Unai Emery was sacked as Arsenal manager yesterday after less than two years in charge and with the club without a win in seven games, their worst run since 1992.
The 48-year-old Spaniard was fired following the 2-1 home defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday.
His assistant Freddie Ljungberg is to take over as interim manager during the search for a permanent replacement.
Photo: AFP
Arsenal fans had demanded “decisive action” from directors with the club’s present run of five draws and two defeats this season just one match off equaling George Graham’s run of eight without a win in 1992.
Club directors responded by axing the man brought in 18 months ago to revive a club stagnating after two decades under Frenchman Arsene Wenger.
“We announce today that the decision has been taken to part company with our head coach Unai Emery and his coaching team,” the club said in a statement.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We have asked Freddie Ljungberg to take responsibility for the first team as interim head coach.
“The search for a new head coach is under way and we will make a further announcement when that process is complete,” it said.
Among those in the mix for the permanent job include former Gunners star Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola’s assistant at champions Manchester City, ex-Juventus handler Massimiliano Allegri and Wolverhampton Wanderers Portuguese manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
On Thursday, Japan midfielder Daichi Kamada scored a second-half double for Eintracht after captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had opened the scoring in first half injury time for Arsenal inside a half-full Emirates Stadium.
Boos from the lowest attendance at the ground since it opened in 2006 greeted Emery and his misfiring team at the final whistle while some disgruntled fans held up banners demanding “Emery out.”
The Gunners are still on course for a last-32 place if they draw with Standard Liege on Dec. 12.
Scottish champions Celtic clinched top spot in Group E with a 3-1 win over Stade Rennais while Wolves reached the knockout stages with a 3-3 draw against fellow qualifiers Braga in Group K.
Rangers drew 2-2 against Feyenoord to hold top spot in Group G with a one-point lead ahead of their last game against Young Boys.
Earlier, AS Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini was hit by coins as the Italian club kept their last-32 hopes alive with a 3-0 victory against Istanbul Basaksehir.
Attacking midfielder Pellegrini had his head bandaged after he was struck by multiple coins with an hour of the game played after Jordan Veretout, Justin Kluivert and Edin Dzeko had claimed the advantage for the Serie A outfit in Turkey. The visitors remained in contention for a knock-out spot and sit behind leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach, who beat Wolfsberger AC 1-0, on goal difference with the Turkish side a point behind on seven.
In other games on Thursday, it was:
‧ Astana 2, Manchester United 1
‧ Krasnodar 1, Basel 1893 0
‧ Trabzonspor 0, Getafe 1
‧ Besiktas 2, Slovan Bratislava 1
‧ AZ Alkmaar 2, Partizan 2
‧ Young Boys 1, Porto 2
‧ CSKA Moscow 1, Ludogorets 1
‧ Ferencvaros 2, Espanyol 2
‧ Saint-Etienne 0, Gent 0
‧ Oleksandriya 0, Wolfsburg 1
‧ Sevilla 2, Qarabag FK 0
‧ F91 Dudelange 0, Nicosia 2
‧ Malmo 4, Dynamo Kiev 3
‧ Lugano 0, Copenhagen 1
‧ Sporting CP 4, Eindhoven 0
‧ Rosenborg 1, LASK 2
‧ SS Lazio 1, CFR 1907 Cluj 0
‧ Guimaraes 1, Standard Liege 1
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
A man fell from the 6.4m-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during Wednesday night’s game between the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. The team issued a statement shortly
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before
RSS