London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola saluted Manchester City's stars for shaking off their World Cup fatigue as the champions made a flying start to the Premier League campaign with a 2-0 win against Arsenal. Guardiola's side featured a host of players who told the City boss they were ready to play at the Emirates Stadium […]

Villar Perosa (Italy) (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday gave a display of pure star power in his debut for Italian champions Juventus, showing his class on and off the pitch at the club's traditional alpine curtain raiser. Nearly 5,000 fans crammed into the compact "Gaetano Scirea" stadium in Villar Perosa at the foot of […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said his players know how to eke out victories even when many are not fully match fit just as they did in getting their title defence off to a winning start with a routine 2-0 victory over Arsenal on Sunday. Goals by Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva […]

London (AFP) – Former Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard complimented his Rangers players in delivering him his first victory as manager in the Scottish Premiership but warned them to improve their discipline following the 2-0 win over St Mirren on Sunday. Gerrard's side had shown great resolve to take the three points as Ross McCrorie got […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City ruined the start of the Unai Emery era at Arsenal as the champions signalled their intent to retain the Premier League title with a stylish 2-0 win on Sunday. Pep Guardiola's side swept to the title last term with a record 100 points and they were quickly back in the […]

Beijing (AFP) – A Chinese footballer has denied using a racial slur against Sengalese striker Demba Ba during a recent match, his first response to a race row that has rocked the Chinese Super League. Changchun Yatai midfielder Zhang Li was banned for six matches and fined 42,000 yuan ($6,000) last week by the Chinese […]

Paris (AFP) – Bertrand Traore and Memphis Depay scored for Lyon in a season-opening 2-0 victory over Amiens on Sunday, as France international Nabil Fekir showed off the World Cup trophy to home fans ahead of kick-off. Burkina Faso forward Traore fired Lyon ahead on 24 minutes when he broke down the right side of the […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp warned much tougher challenges lie ahead of Liverpool's quest to end a near three-decade wait to win the Premier League after brushing aside West Ham 4-0 at a jubilant Anfield on Sunday. Mohamed Salah opened his account for the season, Sadio Mane scored twice and Daniel Sturridge added a late […]

Madrid (AFP) – Retired Brazilian striker Ronaldo said Sunday he is in hospital with a "bad flu" on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza but reassured fans that he will be out in a day. "Guys, I had a bad case of flu here in Ibiza. I was hospitalised on Friday, but everything is under […]

London (AFP) – Algerian international Islam Slimani's unhappy time at Leicester continued on Sunday when he joined Turkish outfit Fenerbahce on a season long loan. The 30-year-old striker — capped over 50 times and a star of Algeria's 2014 World Cup finals campaign — spent part of last season on loan at Premier League rivals […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Senegal's Sadio Mane said Liverpool's free-scoring is due to good teamwork after his brace helped last season's Champions League finalists to an impressive 4-0 thrashing of West Ham in their Premier League opener on Sunday. The 26-year-old scored either side of half-time with Mohamed Salah opening the scoring and Daniel Sturridge adding […]

London (AFP) – Former England first-choice goalkeeper Joe Hart kept his second successive clean sheet for Burnley in an entertaining scoreless draw with Southampton in their Premier League clash on Sunday. Hart, who made his Burnley debut in Thursday's 0-0 draw against Istanbul Basaksehir in Europa League qualifying, made a couple of outstanding saves while […]

Villar Perosa (Italy) (AFP) – Juventus fans will get their first look at superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in the famous black and white stripes when he makes his debut on Sunday in an intimate alpine setting. Juventus fans have been waiting just over a month to see Ronaldo in action since he shocked the world by […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Mohamed Salah opened his account for the new campaign as Liverpool backed up pre-season hype they can challenge champions Manchester City for the Premier League title by sweeping aside West Ham 4-0 at Anfield. Sadio Mane scored twice and Daniel Sturridge added a late fourth in an impressive display by Jurgen Klopp's […]

Madrid (AFP) – Retired Brazilian striker Ronaldo has been hospitalised with pneumonia on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza and is recovering well, a local newspaper reported Sunday. The 41-year-old, widely considered one of the world's best-ever players, was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Can Misses Hospital on the island on Friday […]