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Salomon Rondon played the final half-hour of Everton’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

The summer signing was introduced on 63 minutes by Rafael Benitez in place of Fabian Delph but he only touched the ball seven times before the final whistle sounded at the Etihad Stadium.

At the end of the game, the Liverpool Echo’s Sam Carroll spotted that Rondon walked ‘straight off down the tunnel’. having not even offered ‘a wave to the travelling fans’ who’d endured the entirety of the loss. Captain Seamus Coleman was joined by Jordan Pickford, Michael Keane, Ben Godfrey, Lucas Digne, Tyler Onyango, Anthony Gordon and Andros Townsend in applauding the travelling Toffees supporters.

Rondon struggling since Everton move

Rondon has made eight Premier League appearances so far this season but is yet to open his goalscoring account for his new club. In fact, he’s received as many yellow cards (one) as he’s managed shots on target, and he has already come in for plenty of flak from some of the Goodison Park faithful.

Here’s what a selection of Everton fans had to say in response to Carroll’s reveal about the Venezuelan’s actions at the full-time whistle in Manchester.

These Everton fans slam Rondon after Etihad snub

“Rondon can carry on walking”

Credit: @ballantyne374

“Rondon’s done that since day one but we all know that if he was hounded out the club for it, he’d be the first to make out we’re the villains. Robbing a living he is.”

Credit: @TheDanMox

“Tbf it was a long walk to the away end – don’t think his fitness is up to it yet.”

Credit: @SteveMWilliams

“He isn’t fit enough to go over there yet”

Credit: @IndianToffy

“Criminal he’s getting minutes in front of Simms”

Credit: @GraemeMcV

“I know I keep banging this drum but the lack of passion in our squad for this club is diabolical. I struggle to think of any current LFC player that wouldn’t die for their fans, while most of our squad wouldn’t get a paper cut for us.”

Credit: @JHoughtonMedia

In other news, many Everton fans gushed over this stadium update.

The New Zealand cricket team was named the recipient of the Spirit of Cricket Award at the ICC Awards ceremony.It is the second time New Zealand has won this award (the first being in 2004) which is presented to the team which, in the opinion of the Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and Match Referees and the ten Full Member captains has best conducted itself on the field within the spirit of the game.The award was presented to New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori by Haroon Lorgat, the chief executive of the ICC.Upon receiving the award on behalf of his team Vettori said: “I think most teams within world cricket aspire to the intangible notion of the Spirit of Cricket. It’s not easy to define but I think when you get out on the field of play most guys know where that line is and most play the game in the right way.”If we can couple the Spirit of Cricket award with the ICC Champions Trophy then we will be very happy indeed.”This Spirit is described in the preamble to the Laws of Cricket: “Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its Laws but also within the Spirit of the Game. Any action which is seen to abuse this spirit causes injury to the game itself.”The preamble goes on to say: “The Spirit of the Game involves respect for:
*Your opponents
*Your own captain and team
*The role of the umpires
*The game’s traditional values
The award has previously been won twice by Sri Lanka (2007 and 2008), England won it in 2005 and 2006 while New Zealand took the honour at the inaugural ICC Awards in 2004.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left extremely proud of their club thanks to some news that has emerged ahead of their game against Ross County in the Scottish Premiership.

As per the official website of the Light Blues, the club will mark Remembrance Day on Sunday at the match with a minute’s silence in honour of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

The team will wear special commemorative poppy shirts in honour of the occasion, in what will be a fitting tribute from the club.

It is important that the day is treated with the utmost respect, and that is exactly what the Teddy Bears are doing ahead of November 11 next week, and the news has certainly left the supporters proud.

Steven Gerrard will also be hoping for a performance to match the one that he got from his side last time out in the Scottish Premiership, the 6-1 win away at Motherwell.

Rangers fans on Remembrance Day tribute

These Gers were left with nothing but pride as the ‘class’ news regarding the club’s tribute to Remembrance Day was shared on their official Twitter page:

“Class but expected”

Credit: @JT3106

“Love this club”

Credit: @stoofa2010

“Classy Rangers”

Credit: @bolton2021

“WATP”

Credit: @teddyh112

“Proud of my club”

Credit: @RangersRobbie83

“Lest We Forget”

Credit: @alangers82

In other news, find out what Ewan Murray claim has Gers fuming here!

Celtic will be without centre-back Carl Starfelt for their Europa League clash against Ferencvaros, The Daily Record report.

The Lowdown: Injury pile up…

Ange Postecoglou hasn’t had a great deal of luck when it comes to injuries in his first season in charge of the club.

At this moment in time, along with Starfelt, the likes of Tom Rogic, Christopher Jullien, Greg Taylor and Karamoko Dembele are all unavailable for first-team action.

Starfelt, who joined in a deal worth £4.5m over the summer, had been a regular in recent weeks alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers, however, he’ll now be missing until after the international break.

The Latest: Another one…

Starfelt went off with a hamstring issue in the 0-0 stalemate with Livingston last weekend.

Postecoglou has now confirmed prior to the Europa League group game that the 26-year-old, who he called ‘athletic’ will not feature against Ferencvaros or Dundee.

As reported by The Daily Record on Wednesday, Postecoglou said:

“We lost Carl Starfelt in the last game and similar sort of timeline to Tommy (Rogic) I guess.

“We are hoping he will be back after the international break, but he will definitely miss these two games.”

The Verdict: Who will come in?

The good news is that Postecoglou will have a number of options to replace Starfelt in his Europa League squad.

Osaze Urhoghide is still awaiting his Hoops debut, but you’d expect Stephen Welsh and Nir Bitton are the frontrunners to come into the side.

Welsh has made 10 appearances so far this season, whereas Bitton has also filled in when needed.

Teenager Dane Murray also has European experience under Postecoglou during the current campaign, so it’ll be interesting to see who comes in.

In other news: Devlin’s Celtic revelation on Jota, Juranovic & Kyogo before Ferencvaros. 

Match facts

Thursday June 18
Start time 1730 local (1630 GMT)The batting needs the likes of Shoaib Malik to really get his show going•Getty Images

Big Picture

It’s first a clash of ethos, of philosophies and even of time, more than a semi-final. Here is truly man against machine, the art of cricket against the science of it, cricket’s future and cricket’s past. South Africa’s progress to this point has been smooth, well-planned, calculated and inevitable, as if their players were born to do this. Pakistan have got here in shambles – losing games, winning some, treating it all as a bit of fun – and the players not so much born to do this are struggling to discover why they are doing it at all.South Africa lack nowhere and nothing. If Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith are the efficient drones at the top, there is heart in the middle, with the ever-frail skills of Herschelle Gibbs and the creativity of AB de Villiers. Even Albie Morkel, in whom there are glimpses of Zulu, thankfully smiles more. They’ve always had pace, but now they even have spinners, who are not batsmen forced to bowl. Sure, they are a little one-dimensional (watching videos of Umar Gul’s yorkers?), but they are spinners – South African and successful; how often have we said that in the past?The whole machinery is intimidating, determined to iron out all kinks, the mission pre-programmed; with seven consecutive wins in this format, they have apparently also taken the inherent unpredictability of this format out of the equation. They are well-trained, well-oiled, and their psychologist talks about 120 contests and of processes over outcomes and how choking is not really an issue anymore. They win even warm-up matches and the dead games because every game counts. They are cricket’s future.Pakistan are the past. They are wholly dysfunctional, but just about getting along, though unsure where they are going. They don’t control their extras, they don’t run the singles hard and they field as if it were still the 60s. They are least bothered about erasing the flaws because any win will be in spite of them. They did hire a psychologist though, and you can only imagine what those sessions were like and how much they actually talked about sport and cricket. There are permanent mutterings of serious rifts. They may not bat, bowl or field well all the time, but sometimes, they do what can only be described as a ‘Pakistan’: that is, they bowl, bat or field spectacularly, briefly, to change the outcome of matches. You cannot plan or account for this as an opponent because Pakistan themselves don’t plan or account for it.It can come from any person, any discipline, but on evidence, it is likelier to come from the bowling. The batting needs Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq to really get their show going. A piece of fielding brilliance cannot be discounted, but generally both Pakistan and West Indies have happily disproved the dictum that in T20 cricket you have to be Jonty Rhodes to get anywhere. Heroes will likely be found among the Umar Guls, the spinners and maybe even Mohammad Aamer, who is a throwback to the late 80s and early 90s, when Pakistani fast bowlers were born ready to play international cricket.The pressure on South Africa however, will be greater. They are expected to win this and anyway they will always have the whole ‘chokers’ tag to deal with until the day they actually lift a big trophy. It doesn’t help that they look as good as they did during the 1999 World Cup, though they are easier on the eye. Pakistan, as Younis Khan said before leaving for England, won’t much mind a semi-final spot; Kamran Abbasi rightly noted that they may have had an easier ride to the semis than most but no country has had a rougher two years. Clearly they’d love to win it, but they have already achieved more than many thought and a loss wouldn’t be the end of the world. But importantly, as the only side to make it to the last four in 2007 and 2009, they have underscored their significance in this brave new, T20 world, a world in which they absolutely cannot be ignored.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWLWL
South Africa WWWWW

Watch out for…

The whole South African machinery is intimidating – determined to iron out all kinks, the mission pre-programmed•Associated Press

Albie Morkel has been a quiet, steady ever-present through South Africa’s tournament. But he is capable of bigger, more explosive things especially with the bat and this match – and potentially the next – are the best platforms for it.Shahid Afridi‘s moment turned the tournament for Pakistan, an outstanding catch hastening New Zealand’s collapse, and possibly himself – at least with the bat. Since then he has batted with rare sense, as everyone has wished him to, and at little expense to his strike rate. He will be a factor with the ball anyway, but if he gets going with the bat, then South Africa will panic.

Team news

Pakistan have finally settled upon what they feel is their best line-up, more by chance than design. Barring injury, there are unlikely to be any changes.Pakistan: (probable) 1 Shahzaib Hassan, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Younis Khan (capt), 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Fawad Alam, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Mohammad Aamer, 11 Saeed AjmalJacques Kallis will come back in for Morne Morkel after being rested for the dead game against India.South Africa: (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Jacques Kallis, 3 Herschelle Gibbs, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 A Morkel, 7 M Boucher, 8 Johan Botha, 9 Roelof van der Merwe, 10 Wayne Parnell, 11 Dale Steyn

Pitch and conditions

The surface for this match is two along from the one that turned square for the South Africa-India match and is expected to be harder and offer less help for the spinners. However, the slow bowlers have had an impact throughout so are still likely to be key. Steady rain arrived in Nottingham on the practice day, but is due to clear overnight and the forecast for Thursday is fine.

Stats and Trivia

• Pakistan and South Africa have six bowlers in the top 10 wicket-takers of the tournament, though Pakistanis occupy the top two spots.
• Three of the top 10 run-scorers of the tournament are from South Africa and Pakistan, with AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis at numbers two and three.
  

  Quotes

  “Our bowling has been great and all of them are now bowling in rhythm. The batsmen have to support the bowlers if we are to win this cup.”

  “”I think we’ve come past that. This team has come a long way and I think we’ve proven that. Hopefully we can show that on Thursday, that’s what is exciting about it. “
  “It’s great to be in a position where you can rock up to a ground, look at the wicket and know you have all the bases covered. We aren’t really worried what the wicket will be.”

أدلى ويلفريد زاها نجم فريق كريستال بالاس، بتصريحات بعد التعادل في مباراة الأمس مع فريق ليفربول، في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

واستضاف ملعب “الأنفيلد” مباراة الفريقين في ختام منافسات الجولة الثانية من الدوري الإنجليزي، حيث تعادلا بهدف لمثله. ملخص مباراة ليفربول وكريستال بالاس

وتمكن ويلفريد زاها من تسجيل هدف التقدم لصالح كريستال بالاس في الدقيقة 32، وسنحت له أكثر من فرصة أخرى للتهديف.

وقال زاها في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “بي بي سي” العالمية: “كنا نعلم أنه سيكون عملاً شاقًا، وكان الأمر يتعلق باستغلال فرصنا، كنا نعلم أننا سنضطر إلى المعاناة، ولكن خطتنا كانت تتمثل في التعامل مع الأمر بهدوء والاستفادة من الفرص، لذلك أنا سعيد بهذه النقطة”.

وأضاف: “هدفي؟ كانوا يتقدمون للأمام وكنت أبحث عن مساحة في الخلف، لا يتطلب الأمر سوى فرصة واحدة وأنا سعيد لأنني انتهزتها اليوم”.

وواصل: “بمجرد أن لعبها إيزي كان في ذهني ما أريد أن أفعله، لم أكن أرغب في أن يضبط حارس المرمى نفسه، لذا أخذت الأمر مبكرًا”.

واختتم: “نحن فريق جيد ونتعامل مع الفرق الكبيرة بشكل جيد، لذلك أنا متفائل للغاية بشأن هذا الموسم، خاصة فيما يتعلق بالطريقة التي نلعب بها”.

Manchester United have been linked with a move for Nicolo Barella as they look to add further reinforcements to their engine room.

What’s the story?

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, the recruitment team at Old Trafford are already beginning to plan for the January transfer window and beyond as their troubles on the pitch continue to mount.

They claim that a new central midfielder is high up on the United hierarchy’s wishlist and the Inter Milan midfielder is their priority target after a string of standout displays from the highly-rated 24-year-old for both club and country in recent months.

Fans will be buzzing

With Paul Pogba’s future at Old Trafford far from secure, a large section of the club’s supporters will be excited to learn that the Red Devils are reportedly in the market for Barella.

The Italy international has established himself as one of Serie A’s most influential stars over the last couple of campaigns, playing a pivotal part in Inter’s first league title victory in 11 years last term.

His impressive performances have earned several plaudits in his homeland, including former Juventus star Claudio Marchisio.

Barella then carried his incredible club form onto the international stage during the European Championships, scoring one goal and laying on a further two assists in six outings as the Azzurri claimed the Euro 2020 trophy over England.

Therefore, Red Devils football director John Murtough must consider a swoop for the £58.5m-rated beast over the coming months as he’ll be providing the 20-time English champions with one of the best young central midfielders in Europe right now.

And, in other news…Reliable journo drops big update on Solskjaer’s future, Man Utd fans will be intrigued 

The greatest test that Gautam Gambhir passed was not only to survive the fourth day, but to come back on the fifth and renew the battle with complete concentration

Sidharth Monga in Napier30-Mar-2009

Mark Greatbatch batted for 655 minutes and 435 balls for his unbeaten 146 to save the Perth Test in 1988-89. It wasn’t too different from the innings Gautam Gambhir played – 643 minutes and 436 balls for 137 runs, to save the Napier Test.Greatbatch talks about how he set himself small targets. “You are following on, 290 behind, and it was about batting out time,” Greatbatch remembers. “[Set] little targets. An over meant four minutes, four overs were 15 minutes. Eight overs meant half an hour, and 15 were an hour.” Taking that formula forward, 15 overs would mean a drinks break, the same cycle repeated would mean a session break, and that repeated three times a day would mean stumps.For Gambhir, the cycles started with 74 minutes remaining on the third day. By the end of the fourth day, he had seen through four such drinks breaks, two session breaks and another two interruptions for stumps. He got breaks from the intense concentration by opting for a cap when the spinners operated together, and then switching to helmets as a fast bowler approached. He would have been a really tired man last night, physically, and more importantly, mentally. Suppressing his natural dominating game for more than seven hours and showing fierce focus to take India into the final day would have drained his mind.That was not the tough part, though. It was more difficult knowing that his job had not yet been completed – the team needed to bat through at least two more drinks breaks and two more session breaks to save the Test. He would need to get the adrenaline down, get a good night’s sleep, and then get himself up again. It was difficult to imagine how much more Gambhir could dig into. Did those reserves of concentration exist?It would have been tempting to take the easy route, though. To go for quick runs. No one would complain if he had got out. There were two of the best Test batsmen of this era around him, with another talented batsman to follow. The pitch was flat and Gambhir could have easily gone for quick runs. But he didn’t leave the job unfinished, rather he started it anew.In the first hour today, he added eight runs. In that first hour, Sachin Tendulkar got out as well. The team was still in deficit as the spinners kept tempting him with wide balls thrown up outside off. He still didn’t give in to the temptation.In the end, he added only 35 to his overnight 102. But runs didn’t matter today. Crucially he added 209 minutes to his 434 minutes of stay overnight. And that’s what mattered.Not long ago, Gambhir was an impetuous young man not doing justice to his quick footwork and wide array of strokes. There were technical flaws that the bowlers gleefully exploited. But he has taken care of the front foot that used to fall over. He may elbow a bowler now and then, but he has shown he can concentrate for long periods of time.After close to 11 of his finest hours in top-level cricket, Gambhir will be seen in a different light, the temperamental tough kid is left far behind. His indebted captain, Virender Sehwag, has taken the lead. “I think Gautam played an innings of a lifetime,” Sehwag said. “I can say that because hardly any player plays for almost 11 hours nowadays. He is the one who saved the game for us. I think we can call him the second Wall of the Indian cricket team. This one comes from north.”

MatériaMais Notícias

O torcedor do Botafogo vem acompanhando críticas e ele mesmo vem criticando – ou vinha – o setor de criação do time desde o início deste ano. Aliás, desde o ano passado. Em 2016, Camilo foi solução por dois meses, mas não conseguiu boa sequência desde então. Montillo chegou e saiu sem conseguir ser a solução esperada. Mas agora, além da consolidação de João Paulo, Jair Ventura recebeu o chileno Leonardo Valencia como reforço, e viu Marcos Vinícius, na primeira partida como titular, colocar até bola na trave. É a fila andando, e o treinador está otimista.

-Nós estamos analisando a performance de todos os atletas. Mas todos são importantes. Eu, como treinador, vi que o Marcos estava pedindo passagem. E o primeiro tempo do dele disse isso. A gente adora ele (o Camilo), tenho muita gratidão, mas tenho que analisar o momento e utilizar o que temos de melhor. Hoje, hoje, o Marcos está melhor. A briga é entre eles. Vocês estão vendo quem foi melhor ou não. A diferença é que vocês (jornalistas) acham e eu tenho que tomar atitudes. E isso indifere de tempo de casa ou maior salário. Se o Marcos inicia mal, ele vai para trás. Quem se escala é o jogador – garante.

Jair ficou para lá de satisfeito com a atuação de Marcos Vinícius. E revelou que, na negociação que levou o apoiador para o Glorioso, o atleta estava reticente em se mudar para o Rio. Não acreditava que teria muitas oportunidades. Mal sabia ele que receberia um telefonema.

– É um jogador que eu já conhecia desde o Cruzeiro, e gostava. Apareceu a situação da troca pelo Sassá e eu liguei para ele. Ele estava “meio assim” de vir como troca e eu falei: “Já te conheço. Você não está vindo como troca.” Sei que ele vai nos ajudar. Ele chegou com uma lesão, então fomos colocando-o aos poucos. Hoje (quarta), na preleção, perguntei quem ainda não havia começado jogando? Só ele (além de Luis Ricardo, que esteve lesionado). “Então você vai começar.” O Primeiro tempo dele foi fantástico. Sabíamos que ele iria cansar, como cansou. Por isso o tiramos no início do segundo tempo – explica.

Por sua vez, Marcos Vinícius deixou a timidez de lado por alguns instantes, após o Clássico Vovô. O ex-atleta da Raposa se colocou na briga pela titularidade.

– Sem dúvida. Não tem titular absoluto. Quem estiver bem vai jogar. Fico muito feliz por ter feito uma boa partida e mais feliz ainda pela vitória. Infelizmente, a bola não quis entrar hoje. O goleiro deles foi muito bem. Mas, se Deus quiser, no próximo jogo a bola vai entrar – espera o meia.

Outra opção de Jair Ventura, possivelmente já para a partida de segunda-feira, é Leonardo Valencia. O chileno já foi anunciado oficialmente pelo Botafogo, e o treinador acredita que o atleta será de grande valia no decorrer da temporada.

– Ele é baixo (1,69m), mas, nos testes, o Manoel Coutinho, nosso fisiologista, gostou muito. E o Valencia tem bom chute, bola parada muito boa. É um meia, como o Montillo. E seguimos procurando atacantes. Mas estou muito otimista, e ele chega pronto. Claro que tem a adaptação ao país. É mais um na briga dos camisas 10 – comemora o treinador.

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Chelsea are waiting to discover the extent of an injury to striker Romelu Lukaku ahead of their clash with Aston Villa this weekend, the Evening Standard reports.

The lowdown

£97.5million signing Lukaku has started Chelsea’s last two matches following his move from Inter Milan.

The Belgian was labelled ‘unplayable’ and ‘incredible’ by Arsenal great Sol Campbell after scoring in a man-of-the-match performance against the Gunners on his second Chelsea debut.

Villa, for their part, will head to Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening without Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia, who have been playing international football in ‘red list’ countries and so can’t yet return to the United Kingdom (via Birmingham Mail).

However, they may be boosted by the return of Bertrand Traore and summer signing Leon Bailey, with Dean Smith suggesting last month they would be back in contention after the break (via Premier Injuries).

The latest

Lukaku is suspended for Belgium’s World Cup qualifier against Belarus on Wednesday, clearing him to make him an early return to Chelsea.

However, he will first undergo a scan on what he calls a ‘minor’ thigh issue with which he’s been ‘struggling’ for ‘a while’.

This could rule him out of this weekend’s visit from the Villans, in what is surely a boost for Smith and co given the striker’s potency in recent years, scoring 24 and assisting 11 in Serie A last term.

The verdict

Villa fans might have had little hope of getting anything away against the European champions, particularly with no prospect of any Martinez heroics or creative flair from Buendia.

But there’s no denying that it would be a big blow to Chelsea if Lukaku was sidelined. He’s their deadly finisher and he can single-handedly dominate defences due to his physicality.

If Smith doesn’t have the Belgium star to worry about it may be easier to plot a way to stifle the hosts and launch counter attacks through the likes of Danny Ings, Traore and Bailey.

In other news, Kevin Phillips issues his verdict on a prospective Villa signing.