London (AFP) – Patrick Bamford scored a hat-trick as Middlesbrough beat Leeds 3-0 in the English Championship on Friday. Bamford put the hosts in front in the 31st minute and five minutes later he made it 2-0. His third goal put the result beyond doubt with just over 20 minutes left. Victory moved Middlesbrough up […]

Paris (AFP) – Rony Lopes scored his sixth goal in seven games as Monaco came from from behind to beat Bordeaux 2-1 to tighten their grip on second place in Ligue 1 on Friday. Runaway leaders Paris Saint Germain have 71 points ahead of their trip to Troyes on Saturday, and Monaco now have 60 […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Missiles were flung on to the pitch after a disputed Mamelodi Sundowns goal, halting play for 10 minutes before the leaders won 3-1 at AmaZulu Friday in the South African Premiership. The third Sundowns goal, scored by Sibusiso Vilakazi on 60 minutes, should have been disallowed as TV replays showed Themba Zwane […]

London (AFP) – Leicester's Thai owners have their sights set on a return to European action after their club announced record profits. Leicester recorded profits of £80 million ($110 million, 89 million euros) after tax for the financial year ending May 31, 2017 thanks to their qualification for the lucrative Champions League. The Foxes made […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City have been fined £50,000 ($68,000) for their players' behaviour in the stormy FA Cup defeat against third tier Wigan. Several of Pep Guardiola's stars surrounded referee Anthony Taylor following the controversial dismissal of City defender Fabian Delph in the first half of the Premier League leaders' shock 1-0 loss. "Manchester […]

London (AFP) – A European-wide deep freeze that shows no sign of stopping anytime soon led Friday to the postponement of several British sports fixtures this weekend. And while no games in English football's elite Premier League have yet been called off (pitches at most top-flight clubs have undersoil heating to guard against the chill) […]

Lisbon (AFP) – Prosecutors in Portugal confirmed on Friday that they are investigating a complaint that FC Porto fixed a match that they won away to Estoril, an allegation the two clubs firmly deny. According to a report in sports daily A Bola — who said an anonymous complaint had been made to police on […]

London (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp claims Liverpool are more unpredictable since Philippe Coutinho's move to Barcelona because his players have had to get creative to fill the gap left by the Brazil star. When Coutinho was sold in January, some pundits suggested Klopp's side would struggle without the influential forward. But since then Liverpool have […]

Madrid (AFP) – La Liga began training officials in the video assistant referee (VAR) system on Friday ahead of the technology's expected introduction next season. The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has announced it is seeking approval from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to roll out VAR in La Liga at the start of the […]

Pristina (AFP) – Switzerland's Bernard Challandes was named as the new Kosovo coach on Friday to succeed Albert Bunjaki who had been in charge during the World Cup qualifying campaign. The 66-year-old has coached Young Boys, FC Zurich and FC Sion and was also in charge of the Armenia national team from 2014 to 2015. […]

Zagreb (AFP) – Croatian prosecutors charged Friday Real Madrid's Luka Modric with giving false testimony at the multi-million-euro corruption trial of Dinamo Zagreb's powerful former chief, an offence carrying up to five years in jail. The 32-year-old midfielder was charged with "committing the criminal offence of giving false testimony" last June during a trial against […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has set his sights on returning from his lengthy injury lay-off in next month's derby against Manchester United. Mendy has been sidelined since sustaining knee ligament damage in the Premier League leaders' win over Crystal Palace in September. The 23-year-old had hoped to be fit for a […]

Belo Horizonte (Brazil) (AFP) – Brazilian superstar Neymar was due to fly into Belo Horizonte later Friday for surgery to mend a broken bone in his right foot, while an anxious footballing nation wondered if its World Cup build-up will also need urgent care. Neymar, the world's most expensive football player, struck a relaxed pose, […]

Rome (AFP) – Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco revealed on Friday that he would be interested in signing Italian striker Mario Balotelli whose contract with French club Nice expires in June. "I'd coach him, I spoke to him two years ago about bringing him to Sassuolo, but nothing came of it. He's a player with […]

London (AFP) – Antonio Conte has saluted "unstoppable" Manchester City as the Chelsea manager prepares for Sunday's clash with the runaway Premier League leaders. Conte's reigning champions head to Manchester lagging 22 points behind City and look certain to have to surrender the title to Pep Guardiola's men. City have been riding high all season […]