Tag: Crystal Palace

USMNT’s Chris Richards is running out of time to get fit before the World Cup

It’s time to start nervously tugging on some shirt collars

The U.S. men’s national team will reveal its World Cup roster next week, and that tight timeline is not looking good for Chris Richards.

The Crystal Palace center back has been out for over a month with a hamstring injury, and according to his boss at club level, he’s only just begun workouts separate from the team.

“Chris has started doing some work outside but he didn’t do any kind of training with the team yet,” said Patrick Vieira in quotes published by The Athletic. “What is important is about him physically, there is a step he has to go through and at the moment he hasn’t done any kind of training with the squad.”

Vieira added that he is following guidance from club doctors, giving them the final say on whether Richards is cleared to train or not.

“The decision is not going to be mine but with the doctor we have to decide as a club what is best for the club,” said the former Arsenal and France midfielder, who reportedly indicated that he plans to speak with USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter in the near future.

Richards the latest concern

As is the case with many national teams, injuries are starting to pose more and more of a conundrum for the USMNT.

A healthy Richards seems like a strong bet to make Berhalter’s 26-man squad, and possibly even start in Qatar. However, it’s not known how severe his hamstring issue is, and the USMNT is 17 days away from kicking off against Wales.

Given that center backs are generally counted on to play the full 90 minutes if at all possible, Richards likely needs to go beyond being fit enough to play some minutes, and get to a place where he can reliably play a full match.

If Richards were the only concern, the situation wouldn’t be ideal for the USMNT. Instead, the list long enough that we need to break out the bullet points:

That list doesn’t include the long-term injury Miles Robinson suffered a few months ago, and it doesn’t account for any of the bad news to come between today and the final two rounds of club matches before players report to the USMNT.

In other words, it’s gonna be a long, nervous couple of weeks before that flight to Qatar lifts off.

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Erling Haaland explodes for second-half hat trick in Manchester City win over Crystal Palace

Haaland’s probably going to score a few goals this year

It seems like Erling Haaland is going to score a lot of goals for Manchester City.

For the second week in a row, the defending Premier League champions came from two goals down to get a result, this time in a 4-2 win over Crystal Palace, and it wouldn’t have happened without Haaland’s first hat trick since completing a summer move from Borussia Dortmund.

Palace raced out to an early 2-0 lead at the Etihad Stadium thanks to a John Stones own goal and a powerful header from Joachim Andersen, and got into halftime without conceding.

Last week, Newcastle lead Man City 3-1 only for Pep Guardiola’s side to come back for a 3-3 draw. This time, they took it a step further, scoring four times in the second half to make it three wins out of four to start the 2022-23 season.

Bernardo Silva got the comeback in motion with a 53rd minute goal, setting the stage for Haaland. First, the Norway striker knifed through the Palace defense to nod in Phil Foden’s delicate 62nd minute cross, leveling the scores.

Man City then took the lead in the 70th minute, as Haaland got the final touch following a stunningly intricate sequence of one-touch play inside the box after a quickly-taken corner had caught Palace off-guard.

Finally, Haaland sealed his hat trick as the game got stretched. Ilkay Gundogan drove forward through the midfield before pushing play forward to Haaland, who held off a defender before powering a shot past Vicente Guaita, effectively killing the game off with his league-leading sixth goal of the season.

“It was a proud moment for me and my family and yes I’m happy,” Haaland told the BBC after the match. “It’s a mentality that we trust each other and we know the chances will come. It’s about keeping going. In the end we scored four goals and that’s a really good thing.”

“We have not done anything special for him that he didn’t do before,” noted Guardiola, again speaking to the BBC. “It is important for him to get goals. He has the sense to score goals. The third one, to have the quality to be strong then put the ball in the net.”

Check out Haaland’s hat trick

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Joachim Andersen got death threats for the crime of being headbutted in the face

Andersen posted a sampling of the abuse he received from fans. It was not pretty

Joachim Andersen has shared some of the vile abuse he received online, including death threats, after he was headbutted by Liverpool forward Darwin Núñez in Monday night’s game.

Andersen tangled with the Liverpool striker for 55 minutes before the Uruguayan lost his cool and headbutted the Danish defender square in the face.

After the game, which ended in a 1-1 draw, Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp said that Andersen “provoked” Núñez, but also admitted the striker was wrong to react the way he did.

The day after the game, Andersen posted on his Instagram stories, saying he got between 300-400 “of these messages last night. I understand you support a team but have some respect and stop act tough online.”

Andersen then posted a sampling of the abuse he received from fans in his inbox. It was not pretty.

The BBC reported that Andersen reported the messages to the police via Crystal Palace’s police liaison officers.

Núñez, meanwhile, posted an apology on Twitter on Tuesday.

“I’m aware of the bad attitude I had,” he said. “I’m here to learn from my mistakes and make sure they don’t happen again.”

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Darwin Núñez just went and lost his mind

The striker’s Anfield debut was memorable for all the wrong reasons

Darwin Núñez had a memorable home debut at Anfield, just not in the way he would have hoped.

The Liverpool striker damaged his side’s bid for three points against Crystal Palace by getting sent off for a vicious headbutt on Joachim Andersen.

This wasn’t one of those headbutts where two players come together and one recoils back in agony after a slight touch. Núñez, when slightly provoked by Andersen, got his money’s worth when he drove his forehead into the Dane’s chin and drew a deserved a 57th-minute red card.

Liverpool, down a goal at the time, battled back admirably and drew level after a superb individual effort by Luis Díaz. But despite pressuring Palace late with a man disadvantage, Liverpool could only draw 1-1.

It was the second straight draw to start the season for the Reds, who are already four points behind Man City. Considering the kind of early-season form City has shown, that already appears to be a big deficit.

Watch Núñez’s headbutt

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Christian Benteke leaves Crystal Palace for MLS in club record deal for D.C. United

Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke has joined Wayne Rooney at D.C. United after the clubs reached a deadline day deal.

Christian Benteke is heading to D.C. United, as the MLS club announced a deadline day move to acquire the Belgium striker from Crystal Palace.

Benteke, 31, will be available to play for Wayne Rooney’s side once his International Transfer Certificate and U.S. work visa are approved. His contract runs through the 2024 season, with a club option for 2025.

“Christian is a top player who has played at the highest level for a long time,” said Rooney in a club statement announcing the move. “His experience and ability to score goals and help the team will be invaluable. It’s exciting for the team and myself to get him in and playing. He will make a huge difference.”

With 45 caps for Belgium and 280 Premier League appearances, Benteke will be expected to be one of the most dangerous strikers in MLS once United can put him on the field. Still, the move comes after a rough patch with Palace, where Benteke began the 2021-22 season as the club’s first-choice striker only to fade into a substitute role due to poor finishing form. His last Premier League goal came in November of 2021, and he only appeared in four of Palace’s final 16 games of the season.

That said, in the 2020-21 season, Benteke scored 10 goals for Palace, a rate that points to having the quality to help an MLS team in need. United sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and are 27th out of 28 teams. 19 teams have scored more goals than the Black-and-Red this season, though the presence of Taxi Fountas (11 goals) and Ola Kamara (8) has left them less in need of a goalscorer than better play at the back.

“We are getting an elite striker in Christian and completing this signing on transfer deadline day is a huge accomplishment for the club,” said United GM Lucy Rushton in a team statement. “Christian is a dynamic forward who has scored goals at the highest levels. His strength and power will make him a focal point of our team and his ability to link-up play will be a valuable asset to us. We are excited to get Christian integrated with the team so he can make an immediate impact on the field in the final stretch of the season.”

How will Benteke fit in with D.C. United?

Rooney’s plans for Benteke surely include a partnership with the electric Fountas, but how that will look remains to be seen. Since Rooney officially signed on as the team’s new head coach, they have played out of a 4-2-3-1 formation, then a very fluid 4-4-2, and on Wednesday night used a 4-3-3 that Rooney hinted was tailored for Charlotte FC.

For most of 2022, United has been a high-pressing team, but under Rooney, they have dropped their lines off and seem more ready to find a big center forward’s feet (having traded to acquire another target man, Miguel Berry, earlier in the transfer window) than the previous, more vertical approach.

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USMNT defender Chris Richards joins Crystal Palace from Bayern Munich

The defender becomes the fourth USMNT player to move to the Premier League this summer

U.S. national team defender Chris Richards has completed a transfer to Crystal Palace from Bayern Munich.

The 22-year-old has signed a five-year contract at Palace, becoming the fourth USMNT player to move to the Premier League this summer after Matt Turner, Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson.

“I grew up watching the Premier League and grew up of course watching [Wilfried] Zaha, so it’ll be cool to spend some time on the field with them [the Palace players] and be a part of this historic club. I’m really excited for it,” Richards told Palace’s official website.

“The kind of project I’ve seen [attracted me]. It’s a lot of young players but also young players who have a lot of fight. Palace is a club that seems like they’re always fighting.”

Richards originally joined Bayern from FC Dallas in 2018 after a successful trial. He made 10 total appearances for Bayern’s senior team but established himself as a regular at Hoffenheim over two separate loans during the past two seasons.

There was plenty of reported interest in Richards this summer as it became clear Bayern was open to a sale. Several Premier League teams and Hoffenheim were reported to be in the mix, but Patrick Vieira’s Palace has won the race for Richards.

Richards has been capped eight times by the USMNT and appears to be in the mix for a starting role at the 2022 World Cup.

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Everton saved itself with a dramatic comeback and mid-game pitch invasion

The Toffees guaranteed Premier League survival as fans stormed the Goodison Park pitch on multiple occasions

Everton clinched Premier League safety in the most dramatic fashion imaginable, overturning a two-goal deficit to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 on Thursday.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s 85th minute header ensured Everton’s survival and also led to a mid-game pitch invasion in absolutely wild scenes at Goodison Park.

The Toffees went down two goals in the first half as they appeared set to sweat out their Premier League status on the final day of the season Sunday.

But second-half goals from Michael Keane, Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin secured Everton’s survival. As the referee blew his whistle for full time, fans in blue stormed the pitch yet again.

Watch Everton’s pitch invasion

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Crystal Palace vs. Manchester United Live Stream, Premier League Lineups, TV Channel, Start Time

Manchester United will travel to take on a struggling Crystal Palace, stream all the Premier League action live!

Manchester United will travel to take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Thursday while they look to increase their chance for a top-four spot in the Premier League.

Crystal Palace has had some tough matches in the last couple of games and doesn’t have much to play for at this point in the table. This is a huge game for Man Utd and will be looking for those three points.

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Crystal Palace vs. Manchester United

  • When: Thursday, July 16
  • Time: 3:10 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: NBCSN
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

Premier League Lineups

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Ward, Sakho, Dann, Van Aanholt; Milivojevic; Townsend, McCarthy, Kouyate, Zaha; Ayew

Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Williams; Fred, McTominay; James, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial

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