Milan (AFP) – Napoli stamped their authority on the Serie A title race with a come-from-behind 4-1 thumping of Lazio on Saturday to reclaim top spot from champions Juventus. Juventus's 2-0 win in Fiorentina had put them top on Friday, but Maurizio Sarri's side responded in style to maintain their one-point advantage over the six-time […]

Madrid (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick as Real Madrid warmed up for their Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-Germain with a big 5-2 victory over Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday. Zinedine Zidane's side have not scaled their usual heights this season and this was still not perfect, but they do look […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola hailed Sergio Aguero as an "authentic legend" of Manchester City after his four second-half goals continued their emphatic march towards the Premier League title with a 5-1 thrashing of Leicester. Raheem Sterling had given City an early lead on Saturday but Leicester went into the break on level […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski scored in his 11th consecutive home league match in Saturday's 2-1 win over Schalke to equal the Bundesliga record. The Poland striker, who now has 26 in all competitions, has netted in all of Bayern's league games this season at the Allianz Arena. He equalled the record […]

London (AFP) – Sergio Aguero scored four second-half goals as Manchester City's march towards the Premier League title continued unabated with a 5-1 thrashing of Leicester on Saturday to move 16 points clear of Manchester United. Aguero now trails Harry Kane by just two goals in the race for the golden boot, but just one […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Riyad Mahrez finally got his wish of an outing at Manchester City's Etihad stadium, but only as a second-half substitute for Leicester a day after ending his standoff with the Foxes by returning to training. Mahrez, 26, had missed Leicester's last two Premier League matches after not reporting for training […]

Orlando (AFP) – United States Soccer Federation vice-president Carlos Cordeiro was elected chief of the governing body on Saturday, replacing outgoing president Sunil Gulati who stepped down after the country's 2018 World Cup flop. Cordeiro, a Harvard-educated former investment banker, came through a crowded field of eight contenders to win on a third ballot at […]

Paris (AFP) – Neymar scored the only goal as Paris Saint-Germain ground out a 1-0 victory at Toulouse on Saturday in their final tune-up for next week's Champions League showdown against holders Real Madrid. The runaway French league leaders stretched their advantage over Marseille to 13 points courtesy of Neymar's 19th Ligue 1 goal of […]

Madrid (AFP) – Antoine Griezmann scored after just 39 seconds as Atletico Madrid won 1-0 away at bottom side Malaga on Saturday to move to within six points of La Liga leaders Barcelona. The French striker fired home his eighth league goal of the campaign from inside the box after a Saul Niguez shot was […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich head coach Jupp Heynckes missed the Bundesliga leaders' home game against Schalke on Saturday after suffering with the flu. With the 72-year-old ill, his place on the bench was taken by assistant coach Peter Hermann. Under Heynckes, Bayern have won 20 of their last 21 games in all competitions and […]

Milan (AFP) – Patrick Cutrone hit a double with Lucas Biglia and Fabio Borini also scoring as AC Milan crushed SPAL 4-0 on Saturday to boost their European ambitions. The 20-year-old Cutrone took centre stage with Nikola Kalinic injured and Davide Calabria suspended, opening after two minutes in Ferrara off a rebound and doubling from […]

London (AFP) – Harry Kane did the North London derby damage to Arsenal once more as the Tottenham Hotspur striker's seventh goal in as many games against the Gunners secured a thoroughly deserved 1-0 win for Spurs on Saturday. Kane towered above the Arsenal defence to head home his 32nd goal of the season four […]

Berlin (AFP) – Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi, on loan from Chelsea, scored his third Bundesliga goal in two games for Borussia Dortmund on Saturday in their 2-0 home win against Hamburg. Dortmund signed the 24-year-old for 1.5 million euros on loan for the rest of the season after selling top-scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal last […]

London (AFP) – Mauricio Pochettino labelled Harry Kane Tottenham's "present and future" after the striker again proved the scourge of Arsenal with the goal that gave Spurs a 1-0 derby win on Saturday. Kane soared above the Arsenal defence to head home his 32nd goal of the season four minutes into the second-half to move […]

Berlin (AFP) – Injury-prone Germany winger Marco Reus returned for Borussia Dortmund on Saturday against Bundesliga strugglers Hamburg having been sidelined for the last 259 days by a torn cruciate knee ligament. Reus, 28, has been out since suffering the injury in last May's German Cup final, when Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt in the Berlin […]