England’s women’s team scraped through to the 2023 Women’s World Cup quarter-finals by the skin of their teeth on Monday following a nerve-racking penalty shootout, but it was the Lionesses’ behaviour afterwards as they comforted Nigeria’s keeper that warmed the hearts of even more fans.
Sarina Wiegman‘s side looked like they might fall short of the mark after they couldn’t get a result inside 90 minutes or extra time, especially having gone down to 10 players once Lauren James received a red card for stamping on an opponent but, fortunately, they somehow managed to survive the shootout.
Moments after Chloe Kelly rifled the winning penalty into the back of the net, the Nigerian goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie was left in tears on the pitch as her national side’s tournament run came to a bitter end, at which point the Lionesses star immediately went over to check on her.
Joined by her Manchester City colleague Alex Greenwood, the duo helped console an understandably emotional Nnadozie, with the Euro 2022 and Finalissima-winning goalscorer urging the cameras to stop filming the visibly upset shot-stopper.
A classy moment from the Lionesses as they comfort the Nigeria keeper.
Heartwarming stuff from the girls.
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As you would expect, the reaction online has been overwhelmingly positive, with people labelling it a “lovely touch” from the team and insisting that “we don’t deserve them”.
The sentiment is clear: it was a classy moment from the Lionesses who continue to unite the country and stand a strong chance of boasting not only the title of European Champions but calling themselves World Cup winners within the next 12 days.
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We can only hope.
Compassion and classy and also held camera away because they knew it could have been anyone of them lovely piece of sportsmanship
Naturally, there were plenty online that did take issue with the narrative and general applauding of their behaviour in light of the stamp and sending off, which both the Lionesses and James herself have now apologised for, but most seemed to understand that it was not indicative of the overarching values the team usually stand for.
Even the player who was the victim of the stamp, Michelle Alozie, put the incident in context by insisting: “This game is one of passion, insurmountable emotions and moments. All respect for Lauren James.”
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England are now set to face Colombia at 11:30am on Saturday, 12 August for a place in the semi-finals where they play will either host nation Australia or France.
To get yourself in the tournament spirit, you can check out the time we met Alex Greenwood and she spoke passionately about the importance and growing profile of the women’s game down below:
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
8th August 2023 
