Arsenal arrested a run of three consecutive Premier League defeats as Arsene Wenger racked up his 700th win as manager in a 3-0 victory over Watford.
Losses against Tottenham, Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion had formed part of a run of five defeats in six matches in all competitions, before a 2-0 Europa League win at AC Milan on Thursday lifted spirits.
Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny were rested ahead of this week s return leg against the Rossoneri but Shkodran Mustafi s eighth-minute opener had Arsenal swiftly on the front foot.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled the Gunners’ advantage in the second half, before Troy Deeney – who accused Arsenal lacking cojones after scoring a penalty in a 2-1 win for Watford in the reverse fixture in Octob…
Switzerland are prepared to spring a surprise on Neymar and Brazil in Sunday s World Cup clash in Rostov, according to Philippe Senderos.
The 2018 favourites begin their campaign against Vladimir Petkovic s side, who have only suffered one defeat since exiting Euro 2016 at the last-16 stage after a penalty shoot-out loss to Poland.
Tite s men are still expected to claim all three points, having won 12 and lost only one of their 18 World Cup qualifying matches, while also claiming four victories from four in 2018 without conceding a goal.
Senderos, though, says Switzerland could repeat their 2010 exploits, where he was part of the side that beat eventual winners Spain 1-0 in their opening fixture.
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In what appears to be a real six-pointer at the foot of the Premier Division table, Bohemians will welcome Dundalk to Dalymount Park on Friday night.
Bohemians
Starting with the hosts, springing what was a heavyweight FAI Cup upset last weekend as they secured a 1-0 victory against defending champions Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians will be desperate to use that performance as a platform to build on. However, still at the heart of a Premier Division relegation scrap and marking their return to top-flight action holding a four-point buffer from slipping into the drop zone, the Dublin-based outfit face what is a crucial showdown here. Last seen on Premier Division duties falling to a 2-0 defeat against Sligo Rovers, Alan Reynolds’ side hav…
Interim head-coach Fernando Hierro admits Spain was lucky to top Group B after a VAR-assisted equaliser earned the 2010 World Cup winners a 2-2 draw with Morocco.
Iago Aspas’ backheel in injury time was initially ruled out for offside before the technology correctly reversed its decision and gave Spain an equaliser, which combined with Portugal’s 1-1 draw with Iran, was enough to see La Roja win the group.
Hierro, a former defender for the national team, said that whilst the group games provided a good challenge, Spain must improve if they are to progress through the knockout rounds after twice coming from a goal down.
“I like the group, it was a level playing field, we weren t sure who was going to be first or second until the last minute and I have to adm…
Carsten Ramelow believes Germany are being held back by a mentality issue as the former international warned: Talent alone doesn t win you games.
Germany lost 2-0 at home to Colombia in a friendly on Tuesday – a third defeat from their last four matches.
The other game in that run finished 3-3, with Germany forging a late comeback to draw with Ukraine in a charity match.
Hansi Flick s side flopped in the 2022 World Cup, too, going out in the group stage, and Ramelow – a World Cup runner-up in 2002 – says German football as a whole has a mentality problem.
I think there s multiple issues. That was not just about a bad performance in Qatar. The problems lie much deeper, he told Stats Perform.
This is what aggravates everything. Having seen …
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag hopes his players are saving goals for next week after a dismal display of finishing during their 1-0 Europa League win over Omonia Nicosia on Thursday.
Scott McTominay scored with United s 34th shot of the game in the third minute of stoppage time, becoming the first substitute to score a winning goal after the 90th minute in a European match for the Red Devils since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s iconic goal in the 1999 Champions League final.
It followed a particularly wasteful performance from Marcus Rashford, who failed to find the back of the net with a whopping 10 shots.
Ten Hag was not overly concerned by United s profligacy and expects his side to start scoring more regularly soon.
A big goal at the end! ||
Football France has announced new rules for the Ballon d Or after the publication resumed sole charge of the coveted football award.
On Friday, FIFA ended its six-year association with Football France over the FIFA Ballon d Or, an award that celebrated the best footballer in the world annually and combined the original honour – established in 1956 – and the World Player of the Year given by global football s governing body from 1991 to 2009.
FIFA is yet to announce its next move, which could amount to a reprisal of its own award, while the Ballon d Or will once again be voted for exclusively by a select group of international journalists.
This means the element of international team coaches and captains contributing to the vote, which was introduced for the m…
Morocco claimed a first Olympic medal at the eighth time of asking as they swept aside Egypt 6-0 at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Thursday.
Abde Ezzalzouli and Soufiane Rahimi impressed for the Atlas Lions, with their first half goals sending Tarik Sektioui s on their way to a podium finish at the Games.
Bilal El Khannouss, Rahimi, Akram Nakach and a stunning free-kick from captain Achraf Hakimi would add further gloss to an impressive display after the break.
Morocco got off to an excellent start through Ezzalzouli s curling effort from outside the box, as Rahimi added a second three minutes later with a powerful header.
The result was put beyond doubt when El Khannouss notched Morocco s third, with Rahimi netting his sixth goal of the tournament just…
Almeria have appointed Real Madrid great Guti as head coach, the Segunda club confirmed on Monday.
Spanish second-tier side Almeria announced Guti s arrival in a series of tweets after the departure of Pedro Emanuel.
It is Guti s first senior coaching role, having previously coached Madrid s youth team and served as an assistant at Turkish giants Besiktas.
Guti joins Almeria, who are second in the Segunda table but 10 points adrift of leaders Cadiz after 14 rounds in the race for LaLiga promotion.
We ve got ourselves a galactico The pride lands have a new king! #14
— UD Almería (@UDAlmeria_Eng)
Almeria – who last featured in LaLiga in 2014-15 – have only lost twice this season and are five games unbeaten.
The 43-year-old…
Ryan Giggs has resigned as manager of the Wales national team.
Giggs stepped back from his role as Wales boss, which he assumed in 2018, in November 2020 after being arrested of suspicion of assault. He was charged with assaulting two women by Greater Manchester Police in April 2021.
The former Manchester United winger was replaced by Robert Page for Wales campaign at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, with the caretaker boss since leading the team to qualification for the World Cup later this year.
Giggs was originally due to face trial on January 24 this year after being charged with causing actual bodily harm to a woman in her 30s and common assault of a woman in her 20s, but his case was adjourned until August 8 due to a lack of court space.
The 48-ye…