Mikel Merino in the red of the national team : Picture from Wikimedia Commons The World cup's final chapters are about to be written - with London players still very much involved in the chase for sporting immortality. The tension that is about to grip the nation on Wednesday as England take on Argentina in Atlanta will be underscored by the subtext of a north London confrontation between Tottenham's Crstian Romero and soon-to-be club team-mate Marcos Senesi for the world cha

wikimedia commons By Alessandro Schiavone Rafa Leao showed Premier League clubs that he’s far from being a fading force after setting up Gonçalo Ramos’ winning goal against Croatia in Toronto yesterday. In extra-time, the mercurial Portuguese maverick star looked up and picked out his new AC Milan teammate Ramos with an inch-perfect delivery into a crowded box. During the game he was a real handful for Croatia’s defence, who just couldn’t live with his darting runs and bursts

Gunners fans in euphoric mood It has been 22 long years but at last the Gunners have shed the nearly-men tag to land the Premier League title last won by the Invincibles. They are the champions. The fact they have done it without playing will be greatly appreciated by their fans, who have had to witness the torment of many narrow nail biting wins in recent weeks. Closing in on that elusive title has felt tortuous and Monday night's desperately grim 1-0 win over Burnley seemed

Once more unto the Bridge. Chelsea hosted their last home game of the season : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Chelsea (1) 2 Fernandez 18, Andrey Santos 67 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1 Richarlison 74 Never under-estimate Chelsea's capacity to rouse themselves if Spurs are the opponents. No matter how abject they may have been in the past month and a half, the Blues looked eager to shake off their Wembley disappointment by making life as difficult as possible for their north Lo

Blue afternoon at Wembley : Picture by @YTJourno FA Cup Final Chelsea (0) 0 Manchester City (0) 1 Semenyo 72 A brilliant backheel from Antoine Semenyo - gliding in front of Levi Colwill to reach an Erling Haaland cross - was enough to condemn Chelsea to a fourth defeat in their last four FA Cup finals. It was a goal worthy of settling such a grand occasion and barely reflected the Mancunians' superiority for most of the contest. The Blues did have a few good moments but overa

Back to the Bridge of Sighs : Picture by @YTJourno Premier League Chelsea (0) 1 Joao Pedro 90+3 Nottingham Forest (2) 3 Awoniyi 2, 52 Igor Jesus 15pen What was supposed to be an easyish afternoon against a team saving itself for a European semi-final turned out to be anything but, as Chelsea's grim league form continued. It is now six Premier League defeats in a row for the humbled Blues. Forest boss Vitor Pereira fielded a virtual shadow side to save legs for the trip to Vi

A game with a certain ring to it : Picture by @YTJourno FA Cup semi-final Chelsea (1) 1 Fernandez 23 Leeds United (0) 0 Managerless they may be, but old habits die hard for the Blues as they once again made it through to the FA Cup final and another shot at silverware. Their recent form has been so wretched, and their fans so disillusioned, that a pathway to any success this year seemed out of the question. A route to the Champions League has started to look beyond them but a

Brighton & Hove Albion (1) 3 v Chelsea (0) 0 Kadıoğlu 3 Hinshelwood 56 Welbeck 91 By Kaz Mochlinski at the Amex Community Stadium Premier League Matchweek 34 Chelsea’s collapse under Liam Rosenior went into freefall at Brighton as the Blues were beaten for a fifth consecutive league game without scoring, to record their worst run of results for over a century. This is the first time that Chelsea have experienced such a sequence since 1912 - and it was completed by a capitulat

I guess that's why they call it the Blues Brighton 3-0 Chelsea That's five league defeats in a row - all without scoring. Seven defeats in eight games. They now are not only seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool, but are also behind Brighton, who overtake them to move into sixth place. Their current run of defeats is their worst since 1912 - the year of the Titanic sinking. That stat invites the obvious headlines. This is simply not the sort of summary you expect from th

By Alessandro Schiavone While Arsenal look increasingly likely to cement their serial bottlers status once more on current form following their 2-1 defeat at Man City yesterday, their hated rivals from down the road Tottenham Hotspur are flirting with a shock relegation, and two-time European kings Chelsea could miss out on the Champions League once again, with fifth-placed Liverpool now holding a SEVEN-point lead. And that with only five fixtures left to negotiate before