LiveScore Daily: Eidevall hits back at Taylor's bullying claims

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Eidevall hits back at 'bullying' claims

Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall has called Gareth Taylor's claims he bullied a fourth official "unacceptable" and "borderline slanderous".

The Manchester City manager accused Eidevall after their Women's Super League clash on Sunday, which the Gunners won 2-1 through Stina Blackstenius' late strike.

Taylor told the BBC: "That is always the same with him because he is constantly at the fourth official and I think it is bullying.

"I am protecting the fourth official but that's not my job. I can just see that he gets away with it all the time."

In response, the Swedish coach said: "I was really disappointed with the comments. There is no truth in them. 

"The wording that Gareth used afterwards is borderline slander. Either he is not very good with the truth or he is not very good with the language."

McGinn it to win it

John McGinn believes Aston Villa can end their long trophy drought this season.

The Villans can take a huge stride towards qualifying for the Europa Conference League knockout stages by beating AZ Alkmaar tomorrow as they chase down their first silverware since 1996.

Ahead of the clash at Villa Park, captain McGinn said: "We have three opportunities [Premier League, FA Cup and Conference League] to break that spell of Aston Villa teams not having any silverware.

"It's one we're aspiring to be part of. Hopefully at the end of the season we can be proud of something we've done and write our names in the history books.

"Each player has their own ambitions and dreams. There's still a lot of work to do but the ambition and goal is to lift a trophy at the end of the season.

"We are embracing the competition. We know we are one of the biggest teams in the competition but that doesn't mean we can just turn up.

"The difficulty of the competition hasn't been a surprise for me. I know how hard it is to get into these competitions."

Nuno sacked

Nuno Espirito Santo has been sacked by Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad.

The Middle Eastern outfit, who have the likes of Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Fabinho at their disposal, have won just six of their 12 league games this term and lost to Air Force Club of Iraq in the Asian Champions League on Monday.

Ex-Tottenham and Wolves boss Nuno was appointed in July 2022 — eight months after his dismissal by Spurs.

In a statement on X, Al-Ittihad said: "The club has announced the end of its contract with Portuguese coach Nuno Santo.

"This decision comes after a comprehensive technical evaluation of the past phase during which he was in charge of coaching the first football team."

Never say never

Kieran Trippier is determined not to give up on Newcastle's Champions League knockout dream despite a damaging defeat against Borussia Dortmund.

The Toon's 2-0 reverse at the Signal Iduna Park leaves them bottom of Group F with a trip to Paris Saint-Germain and a home clash with AC Milan left to play.

Despite many now writing off the Magpies' hopes of extending their first Champions League campaign for 20 years, the right-back knows it is far from over.

He said: "When I was at Tottenham, we had Barcelona and Inter Milan in our group and everyone said it was done, but never say never.

"We got to the final that year, so it is a never-say-die attitude from us. We can't control what happens, we just have to focus on Bournemouth and forget this."

Stones blow

Pep Guardiola says an injury to John Stones leaves Manchester City "in trouble".

The versatile England defender, 29, was withdrawn at half-time in City's 3-0 win over Young Boys with fears he could be set for another extended spell on the sidelines.

Stones missed the start of the campaign with a hip injury and only returned to action in October.

Guardiola told TNT Sports after the game: "I feel so sorry for him. He is so important for what he does.

"The problem is we play John and Rodri at the same time — now we are in trouble because we have to play a bit differently, like what happened at Arsenal.

"We do not feel comfortable still, we are not prepared to change many variations."