MANCHESTER: Basketball legend Michael Jordan joined thousands of Manchester City fans paying tribute to Pep Guardiola at the manager&#39;s farewell party on Monday. Guardiola is about to step down after a glorious decade in charge of City and the Premier League club gave him a fitting send-off during a trophy parade in Manchester. Jordan, one of the NBA&#39;s all-time greats, was a surprise participant in the event, delivering a recorded video message saluting Guardiola. &quot;Hey Pep. This is Michael Jordan. I just wanted to congratulate you on an unbelievable career,&quot; the former Chicago Bulls star said as Guardiola watched the video on a screen inside the Co-op Live &#39;after-party&#39; following the parade. Referencing Guardiola&#39;s fondness for golf, Jordan quipped &quot;Enjoy your retirement. Good luck on the links and keep them straight. Congratulations.&quot; Earlier, fans lined the streets to salute Guardiola as the Spaniard joined City&#39;s players and staff on an open-top bus ride to the Etihad Stadium. Guardiola led City to the FA Cup and League Cup in his final season in charge, taking his trophy haul to 20 since arriving in 2016. He masterminded six Premier League title victories, as well as City&#39;s first Champions League crown in 2023. City finished second in the Premier League behind champions Arsenal this term and were beaten 2-1 at home by Aston Villa in Guardiola&#39;s last game on Sunday, with the boss reduced to tears after the final whistle. The 55-year-old&#39;s decision to leave City was officially announced on Friday after several days of speculation that he was set to quit. A host of current and former City players brought every trophy won during Guardiola&#39;s reign onto the Co-op Live stage to cheers from the sell-out 19,000 crowd. Guardiola said goodbye for the final time in an interview with Oasis rock star Noel Gallagher at the after-party. &quot;I think, first of all, thank you so much for coming tonight to say bye,&quot; Guardiola said. &quot;To say bye to John (Stones) and Bernie (Bernardo Silva) and all these incredible legends like Vinny (Vincent Kompany), Fernandinho, Eddy (Ederson), Jack (Grealish), all of them and many, many more. &quot;I feel tonight that really shows the connection this club has. (City chairman) Khaldoon Al Mubarak and all the people and all the City fans that were connected from the first minute. &quot;Thank you so much, I don&#39;t have enough gratitude. Always, for the rest of my life, I will have you in my heart. Thank you so much.&quot;

Manchester City's English defender #05 John Stones (centre right) and Manchester City's Portuguese midfielder #20 Bernardo Silva (centre left) say goodbye at an after-party event with the players after their victories in the two domestic cup competitions 

Football

Guardiola is about to step down after a glorious decade in charge of City and the Premier League club gave him a fitting send-off during a trophy parade in Manchester.

Guardiola saluted by Michael Jordan at Manchester City farewell party

MANCHESTER: Manchester City kept their slender Premier League title hopes alive as Jeremy Doku inspired a 3-0 win against Brentford on Saturday.&nbsp;Pep Guardiola&#39;s side struggled to prise open Brentford for almost an hour at the Etihad Stadium.&nbsp;But Doku&#39;s latest dazzling strike broke the deadlock before Erling Haaland bagged his 26th league goal this season.&nbsp;Omar Marmoush wrapped up an essential City victory in stoppage-time.&nbsp;City closed to two points behind leaders Arsenal, putting pressure back on Mikel Arteta&#39;s team to win at third-bottom West Ham on Sunday.&nbsp;After their damaging 3-3 draw at Everton on Monday put the destiny of the title in Arsenal&#39;s hands, City did their bit to prolong the drama.&nbsp;City will have a game in hand on Arsenal after this weekend, but the Gunners are guaranteed to clinch the title for the first time in 22 years if they win their remaining matches against West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace.&nbsp;Guardiola&#39;s men host Palace on Wednesday before turning their attention to the FA Cup final against Chelsea on May 16.&nbsp;Foreshadowing his match-winning contribution, City winger Doku forced an early save from Caoimhin Kelleher.&nbsp;But &nbsp;Gianluigi Donnarumma almost gifted Brentford a goal when Michael Kayode&#39;s long throw was scrambled off the line after the City keeper made a hash of his attempt to catch the ball.&nbsp;Donnarumma&#39;s lackadaisical effort was in keeping with City&#39;s laboured attempts to take control.&nbsp;Haaland wastefully headed high and wide when Doku&#39;s cross picked out the striker just six yards from goal.&nbsp;When Haaland met Doku&#39;s cutback with a close-range blast, Kelleher repelled it before Nathan Ake failed to convert the rebound to groans from City&#39;s frustrated fans.&nbsp;Bernardo Silva escaped with a booking after the City midfielder lashed out at Nathan Collins.&nbsp;City were equally lethargic at the start of the second half and Donnarumma had to save Igor Thiago&#39;s low drive.&nbsp;Guardiola sent on Marmoush and Phil Foden in a bid to spark City into life and the move paid instant dividends.&nbsp;Doku had scored twice with a eye-catching curlers against Everton and he repeated the trick to end Brentford&#39;s resistance in the 60th minute.&nbsp;Seizing the rebound after his initial effort was blocked, Doku whipped a superb strike into the top corner from the left-hand side of the penalty area.&nbsp;Doku&#39;s fourth goal in his last three games was nearly followed by one for Foden, but Kelleher was equal to his close-range shot.&nbsp;City were still vulnerable at the back and Kevin Schade appealed in vain for a penalty after contact from Matheus Nunes.&nbsp;Haaland settled City&#39;s fraying nerves in the 75th minute, back-heeling in from close-range after his first effort was blocked from Antoine Semenyo&#39;s cross.&nbsp;Marmoush bolstered City&#39;s goal difference, which is now just one less than Arsenal&#39;s, with a composed finish from inside the area in the final seconds.

Manchester City beat Brentford 3-0 with goals from Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush, keeping title hopes alive and closing gap to two points behind leaders Arsenal after a strong second-half performance win match.

Man City beat Brentford to close gap on leaders Arsenal

HONG KONG: English and Italian football giants&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/haaland-sends-man-city-top-chelsea-fightback-frustrates-newcastle" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Manchester City</a>, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Juventus will square up for pre-season friendlies in Hong Kong in August, the clubs announced on Tuesday. Pep Guardiola&#39;s Manchester City, currently arm-wrestling Arsenal for the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/arsenal-still-believe-in-title-hopes-despite-city-loss-odegaard" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Premier League</a> title, will take on Inter Milan on Saturday, August 1, spearheaded by their Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland. The match will kick off the &quot;Hong Kong Football Festival&quot; at the city&#39;s futuristic 50,000-seat Kai Tak stadium. The gleaming arena opened a year ago, featuring a roof that can be closed and air-conditioning to combat the fierce summer heat and humidity in Hong Kong. Chelsea will play Juventus on Wednesday August 5 to round off the mini-tournament. Inter, under former Romanian international Cristian Chivu, are eight points clear at the top of Serie A as they look for a 21st title, second only to Juventus who have won a record 36 Italian top-flight championships. Juventus are fourth and looking to secure a Champions League spot under Luciano Spalletti. Chelsea beat PSG to win the Club World Cup in the United States last year but have since parted company with then manager Enzo Maresca. Liam Rosenior took charge but is under pressure to keep his job after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/haaland-sends-man-city-top-chelsea-fightback-frustrates-newcastle" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chelsea</a>&nbsp;lost five of their last six Premier League matches to drop to sixth, seven points adrift of the Champions League places. It remains to be seen whether Rosenior will still be in charge when Chelsea land in Hong Kong as they were also drubbed 8-2 on aggregate by PSG in the Champions League last 16. All the teams will hold open training sessions ahead of the matches giving Hong Kong fans an extra chance to see star players such as City&#39;s Gianluigi Donnarumma, Chelsea&#39;s Cole Palmer, Inter&#39;s Lautaro Martinez and Juventus&#39;s Dusan Vlahovic. The action does not stop there for fans in the football-mad southern Chinese city, as Bayern Munich and Aston Villa have already announced they will play a friendly in Hong Kong on Friday, August 7. During pre-season last year, 50,000 sell-out crowds in Hong Kong watched Liverpool play AC Milan and Tottenham face Arsenal in the first north London derby outside of the UK. Tens of thousands also turned out to watch the teams&#39; open training sessions.

Manchester City supporters cheer at the end of the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on April 19, 2026. (AFP)

Pre-season matches are set for August in Hong Kong at Kai Tak Stadium, where teams will compete in scheduled exhibition matches as part of their Asian summer tours.

Man City, Inter, Chelsea and Juve to face off pre-season in Hong Kong

MANCHESTER: Martin Odegaard said he still believes Arsenal can win a first Premier League title since 2004 despite their devastating 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.&nbsp;Pep Guardiola&#39;s City will leapfrog the Gunners if they beat struggling Burnley on Wednesday as they hunt a seventh league title in nine seasons.&nbsp;Erling Haaland scored the winner in the second half at the Etihad Stadium after Rayan Cherki&#39;s superb opener was cancelled out by Kai Havertz.&nbsp;Arsenal captain Odegaard said the game was decided on small margins.&nbsp;&quot;We played a good game, I thought we pressed them really well, we had some really good moments there on the high press,&quot; the midfielder told Sky Sports.&nbsp;&quot;And then, especially the second half, we looked a lot more dangerous, we had a few big, big moments there in front of goal.&nbsp;&quot;Small margins to decide a game like this, and we weren&#39;t sharp enough in front of the goals. That&#39;s why we go home with nothing, so I&#39;m disappointed.&quot;&nbsp;Arsenal have suffered seven defeats in 55 matches this season, in all competitions. Three of those came in the first 49 matches, with four in the past six.&nbsp;Odegaard was asked whether Mikel Arteta&#39;s men, who host Newcastle next week, would have the added difficulty of a &quot;psychological barrage&quot; following their collapse in form.&nbsp;&quot;There&#39;s always that in football, there&#39;s always pressure, always noise, and that&#39;s a part of being a football player at this level, so that&#39;s completely normal to us,&quot; said the midfielder.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;re just going to keep going, stay focused on ourselves like we&#39;ve done the whole season -- just look forward to the next game now and bounce back, get a win there and move on.&quot;

Martin Odegaard insists Arsenal can still win the Premier League despite a 2-1 loss to Manchester City, blaming missed chances and small margins while urging focus and recovery.

Arsenal still believe in title hopes despite City loss: Odegaard

MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland fired Manchester City to the top of the Premier League by beating West Ham 3-0, while Chelsea fought back to salvage a 2-2 draw at Newcastle on Saturday.&nbsp;Arsenal can retake top spot for Christmas when they visit Everton later, but City ramped up the pressure on the Gunners with a seventh consecutive win in all competitions.&nbsp;The Hammers feared a rout when Haaland smashed home after just five minutes.&nbsp;Alphonse Areola saved the Norwegian&#39;s first effort before the ball broke kindly for Haaland to fire into the top corner.&nbsp;Haaland turned provider for City&#39;s second just before half-time as Tijjani Reijnders scored his first goal at the Etihad.&nbsp;West Ham missed a number of chances to halve the deficit early in the second period as they remain in the relegation zone.&nbsp;Haaland, by contrast, was ruthless as he netted his 38th goal of the season already for club and country when the ball broke his way 21 minutes from time to move City one point ahead of Arsenal.&nbsp;Chelsea remain in fourth as a second-half fightback rescued manager Enzo Maresca from more speculation over his future.&nbsp;The Italian claimed after last weekend&#39;s win over Everton that he and his players had not received enough support during a difficult run of results.&nbsp;Maresca was then linked with being Pep Guardiola&#39;s successor at City in recent days.&nbsp;Newcastle aggrievedChelsea have won just once in their last five league games to see ambitions of a title challenge wilt.&nbsp;But it could have been even worse for Maresca as Nick Woltemade&#39;s double put Newcastle 2-0 up in a dominant first half from the Magpies.&nbsp;A brilliant Reece James free-kick brought the Blues back into the game before Joao Pedro pounced on an error from Malick Thiaw to equalise.&nbsp;Newcastle felt aggrieved as two late appeals for penalties and for James to be sent off were dismissed to leave Eddie Howe&#39;s men languishing in 11th.&nbsp;&quot;My last week has not been complicated, it has been good. We beat Everton, we beat Cardiff (in the League Cup) and we drew with Newcastle away, so in terms of results, I&#39;m happy,&quot; said Maresca.&nbsp;&quot;Again, there are things that for sure we can do better, but I think we&#39;re going in the right direction.&quot;&nbsp;

Erling Haaland scored twice as Manchester City beat West Ham 3-0, moving top of the Premier League. Chelsea salvaged a 2-2 draw at Newcastle with a second-half comeback, easing pressure on manager Enzo Maresca.

Articles tagged with "Manchester City"

Guardiola saluted by Michael Jordan at Manchester City farewell party

Man City beat Brentford to close gap on leaders Arsenal

Man City, Inter, Chelsea and Juve to face off pre-season in Hong Kong

Arsenal still believe in title hopes despite City loss: Odegaard

Haaland sends Man City top, Chelsea fightback frustrates Newcastle

Guardiola saluted by Michael Jordan at Manchester City farewell party