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Weekend Ticker: Man City win Community Shield, PSG stumble in opener, and more

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By JOEY SAMUEL

With a new Premier League season on the horizon, Manchester City showed on Sunday that they're ready to begin defending their crown.

Goals from Yaya Toure, Carlos Tevez, and Samir Nasri helped earn Manchester City a 3-2 win over 10-man Chelsea in the FA Community Shield at Villa Park in a battle of last year's Premier League champions and FA Cup winners.

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres opened the scoring in the 40th minute, receiving a pass from Ramires and beating City goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon. But Chelsea's momentum wouldn't last for long, as Branislav Ivanovic was sent off for a harsh tackle on Aleksandar Kolarov moments later.

Manchester City took full advantage of the extra man, scoring three goals in quick succession through Toure, Tevez, and Nasri. Chelsea pulled one back in the 80th minute when Ryan Bertrand finished off a rebound of a Daniel Sturridge shot, but it wasn't enough as City held on for the 3-2 win.

Here are some other stories from around the globe this weekend:

PSG STUMBLE IN LIGUE 1 OPENER

Paris Saint-Germain's expensively-built squad needed two goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to avoid an embarrassing defeat as the French favorites drew 2-2 at home with Lorient on Saturday.

The big spenders experienced the worst possible start to the new Ligue 1 season when defender Maxwell conceded an own goal in the 4th minute. Matters were made worse for PSG when Jeremie Aliadiere doubled Lorient's lead right before the halftime whistle.

Ibrahimovic stepped up in the second half, though, scoring in the 64th minute and equalizing from the penalty spot in the 90th minute to rescue what was still a disappointing result for PSG, who were without Brazilian signings Thiago Silva and Lucas Moura due to their Olympic participation.

ROMELU LUKAKU LOANED TO WEST BROM

When Chelsea signed Romelu Lukaku from Belgian club Anderlecht in 2011, many compared him to the likes of Didier Drogba. After starting just one game in his Chelsea career thus far, he'll now get the opportunity to develop further at a new club.

Chelsea loaned the Belgian striker to fellow Premier League side West Brom on Saturday, giving him the opportunity for playing time for the next year. At Chelsea, Lukaku would have competed with the likes of Fernando Torres, Juan Mata, and newly signed Eden Hazard. West Brom beat out Fulham in the race to acquire Lukaku on loan.

Before joining Chelsea, the 19-year-old Lukaku established himself as a force in his native Belgium, scoring 33 goals in 73 league games for Anderlecht from 2008 to 2011. He has two goals in 14 caps with the Belgian national team.

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What do you think of these developments? Do you think Manchester City will repeat as Premier League champions, or will another team take their crown? How will PSG react to drawing their opening match? How will Lukaku perform at West Brom?

Share your thoughts below. 

Comments

  1. One problem with the whole “competing with the likes of Torres, Mata, and Hazard bit: he wasn’t competing with Mata and Hazard. They play completely different roles.

    Reply
  2. Where’s the article concerning the USMNT roster for the Azteca game?! There’s going to be a collective meltdown when the usual suspects see the list – lol

    Reply

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