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Wembley Stadium

2024/25 EFL Championship, Play-Off Final: Tommy Watson’s last-minute goal sends Sunderland back to the PL over heavy favourites Sheffield United by 2-1

by Sports Benches May 25, 2025

Wow! We thought overwhelming favourites Sheffield United would be the one to win this Play-Off final who always got straight out of the 2nd tier many times before – even though they weren’t very good in the PL before going straight back down again but that was via Top 2 automatic spots.

Nothing can be granted where it has to be decided through 90-100 mins of sheer effort on the pitch and turns out the winner wasn’t the 3rd-placed Blades.

Instead, Sunderland would be one to take home both the Play-Off Final match and the last PL promotion ticket with thanks to 19-year-old left winger Tommy Watson, who scored that last-gasp winning goal past Michael Cooper in the 95th minute.

That was enough for Sunderland to hold off just seconds later when the ref blew the final whistle with the result being 2-1.

Scenes, what scenes?

Sunderland is now a PL side again for the first time in eight years that goes back to early 2017. Yes, Watson may no longer be at the club unfortunately going into next week when he will be joining Brighton having already agreed for an undisclosed transfer, regardless of Sunderland’s league status. But again, he’s just 19 years old and just getting started hoping he will go on to thrive at the highest level as well as playing for senior England someday – could be fast tracked ahead of next year’s World Cup under coach Thomas Tuchel.

Aside from Watson, Sunderland will be able to do whatever they want to establish themselves again like it was before, especially from a financial perspective with players like forward Eliezer Mayender who got away with the 2nd half equaliser.

Meanwhile, Blades as earlier will have to spend another year in the Championship.

They’ve come from a long way when they started off the 2024/25 season being two points down amid ownership issues. Now that may have been sorted mid-season at the end of last year while flying high within the Top 2. But it was a pity Sheffield United couldn’t stop not one but two promotion-chasing clubs by May with first being Leeds United and later Burnley.

That puts up a hotly-contested Play-Offs race thinking they will be going to be too good but not quite the case today – just unlucky from an early lead to a disallowed goal and later lost the plot at full-time.

All they have to do now is just continue being the best at this level and maybe Blades could get out of jail next time.

May 25, 2025 0 comment

Football

2025 FA Cup Final: Crystal Palace now on their way to the Europa League with Eberechi Eze and head coach Oliver Glasner following their 1-0 win over Manchester City

by Sports Benches May 17, 2025

Who would’ve thought this would happen in today’s FA Cup Final for 2025?

Fantastic afternoon from Crystal Palace who not just able to hold down Man City by 1-0 thanks to Eberechi Eze but they’re also off to the Europa League next season and Oliver Glasner will be there hoping to get another European trophy like he did back in 2022 with Frankfurt v Rangers.

That was also the season where David Moyes’ West Ham fell short in the semi also by the same Glasner-led Frankfurt side – something his Palace side would like to do by bettering the Hammers and maybe play in a big Final. Although the Europa format likewise with the Conference comp and the CL has now changed into a Swiss-style format rather than see who’s best across each group & there’s no dropping down comps either…except at Play-Off Qualifying Rounds.

Too early to tell at this stage but Oliver surely loves dominating in Cup comps more than in regular week league.

And yes, West Ham would’ve surely wished that Eze was the man for their team when they went through a very tough time back in 2020 – only for Moyes to make miracles for the next number of years until 12 months ago. He’s back at Everton under their new American owners now hoping to stir up magic again next season along with that new Stadium after he helped them stay in the PL mid-table.

Other than that, despite having less ball than City, Palace did great both managing defense and attack – they’ve had the all-action No.9 Jean-Philippe Mateta harrying opposition defenders for the benefit of the whole team while Dean Henderson kept City frustrated in front of goal all day.

Even if City fans and Pep weren’t one bit happy at him about it post-game, the result is a result that isn’t their way, and yet they might be in Europa alongside Palace instead of the CL next season.

Now that one mid-table PL has secured next season’s Europa group stage berth, there will be another dreaming to play the same thing but in the big time CL ahead of Thursday morning’s Europa Final for 2024/25 in Bilbao, Spain – it’s Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham v Man United.

Both teams along with their coaches have a point to prove although this could be Ange’s last game as Spurs coach considering his dire PL record this season but maybe not if he can bring home that piece of silverware after all. If not, Ruben Amorim would be more than happy to accept the Europa title potentially as his first European trophy – he could even go back-to-back via the CL at some point.

But again, winning the PL first like it was last time that goes way back to mid-2013 under Sir Alex would help the Red Devils beat everyone in Europe with confidence – they also haven’t won CL since 2007-08.

Anyways, can’t wait for that all-English Final as make sure you better be up and early. 9Gem in simulcast with Stan Sport will be bringing you the all-important action from 4.30am AEST with host Adam Peacock alongside ex-Socceroos Craig Foster and Mark Bosnich (yes, the one who also kept goal for Man U back in his day).

Who knows? An Aussie as a coach winning one to save his job or Man U has a point to prove they’re still in it so they can win regular trophies yet again like Man City has been doing these past 10 years post Sir Alex.

May 17, 2025 0 comment

2024-25 League Cup Final: Newcastle United break their 70 year wait for a Domestic Cup trophy following their 2-1 win over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium

by Sports Benches March 16, 2025

It’s been 70 years since Newcastle United won a domestic trophy that went way back as the 1954-55 FA Cup season and now that long wait has now finally come to a close thanks to their 2-1 win over Premier League leaders Liverpool in the League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

They’ve been so dominant all along with two goals coming from centre-half Dan Burn and star No.9 Aleksandar Isak, although Liverpool scored one back but then that was a consolation one towards the final whistle by Federico Chiesa.

Don’t get me wrong, they are a mega rich club indeed under Saudi Arabia ownership since late 2021. But still, they have all the money and power to get back to where they want to be – and that is by regularly competing at Top 4-6 every season while they look to make a statement in Europe.

Well, they are going back to the UEFA comp after all with Conference League qualification now guaranteed. However, they are currently flying high though in 6th on the ladder & if they finish 6th and above at season’s end, they too could play in the Europa League instead or even Champions League again like it was two seasons ago back in 2023-24.

That means, the 7th best PL team would take Newcastle’s spot for Europe’s 3rd tier competition in their place.

Don’t forget they’ve previously been at Wembley with the same League Cup Final a little over two years ago – that didn’t go well v Man Utd 2-0 but now they’ve gone one better as congrats once again including to one of England’s finest head coach/managers in the country in Eddie Howe.

Plus, shoutout to Toon supporter Adam Peacock too and he’s currently the host of Stan Sport’s UEFA club competition coverage with Craig Foster & Mark Bosnich.

Sure we will see him on the screens of Nine soon when each of the Grand Finals from Champions League to Europa and Conference level will be around sometime in late May.

And on Liverpool, not their day today as Arne Slot still doesn’t have a trophy yet as this is his first season in the hot seat following the departure of long-time manager Jurgen Klopp at Anfield. Although that can wait since they are leading the PL but with Cup competitions, not so much until at least next season….for now.

One thing Liverpool could’ve pulled off there is if they had at least a few more of their own kids from the academy on the biggest stage at least in men’s soccer like they did in last year’s League Cup Final v Chelsea.

Shame it wasn’t worth the risk to go a bit braver this time when Newcastle’s starting XI was full of more established stars instead and they were the team to beat unfortunately at the end of the day.

March 16, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports

From Saturday: Man City def. Man Utd this time via penalties for the pre-season FA Community Shield at Wembley since 2019

by Sports Benches August 12, 2024

From yet another Manchester Derby weekend this time for the pre-season Community Sheid trophy at Wembley Stadium, this match went the other way round via penalty shootouts between two of the recent English Football champions – 23/24 Premier League winners Manchester City and 23/24 FA Cup winners Manchester United.

Man Utd as always got away with the scoresheets first that late thanks to substitute winger Alejandro Garnacho off the right flank. But then a fellow attacking sub at the opposite end of Bernardo Silva went on to quickly rebound a few mins later for Man City that held their Manchester rivals back after a long 90-100 mins of normal time followed by another half-hour’s play as the game had to be decided via penalties at 1-1 apiece.

Man City were so close towards closing out another FA triumph when they capped off their inconsistent season with the FA Cup back in May that would mean a direct entry into the Europa League group stages, but then a series of late penalty misses unfortunately paved the way for Man City to end their years-long drought with that trophy plate since 2019 by 8-7. That was close there by Man Utd who thought the Community Shield trophy would be theirs that would mean yet another trophy for head coach Erik Ten Hag after all the stick he’s getting since he first took over back in the summer of 2022. There’s still a long way to go when it comes to winning back the Premier League title with Sir Richard Ratcliffe onboard as their minor owner and Man Utd hasn’t done that since Sir Alex Ferguson retired after he finished his long decorated career on a high back in 2013.

Meanwhile, great to see Man City lift the Community Shield plate having bounced back from behind when things were so quiet for the most part on what has been a terrific comeback to enter the new Premier League season with a trophy. Gotta say the late subs as well as their excellent penalty kicking options after holding back Man Utd worked well on their favour.

Yes, it won’t an easy one for sure as seen over the last few Premier League seasons when you got Arsenal sniffing around top spot thanks to his student Mikel Arteta. But they’ve been there and done that by covering themselves in glory over the last decade or so and Man City will surely want to be the best by winning every completion they’ve got available across the whole of England, then Europe and also the World, especially with the proper Club World Cup happening in mid-2025.

August 12, 2024 0 comment

Other Sports Football

Thoughts on Optus Sport acquiring off Network 10/Paramount + for the FA Cup rights in Australia starting this August

by Sports Benches July 3, 2024

So there we have it, Optus Sport is now your new home of the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield beginning later this year under a multi-year contract. Network 10 via Paramount + previously had the rights over the last three seasons but their contract has now expired and unable to renew its contract where they will now be left with the A-League both Men’s and Women’s competitions (expiring at the end of 2025/26) as well as the Socceroos and Matildas matches including their respective AFC and World Cup qualification campaigns (expiring soon but is expected to be renewed until at least 2028).

Meanwhile on Optus’s end, they’ve now got the FA Cup both men’s and women’s tournaments alongside the Premier League, La Liga, Copa America (currently ongoing), Women’s Super League in England and many more including the UEFA International Football competitions such as the Euro 2024 (also currently ongoing) as well as the yearly Nations League.

That’s a bit of surprise when we first thought the FA Cup would return to free-to-air here for 10 since they’ve first acquired the rights off ESPN to at least air the big Final LIVE like SBS used to so for so many years and decades. However, that’s no longer a requirement nowadays since it’s no longer protected by the government & 10 didn’t have to make this happen by just chucking the highlights and its extras content including these past archives for free on 10 Play while having the whole lot such as all the live and on-demand matches being locked up behind a paywall via Paramount +. Although they did have the Youth Cup knockout rounds including the final in front of a paywall only online on 10 Play, but that’s the bare minimum they could do likewise with the early round senior matches during their first year if I recall up until the fifth-round proper I think and then everything else is only Paramount +. Unfortunately, that’s not going to change anytime soon where the only free content Optus Sport will show is show 3 minute highlight matches of each round hours after the game is done in the morning – It’s the same thing they do with other footballing properties Optus shows such as the Premier League, the WSL & UEFA Internationals.

Other than that, not much of a loss from 10 to lose one part of their soccer rights and something to gain from Optus by having another major English Football Domestic competition that complements the Premier League and even the Women’s Super League well in the FA Cup & Community Shield. I’m sure they will have the FA Youth Cup as part of the bigger deal with the FA this week while continuing to air the Women’s FA Cup which is contracted separately to the Men’s competition.

For now, you can view all the FA Cup stuff including the entirety of the 2023-24 season while you can on 10 and Paramount + up until August before Optus Sport takes over beginning with another Manchester derby between Manchester United v Manchester City this time for the Community Shield trophy once again on Sunday August 10 at Wembley Stadium.

July 3, 2024 0 comment

Other Sports Football

Borussia Dortmund’s early missed opportunities paved the way for Real Madrid to finish off with their 15th Champions League triumph 2-0 at Wembley Stadium

by Sports Benches June 1, 2024

What a way to finish off the UEFA European club season at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium earlier this morning (our time) where Borussia Dortmund came back in the main event picture for the first time back in 2013 v the multi-championship winning Spanish giants Real Madrid. The first half was 0-0 with Dortmund leading the way up front where they had a couple of chances but couldn’t get away with a goal that gave Real a sigh of relief. The tug-o-war continued a bit longer going into the 2nd half before Real’s turnaround with the ball led to a series of advantages and that’s where they eventually cashed in two goals in return en route to full-time. One comes from a brilliant header by Dani Carvajal via a corner in the 73rd minute, while Jude Bellingham found the intercept off Ian Maatsen for Carlos Vinicius Jr. to process the finishing touches with the 2nd goal.

Hard luck from Dortmund to fall short once again having made the best past of their first half performance with a really good threat to try & scare off Real Madrid up front. Unfortunately, they just couldn’t get themselves through the net with a couple of hit and misses here and there – including one that hit the crossbar before it deflects away from the in-goal. What they’ve done despite finishing 5th in the Bundesliga is that they’ve come from a long, long way to get they want to be as sure they will hopefully win back the league that would mean another good Champions League run next season. You got to credit the strong German teams performance across Europe that grants them an extra CL spot on top of the usual four at the best level.

Then congratulations to Real Madrid on their Champions League triumph for the 15th time including yet another major silverware being delivered by the head coach Carlo Ancelotti, which is his 2nd at the Bernabeu having last won it back in late May 2022 v Liverpool 1-0 at Stade De France in Paris, France. They’ve put in a excellent defensive display including a huge effort from the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois following a really tough last 12 months when he was out for the majority due to an ACL knee injury before getting back out there a few weeks ago & to produce a world-class beater was incredible. Then Real was so fortunate enough to turn things around after half-time that gave them the upper hand – such as the dominant possession & winning penalties/corners/free-kicks that exposed the opposition’s poor defense in the end with the win.

The UEFA Euro 2024 tournament is not far away that will begin in two weeks time across Germany and then we will return later this year on top of the UEFA Super Cup between the best of the European champs (Atalanta from the Europa League v Champions League triumphs Real Madrid) with an expanded but new look Champions League that also applies with the Europa League and Conference League. Gonna be a brilliant few months ahead including the Olympics in Paris as well.

June 1, 2024 0 comment

Other Sports Football

Manchester United finish off the 2023-24 season with the FA Cup win over Manchester City 2-1 at Wembley Stadium in London

by Sports Benches May 25, 2024

It’s been a very different FA Cup Final on this Manchester arch-rivalry overnight at Wembley Stadium in London – also host of next Sunday morning’s UEFA Champions League Final between Borussia Dortmund & Real Madrid. It’s not Manchester City who couldn’t defend their crown but instead it went to Manchester United whose great start with two goals in the first half was enough to stop City from catching up as the game goes on despite seeing the late opposition goal in the end 2-1.

Interestingly enough, Man Utd now won both men’s and women’s tournaments all in the same season after the women also went one better a few weeks ago v Tottenham Hotspur 4-0. Surprise, Surprise there as City thought they can win this but seems they really need to hang on that Premier League trophy that left Arsenal settle second best once again after another Champions League shortcoming run in the Quarter-Finals. So no European Football at least for the Conference League spot unfortunately for Newcastle United despite finishing 7th with Chelsea getting the nod in 6th despite parting ways with their head coach. And Man Utd will be back alongside Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham (who finished 5th) in the Europa League for the first time since 2022-23 having played in the Champions League last season (unfortunately last in their pool group).

However, an underwhelming league performance still in 8th and a change of hands within minor upper management recently meaning they could see a brand new manager next season. Someone who won this and then get given the flick has happened before, so no surprise if this will happen again but this is a club who is a long way off from the good old glory days.

May 25, 2024 0 comment