Southampton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Mauricio Pellegrino's first competitive match as Southampton manager saw the south coast club once more fail to score at home as they launched their Premier League season with a goalless against Swansea at St Mary's on Saturday. The Argentinian was appointed after Southampton sacked Claude Puel, who guided the Saints […]

London (AFP) – Champions Chelsea had Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas sent off as the defence of their Premier League title began with a stunning 3-2 home defeat by Burnley on Saturday. Disjointed and embarrassed in the first half, Chelsea threatened to mount the most unlikely of comebacks in a stirring second-half display, but just […]

West Bromwich (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Egyptian international defender Ahmed Hegazi scored the only goal as West Brom edged Bournemouth 1-0 in their Premier League opener on Saturday. It was a deserved three points for the Baggies who had a hatful of chances to win by a more convincing scoreline. Hegazi caught the eye of […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Wayne Rooney rolled back the years for Everton as the England striker's clinical header sealed a 1-0 win over Stoke on his second Premier League debut for his boyhood club. Rooney had already played one home game — a Europa League qualifier against Ruzomberok — in his second spell as an Evertonian […]

London (AFP) – Record signing Steve Mounie scored twice as newcomers Huddersfield Town recorded a magnificent 3-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday that left them top of the Premier League. An £11.4 million ($14.8 million, 12.5 million euros) capture from Montpellier, French striker Mounie struck twice after Joel Ward's 23rd-minute own goal had broken […]

Dakar (AFP) – Ten members of a Senegalese football club arrested over a stampede last month which killed eight supporters attending a cup final have been taken into custody, officials said Saturday. Those arrested earlier in the week on suspicion of murder and premeditated assault include the chairman of the US Ouakam supporters' club and […]

Paris (AFP) – As the hysteria mounts ahead of Neymar's Paris Saint-Germain debut on Sunday focus switched from his record transfer fee to the question of which star would make way for the Brazilian. Le Parisien daily newspaper suggested it would be Javier Pastore, the silky but fragile Argentine who was the first major signing […]

Watford (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp claimed Liverpool were wrongly denied a winning start to the Premier League season as Watford snatched a controversial last-gasp equaliser in a dramatic 3-3 draw on Saturday. Reds boss Klopp was furious that Miguel Britos wasn't ruled offside when the Watford defender poked home from on the goal-line […]

Watford (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Miguel Britos added to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp's frustrations with an added-time equaliser that ensured Watford salvaged a point following a 3-3 draw at Vicarage Road on Saturday. Klopp had spent the previous 24 hours handling the fall-out from Philippe Countinho's transfer request after the club rejected Barcelona's £90 million […]

Paris (AFP) – As the hysteria mounts ahead of Neymar's Paris Saint-Germain debut on Sunday focus switched from his record transfer fee to the question of which star would make way for the Brazilian. Le Parisien daily newspaper suggested it would be Javier Pastore, the silky but fragile Argentine who was the first major signing […]

Prague (AFP) – Despite conceding three goals against Leicester, goalkeeper Petr Cech on Saturday hailed Arsenal's "beautiful" come-from-behind 4-3 Premier League victory on Friday night. "Seven goals, fantastic comebacks," the 35-year-old Czech said on his website. "The season started with a beautiful game which met all expectations." Arsenal opened the scoring in the second minute […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane confirmed on Saturday he will sign a contract extension in the near future with the club he has guided to back-to-back Champions League titles. "I'm happy because it's a sign of confidence, that we have done good work," Zidane told a pre-match press conference ahead of Real's […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino says he has forgiven Danny Rose after the left-back criticised the club in a controversial eve-of-season interview. Spurs are yet to buy any new players in this transfer window and Rose, 27, told The Sun they needed to sign "world-class players" and "not players you have to […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona host rivals Real Madrid in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday (2000GMT) badly in need of a morale-boosting win following the world record sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain. Despite banking 222 million euros ($261 million) for the Brazilian, Barca's scattergun approach to finding a replacement has […]

Sao Paulo (AFP) – Brazilian football star Neymar is willing to pay a fine of $2.5 million to settle tax evasion allegations in his country, his lawyer said Friday. The 25-year-old wants to leave the fight with Brazilian authorities behind him as he prepares for a new professional life with Paris Saint-Germain after his record […]