Paris (AFP) – Player of the year nominee Bernardo Silva was on target as Monaco eased to a 3-0 win at Nancy on Saturday to leave them on the brink of a first French title since 2000. Monaco had seen nearest challengers Paris Saint-Germain trounce bottom club Bastia 5-0 earlier in the day, but they […]

Swansea (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Swansea gave themselves hope of Premier League survival as Fernando Llorente's first-half header secured a 1-0 win at home to Everton on Saturday that took the Welsh club out of the relegation zone. Llorente's goal, his 13th of the season, lifted Swansea a point clear of the bottom three, leapfrogging […]

Berlin (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund winger Marco Reus is the latest Germany star poised to miss the Conferderations Cup in Russia after leaving his place open at the World Cup warm-up tournament. "I will certainly speak with the national head coach (Joachim Loew) again and weigh up what is best for me," said Reus after […]

Berlin (AFP) – RB Leipzig capped off a superb first Bundesliga campaign with automatic qualification for next season's Champions League as Timo Werner scored twice in Saturday's 4-1 thrashing of Hertha Berlin. Leipzig, founded by energy drinks giants Red Bull in 2009, only reached Germany's top flight this season after four promotions in seven years. […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City improved their prospects of Champions League qualification with a 5-0 demolition of Crystal Palace, while Swansea City's 1-0 win over Everton pushed Hull City into the Premier League relegation zone on Saturday. Frustrated by damaging draws in their previous two games, City got back on track and climbed to third […]

Madrid (AFP) – Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were all on target as Barcelona beat Villarreal 4-1 to heap the pressure on Real Madrid, who travel to Granada later on Saturday. Victory moved Barca three points clear of Madrid at the top of La Liga, but Real have four games left to the Catalans' […]

Milan (AFP) – Dries Mertens hit a brace on his 30th birthday to maintain his bid for the top goalscorer award as Napoli cruised to a 3-1 win over Cagliari to move up to second in Serie A. Despite the recent return to action, and pleas for more playing time, by Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik, […]

Moscow (AFP) – Spartak Moscow moved to within one point of a record 10th domestic title when they beat bottom club Tomsk 1-0 on Saturday. A goal by Dutchman Quincy Promes set Spartak, who are in the hunt for their first title since 2001, to a hard-fought win. It left them 10 points clear of […]

Paris (AFP) – A hotly contested goal by Marco Verratti helped Paris Saint-Germain to a comfortable 5-0 win over bottom club Bastia on Saturday as the reigning champions kept the pressure on Ligue 1 leaders Monaco. Edinson Cavani scored twice and also had a late penalty saved, with Lucas Moura and Marquinhos getting the other […]

Kingston upon Hull (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Hull City's hopes of Premier League survival took a dent and manager Marco Silva lost his proud unbeaten home record as they were stunned 2-0 by already relegated Sunderland on Saturday. Silva was a surprise appointment when given the Hull job in January but the Portuguese has revived […]

Madrid (AFP) – Atletico Madrid secured Champions League football for a fifth straight season as Saul Niguez's solitary strike earned a 1-0 home win over Eibar on Saturday. Diego Simeone's men still harbour outside hopes of returning to the Champions League final for the third time in four years as they host local rivals Real […]

Bournemouth (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Bournemouth will play Premier League football again next season after they benefited from a late own goal to snatch a 2-2 home draw with Stoke City on Saturday. The point for Stoke means they too are realistically safe from relegation for another year after a topsy-turvy game that featured two […]

Berlin (AFP) – Spain defender Juan Bernat netted the only goal of the game as champions Bayern Munich beat Darmstadt 1-0 on Saturday, a result that confirmed their opponents' relegation. Bayern, Bundesliga champions for the fifth year in a row, were made to work for victory at the Allianz Arena and Torsten Frings' Darmstadt might […]

Madrid (AFP) – Barcelona on Saturday gave their backing to a referendum for Catalan independence, which the region's president Carles Puigdemont wants to hold later this year. A brief statement released by the reigning Spanish champions said they "agreed with the National Pact for the Referendum, the campaign to gather support from institutions, organisations, those […]

Berlin (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund's CEO admits his relationship with coach Thomas Tuchel is strained over the decision to play their Champions League quarter-final a day after a bomb attack on their team bus. The squad was left shaken and defender Marc Barta needed a wrist operation after three bomb blasts hit the Dortmund bus […]