Wenger signs off in style
the players and the staff who will remain behind me. For me these football players have a special quality, not only on the pitch but off the pitch.’’
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice against Burnley, with Alexandre Lacazette, Sead Kolasinac and Alex Iwobi also netting.
Arsenal have yet to name Wenger’s successor as the club faces its first managerial appointment since 1996.
‘‘Please follow this team and support them next season because they deserve it,’’ Wenger said. ‘‘I would like to finish by saying I will miss you. Thank you all for being such an important part of my life. I hope to see you soon. Well done. Bye bye.’’
Wenger is bequeathing his successor a place in the Europa League, rather than the Champions League.
Meanwhile, as Manchester City finally collected the Premier League trophy yesterday, Chelsea closed in on salvaging Champions League qualification from a lacklustere title defence and further weakened Liverpool’s grip on a top-four finish.
A resurgent Chelsea sealed a fifth successive victory when Olivier Giroud scored the only goal against Liverpool, who have only one win in five league games.
It’s an impressive turnaround for Chelsea, which has cut the gap to fourth-place Tottenham from 10 to two points in a month. Surely the Southern Steel could have made room for Aliyah Dunn on their roster?
In Jennifer O’Connell they have a solid option at goal shoot, sure. She didn’t miss a single shot in the first half and went on to score 33 from 39 attempts.
But it was her 18-year-old opponent Dunn who had the biggest influence of the shooters in the Central Pulse’s 62-51 win at Fly Palmy Arena last night, scoring a game-high
41/45 in another statementmaking performance.
Dunn, like O’Connell, spent much of last season playing in the second-tier Beko Netball League. But her minutes in the top flight were severely limited because the tall figure of Jamaica star Jhaniele Fowler stood in her way.
So you would have thought, with Fowler heading across to Australia after five seasons of toying with New Zealand defenders, that the Steel would have done a bit more to try and keep Dunn, an Invercargill girl, in their organisation.
Instead, she saw opportunity in Wellington and took it. And it is no wonder, after seeing her performances in the opening two days of the competition, that Silver Ferns captain Katrina Grant was singing her praises.
‘‘Aliyah has come along leaps and bounds in the last six weeks. She’s like a whole new player and I’d hate to see what she’s going to look like at the end of the season, she’s going to be outstanding,’’ Grant said.
Dunn wasn’t the only teenager making a name for herself on the court. 17-year-old goal attack Tiana Metuarua, who kept Silver Fern Ameliaranne Ekenasio on the bench, played a valuable support role and came away with
21/22.
‘‘They probably haven’t come up against that here before and they probably don’t have any the night.
Despite putting away the Northern Mystics 27 hours prior, they could not match the energetic Pulse, who scored the opening four goals of the game and lead for the duration of the game.
The Pulse are now 2-0 to start the season and already look like the team to beat. Central Pulse 62 (Aliyah Dunn
41/45, Tiana Metuarau 21/22) Southern Steel 51 (Jennifer O’Connell 33/39, Te Paea SelbyRickit 18/27)
1Q: 16-12 HT: 32-27 3Q: 48-40