Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is making no apologies for his team’s no-nonsense approach to winning football matches.
The Magpies headed for Germany on Monday ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League clash with European big guns Borussia Dortmund, having muscled their way past Premier League rivals Arsenal on Saturday evening to add another significant scalp to their season’s collection.
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta was incandescent in the wake of the 1-0 defeat at St James’ Park, which was secured by Anthony Gordon’s lone strike, but only after it survived – much to the Spaniard’s disgust – three separate VAR checks, although his mood was not improved by the manner in which the Magpies blunted his attack.
However Howe, whose team was on the end of side-swipes from Arteta and Manchester United counterpart Erik ten Hag last season, said: “We’re not intentionally ruffling any feathers, we’re just trying to win.
“I want the players to stand up for each other, I want them to play competitive football. I want us to be strong in certain moments – which we have to be – and I think we did all of those things on Saturday.
“I’ve got no issue at all with how we played.”
Newcastle skipper Jamaal Lascelles was furious that Arsenal counterpart Jorginho, who had been involved in one of the game’s flashpoints when he was caught off the ball by Bruno Guimaraes’ flailing arm, refused to shake his hand after the final whistle.
Howe said: “We just play the game. Look, I think we play hard, we play the game in a really strong way because we want to win. But I think we play fair and we will do the same again.”
Lascelles’ defensive colleague Fabian Schar was equally unrepentant when asked if he enjoyed the nastier side of the game.
The Switzerland international said: “I enjoy doing whatever it takes to win a game. Sometimes, it is what is needed.
“A game can go different ways. We know what we need to do.
“Sometimes you play nice football and sometimes, like Saturday, you have games that are really tight and intense, a lot of fouls. There were things off the pitch too.
“But I don’t really care, it’s the three points that matters.”
Victory over the Gunners came at a cost with left-back Dan Burn facing two months on the sidelines after landing on the base of his spine after an aerial challenge, while potential replacement Matt Targett could miss a month longer with a hamstring injury.
That leaves Howe’s resources in Germany severely depleted with wide-man Jacob Murphy, who needs surgery on a twice-dislocated shoulder, also having been added to a list of absentees which already included the suspended Sandro Tonali and the injured Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Harvey Barnes, Javier Manquillo and Elliot Anderson.
Newcastle already faced a stern of tests against a Dortmund side which won at St James’ Park a fortnight ago, but is still smarting from Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat by arch-rivals Bayern Munich, and while the degree of difficulty may have increased markedly, Schar is relishing the prospect of running out in front of a sell-out 81,000-plus crowd with his career seemingly reaching new highs by the week.
The 31-year-old said: “It’s definitely the best time in my career, to be honest. You’re playing in the best league, you’re playing, for myself, where I feel really comfortable.
“It feels my second home. I’ve been here now four or five years, so I feel really confident and obviously the city and the club. They gave me a lot and I just want to give something back.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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