The Lionesses have made it through to the quarter-finals of the 2023 Women’s World Cup after winning 4-2 on penalties against Nigeria despite going down to 10 players.
England’s women’s team remain among the favourites left in the competition after reigning world champions USA were dumped out in the quarters following a 5-4 loss on penalties to Sweden. Luckily the Lionesses managed to survive their shootout even after missing their first attempt.
Sarina Wiegman‘s side couldn’t break the deadlock inside the 90 and were almost awarded a penalty in the 33rd minute, but the decision was ultimately overturned following a VAR review. It was the same story in extra time but they somehow managed to limp across the line to take the game to pens.
Thankfully, Manchester City’s Chloe Kelly, England’s hero in the 2022 Women’s Euros and the Finalissima back in April, did what she does best and scored the winning spot-kick to send them into the next round.
Prior to the shootout, the biggest moment of the game undoubtedly came when Chelsea’s Lauren James — who had been the star of their World Cup campaign thus far, with three goals and three assists in as many games — was sent off for stamping on Nigeria forward, Michelle Alozie.
In a rare moment of petulance and unacceptable gamesmanship, VAR was called in once again to re-examine the sly on-the-ground challenge, at which point the 21-year-old WSL and England star was promptly shown a straight red card.
Nevertheless, the Lionesses battled on and somehow made it through to the quarter-finals, although they will now have to do without one of the best players for the next match.
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England will now play the winner of Colombia vs Jamaica for a place in the semi-finals of this year’s Women’s World Cup and still stand a very strong chance of winning the lot.
‘Champions of Europe and the world’ — has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Come on, girls, we’re all right behind you!
Featured Image — BBC Sport/Lionesses (via Twitter)
Sport
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 -
7th August 2023 
