Page 26 - Irish Examiner USA
P. 26

sportsexaminer
        26



           2020  Lyon Defeat Wolfsburg                                                                        Gunners Hoping To Welcome Fans
                                                                                                               Back To The Emirates In October
           2nd,  To Claim Fifth

           September




           |  Successive Women’s
           EXAMINER  Champions League Title




                 ugenie Le Sommer, Saki
           IRISH  EGunnarsdottir   fired  bowing out with a hat-trick of  opportunity, charging down the
                 Kumagai and Sara Bjork
                                                                         right flank and laying on a smart
                                          European titles.
                                                                         cutback across the area.
                                             The 28-year-old has yet to
            record-breaking Lyon to their  reveal her next destination, but  Wolfsburg shook off the set-  Arsenal could allow a limited number of fans into the
            fifth  successive  Women’s    sealed the ideal exit as Lyon pre-  back and settled into the con-  Emirates Stadium for their Premier League match against
            Champions League title with a  vailed in San Sebastian.      test, but crucially were unable to  Sheffield United on October 3.
            3-1 win over Wolfsburg in        Two-time          winners   carve out any genuine chances.   The Gunners have said they are working with authori-
            Spain.                        Wolfsburg fell to familiar foes  And Lyon punished the       ties on plans to welcome back supporters in line with the
              Lyon made light of big-name  Lyon again, unable to dislodge  Germans just ahead of the   latest UK Government guidelines.
            absentees like Ada Hegerberg  the French side in their fifth  break, thanks to Kumagai’s      An Arsenal statement said: “In recent months we have
            and Nikita Parris to defeat   final.                         high-quality strike.          been working very hard with the relevant authorities on
            Wolfsburg for a third time in the  Gunnarsdottir only joined   The Japan midfielder drilled  plans to bring fans back to stadiums, and specifically
            Champions League final.       Lyon in July – making the      home from the edge of the area  Emirates Stadium, initially with reduced capacities.
              Alex Popp hit back for the  switch from Wolfsburg. The 28-  with a fine technical finish, to  “Although our home fixture against West Ham United
            German side with a smart head-  year-old turned out for the  leave the French side in total  on Sunday 20 September will be played behind closed
            er, but Lyon were too strong,  Germans earlier in this season’s  control at the break.     doors, based on the current UK Government guidelines,
            too savvy and too collected –  competition, but the coron-     Lyon eased into the second  we hope to be able to welcome supporters back to
            and     Iceland    midfielder  avirus-delayed campaign meant  half and appeared entirely com-  Emirates Stadium on a reduced-capacity basis from the
            Gunnarsdottir rubber-stamped  she faced her old club in the  fortable, only for Wolfsburg to  Sheffield United game scheduled for Saturday 3 October.”
            the win with a late third.    final.                         snatch a lifeline just ahead of the  Initially, tickets would only be made available to the
              Lyon had to battle hard but    Lyon dominated from the off,  hour.                       club’s gold season ticket holders and premium members.
            fully merited their record sev-  Europe’s outstanding talents  Ewa Pajor delivered a smart    Any fans in attendance would need to social distance
            enth Champions League suc-    again showing all the poise and  cross in latching onto Lyon  while inside the stadium, while other measures including
            cess, in their ninth final in 11  polish required for another tri-  keeper Sarah Bouhaddi’s fum-  new hygiene protocols would also be in place.
            years.                        umph.                          ble, and Popp reacted adroitly   Anyone who attends the match would need to agree to
              The French giants have not     Le Sommer put the defend-   with the snap-header finish.  a code of conduct.
            tasted defeat in competitive  ing champions ahead, sweeping    Wolfsburg’s bid for an equal-  Pilot schemes are taking place in several sports with a
            action since a 1-0 loss to Paris St  home at the second attempt  izer was ultimately ended by  view to reopening doors to a limited degree from October
            Germain in the French cup final  having had her first effort par-  Gunnarsdottir’s scrambled fin-  1.
            back on May 31, 2018.         ried by Friederike Abt.        ish, following Le Sommer’s driv-  On Saturday, 2,500 fans watched Brighton’s friendly
              England’s Lucy Bronze fin-     The     lively   Delphine   en shot as Lyon emerged victori-
            ished her Lyon career in style,  Cascarino had created the   ous once again. C             against Chelsea at the Amex Stadium – the first time spec-
                                                                                                       tators have been allowed inside a Premier League stadium
                                                                                                       since March. C

                                                                                                          Marcus Rashford Spearheading Task Force
                                                                                                                 To Tackle Child Food Poverty

                                                                                                          Marcus Rashford is spearheading a task force on the
                                                                                                       issue of child food poverty and is warning of “devastating”
                                                                                                       effects on the stability of the country if action is not taken
                                                                                                       quickly.
                                                                                                          The Manchester United and England striker was suc-
                                                                                                       cessful in campaigning for free school meal vouchers to be
                                                                                                       provided to pupils over the summer period.
                                                                                                          He had spoken about his own experience of using a
                                                                                                       food voucher scheme as a child and was praised after press-
                                                                                                       ing the Government into making a U-turn on the issue.
                                                                                                          Rashford, 22, has now teamed up with the food indus-
                                                                                                       try to shed light on the issue of child food poverty in the
                                                                                                       UK.
                                                                                                          Along with Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Deliveroo, FareShare,
                                                                                                       Food Foundation, Iceland, Kellogg’s, Lidl, Sainsbury’s,
                                                                                                       Tesco and Waitrose, he has formed the ‘Child Food
                                                                                                       Poverty Task Force’.
                                                                                                          Over the next six weeks, the task force members will
                                                                                                       dedicate their platforms to sharing stories of those most
                                                                                                       affected by child food insecurity in the UK.
                                                                                                          Rashford said the task force is endorsing three national
                                                                                                        food strategy policy recommendations. C
   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31