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The DailySoccerDigest
December 27, 2018 
Quote of the day – "That's the Paul I know and I have known since he was in the reserves and youth team." - Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
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Premier League: City lose again, Liverpool and Spurs impress

Leicester 2-1 Manchester City
Manchester City were beaten 2-1 at Leicester to drop to third in the Premier League table -- seven points behind leaders Liverpool. Bernardo Silva gave Pep Guardiola's side a lead inside 13 minutes, collecting Sergio Aguero's pass and keeping his cool to slot past Kasper Schmeichel, but five minutes later, the scores were level as Marc Albrighton headed in Jamie Vardy's cross. City then dominated possession but were unable to find a winner and had to rely on some last-ditch defending to stop Leicester adding to their tally. And, for the second week in a row, they were beaten by a rocket from outside the box as Ricardo Pereira made it 2-1. Things got worse for City when Fabian Delph was given a straight red card for a shocking tackle on the matchwinner late on.

Liverpool 4-0 Newcastle
Leaders Liverpool dispatched Newcastle 4-0 to continue their impressive form over the Christmas period and open up a six-point lead at the top of the table. Liverpool made the perfect start when Dejan Lovren opened the scoring on 11 minutes. The defender hammered an effort into the roof of the net after Newcastle failed to clear a corner. Newcastle managed to hold firm until half time but within minutes of the restart they were two down as Mohamed Salah scored his 13th league goal of the season from the penalty spot following an innocuous foul on him by Paul Dummett. Liverpool's enormous pressure threatened to give them a third goal at any moment, and it came when Xherdan Shaqiri stabbed home Trent Alexander-Arnold's low cross from close range in the 79th minute. Fabinho made it 4-0 by heading home Salah's corner.

Tottenham 5-0 Bournemouth
City's defeat opened the door for Tottenham who had the opportunity to move level with City with a victory, and duly delivered as they made it 11 goals in three days with a 5-0 victory over Bournemouth. Mauricio Pochettino's men started the game quietly, but roared into life when Christian Eriksen gave the hosts a 16th-minute lead after his effort found its way into the back of the net courtesy of a Jefferson Lerma deflection. It was 2-0 on 22 minutes as Son Heung-min continued his brilliant form to meet Kyle Walker-Peters' ball on the edge of the box. And it was 3-0 on 35 minutes as Walker-Peters produced his third assist of the match as Lucas Moura finished off his clever back pass. Harry Kane got in on the act just past the hour mark as he finished off from Eriksen's pass while Son got his second 20 minutes from time as he applied the finishing touch to a move which saw players from both sides slipping and sliding in a goalmouth scramble.

Watford 1-2 Chelsea
Eden Hazard scored two goals in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Watford, giving the Belgian striker 101 goals for the club across all competitions since he arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2012. The win at Vicarage Road ensured the Blues would remain in fourth place above Arsenal. The match, however, was overshadowed by the injury suffered by Watford defender Christian Kabasele, who crashed into the goalpost early in the game. Despite appearing to suffer a rib injury following the collision, he tried to continue but ended up being carried out of the grounds on a stretcher while being given oxygen. Hazard's first goal came in stoppage time of the first half, but Roberto Pereyra answered for the home side with a superb strike right before half-time. Hazard scored the decider from the spot in the 58th minute, a chance he earned after defender Ben Foster took him down.

Brighton 1-1 Arsenal
Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's opener was cancelled out by Jurgen Locadia, meaning the Gunners have managed just one win in their past four matches across all competitions. City's defeat at Leicester earlier in the day meant victory at Amex would have brought Unai Emery's men to within four points of the reigning champions -- and reestablish an eight point lead over sixth-place Manchester United -- but after Alexandre Lacazette sucked in five Brighton defenders to create space for Aubameyang to fire into the far corner inside seven minutes, they struggled. Davy Propper cleared the ball long and Arsenal defender Stephan Lichtsteiner's attempted header served as a perfect flick-on for Locadia, who rounded Bernd Leno before slotting into the empty net for 1-1 before the break. But, while Arsenal continued to dominate possession, they failed to create many clear cut chances, and had to rely on Leno to keep the score level.

Manchester United 3-1 Huddersfield
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made it two wins from two to start his Manchester United tenure with a 3-1 win over Huddersfield. With 29 minutes on the clock, Huddersfield failed to clear a corner and Nemanja Matic reacted quickest to give the hosts the lead before Paul Pogba, who had been dropped for Mourinho's last two Premier League matches in charge, scored twice inside 10 minutes to ensure United would take all three points. David De Gea had been called upon to make a superb save in the first half, but was finally beaten when Mathias Jorgensen swept home two minutes from time after United failed to clear a free kick. (ESPNFC)
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Serie A: Ronaldo saves Juve, 9-man Napoli lose it late

Atalanta 2-2 Juventus
Massimiliano Allegri has refused to pin blame on referee Luca Banti after Juventus drew 2-2 at Atalanta, claiming there is "no desire to improve Italian football". Allegri had to turn to Cristiano Ronaldo – who had been rested for Wednesday's fixture – to salvage a share of the spoils at Atalanta, with the forward coming on from the bench to head in a late equalizer. Berat Djimsiti's own-goal had put Juve ahead early on, but Duvan Zapata's double saw Atalanta take the lead, with Rodrigo Bentancur's dismissal for a second yellow card having made matters more complicated for Juve. But Allegri did not single out referee Banti, instead turning attention to Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis, who on Monday criticised the appointment of Paolo Mazzoleni's for their clash with Inter, suggesting that Serie A officials are under too much pressure. (Goal)

Inter Milan 1-0 Napoli
Lautaro Martinez came off the bench to earn Inter a hugely important 1-0 victory over nine-man Napoli in Serie A on Wednesday. The game appeared to be heading for a goalless draw before Martinez fired home from the centre of the box in additional time, with Kalidou Koulibaly having been sent off with 10 minutes remaining after picking up two bookings in quick succession. Napoli finished the game without Lorenzo Insigne too, the forward shown a straight red card for violent conduct following a confrontation with Keita Balde Diao. (Goal)

MLS: Coaching legend Sigi Schmid passes away

Sigi Schmid, the winningest coach in Major League Soccer history, died on Tuesday, three weeks after being hospitalized in need of a heart transplant. Schmid was 65. The former LA Galaxy, Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders coach last coached in MLS earlier in 2018 with the Galaxy, but was fired in September. Schmid posted the most coaching victories in MLS history, winning MLS Cup titles with the Galaxy (2002) and Crew (2008) as well as four U.S. Open Cup titles with the Sounders, and three total Supporters’ Shields. He finished with 266 combined regular season and playoff victories over the course of 18 seasons. Before he began his MLS coaching career, Schmid enjoyed an outstanding run at UCLA, winning three NCAA titles during a 19-year tenure in charge of the Bruins, turning UCLA into one of the nation’s true powerhouses. (SBI)

Thursday morning transfer talk

Source: ESPNFC
  • It's nothing new to hear that Real Madrid want Eden Hazard. The latest rumour about how far they are willing to go to get their man comes from Onda Cero, via Metro, who report that the Spanish giants are willing to offer Isco and Mateo Kovacic to Chelsea in their bid to sign their man.
  • Paris Saint-Germain are set to offer Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey an 18-month contract when the January transfer window opens.
  • Tottenham might look to bolster their defence with a £15m bid for Norwich right-back Max Aarons.
  • West Ham have failed in their £6.5m bid for former Cardiff City and current Besiktas hard man Gary Medel.
  • The Hammers look set to sign Samir Nasri after the former France international trained at the club during his 18-month doping ban.
  • Abdoulaye Doucoure could join PSG from Watford. The French champions will reportedly need to pay £45m to pry the midfielder away from the Hornets.
  • Atletico Madrid fear they will lose World Cup winner Lucas Hernandez in January. The left-back reportedly has a release clause of €80m in his contract -- a fee Bayern Munich are more than willing to pay for the 22-year-old.

Top matches today (All times EST)

  • Premier League: Southampton vs West Ham United 3:45 pm on NBCSN

DSD Power Couple of the Day

Borussia Monchengladbach defender Matthias Ginter and wife Christina Ginter
@matzeginter28
@chrissy_ginter

Highlights to kick off your week

Updated tables from around the globe

  • England: Premier League - Table
  • Spain: La Liga - Table
  • Italy: Serie A - Table
  • Germany: Bundesliga - Table
  • France: Ligue 1 - Table
  • USA: MLS - Table
  • USA: USL - Table
  • USA - NWSL - Table
  • Portugal - Portuguese Liga - Table
  • Scotland - Scottish Premiership - Table
  • Mexico - Liga MX - Table
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