Bellingham: I was misunderstood in red card drama BY Associated Press Sun Feb 16 2025 00:51:20 Jude Bellingham has said there was a miscommunication between him and referee José Luis Munuera about what was said after he was sent off in Real Madrid's game at Osasuna on Saturday. Munuera showed the England midfielder a red card in the the 40th minute after Bellingham appeared to complain about a refereeing decision. The two exchanged words before Munuera pulled out the red card. Madrid coach Carlo Aneclotti had already received a yellow card for complaining about what he thought was a handball by an Osasuna defender in the host's area that was not punished. Madrid were 1-0 up courtesy of a goal from Kylian Mbappé, before Osasuna's Ante Budimir score a penalty in the second half to earn his side a 1-1 draw. Bellingham told reporters he thought the referee was confused about what was said. "It's clear that he made a mistake, there was a miscommunication," Bellingham said after the match. "I remember the incident very well but also I've seen the video. The video doesn't match the [referee's] report. I don't want to go into too much detail about what was said but its an expression like "joder" [in Spanish]. "I want the team to know I wasn't irresponsible enough to put them in a situation where I intentionally wanted them to be left with ten men. "I hope the footage will be reviewed and see that it's not the same as the report and that going forward they can keep that in consideration because it's huge evidence. We can't change the result of this game but I'd like to think that going forward there will be a change." Ancelotti said he also believed there was a miscommunication between Bellingham and Munuera. "I think [the referee] didn't understand English well. [Bellingham] said f--- off, not f--- you. [The referee] made a mistake," Ancelotti told a post-match news conference. "In Spanish it would be 'no me jodas'. I don't think it's offensive." When asked if he would talk to Bellingham about the incident, Ancelotti said: "I'm in favour of talking to the referee, not Bellingham. "He [Bellingham] was complaining about a decision saying 'if that's a foul, it's a penalty ... And he said 'f--- off'. "It shows the referee was nervous. Bellingham didn't do anything to get sent off today. He's [the referee] made a mistake with the translation." Information from ESPN's Alex Kirkland contributed to this report. Link to the original article Wrexham continue L1 push as Smith gets off mark BY ESPN Sun Feb 16 2025 00:51:20 - Sam Smith - 19' - Oliver Rathbone - 22' Wrexham continue League One charge as Sam Smith gets off mark Record signing Sam Smith scored his first goal for Wrexham as the League One promotion hopefuls strolled to a 2-0 victory over Northampton Town on Saturday. Smith, who had failed to score in his two previous appearances for the club since joining from Reading in a deal reported to be worth more than £1 million ($1.26m), opened the scoring in the 19th minute after racing onto a long ball from goalkeeper Mark Howard. Three minutes later, the visitors made it two at Sixfields Stadium as Oliver Rathbone poked home at the back post after Northampton failed to deal with another long ball forward. Northampton, down in 18th in England's third tier, rarely troubled Wrexham for the rest of the afternoon and Phil Parkinson's team have cut the gap to second-placed Wycombe to a point. Only the top two teams in League One gain automatic promotion to the Championship. The win gives Wrexham, owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, their second win in a row after going three games without a victory in January. Game Information - Referees: - Tom Reeves Link to the original article Merino on Arsenal goals: 'Surprised to play striker' BY ESPN Sun Feb 16 2025 00:51:19 Arsenal match winner Mikel Merino has admitted he was surprised to come on as a striker against Leicester City having never played in the position before, but was hailed as a "real goal threat" by manager Mikel Arteta. Merino,