London (AFP) – Arsene Wenger admitted on Friday that his Arsenal team's 3-1 defeat by Manchester United a fortnight ago has left his side psychologically scarred in their matches since. Draws against struggling Southampton and West Ham United have seen Arsenal slip to seventh in the table, a massive 19 points behind leaders Manchester City […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jose Mourinho confirmed on Friday that Manchester United defender Eric Bailly will be forced to undergo surgery that will keep him out for up to three months. Bailly, so dominant in United's strong start to the campaign, has not played since the start of November after picking up an ankle […]

Paris (AFP) – FIFA handed Brazilian football confederation (CBF) president Marco Polo Del Nero a 90-day provisional ban from all football activities on Friday. The 76-year-old, a former member of the FIFA Council, is the latest prominent South American official to be banned by the sport's governing body as part of its investigation into a […]

London (AFP) – Sports bodies are "massively lacking" when it comes to addressing the concerns of whistleblowers, says a lawmaker who helped expose failings at the Football Association and within British cycling. Damian Collins, chairman of the Commons digital, culture, media and sports parliamentary committee, told AFP that people often find it necessary to go […]

London (AFP) – With Pep Guardiola's record-breaking Manchester City team galloping away towards the Premier League title, attention is starting to shift to the jostling for Champions League positions. Manchester United, 11 points below City in second place, and third-place Chelsea are well placed, but beneath them the picture is more fluid. Just a point […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – After 120 years, The Old Lady of Turin has finally opened its doors to an elite women's team, which is shaking up the world of women's football in Italy. Since September, Rita Guarino's Juventus women have swept aside their rivals with eight wins from eight league games so far, including the […]

Milan (AFP) – The contract soap opera that engulfed AC Milan and their promising young goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the summer has come back to haunt the Serie A giants just as they try to get their faltering season back on track. Milan, seventh and 11 points off the Champions League places, travel to Verona […]

Berlin (AFP) – Domenico Tedesco has steered sleeping giants Schalke to second place in the Bundesliga with the 32-year-old part of a crop of young coaches enjoying success in Germany's top flight. The Royal Blues of Gelsenkirchen took a gamble at the start of the season by plucking Tedesco from second-division Erzgebirge Aue to revitalise […]

London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola's hunger to make history with Manchester City remains undiminished after his side became the first in the history of the English top flight to win 15 successive games. City reached the milestone with a ruthless 4-0 victory at Swansea City on Wednesday, which preserved their massive 11-point lead at the […]

London (AFP) – Arsene Wenger knows Arsenal cannot afford another slip-up when they face Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium aiming to end a damaging run of three Premier League games without a win. Wenger's team played a scoreless draw at West Ham United on Wednesday and is in seventh place going into Saturday's meeting with […]

London (AFP) – Eden Hazard admits Chelsea are experiencing a more gruelling December than during last season's Premier League title-winning campaign because of the club's involvement in the Champions League. Antonio Conte's side welcome Southampton to Stamford Bridge this weekend after recovering from the shock defeat at West Ham United with a convincing 3-1 midweek […]

Miami (AFP) – English football icon David Beckham has a new trio of partners in his bid to bring a Major League Soccer club to Miami. The league said Thursday it had approved the addition to Beckham's ownership group of Jorge and Jose Mas, leaders of telecommunications giant MasTec, and Japanese entrepreneur and SoftBank founder and chief executive […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – Christian Pulisic won US Soccer’s Male Player of the Year award for 2017 in a landslide, becoming at 19 the youngest footballer to earn the honor. The Borussia Dortmund midfielder dominated the voting process, getting the nod from 94 percent of those polled. "It really is a big honor and I […]

Milan (AFP) – Felipe Anderson scored his first goal of the season on Thursday as Lazio cruised into the quarter finals of the Italian Cup after beating Serie B side Cittadella 3-1. Lazio will face Fiorentina in the quarter finals, which are being played on December 27 and January 3. Brazilian winger Anderson, who has […]

London (AFP) – England's Football Association has asked Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho to explain comments he made in the build-up to last weekend's 2-1 derby defeat by Manchester City. "He has until 6pm (1800 GMT) on Monday 18 December to respond," an FA spokesperson said on Twitter. In his final pre-game press conference, Mourinho […]