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Man City Won’t Wait Forever For Eto’o –Hughes

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Manchester City Coach, Mark Hughes has confirmed that the Premier League side had bid for Barcelona’s £22 million-rated Cameroon international but the striker remained undecided over his future after being offered a new two-year contract by Barcelona.
The City manager said he would exercise as much patience as needed to take Eto’o to Eastlands but confirmed he would walk away if the situation dragged on and he felt he could not take it forward.
“We’ve lodged a bid for Samuel Eto’o, that’s already been reported,” Hughes said.
“We have targeted players we think can help us and he’s certainly someone we have a lot of respect for and we feel he can help us.
“There’s always an element of frustration when you can’t conclude deals very quickly, but we’ll give every deal the patience it deserves.
“If we get to a situation where we feel that things aren’t going to happen and we feel the process is stalling and we can’t move it forward then that’s the time we walk away.
“We’ve done that before.
“We obviously made an offer to Barcelona and now there seems to be a situation between the player and his club.
“We’re not involved in that. That needs to be resolved between the player and his club.
“Patience has been mentioned and we’ll all have to be patient.”
Hughes also confirmed he was still hoping to sign Carlos Tevez after the Argentina striker’s loan expired at neighbours Manchester United.
“Carlos Tevez is another player I have huge admiration for,” Hughes added.
“We’ll see what happens but at this stage it’s very early in our discussions with anybody.”
City, meanwhile, confirmed that four senior stars have left the club. Danny Mills, Darius Vassell, Dietmar Hamann and Michael Ball were not offered new contracts and are now free to take up other offers.
In none of the instances is the news a surprise.
Mills has not been part of the first-team scene for well over 12 months, while Vassell and Hamann’s final year at Eastlands has been blighted by injury.
And, while Michael Ball was a regular under Hughes for the first part of last term, the former Everton star lost his place following the arrival of Wayne Bridge from Chelsea.
They join Chelsea-bound Daniel Sturridge in heading for the exit door, along with Glauber Berti, who was a frequent member of the substitutes’ bench but did not actually come on until the final game of the season against Bolton

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Galaxy Win Sixth MLS Title

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LA Galaxy won a record-extending sixth MLS Cup title as they beat New York Red Bulls to delight a home crowd at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The MLS Cup is the showpiece match at the end of the US season, pitching the champions of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals together.
This was the first MLS Cup between two sides from the largest cities in the United States, Los Angeles and New York, and it produced a hectic opening with all three goals scored in the first half-hour.
Red Bulls were the lowest seed to ever reach the final after finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, and their underdog status initially showed as Galaxy dominated the 29th MLS Cup early on.
Galaxy led after nine minutes when Joseph Paintsil squeezed his shot under goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, and it was 2-0 soon after as Dejan Joveljic ran through the Red Bulls defence and finished with the outside of his boot.
Both men celebrated by holding up the shirt of team-mate Riqui Puig, the former Barcelona player who ruptured his ACL in the Western Conference Final which Galaxy won to reach this championship game.
Galaxy threatened to overwhelm their opponents as Sean Nealis headed a free-kick against his own crossbar.
But Red Bulls centre-back Nealis pulled his team back into the game after 28 minutes when he chested down and volleyed in from 15 yards when Galaxy players failed to clear a corner.
Both sides hit the woodwork in the second half: Galaxy right-back Miki Yamane struck the outside of the post, before Emil Forsberg curled an effort off the upright for Red Bulls.
But Galaxy, who had home advantage because of their better record in the regular season, held on to win their first MLS Cup since 2014.
Red Bulls remain without an MLS Cup title in their history after losing on what was their second appearance in the championship game.

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Bayern Extend Bundesliga Lead To Six Points

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Bayern Munich continued their unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season with a 4-2 win against Heidenheim.
A double from Jamal Musiala and goals from Dayot Upamecano and Leon Goretzka saw Bayern extend their lead at the top of the table to six points as closest challengers Eintracht Frankfurt were held to a 2-2 draw by Augsburg.
Vincent Kompany was without the injured Harry Kane, Manuel Neuer, Mathys Tel and Serge Gnabry, with Musiala starting on the bench.
Leroy Sane spurned two excellent early chances from close range before Upamecano headed the hosts in front from a Joshua Kimmich corner.
Bayern enjoyed 86% possession and completed 10 times as many passes (503) as the visitors (51) in the first half, yet Alphonso Davies hit the post with the only other clear chance created.
To their credit, Heidenheim didn’t wilt and drew level when Mathias Honsak rounded stand-in Bayern goalkeeper Daniel Peretz after Upamecano under-hit a backpass.
Kompany immediately introduced Musiala from the bench and was rewarded five minutes later when the 21-year-old drove into the box and beat Kevin Muller with a low strike.
Bayern looked to have secured the three points when Goretzka’s shot deflected past Muller, but the visitors halved the deficit almost immediately through a Niklas Dorsch tap-in.
Any nerves soon dissipated when Musiala ran half the length of the pitch unchallenged to slot home the fourth and final goal.
Bayern will face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League tomorrow before returning to domestic duty away against Mainz on Saturday.

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La Liga: Barca Stumble Again

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Robert Lewandowski continued his superb start to the season but could not prevent Barcelona dropping points in a 2-2 draw with Real Betis.
Lewandowski scored his 16th goal of the league campaign before Ferran Torres cancelled out Giovani Lo Celso’s penalty – but Assane Diao snatched a point for Betis with a late equaliser.
Real Betis could have easily scored twice in the opening three minutes but Raphina cleared Diego Llorente’s header off the goalline before Abde Ezzalzouli – formerly of Barcelona – saw his one-on-one effort saved by Inaki Pena.
Lamine Yamal wasted a good chance to break the deadlock from close range but team-mate Lewandowski made no such mistake.
The Poland international converted Jules Kounde’s cross from close range to finish a fine team move and score for the 23rd time in 21 games in all competitions.
Betis emerged from half-time with renewed energy but spurned three more clear chances.
Sergi Altimira and Lo Celso sent headers wide of Pena’s post before the Barcelona goalkeeper was called upon to tip Chimy Avila’s snap-shot wide.
Betis finally got their just reward when Lo Celso converted from the penalty spot after Barca substitute Frenkie de Jong felled Vitor Roque – on-loan from the Catalans – as he raced into the area.
Barca pushed for a winner and found it when substitute Torres beat the offside trap to latch on to Yamal’s reverse pass and finish past Fran Vieites.
It looked like Barca would see out the win, but in the fourth minute of injury-time 19-year-old substitute Diao swept home to rescue a point for the hosts.
The draw sees Barca surrender control in the title race. Flick’s side are five points ahead of closest challengers Real Madrid but Los Blancos have played two games fewer.
Barca will be in Champions League action against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday (20:00 GMT kick-off) before facing Leganes in La Liga on Sunday, 15 December.

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