Malaysia lost at least 3 key players before the AFF Cup final; Premier League match results

Malaysia lost a series of key players before the AFF Cup final

Malaysia created a spectacular upset at Thailand's Rajamangala Stadium when they held their opponents to a 2-2 draw, thereby winning a ticket to the 2018 AFF Cup final thanks to the away goals rule.

However, they also paid a heavy price with injuries to many key players. First was the case of top central defender Aidil Zafuan.

After an attempt to block in the first half, the player wearing the number 7 shirt on the Malaysian side suffered a hamstring injury. Malaysia's number 1 striker, Idlan Talaha, after scoring against Thailand to equalize 2-2, also showed signs of muscle strain and was substituted in the 80th minute. Not to mention, the number 1 choice on the left wing, Syazwan, was unable to participate in the second leg of the semi-final due to a ligament injury.

Malaysia also lost another important factor in defense, right-back Syahmi Safari - who scored the equalizer 1-1 with a beautiful cannon shot.

Syahmi received a second yellow card and was sent off for handling the ball in the penalty area in injury time, meaning he will definitely miss the first leg of the final.

Surprise about the referee of the Vietnam vs Philippines match

The Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) has just officially announced the referee who will officiate the second leg of the semi-final between Vietnam and the Philippines at My Dinh Stadium. Specifically, the referee who will officiate the second leg of the AFF Cup 2018 semi-final between Vietnam and the Philippines is Mr. Kimura Hiroyuki, a 36-year-old Japanese referee.

He has experience of refereeing major matches in FIFA tournaments since 2010. Hiroyuki's two assistants are Yagi Akane (Japanese) and Manoj Kalwani, the referee for this match will be Ahmad A'Qashah Bin Ahmad Al'Badowe (also Singaporean).

Referee Kimura Hiroyuki is no longer a strange name to Vietnamese football. In 2016, at the AFF Cup, this Japanese referee was the main referee in the 2-1 victory of the Vietnamese team against Myanmar.

Notably, in that match, Mr. Kimura Hiroyuki was heavily criticized by Myanmar fans because they thought that this referee had made biased decisions in favor of the Vietnamese team. Typically, Que Ngoc Hai's foul in the penalty area caused Myanmar to unfairly lose a penalty.

De Gea makes mistake, Martial & Lingard rescue MU

Welcoming Arsenal at home in round 15 of the Premier League, coach Mourinho surprised everyone by not using Pogba, Lukaku, Sanchez, Valencia... instead, Rojo, Dalot, Darmian were placed in the starting lineup. Playing at home, MU intended to attack their opponents but their efforts were unsuccessful. After the initial explosive period, Man United retreated to defend.

Thanks to that, Arsenal started to approach De Gea's goal. In the 26th minute, from a corner kick, Mustafi comfortably headed towards MU's goal. De Gea caught the ball uncertainly, leading to the Red Devils' loss. However, just 4 minutes later, Martial shone to equalize 1-1 for MU.

In the second half, both teams pushed up. In the 68th minute, MU's defense made another mistake. Marcos Rojo passed the ball wrongly, allowing Lacazette and Mkhitaryan to combine freely before the French striker finished to raise the score to 2-1. But just 1 minute later, Lingard equalized 2-2 for MU with a close-range shot. In the remaining time, neither team scored any more goals, accepting a draw.

With this draw, MU's position on the rankings has not changed. Meanwhile, the draw has pushed Arsenal out of the Top 4. They have the same 31 points as Chelsea but lose on goal difference.

Liverpool came from behind to beat Burnley, Chelsea suffered a shocking loss to Wolves

Premier League results

MU 2-2 Arsenal
Everton 1-1 Newcastle
Wolves 2-1 Chelsea
Burnley 1-3 Liverpool
Tottenham 3-1 Southampton
Fulham 1-1 Leicester City

Burnley looked to have made a difference against Liverpool when they took the lead in the 54th minute thanks to Cork's strike. However, The Kop made an impressive comeback to take all 3 points away from home. James Milner equalised for Liverpool in the 62nd minute before Roberto Firmino and Shaqiri scored to seal a 3-1 win for the home team. With this victory, Liverpool maintained their 2nd place, maintaining a 2-point gap with leaders Man City.

The shock hit Chelsea in their away match against Wolves. They took an early lead thanks to Loftus-Cheek's goal in the 18th minute, but Chelsea had to fend off a strong response from their home team. Wolves rose up and attacked relentlessly after conceding the goal. Their efforts were converted into a goal in the 59th minute thanks to Jimenez's goal. Less than 5 minutes later, Jota shocked Chelsea fans with a goal to make it 2-1.

In the remaining time, Wolves maintained the score, thereby having their first win after 7 rounds in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Chelsea lost 3rd place to Tottenham, the team that crushed Southampton with a score of 3-1.

Southampton appoints new coach

Southampton FC has decided to appoint Ralph Hasenhuttl as the team's main coach to replace Mark Hughes who was fired on Monday. Ralph Hasenhuttl is not a strange name to football fans because he once helped RB Leipzig achieve great success. In the first season of RB Leipzig's promotion to the Bundesliga, Ralph Hasenhuttl helped the team win 2nd place. Last season, Leipzig finished 6th. However, Ralph Hasenhuttl decided to leave the team because he could not reach an agreement on a contract extension.

Leading Southampton at this time will be a difficult task for coach Ralph Hasenhuttl. The St'Mary team is currently ranked 18th in the Premier League table with 9 points after 15 matches. Early this morning, they lost 1-3 to Tottenham under the guidance of the assistant coach.

MU must "judge" Pogba and Mourinho

The Independent newspaper said that after being scolded by Mourinho and blamed for MU's 2-2 draw with Southampton, Paul Pogba told his teammates that he could not stand this situation anymore. Meanwhile, the Portuguese strategist is said to have also reported to MU's big bosses that he had tried everything with Pogba but to no avail!

MU now has to "judge" Mourinho and Pogba, if they want MU to focus on playing and aiming for better results.

According to the above source, the relationship between Mourinho and Pogba is getting worse day by day because of the people involved. The player is playing below his level, not completing his mission, while the teacher is failing to build a world-class squad. Not to mention, Mourinho also has a habit of blaming the players whenever his team plays poorly.

Barca should buy De Jong, De Ligt now!

Former player Patrick Kluivert warned his old team Barca that Man City is also interested in signing Ajax star duo De Jong and De Ligt, so the Catalan team should act now or miss out.

"They are two great talents and very suitable for Barca's style. Both De Jong and De Ligt are national team players and their value is increasing day by day. There are many clubs interested in this duo, but Barca's style of play is the most suitable, this is also an important factor in their decision.

I know Man City, a club with strong financial resources, are also pursuing De Jong and De Ligt and this could be a problem for Barca.

De Jong (21 years old) is a great player. He is like Sergio Busquets. De Ligt (19 years old) is very strong, calm, good ball control. He has the quality to play for Barca as well as any team."

In addition to Barca and Man City, according to news from Bild newspaper, Bayern Munich is also preparing 150 million euros to bid for the talented duo of Dutch football.