Danny Welbeck is loving life under “special man” Roberto De Zerbi and hopes Brighton can keep hold of their highly-rated coach.
De Zerbi has the high-flying Seagulls challenging for European football amid widespread plaudits for his attractive, possession-based style of play.
Eighth-placed Albion underlined their credentials for continental qualification by thrashing Wolves 6-0 on Saturday to register a club-record Premier League win.
Welbeck, who scored twice against Wanderers, believes De Zerbi is doing an “unbelievable job” and is not surprised the Italian continues to be linked with a host of top clubs.
“We’re obviously very happy to have him here,” the forward, who played for Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger earlier in his career, said of his current manager.
“Playing for him and his team and his style, it’s unbelievable.
“I think every single job that comes up, with him doing so well, he’s going to be getting linked to that. But hopefully he’s still here.
“I don’t like to rank managers because I’ve got a lot of respect for each and every one, you learn so much from every single manager you have, but he’s definitely a special manager and the style of play is so enjoyable to play underneath.
“You learn so much every single day. He’s a special man.”
Former England international Welbeck struck either side of half-time against Wolves as Brighton ended a challenging week in emphatic fashion.
Deniz Undav and Pascal Gross also claimed doubles to help the Seagulls bounce back from last weekend’s painful FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester United and a 3-1 midweek defeat at lowly Nottingham Forest.
Albion have already equalled the club-record top-flight points tally of 52 set in 1982, but Welbeck knows De Zerbi will not allow standards to drop going into the final seven matches of the campaign.
“Every single day at the training ground he’s always the same,” said the 32-year-old.
“He’s very direct and he knows how he wants his team to play and, credit to the boys, everybody has bought into his style.
“He keeps everybody motivated, everybody on their toes wanting to be better, wanting to improve, the young players are getting opportunities. He’s doing an unbelievable job.
“I’m loving it. It’s very enjoyable. It’s a great football club to be at.”
Welbeck departed the Wembley pitch before last weekend’s agonising 7-6 shoot-out loss to his former club United due to an injury.
He concedes bouncing back from that deflating defeat was tough.
“It wasn’t easy, but there’s not time really to feel sorry for yourself because that’s not going to get you anywhere,” he said.
“I think the result in midweek against Forest was a little bit of a hangover from the cup semi-final, so we had to pick ourselves up and go again.
“We did (against Wolves) and it sets us in good stead for the rest of the season.”
A top-seven finish and entry into the Europa Conference League is Brighton’s minimum objective.
Welbeck, who has plenty of Champions League and Europa League experience from his time at Old Trafford and Emirates Stadium, is not allowing himself to think too far ahead.
“It’s important to set high aims and, for us to get there, we’ve got to do our job on the pitch and we’re really looking forward to it, it’s exciting times,” he said.
“I don’t really want to talk too much about that until if it actually comes. It would be amazing though.”
Luis Enrique does not expect PSG-Lyon league game to have a bearing on cup final
Paris St Germain head coach Luis Enrique believes his side’s Ligue 1 meeting against Lyon this weekend will have no bearing on next month’s Coupe de France final.
PSG host Lyon at the Parc de Princes in the league on Sunday and the two sides will clash again in the cup final on May 25 in Lille.
Enrique’s believes this meeting will be a good test for his side, fresh from their Champions League quarter-final success in midweek, but does not see it as a dress rehearsal for next month.
He told a press conference: “Tomorrow’s game will be completely different to the final in the Coupe de France based on the importance.
“But as a game that comes above others, given the context, it is a really good test for us to see how we are doing against the best team in Lyon.
“They have put in the best results and they have got to the final, so that shows they are working very hard and it will be a real test for us, but I don’t know if there will be any similarities between tomorrow’s game and the final. Finals are different.”
PSG go into Sunday’s clash 10 points clear of Brest at the top of the Ligue 1 table while Lyon sit in seventh and are aiming to clinch a European spot.
Only six league matches remain for the Parisians, who are on track for a 12th league title, but Enrique is in no rush to wrap up first place so they can focus on the Champions League and the cup.
He said: “There is no urgency of any sort. The aim is the same as always, which is to win the league sooner or later.
“But what matters is being competitive in any match and representing this club in the best way and we want to be competitive whether we win it sooner or later because with the competitions that we are in we need to be competitive in every game, whether we win Ligue 1 in two or three weeks.”
Having already clinched the French Super Cup in January, PSG remain on course for four trophies after their midweek European success.
They completed a 6-4 aggregate success against Barcelona on Tuesday to reach the last four of the Champions League and Enrique praised the impact of all of his players.
“In order to be able to compete for every trophy as I have said, you need a really big squad of at least 23 players,” he added.
“That is what we need here and as the season has progressed we have seen the importance of those players. As for who is important in the last month and a half we have seen the players need to be ready and work hard when we need them.
“I think the team is continuing to progress and I am happy to see the players’ attitude in training.”
Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy goals secure vital Leicester win over West Brom
Leicester returned to the top of the Championship with a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion and two more victories from their remaining three games would secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Enzo Maresca’s side could go up on Tuesday if they beat Southampton at the King Power Stadium.
Jamie Vardy’s 15th league goal of the season effectively sealed the victory and made up for him missing a penalty in the first half.
Leicester took the lead through Wilfred Ndidi in the 22nd minute after Albion had dominated the early stages and missed a string of chances to take the lead.
West Brom manager Carlos Corberan will wonder how his side managed to squander so many oppportunities to score, and their second successive defeat means their play-off place is by no means certain.
They did eventually find the net through their captain, Jed Wallace, with 14 minutes left, but could not force an equaliser.
Leicester’s win owes much to central midfielder Hamza Choudhury who made three goal-line clearances – two of them coming within seconds of one another.
But with both teams recording a combined total of almost 30 shots, the game was partly a tale of the opportunities that were squandered.
West Brom could have had the match won inside the first 20 minutes. With Maresca’s team playing out from the back, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall passed the ball straight to Okay Yukuslu, but he put his hurried shot over the bar.
Mikey Johnston was then involved on three occasions, seeing an effort cleared off the line after 14 minutes. He then had a shot saved by Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen before putting another chance over the bar.
Leicester made Albion pay for their wastefulness in front of goal by taking the lead. Stephy Mavididi pulled the ball back for defender Wout Faes who crossed for Vardy. His header was kept out by Albion goalkeeper Alex Palmer but Ndidi converted the rebound from close range.
Maresca’s side looked set to take a two-goal advantage into the break. Vardy ran on to a long ball from Hermansen a minute before half-time and was pushed over by West Brom defender Conor Townsend in the 18 yard box. Vardy had scored four penalties from four this season, but he hit the post from his fifth spot kick of the campaign.
Choudhury then cleared off the line twice in the space of a few seconds after 51 minutes. First, he blocked a shot from Yann M’Vila and then denied Grady Diangana. The drama continued as, from the resulting corner, Kyle Bartley headed against the bar with Diangana unable to get the vital touch from close range.
Again, Albion were punished for missing their chances as Vardy increased Leicester’s lead after 65 minutes. Choudhury found Abdul Fatawu on the right and his cross was met by Vardy who headed in from close range.
West Brom finally found the net when defender Cedric Kipre’s inch-perfect pass found Wallace who slid the ball past Hermansen.
Chelsea stun Barcelona to take first-leg lead back to Stamford Bridge
Erin Cuthbert gave Chelsea a priceless first-leg lead in their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona after inflicting a first home defeat for five years on the holders.
Cuthbert’s 40th-minute strike was enough to secure a 1-0 win at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys – Barca’s first defeat of the season – on an afternoon when the Blues produced a superb defensive display to deny the free-scoring defending champions a single shot on target.
Things might have been different, however, had referee Stephanie Frappart not been advised to review her decision to award the hosts a second-half penalty for handball to leave Emma Hayes and her players with something to defend at Stamford Bridge next Saturday.
Jess Carter and Kadeisha Buchanan had to be resilient at the heart of the Blues defence early on, although it took a well-timed intervention by Ingrid Engen to prevent Johanna Rytting Kaneryd from making the most of Cuthbert’s 10th-minute ball over the top.
Carter had to be in the right place at the right time to block Salma Paralluelo’s 16th-minute shot after a pacy break by Aitana Bonmati and Buchanan was equally alert to deny the same player after she had burst clear six minutes later.
The visitors were growing into the game with Mayra Ramirez making in-roads down the left and they got their reward five minutes before the break when Sjoeke Nusken held the ball up and then squared for Cuthbert, whose shot looped up off Engel and over keeper Catalina Coll.
But they looked to be in trouble seconds later when the referee awarded a penalty against Buchanan after she had blocked Patri Guijarro’s goal-bound effort with her arm, only for a lengthy VAR review, which showed that Paralluelo had been offside in the build-up, to come to their rescue.
Paralluelo volleyed horribly wide after being picked out at the far post by Caroline Graham Hansen and substitute Alexia Putellas missed the target with salvation beckoning with the final kick of the game.
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