Paris (AFP) – While Real Madrid are ominously finding form ahead of the return of the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain's first Ligue 1 loss of the season will have encouraged their future European opponents Manchester United. With Juventus and Bayern Munich having defensive difficulties exposed too, AFP Sport looks at what we learned from the […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool's Joe Gomez is to undergo an operation in the hope of aiding his recovery from a lower leg fracture, the Premier League leaders announced Monday. Gomez suffered the injury in a 3-1 victory at Burnley early in December. Liverpool's inital assessment was that Gomez might be sidelined for six weeks, but […]

Hong Kong (AFP) – Marouane Fellaini's debut at Chinese club Shandong Luneng has been delayed to allow the former Manchester United midfielder treatment for a calf injury, his new coach said Monday. The 31-year-old arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday to meet with teammates and sign autographs for fans, but missed training and flew home […]

Bangkok (AFP) – A refugee footballer fighting an extradition request pleaded for his freedom Monday, saying "please don't send me to Bahrain" as he arrived in shackles at a Bangkok court, which extended his detention by another two months. Hakeem al-Araibi, a Bahraini refugee and Australian resident, fears torture and even death if he is […]

Milan (AFP) – Federico Santander scored as Bologna beat Inter Milan 1-0 for their first win in over four months to give new coach Sinisa Mihajlovic the perfect start and pile the pressure on Inter boss Luciano Spalletti. Spalletti and his team were booed off the pitch at the San Siro after their third-place cushion […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Marouane Fellaini should brace for a culture shock at Chinese club Shandong Luneng following his move from Premier League Manchester United. The 31-year-old — known as "Fluffy Head" in China, although he now has short hair — on Friday became the latest player to swap Europe for the Chinese Super League on […]

Milan (AFP) – Federico Santander scored the winner as struggling Bologna stunned Inter Milan 1-0 to pile the pressure on coach Luciano Spalletti as Roma rescued a point with a 1-1 draw to AC Milan in Serie A on Sunday. Santander's header gave new coach Sinisa Mihajlovic the perfect start as his relegation-threatened side earned […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid gained ground on both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in La Liga as Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior each scored in a 3-0 win over Alaves on Sunday. Benzema, Vinicius and Gareth Bale started together for the first time and two thirds of the newly-dubbed 'BBV' delivered as Madrid capitalised on […]

London (AFP) – The missing plane carrying Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala and his pilot has been found, investigators told AFP on Sunday. "I can confirm it has been found," a spokeswoman for Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said. She said the AAIB would issue a statement on Monday. Sala was travelling from France to […]

Paris (AFP) – Moussa Dembele scored and won a penalty as Lyon stunned Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 on Sunday to end the runaway leaders' hopes of an unbeaten Ligue 1 campaign. Angel Di Maria fired PSG into a seventh-minute lead, but Dembele equalised and Nabil Fekir scored the winner from the spot three minutes after half-time. […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Dennis Oliech was happy and sad after scoring the goal that sealed a 4-2 victory for Gor Mahia of Kenya over Zamalek on Sunday in matchday 1 of the CAF Confederation Cup. The happiness came a day after his 34th birthday as he came off the bench to score his first goal […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – A six-match unbeaten run in all competitions that brought two awards to Black Leopards ended Sunday when they crashed 3-0 at Bloemfontein Celtic in the South African Premiership. Leopards from remote northeastern town Thohoyandou allowed Zimbabwean Ronald Pfumbidzai to score a soft goal after just seven minutes at Petrus Molemela Stadium. The […]

Berlin (AFP) – Florian Niederlechner's scrappy goal in the last minute of stoppage time earned Freiburg a 2-2 draw at Stuttgart in Sunday's Baden-Wurttemberg derby. The stalemate gave the visitors a valuable point to sit in 13th, three ahead of Stuttgart who remain in the relegation playoff position. Freiburg took the lead early through […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City closed to within two points of Premier League leaders Liverpool thanks to Sergio Aguero's hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday. For the second time in a week, Aguero scored inside the first minute to give City the perfect start. However, just like in a shock […]

Leicester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer paid tribute to Marcus Rashford's improved finishing after the England striker scored his sixth goal in 10 games since the Norwegian took charge to beat Leicester 1-0 on Sunday. Rashford blasted home after taking an exquisite touch to control Paul Pogba's lofted pass just nine minutes in […]