Pep Guardiola has hailed Erling Haaland for pressing "like an animal" and believes the Manchester City striker is in better physical shape than he was last season.
Haaland scored his 10th hat-trick for City as they came from behind to beat Ipswich Town 4-1 on Saturday, moving onto four goals from two Premier League appearances in 2024-25.
The Norwegian has now scored at least once against all 23 teams he has faced in the Premier League, with Harry Kane (32/32) the only player to have faced more sides in the competition while scoring against all of them.
However, Guardiola has been most impressed with Haaland's work off the ball, saying: "I like when he runs a lot. I like when he presses like an animal. I like it. It helps to score a goal.
"When you are connected defensively, you are connected offensively. His body language – imagine a central defender has the ball and he makes a sprint with this body and legs moving. It's scary.
"This is not negotiable. If you don't score a goal, it's fine. But you need to do it."
Haaland scored 27 top-flight goals to win his second Golden Boot last season, despite missing almost two months with a foot injury in the middle of the campaign.
Guardiola believes Haaland is over his physical issues, adding: "He feels good. Last season he always had problems in the hips, in the ankles, in the knee.
"This season of course he takes care of himself with the physios really well, but I had the feeling that he is sharper.
"After training sessions he stays longer to practice crosses and control. Last season it never happened because he was not perfect.
"With his body, he has to be perfect to perform at that level. That's why you have an incredible organisation to help the players to be comfortable to perform at their best."
Brighton sign O'Riley from Celtic on five-year deal
Brighton have announced the signing of Matt O'Riley from Celtic on a five-year contract.
The Denmark international was signed for a fee believed to be more than £25million, a new record transfer fee received by a Scottish club.
O'Riley joined Celtic in January 2022 from MK Dons, going on to make 124 appearances for the Scottish champions. He scored 27 goals and registered 35 assists in all competitions for them.
In the Scottish Premiership last season, only Lawrence Shankland (24) scored more goals than O'Riley (18), while he got the most assists (13).
Of his goals, 13 were scored from big chances, while he created the third-most chances of any player in the competition (93), behind only James Tavernier and Danny Armstrong.
"He plays a very specialist position; he is very good at occupying and attacking the right space. He likes making deep runs, and knows when to attack at the right time," Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler said of his new signing.
"He enjoys getting forward and attacking the opponent's penalty area, but he also has a good defensive instinct. That balance makes him special. He is a great character and has a good ambition to succeed and that's something which is very important for us."
Celtic had rejected five bids from Atalanta from O'Riley, with their highest offer being £21.5m plus add-ons.
The 23-year-old is Brighton's eighth signing of the transfer window, following Yakuba Minteh, Mats Wieffer, Amario Cozier-Duberry, Malick Yalcouye, Brajan Gruda, Ibrahim Osman, and Georginio Rutter into the club.
Jamaica wins CFU Boys’ U14 Challenger Series title with 7-1 demolition of French Guiana
Jamaica’s young Reggae Boyz capped off a phenomenal showing at the Tier 1 CFU Boys' U14 Challenger Series with a dominant 7-1 victory over French Guiana in the final on Sunday at the Dwight Yorke Stadium.
Carlondo Morris and Kelvin Brown were the stars of the day for the Jamaicans with a hat trick and a brace, respectively.
French Guiana went ahead in the 21st minute through a looping shot from Matheo Francois before Brown equalized in the second half.
Morris then gave the Jamaicans their first lead of the day in the 52nd minute.
In the blink of an eye, the lead swelled to 5-1 through goals from Brown (54’) and a brace from Morris (58’, 61’) to complete his hat trick.
Second-half substitutes Samuel Taylor and Jaedan Brown-Hanniford notched goals to complete the 7-1 win for Jamaica.
In their six games in the tournament, Jamaica went unbeaten scoring 25 goals and conceding just two.
Jamaica also dominated the individual awards with Marcodean Spence copping the best goalkeeper award, Brown for best forward, and Davion Clarke for Most Valuable Player.
Meanwhile, Barbados took the Tier 2 title, defeating Bermuda 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
Former England manager Eriksson dies aged 76
Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has died at the age of 76 after being diagnosed with cancer.
Eriksson, who led England between 2001 and 2006, announced in January he had "best case, a year" to live after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
The Swede was subsequently the subject of an Amazon Prime documentary, in which he delivered an emotional farewell message to fans.
"I hope you will remember me as a positive guy, trying to do everything he could do," Eriksson said in the documentary.
"Don't be sorry, smile. Thank you for everything, coaches, players, the crowds. It's been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life, and live it."
A widely reported statement released by Eriksson's family on Monday read: "After a long illness, Sven Goran-Eriksson died during the morning at home surrounded by family.
"The closest mourners are daughter Lina; son Johan with wife Amana and granddaughter Sky; father Sven; girlfriend Yanisette with son Alcides; brother Lars-Erik with wife Jumnong.
"The family asks for respect for their wish to mourn in private and not be contacted."
Eriksson was the first foreign manager to lead England and oversaw runs to the quarter-finals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups as well as Euro 2004.
He oversaw 67 games in charge of the Three Lions, with only Walter Winterbottom (139), Alf Ramsey (113), Gareth Southgate (102) and Bobby Robson (95) leading the team on more occasions.
Eriksson's move into international management came after he won league titles with Benfica and Lazio, also lifting the Coppa Italia while in charge of both Roma and Sampdoria.
He also had spells in charge of Manchester City, Mexico, Ivory Coast and Leicester City after leaving the England job.
After revealing his cancer diagnosis, Eriksson said it was his "lifelong dream" to coach Liverpool and was invited to lead a team made up of Reds greats in a charity game versus Ajax legends at Anfield.
Having received a standing ovation from a capacity crowd, Eriksson described the occasion as "absolutely beautiful", adding: "That will be a huge memory in my life."
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