Mason Mount s double and a Kepa Arrizabalaga masterclass saw Chelsea beat Aston Villa 2-0 to extend their unbeaten run under Graham Potter.
Mount scored in each half of Sunday s Premier League encounter at Villa Park, yet Chelsea were fortunate to hold their advantage in-between thanks to a dynamite performance from their goalkeeper.
Kepa made a string of wonderful save before half-time, with his stop from a close-range Danny Ings header the highlight.
Steven Gerrard, meanwhile, will lament errors from Tyrone Mings and Kepa s opposite number Emiliano Martinez, though the pressure is growing on Villa s boss.
25 Aged 23 years and 279 days, Mason Mount is the second-youngest player to score 25 Premier League goals for Chelsea, after Eden Hazard (23 years 271…
New AC Milan signing Krzysztof Piatek hopes his goals can fire the club he supported as a boy back to the Champions League.
The striker completed a move to San Siro on Wednesday, agreeing a four-and-a-half-year deal after Milan paid Genoa a fee believed to be in the region of €35million.
Piatek s transfer went through on the same day that Gonzalo Higuain cut short his loan move from Juventus to reunite with Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea, and the Poland international joins the Rossoneri having netted 13 goals in 19 Serie A games this season.
And the 23-year-old already has his sights set on European club football s premier competition, which has not been graced by seven-time champions Milan since 2013-14.
Gennaro Gattuso s side occupy the fourth and final qu…
Oh Hyeon-gyu capitalised on a rare start to hit a double as Celtic consolidated their position at the top of the cinch Premiership with a 4-1 victory over Hibernian at Parkhead.
Oh got the final touch on Celtic’s opener from a fifth-minute set-piece before hitting the fourth shortly before making way for Kyogo Furuhashi.
Matt O’Riley’s header and a Luis Palma penalty had extended Celtic’s lead in between the South Korean’s goals.
Substitute Christian Doidge netted a consolation for Hibs to give them some reward for Nick Montgomery’s attempts to build from the back and utilise his many attacking players.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers brought in Tomoki Iwata, Mikey Johnston and Oh, who had one start between them this season.
Iwata came …
Manchester City are celebrating a return to the Champions League final after crushing holders Real Madrid with one of the greatest performances in the club’s history.
Pep Guardiola’s treble-chasing side overwhelmed the 14-time European champions 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, booking their place in next month’s Istanbul showpiece 5-1 on aggregate.
Victory was as convincing as the scoreline suggests with Madrid struggling to live with the pace and power of City and grateful to goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for preventing an even bigger landslide.
WE’RE MANCHESTER CITY, ON OUR WAY TO ISTANBUL!
— Sergio Gómez (@sergiogm_10)
Bernardo Silva set City on their way to a final date against Inter Milan with two first-half goals before Ed…
Former Australia head coach Pim Verbeek has died at the age of 63.
Verbeek, who was Socceroos boss from 2007 until after the World Cup in 2010, had been battling cancer.
His former club Sparta Rotterdam, with whom he had been working since February in a technical capacity as a member of the board, confirmed the news in a statement on Thursday.
Sparta Rotterdam has received the sad message that Pim Verbeek has passed away at the age of 63, the Eredivisie club said.
Sparta Rotterdam wishes the family, friends, acquaintances and the entire Sparta family a lot of strength in processing this loss.
The club will play the away match next Saturday against Willem II with armbands of mourning.
Verbeek spent his entire playing career with the clu…
Flamengo and LDU Quito sensationally advanced to the Copa Libertadores last 16 at the expense of Penarol on a dramatic final day in Group D.
On matchday six, Flamengo drew 0-0 with Penarol and LDU Quito scored four goals in the final 25 minutes in their 4-0 rout of lowly San Jose on Wednesday.
The results left all three teams on 10 points but Flamengo (+6) and LDU Quito (+4) pipped Penarol (+2) on goal difference.
Neither Penarol nor Brazilian visitors Flamengo could find a goal in Montevideo, where both teams finished with 10 men.
There weren t any goals tonight between , but there were plenty of fireworks as secured a spot in the Round of 16!!
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@TheLibertadores)
Flamengo s Para was sent off for a second ye…
Ashley Young is set to join Inter after Manchester United agreed a fee to sell the experienced full-back.
Omnisport understands the transfer will cost the Serie A giants €1.5million (£1.3m), subject to a medical and personal terms.
Young joined United from Aston Villa in 2011 and went on to make 261 appearances, scoring 19 goals.
The 34-year-old won four major honours for the Red Devils, including the 2012-13 Premier League, although the emergence of youngster Brandon Williams has placed him further down the pecking order this season.
— Ashley Young (@youngy18)
During his time at Old Trafford, Young converted from a winger to a play in deeper wide roles and he was Gareth Southgate s first choice at left wing-back as England reached…
Arjen Robben has confirmed he will leave Bayern Munich at the end of this season, ending a 10-year association with the Bundesliga champions.
Robben moved to the Allianz Arena in August 2009 after finding himself out of favour at Real Madrid following the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka.
The Netherlands international has gone on to enjoy a near decade of trophy-laden dominance with Bayern, winning seven Bundesliga titles and four DFB-Pokals.
Robben s crowning glory in a Bayern shirt came when he scored an 89th-minute winner to down domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the 2012-13 Champions League final, a year after they lost a penalty shoot-out against Chelsea on home turf in the 2012 showpiece.
But the 34-year-old has confirmed that this cam…
Market: Nice win
Odds: 2/5 @
Hoping to extend their buffer in the Champions League spots on Saturday afternoon, Nice will welcome Metz to the Allianz Riviera.
Starting with the hosts, making an immediate return to winning ways last weekend as they extended on their Coupe de France adventure thanks to a 3-2 victory away at Bordeaux, Nice will certainly be looking to make another domestic statement here. Continuing to receive a string of plaudits from across France’s elite this season, the Eaglets find themselves battling it out at the top of the Ligue 1 standings and they are sat in the driving seat to punch a Champions League ticket. Signing off 2023 with a routine 2-0 win against Lens, Francesco Farioli s side have won three of their previous four domestic ap…
After months of speculation, Bayern Munich confirmed on Wednesday they had smashed the Bundesliga transfer record to sign Lucas Hernandez from Atletico Madrid for £68million (€80m).
The versatile defender had emerged as a target towards the end of last year, with Bayern not making any secret of their desire to bring him in.
A January move was not possible, and Atletico attempted to ward off Bayern s interest by offering him a new contract at the Wanda Metropolitano.
However, Lucas head had already been turned and he will join up with the Bavarian giants at the end of the season.
Bayern are paying almost double the previous Bundesliga transfer record of £35m (€41.5m), which they shelled out on Corentin Tolisso, but Lucas is not quite the most expens…