The full-page advert in Friday’s edition of the newspaper, has a message from the Swedish striker, 36, saying: “Dear Los Angeles, you’re welcome.”

There is also a picture of Ibrahimovic in an LA Galaxy kit in the paper.

United agreed an early termination of his contact, which was due to expire in the summer after 20 months at the club.

Ibrahimovic scored 29 goals in 53 games for the Old Trafford side, winning the EFL Cup and Europa League, after joining from Paris St-Germain in July 2016.

The former Barcelona, Ajax, AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan forward has played only seven times since damaging cruciate ligaments in April.

“It is time to move on after two fantastic seasons with Manchester United,” he wrote on social media on Thursday.

“Great things also come to an end. Thank you to the club, the fans, the team, the coach, the staff and everybody who shared with me this part of my history.”

-Source: BBC Sport

The post LA Galaxy announce Ibrahimovic signing with LA Times advert appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Ibrahimovic scored 29 goals in 53 games for United, who have agreed to an early termination of his contact, which was due to expire in the summer.

The 36-year-old former Sweden striker has played only seven times since damaging cruciate ligaments in April.

“It is time to move on after two fantastic seasons with Manchester United,” he wrote on Instagram.

“Great things also come to an end. Thank you to the club, the fans, the team, the coach, the staff and everybody who shared with me this part of my history.”

Announcing his departure, United said: “Everyone at the club would like to thank Zlatan for his contribution to the team since his arrival and wishes him well for the future.”

Ibrahimovic joined the Premier League club from Paris St-German in 2016.

Earlier this month, United manager Jose Mourinho had said the striker was likely to leave at the end of the season.

The Swede, who re-signed for United on a one-year deal in August, returned to action in November after the knee injury that curtailed his first season at Old Trafford.

But he has not featured since the Premier League draw against Burnley on 26 December.

It has also been suggested he could come out of international retirement for Sweden at this summer’s World Cup.

–

Source: BBC

The post Ibrahimovic set to join LA Galaxy after leaving Man United appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Carrick, 36, has played 463 times for United since joining from Tottenham for £18m in 2006 and won 34 England caps.

“There comes a time when your body tells you it is time to stop. That is where I am at,” he said.

Carrick added it was “looking likely” that he will take up the club’s offer of a first-team coaching role at the end of the season.

In January, manager Jose Mourinho said he would be “very happy” if Carrick decided to stay at the club in a non-playing capacity.

He has been restricted to only four appearances this season because of an irregular heart rhythm.

Carrick said: “After the heart issue, I had two or three days thinking ‘am I going to carry on?’ I got back fit and wanted to finish on my own terms.

“I need to keep myself fit and ready. Hopefully I can get some game time and I am still enjoying training. I am trying to help a lot more because I understand where I am at.”

Carrick joined West Ham as a youth player and made more than 150 appearances for the Hammers before moving to Spurs in 2004.

After two seasons at White Hart Lane, he secured a move to Old Trafford, where he went on to win five Premier League titles and the Champions League and became club captain following Wayne Rooney’s departure to Everton in the summer.

He also lost two Champions League finals to Barcelona in 2009 and 2011.

Last season’s Europa League triumph completed Carrick’s sweep of domestic and European club trophies.

In his 12 years at United, he has scored 24 goals and was given a testimonial by the club last June.

Despite his success at club level, Carrick made just one appearance at a major tournament for England.

–

Source: BBC

The post United midfielder Michael Carrick to retire at end of season appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The win meant Jose Mourinho’s side closed the gap on runaway leaders Manchester City to 13 points – at least until City play at Stoke on Monday – but, more pertinently, they are now five points clear of the third-placed Merseysiders.

Rashford, making his first league start since 26 December, will rightly grab the headlines but Romelu Lukaku was instrumental in both goals, and Liverpool simply could not deal with his physical power in the first half.

First, the Belgium striker’s header from David de Gea’s clearance found Rashford charging into the visitors’ box, and he cut inside Trent Alexander-Arnold before firing into the bottom corner.

For United’s second goal, Lukaku held up the ball from another goal-kick before feeding Juan Mata and, although he could not get a shot away, the ball fell for Rashford to score via a slight deflection from Alexander-Arnold.

At that stage Liverpool were second best in every area of the pitch and could have fallen further behind when Mata volleyed acrobatically wide from an Alexis Sanchez cross.

Jurgen Klopp’s side improved dramatically after the break and, with United defending deep, the visitors cranked up the pressure without ever really opening up their hosts.

It took an own goal for the Reds to reduce the deficit when Eric Bailly turned Sadio Mane’s cross past De Gea while attempting to clear at the near post.

That gave Liverpool’s travelling fans hope but their side could not fashion any further clear chances, even in six often chaotic minutes of stoppage time.

United survived to clinch victory in the first of three games here in the next seven days that will shape their season.

Next up are Sevilla on Tuesday, with a place in the last eight of the Champions League at stake, before they face Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-finals next Saturday.

–

Source: BBC

The post Rashford scores twice as Man Utd defeat Liverpool 2-1 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Red Devils had to come from behind after Willian started and finished a flowing move to give Chelsea the lead in the first half.

United pulled level before the break, with striker Romelu Lukaku getting in front of Marcos Alonso inside the area to score against his former club for the first time.

Lukaku then set up Lingard to head home with 15 minutes left, after which Chelsea’s Alvaro Morata had a goal disallowed for offside.

Defeat leaves the Blues in fifth place after Tottenham beat Crystal Palace 1-0 earlier on Sunday.

A run of just one win in their past four league matches, coupled with Spurs’ 10-game unbeaten streak, means they are out of the Champions League places with 10 games remaining.

Chelsea came close to taking the lead at Old Trafford after just four minutes when Morata ran on to Alonso’s brilliant volleyed cross, but his shot hit the bar.

Lukaku, facing the club he played for between 2011 and 2014, had a flying volley superbly saved by Thibaut Courtois.

Lukaku came into the game having scored 12 goals in the Premier League so far this season, but with none – and only four shots on target – against the other teams in the top six.

The Belgian, signed for £75m from Everton last July, had never scored in either seven previous league appearances against Chelsea, or 10 for the Blues during a spell in which he enjoyed more success while on loan at West Brom and Everton.

But the 24-year-old edged in front of Alonso to finish off a neat move involving Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial and end his dry spell against the top flight’s elite.

Lukaku came close to a second when he met Sanchez’s superb ball with a flying left-footed volley, but Courtois denied his international team-mate by tipping the ball over.

He swung the match decisively in United’s favour, though, when he slipped free on the right of the box and chipped in a cross that Lingard nodded home.

–

Source: BBC

The post Lingard heads in winner as Man Utd defeat Chelsea 2-1 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Spain keeper had kept out efforts from Joaquin Correa and Steven N’Zonzi before showing quick reflexes to produce a one-handed save on the stroke of half-time and deny Luis Muriel’s header.

United, who were playing their first Champions League knockout game in four years, offered little offensively, with Romelu Lukaku spurning their best chance when he volleyed well over early on before substitute Marcus Rashford dragged a shot wide in the closing stages.

Paul Pogba started on the bench for the visitors, but came on after just 17 minutes following an injury to Ander Herrera.

Sevilla finished the game with 25 attempts on goal but a mixture of De Gea’s saves and poor finishing from the hosts left them frustrated at the final whistle.

Manchester United will be the happier of the two teams heading into the return leg at Old Trafford on Tuesday, 13 March with Jose Mourinho’s side winning 15 of their 18 games on home soil this season.

Once again, it was the absence of Pogba from the Manchester United starting line-up that dominated the build-up to the game.

Pogba missed Saturday’s 2-0 FA Cup win at Huddersfield because he was unwell but had been expected to return to the first XI in Seville.

Instead, the £89m midfielder was named on the bench, with Mourinho saying Pogba’s illness “created some doubts” about whether he could start on Wednesday.

The France midfielder has struggled for form in recent weeks and had little impact on this game after his early introduction because of Herrera’s injury.

However, it was not the sort of a game where his influence would perhaps be obvious.

United set up to defend deep, with Mourinho appearing to prioritise keeping a clean sheet over scoring an away goal. It wasn’t pretty but it was an effective away performance.

De Gea proves he’s one of the world’s best… again

United’s FA Cup win over Huddersfield was far from a dominant victory. The Red Devils had two shots on target and scored two goals, with Romelu Lukaku getting both.

Once again Mourinho’s side offered little offensively – Lukaku had the visitors’ first shot on goal in the 25th minute but volleyed well over.

Instead it was left to De Gea to ensure his side came away from Spain with a positive result.

The United keeper memorably produced a string of fine saves to deny Arsenal in the Premier League back in December and it was a similar story this time.

As Sevilla pressed in the closing stages of the first half, the Spanish shot-stopper was alert to keep out Correa’s placed effort before tipping over a header by former Stoke midfielder N’Zonzi.

De Gea saved his best for the stroke of half-time. Muriel found space between Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling to direct a header at goal from point-blank range.

It looked to be a certain goal before De Gea flicked out his right hand to bat the ball away.

So impressive was the save from Muriel that the Sevilla forward himself acknowledged it, embracing De Gea as the two teams headed for the tunnel at the break.

Man of the match – David de Gea

‘Not good and not bad’ – what they said

Sevilla coach Vincenzo Montella: “I am very happy with the character shown by the team.

“We have to be pleased with the performance. The 0-0 leaves everything open.”

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho: “The only moment where we felt relieved was in the last couple of moments of the first half when from a couple of our mistakes in possession they had a couple of good situations and De Gea made good saves.

“Apart from that the game was even, but the statistics are what they are.

“I really feel the result reflected what the game was – you ask me was it a good result, and I say it was not good and not bad.”

Another clean sheet for Man Utd – the stats

• Five of Manchester United’s past seven Champions League away matches in Spain have ended goalless.
• This was United’s ninth clean sheet in their past 11 matches in all competitions and their 23rd in all competitions this season – three more than any other Premier League side.
• United have drawn 22 matches in the Champions League goalless, a record they share with AC Milan.
• Sevilla failed to score in a home Champions League game for the very first time – this was their 19th home match in the competition.
• Only Aleksandar Kolarov (nine times v FK Qarabag in September) has been fouled more in a Champions League game this season than Alexis Sanchez in this match (six).
• Scott McTominay became the fourth-youngest Englishman to start a Champions League knockout match for the Red Devils – only Wayne Rooney, Phil Neville and Phil Jones were younger.
• This was Sevilla’s first goalless draw in a home European game since September 2005 against FSV Mainz 05 in a Uefa Cup match.
• Man Utd faced 25 shots in this match – only against Arsenal in December (33) have they faced more in a match this season.

What next?

Manchester United have a big game in the Premier League up next as they host Chelsea on Sunday, 25 February (14:05 GMT).

The post De Gea helps Man Utd earn creditable draw in first leg at Sevilla appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Life in the north-east has not been easy this season with problems off the pitch compounded by struggles on it, but Magpies boss Rafael Benitez oversaw a victory to cherish against old foe Mourinho on Sunday.

Ritchie struck the decisive blow as relegation-threatened Newcastle picked up a much-needed 1-0 victory, digging deep to end an eight-match winless streak at St James’ Park as Manchester United lost a second successive away game.

Mourinho has now failed to win at St James’ Park in all seven of his Premier League visits, while the result surely ends any residual hope of a late title push.

Newcastle looked sharp from the outset and Chris Smalling somehow avoided giving away a penalty after up-ending Dwight Gayle – a let-off the visitors looked set to use as the platform to build an away win on.

Alexis Sanchez was denied by a goal-line clearance just before the pendulum swung Newcastle’s way, with a Jonjo Shelvey free-kick eventually played in for the unmarked Ritchie to rifle home.

It was far from over as the visitors unleashed a deluge of attacks, but Benitez’s men just managed to batten down the hatches.

The St James’ Park faithful roared their side on from the start on a crisp Tyneside afternoon, where David de Gea was called into action after just five minutes to superbly stop Shelvey’s strike nestling in the top corner.

Ayoze Perez fizzed a shot across the face of goal as the host began on the front foot, but Mourinho’s men grew in confidence as the first half wore on and began to dominate possession.

Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka was alert to deny Jesse Lingard’s low, deflected effort when the Red Devils began to settle, with the imposing debutant doing better still when denying Anthony Martial one-on-one.

Martial soon nodded wide as the visitors looked to go ahead, but it was far from one-way traffic.

On-loan Kenedy got away a long-range attempt on De Gea’s goal and Benitez was furious when referee Craig Pawson ignored Smalling’s foul on Gayle in the corner of the area.

It was a poor decision from the officials and Jamaal Lascelles’ fine stoppage-time block perhaps prevented that from being compounded by a Romelu Lukaku opener.

The Belgium striker did find the net early in the second half only for the goal to be disallowed, before Sanchez followed a mazy run with an attempt into the side-netting.

The pair would combine superbly minutes later. Lukaku threaded a pass through to the Chilean, who skipped past Dubravka and took aim, only for Florian Lejeune to come out of nowhere to block.

It proved the afternoon’s turning point.

Smalling was booked for simulation and Shelvey sent the resulting free-kick into the box. The ball was flicked onto Gayle, whose clever cutback found the unmarked Ritchie to strike into the bottom corner.

Michael Carrick and Juan Mata came on immediately after the 65th-minute goal, which Ashley Young was prevented from equalising by Dubravka.

Wave after wave of attacks from those in red threatened the Newcastle goal, with Martial denied by two last-ditch clearances in the 77th minute.

Antonio Valencia was booked for a high foot on Christian Atsu as tension continued to bubble, with the home side digging deep as Manchester United’s onslaught continued deep into stoppage time without a leveller.

–

Source: Talksport

The post Newcastle United 1-0 Man United: Red Devils lose more ground in title race appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he should win an award for his behaviour on the touchline.

The Portuguese coach has been sent to the stands on several occasions during his managerial career following clashes with fourth officials.

However, Mourinho says he has changed his ways and feels he is now one of the Premier League’s best behaved managers.

“I’m fully committed to win the award this season of the best-behaved manager on the touchline,” Mourinho said.

“I’m serious – I prepare myself, I’m really happy. I’m not free of losing my temper, my control, in one match. I’m not perfect.

“There are so many awards – performance of the week, manager of the month and this and that – they should give one to the guy that behaves best on the touchline and it should be the fourth official to vote. I’m pretty sure that I would win.”

Mourinho has been sent to the stands once this season – during the 1-0 win at Southampton on 23 September. The United boss had encroached on to the pitch in the final few seconds of the game as he tried to get his players back into position.

He added: “I didn’t create one problem to one fourth official on a touchline, apart from my red card at Southampton when I put a foot on the pitch.

“I’m not going from the Bad One to the Perfect One, no way, but I try, I make an effort and I’m happy with the way things are going.”

Manchester United, who are second in the Premier League, play Newcastle at St James’ Park on Sunday (kick-off 14:15 GMT).

The post I should get an award for good behaviour – Mourinho appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Romelu Lukaku put the hosts in front before Alexis Sanchez scored his first goal for the Red Devils, converting the rebound after his initial penalty was saved, and the visitors fell into the drop zone with a fourth straight defeat.

Earlier, Johann Berg Gudmundsson scored a late equaliser for Burnley as City failed to win for just the fourth time this season.

Danilo scored a superb, curling opener for Pep Guardiola’s side but the visitors failed to take their chances, with Raheem Sterling missing an open goal inside the six-yard box.

In the late match at the Emirates Stadium, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a debut goal and Aaron Ramsey netted his first hat-trick to give Arsenal a thrilling 5-1 victory over Everton.

Fellow January signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan also picked up a hat-trick of assists.

At the other end of the table, Southampton moved out of the relegation zone after holding on to beat bottom side West Brom 3-2 at The Hawthorns.

Ahmed Hegazi put the hosts ahead, only for Saints to score twice in three minutes before the break through Mario Lemina’s superb strike and Jack Stephens’ flick at the back post.

James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick made it 3-1 to the visitors and, although Salomon Rondon pulled a goal back, Alan Pardew’s side failed to level.

Swansea are just above the bottom three after a 1-1 draw with Leicester, with Federico Fernandez’s header cancelling out Jamie Vardy’s opener.

Elsewhere, Brighton moved up to 13th and level on points with opponents West Ham after a comfortable 3-1 victory. Javier Hernandez levelled after Glenn Murray’s opener but Jose Izquierdo scored a sublime second and Pascal Gross drilled in a third from 20 yards.

And Bournemouth came from a goal down to beat Stoke – Joshua King and Lys Mousset scoring for the Cherries after Xherdan Shaqiri put the visitors in front on five minutes.

In the Championship, Cardiff maintained their promotion push with a comprehensive 4-1 win at Leeds.

The Bluebirds remain fourth, two points behind Aston Villa, who secured their sixth successive win with a 3-2 victory over bottom side Burton.

–

Source: BBC Sport

The post PL roundup: Sanchez scores for Man Utd, Arsenal trounce Everton appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Chile international, 29, set up two goals on his debut for his new team in a 4-0 FA Cup fourth-round win over Yeovil.

“He is a fantastic addition,” Mourinho told BBC Sport.

“His choice for the second goal is a choice that a player like Marcus Rashford is too nervous to make.”

He added: “Alexis brings maturity and class.”

Sanchez signed for United on Monday with Henrikh Mkhitaryan heading in the opposite direction to Arsenal.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic acting as back-up to £75m summer signing Romelu Lukaku in the central role, Sanchez is expected to compete with the likes of 20-year-old Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata for a role just behind.

Sanchez had a hand in his team’s first two goals in the win at Huish Park, bundling the ball towards Rashford for the opener before slipping a well-weighted pass into the path of Ander Herrera for the Spaniard to drill home.

Mourinho insisted that his squad would be galvanised by the increased competition.

“Good players want good players,” he added.

“The question is always which one is going to be left out, it is not about that for us.”

–

Source: BBC

The post Sanchez brings class and maturity – Mourinho appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.