Football: Machino nets 11th goal, leaves injured as Kiel get big win
The 25-year-old Japan international took his tally to 11 league goals when he opened the scoring at WWK Arena with a 25th-minute penalty. He left the pitch in the 39th minute and was later seen on crutches, according to the league website.
Forward Alexander Bernhardsson looped in a header a minute after Machino's withdrawal and swept in another for Kiel in the 51st minute. Steve Mounie pulled one back for Augsburg in the 90th minute.
Kiel remain in the relegation zone, but the win moved them up to 25 points, just a point behind Heidenheim, who occupy the promotion-relegation playoff spot in 16th.
Bayern Munich, home to Japan defender Hiroki Ito, who is currently out injured, claimed their 34th league title after holders Bayer Leverkusen drew 2-2 at Freiburg, leaving them eight points off the lead with two games to go.
In England, Japan captain Wataru Endo made his first Premier League start this season as newly crowned champions Liverpool were beaten 3-1 at Chelsea.
Leeds midfielder Ao Tanaka was named the club's player of the season by his teammates after helping them win the second-tier Championship and secure promotion to the Premier League.
Tanaka joined from German second-tier side Fortuna Dusseldorf last summer and excelled in his first season in England, with his 20-meter curling strike away to Hull in January voted Leeds' goal of the season by their fans.
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Japan Today
7 hours ago
- Japan Today
It could be the most open Premier League title race in years as clubs spend big to take advantage
Liverpool's Florian Wirtz in action during a friendly soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the Hong Kong Football Festival held at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong, Satursday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei) soccer By JAMES ROBSON The Premier League is back after one of the most unpredictable seasons in recent memory saw Liverpool win a record-equaling 20th title, Manchester City go into meltdown and Manchester United hit new lows. The new campaign kicks off on Friday and teams have spent big in an attempt to capitalize on what looks like being a wide open title race after City's dominance was ended. Defending champion Liverpool hasn't stood still, with Florian Wirtz the pick of its signings for a fee that could rise to a British record $156 million. Pep Guardiola's rebuild at City began in January with around $450 million spent since then on revamping a team that saw its four-year title-winning run snapped last term. And perennial runner-up Arsenal has finally secured a top-class striker in Viktor Gyokeres as it looks to win its first title since 2004. Chelsea has continued its heavy-spending policy under American owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital and, fresh from being crowned world club champion, will expect to challenge for the biggest prizes again. Liverpool knows just how difficult it is to win back-to-back championships. Not since 1984 has the club successfully defended the title and it is not alone in struggling to hold onto the trophy. Only Guardiola's City — champion in six out of seven seasons between 2018 and 2024 — has managed to retain the title since Alex Ferguson's Man United retained its title in 2009. But Liverpool coach Arne Slot already defied the odds by joining an elite group of coaches to win the title in their first year in the Premier League, following Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini and Antonio Conte. He has brought in high-quality additions, with Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike adding more firepower to Liverpool's attack. City endured a sudden and dramatic decline last season when its title defense unraveled before Christmas. Defeat in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace consigned City to its first trophyless season in eight years. There were mitigating factors — mainly the injury to Ballon d'Or winner Rodri. But Guardiola's extensive rebuild, including the signings of Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki, suggest City's problems were more deeply rooted. The last time Guardiola relinquished a title, he went on to win the next four. City's Premier League rivals have been warned. No team has been more consistent than Arsenal over the past three seasons — but that still hasn't delivered a title. The signing of Gyokeres could be the last piece of the puzzle. The Sweden striker outscored Kylian Mbappe, Haaland and Mohamed Salah last term. His overall record for Sporting Lisbon was 97 goals in 102 games. Arsenal will hope he can reproduce that form in England. United recorded its lowest finish in the Premier League era (15th) last season, the most losses (18) and its lowest points total (42). Add to that the failure to qualify for any European competition and it was a year to forget. Coach Ruben Amorim has vowed to bring the good times back. He's signed Premier League-proven forwards in Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, along with highly rated Slovenia striker Benjamin Sesko. He's also had a full offseason to work with his squad -- something he was denied when hired midway through last season. After winning two Portuguese titles at Sporting Lisbon, United is convinced he is the man to end more than a decade of decline since former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. After a chaotic start, Chelsea's U.S. owners are delivering results. The revolving door of coaches has slowed down. The mega spending has not. And on the back of a season when Chelsea won the UEFA Conference League, qualified for the Champions League and won the newly expanded Club World Cup it looks like the two-time European champion is back among soccer's elite. Arsenal faces a brutally testing start -- coming up against United, Liverpool, City and Newcastle in its first six games of the season, with three of those away from home. United takes on Arsenal, City and Chelsea within its first five games. In the past two seasons all three clubs promoted from the Championship have been relegated the following year. Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland have their work cut out to avoid the drop. Defending champion Liverpool kicks off the season on Friday against Bournemouth at Anfield. The last day of the season is May 24, 2026. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
Kaoru Mitoma looks to build on Premier League success with Brighton
With just a few days left until the start of the 2025-26 Premier League campaign, all eyes are firmly fixed on the most-watched sports league in the world — including in Japan, where several native sons will be vying to make their mark for their respective clubs. Japan captain Wataru Endo is vying to defend his Premier League title with Liverpool, Daichi Kamada has his sights on a second straight FA Cup with Crystal Palace and Ao Tanaka is looking to build on last season's Championship title with Leeds United. New arrival Kota Takai, meanwhile, will be seeking to make a name for himself with UEFA Conference League winners Tottenham Hotspur. But no Japanese player will be more essential for their team's ambitions than Brighton & Hove Albion's Kaoru Mitoma. 'Mitoma is one of the best wingers in the world today,' said Tokyo-based grassroots coach Tom Byer . 'He's fantastic, he is just so good. 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'We had no idea what to expect from Mitoma, and the idea of him making the jump was a write-off in some fans' minds ... some thought we'd never actually see him play for us, let alone become the superstar he is today,' said Ryan Adsett , creator of the Brighton website Talk Seagulls. 'Nobody truly took him seriously until he made his debut versus Newcastle; it was like watching a star being born. For the first time in my life watching Brighton, I felt like we had a real top player on our hands.' That year, Mitoma excelled on the left side of Brighton's attack, combining his blistering change of pace, his devastating close control and remarkable first touch to great effect. He also played in all four of Japan's matches at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The midseason departure of Leandro Trossard to Arsenal opened the door for Mitoma to become one of the first names on Roberto De Zerbi's team sheet, racking up 11 goals and 9 assists in 41 appearances across competitions. With Mitoma running the show, Brighton managed to finish sixth in the Premier League and qualify for the Europa League for the first time. 'What he's doing when he has the ball on the wing is a mathematical equation of such complexity done in a millisecond — he knows the precise angle and distance to beat players,' Byer said. 'He's constantly measuring the distance between him and the defenders to come up with the circumference of how he gets around so many players. He then uses his change of direction or change of speed to get around players and create dangerous moments to either shoot or pass to another player.' 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Following a summer that saw Brighton lose various key figures like Joao Pedro, Simon Adingra and Pervis Estupinan, the onus is now on Mitoma to step up and lead by example as Brighton seeks to build on last season. 'Mitoma has looked fit and strong in preseason and has been keen to shoot,' said Brian Owen , who covers the club for the local paper The Argus. 'His partner at left-back is likely to be Max De Cuyper, who is very attack-minded, which underlines the faith Hurzeler has in the defensive side of Mitoma's game. The key for Mitoma is remaining fit — he is getting into goal-scoring positions and has just had his best season in that regard. That said, I think he will always improve anyway because he studies his own game and is self-critical — maybe excessively so.' 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Japan Today
2 days ago
- Japan Today
Liverpool spend big to hold off Arsenal, City in Premier League title fight
Liverpool have spent big to try and defend their Premier League title soccer By Kieran CANNING Liverpool have splashed out to defend their Premier League title as champions but face stiff competition from an Arsenal side desperate to shake off their tag as nearly men and a rejuvenated Manchester City. After storming to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title in Arne Slot's first season in charge, Liverpool have looked to build from a position of strength during a summer marked by tragedy. Portuguese forward Diogo Jota was killed in a car accident alongside his brother last month, plunging the club into mourning. Tributes to Jota will continue throughout the season with "Forever 20" -- his shirt number, which the club have now retired -- printed on Liverpool's jerseys. The Reds have already spent £260 million ($350 million) on Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong. However, after the departures of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, they are not yet done in strengthening their forward line and are expected to launch a fresh bid for Alexander Isak, with Newcastle demanding a British transfer record fee for the Swedish striker. Liverpool's rivals will hope Wirtz and Ekitike take time to adapt to the rigors of the Premier League after shining in Germany's Bundesliga, while there are defensive doubts for Slot's men to answer. The Dutch coach said his side need to defend better after leaky performances in pre-season were followed by defeat in the Community Shield to Crystal Palace on Sunday after twice blowing the lead. After finishing second for the past three seasons, Arsenal are longing for their first title in 22 years and have backed Mikel Arteta with another near £200 million investment in the transfer market. Spanish international Martin Zubimendi will be the new anchor of the midfield, while the signings of Christian Norgaard, Cristhian Mosquera, Noni Madueke and Kepa Arrizabalaga add depth to the squad. But Arsenal's season is likely to be defined by whether Viktor Gyokeres proves to be the answer to their need for a prolific striker. The Swede struck 97 times in 102 games during two years at Sporting Lisbon, but the 27-year-old failed to make a breakthrough in the Premier League during his previous experience in England. After coming up short at Brighton, Gyokeres scored 41 goals in 121 games in England's second tier with Coventry and Swansea. "He's a player that, when you leave him with the space one against one, he's going to destroy you," said Arteta of his new striker. City were dethroned last season after an unprecedented run of four consecutive titles as the wheels came off for Pep Guardiola's men without Ballon d'Or winner Rodri. The Spaniard has been ruled out till September due to a setback in his return from a serious knee injury, but City have refreshed their squad with the additions of Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki. After a first trophyless season since 2016/17, City expect to be back in the fight for the title. Chelsea were the last side other than City and Liverpool to lift the title back in 2017 and showed they are a coming force once more by winning the Club World Cup in the U.S. last month. The Blues finished fourth, 15 points behind Liverpool last season, but their transfer policy of investing heavily in scores of young prospects is beginning to bear fruit. Joao Pedro made an instant impact with three goals in three games at the Club World Cup after a £55 million move from Brighton and could solve Chelsea's need for a world class goalscorer. Manchester United have transformed their forward line with the signings of Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo after finishing 15th last season. Beating United in the Europa League final was not enough for Ange Postecoglou to keep his job as Tottenham manager and former Brentford boss Thomas Frank has taken over in north London. Promoted trio Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley are aiming to avoid a worrying trend for the competitive balance. For the past two seasons all three promoted clubs have gone straight back down as the gap between the riches of the Premier League and the second tier continues to grow. © 2025 AFP
