The 2023 FIFA The Best awards ceremony took place on Monday, the 15th of January, with Lionel Messi somehow edging out by merit to win the award over Manchester City striker Erling Haaland after a voting tie break. The two players – Messi and Haaland, were tied on points, so the final decision went down to who had the most national team captain votes, which made the Inter Miami star come out on top.
Manchester City came back from 2-1 deficit to win 3-2 at Tyneside on Saturday evening, but the main headline was Kevin De Bruyne, as his return to Premier League action was capped with a goal and an assist.
Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a deal in principle to sign German international and RB Leipzig forward, Timo Werner, on loan until the end of the 2023/24 season.
Borussia Dortmund are looking to secure Jadon Sancho deal so he can join them on their training camp in Marbella next week. Negotiations continue over a six month loan deal from Manchester United. Dortmund are aware that he has not been part of matches for the past few months and it is a risk, but Sancho has been fit, injury free and ready to play and Dortmund believe he can influence the team immediately.
West Ham stunned Arsenal in the London derby for the second time this season across all English competitions to record a third successive Premier League victory, thus, handing the Gunners a blow in their title charge.
Manchester City had to come from behind to beat Everton as the champions gear up to get back to looking to defend it for the third consecutive time, but received a huge injury blow as John Stones was forced off in the 43rd minute of City’s 3-1 comeback win at Everton after hurting his ankle. The England international slid in to block Everton striker Beto, who was offside but the flag had not gone up.
Manchester City added the Club World Cup to their trophy collection as Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden helped them breeze to a 4-0 final win over a Fluminense. City took just 45 seconds to open the scoring in Jeddah as Alvarez chested the ball home on the rebound after Nathan Ake had struck the post, before Foden’s cross forced an own goal from Fluminense defender Nino on 27 minutes. Foden then capped off a marvelous individual display by tapping home a cross from Alvarez, who later steered home a late finish from the edge of the box.
Defending champions Manchester City will face group A runners up, Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League last 16, while Arsenal will face Porto. The draw also pitted La Liga and Serie A champions against each other, with Barcelona set for another tussle with Napoli on Europe’s biggest stage, and Inter will lock horns with Atletico Madrid. Paris Saint-Germain escaped the big names as they were drawn against Group D winners Real Sociedad.
Virgil van Dijk claimed Liverpool were superior in all aspects over Manchester United in their frustrating 0-0 draw on Super Sunday. Jurgen Klopp’s side pushed for a goal in a game where they were heavily favoured to win, but United found a way to keep their opponents’ attack at bay despite the hostess having 34 shots.
Manchester United bow out of Europe after getting beaten by Bayern Munich courtesy of a Kingsley Coman strike from close range.
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