Hong Kong (AFP) – Asia's football body cancelled several tournaments and announced centralised group stages for the Champions League and AFC Cup club tournaments on Monday, as it continues to battle coronavirus disruption. The Asian Football Confederation cancelled its U16 and U19 championships in Bahrain and Uzbekistan respectively, along with the regional futsal tournament in […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea sacked manager Frank Lampard on Monday after 18 months in charge, with former Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel hotly tipped to replace him at Stamford Bridge. Lampard signed a three-year deal in July 2019, leading Chelsea to the FA Cup final and a fourth-placed Premier League finish in his first season […]

London (AFP) – Gareth Bale must earn his place in the Tottenham team on the training pitch and will not be picked so he can boost his match fitness, said manager Jose Mourinho. The 31-year-old Wales international is back at Spurs on a season-long loan deal from Real Madrid. But the forward, hampered by fitness […]

Paris (AFP) – Morocca's Youssef en-Nesyri and Egypt's Mohamed Salah experienced different emotions after their scoring feats at the weekend. En-Nesyri struck a La Liga hat-trick for Sevilla against Cadiz — his second this month — and had the added satisfaction of celebrating a 3-0 victory that lifted his club to fourth. After netting just […]

Paris (AFP) – It was a very good weekend for Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich as they extended their leads at the top in Spain and Germany respectively, but it remains tight at the top in France and Italy while Portugal's sleeping giants claimed silverware. AFP Sport rounds up some of the main talking points […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea sacked manager Frank Lampard on Monday after 18 months in charge, with former Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel reportedly set to replace him at Stamford Bridge. Sunday's 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round win against Championship side Luton was not enough to save Lampard, whose team have slumped to ninth place in the […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea announced on Monday they had sacked manager Frank Lampard after a poor run in the Premier League. "This was a very difficult decision for the club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him," said owner Roman Abramovich. Chelsea are […]

London (AFP) – Frank Lampard is set to be sacked as Chelsea manager, with former Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel in line to take over, reports said on Monday. The 42-year-old is expected to leave Stamford Bridge with the club struggling in ninth place in the Premier League table, 11 points behind leaders Manchester United. […]

London (AFP) – Frank Lampard is set to be sacked as Chelsea manager, with former Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel in line to take over, reports said on Monday. The 42-year-old is expected to leave Stamford Bridge with the club ninth in the Premier League table, 11 points behind leaders Manchester United. A hat-trick from […]

London (AFP) – Everton assistant manager Duncan Ferguson said he was confident that Dominic Calvert-Lewin would start "battering" in the goals again after the England forward ended his drought. Calvert-Lewin scored the first goal in Everton's 3-0 win against Championship side Sheffield Wednesday in Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round tie. His 15th goal of the season […]

Milan (AFP) – Milan's giants will do battle in the Italian Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday after a disappointing weekend of Serie A action for Italy's top two teams. League leaders AC Milan were swept away 3-0 by Atalanta at the San Siro on Saturday, at the same time as second-placed Inter Milan could only manage […]

Yaoundé (AFP) – Mali and hosts Cameroon secured African Nations Championship quarter-finals places and a Zimbabwe player was substituted 149 seconds into the first half as Group A ended Sunday. A Demba Diallo goal on 11 minutes gave Mali a 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe in coastal city Douala and first place in Group A with […]

Madrid (AFP) – Luis Suarez scored a brilliant team goal as Atletico Madrid came from behind to beat Valencia 3-1 on Sunday and move seven points clear at the top of La Liga. After Real Madrid thrashed Alaves on Saturday, Barca had earlier followed suit with a scrappy victory over Elche. But Atletico were undeterred […]

Paris (AFP) – Marcelo and Tino Kadewere kept Lyon in touch with Ligue 1's pace-setters on Sunday after they scored twice in a 5-0 derby thumping of a Saint-Etienne side missing a host of players to the coronavirus. Rudi Garcia's team stay two points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain and Lille, who earlier won 1-0 at Rennes, […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed Bruno Fernandes's dedication to perfecting his free-kick technique as the Portuguese's stunning strike earned Manchester United a thrilling 3-2 win over Liverpool to reach the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday. Solskjaer handed Fernandes a rare rest from the start with United leading the way in […]