impact during his return to Seoul. Son bent a shot into the top corner after 38 minutes and then converted a Kulusevski assist to give Spurs a 3-0 lead by halftime. However, Team K League made a strong comeback in the second half, having replaced their entire lineup during the break. Stanislav Iljutcenko scored twice within five minutes of the restart. In response, Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou made several substitutions. One of them, Will Lankshear, volleyed in a cross from Timo Werner to restore their two-goal advantage. Oberdan scored for the hosts with nine minutes remaining, but Spurs managed to hold on for the win. James Maddison almost added another, hitting the post in injury time. ...

Chelsea 1 - 4 Celtic The second match of Chelsea's USA Tour saw them face a Celtic team playing their fifth game of pre-season and entered the contest on the back of beating Premier League champions Manchester City in their last match. Chelsea created several chances in both halves but goals from Matt O'Reily, Kyogo Furuhashi, Luis Palma and Mikey Johnston helped Brendan Rodgers' side to victory, with Christopher Nkunku adding a late consolation from the penalty spot. How did the teams line up? There were two alterations to Maresca's starting line-up for Chelsea. Wesley Fofana made his first start in more than a year in place of Tosin Adarabioyo and Mykhailo Mudryk replaced academy graduate Tyrique George. The Hoops went into this game at Notre Dame’s iconic stadium in South Bend, Indiana full of confidence. In this match, their 4-3-3 formation featured several players that won them the double last season. Kyogo Furuhashi, Callum McGregor and Daizen Maeda all start...

Arsenal 2 - 1 Manchester United Manchester United were defeated in their opening game of the US tour against Premier League rivals in Los Angeles. Højlund gave his team an early lead in the 10th minute, latching onto Marcus Rashford’s first-time pass, overpowering young defender Ayden Heaven, and slipping the ball through keeper Karl Hein’s legs. The Danish forward missed a close-range opportunity from an Aaron Wan-Bissaka cross before appearing to suffer a muscle injury just 15 minutes in, forcing him to leave the field. Yoro's departure was similarly unfortunate. The 18-year-old defender, who had only joined United from Lille 10 days ago, went down and required extensive treatment before also having to withdraw. Manager Erik ten Hag was understandably frustrated by these injuries. Despite their strong start, the match didn’t end to the Dutchman’s satisfaction either. Gabriel Jesus equalised with a close-range effort after 25 minutes, which Ten Hag believed should have been r...

Spurs and Liverpool both picked up wins on their pre-season tours Liverpool 1 - 0 Real Betis Arne Slot earned his first win as Liverpool manager with a 1-0 win over Real Betis courtesy of an excellent Dominik Szoboszlai goal. Slot's new side were beaten 1-0 by Preston at their training ground earlier this month but you can now consider the post-Jurgen Klopp era as now up and running thanks to this win on their US tour. Liverpool now face Arsenal in Philadelphia then take on Manchester United in Columbia on Sunday. YNWA: Click here for more Liverpool news and stories Vissel Kobe 2 -  3 Tottenham Hotspur Teenager Mikey Moore netted a late winner as Tottenham triumphed over Japanese champions Vissel Kobe with a 3-2 victory in a pre-season friendly in Tokyo. The 16-year-old winger sealed the win for Ange Postecoglou’s side with a close-range finish in the 88th minute. Son Heung-min had initially put Tottenham ahead in the second half, but Vissel Kobe equalised shortly after the hou...

Benfica 1 - 1 Brentford Bryan Mbeumo was on target as Brentford drew with Benfica.  Mbeumo capitalised on a sloppy back-pass to give Thomas Frank's side an early lead in Lisbon, but the Eagles levelled on 24 minutes when Vangelis Pavlidis poked home Álvaro Carreras’s cross at the front post. Kevin Schade led the line for Brentford with Igor Thiago sidelined by a meniscus injury. The hosts looked to get off to a flying start on the pitch and fashioned the first chance of note in the fifth minute. Brentford took the lead four minutes later. Schade’s ball up the left channel was intercepted by Morato and the defender’s back-pass to goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin was under-hit, which allowed the alert Mbeumo to steal in and finish first time into the bottom corner. Benfica levelled midway through the first half . Aursnes played a short pass into the overlapping Carreras down the left, who took the ball in his stride, advanced to the byline and delivered a low, fizzing cross to the fr...

Chelsea 2 - 2 Wrexham Christopher Nkunku's first-half strike had given Chelsea the lead at Levi's Stadium before goals from Luke Bolton and Jack Marriott in the second period put Wrexham in front. Lesley Ugochukwu equalised in the final ten minutes to ensure Chelsea's first game of their USA tour ended in a 2-2 draw. A closer look at what happened The match didn't begin in friendly fashion. Levi Colwill and James McClean narrowly avoided red cards following a clash just three minutes in. In the second half, Chelsea's Ugochukwu lost possession and then failed to close down a cross from Sebastian Revan, allowing Luke Bolton to score the equaliser. Chelsea youngster Josh Acheampong was caught out of position as Marriott exploited the space behind him, netting a well-struck second goal past Lucas Bergstrom. Chelsea's equaliser came from a slick move involving substitutes Angelo Gabriel, Armando Broja, and Ugochukwu. The latter made amends for his earlier mista...

Arsenal 1 - 1 Bournemouth  Arsenal won 5-4 on penalties Arsenal began their three-match tour of the United States by beating Bournemouth 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.  Fabio Vieira gave Arsenal a first-half lead when he hit Reiss Nelson's deep cross on the volley. The Gunners were pegged back when Antoine Semenyo equalised via a wicked deflection. Far from being friendly, this was a competitive game where several players were booked. After that closely fought 90 minutes, the Arsenal keeper Karl Hein came up trumps in the penalty shootout by saving two spot-kicks, ending the night on the high. Ultimately, pre-season is all about players gaining fitness ahead of the new campaign. From that perspective, it was a worthwhile exercise for both clubs. For Arsenal, their staff will be figuring out how they can improve once again and become Premier League champions for the first time since 2004. You can watch the highlights in the video below The footage is from the AFC Bour...

Celtic 4 - 3 Manchester City Manchester City's pre-season tour of the United States began with a 4-3 defeat to Celtic in North Carolina. The match was billed as the 'battle of the champions'. Despite the empty seats at the stadium, there was still a fantastic atmosphere.  Two first half goals from Nicolas Kuhn and a smart Kyogo Furuhashi finish meant City went in behind at the break despite Oscar Bobb also finding the net. The blues fought back in the second half. An almost defiant display, spearheaded by the irrepressible Bobb, brought City level with Maximo Perrone and Erling Haaland both on target. The Scottish champions eventuallày took the lead again through substitute Luis Palma Celtic impressed at times but fans are still concerned about the club's like of signings in the transfer window. Transfer News: Celtic sign Kasper Schmeichel (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) More Celtic news and stories Premier League: Summer 2024 news and stories (eurosuperfootball.b...

QPR 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur Yves Bissouma's first goal in Spurs colours and a late strike from Dane Scarlett made it two wins out of two in pre-season. Ange Postecoglou's side secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday afternoon. This was a very entertaining match that both sides would have taken a lot from.  Midfielder Bissouma produced some dazzling footwork to slide home the opener just before half-time. Tottenham then weathered some heavy second-half pressure from the hosts, substitute Scarlett converted Mikey Moore's cross three minutes from time - just moments after his introduction - to make the game safe. Premier League: Summer 2024 news and stories  It was another largely positive afternoon for Spurs at Loftus Road, the only downside being the first-half departure of Lucas Bergvall, who had picked up a knock in the penalty area and was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski as they took no chances over the recent arrival. Defeat but a positive exper...

Rangers 0 - 2 Manchester United Manchester United earned a first pre-season victory with an assured 2-0 win over Rangers in Scotland. A pinpoint left-footed strike from Amad Diallo in the 39th minute and a fierce drive by Joe Hugill on 70 minutes proved the difference for the Reds in Edinburgh. The runout at Murrayfield was another opportunity to build up fitness for the Red Devils as 21 players got minutes under their belts. Manager Erik ten Hag saw a much-improved performance following Monday’s 1-0 reverse against Rosenborg in our first friendly of the summer.  Premier League: Summer 2024 news and stories (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) First impressions are important United fans saw a first glimpse of French defender Leny Yoro, who had a solid first 45 minutes in a United shirt following his arrival from Lille on Thursday. Within the squad, Ten Hag named a mixture of youth and experience in his line-up. This included the return of Jadon Sancho. The winger made his first U...

Walsall 0 - 3 Aston Villa Two first-half goals from Morgan Rogers helped Aston Villa open their pre-season schedule with a 3-0 victory at Walsall. Rogers scored in the 21st minute after receiving a quick free-kick from summer signing Ross Barkley and calmly finishing. He then doubled his tally with a tidy finish on the turn from a corner shortly after the half-hour mark. This put Villa in control against the Saddlers. The Villa boss Unai Emery changed the entire team at the interval . New arrivals Kosta Nedeljković, Samuel Iling Jr and Enzo Barrenechea were all introduced. A host of youngsters featured throughout at the Poundland Bescot Stadium. It took Villa time to get going again in the second half on the front foot and Walsall created several half-chances. Villa eventually started to pose a threat at the other end. It was one of those youngsters in Louie Barry who converted a third for the visitors from close range in the 90th minute from Iling Jr’s low cross. Aston Villa c...

Chesterfield 0 - 3 Nottingham Forest  Nottingham Forest kicked off their pre-season with a 3-0 win against Chesterfield, courtesy of goals from Chris Wood, Josh Bowler, and Ibrahim Sangare. The visitors could have taken a 3-0 lead within the first 15 minutes, having created a trio of excellent chances. Emmanuel Dennis and Anthony Elanga both forced saves from Chesterfield's goalkeeper, Ryan Boot, while Nicolas Dominguez hit the post with a shot from the edge of the area. Forest believed they had taken the lead just before the half-hour mark, but Dennis was adjudged to have fouled Boot when heading in a free-kick, and the goal was disallowed. Despite creating several more chances, including efforts from Ryan Yates and Elanga, they couldn't find a way past Boot before half-time. Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo made wholesale changes during the break, replacing all ten outfield players and switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation from the first half's back-three. The changes paid...

Rosenborg 1 - 0 Manchester United Manchester United got the 2024/25 pre-season campaign underway as they were beaten 1-0 by Rosenborg in Trondheim, Norway. Erik ten Hag opted to select a different outfield line-up for each half at the Lerkendal Stadium, with 21 players in total getting valuable minutes in their legs after the summer. Radek Vitek was the star performer for The Red Devils as he made a multitude of spectacular saves to prevent the home side from scoring before Noah Holm struck with almost the last kick of the game. Ethan Wheatley and Ethan Ennis had the best opportunities for United, while the likes of Casemiro, Mason Mount and Marcus Rashford were afforded time on the pitch seven weeks on from the FA Cup final. Some immediate reaction as United returned to action Olivia Taylor, a Manchester United fan from Chorlton, said: It was beneficial for some first team players to gain valuable playing time. I'm confident they'll be fully prepared for the August Communit...