04022017

46 —SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 4, 2017
Moses eyes
redemption in
Arsenal rematch
If, as widely expected,
Chelsea go on to lift the
Premier League trophy, one
game in their title-winning
campaign will surely be
remembered as the most
significant for manager
Antonio Conte.
Forget the 4-0 rout of
Manchester United in
October when returning
manager Jose Mourinho
was humiliated. Or the 5-0
victory over Everton in
November when everything
went right and Eden Hazard
briefly resembled Lionel
Messi. Or even the comefrom-behind
win at
Manchester City the
following month that firmly
installed the team as title
favorite.
The defining 90 minutes of
Chelsea’s season will likely
be a loss that led to some
serious soul-searching and,
critically, a change in
formation.
A 3-0 loss at Arsenal on
Sept. 24 bewildered Conte.
He saw his team playing as
individuals, with the wrong
attitude, the wrong balance
Zinedine Zidane’s Real
Madrid are only two
games away from equalling the
club record of scoring in 41
consecutive matches.
Only Celta Vigo in Balaidos on
Sunday, and Osasuna at the
Estadio El Sadar next
Saturday, February 11, are the
obstacles to overcome.
If Los Blancos can score in both
matches, the game in which
they could set a new mark
would be against Jose
Callejon’s Napoli in the
Champions League.
Real are the only team in the
top five European leagues that
has managed to score in every
game that they have played this
season (a total of 34).
The last match time that they
failed to find the net was in the
first leg of the Champions
League semi-final against
Manchester City.
and with no identity. The
only good thing to come
out of that ill-fated trip to
Emirates Stadium was a
second-half switch to a 3-4-3
formation, which finally put
Conte’s imprint on his new
side and was there to stay.
From a low ebb — eighth in
the standings, to be precise
— Chelsea haven’t looked
back. Fifteen wins from 17
matches later, Chelsea host
Arsenal for their return
game today with a
nine-point lead and
with mostobservers
saying t h e
title h a s
been
wrapped
up.
“ I think,”
Conte
said,
“this
could be
a good
chance
Madrid chase
scoring record
Tottenham are fully aware
that they have a star in
their ranks in Dele Alli and are
not willing to let him leave the
club unless an offer exceeding
•100 million arrives for the 20-
year-old. That price, however,
might not be enough to repel
the interest of Real Madrid and
Bayern Munich - two teams
said to be monitoring his
progression.
The Times say that the fee
Up to
three
times
t h e
team
have
come
close to
shattering the record. Jose
Mourinho’s side almost set the
new mark during season 11/
12, and in 87/88 and 88/89 Leo
Beenhakker came within a
whisker.
The first time Real managed
such a high number of
consecutive scoring games
came when Santiago
Bernabeu was president,
between the seasons of 51/52
and 52/53.
Zidane’s team have already
managed to beat the streak of
games without losing, and
now seem ready to continue
making history.
Tottenham slap •100m price tag on Alli
that brought Gareth Bale to
Real Madrid would have to be
outdone in order to poach the
player from Mauricio
Pochettino’s side. They did
not specify a price but Bale’s
fee was in the region of •100
million. Alli signed a new fiveyear-deal
with the club and
also received a boost in his pay
for his emergence as one of the
best young players in
Moses
game.
“Even
though
for us to
s h o w
that, now,
we are a
totally
different
team.”
His view
w a s
reinforced
by Victor
Moses,
who has
s i n c e
t h a t
defeat to
Arsenal,
b e e n
converted to
a wing-back
and is
dreaming
of a
redemption
i n
today’s
we are on top,
we need to win the
match and redeem
ourselves
from that
defeat, which
hurt us so much”,
said the Nigerian
winger.
That’s already been proven.
David Luiz looks like a
different player with more
freedom as a libero in a back
three. Unheralded pair
Marcos Alonso and Victor
Moses have excelled as
wingbacks, central midfielder
N’Golo Kante is possibly the
most influential player in the
league, while forwards
Hazard and Pedro Rodriguez
have been outstanding
without having so much
defensive responsibility as
part of a front three with topscorer
Diego Costa.
The team are more streetwise
and organized, as shown
in the 1-1 draw at Liverpool
on Tuesday when Chelsea
absorbed lots of early
pressure from the home side
before growing into the game
and being a late penalty miss
from Costa away from
winning.
Alli
IGHALO: Exponent of
Chinese football’s
boom time
Changchun Yatai made
Odion Ighalo the sixthmost
expensive player in the
history of the Chinese Super
League late last month, as
Watford received 23.5 million
euros for the player who
helped mastermind their
return to the Premier League
big time.
His new club had previously
been modest with their
transfer dealings, but took the
plunge to ensure that their
profile and reputation within
football received a welcome
boost.
Clubs such as Shanghai SIPG,
Jiangsu Suning, Guangzhou
Evergrande, Shanghai
Shenhua, Hebei China
Fortune and newly-promoted
Tianjin Quanjian have been
the teams to make the most
headlines during the last year
due to their signings.
They are backed by big
business, except for
Changchun Yatai, but Ighalo’s
new club recently decided to
steer themselves away from
being financially prudent and
take a big step forward in
Aguero:
I’m not
thinking of
leaving
Sergio Aguero will not
seek a move away from
Manchester City at the end
of this season and is willing
to fight for a starting spot at
the Etihad Stadium,
according to the Argentina
striker’s agent
Aguero is in the familiar
position of being City’s top
scorer, with 18 goals in 25
appearances this term, but he
has fresh competition for his
place as the club’s attacking
spearhead in the form of
Gabriel Jesus.
Jesus lined up flanked by
Leroy Sane and Raheem
Sterling as Aguero looked
on from the bench at London
Stadium on Wednesday,
where the livewire trio
proceeded to tear West Ham
to ribbons in a 4-0 victory.
City boss Pep Guardiola
praised Jesus’ aggression
and pressing after the match
– cutting a contrast with his
calls earlier in the campaign
for Aguero to improve his allround
contribution, around
the time he left the 28-yearold
on the bench against
Barcelona at Camp Nou in
Aguero
Ighalo
terms of being a sporting
project. It must be
remembered that their most
expensive signing up until this
point was Bolivian player
Marcelo Moreno, who cost
2.5m euros two seasons ago.
Ighalo’s arrival is a statement
from Changchun, who will be
featuring in this season’s
Super League after
completing a great escape last
term. With four games left to
play, they needed six points
for survival, but Lee Jang-Soo
masterminded the miracle
turn-around and achieved
safety on the final day
Jang-Soo will be looking to get
the same performance levels
out of Ighalo as Quique
Sanchez Flores did last season
for Watford, when the Nigeria
international was one of the
revelations of the Premier
League campaign a n d
scored 14
goals in the
first half of
the season.
October.
Real Madrid have been
linked with a move for the
former Atletico Madrid man,
but his representative
Hernan Reguera assured the
player is content with his
current situation in
Manchester.
“Yes, he is very, very happy
– he will be there next
season,” he told The
Guardian.
Asked whether Aguero was
willing to contest his favoured
central attacking berth with
Jesus, who can also be
deployed on the left, Reguera
replied: “No problem.”