Paris (AFP) – Midfielder Morgan Sanson grabbed Marseille a 1-1 draw at Bordeaux with the last kick of the game on Sunday, while Lyon were held by Montpellier in the absence of the suspended Nabil Fekir. Nicolas de Preville put Bordeaux ahead in only the third minute with an excellent individual goal, but after a […]

Madrid (AFP) – Valencia maintained their pursuit of Barcelona to remain four points off the La Liga leaders thanks to second-half goals from Geoffrey Kondogbia and Santi Mina to beat a luckless Espanyol 2-0 on Sunday. A club record eighth straight La Liga win for Valencia moves Marcelino Garcia Toral's men six points clear of […]

Paris (AFP) – Hundreds of banal matches, thousands of miles on the road, gatecrashing training sessions and cultivating relationships with teachers and parents, such is the life of the football talent scouts scouring playing fields for the next wonderkid. Much of their method is kept secret and Romain Poirot, former Manchester City scout now working […]

Watford (United Kingdom) (AFP) – David Moyes suffered a miserable start to his West Ham United reign as Watford eased to a 2-0 win over the Premier League strugglers on Sunday. Moyes was in charge of West Ham for the first time following his appointment as replacement for the sacked Slaven Bilic. But the former […]

Paris (AFP) – Lyon's four-match winning streak in Ligue 1 came to an end in the absence of captain Nabil Fekir as they were held to a 0-0 home draw by Montpellier on Sunday. Bruno Genesio's men slipped to nine points adrift of league leaders Paris Saint-Germain after a disappointing performance, while they could lose […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona announced on Sunday they will appeal yellow cards shown to Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez in Saturday's 3-0 win at Leganes. Unless his appeal is successful, Pique will miss next Sunday's top of the table clash at Valencia. "FC Barcelona informs that it has decided to appeal to the competition committee […]

Berlin (AFP) – China's Under-20 team stormed off the pitch in the first in a series of friendlies against German fourth-division clubs as pro-Tibet activists demonstrated in Mainz. The Under-20 side is in Germany to play 16 friendlies against lower league clubs in an experiment, which runs until May, aimed at advancing the Asian superpower's […]

Berlin (AFP) – Goals by strikers Franco di Santo and Guido Burgstaller sealed Schalke 04's 2-0 win over Hamburg on Sunday as the Royal Blues climbed to second place in the Bundesliga. Under 32-year-old head coach Domenico Tedesco, Schalke are unbeaten in seven games dating back to September, and the home win in Gelsenkirchen moved […]

Milan (AFP) – Sampdoria ran riot as Serie A champions Juventus lost their both their cool and ground on leaders Napoli in the Italian title race on Sunday suffering a 3-2 setback in Genoa. Colombian striker Duvan Zapata, Uruguayan Lucas Torreira and Italian defender Gian Marco Ferrari all found the net in the second half […]

London (AFP) – Hector Bellerin says Arsenal's 2-0 victory over Tottenham in the north London derby has silenced the doubters. Arsene Wenger's side secured their first Premier League success against their hated rivals since March 2014 thanks to goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. It was the perfect […]

London (AFP) – Former Wales coach Chris Coleman was confirmed as manager of Championship strugglers Snderland on Sunday. Coleman's move to the Stadium of Light was widely expected after he resigned from the Wales job earlier this week. The former Fulham boss has agreed a two-and-half year contract with Sunderland. The 47-year-old is the Black […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos had his nose broken in a bad-tempered Madrid derby at Atletico Madrid, tests confirmed on Sunday. Ramos had to be replaced at half-time of Saturday's 0-0 draw at Atletico's Wanda Metropolitano which left both sides 10 points behind runaway La Liga leaders Barcelona. "After tests carried out […]

Sydney (AFP) – Coach Ange Postecoglou said Sunday he will meet with Football Federation Australia officials this week to decide whether he will take the Socceroos to next year's World Cup in Russia. Postecoglou has kept everyone guessing about his much-rumoured departure after Australia overcame Honduras 3-1 to reach their fourth consecutive World Cup in […]

Madrid (AFP) – Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone insisted he will defend off-colour star forward Antoine Griezmann "to the death", as long as he remains an Atletico player, after Saturday's 0-0 draw against local rivals Real Madrid. Griezmann turned his back on interest from Manchester United to sign a new contract after Atletico lost an […]

West Bromwich (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Antonio Conte criticised football's fixture planners as he prepares his side for a manic month in the wake of their 4-0 victory at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. Conte’s side eased to victory at The Hawthorns but Conte is already warning his players they face their biggest game of […]