Glasgow (AFP) – Giorgos Giakoumakis scored his second hat-trick in five games as Celtic moved six points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 4-0 thrashing of 10-man Ross County on Saturday. The Hoops had the points wrapped up within 26 minutes as Giakoumakis headed home Jota's cross at the far post, thrashed […]

Berlin (AFP) – Hertha Berlin earned their first win of 2022 on Saturday to climb out of the Bundesliga bottom two with a 3-0 home victory over Hoffenheim despite new coach Felix Magath being sidelined by Covid. At the top of the table, leaders Bayern Munich will later look to bounce back from consecutive draws […]

Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Arsenal took another big step towards ending a five-year exile from the Champions League as Bukayo Saka's strike beat Aston Villa 1-0 to open up a four-point lead in fourth in the Premier League. The Gunners could even increase that gap with a game in hand over fifth-placed Manchester United […]

Doha (AFP) – When Al Sadd wrapped up a second straight Qatar title by stretching their unbeaten league run to 49 games, they were inevitably dubbed the 'Invincibles' after another team that reached the same number. While the 12-team Qatar League is not as formidable as the 2003-4 English Premier league, unlike Arsenal, Al Sadd […]

London (AFP) – Nick Candy has vowed to involve Chelsea fans if the British property tycoon succeeds in his bid to buy the troubled Premier League club. Candy is believed to have submitted a bid of over £2 billion ($2.6 billion) for his boyhood team before Friday's deadline and he promised to give fans a […]

Wolverhampton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Leeds staged a dramatic fightback from two goals down to beat 10-man Wolves 3-2 as Luke Ayling's last-gasp strike improved their prospects of avoiding relegation from the Premier League Jesse Marsch's side were in deep trouble when Jonny and Francisco Trincao netted to put Wolves in control by half-time at […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has slammed Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for complaining about the Gunners' crowded fixture schedule. Arteta criticised the Premier League for scheduling Arsenal to face Liverpool on Wednesday and then Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime. The Spaniard grumbled "thank you to the Premier League" and called their decision "not […]

London (AFP) – Middlesbrough will donate their share of gate receipts from Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea to humanitarian aid in Ukraine, the club announced on Friday. European champions Chelsea are operating under a special licence allowing them to fulfil fixtures despite the UK government sanctions placed on owner Roman Abramovich in response to […]

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Star forward Lionel Messi returns to the Argentina fold for two World Cup qualifiers later this month after he was included in coach Lionel Scaloni's squad announced on Friday. But the big surprise was the inclusion of seven teenagers playing for academy teams in Europe, including Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho. […]

Paris (AFP) – Leicester City will take on former European champions PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League after being paired together in Friday's draw, with a possible semi-final against Jose Mourinho's Roma in store for the winners. The Premier League side made it through to the second European quarter-final of their […]

Paris (AFP) – Barcelona were drawn to play Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals of this season's Europa League on Friday, while West Ham United will take on Lyon. Appearing in Europe's second-tier club competition for the first time since 2004 following their exit from the Champions League in the group stage, Barcelona qualified for the […]

Madrid (AFP) – Manchester United’s David de Gea was dropped from the Spain squad on Friday, with Brentford goalkeeper David Raya a surprise inclusion by coach Luis Enrique. De Gea has not played for Spain since October 2020 but he was in the previous squad in November and has been in excellent form for United […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is hoping a quick sale of the European champions will provide clarity for employees and fans of the club. Final bids for the club must be submitted on Friday. Chelsea were put up for sale after current owner Roman Abramovich was hit by sanctions by the British government […]

Lausanne (AFP) – The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday refused to suspend FIFA's ban on Russia taking part in the playoffs for the 2022 World Cup finals that was imposed over the invasion of Ukraine. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is still to rule on the legal basis of the ban, […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Liverpool's quest for a clean sweep of four major trophies this season has been dealt a blow with influential right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold set to be sidelined for weeks by a hamstring injury. Alexander-Arnold will definitely miss Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final at Nottingham Forest and England's upcoming friendlies against the Ivory Coast and […]