Milan (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first Serie A hat-trick to lift Juventus top of the table with a 4-0 win over Cagliari on Monday, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic made an "emotional" return for AC Milan in a goalless draw against Sampdoria. Ronaldo struck for the fifth consecutive league game as the champions bounced back […]

London (AFP) – Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang quashed speculation surrounding his future this month ahead of Monday's FA Cup clash with Leeds. Aubameyang has scored 56 goals in 90 games since joining the Gunners just under two years ago, but has only 18 months left to run on his contract. Reports have suggested the Gabon […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham confirmed on Monday that a club and police investigation has found no evidence of racial abuse aimed at Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger. The German defender complained that he was subjected to monkey chants in his side's 2-0 win at Spurs on December 22. The match was temporarily halted and announcements made over […]

Milan (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first Serie A hat-trick to lift Juventus top of the table with a 4-0 win over Cagliari on Monday as Zlatan Ibrahimovic was not enough for AC Milan as he made his debut in a goalless draw against Sampdoria. Portugal forward Ronaldo struck for the fifth consecutive league […]

Milan (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first Serie A hat-trick to lift Juventus top of Serie A with a 4-0 win over Cagliari on Monday as Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his debut for AC Milan in a goalless draw against Sampdoria. Portugal forward Ronaldo struck for the fifth consecutive league game to move the champions […]

Madrid (AFP) – Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale will miss the Spanish Super Cup after Real Madrid announced on Monday that both players were out with fitness problems. Benzema has a hamstring injury while Madrid said Bale has been "diagnosed with an infection in the upper respiratory tract". The duo will not travel to Saudi […]

London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola says Manchester United are starting to play the way Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants them to as he prepares for a blockbuster League Cup semi-final between the two sides. City head to Old Trafford for the first leg of the last-four encounter on Tuesday, having won the competition for the past […]

London (AFP) – Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder said he meant no disrespect to the FA Cup in making wholesale changes to his line-up for Sunday's 2-1 win over non-league Fylde. The 52-year-old — whose line was echoed by many of his fellow Premier League managers — said he had intended to field a strong […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham forward Son Heung-min says he has learned his lesson after the "pain" of being sent off three times since May. The South Korean was back in action for Spurs in Sunday's 1-1 FA Cup draw at Middlesbrough after serving a three-match ban for his dismissal against Chelsea last month. Son's sending […]

Berlin (AFP) – Former Germany goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski, who conceded a controversial Geoff Hurst 'ghost-goal' at the 1966 World Cup final, has died at the age of 84, his family told AFP subsidiary SID on Monday. During the England v West Germany final at Wembley, Tilkowski, who made 39 international appearances, was beaten by Hurst's […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Jesse Lingard is starting to regain his form after toning down his social media activity. The 27-year-old England international, who had been a prolific user of social media, was criticised after he posted a crude video on Snapchat last June, for which he was disciplined […]

Paris (AFP) – The European leagues in Spain, where Zouhair Feddal helped Real Betis in their quest for a European qualification place, and Italy resumed after the festive break and there was cup action in England and France. Here is a look at some of the key performances from Africans playing in Europe: ENGLAND […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola expects a repeat game plan from Manchester United in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final on Tuesday. United produced an exhilarating display of counter-attacking football to beat Guardiola's side 2-1 in last month's Premier League derby at the Etihad Stadium. They meet again in the […]

Paris (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain rested superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe before defeating sixth-tier Linas-Montlhery 6-0 in the French Cup on Sunday as the amateur side, and self-confessed fans of their monied rivals, were left to rue a missed penalty when trailing just 1-0. The part-timers, whose budget is 2,000-times smaller than the Qatari-backed Parisian […]

Washington (AFP) – Minnesota's Kirk Cousins threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph 4:20 into over-time Sunday and the Vikings upset New Orleans 26-20 to reach the second round of the NFL playoffs. The Vikings quarterback achieved his first career playoff victory by marching Minnesota 75 yards in nine plays, sparked by his 43-yard […]