Butland and Curtis give post-match reaction
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The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Son Heung-min completes move to LAFC from Tottenham in MLS record deal
Son Heung-min has completed a move from Tottenham Hotspur to Los Angeles FC in what is a record Major League Soccer transfer. Son has officially ended his 10-year stay at Spurs, where he scored 173 goals in 454 appearances and led the team to Europa League glory in May. After an agreement between Tottenham and LAFC was struck for a deal in excess of £20million, the 33-year-old arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday and a day later he has finalised his transfer, which is the highest fee paid by an MLS club for a player. Son joined Spurs in 2015 from Bayer Leverkusen. After a tough debut campaign the South Korea captain went on to become one of the club's best ever players and made himself a Premier League great in the process. Alongside old partner in crime Harry Kane, Son holds the record for the most goal involvements by a duo in the Premier League, with the pair assisting each other on a record 47 occasions in the competition. The Chuncheon-born attacker also won the league's Golden Boot award in the 2021-22 season after scoring 23 times and he sits 17th in the list of all-time scorers in the division with 127 goals. Under former boss Mauricio Pochettino, Son's consistent displays helped turn Tottenham into genuine title contenders but silverware continued to allude them after a second-placed finish in 2017 was followed by a Champions League runner-up spot two years later. Whilst various members of Pochettino's team left not long after the Argentinian's winter departure in 2019, Son stayed to work under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte before he was tasked with leading a new era by Ange Postecoglou. Postecoglou named Son as his captain in the wake of Kane's high-profile switch to Bayern Munich and Hugo Lloris' departure from the first team and after a roller coaster two seasons under the Australian, they achieved the holy grail together on May 21. Son was consigned to a place on the bench in Bilbao for the Europa League final against Manchester United following an injury-affected campaign, but was introduced to make his final competitive appearance for Spurs to help them win 1-0 and end a 17-year wait for silverware. It etched Son's name into the history books as he became only the fourth captain in Spurs' history to lift a European trophy after Danny Blanchflower, Alan Mullery and Steve Perryman. The popular South Korean now departs for LAFC on a two-year deal, where he will renew acquaintances with Lloris and move to Los Angeles, which boasts one of the largest Korean populations in the world, ahead of next summer's World Cup in the United States.
Daily Record
10 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Rangers handed Champions League warning as Club Brugge seize initiative to edge towards crunch play-off round
One goal was enough to separate Gers two potential play-off opponents Rangers have been handed a warning by Club Brugge after their potential Champions League opponents took a big step towards the play-off round with an away victory against Red Bull Salzburg. Gers have one foot in the final qualifcation hurdle after thrashing Czech outfit Viktoria Plzen 3-0 at Ibrox in the first leg of their third round qualifier showdown on Tuesday night. Summer signing Djeidi Gassama continued his fine start to life at Rangers by bagging a brace while fellow new boy Oliver Antman capping off his debut with a superb assist. Should Russell Martin 's men finish the job in Plzen next week, then they will face the winner of the tie between Brugge and Salzburg for a place amongst Europe's elite in the money-spinning league phase. And it's the Belgian side who will be favourites to set up a showdown with the Light Blues after claiming a shut-out win on away soil, The clash at the Red Bull Arena looked to be heading for a goalless draw until the visitors struck with 16 minutes remaining through Romeo Vermant's goal. Rangers know that reaching the play-off will see them host the first leg at home on August 19/20 against Brugge or Plzen, with the return match taking place on August 26/27. And ahead of the potential showdown, the Ibrox club have taken advantage of the SPFL's new scheme to help Premiership clubs trying to get into Europe. Martin's side are due to face St Mirren in Paisley on August 24 but should they get past Plzen will then have that game postponed to a later date to boost their chances of qualifying for the Champions League. The same goes for Hibs who, if they can make it past Partizan Belgrade in the Conference League, will face Legia Warsaw or AEK Larnaca on August 21 and August 28. The capital club are currently slated to take on Falkirk on August 23. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers page and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here.
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
New striker, same old problems for Arsenal, the young Gunner who continues to impress and the glaring frailities within Mikel Arteta's XI: THINGS WE LEARNED from 3-2 defeat by Villarreal
Arsenal 's Emirates homecoming was spoilt on Wednesday night as a Villarreal side boasting a couple of former Gunners ran out 3-2 winners in north London. Nicolas Pepe and Denis Suarez, who made just six appearances for the club during a 2019 loan spell, were involved in a couple of the goals for the LaLiga side. The former bagged the 16th-minute opener before Karl Etta Eyong doubled Villarreal's advantage just after the half hour. New Gunners signing Christian Norgaard halved the deficit before the break. Suarez then provided the pinpoint pass that allowed former Tottenham forward Arnaut Danjuma to restore the Spanish side's two-goal advantage. Mikel Arteta had by this point made a raft of changes and the revamped roster rewarded his faith by notching the side's second of the match. Arsenal's frustrating afternoon was confounded during the penalty shoot-out that followed the match. Villarreal were again victorious after Mikel Merino, Gabriel and Noni Madueke missed from the spot. Our reporter ISAAN KHAN watched on as Arteta's men stumbled on their north London return. Mikel Arteta will be left frustrated by the result in his side's first pre-season fixture after returning from their tour of Asia GYOKERES STARVED OF SERVICE Thousands of Arsenal fans descended upon the Emirates wearing Viktor Gyokeres' No14 shirt. They had long been crying out for a striker. So when the north London club finally obliged last month, spending £64million on the Swedish attacker, their optimism resulted in Gyokeres' shirt becoming one of the fastest shirt sales for a new signing in Gunners history. Yet on the pitch, it was the same as usual around these parts — an Arsenal frontman being starved of service and feeding off scraps. It's a scene that has been re-enacted time and again last season, and one which will need to be fast rectified if this club are to properly utilise their shiny new striker. Gyokeres showed glimpses of hold up play, including an early flick on, as well as his presence in closing down space when off the ball. But after receiving flack for his 13-minute run out against Tottenham on the Gunners' pre-season tour of Asia, he will have been keen to show what he can do in front of goal. Instead he had to make do with an unrewarding shift in darting around, though not being picked out by team-mates. They did occasionally go aerially to him to limited avail. And Mikel Merino played him through on the hour mark, Gyokeres' shot saved by Luiz Junior. Overall, though, he will be hoping the likes of Martin Odegaard, who started on the bench, will have a much better radar in finding him. WONDERKID DOWMAN SHINES AGAIN A slew of substitutions were being readied on 62 minutes. Yet the loudest cheer was reserved for the introduction of 15-year-old Max Dowman, who the stadium announcer prefaced with: 'making his Emirates debut for the first team'. He, and those in attendance, knew this will be the first of many times Dowman will feature at the Emirates in the coming months. The Arsenal attacking midfield wonderkid, who dazzled on their pre-season tour of Asia, was given another chance to shine — and he did. On 69 minutes he shimmed past a couple of players, shooting wide, before winning a penalty after being pulled to the ground by Pau Navarro who had been wrong-footed by his trickiness. He carried on in the same vein, being picked out by team-mates to frighten the opposition backline with his watertight dribbling abilities and fearlessness to attack the box. The teenager played in a number of crosses which had to be desperately snuffed out. This kid is special. DEFENCE IN PIECES Villarreal's opening two goals saw David Raya pull off good saves, only for an opposition player to steer the rebounds home after pushing past Jakub Kiwior on the back post. The defender could've done better in these instances. More broadly, the backline sorely missed Gabriel. The Brazilian underwent a hamstring operation in April but came on in the second half as he pushes to be fit for Arsenal's opening Premier League match against Manchester United next Sunday. Cristhian Mosquera came on at half-time for Ben White and looked good at right back. He showcased composure on the ball and pace in covering the backline well. The glaring miss, though, was Gabriel partnering his sidekick William Saliba from the beginning. It's a fearsome duo who form the bedrock of Mikel Arteta's defence. When one is missing, a lack of synchronisation is felt. That could be seen in those first-half back post tussles and when the opposition attack broke on counter-attacks. Gabriel will need some time to get back to full match fitness — and Arteta will be keenly assessing. TOO SAKA CENTRIC That sheer imbalance between the two Arsenal flanks continues. Bukayo Saka's talents make the activity on the right wing inevitably lopsided. Most teams would do the same to utilise such a sheer talent. The problem, though, lies with the drop off in quality on the other side where the Gunners are unable to exploit the extra space. Gabriel Martinelli, as ever, looked energetic on the ball but, as ever, failed to make real inroads with a final ball. It points to why Arsenal signed Noni Madueke, who had a short cameo late on, and are still eyeing other attacking signings like Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze. In fact, in the couple chances Madueke had on the ball he arguably showed more directness. There is a good player in Martinelli, but he needs to up the ante - and fast, or risk losing his place. RETURN OF PEPE Dismal, dire or underwhelming would all describe Nicolas Pepe's time at Arsenal. The £72million signing had such a torrid time in north London that he eventually left on a free transfer to Turkish side Trabzonspor in September 2023 after four years on Arsenal's books. On Wednesday he showed signs as to why the Gunners signed him in the first place, giving Myles Lewis-Skelly a tough test on the right flank. The 30-year-old scored Villarreal's opener, striking a post with a curling effort before collecting a rebound to score past Raya. On a few occasions, he twisted and turned in sprints at Lewis-Skelly, who was occasionally caught on the back foot but battled back. Pepe didn't celebrate his goal, raising his hands in the air. Though on the night Arsenal unveiled their star summer signing in Gyokeres to the Emirates, it was their former flame who came back to haunt them.
