#penalty-spot

#penalty-spot

Tim Vickery, South America correspondentMay 30, 2023, 10:18 AM ET


There will be no dream end to the season for Sevilla's Marcos Acuna, who is suspended for Wednesday's final of the Europa League against AS Roma.The star left-back -- who came off the bench for Argentina in the World Cup victory over France -- was sent off in the second leg of Sevilla's semifinal and thus will miss the decider in Budapest.

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Chris WrightToe Poke writer



Though they may have fallen at the penultimate hurdle, both Croatia and Morocco have the chance to salvage a little extra reward for their impressive World Cup campaigns when they come head to head in Saturday's third-place playoff game.- World Cup 2022: News and features | Schedule | Bracket Some fans tend to view the playoff with an air of contempt, forecasting a slightly underwhelming contest wherein two defeated, dejected semifinalists attempt to muster the motivation to go again in search of one last consolatory victory.

The World Cup final will be a mouthwatering encounter between holders France and two-time winners Argentina.France came through an incredibly tough semi-final against Morocco 24 hours after Argentina ended Croatia's dreams of glory.Here, the PA news agency looks back at the second semi-final and forward to Sunday's showpiece.

By Phil McNulty Chief football writer at Lusail Stadium


Last updated on .From the section World Cup  

Host nation: Qatar Dates: 20 November-18 December Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.Day-by-day TV listings  - Full coverage details  

Lionel Messi's last dance will continue until the music stops in Qatar on Sunday as he now stands just 90 minutes away from the ultimate accolade of having a World Cup forever attached to his name.

Lionel Messi has become Argentina's all-time leading goalscorer at World Cup finals, after scoring a penalty in the first half of Tuesday's semifinal against Croatia.Messi, 35, overtook Gabriel Batistuta's previous record of 10 goals, which he scored at the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cups.- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) The Paris Saint-Germain forward's opener in Argentina's 2-1 win over Australia in the round of 16 meant he surpassed Diego Maradona and Guillermo Stabile's World Cup goal tally of eight.

An Olivier Giroud hat trick helped AC Milan demolish already-relegated Sampdoria 5-1 in Serie A on Saturday, earning Stefano Pioli's side a much needed morale boost.Milan provisionally cut the gap with fourth-placed Lazio to one point before Maurizio Sarri's men travel to Udinese on Sunday.- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) Rafael Leao put Milan in front in the ninth minute when he beat Sampdoria keeper Nicola Ravaglia with a precise low shot into the bottom right corner but Sampdoria levelled shortly after through forward Fabio Quagliarella.

Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCMay 16, 2023, 07:16 PM ET


MILAN -- And suddenly, they looked all grown up; freed from the insecurities, brain farts and inferiority complexes that so often derailed them.Inter Milan's 1-0 win over AC Milan amounts to a 3-0 aggregate win over their crosstown rivals and opens the door to the UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul on June 10.

Sporting CP beat Arsenal in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie to advance to the quarterfinals.The tie was level on aggregate after last Thursday's 2-2 draw in Lisbon and Granit Xhaka struck in the first half, before Pedro Goncalves scored an unbelievable goal from just past midfield to draw things level and send the match to extra time.

After comfortably qualifying from the group stage, Manchester City 's next exploits took them to Germany for both their last 32 and last 8 matches.City are no strangers to facing sides from Germany and for their first knock-out match, they were drawn against RB Leipzig.The blues were already familiar with Leipzig, having beaten them 6-3 in Manchester, before losing 2-1 in their final group game.

Josef Martinez scored twice in his first game against his former team to reach the MLS 100-goal benchmark and lift Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over visiting Atlanta United on Saturday night.Martinez's century of regular-season goals came in his 142nd career game, surpassing Bradley Wright-Phillips (159 games) as the fastest player in MLS history to reach that mark.

M anchester United will face Brighton in the FA Cup semi-finals after coming from a goal down to beat nine-man Fulham in a remarkable game.The visitors were much the stronger side for most of the game, deservedly going ahead through Aleksandar Mitrovic, who almost scored a second.But when Willian handled the ball on the line and was duly sent off, Mitrovic and manager Marco Silva were also dismissed for wild protests.

Dusan Vlahovic's fine volley saw Juventus end a five-game winless run with a 2-1 victory over Lecce in Serie A, boosting the Bianconeri's hopes of Champions League qualification.Vlahovic fired home on the turn to hand Massimiliano Allegri's men their first league win since April 1, deciding an entertaining contest at the Allianz Stadium.

It's been such a long time since Juventus has had a game that was defined by a multitude of missed chances that I had almost forgotten how it felt.It's a frustration distinctly different to what we've seen from Juve most of the season, when they play so poorly that they barely create chances to miss.

M anchester City are two-thirds of the way to achieving only the second Treble in English football history, after defeating rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley.They could not have wished for a better start than when Ilkay Gundogan fired home the opener after just 13 seconds with a bullet volley for the fastest-ever FA Cup final goal.

Manchester United came from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 on Sunday as the Premier League season drew to a close.Goals from Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes either side of halftime cancelled out Kenny Tete's early opener, ensuring Erik ten Hag's side secured a third place finish in the league table.With an FA Cup final still to come, ten Hag made six changes to the side that beat Chelsea on Thursday.

Nottingham Forest boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation in the Premier League with a crucial victory over bottom club Southampton.In an exhilarating seven-goal thriller, Taiwo Awoniyi's double gave Forest early control at the City Ground.Southampton responded through Carlos Alcaraz but Morgan Gibbs-White made it 3-1 to Forest from the penalty spot.

Erling Haaland scored his 50th goal of the season as Manchester City moved above Arsenal at the top of the Premier League with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Fulham.The striker broke the deadlock from the penalty spot inside three minutes at Craven Cottage with his record-equalling 34th strike in the Premier League this campaign.

By Phil McNulty Chief football writer at The Gtech Community Stadium


Last updated on .From the section Brentford
Brentford's dream lives on as fervent and joyous supporters sang about a European tour and manager Thomas Frank led his players on one of their regular victory laps of honour around their atmospheric stadium.

Manchester United fell to a 4-2 defeat in a friendly with La Liga side Cádiz on Wednesday, despite coming back from two goals down to temporarily draw level at the Nuevo Mirandilla.It's the first of two friendlies the Reds will play in Spain ahead of their return to action after the World Cup, and gave Erik ten Hag the chance to freshen up his squad.

Alan Pulido scored his first goal since August 2021 as visiting Sporting Kansas City finally snapped their winless start to the season with a 2-1 victory over Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday.Erik Thommy scored an early opener and then assisted Pulido for Kansas City (1-7-3, 6 points), which became the last MLS team to win its first game against a Sounders team that remains atop the Western Conference standings.

Lionel Messi has said he will not retire from international football after scoring twice as Argentina lifted the 2022 World Cup in a thrilling penalty shootout victory over France on Sunday.Messi scored the opener from the penalty spot at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar before striking again in extra-time when the ball fell to him in the six-yard box and he prodded home.

73min: Riyad Mahrez scores and Manchester City lead 1-0 on the night, 5-3 on aggregate Clair Swindells, Manchester City fan You're thinking: Just hang on, 20 minutes.A couple of lads behind us in the 89th minute booked their tickets to Paris [for the final].He was trying for five minutes because the signal was so bad and then he was like: I've booked it, I've booked it!

Karim Benzema scored a first-half hat trick as Real Madrid recovered from a disappointing midweek loss at Girona by beating lowly Almeria 4-2 at home in LaLiga on Saturday.With six-games remaining, second-placed Real maintained their slim title hopes by moving up to 68 points, cutting Barcelona's lead to eight points.

Karim Benzema scored twice from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat Elche 4-0 in LaLiga on Wednesday.Marco Asensio put Madrid ahead in the eighth minute at the Santiago Bernabeu, driving at the Elche defence before slotting past goalkeeper Edgar Badia.The home side dominated the first half and Benzema doubled their lead with half an hour played after his header was handled inside the box by defender Enzo Roco, before converting another penalty on the stroke of halftime.

Real Madrid fired another blank as their LaLiga title hopes were further dented in a goalless draw away at Real Betis.The reigning champions knew there was no real margin for error at Estadio Benito Villamarin following Barcelona's narrow 1-0 home win over Valencia earlier on Sunday.However, on the back of failing to register an attempt on target in their 1-0 Copa del Rey semi-final first-leg loss to Barca, Madrid once again failed to click in attack.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored four times to move past the 500 career league goal mark as Al Nassr beat Al Wehda 4-0 in the Saudi Pro League.The Portugal forward, who turned 38 on Sunday, struck in a 40-minute period either side of the break.He has now scored 503 league goals for five different clubs in five different leagues.

Atletico Madrid scored five for the second consecutive game as they thrashed lowly Cadiz 5-1 in LaLiga on Wednesday to move above their city rivals Real Madrid into second-place in the standings.With only five games to play, Atletico climbed to 69 points, one ahead of Real, who lost 2-0 at fourth placed Real Sociedad on Tuesday.

The Liga MX regular season has now officially finished, leaving six teams knocked out of the running for this season's championship.For those remaining, the top four in the league table will automatically qualify for the quarterfinal playoff stage, while the next eight best-ranked teams will battle it out in a preliminary single-leg play-in (repechaje) round.

Lionel Messi said he felt "disrespected" by Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal and blasted the referee after Argentina beat the Dutch 4-3 on penalties in a thrilling World Cup quarterfinal at Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar on Friday.Messi assisted Argentina's first goal for Nahuel Molina and then scored a second from the penalty spot as Argentina took a seemingly commanding 2-0 lead in the 73rd minute.

Manchester United fell to a 4-2 defeat in a friendly with LaLiga side Cádiz on Wednesday, despite coming back from two goals down to temporarily draw level at the Nuevo Mirandilla.After early goals Carlos García and Anthony Lozano inside the first 14 minutes for the home side, United fought back through an Anthony Martial penalty in the 21st minute and a Kobbie Mainoo goal three minutes after he came on as a half-time substitute.

England Under-21s slipped to a 2-1 defeat by Croatia in their final warm-up match ahead of this summer's European Championship.Lee Carsley's side were bidding to sign off for Georgia with a fourth friendly win out of four, having beaten Germany, Italy and, on Saturday, thumping France 4-0.But Carsley changed all 10 outfield players for their last tune-up match and they had only a late Morgan Gibbs-White consolation from the penalty spot to show for a ragged display at Craven Cottage.

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has not spoken to Harry Kane about his failed spot-kick for England but believes the forward is ready to move on from his World Cup disappointment.Kane's missed penalty on December 10 saw his national team exit the World Cup after a 2-1 defeat to France in the last eight.

Until now, Geoff Hurst had been the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup 2022 final but after seeing Kylian Mbappe equal his record in Sunday's incredible showpiece between France and Argentina, the England legend was magnanimous in his response.French superstar Mbappe, at the age of just 23 and having already won the World Cup as a teenager in 2018, scored a hat-trick as Les Bleus fought back from 2-0 down to force extra time and then battled back from falling a goal behind in the additional 30 minutes to take the final to a penalty shootout.

England face France in a blockbuster World Cup 2022 quarter-final on Saturday, continuing a long footballing rivalry between the near neighbours.Here, we look back at some memorable prior encounters.Sir Alf Ramsey's men won the final game of the group stage to finish a point above Uruguay and set up their route to glory.

England ended their preparations for the European Under-21 Championship in the summer with a defeat to Croatia.
Lee Carsley's side came into the match at Craven Cottage having beaten France U21s 4-0 on Saturday but there were 10 changes to the line-up that started that game.The Young Lions started the game on top, with Manchester City's Cole Palmer threatening, but they were lacking a cutting edge with Arsenal's Folarin Balogun, top scorer for loan club Reims in France, missing through injury.

Belgium made it two wins from two under new coach Domenico Tedesco as they beat Euro 2024 hosts Germany in a friendly.The visitors outclassed their opponents in the first half and took the lead when Yannick Carrasco fired in.Romelu Lukaku then converted from Kevin de Bruyne's pass to make it 2-0 before Niclas Fullkrug reduced the deficit from the penalty spot.

Macaulay Langstaff set a club record for goals in a season as Notts County returned to the top of the National League table with victory at Altrincham.Langstaff fired his 40th goal of the campaign following a quick free-kick in the 24th minute to help move his side top on goal difference from title rivals Wrexham who have two games in hand.

Kazakhstan scored twice late on as they came back from two goals down to stun Denmark in their Euro 2024 qualifier.Rasmus Hojlund, who scored a hat-trick against Finland on Thursday, scored twice in the first half to put the Danes in control.Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov got one back from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute.

Having played his part in Women's Football Weekend in seeing his Manchester United team return to the top of the WSL, Marc Skinner will not be watching as Chelsea attempt to overtake his side again."I'm not nervous," he said, regarding Chelsea travelling to take on fellow WSL title challengers Manchester City tomorrow.

Newcastle's Alexander Isak scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner at Nottingham Forest from the penalty spot to keep their hopes of a top-four finish firmly alive.Isak, who had earlier cancelled out Emmanuel Dennis' opener in the first half, coolly placed his spot-kick into the right corner after Moussa Niakhate was penalised for handball in the box.

As the players left the pitch at half time, the Etihad Stadium's in-house big screen began to replay, in slow-mo close-up, the moment that had just passed, Manchester City's third goal in what would eventually become a 7-0 (seven) victory.There was something ludicrously lovely about the imagery, the basic human design, the cold, cold beauty of the sky blue shirts, the snowflakes falling in slow, fat, perfect flakes, Erling Haaland scrolling past the faces in the crowd and gliding in a single movement into the perfect Olympic-grade knee slide, a footballer who expresses power, edge and certainty more clearly than any other.

Vinci Per Luca read a banner draped over the Chelsea end.Win for Luca was the request but Graham Potter's outclassed team were unable to deliver as Manchester City cruised into round four.The teams have met three times in three different competitions this season, City victorious and shutting out Chelsea every time.

The World Cup kick-off last month with 16 Manchester City players on showcase, representing their various national teams.All but one have now exited the competition with only Julian Alvarez remaining at the global showpiece.But the City forward is making a name for himself with Argentina.Facing Croatia for the semi-final game on Tuesday night, the Argentine side may have come into the game under some pressure as the South American team is eager to see their talisman Lionel Messi crown his amazing career with a World Cup medal.

Bayern Munich had Dayot Upamecano sent off in a 3-2 defeat at Borussia Monchengladbach that dealt a fresh blow to their hopes of winning an 11th consecutive Bundesliga title.The French defender received his marching orders in the eighth minute for a messy challenge, and goals from Lars Stindl, Jonas Hofmann and Marcus Thuram lifted Gladbach to a deserved win.

Bayern Munich has had legendary players, and, at times, we feel nostalgic and miss them when we face issues currently that those players from the past could have solved.Today, we will continue this BFW Series by putting the spotlight on two former Bayern players (and one non-Bayern player) that I miss personally.

Germany has had...well, an iffy year to say the least.On one hand, they crashed out of the group stage of the World Cup and failed to advance to the final round of the Nations League.On the other hand, though, they still showed a lot of fight, bar a few occasions, and well, in this state, that may be all that fans can ask for.

Ousmane Dembele fired Barcelona into the last four of the Copa del Rey with a hard-fought win over 10-man Real Sociedad.Dembele broke the deadlock at the Nou Camp with a powerful near-post effort after 52 minutes.Brais Mendez had seen red for Sociedad at the end of the first half following a VAR check for catching Sergio Busquets high on the ankle.

Haiti beat Chile to qualify for first FIFA World Cup tournament, which will be hosted by New Zealand and Australia.Haiti's national football team has beaten Chile 2-1 to secure the country's first-ever appearance at a FIFA Women's World Cup.Melchie Dumornay scored twice during Wednesday's match to ensure 55th-ranked Haiti will now play in Group D of the 2023 Women's World Cup alongside England, China and Denmark.

Middlesbrough got their Championship promotion push firmly back on track as they steamrollered Reading at Riverside Stadium.Defeat at West Brom last week broke their five-game winning streak but a dominant display kept them third in the table, just four points behind Sheffield United in second after the Blades lost at Blackburn in an earlier kick-off.

Arsenal fought back to beat Chelsea in the Continental League Cup final and deservedly win their first trophy in four years.Buoyed by a strong Arsenal following among a record crowd in London, they outplayed and outwitted their long-standing rivals to claim a sixth League Cup.Striker Stina Blackstenius calmly slotted in the equaliser after Kerr's opener, before Arsenal captain Kim Little netted from the penalty spot to make it 2-1.

Aberdeen consigned former manager Jim Goodwin to defeat in his first match in charge of Scottish Premiership bottom side Dundee United.Jamie McGrath levelled from the penalty spot to give the hosts some hope, but Aberdeen's Ross McCrorie and Marley Watkins struck to keep United four points adrift of Kilmarnock and Ross County.

Former Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez scored as Marseille knocked Paris St-Germain, the record 14-time winners, out of the French Cup.Sanchez fired the hosts into the lead from the penalty spot after Sergio Ramos' foul on Cengiz Under.Ramos equalised but Marseille won it through a goal by Ukraine midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi.

Darvel produced arguably the biggest upset in 149 years of Scottish Cup history as the sixth-tier outfit defeated top-flight Aberdeen.Jordan Kirkpatrick's first-half shot on the spin at Recreation Park deflected past Joe Lewis to put Darvel on course for a last-16 tie with Falkirk.Chris Truesdale made three great close-range saves from Aberdeen forwards Ryan Duncan and Luis Lopes.

Juventus fought back to draw with Atalanta in their first match since they were docked 15 points for transfer irregularities.Ademola Lookman gave Atalanta an early lead, but Juve hit back to lead at the break through Angel di Maria's penalty and Arkadiusz Milik's volley.Joakim Maehle equalised after a minute of the second half before Lookman struck again with a fine header.

Only time will tell whether Michael Beale has as much faith in the Rangers squad he inherited from Giovanni van Bronckhorst as public utterances would suggest.Had Beale's men held onto the lead which existed with 87 minutes of this scrappy Old Firm clash played, the manager would have had cause to scoff at those who insist major surgery is required at Ibrox.

St Mirren extended their unbeaten home record in the Scottish Premiership to nine matches after coming from behind to beat frantic 10-man Aberdeen.O'Hara scored his side's second penalty as Aberdeen toiled, and a third goal came in stoppage time - Greg Kiltie taking advantage with Roos up the pitch in search of a dramatic equaliser.

Newcastle United cruised past Leicester City to claim a sixth consecutive Premier League win and move up to second in the table.Chris Wood kickstarted a dominant performance by smashing the opener from the penalty spot before Miguel Almiron glided past the Leicester defence to tuck away the second.Joelinton headed the third from a Kieran Trippier corner for his second goal of the season as the Magpies demonstrated the clinical edge that the hosts were missing.

It had everything - superstars Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe going head-to-head, dramatic comeback goals and a nerve-wracking penalty shootout decider.Social media was sent into meltdown, sports stars around the world were transfixed and those in Lusail Stadium were treated to a mouth-watering showpiece.