Defending Manning Cup champions Jamaica College remained winless after two games this season after falling to a shock 0-1 loss at home against Kingston Technical High School in Group A action on Wednesday.
Jaheem Bryan scored the winning goal for Kingston Technical that see them climb to fourth place in the group with three points, two more than Jamaica College that have one point from their two games so far. JC drew their opening match against Calabar High School 0-0.
Elsewhere in the group, Calabar secured a 5-0 win over Bridgeport in the 12:00 kick-off at Stadium East thanks to a Darren Chinnon hat trick.
In the 3:00 pm match at the same venue, Demar Brown got both goals as Charlie Smith defeated Kingston High 2-0.
Over in the rural DaCosta Cup competition, DeCarteret College and Bellefield High played to an exciting 2-2 draw in Group D action at the Manchester High School Field.
DeCarteret’s Alex Muschamp opened the scoring in the 57th minute with an acrobatic finish off a corner kick. DC doubled their lead two minutes later when team captain Douglas Whitely scored with a free-kick from beyond the half-line, the ball taking an awkward bounce over the head of Bellefield goalkeeper Chad Wright.
Bellefield would eventually rally and cut the deficit in half in the 70th minute through a tidy finish from Mark Rowe. They levelled the scores in the 87th minute through a Renardo Forquharson penalty.
DeCarteret College assistant coach, Merrick Plummer, put the result down to a loss in concentration by his team.
“We’re not happy because we were leading 2-0 until the last 20 minutes," he said. "We lost focus and the concentration level dropped so we ended up giving away the two late goals.”
Bellefield head coach Rayon Johnson regretted missed chances by his team.
“It’s not a happy moment to come out with a point. We started out well, created a few chances that we should have scored but it’s just unfortunate that we conceded and everything went on its head,” he said.
In other results:
Group B
Green Pond 4 Godfrey Stewart 0
Mannings School 3 Green Island 1
Petersfield 3 Rusea’s 1
Group C
Munro College 1 Maggotty High 0
STETHS 0 B.B. Coke 0
Group D
Christiana 5 Belair 1
Holmwood Technical 0 Manchester High 0
Group F
Kemps Hill 1 Foga Road 3
Old Harbour 1 Garvey Maceo 2
Group H
McGrath High 2 Charlemont 2
York Castle 3 St. Mary High 2
Ocho Rios High 0 Dinthill Technical 0
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Liverpool opener a chance to show Milan progression, says Fonseca
Paulo Fonseca believes Milan's Champions League opener against Liverpool is the perfect opportunity to show the team's progress under his stewardship.
Fonseca, who arrived at the San Siro from Lille in July, picked up his first Serie A victory for the Rossoneri on Saturday with a 4-0 rout of Venezia.
All four goals came in the first 30 minutes of that encounter, the first time Milan had done so in a league match since October 1958 against Alessandria.
Milan welcome a familiar foe in the competition in Liverpool on Tuesday, with the pair having squared off in the 2005 and 2007 finals, both winning one apiece.
The Italian side also faced the Reds in the Champions League group stage in the 2021-22 season but lost on both occasions as Liverpool reached the showpiece match, only to lose 1-0 to Real Madrid.
But Liverpool come into the contest off the back of a shock 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend, the first defeat of the Arne Slot era.
However, Fonseca insisted that despite their opponents' latest result, his side must eradicate their own mistakes and be defensively perfect to kickstart their campaign with a victory.
"I think Liverpool is one of the strongest teams in Europe. They have a good game and strong individuals," Fonseca said.
"We have to be perfect defensively, you cannot make mistakes.
"I see it as an opportunity to show our progress. It will lead us to do different things... but also to prove our worth.
"I am sure it will. The support of our fans is always important for us. Tomorrow it will be like that, we want to feel their love."
Milan's new signing and Euro 2024 winning captain, Alvaro Morata, is also expecting a difficult test against Liverpool on Tuesday.
Morata returned to action as a second half substitute against Venezia after missing two games with a back injury after marking his debut with a goal against Torino.
The Spaniard also has an impressive record against Liverpool, failing to lose in his five appearances against them (won three and drawn two) while also scoring once.
"It will be a great challenge, we have so many different players, and we have to fix so many mechanisms, only time will tell," Morata said.
"Ever since you arrive at a club like this you dream of playing with Liverpool in the Champions League, it could even be a semi-final, it's strange that we play right away.
"There is so much desire. These are the games that make sporting history."
Koopmeiners backed to shine in Champions League opener by Motta
Thiago Motta is confident that new signing Teun Koopmeiners will excel is included in their Champions League opener against PSV.
The 26-year-old has featured in two games for Juventus since joining from Europa League winners Atalanta for €54million in August.
Koopmeiners, who missed out on a place at Euro 2024 with the Netherlands due to a muscle injury, has played just 135 minutes so far, but has created the third-most chances out of the Juve players (four).
And Motta said the Dutchman has already gelled well with his team-mates in training and expects him to make an impact if he is involved.
"It doesn't look like he hasn't trained for a month. He's integrating very well," Motta told reporters.
"He's trying to put all his qualities at the disposal of the team. Everyone who is called up tomorrow is doing very well.
"We expect everything we expect from the rest of the team. If he plays tomorrow, he will perform great. Together with his teammates, he can do great things."
Motta joined as head coach in June and will become the 10th different manager to take charge of Juventus in the Champions League.
The Italian is looking forward to leading the team in the competition after they were banned last year for breaching licencing and Financial Fair Play rules.
"Great pride to start this competition. Then we play at home against a good team," Motta added.
"I can't wait to start the match. We want to put in a great performance to bring the result on our side."
Juve had a busy transfer window with Koopmeiners the most high-profile of several arrivals, including fellow midfielders Douglas Luiz and Khephren Thuram plus left-back Juan Cabal.
However, the 42-year-old Motta remained tight-lipped on whether he would give chances to several debutants after a goalless draw with Empoli in Serie A on Saturday.
"Everything counts in football - experience, enthusiasm and desire. At Empoli, we played well without getting the result we wanted. Now it's a closed chapter," he added.
Juve midfielder Manuel Locatelli also said the draw at Empoli made them "angry, but it's a closed chapter", and they are looking forward to their game in Europe's top competition.
"Last year we missed it a lot. We are excited, and we can't wait to get on the pitch. Hearing the music is special, and the fans will give us a hand," the Italy international said.
"We have signed strong midfielders with a lot of quality and experience who raise the level of the team. It is a pleasure to play with them".
Premier League MD4: Lucky winners and unlucky losers
The Premier League is back after the international break, with plenty more thrills and spills to keep everyone entertained.
Manchester United got back to winning ways with a sweeping 3-0 win over Southampton, while Nottingham Forest stunned Liverpool at Anfield.
Manchester City continued their perfect start with a comeback win over Brentford, and on Sunday Arsenal claimed bragging rights in the North London derby.
But who were the lucky winners and the unlucky losers to emerge from this weekend's set of fixtures, according to the underlying metrics?
With the help of Opta data, let's find out.
Lucky winners: Nottingham Forest
Liverpool had made a perfect start to life under Arne Slot and were yet to concede a goal heading into matchday 4, but after a two-week break, things were not quite as rosy.
The Tricky Trees had faced 26 strikes before Callum Hudson-Odoi's long-range effort curled beyond Alisson, ending a 55-year wait for a Forest win at Anfield.
Forest managed just five shots in the game, creating an expected goals (xG) of 0.44, with Hudson-Odoi's strike only contributing 0.07 to that. They also managed just five touches in the opposition box.
Liverpool may not have been at their high-flying best, but they had 34 touches in the opposition area and had 14 attempts on Forest's goal but could not find a way through a well-drilled Nuno Espirito Santo side as Slot got his first taste of defeat in the job.
Unlucky losers: Brighton
Technically, Brighton were not 'losers' as they continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 0-0 draw with Ipswich Town.
But based on the metrics, they were unlucky not to come away with three points against the newly promoted side.
The Seagulls had a whopping 21 shots at the Amex Stadium, but accumulated just 1.66 xG, and only managed to test Arijanet Muric on six occasions despite their continued dominance.
They also had three big chances, from which players would have been anticipated to do better, but Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter failed to convert them as Fabian Hurzeler's side endured a frustrating day.
Lucky winners: Arsenal
Most Arsenal fans will not care how the victory over rivals Tottenham happened, just that they came away from the visit with three points, but the Gunners were savvy in their victory.
Indeed, Arsenal's two lowest possession averages (on record) in a Premier League game against Spurs have both come in 2024, with Sunday’s match their lowest total (36.3%).
Mikel Arteta's side did create a slightly higher xG (0.74 to 0.71), but from a much lower shot count as they only had seven attempts on Spurs’ goal, with Gabriel Magalhaes’ close-range header worth 0.23 xG.
It was Arsenal's lowest xG of the season so far (0.87 xG on MD2 is second), but their clinical edge proved the difference against a wasteful Spurs.
Unlucky losers: Fulham
Like Brighton, Fulham do not class as losers as they drew 1-1 with West Ham, but Marco Silva will be disappointed to have let the three points slip from their grasp.
Raul Jimenez's goal looked to have earned them a second win of the season until Danny Ings' clinical finish denied them.
Fulham were another of the teams to have 21 shots this weekend, the joint-most along with the Seagulls, though their 1.54 xG came in slightly lower, despite creating four big chances, of which they squandered three.
West Ham had only accumulated 0.52 xG until Ings' intervention, pushing it up to 0.76 with their third and last shot on target, condemning the Cottagers to a second consecutive draw.
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