Arsenal Must Stop Squandering Points, Says Jesus

16 April 2023, United Kingdom, London: West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the London Stadium. (dpa)
16 April 2023, United Kingdom, London: West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the London Stadium. (dpa)
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Arsenal Must Stop Squandering Points, Says Jesus

16 April 2023, United Kingdom, London: West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the London Stadium. (dpa)
16 April 2023, United Kingdom, London: West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the London Stadium. (dpa)

Arsenal must maintain the intensity for a full 90 minutes if they are to challenge for the Premier League title, forward Gabriel Jesus said after they squandered a two-goal lead in Sunday's 2-2 draw at West Ham United.

Arsenal were rampant early on and looked well placed to restore their six-point cushion over Manchester City after Jesus tapped home in the seventh minute and Martin Odegaard doubled their lead with a volley three minutes later.

However, Arsenal then lost their momentum and the hosts fought back through Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen. Bukayo Saka missed a second-half penalty for Arsenal, who lead Manchester City by four points but have played a game more.

Arsenal also let a 2-0 lead slip against Liverpool earlier this month and Jesus told the club's website they had to stop letting opponents off the hook.

"Once again, the three points were in our hands," he said. "The game is 90 minutes, it's not 20, in this case, today, 30 minutes. As a team, we have to raise the level and come back to our principles.

"We know our strength, we know what we can do. Where we want to attack the opponent, in the first 10 to 20 minutes we did so good, after that we dropped our level and that obviously cannot happen if you want to fight for the title."

Arsenal host Southampton on Friday before travelling to second-placed City on April 26.



Bayern Munich Wants to Keep Forward Mathys Tel Despite Reports Linking Him with Chelsea

Mathys Tel. (AFP)
Mathys Tel. (AFP)
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Bayern Munich Wants to Keep Forward Mathys Tel Despite Reports Linking Him with Chelsea

Mathys Tel. (AFP)
Mathys Tel. (AFP)

Bayern Munich's sporting director Christoph Freund says the German club is planning to keep Mathys Tel, after several media reports linked the French forward with a move to Chelsea.

Freund said Tuesday that the 19-year-old Tel was a “very important player” for Bayern and that the club wants to follow a plan for his development.

“We have a very good dialogue because he’s a big talent who should take on an important role for us. We’ve had a lot of conversations. Our clear aim is that Mathys will make the breakthrough with us,” Freund said. “Obviously we’ll listen if a player isn’t happy, then we’ll talk about it. We want to see through our plan with Mathys.”

Freund's comments followed reports in British and German media that Chelsea was interested in signing Tel, with some claiming a swap deal could see out-of-form Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku head to Bayern.

Tel became Bayern's youngest-ever goalscorer when he netted in a cup game in August 2022 at the age of 17 years, 126 days, breaking a record held by teammate Jamal Musiala. He had joined Bayern earlier that year from French club Rennes.

Tel netted 10 goals in all competitions last season but has yet to score in this campaign. He has played 12 games under coach Vincent Kompany in all competitions but started only two of them, with his last start coming in a Bundesliga game Sept. 1.

Bayern next plays Wednesday at home against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. Kompany signaled Tuesday that attacking midfielder Musiala could return after missing Saturday's 1-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach with an illness.