Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake continued to be showered with accolades on the back of an outstanding season for Major League Soccer (MLS) club Philadelphia Union after being presented with the John Wanamaker Athletic Award earlier this week.
Blake made history last week when he became the first player to win the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honours on three separate occasions. The Wanamaker award, which has been presented to Philadelphia’s top athletes since 1961, is given to a team or organization which has done the most to reflect credit upon Philadelphia and the team or sport in which they excel.
Behind Blake’s top-class performances in goal the Philadelphia Union have reached the conference final of the MLS Cup, where they will play New York City on Sunday. The Jamaican custodian delighted in receiving the city’s recognition.
“I am grateful to be recognized by the Philadelphia sports community and honored to accept the Wanamaker Award on behalf of my family, teammates and the entire Philadelphia Union organization,” said Blake. “Throughout my career, I have strived to set an example on and off the field of what it means to be a strong leader and community advocate. I hope that I’ve inspired the future generation of young athletes to work hard and keep chasing their dreams.”
Napoli go seven points clear at the top with 2-0 win in Milan
Napoli won 2-0 away to AC Milan on Tuesday to extend their lead at the top of Serie A to seven points.
The visitors struck twice in the first half through Romelu Lukaku and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to seal their victory and put more space between themselves and second-placed Inter Milan.
Hosts Milan were rocked by Lukaku's goal, which came in the fifth minute and was his fourth of the season, while Napoli never looked back afterwards.
Antonio Conte's side scored a second with a wonderful curling effort from Kvaratskhelia that killed the game as a contest.
Milan did have an Alvaro Morata goal ruled out two minutes into the second half after a VAR review for offside, but that was the closest they came among a handful of decent opportunities.
But league leaders Napoli were able to hold on for their fifth consecutive league victory, which was also their ninth without defeat. Milan stay eighth on 14 points.
Data debrief: Dominant Napoli are challenging for another Scudetto
Tuesday's victory puts Napoli on 25 points after 10 matches, which is almost half of their entire total (53) from the 2023-24 season.
The match was also their seventh clean sheet in their last eight matches in all competitions, while they have conceded the equal-fewest goals (five) in Serie A.
They are unbeaten since losing against Hella Verona on the opening day and have won eight of their nine league games since.
Milan not out of title race according to head coach Fonseca
AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca was unwilling to rule his team out of title contention following their 2-0 home defeat to Serie A leaders Napoli, who now lead them by 11 points, on Tuesday.
While Milan have a game in hand over their victors, it's a considerable gap to bridge even having played just nine matches so far this season.
That is especially true when they have already lost three times, but Fonseca was not going to give up on the dream after being asked if it was still the objective after the match.
"I can't say the opposite, especially seeing how we played. How the team responded to a difficult moment and how it showed unity even without important players," Fonseca told DAZN.
Milan had to cope without key players including Theo Hermandez and Tijjani Reijnders against Napoli and their manager thinks they they will improve,
"No team has won the league after nine games and none has lost it after nine games," he said.
"For this reason, we must continue on the path of growth. Clearly we will need results to enter this fight."
Fonseca accepted the blame for the defeat to Napoli, but did say that he was happy with how his team responded after Romelu Lukaku put the visitors in front after just five minutes.
"I'm always responsible for what happens on the pitch and once again I take this responsibility," he said.
"It's not easy to start the game with a Napoli goal after five minutes, but if we look at the result, they scored two goals and we created the chances.
"The team had a good reaction at the beginning of the game, we played positive football with quality.
"It's not easy against a Napoli team that... defends in front of its penalty area."
Europe is the main aim for Napoli, but Scudetto is realistic according to Conte
Napoli manager Antonio Conte insisted that getting into Europe is the main aim with Napoli, although is finding it harder to ignore talk of the Scudetto after they extended their lead at the top of the league to seven points on Tuesday.
Conte's side won 2-0 away to Milan to earn their eighth victory in a nine-match unbeaten run in the league, with a considerable gap having opened ahead of second-placed Inter's trip to Empoli on Wednesday.
The 25 points they have already accrued, meanwhile, constitute almost half of what they did last season (53) during a terrible title defence that saw Napoli finish 10th.
But after such a dismal season compared to how they have started this one, Conte needs to balance expectations within the club.
"Scudetto? No one is hiding. We see realistically what we are doing this year," he told DAZN.
"After 10 games, it has something of the incredible and unexpected.
"Not even the craziest would have predicted it. But we remain with our feet on the ground.
"We know what our goal is, which is to return to Europe. But there are five or six teams that have the same idea.
"Winning in Naples would be something incredible. We have given ourselves three years. We are rebuilding something and it takes time."
Having performed so well at the start of this season, Conte is aware that it will be hard to stop the fans getting carried away.
"We try to feed the dreams of the fans, but we need to have balance," he said.
"Our fans followed us with passion even today, it is right that they dream. We have to be prepared when there is some setback.
"We want to make the Neapolitan fans proud of this team."
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