Month: November 2024

Kylian Mbappe insists his relationship with Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Neymar is one based on deep respect, even though it can be hot and cold .

PSG are preparing to open their Champions League campaign in a marquee fixture at home to Juventus on Tuesday.

They go into the game having made an impressive start to the Ligue 1 season, collecting 16 points from six games and scoring 24 goals in the process.

Mbappe and Neymar have racked up seven goals each – only Erling Haaland (10) has a higher total in Europe s top five leagues.

But Mbappe did face criticism earlier in the season for his actions during the 5-2 win over Montpellier, which included a public argument with Neymar.

It is our sixth year together, PSG striker Mbappe said.  Neymar an…

Jean-Philippe Mateta stole the show with a hat-trick as Crystal Palace ended the Premier League season unbeaten in seven straight games after a 5-0 hammering of Aston Villa at Selhurst Park.

Palace manager Oliver Glasner replaced Roy Hodgson in February and has made an immediate impression on the Eagles, with promising signs awaiting his first full season in England next term.

Mateta has been one of many Palace players to enjoy an upturn in form since Glasner s arrival, with the in-form striker s deadly first-half double paving the way for an impressive victory on Sunday.

Frenchman Mateta completed his hat-trick with a well-taken finish in the second half, in between a pair of eye-catching Eberechi Eze goals, as Palace s dominant triumph saw them finish 10th in t…

With Manchester City and Liverpool facing off in the FA Cup on Saturday, the Premier League s attention turned to the race for a top-four spot.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Manchester United beat Norwich City 3-2, with the Red Devils taking full advantage of 1-0 defeats for Tottenham and Arsenal against Brighton and Hove Albion and Southampton respectively.

Elsewhere, Watford s slim survival hopes were dealt a blow as they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Brentford.  

Stats Perform takes a look at some key Opta facts from the day s games.

Manchester United 3-2 Norwich City: Ronaldo racks up yet another treble

Ralf Rangnick s side delivered another disjointed performance at Old Trafford, yet they did enough to secure a 13th win in their pa…

Sadio Mane scored twice as Kepa Arrizabalaga made another calamitous error in a 2-0 victory for Liverpool over 10-man Chelsea, with Thiago Alcantara conceding a penalty on his debut.

Frank Lampard s side hardly laid a glove on the Premier League champions at Stamford Bridge and their cause was not helped by Andreas Christensen s red card late in the first half, with Mane then scoring twice in the space of four minutes after the restart.

Mane s second was a gift from the much-maligned Kepa, whose days as Chelsea s first choice seem numbered with Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy supposedly close to joining.

Thiago – who came on as a half-time substitute following his £20million move from Bayern Munich – marked his Liverpool debut by fouling Timo Werner to gi…

Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn lauded Julian Nagelsmann s fast start to life at the German giants following their 5-0 Champions League rout of Dynamo Kiev.

Robert Lewandowski scored twice while Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting were also on target in Wednesday s crushing Group E victory.

Nagelsmann has now won nine of his first 10 games in all competitions since replacing Hansi Flick – the best start by a Bayern coach.

Bayern have kept five clean sheets across all competitions this season to top the Bundesliga and Group E, and former goalkeeper Kahn hailed their stability under highly rated boss Nagelsmann.

I think it has happened very, very quickly and we can already see his handwriting, Kahn said of former RB Leipzig coach Nagelsm…

Thomas Tuchel was delighted with Romelu Lukaku s second Chelsea debut, but tempered praise, insisting it is not the time for too much celebration .

Lukaku scored the opening goal in Chelsea s 2-0 win at Arsenal on Sunday, with Reece James grabbing the second.

The Gunners had won their past three games against Chelsea in all competitions, but were outclassed as £97.5million signing Lukaku had an instant impact.

He had eight attempts and created a further three chances, having only previously been involved in more than 11 shots in a single match in Europe s top five leagues (13 for Everton v West Ham, 2015).

Lukaku continued his outstanding Inter form, with 13 goals and eight assists in his past 19 league games, and appeared to solve Chelsea s biggest prob…

Paul Pogba will continue to play with a smile on his face as long as Manchester United keep winning, he explained after another decisive Premier League strike.

United reclaimed top spot with a 2-1 victory at Fulham on Wednesday, moving back ahead of Leicester City and Manchester City after their wins over Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s men triumphed having conceded first away from home for the seventh time in seven attempts this term with Pogba striking the winner after Edinson Cavani had cancelled out Ademola Lookman s early opener.

Pogba s effort was a fine left-footed blast from outside the area, his first league effort with his weaker foot from this range since January 2015 when he was still at Juventus.

It was a goal the…

Sarina Wiegman expressed her pride and relief after England qualified for the 2023 Women s World Cup with a 2-0 win over Austria.

Alessia Russo, replacing the retired Ellen White in the starting line-up, opened the scoring and Nikita Parris doubled the European champions lead at Wiener Neustadt Stadium on Saturday.

Victory for the Lionesses sealed their place in the showpiece in the tournament in Australia and New Zealand next year with one game to spare against Luxembourg on Tuesday.

England head coach Wiegman reflected on a job well done just over a month after her side won a first major trophy by being Germany at Wembley.

She said: I m happy that we qualified, that we had a win, conceded no goals, scored two, which is one more than we did in th…

Marcos Llorente and Alvaro Morata scored as Atletico Madrid earned a 2-0 win at Sevilla on Saturday, ratcheting up pressure on home boss Julen Lopetegui.

Koke claimed an assist for the opening goal, on the day he made a record-breaking 554th Atletico appearance, with Llorente taking the plaudits after placing a neat finish into the bottom-left corner.

Sevilla have won just one league game so far this season, and their lack of confidence was clear as Diego Simeone s men extended their lead through Morata s finish from a one-on-one chance after 57 minutes.

The result lifts Atleti into fifth in LaLiga s early-season standings, while Lopetegui appears to be on borrowed time at Sevilla after overseeing another meek reverse.

Atleti made a bright start as Llore…

Criticism of Louis van Gaal as a conservative coach is unfair, according to Arsene Wenger, who believes the Netherlands boss will gamble when required.

Van Gaal has led the Oranje to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in his third stint in the job, beating the United States 3-1 on Saturday.

The Netherlands also reached the semi-finals under the former Ajax and Barcelona coach in 2014, before missing out on qualification for Russia 2018 in his absence.

Wenger, leading FIFA s technical study group, therefore believes Van Gaal deserves more leeway as his style of play in this tournament is scrutinised.

After finishing top of Group A, Van Gaal told journalists to go home if the Netherlands football was terribly boring , as the accusation had been.

I…