London (AFP) – Manchester City climbed into the Premier League's top four on Saturday, easing past Fulham 2-0 as fans prepared to return to the English top-flight for the first time in nine months. Pep Guardiola's team have had a patchy start to the season but are now just three points behind leaders Tottenham after […]

Berlin (AFP) – With their star striker Erling Braut Haaland sidelined by injury, Borussia Dortmund dropped more Bundesliga points on Saturday when they laboured to a 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt. The draw leaves Dortmund third in the league, three points behind leaders Bayern Munich who host second-placed RB Leipzig later Saturday night. After suffering […]

Burnley (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored his 11th Premier League goal of the season on Saturday to rescue a point for Everton in a 1-1 draw against struggling Burnley. Everton were the surprise early season pacesetters in the English top-flight but have lost their way in recent weeks, defeated in four of their […]

London (AFP) – Premier League chiefs have warned fans to avoid "excessive singing" and hugging as supporters return to English top-flight matches for the first time since March on Saturday. West Ham will host this season's first English top-flight match with spectators present when they welcome Manchester United. Government restrictions mean just 2,000 fans will […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Fabio Cannavaro's reign at Guangzhou Evergrande appears to be all but over after the eight-time Chinese Super League champions ended a disappointing season under the Italian without silverware. The most successful team in recent Chinese football history were dumped out of the Asian Champions League in the group stage on Friday, compounding […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Fabio Cannavaro's reign at Guangzhou Evergrande appears to be all but over after the eight-time Chinese Super League champions ended the season under the Italian without silverware. The most successful team in recent Chinese football history were dumped out of the Asian Champions League in the group stage Friday, compounding a poor […]

Nîmes (France) (AFP) – Marseille's 2-0 away win at Nimes on Friday saw them climb second top of Ligue 1 with a game in hand on all their closest rivals. Paris Saint-Germain are top on 25 points with Marseille a point behind and four clubs, Lille, Lyon, Monaco and Montpellier all on 23. After a […]

Miami (AFP) – Mexico and the United States will meet next November and in March 2022 in North American regional qualifying matches for the 2022 Qatar World Cup under a schedule released Friday. The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced the basic scheduling plan after FIFA extended key international match […]

Berlin (AFP) – Hertha Berlin replacement striker Krzysztof Piatek scored two goals in three second-half minutes to seal a 3-1 win over 10-man FC Union in the Bundesliga derby on Friday night. "It's an amazing feeling to get two goals in the derby," Piatek told broadcaster DAZN. Union's eight-match unbeaten run came to an abrupt end […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Arta Solar, the Djibouti club captained by former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Alex Song, suffered a humiliating 9-1 CAF Confederation Cup defeat Friday by Al Mokawloon Al Arab in Egypt. Having lost the first leg of the preliminary round tie 1-0 at home last weekend, Arta were eliminated 10-1 on aggregate while […]

Diass (Sénégal) (AFP) – Senegalese President Macky Sall on Friday heralded former international Papa Bouba Diop at a ceremony marking the reception of his coffin from France, where he died after an illness last week aged 42. Diop is best known in native West African country for scoring the winning goal against then defending champions […]

Lausanne (AFP) – Japan will host the Club World Cup in its existing format in late 2021, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced on Friday, with his expanded version of the tournament still on hold for now after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It means there will be two Club World Cups in the […]

London (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp has accused Premier League executives of "ignoring player welfare" after they did not consider allowing clubs to increase the number of substitutes from three to five at a meeting this week. Coaches were allowed to make five substitutions when the Premier League returned following the coronavirus shutdown last season and […]

London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola joked he is only halfway to retiring as he contemplates his 700th match as a manager against struggling Fulham on Saturday. The Manchester City boss, who turns 50 next month, would have reached the milestone more quickly had he not taken a sabbatical in 2012 following the end of his […]

Doha (AFP) – Suwon Samsung Bluewings grabbed the last available round-of-16 spot in the Asian Champions League with a 2-0 win over Vissel Kobe in the competition’s final group stage game on Friday. The South Koreans needed to win by a two-goal margin to overtake China’s Guangzhou Evergrande on goal difference and that was exactly […]