Newcastle: Hatem Ben Arfa smashed in a stunning second-half equalizer to earn Newcastle a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday. The France playmaker cut inside off his favored left foot and arrowed a rising shot into the far corner from 20 yards in the 59th minute, denying Villa a first win of the season. Having come into the game as one of two teams in...
12:31 AM, Sep 03, 2012
Paris: The French Football Federation has opened disciplinary proceedings against players Samir Nasri, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jeremy Menez and Yann Mvila for misbehaving at Euro 2012, the FFF said on Tuesday. The federation added that Didier Deschamps, who has just left his job at Olympique Marseille, had asked for time to think about taking over from Laurent Blanc as France coach. Deschamps has until the end of the week to...
05:03 PM, Jul 03, 2012
Donetsk: Alain Boghossian, an assistant coach for France, insists the matter has been dealt with and his team's full attention is on beating Spain in the European Championship quarter-finals. Two years after France's strife-torn World Cup, a new rift has emerged in the form of a heated locker-room exchange after Tuesday's 2-0 defeat by Sweden. The team met the next day to ease tensions. "The fire's been put out. Nothing's...
11:20 AM, Jun 22, 2012
Never before has France coach Laurent Blanc been seriously criticised for the on-field performance of his side, so it seems somewhat churlish to hammer the boss after the end of an unbeaten 23-match streak. It is impossible, however, to overlook the coach's decisions during the miserable 2-0 defeat to Sweden. Was Blanc foolishly lured into believing that Tuesday's opponents would be overly relaxed? No " that is not his style....
12:28 PM, Jun 20, 2012
Valenciennes, France: Franck Ribery scored his first international goal for more than three years and Adil Rami grabbed a late winner as France rallied to beat Iceland 3-2 at home on Sunday in a European Championship warm-up match. Coach Laurent Blanc picked an experimental and attacking line-up, featuring several fringe players. The move soon backfired as Iceland went 2-0 up at half-time thanks to goals from Birkir Bjarnason and Ajax...
09:28 AM, May 28, 2012
Paris: Newcastle United duo Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa are among eight Premier League stars named in Laurent Blanc's provisional France squad for Euro 2012. The former Marseille winger has been in fine form for the Magpies recently and Blanc had recently insisted he was considering taking Ben Arfa even before he hit his purple patch. The 25-year-old has been in impressive form at Newcastle this season after fully...
04:43 PM, May 12, 2012
Newcastle: Newcastle moved into joint-fourth place in the Premier League thanks to an emphatic 3-0 win over Stoke City at the Sports Direct Arena that saw the home side almost completely dominate the game. The first half saw a midfield battle that was dominated by the home side thanks to the superb efforts of Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye. Both Newcastles goals came in the first 20 minutes, with...
09:45 PM, Apr 21, 2012
London: Newcastle boosted their chances of a top-four finish with a convincing victory away at West Brom on Sunday. A double from Papiss Cisse and a strike from Hatem Ben Arfa gave the Magpies a commanding lead and although half-time substitute Shane Long scored shortly after the break, the visitors never looked likely to relinquish their lead. For Newcastle, the victory went some way to making up for their 3-2...
10:47 PM, Mar 25, 2012
London: Arsenal centreback Thomas Vermaelen scored in stoppage time in a 2-1 win over Newcastle on Monday, completing the team's fourth straight come-from-behind victory in the Premier League to close within a point of third place. Vermaelen's close-range goal in the fifth and final minute of added time sent the 60,000-strong crowd at Emirates Stadium into a frenzy, with the Gunners now within touching distance of fierce rivals Tottenham in...
08:12 AM, Mar 13, 2012
London: Clint Dempsey became the first American to score a hat-trick in the English Premier League as he steered Fulham to an astonishing 5-2 comeback victory over Newcastle on Saturday. Dempsey completed the second hat-trick of his five-year career in English football in a 30-minute span in the second half, just two weeks after scoring the first - against Charlton in the FA Cup on January 7. Newcastle dominated the...
03:56 AM, Jan 22, 2012
Bolton: Newcastle United broke out of their recent slump by scoring two goals in a two-minute span in the second half to secure a 2-0 victory over struggling Bolton in the Premier League on Monday. Hatem Ben Arfa scored his first goal in more than a year in the 69th minute and Demba Ba added the second two minutes later to end a run of five straight losses for the...
02:28 AM, Dec 27, 2011
Manchester: Manchester United conceded a contentious penalty after the linesman intervened to draw 1-1 with Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Saturday, dealing a blow to their bid to retain the Premier League title. United defender Rio Ferdinand was judged to have brought down Hatem Ben Arfa in the 61st minute, although replays suggested the England international had made a perfectly legal tackle. Referee Mike Jones appeared happy to award...
10:55 PM, Nov 26, 2011
Liverpool: Hatem Ben Arfa marked his full debut for Newcastle by scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory over Everton on Saturday for the team's first away win of the season. Ben Arfa sent a hard shot into the top corner in the 45th minute as Everton's poor start to the season continued. David Moyes' team was hoping to build on its stunning comeback against Manchester United last weekend, but...
09:49 PM, Sep 18, 2010
Oslo, Norway: Laurent Blanc's first match as France coach ended in defeat when his inexperienced team lost 2-1 at Norway in a friendly on Wednesday following Erik Huseklepp's two goals. All 23 players of France's World Cup squad were banned for the match following their strike in South Africa and initially it looked like their youthful replacements would do the job when substitute Hatem Ben Arfa scored from long range...
09:54 AM, Aug 12, 2010
