Madrid (AFP) – Cesare Prandelli enjoyed the perfect start to life in charge of Valencia as Mario Suarez's double lifted Los Che out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Sporting Gijon. The former Italy boss is Valencia's fourth coach in under a year, but got an instant response as Suarez finished off […]

Southampton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Charlie Austin scored twice as Southampton beat Burnley 3-1 at St Mary's on Sunday to climb into the top eight of the Premier League. The south coast club were in dominant form, with Nathan Redmond also on target before Sam Vokes pulled a goal back for the visitors late on. […]

Moscow (AFP) – Zenit St Petersburg beat Ural Yekaterinburg 2-0 on Sunday to go level on points with Russian Premier League leaders Spartak Moscow. Spartak kept top spot having won more games, with Zenit joining them on 22 points after maintaining their unbeaten start to the season. Reigning champions CSKA, who beat Ufa 1-0 on […]

Berlin (AFP) – Controversial new-boys RB Leipzig are up to third in the Bundesliga after claiming another big-name scalp in Germany's top flight with a 1-0 win at VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday. Sweden international midfielder Emil Forsberg's winner gave unbeaten RB their fourth win in seven games as Wolfsburg joined Borussia Dortmund, Hamburg and Augsburg, […]

Bremen (Germany) (AFP) – Werder Bremen striker Ousman Manneh admitted it was "a dream come true" to score his first Bundesliga goal, just two years after the teenage refugee fled Gambia. The 19-year-old netted Bremen’s winner in Saturday's 2-1 shock victory over Bayer Leverkusen to cap his fairytale rise having only been plucked from Bremen's […]

Milan (AFP) – Frank De Boer slammed his forgetful Inter Milan players after a shock 2-1 San Siro defeat to Cagliari left the Nerazzurri 10 points behind Serie A leaders Juventus on Sunday. Inter started the season with new Chinese owners and fresh ambitions after capturing a number of top players in the close season. […]

Madrid (AFP) – Athletic Bilbao moved to within three points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid with a 3-2 win over local rivals Real Sociedad in a pulsating Basque derby on Sunday. Sociedad took the lead against the run of play when David Zurutuza volleyed home Xabi Prieto's corner on 17 minutes. Athletic laid siege […]

Milan (AFP) – Disputed captain Mauro Icardi missed a first-half penalty as Inter Milan's unlikely title hopes were dented by a shock 2-1 San Siro defeat to Cagliari on Sunday. Elsewhere, high-flying Lazio needed a 97th minute penalty from Italy forward Ciro Immobile to rescue a share of the spoils at home to Bologna, who […]

Madrid (AFP) – Eibar coach Jose Luis Mendilibar lamented the Basque side's fine start to the season has been forgotten amidst a sex-tape scandal involving striker Sergi Enrich and defender Antonio Luna. The players issued a joint statement to apologise just days after Eibar secured a historic point in a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid […]

London (AFP) – Wayne Rooney will get the "respect he deserves" when the 30-year-old forward returns to Manchester United, manager Jose Mourinho has insisted. The dropped England captain returned to Old Trafford earlier in the week following an international break when he was booed by home fans during a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over […]

Middlesbrough (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jose Holebas's powerful strike saw Watford to a 1-0 win away to Middlesbrough in the Premier League on Sunday. Victory saw Watford climb to ninth in the table but the result condemned northeast side Middlesbrough to a fourth defeat in five league matches. Greece international Holebas's goal was a rare […]

London (AFP) – Antonio Conte revealed he ignored Diego Costa's request to be substituted because the volatile Chelsea striker's passion is too important to lose. Costa scored his seventh Premier League goal of the season as Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 win over spluttering champions Leicester at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. But the controversial Spain […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praised his side's hunger for success as they extended their unbeaten start to the defence of their Scottish Premiership title with a 2-0 win over Motherwell on Saturday. Celtic maintained their four point lead over Aberdeen at the top of the table thanks to a first-half strike from […]

London (AFP) – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed he will not be appealing the red card given to Granit Xhaka during the Gunners' narrow 3-2 win over Swansea City. The midfielder was controversially sent off 20 minutes from the end of Sunday's match at the Emirates Stadium for a late tackle on Modou Barrow. […]

West Bromwich (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Mauricio Pochettino, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, insisted after a 1-1 draw away to West Bromwich Albion that his delight at the character they had shown outweighed any disappointment with the result. Victory would have extended Spurs run of victories in all competitions to six, but Pochettino was satisfied to […]