Paris (AFP) – Florian Thauvin starred as Marseille moved second in Ligue 1 after cruising to a 3-0 victory at lowly Metz on Wednesday, while Lyon lost to managerless Lille and Monaco were beaten at Nantes. Rudi Garcia's Marseille are now unbeaten in 10 league games and seven points adrift of rivals and league leaders […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Sam Allardyce arrived to watch Everton's home game with West Ham United on Wednesday after the Premier League strugglers announced he was finalising terms to become their new manager. The former England manager was shown arriving outside Goodison Park on Sky Sports, while social media videos showed him walking down the touchline […]

Lille (France) (AFP) – Marcelo Bielsa did not attend an "interview prior to a possible dismissal" at his club Lille on Wednesday and will instead await a hearing by the French League (LFP), his lawyer told AFP. Lille suspended the Argentine coach, known as "El Loco", on November 22 and announced on Tuesday that they […]

London (AFP) – Violent scenes that took place in and around Brighton and Hove Albion's match at home to Crystal Palace on Tuesday have been described as a "return to the dark days of football" by police. Tuesday's goalless draw in the Premier League was overshadowed by hooliganism in and outside south coast club Brighton's […]

Paris (AFP) – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin joined several players in pledging one percent of his salary to Juan Mata's Common Goal project on Wednesday. Spain and Manchester United midfielder Mata launched the programme in August alongside streetfootballworld, a group of 120 charities from 80 countries, with the donated wages helping to fund the football […]

London (AFP) – New West Bromwich Albion boss Alan Pardew on Wednesday set his sights on winning silverware after first addressing the immediate priority of pulling the Chinese-owned club away from the Premier League danger zone. The former West Ham United, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace manager has agreed a two-and-a-half-year contract at the Midlands […]

Bangkok (AFP) – Syrian striker Omar Khrbin was awarded the Asian Football Confederation's 2017 Player of the Year Wednesday, after starring both for his club and for his war-ravaged country whose attempt to make the World Cup captured the hearts of the sporting world. Khrbin was selected ahead of last year's winner Omar Abdulrahman — […]

London (AFP) – West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday appointed Alan Pardew as their new manager following the sacking of Tony Pulis as the Chinese-owned club seek to pull away from the Premier League danger zone. The former West Ham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace boss has agreed a two-and-a-half-year contract at the club, languishing just two […]

Tokyo (AFP) – Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic said Wednesday he would rely on local-based players at next month's East Asian championships, where the hosts clash with North Korea in a politically charged opener. Halilhodzic, who has one eye on next summer's World Cup in Russia, has buried the hatchet with Kashima Antlers striker Mu Kanazaki […]

Watford (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is confident Romelu Lukaku's problems in front of goal will come to an end — just as soon as he secures a new boot deal. Lukaku laid on a goal for Anthony Martial in United's 4-2 win at Watford on Tuesday, but squandered three good […]

Shanghai (AFP) – He is known as the "Godfather of Shanghainese football", is a former player and manager of the Chinese national team, and owns a side in the Spanish league. Now, at the age of 73, the charismatic Xu Genbao is taking on his toughest assignment yet: forming a club from scratch to help […]

Moscow (AFP) – Andrei and his fellow Russian football hooligans flew to France for the Euro 2016 tournament with only one goal in mind: to give England's supporters a good kicking before the World Cup. "It was like winning against Brazil in football," Andrei told AFP of the orchestrated violence. "It was our last chance […]

London (AFP) – Sam Allardyce and Alan Pardew could both return to the Premier League as managers of Everton and West Bromwich Albion respectively as soon as Wednesday, according to British media reports. With both clubs just two points above the bottom three, the experienced English duo's history of keeping clubs in the Premier League […]

Leicester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino slammed his players lack of "fight" after their Premier League title aspirations suffered another damaging blow with a 2-1 loss away to Leicester City. Tuesday's defeat meant Spurs have now gone three league games without a win and they will fall 16 points behind […]

La Unión (Colombia) (AFP) – Two army helicopters scattered flower petals over a town square Tuesday as part of sad tributes to the upstart Brazilian football team Chapecoense, most of whose players died in a plane crash exactly a year ago. La Union, the town closest to the site of the accident on a mountainside […]