London (AFP) – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger joked Sunday that his critics would only be truly happy if he was sent to prison as punishment for pushing a fourth official. The Frenchman was handed a four-match touchline ban for verbally abusing and shoving Anthony Taylor during his side's 2-1 win over Burnley earlier this month […]

London (AFP) – John Stones faces a battle to win back his place at Manchester City after manager Pep Guardiola expressed reservations about his ability to deal with high balls and powerful opponents. City paid £47.5 million ($59.6 million, 55.7 million euros) to sign Stones, 22, from Everton in August, but after some error-strewn displays, […]

Paris (AFP) – Bernardo Silva struck an injury-time equaliser as Monaco salvaged a deserved point in a 1-1 draw at reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain to keep the visitors top of Ligue 1. Edinson Cavani scored his 21st league goal of the season with an 81st-minute penalty at the Parc des Princes, but Portugal international Silva […]

Rome (AFP) – Massimiliano Allegri said Juventus's new-look attacking formation is here to stay after his side opened up a potentially decisive four-point lead at the top of Serie A on Sunday. A 2-0 win at Sassuolo came as nearest rivals Roma went down to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Sampdoria while third-placed […]

Port-Gentil (Gabon) (AFP) – Morocco coach Herve Renard said his team had been "exceptional" at the Africa Cup of Nations despite exiting the competition in the quarter-finals to Egypt on Sunday. In their first appearance in the knockout phase of the tournament since 2004, Morocco lost 1-0 in Port-Gentil after conceding the decisive goal with […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid extended their La Liga lead to four points and still have a game in hand over their title rivals as Cristiano Ronaldo was on target in a 3-0 win over Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu. Earlier on Sunday, Barcelona were left to rue La Liga's lack of goal line […]

Port-Gentil (Gabon) (AFP) – Mahmoud Kahraba scrambled in the winner in the 88th minute as Egypt beat Herve Renard's Morocco 1-0 on Sunday to reach the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations. A tense last-eight tie in Port-Gentil seemed destined for extra time until Kahraba, on as a substitute, poked the ball over the […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – One-time outcast Bastian Schweinsteiger appears to be back in favour with Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, who insisted Sunday the World Cup winner was staying at Old Trafford despite having yet to appear in the Premier League this season. The 32-year-old former Bayern Munich lynchpin started his first game in […]

Chicago (AFP) – San Jose was named Sunday by the US Soccer Federation as the site of a crucial World Cup qualifier for the bottom-table Americans against Honduras on March 24. The US squad opened with a 2-1 home loss to Mexico and a 4-0 drubbing at Costa Rica last November, prompting the firing of […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Scott Sinclair scored twice as Celtic surpassed a 50-year-old club record in style with a 4-0 thrashing of Hearts on Sunday to extend their unbeaten domestic run to 27 matches. Callum McGregor, only playing due to an injury to Stuart Armstrong in the warm-up, opened the scoring in the first half before […]

London (AFP) – Jamie Collins went from builder to hero on Sunday as his penalty secured non-league Sutton a 1-0 win over second-tier highflyers Leeds United and a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time. Sutton, whose assistant coach Ian Baird ironically captained Leeds to the 1987 FA Cup […]

Berlin (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund conceded a late goal in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's low-key Bundesliga return on Sunday in a 1-1 draw at Mainz which cost them third place in the table. Aubameyang, the German league's top scorer with 16 goals, was back in Dortmund's starting line-up following Gabon's group-stage exit from the Africa Cup of […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Headers from Marouane Fellaini and Chris Smalling, and second half efforts from Henrkih Mkhitaryan and Bastian Schweinsteiger ensured holders Manchester United enjoyed a comfortable 4-0 fourth round FA Cup victory against Wigan on Sunday. For German World Cup winner Schweinsteiger it was a rare sweet moment since Jose Mourinho took […]

Oyem (Gabon) (AFP) – Brothers Jordan and Andre Ayew scored for Ghana as they reached the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo in Oyem. Jordan opened the scoring after 63 minutes of a tight, bruising quarter-final in northern Gabon and Andre put Ghana ahead again […]

London (AFP) – Jamie Collins's penalty secured non-league Sutton a 1-0 win over second-tier highflyers Leeds United and a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time on Sunday. The club captain, who was working on a building site on Friday, said he hoped for a Premier League side in […]