Manchester City will go into next week s huge clash with Liverpool with a one-point lead at the Premier League summit after beating Burnley 2-0 to reclaim top spot.
Liverpool defeated Watford by the same scoreline in Saturday s early game to leapfrog the reigning champions, but the Reds stay in first place was a short one.
Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan netted inside the opening 25 minutes and City sauntered to a 10th consecutive victory over Burnley.
Gabriel Jesus missed chances to add to City s lead, but there was never any danger of a Burnley comeback as City ensured a narrow advantage ahead of Liverpool s trip to the Etihad Stadium on April 10.
Where Jurgen Klopp s men laboured a little in their win against relegation-threatened opponents, Cit…
Barcelona have turned to Ronald Koeman following a dismal end to their 2019-20 season.
Koeman was on Wednesday appointed as head coach on a two-year deal, leaving his role with the Netherlands to return to Camp Nou.
Quique Setien and sporting director Eric Abidal were sacked in the wake of Friday s humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals, which followed Barca s failure to retain their LaLiga crown.
Barca will hope Koeman is the right man to get them back on track, and we have taken a look at how he fared in his previous managerial roles.
Vitesse (1999-2001) Success
Koeman s first managerial position provided an impressive outcome as he steered Vitesse to fourth place in the Eredivisie, earning qualification to the U…
David Moyes defended his decision to bring on Mark Noble for the crucial late penalty after the veteran campaigner s miss from the spot cost West Ham a point against Manchester United.
In a dramatic finale at London Stadium, the home side were awarded a stoppage-time chance to get on level terms, after former Hammers loanee Jesse Lingard fired United into a 2-1 lead.
Noble is a spot-kick expert, having stuck away 27 of 31 previous attempts in the Premier League, but the 34-year-old had not taken a kick of the ball before being handed the responsibility of saving the game.
The substitute, sent on by Moyes after the penalty was awarded for Luke Shaw s handball, saw his shot to the right corner pushed away by David de Gea, who had conceded his last 21 penalties on …
After two weeks on the training ground, Eddie Howe returns to the Premier League arena as head coach of Newcastle United on Saturday.
Now working for Saudi Arabia s Public Investment Fund, the world s richest football club owner, Howe needs results fast with Newcastle second from bottom and five points from safety.
Indeed, the Magpies have endured the worst start to a league season in their history after a 1-1 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion prior to the international break extended their winless run to 11 matches.
For all the talk of exciting January moves for Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele or Marc-Andre ter Stegen – Barcelona s expensively assembled squad, reports say, is ripe for picking – there is a job to do first, and that starts at home to Brent…
Sweden secured their place in the knockout stages of Euro 2020 as group winners as they sent Poland crashing out with a 3-2 victory in Saint Petersburg.
The Swedes looked to be cruising into the last 16 after going two up through Emil Forsberg only for a double from Robert Lewandowski to set up a nervy finish.
However, with Paulo Sousa s side pushing for the winner they needed to avoid an early exit, they were hit on the break and condemned to defeat by substitute Viktor Claesson.
That stoppage-time goal ensured Sweden leapfrogged Spain into top spot in Group E, while Poland dropped out of the tournament with just a single point to their name.
Robert Lewandowski for Poland:
br a href= https://twitter.com/hashtag/EURO2020?src=hash ref_src=twsrc%…
Aston Villa have completed the signing of Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona on a loan deal until the end of the season.
The club announced on Friday that they had agreed a deal to bring the playmaker to Villa Park.
The 29-year-old subsequently arrived in Birmingham on Tuesday, with the club later confirming that the deal had been completed.
Coutinho, who will wear the number 23 shirt, returns to the Premier League, where he spent five years with Liverpool between 2013 and 2018.
He s here and he s perfect
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial)
The Brazil international is reunited with former Reds team-mate Steven Gerrard, who replaced Dean Smith as manager at Villa Park in November.
Having endured an injury-hit spell with Barca,…
Watford boss Valerien Ismael hailed his players as they got his Vicarage Road reign off to a rip-roaring start with a 4-0 win against a hapless QPR side.
All of the goals came in a scintillating first-half display that saw the Hornets take the lead after just 33 seconds through Tom Dele-Bashiru.
The impressive Imran Louza, Matthias Martins and Vakoun Bayo also profited from some dismal defending from the shell-shocked visitors to find the net in a scoreline that could have been much more emphatic.
Former Barnsley and West Brom manager Ismael is the 19th permanent managerial appointment since 2012 and he could not have asked for a better introduction to his new club as Watford delivered a superb performance with Louza the architect for much of their good play.
…
Cristiano Ronaldo has spent so much of his career rewriting the history books that a hat-trick against Tottenham on Saturday was just another reminder of his genius .
Genius was the word used by Roy Keane after Saturday evening s treble at Old Trafford secured a 3-2 win that could yet be a major lift for a United side who still face a tall order to finish in the Premier League top four.
Arsenal, two points behind fourth-placed United with four games in hand, remain favourites for that slot, but Ronaldo s performance against Spurs was a signal the Red Devils could still force their way into those positions at the season s end.
Keane said on Sky Sports after the final whistle: Scoring goals is the hardest part of the game. To score that many goals at the highest le…
Chelsea have announced pre-tax losses of £90.1million in the 12 months up to June 2023, their first full year under the ownership of Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium.
The figure, an improvement on the previous years’ loss of £121.4m, was also listed in the accounts filed for holding company Blueco, via which Boehly purchased the club from former owner Roman Abramovich in May 2022.
Blueco itself, which also owns French Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, recorded losses of £653m from its founding in March 2022 up to June 2023.
Chelsea’s turnover is up from £481.3m in 2021/22 to £512.5m, thanks in part to player sales as the club has offloaded a substantial number of its more experienced squad members since Clearlake took ownership.
Broadcasting r…
Manchester United’s FA Cup hero Amad Diallo is prepared to be patient in order to get his chance at the club.
The 21-year-old, in only his fourth appearance of the season, came off the bench to score a dramatic winner deep into stoppage time at the end of extra time to make it 4-3 against Liverpool.
Amad spent last season on loan at Sunderland in the Championship, having previously had six months at Rangers. He has only made a total of 13 United appearances with his last start coming at the end of May 2021, following his move from Atalanta.
A word from your match winner, Amad Diallo
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup)
But he is prepared to be patient as he waits for more chances at first-team level.
“It was important for me to go …