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Murray helps Brighton complete FA Cup fifth round field

By Nicholas MendolaFeb 6, 2019, 6:14 PM EST

Man City win appeal against UEFA Champions League ban

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By Joe Prince-WrightJul 13, 2020, 8:03 AM EDT

CAS statement

CAS said the club was cleared of “disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions” and their fine was also reduced by a third to $12 million. Here is the statement in full from CAS:

“The CAS award emphasised that most of the alleged breaches reported by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) were either not established or time-barred. As the charges with respect to any dishonest concealment of equity funding were clearly more significant violations than obstructing the CFCB’s investigations, it was not appropriate to impose a ban on participating in UEFA’s club competitions for MCFC’s failure to cooperate with the CFCB’s investigations alone.

“However, considering i) the financial resources of MCFC; ii) the importance of the cooperation of clubs in investigations conducted by the CFCB, because of its limited investigative means; and iii) MCFC’s disregard of such principle and its obstruction of the investigations, the CAS panel found that a significant fine should be imposed on MCFC and considered it appropriate to reduce UEFA’s initial fine by two-thirds, i.e. to the amount of EUR 10 million.”

Manchester City statement

Manchester City released the following statement on the decision, as they are still in the Champions League this season and they lead Real Madrid 2-1 after the first leg of their Round of 16 clash

“Whilst Manchester City and its legal advisors are yet to review the full ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Club welcomes the implications of today’s ruling as a validation of the Club’s position and the body of evidence that it was able to present. The Club wishes to thank the panel members for their diligence and the due process that they administered.”

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]

Manager Pep Guardiola was shown celebrating with his staff in a quickly deleted Instagram post, while players, fans and everyone connected with the club breathed a huge sigh of relief as the ban, which was announced in February, cast a huge shadow over the club as many believed star players, and maybe Pep, could leave if the ban was upheld.

What now for Premier League clubs?

This decision also has a huge impact on Premier League clubs chasing Champions League qualification this season as fifth place will no longer by a Champions League spot.

Man City will finish second in the Premier League and previously it was believed their UCL spot would be passed down to fifth place if their ban was upheld. Now there will be an almighty scrap between Chelsea, Leicester City, Manchester United and Wolves for third and fourth spot in the final three matchweeks of the season. It also has an impact on Europa League spots further down the table.

Many across the soccer landscape in Europe are now questioning whether FFP should remain, or at the very least be overhauled, as Manchester City having their entire two-year UEFA ban overturned came as a huge shock to many.

UEFA reaction

UEFA also released a statement as they admitted there was “insufficient conclusive evidence to uphold all of the CFCB’s conclusions in this specific case and that many of the alleged breaches were time-barred”.

However, European soccer’s governing body defended FFP rules overall.

“Over the last few years, Financial Fair Play has played a significant role in protecting clubs and helping them become financially sustainable and UEFA and the European Club Association remain committed to its principles.”

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NBC Sports Premier League schedule

By Joe Prince-WrightJul 12, 2020, 5:06 PM EDT

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The new NBC Sports Premier League schedule for the 2019-20 season has been released, with time and dates for the upcoming matchweeks confirmed and here’s how you can watch it all live on TV in the USA.

[ WATCH: Premier League video ]

With games spread out across multiple days and many in separate time slots, there are lots of changes to your regular schedule as the league returns on June 17 after being suspended on March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Games will be played in empty stadiums and at home venues.

The full TV schedule for the games this month are below, plus you can watch every single second of every single game live online via NBC Sports.com, the NBC Sports App and by purchasing the “Premier League Pass” via NBC Sports Gold and the new Peacock streaming service from NBC.

Below is the new schedule for the Premier League on NBC Sports from June 17 to July 22 , as we will release the dates and times for the final matchweek of the 2019-20 season when they become available and how to watch them in the USA.

Premier League: How to watch, schedule in USA (all times EST)

Matchday 35

Saturday, July 11: Norwich City 0-4 West Ham
Saturday, July 11: Watford 2-1 Newcastle United
Saturday, July 11: Liverpool 1-1 Burnley
Saturday, July 11: Sheffield United 3-0 Chelsea
Saturday, July 11: Brighton 0-5 Manchester City
Sunday, July 12: Wolves 3-0 Everton
Sunday, July 12: Aston Villa 2-1 Crystal Palace
Sunday, July 12: Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal
Sunday, July 12: Bournemouth 4-1 Leicester City
Monday, July 13: Man United v. Southampton, 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN

Matchday 36

Tuesday, July 14: Chelsea v. Norwich, 3:15 p.m. ET
Wednesday, July 15: Burnley v. Wolves, 1 p.m. ET
Wednesday, July 15: Man City v. Bournemouth, 1 p.m. ET
Wednesday, July 15: Newcastle v. Tottenham, 1 p.m. ET
Wednesday, July 15: Arsenal v. Liverpool, 3:15 p.m. ET
Thursday, July 16: Everton v. Aston Villa, 1 p.m. ET
Thursday, July 16: Leicester v Sheffield United, 1 p.m. ET
Thursday, July 16: Crystal Palace v. Man United, 3:15 p.m. ET
Thursday, July 16: Southampton v. Brighton, 3:15 p.m. ET
Friday, July 17: West Ham v. Watford, 3 p.m. ET

Matchday 37

Saturday, July 18: Norwich City v. Burnley, 12:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, July 19: Bournemouth v. Southampton, 9 a.m. ET
Sunday, July 19: Tottenham v. Leicester, 11 a.m. ET
Monday, July 20: Brighton v. Newcastle, 1 p.m. ET
Monday, July 20: Sheffield United v. Everton, 1 p.m. ET
Monday, July 20: Wolves v. Crystal Palace, 3:15 p.m. ET
Tuesday, July 21: Watford v. Man City, 1 p.m. ET
Tuesday, July 21: Aston Villa v. Arsenal, 3:15 p.m. ET
Wednesday, July 22: Man United v. West Ham, 1 p.m. ET
Wednesday, July 22: Liverpool v. Chelsea, 3:15 p.m. ET

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Premier League standings

By Nicholas MendolaJul 12, 2020, 5:00 PM EDT

1 Comment

The Premier League is back a three month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic. Below you will find a reminder of the Premier League standings as we get back to business.

[ MORE: Latest PL TV schedule ]

With three matchweeks remaining in the 2019-20 Premier League season, there is plenty to play for up and down the league and the standings are extremely tight.

Liverpool have wrapped up the Premier League in stunning fashion over Man City, with the reigning champions and current second-place side eager to focus on cup competitions.

Three of the top four should stay there unless Leicester City’s form dips considerably, but the race for fourth and fifth should be fierce. We may know whether fifth is a Champions League place after scheduled June 8-10 meetings to hear Man City’s appeal over its European ban.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]

With between nine and 10 matches left for everyone and eighth potentially being a Europa League spot, all the teams between fourth and 11th still have European hopes in the balance. That would change should Norwich City or Newcastle win the FA Cup, so call it 13 clubs.

The action is going to come fast and often, with the league putting together a staggered schedule of kickoff times that will make matches even more of an all-weekend affair.

Below are the Premier League standings in full, as we will updated them throughout the remainder of the 2019-20 season.

PREMIER LEAGUE STANDINGS

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Home	Away	PTS
Liverpool	35	30	3	2	76	27	49	17-1-0	13-2-2	93
Manchester City	35	23	3	9	91	34	57	13-2-2	10-1-7	72
Chelsea	35	18	6	11	63	49	14	9-3-5	9-3-6	60
Leicester City	35	17	8	10	65	36	29	10-4-3	7-4-7	59
Manchester United	34	16	10	8	59	33	26	10-5-2	6-5-6	58
Wolves	35	14	13	8	48	37	11	7-7-4	7-6-4	55
Sheffield United	35	14	12	9	38	33	5	10-3-5	4-9-4	54
Tottenham Hotspur	35	14	10	11	54	45	9	11-3-4	3-7-7	52
Arsenal	35	12	14	9	51	44	7	8-6-3	4-8-6	50
Burnley	35	14	8	13	39	47	-8	8-3-6	6-5-7	50
Everton	35	12	9	14	41	52	-11	8-6-3	4-3-11	45
Southampton	34	13	5	16	43	56	-13	5-2-10	8-3-6	44
Newcastle United	35	11	10	14	36	52	-16	6-8-3	5-2-11	43
Crystal Palace	35	11	9	15	30	45	-15	6-4-7	5-5-8	42
Brighton & Hove Albion	35	8	12	15	36	52	-16	5-6-7	3-6-8	36
West Ham United	35	9	7	19	44	59	-15	5-3-9	4-4-10	34
Watford	35	8	10	17	33	54	-21	6-6-6	2-4-11	34

Bournemouth	35	8	7	20	36	60	-24	5-6-7	3-1-13	31
Aston Villa	35	8	6	21	38	65	-27	6-3-9	2-3-12	30
Norwich City	35	5	6	24	26	67	-41	4-3-11	1-3-13	21

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Leicester ‘too soft, lacked courage’ after stunning collapse at Bournemouth

By Joe Prince-WrightJul 12, 2020, 4:48 PM EDT

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Leicester ‘lacked courage’ according to reaction from their manager and captain as an inquest was held in the aftermath of their stunning collapse at Bournemouth on Sunday.

[ MORE: New PL TV schedule ]

The Foxes led 1-0 at half time but a few minutes of madness saw them make huge errors, have Caglar Soyuncu sent off and concede four goals as they lost 4-1 at relegation-threatened Bournemouth and are now in real danger of not qualifying for the Champions League.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game in an interview, Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers shared his reaction lambasted his side for their unbelievable collapse at Bournemouth

“We lacked courage in the second half, to take the ball,” Rodgers said. “We had good opportunities and decent control in the first half. They changed their shape a little bit. For the first 15 minutes you’ve got to grind it out. They’ve got nothing to lose and have to come after the game. You’ve got to grind it out in football sometimes. You can always play fantastic football. That first 15 minutes we did that but we weren’t making quick enough angles, weren’t taking responsibility on the ball. We concede the penalty, which is then, okay, we get to 1-1. But we still have to show a greater mentality in the game. It is something that surprised me, to be honest. In all the time I’ve been here I mentioned in the week about the strength of mentality in this team. But second half we were too soft in too many ways. That was the big disappointment. To end up losing 4-1, it was a big surprise, especially after the first half.”

Leicester captain and goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel, made a huge error for the first goal as he smashed the ball against Wilfred Ndidi from a goal kick and that set off the entire collapse.

“It is obviously not good enough from us. It is a good wake up call for us and hopefully it’s there in time,” Schmeichel said. “We’re accountable. I’m very, very sorry to our fans for that second half particularly. It starts with me on that goal kick because it changes the game.”

Schmeichel then went on to say that the collapse shouldn’t happen and questioned the focus and work ethic of his teammates.

“This is football. These things can happen. They shouldn’t but they can do. We are going to have to reflect on that and make a positive out of it. We are going to have to work a hell of a lot harder than we did second half if we want to achieve anything this season. It is an eye-opener. It doesn’t matter who you are playing against in the Premier League, if you don’t run, track your runners, if you don’t win your tackles or have the courage to have the ball, like we didn’t have second half, then anyone can beat you.”

With Sheffield United, Tottenham and Chelsea left to play, Leicester finish the season by playing three teams around them in the table.

Rodgers admits he has learned a lot about his team from this defeat and it is a big opportunity missed in their hunt for the Champions League.

“I think it is a great learning game for me and looking at the team because I think everyone is classifying us being up there and we have shown great talent to be up there but we still have much to do. In terms of being up there consistently and showing again that you need to see the likes of that through,” Rodgers said. “It was a big opportunity. The door was wide open to jump up into third place. To have that level of performance in the second half, it shows we have a lot of work to do.”

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CAS statement

Manchester City statement

What now for Premier League clubs?

UEFA reaction

Premier League: How to watch, schedule in USA (all times EST)

Matchday 29

Matchday 30

Matchday 31

Matchday 32

Matchday 33

Matchday 34

Matchday 35

Matchday 36

Matchday 37

PREMIER LEAGUE STANDINGS