Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Double as Arsenal Beat Chelsea to Lift FA Cup; ASEAN Cup Win, Derby Hattrick High Points of East Bengal Career, Says Bhaichung Bhutia and More (Football Round-Up)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice for Arsenal as they rose from a 0-1 down to beat Chelsea 2-1 and win the FA Cup at the Wembley Stadium on August 1. Interestingly, Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 the last time they clashed in the FA Cup as well, under Arsene Wenger in 2017. 

Arsenal have taken their record to 14 FA cup titles with this victory.

Mikel Arteta outran Frank Lampard with his strategies through the match. Chelsea stepped onto the  field with all the right intentions when the 21-year-old Christian Pulisic scored for his side, becoming the first man to score a FA Cup final inside five minutes.

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Arsenal, however, regained control when Aubameyang scored from the spot in the 18th minute. The sides went into half-time locked at 1-1.

With Chelsea unsettled by the injuries their side had sustained, Arsenal took control and Aubameyang scored another goal from close range in the 67th minute of the match.

This match not only got Arsenal its fourth FA Cup in seven seasons but also reserved a spot for them in the Europa League, having only finished eighth in the Premier League.

Bhutia’s High Points

Bhaichung Bhutia ranked the Federation Cup semifinal hattrick against Mohun Bagan, the ASEAN Cup and the National Football League victories as the best memories with East Bengal. The former India skipper was speaking on the day of the club completed 100 years.

His five stints with the century-old club started from 1993 to 2011.

"I have had the best memories of the club playing well for 10 years. It is one of the most iconic clubs in India with such great history," Bhutia told IANS in an interview.

"For me, it's just about great memories," said Bhutia.

"I would say the ASEAN Cup win, then my hattrick and winning the league with East Bengal will be the moments I will always cherish fondly," said Bhutia, who is still adored by East Bengal fans despite him also turning out for arch-rivals Mohun Bagan during his illustrated career.

It was on July 26, 2003 when East Bengal registered one of its greatest victories in Indian football after they won the ASEAN Cup under coach Subhash Bhowmick.

PSG Claim Domestic Treble 

Pablo Sarabia scored a penalty for the Paris Saint-Germain as they warmed up for their match in the Champions League in Lisbon by defeating Lyon in the French League Cup final, securing another domestic treble.

They had defeated Saint-Etienne 1-0 last week in the French Cup final, the first-ever match in France after the coronavirus lockdown.

They were earlier awarded the Ligue 1 title because they were on the top of the table when the season ended in April, with 10 rounds of matches unplayed.

Before the penalties, Thomas Tuchel’s team was in a better place in the tense final but most definitely missed the injured Kylian Mbappe on their side for the pitch.

Belgian Football Season

The 2020-2021 season of the Belgian Pro League is going to start from August 8. The Belgian football league was one of the first one to stop the season because of the pandemic.

Belgium league changed its format, switching to an 18-team competition after a court order that asked them to reinstate a demoted team.

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Waasland-Beveren, after being demoted, took the case to court, arguing that it could have stayed among the elite if the season was not cancelled, and the league was ordered to reinstate the club. If the league failed to do so, they had to pay a penalty of 2.5 million for every match that was played without Waasland-Beveren.

Starting next weekend, the season was supposed to start with 16 teams, including the winners of the second division.

Earlier, it was announced that the 2020-21season of England's Premier League is going to commence on September 12 this year and the final round of matches will take place on May 23, 2021.

Champions League Update

When the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League restart next week, the remaining teams face a very different set of preparations.

For Italian teams, it’s going to be the last leg of a packed schedule that they have had since June. France’s Ligue 1 was cancelled in March and gave Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to host friendlies before they went head-on in the two domestic cup finals.

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“It’s clear that the conditions aren’t normal,” Simon Rolfes, the sporting director of Bayer Leverkusen, told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

“I think we have to accept that there are certain points where everything isn’t optimal or exactly the same, and that’s just the case because of the pandemic. Obviously, it isn’t the equality in competition that you’d normally wish for, but it’s not the time to achieve that. Otherwise, it can’t happen at all.”

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