Paris (AFP) – France World Cup star Kylian Mbappe will sit out one further league game for Paris Saint-Germain after losing an appeal against a three-match suspension Monday. Mbappe, 19, was handed the sanction for lashing out in retaliation at Teji Savanier during a feisty 4-2 win at Nimes on September 1. Savanier was handed […]

Paris (AFP) – Ballon d'Or organisers France Football have announced the creation of awards for the top female footballer and the best under-21 player in the world. The awards ceremony for the 63rd edition, created and decided by the French football magazine, will be held on December 3 in Paris. While 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe of […]

Milan (AFP) – Former Roma coach Claudio Ranieri remained tight-lipped on Monday amid talk that he could be in line to replace under-fire Eusebio Di Francesco in the Stadio Olimpico hotseat. The club's billionaire American owner James Pallotta said he was "disgusted" after the Serie A giants plunged to 14th with a 2-0 loss at […]

London (AFP) – Frank Lampard is relishing the chance to pit his wits against former manager Jose Mourinho when Manchester United host Derby in the League Cup at Old Trafford on Tuesday. Lampard, who is in his first management job, watched his Derby side climb into the top six of the Championship with a stylish […]

London (AFP) – Harry Kane admits he has fallen below his own high standards this season but said he welcomes the intense public scrutiny of his game. The Tottenham striker ended a five-game goalless run for club and country when he put his side ahead from the penalty spot in a 2-1 win at Brighton […]

London (AFP) – Paul Pogba launched a blistering critique of Manchester United's defensive-minded tactics in Saturday's draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, which is likely to infuriate manager Jose Mourinho. The 25-year-old French World Cup winning midfielder said there were no excuses for not attacking in home games. The draw — played out in front of legendary […]

London (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's decade-long domination of football's individual awards is under threat from Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric and Liverpool's Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah when FIFA's player of the year is announced on Monday. For the first time in 12 years Messi is not even nominated among the […]

Barcelona (AFP) – American fans will be licking their lips if this is what awaits Miami's Hard Rock Stadium in January after Barcelona and Girona played out an enthralling 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou on Sunday. There were four goals, one for Lionel Messi and two for Girona's Cristhian Stuani, not to mention a […]

Milan (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo erased the frustration of his Champions League red card midweek by scoring the opener and setting up Federico Bernardeschi for a second as Juventus kept their perfect record in Serie A after five games with a 2-0 win a promoted Frosinone on Sunday. The Portugese star had threatened several times […]

Berlin (AFP) – Sweden playmaker Emil Forsberg converted a second-half penalty for RB Leipzig at Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday in a 1-1 draw with French junior internationals Jean-Kevin Augustin and Nordi Mukiele were dropped in a row over their use of mobile phones. Furious Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick threw the French Under-21 talent out of […]

London (AFP) – Unai Emery saluted Petr Cech after the Arsenal goalkeeper's superb display set the stage for Sunday's 2-0 win over Everton. Emery's side were under the cosh in the first half at the Emirates Stadium, but Cech came to their rescue with a series of fine saves. Having survived Everton's opening salvo, the […]

Milan (AFP) – Roma's American owner James Pallotta said Sunday he was "disgusted" after the Serie A giants plunged further into crisis with a 2-0 defeat in Bologna piling the pressure on under-fire coach Eusebio Di Francesco. Roma – last year's third placed team in Serie A — are in 12th position after five games […]

Berlin (AFP) – Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius has insisted he did not join Besiktas on loan to escape Merseyside after his nightmare in the Champions League final. The 25-year-old German made two costly mistakes in the second-half of Liverpool's 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in Kiev last May. First, the pass he threw clipped Karim […]

London (AFP) – Alexandre Lacazette fired Arsenal to a fourth successive Premier League win as the French forward's superb strike inspired a hard-fought 2-0 success against Everton on Sunday. Unai Emery's side rode their luck in the first half at the Emirates Stadium as Everton wasted a host of chances to punish a sloppy opening […]

London (AFP) – Maurizio Sarri laughed off suggestions that next week's summit meeting with Liverpool is a "must-win" game after seeing Chelsea's 100 percent Premier League record ended by stubborn West Ham in a 0-0 draw on Sunday. Chelsea had won all five of their league matches before the weekend, going toe to toe with […]