Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/786708
21 BILIC was sent off by referee Michael Oliver after he angrily threw down a television micro- phone following West Brom's late equaliser, which made it 2-2. Hammers assistant manager Nikola Jurcevic has been hit with the same charge after he had earlier complained about a West Ham goal that was disallowed for offside. The pair now have until 6pm on Thursday to respond to the charge. An FA statement read: "West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has been charged by the FA following the game against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday 11 February 2017. "It is alleged that his behaviour in or around the 90th minute of the fixture amounted to improp- er conduct. "His assistant manager Nikola Jurcevic has also been charged for alleged misconduct following an incident in the 19th minute. "Both have until 6pm on 16 Feb- ruary 2017 to respond to their charge." Bilic felt West Ham had been hard done by throughout the game at the London Stadium, as his side came from behind to lead West Brom 2-1, only to be denied victory by Gareth McAuley's in- jury-time header. Oliver chose not to award the hosts a foul on Sofiane Feghouli in the build-up to Nacer Chadli opening the scoring for the Bag- gies while Jurcevic was left in- censed when Feghouli's strike was then ruled out for offside. Bilic said after the match: "There were four or five deci- sions and all of them went totally against us. It's building up your frustration." He and Jurcevic could be hand- ed touchline bans, as well as fines, if found guilty of the charges. West Ham's next match is away to Watford in the Premier League on February 25, before a Lon- don derby at home to Chelsea on March 6. Sport FOOTBALL maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2017 Guardiola 'so happy to be second' Slaven Bilic charged by FA Alonso back in Bayern training after injury scare Pep Guardiola refused to rule out the prospect of Manchester City catching Chelsea after they moved up to second and within eight points of the Premier League leaders with a 2-0 win at Bournemouth THE Spaniard's team impressed throughout at the Vitality Sta- dium with their intensity, ball re- tention and creativity as Raheem Sterling's first-half finish and an own goal from Tyrone Mings se- cured victory. That they trail Chelsea by eight points with 13 league fixtures yet to play, and despite their stutter- ing form earlier in the season, suggests they could yet re-enter the title race if they continue to improve. City also visit Chelsea on April 5 in a fixture that could yet de- fine either team's season, and Guardiola spoke with greater op- timism after in January appear- ing to concede the title when they trailed the leaders by 10 points. "It's so difficult (to catch Chel- sea)," said Guardiola, 46, whose team next week resume their Champions League campaign. "They have to lose three games, and we have to win all our games. You know how difficult that is in the Premier League. "So we have to go game by game, narrow the gap. We're so happy. We are second now; the gap between second and sixth is nothing, but we're so happy to be second and in this position, and to make the difference a little narrower from Chelsea. "I watched the Burnley game: an amazing performance from Burnley, but still Chelsea played really good. We go game by game." Guardiola was expected to learn yesterday the extent of the foot injury suffered by the £27million Gabriel Jesus, whose replacement Sergio Aguero forced the own goal from fellow substitute Mings with his close- range finish. "I'm happy for him," said the Spaniard of the Argentine striker whose future has been the sub- ject of intense speculation. "For how he played, how he tried, and I thought he scored. But happy for our result. "He's an important player. He didn't play the last few games because the three guys (Jesus, Sterling and Leroy Sane) were amazing. That's why they'd played. Now it's the cup, then the Champions League, and the Pre- mier League is still there. That's why we need a contribution from Sergio; he's so important for us. "It's the first time this year we did that, controlling the game. We did it well at the beginning of the season but, after that, we lost something. I know why. Our game has been more stable since the Arsenal and Tottenham games. We are improving." Bournemouth lost both Simon Francis and Jack Wilshere to first-half injuries as they contin- ued their winless start to 2017. They also had a first-half goal from Joshua King disallowed for a foul on John Stones when they were 1-0 down, but their man- ager Eddie Howe agreed referee Neil Swarbrick's decision was correct. "I thought that goal should have stood at the time, but there's a clear pull there," said the 39-year- old. "Jack is just feeling his ankle. I don't think there's a major inju- ry there. He just felt he couldn't move as freely as he wanted to and had a pain in his ankle, so we took him off. "Simon is feeling his hamstring again, similar pain to the first time. Any injuries we get to es- tablished first-team players are going to be difficult to manage." Pep Guardiola and Sergio Aguero West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has been charged with improper conduct for his behaviour during Saturday's draw against West Brom, the Football Association has announced Slaven Bilic GERMANY'S Bayern Munich can count on Xabi Alonso for their Champions League round of 16 first leg against Arsenal on Wednesday after the Spanish midfielder recov- ered from a knock that had forced him out of training on Monday. Alonso had limped out of training with what looked to be a knee injury but was back on the pitch on Tuesday as Bayern continued their prepara- tions for the clash against the English club. However, Bayern look set to be without central defender Jerome Boateng and winger Franck Ribery, both of whom trained alone after having recovering from injuries. This is the fourth encounter be- tween Bayern and Arsenal at this stage of the competition since 2005, with Bayern having advanced on the past three occasions.