Bastia (France) (AFP) – French title hopefuls Nice edged provisionally a point clear of Monaco but were Friday lamenting the loss of two points in a 1-1 draw at lowly Bastia. The match was marred by an ugly incident beforehand when police reported some Bastia fans stoned the Nice team bus, breaking two windows, as […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool defender Joel Matip has been cleared to return to action with the Premier League club after FIFA resolved the Cameroon international's status on Friday. Matip recently claimed he had retired from international football and did not want to play for Cameroon despite their attempts to call him up for the ongoing […]

London (AFP) – West Ham signed Portugal defender Jose Fonte from Southampton in an £8 million ($9 million) swoop on Friday. Fonte had been dropped by Southampton manager Claude Puel earlier this month after the club captain handed in a transfer request. The 33-year-old was linked with moves to Liverpool and Manchester City, but Hammers […]

Berlin (AFP) – Robert Lewandowski's 91st-minute strike snatched victory for Bayern Munich in their 2-1 comeback win at Freiburg in sub-zero temperatures on Friday as the Bundesliga resumed after the winter break. Lewandowski, last season's top scorer in Germany, showed his class with two superb strikes at Freiburg's sold-out Schwarzwald Stadion. Having volleyed Bayern level […]

Berlin (AFP) – RB Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuettl admits his young side face a test of their mettle as legitimate Bundesliga title challengers with three tough matches, starting on Saturday. Leipzig are second only to Bayern Munich in Germany's top flight with the league resuming this weekend after the four-week winter break. But RB now […]

Oyem (Gabon) (AFP) – Herve Renard's Morocco came roaring back from behind to beat Togo 3-1 in Oyem on Friday and breathe life into their Africa Cup of Nations bid. In front of a sparse crowd, Mathieu Dossevi had given Togo an early lead in northern Gabon, but goals from Aziz Bouhaddouz and Romain Saiss […]

In recent years, Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany and Chelsea’s John Terry have dominated most debates on who is the best center back in England’s top flight. After all, Kompany has landed in the PFA Team of the Year three times since his arrival to the blue side of Manchester, and Terry made four appearances in […]

Rome (AFP) – Fiorentina's Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic said Friday he would stay with the club rather than respond to an overture from China. Chinese outfit Tianjin had expressed interest in securing his services. But Italian media quoted comments by Kalinic to Croatian website Sportske.hr confirming he was staying put. "I am staying at Fiorentina, it's […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard will return to coach at their academy next month, the Premier League outfit said on Friday. Gerrard had been widely tipped to join the Anfield coaching staff following his decision to leave LA Galaxy after 18 months with the MLS team. The 36-year-old, who made 710 appearances for […]

Oyem (Gabon) (AFP) – Defending champions the Ivory Coast had to come from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo Friday in a lively Africa Cup of Nations clash. The result in the northern Gabonese town of Oyem kept the vibrant Congolese top of Group C with four […]

Berlin (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund have been hit by fresh injury problems ahead of Saturday's Bundesliga clash at Werder Bremen with midfielders Sebastian Rode and Emre Mor the latest to be ruled out. The German league restarts after the four-week winter break, but Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel has a dwindling pool of players. Top striker […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane insists he is responsible for the European champions' back-to-back defeats as they look to return to winning ways when Malaga visit the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday. Madrid hadn't lost in 40 matches in all competitions stretching back nine months until conceding twice to lose 2-1 at Sevilla […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola admitted on Friday that he and under-fire goalkeeper Claudio Bravo must shoulder their share of responsibility for Manchester City's disappointing start to the Premier League season. Last Sunday's 4-0 thrashing at Everton saw City drop 10 points behind leaders Chelsea, a state of affairs hardly anticipated when Guardiola […]

Port-Gentil (Gabon) (AFP) – Ghana coach Avram Grant has called for Africa Cup of Nations organisers to allow teams to replace players who have suffered injuries because of the state of the pitches in Gabon. The Black Stars have lost left-back Abdul Rahman Baba to a serious knee injury suffered in the first half of […]

Berlin (AFP) – The German Football Association (DFB) announced Friday that it is applying to host the 2024 European championships. The DFB has rubber-stamped the decision to apply for the finals with European football's governing body UEFA having set the deadline for confirmed interest by March 3 with candidates announced on March 10. The final […]