Milan (AFP) – Giuseppe Iachini has been appointed coach of struggling Fiorentina, the Serie A club confirmed on Monday. Iachini, 55, replaces Vincenzo Montella who was sacked on Saturday with the team trailing in 15th place, three points above the relegation zone. "The current ranking has forced us to change coach," said Fiorentina owner Rocco […]

London (AFP) – The latest racism row engulfing English football took a fresh turn Monday amid reports Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min as well as Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger had been abused by spectators during Sunday's fractious London derby. Chelsea's 2-0 Premier League win at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium saw referee Anthony Taylor halt play during the […]

London (AFP) – Brendan Rodgers has insisted Leicester's recent loss to Premier League champions Manchester City was just a "bump in the road" as they prepare for the visit of leaders Liverpool. Second-placed Leicester are 10 points adrift of Liverpool following a 3-1 defeat by City — their first loss since October. Liverpool, bidding for […]

Madrid (AFP) – PSG striker Edinson Cavani is poised to move to Atletico Madrid in a transfer deal which could be inked in the coming days, the Marca sports daily reported Monday. Rumours of a possible move from Paris Saint-Germain have been on the cards for months, but may be imminent, given the Uruguayan forward's […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho said Son Heung-min had suffered enough as he confirmed the club would appeal against the red card the South Korean received against Chelsea. Son was dismissed in the second half of Spurs' 2-0 loss at home to their London rivals on Sunday after the Video Assistant Referee […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola has said he would back his players if they ever found themselves compelled to walk off during a game in protest against racist abuse. The Manchester City manager was talking following the scenes that marred Chelsea's 1-0 win away to Tottenham Hotspur in the London derby on Sunday. […]

Paris (AFP) – Kylian Mbappe is putting himself forward for the French team at next summer's Tokyo Olympics, while adding that he would not want to fight his club Paris Saint-Germain over participation. "Playing in the Olympics, I don't control everything," he told France Football magazine in an interview to be published on Tuesday. "Of […]

London (AFP) – The British government called on football chiefs Monday to do more to rid the sport of racism, but stopped short of launching a full-scale inquiry demanded by the domestic players' union following the latest incident in the English game. Chelsea's 2-0 win away at London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League […]

Rome (AFP) – Lazio returned to a heroes welcome in Rome on Monday after their thrilling 3-1 Italian Super Cup victory over Juventus in Riyadh which ended Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo's five-year victorious run in finals. Ronaldo had been on a run of 12 consecutive wins with Portugal, Juventus and Real Madrid going back to […]

Paris (AFP) – Riyad Mahrez at Manchester City and Mbaye Niang at Rennes scored key goals for their high-flying teams while Seko Fofana at Udinese and Watford's Ismaila Sarr gave their struggling sides hope. Meanwhile, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who reportedly wants to leave Arsenal, had a lacklustre day as Achraf Hakimi had another assist for Dortmund […]

Madrid (AFP) – Espanyol, who are languishing at the bottom of La Liga, on Monday fired chief coach Pablo Machin after just over two months in the job, the club said. "The club have decided to end his role as coach... as a result of the first team's performance," said an official statement on its […]

London (AFP) – The Professional Footballers' Association called for a government inquiry into racism in football after Chelsea's 2-0 Premier League win at Tottenham on Sunday was marred by alleged racist comments from the crowd, the latest in a string of recent incidents. Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said the problem needed "to be dealt with […]

London (AFP) – Antonio Rudiger, the German international defender who was subject to a stream of monkey chants in Chelsea's Premier League win over Tottenham, said he wants the culprits caught and punished. The 26-year-old was targeted by some Tottenham fans after he was involved in a clash with Son Heung-min that triggered a red […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid were left to rue a series of near misses Sunday as they stumbled to a 0-0 home draw with Athletic Bilbao, dropping two points adrift of Barcelona in a tight Spanish title race. Real also drew 0-0 in midweek at Barcelona but Sunday's result leaves Madrid on 37 points at […]

Milan (AFP) – Slovenia international Josip Ilicic scored two terrific goals as Atalanta demolished AC Milan 5-0 in Serie A on Sunday to climb up to fifth and hand the fallen Italian giants their heaviest defeat since 1998. It was an "embarrassing" performance by the seven-time European champions, said club manager Zvonimir Boban. Atalanta fans […]