Rome (AFP) – Gonzalo Higuain repaid a first chunk of his 90-million-euro ($102m) transfer fee by firing Juventus to a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in their Serie A opener on Saturday. It was the perfect start to the champions' bid for a record sixth consecutive Italian title against opponents who finished fifth last season and […]

Rome (AFP) – Gonzalo Higuain needed less than nine minutes to start paying off his 90-million-euro ($102m) transfer fee as Juventus began their Serie A title defence with a 2-1 win over Fiorentina on Saturday. The Argentina striker came off the bench to seal the three points with a typical poacher's strike a quarter of […]

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Neymar gave Brazil a 1-0 lead over Germany at half-time in their Olympic Games men's football gold medal match on Saturday. The Barcelona star curled in a 27th-minute free-kick at the Maracana and celebrated by performing Usain Bolt's trademark 'Lightning Bolt' pose, in honour of the star sprinter who was […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona have confirmed Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo will join Manchester City as soon as the Spanish champions sign a replacement for him. "We have an agreement in principle with Manchester City for Claudio Bravo. We are waiting for events this week. We will open the door for Claudio when we sign another […]

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Starting line-ups for the Rio 2016 men's football final between Brazil and Germany at the Maracana stadium in Rio on Saturday (2030 GMT kick-off): Brazil (4-2-3-1) Weverton; Zeca, Marquinhos, Rodrigo Caio, Douglas Santos; Walace, Renato Augusto; Gabriel Barbosa, Luan, Gabriel Jesus; Neymar (capt) Germany (4-2-3-1) Timo Horn; Jeremy Toljan, Matthias […]

Leicester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri refused to criticise referee Mark Clattenburg after the Premier League champions were denied two penalties in Saturday's 0-0 draw with Arsenal. Leicester, beaten 2-1 at promoted Hull City in their opening game, had a penalty appeal turned down late in each half at the King […]

Leicester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Premier League champions Leicester City and last season's runners-up Arsenal remain without a win this season after a slow-burning 0-0 draw at the King Power Stadium on Saturday. Beaten 2-1 at promoted Hull City last weekend, Leicester avoided the ignominy of becoming the first English champions to lose their first […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Lionel Messi and hat-trick hero Luis Suarez were in sensational form as they helped Barcelona start their title defence with a crushing 6-2 win over Real Betis at the Camp Nou on Saturday. Messi scored twice and set up another goal, dominating proceedings, while Suarez added three of his own after Arda […]

Rome (AFP) – Roma got their Serie A campaign off to a flier with a 4-0 demolition of Udinese in the season opener at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday. Two second-half penalties from Argentinian midfielder Diego Perotti and late strikes from Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah delivered a convincing win after what was a sluggish […]

London (AFP) – Garry Monk's future as Leeds United manager took on a rosier hue on Saturday as his side secured their first win this season in the Championship, beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-0. Goals by new signing Marcus Antonsson and New Zealand international Chris Wood — his second in as many games — proved enough […]

West Bromwich (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Everton manager Ronald Koeman says Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku has decided to stay at Goodison Park despite strong interest from Chelsea. Lukaku has been high on Chelsea's wanted list since Antonio Conte took over as manager in the close-season and the west Londoners were considering whether to make a […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Scott Sinclair scored his third goal since joining Celtic a fortnight ago as they went top of the Scottish Premiership with a 4-2 win over St Johnstone on Saturday. Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers named a strong side which contained just two changes from the midweek Champions League win over Hapoel Beer-Sheva of […]

Paris (AFP) – Gabriel Boschilia's strike gave Monaco a 1-0 win at Nantes on Saturday, despite coach Leonardo Jardim making wholesale changes ahead of their Champions League play-off, second leg against Villarreal on Tuesday. Brazilian winger Boschilia grabbed the only goal of the game with a first-half free-kick, and a toothless Nantes outfit never seriously […]

Berlin (AFP) – Cologne routed sixth-division Berlin-based BFC Preussen 7-0 on Saturday in the first round of the German Cup, as newly-promoted RB Leipzig were the only Bundesliga team to suffer a shock defeat. Leipzig, sponsored by energy drink giants Red Bull, will make their debut in Germany's top flight when the new season starts […]

Swansea (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Late goals by Shaun Maloney and Abel Hernandez gave under-strength Hull City a 2-0 win away at Swansea City on Saturday and a perfect start to their Premier League campaign of two wins from two. Caretaker manager Mike Phelan, who has been in charge since Steve Bruce resigned shortly before […]