Paris (AFP) – Ten-man Lyon crashed to a "nightmarish" first home defeat at Parc OL as Bordeaux came from behind to claim a 3-1 victory, while Monaco are the early season pacesetters after crushing Lille 4-1. Aldo Kalulu marked his first appearance of the season for Lyon with the opening goal inside two minutes, but […]

Madrid (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo hit back at Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez by mocking the Spaniard's inability to the win the Ballon d'Or and claiming he is the most in-demand player on the planet. Xavi, who now plays for Al Sadd in Qatar, told Spanish radio station La SER earlier this week that despite his […]

Prague (AFP) – Tomas Rosicky on Saturday played his first game since leaving Arsenal in the summer and since stumbling off the pitch in the Czech Republic's draw with Croatia at Euro 2016. The 35-year-old midfielder last month signed up with Sparta Prague, the team where he had grown up. On Saturday he came onto […]

Berlin (AFP) – RB Leipzig stunned Bundesliga title hopefuls Borussia Dortmund 1-0 on Saturday to claim the club's first win in the German top flight, while Joel Pohjanpalo scored a stunning hat-trick in Bayer Leverkusen's 3-1 defeat of Hamburg. Guinea international Naby Keita struck a minute from time as Leipzig, founded just seven years ago, […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Liverpool turned on the style to mark the opening of the new-look Anfield with an imperious 4-1 rout of Premier League champions Leicester on Saturday. Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane put Jurgen Klopp's side two goals ahead as they played at home for the first time this season and for the first […]

Milan (AFP) – Gonzalo Higuain hit a first-half brace including a spectacular volley as Juventus warmed up for their Champions League opener against Sevilla with a comprehensive 3-1 win over Sassuolo. Sassuolo travelled to Turin hoping to build some confidence of their own ahead of their maiden campaign in the Europa League next week. But […]

London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola rocked old foe Jose Mourinho as Premier League leaders Manchester City extended their perfect start with a 2-1 win at Manchester United, while Liverpool crushed champions Leicester 4-1 on Saturday. City manager Guardiola inflicted the first defeat of Mourinho's United reign and collected his eighth win in 17 encounters with […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona boss Luis Enrique left Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez on the bench for the visit of Alaves on Saturday as he made seven changes, but Neymar starts for the first time this season. Messi had been an injury doubt due to a groin injury aggravated in Argentina's 1-0 win over Uruguay […]

Paris (AFP) – Ten-man Lyon crashed to a first home defeat at Parc OL as Bordeaux provisionally moved top of Ligue 1 on Saturday by coming from behind to claim a 3-1 victory. Aldo Kalulu marked his first appearance of the season for Lyon with the opening goal inside two minutes, but Brazilian teenager Malcom […]

Bournemouth (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jack Wilshere made a winning start to life at Bournemouth as he came off the bench in a 1-0 success against West Brom to give the Cherries their first victory of the season on Saturday. England midfielder Wilshere, who joined the south coast club in a dramatic deadline-day loan move […]

Middlesbrough (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Recalled Wilfried Zaha delivered Crystal Palace their first victory of the new Premier League season with an assist and the winning goal in Saturday's 2-1 defeat of Middlesbrough. Christian Benteke opened his Palace account in the 16th minute at the Riverside Stadium from a Zaha cross, but the Eagles' lead […]

Saint Petersburg (AFP) – FIFA have received "guarantees" from Russia that the stadium which will host the 2018 World Cup semi-final will be ready by the end of this year, world football's governing body said Saturday. Construction of the new 68,000-seater stadium in Saint Petersburg — one of the most expensive in the world — […]

London (AFP) – Santi's Cazorla's controversial stoppage-time penalty gave Arsenal their first home win of the season as they saw off Southampton 2-1 in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. It was a bitter pill for the visitors to swallow, with Southampton still seeking their first win under new manager Claude Puel. […]

Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Harry Kane grabbed his first goal of the season and South Korea's Son Heung-Min scored twice as Tottenham Hotspur romped to an emphatic 4-0 win away at Stoke City on Saturday. Dele Alli was also on target as the north London club finally kick-started their Premier League title challenge. It […]

London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola rocked old foe Jose Mourinho as Premier League leaders Manchester City extended their perfect start with a 2-1 win over Manchester United, while Arsenal snatched a dramatic 2-1 victory against Southampton on Saturday. City manager Guardiola inflicted the first defeat of Mourinho's United reign and collected his eighth win in […]