Singapore (AFP) – Chanathip Songkrasin scored twice as Thailand beat defending champions Vietnam 2-0 in the first leg of their AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final at the National Stadium in Singapore on Thursday. The Thai skipper capitalised on a defensive error to give the five-time winners the lead after 14 minutes. Nguyen Phong Hong Duy slipped as […]

Abidjan (AFP) – Crystal Palace striker Wilfried Zaha was recalled Thursday to the Ivory Coast squad for next month's Africa Cup of Nations. The 29-year-old refused to join the team at their last gathering in November but coach Patrice Beaumelle has included him in the squad for the tournament which gets underway on January 9 […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola confirmed Ferran Torres is on the brink of a move from Manchester City to Barcelona on Thursday after revealing the Spanish international had asked him to leave the English champions. Despite their financial struggles, the Catalan giants have reportedly agreed a deal worth an initial 55 million euros […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham boss Antonio Conte have called for January's League Cup semi-finals to be switched to one-legged ties to ease fixture congestion. Spurs have a backlog of three Premier League fixtures due to postponements for bad weather and coronavirus outbreaks among the squad, while Liverpool have also been […]

Milan (AFP) – Inter Milan have stolen a march in the Serie A title race as the champions reach the halfway point of the campaign in pole position with arch-rivals Juventus out in the cold. Under Antonio Conte Inter broke almost a decade of Juve dominance when they claimed their 19th league championship last season […]

Paris (AFP) – Diego Simeone celebrates 10 years in charge of Atletico Madrid on Thursday, an increasingly rare accomplishment in the febrile arena of top level football management. The feat is even more remarkable given Atletico's track record before the Argentine's arrival in 2011. The Spanish side's previous owner, Jesus Gil going through 37 coaches […]

Bilbao (Spain) (AFP) – Karim Benzema scored rhe goals in Real Madrid's 2-1 win at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday to send Carlo Ancelotti's side into the winter break eight points clear atop La Liga. As Real ended the year with a bang, city rivals and defending champions Atletico Madrid suffered their fourth straight defeat, a […]

Paris (AFP) – Sergio Ramos was sent off as Paris Saint-Germain salvaged a 1-1 draw away at Ligue 1 strugglers Lorient thanks to Mauro Icardi's injury-time equaliser on Wednesday. In their final outing of 2021, PSG trailed in Brittany to Thomas Monconduit's thunderous first-half strike for Lorient until Icardi rescued a point with a header […]

Milan (AFP) – AC Milan stayed in touch with the Serie A summit on Wednesday, a 4-2 win at Empoli moving them into second after Napoli's shock 1-0 home defeat to struggling Spezia. Stefano Pioli's side stayed four points behind city rivals and league leaders Inter Milan, who were 1-0 winners over Torino, heading into […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Celtic's clash with Rangers on January 2 has been postponed after the Scottish Premiership's winter break was brought forward by a week after crowds were limited to 500 in fresh coronavirus restrictions. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday that crowds at outdoor public events would be capped at 500 from […]

Milan (AFP) – Inter Milan made sure that they would be at least four points clear at the top of Serie A over Christmas by beating Torino 1-0 on Wednesday before their title rivals stepped onto the pitch. Already ensured of first place over the winter break, which starts on Thursday and ends on January […]

Al-Rayyan (Qatar) (AFP) – Taher Mohamed and Akram Tawfik played key roles as Al Ahly of Egypt edged Raja Casablanca of Morocco 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw to win a CAF Super Cup thriller in Qatar on Wednesday. Mohamed levelled during the final minute of regular time in Al Rayyan, firing a […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Barcelona have agreed a fee worth an initial 55 million euros ($62 million, £47 million) for Manchester City forward Ferran Torres, according to reports in Spain and England on Wednesday. The Spanish international, 22, joined City from Valencia for a fee of just over £20 million in August 2020. Torres […]

Singapore (AFP) – Singapore and Indonesia played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in the first leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final at the city-state's National Stadium on Wednesday. Witan Sulaeman put Indonesia in front after 28 minutes following a slick counter-attacking move, but the hosts levelled the score with 20 minutes left courtesy of […]

London (AFP) – British authorities have banned advertisements by Arsenal Football Club promoting fan tokens due to taking advantage of consumers' lack of knowledge regarding cryptoassets. The Facebook and website posts included a video featuring Arsenal players Ben White, Calum Chambers and Kieran Tierney that read: "Fans should be aware that they could lose some […]