Glasgow (AFP) – Steven Gerrard's first taste of the Old Firm derby ended in defeat as Olivier Ntcham's goal handed Celtic a 1-0 win on Sunday and Brendan Rodgers first blood in his battle with the former Liverpool captain. Defeat was also Gerrard's first in 13 games as Rangers manager, but on this evidence there […]

Cardiff (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Mesut Ozil returned to the Arsenal starting line-up for their Premier League game at Cardiff on Sunday after reports he had fallen out with boss Unai Emery. Ozil missed Arsenal's first win under Emery against West Ham last weekend amid claims the German midfielder had been involved in a training […]

Milan (AFP) – Nothing is going right for Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo since his summer move to Italian champions Juventus. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner, who lost out to Luka Modric for the UEFA Player of the Year award during the week, drew another blank for a third straight Serie A game on Saturday as […]

London (AFP) – Eden Hazard admits he is enjoying playing for new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, but the Belgium star remains coy over his future plans. Hazard scored his second goal of the season in Saturday's 2-0 win over Bournemouth as Chelsea made four successive Premier League victories with Sarri in charge. The 27-year-old was […]

Rennes (France) (AFP) – French international attacking midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa has joined Rennes from Paris saint Germain, the player revealed via his Twitter account on Sunday. The 31-year-old former Newcastle and Hull player thereby ends two miserable seasons at PSG where featured in just 23 games and played no competitive soccer last season. Rennes posted […]

Paris (AFP) – France's superstar striker Kylian Mbapppe is a target for defenders and will need to learn self-control, his France handler Didier Deschamps said after the teenege sensation was sent off for retaiation on Saturday. Mbappe, who sot to global fame as France romped to the 2018 World Cup, scored the decisive goal in […]

Madrid (AFP) – Espanyol's Chinese owners Rastar Group have a long term commitment to the Liga club despite reports a poor first campaign had given them cold feet, the president of the Barcelona-based insisted in an interview published Sunday. "I firmly believe that this project is worth all the efforts which the group is carrying […]

Jakarta (AFP) – Son Heung-min will rejoin his Tottenham Hotspur team-mates next week buzzing after his emotional rollercoaster ride at the Asian Games in Jakarta. The decision by Spurs to release Son for a far-flung, under-23 tournament already looks like a shrewd piece of business after he led South Korea to a gold medal that […]

Milan (AFP) – Senegalese international defender Kalidou Koulibaly has extended his contract with Napoli by two years, the Serie A runners-up confirmed on Saturday. The Senegal international has agreed an improved deal with the side now coached by former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti until June 2023. According to media reports in Italy […]

Madrid (AFP) – Karim Benzema scored twice and Gareth Bale notched another for Real Madrid in a 4-1 thrashing of Leganes on Saturday Atletico Madrid crashed to defeat in La Liga. Benzema grabbed a second-half double and might have got his hat-trick had Sergio Ramos passed on the penalty he scored after a foul on […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jose Mourinho believes Alexis Sanchez will recover his form and fitness for Manchester United, but insists he had no input into the Chile forward's decision to skip his country's upcoming friendly internationals. Chile manager Reinaldo Rueda claimed this week the United forward pulled out of games in Asia against Japan […]

Milan (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo missed a chance to score his first Serie A goal for Juventus but the Italian champions kept their winning momentum 2-1 at promoted Parma on Saturday with goals in either half from World Cup stars Mario Mandzukic and Blaise Matuidi. World Cup winner Matuidi bagged the decisive goal on 58 […]

Madrid (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo's departure will be judged on bigger games than this but Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale continue to provide the smoothest of transitions after each scored in a 4-1 thumping of Leganes on Saturday. Benzema grabbed a double in the second half and might have sealed his hat-trick had Sergio Ramos […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola insists he remains happy with Leroy Sane's attitude despite leaving the forward out of his Manchester City squad for Saturday's 2-1 victory over Newcastle. Sane has endured a testing few months since winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award in April, having been left out of […]

Moscow (AFP) – Substitute Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov struck a dramatic injury-time winner as Krasnodar stunned reigning champions Lokomotiv Moscow 2-1 on Saturday. Krasnodar's hard-fought win lifted them into fourth, five points behind league leaders Zenit St Petersburg, who take on second-placed Spartak Moscow on Sunday. "I think we deserved to win," Krasnodar head coach Oleg Fomenko […]