Ricardo Goulart scored a hat-trick as Guangzhou Evergrande were 3-2 victors at AFC Champions League holders Western Sydney Warriors, but the match was overshadowed by a head injury to visiting goalkeeper Zeng Cheng.
The Group H encounter at the Pirtek Stadium was eagerly anticipated given the fixture pitted the past two champions against one another, but the game ended in concern for Zeng, who received lengthy treatment after colliding with team-mate Kim Young-gwon.
Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou, the 2013 victors, took the lead through close-season signing Goulart s deflected effort in the 19th minute.
The hosts drew level in the 57th minute when Iacopo La Rocca headed home from a corner, only for Goulart to restore the lead a minute later with a nea…
Marc Albrighton has been handed a new four-year deal by Leicester City, joining fellow Premier League winners Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Kasper Schmeichel in penning fresh terms at the King Power Stadium.
A largely unheralded free-transfer signing from Aston Villa in 2014, winger Albrighton flourished under Claudio Ranieri last season, his endeavour and guile complementing Mahrez s trickery on the opposite flank.
Albrighton had almost three years left on his original Foxes deal, but his new contract follows a trend at the club, manager Ranieri is another to have extended his stay since the Premier League title was won in thrilling circumstances last season.
Four. More. Years.
Marc Albrighton signs a new deal until 2020!
Full stor…
Maurizio Sarri has aired his frustration over the consistent speculation on Lazio s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and his future, amid frequent links with a move to Serie A rivals Juventus.
The Serbia international has been one of the form players of the campaign in the Italian top flight, with three goals and six assists for a total of nine involvements so far this term.
That form has not gone unnoticed, and Milinkovic-Savic has been subsequently mooted as a major transfer target, with La Gazetto dello Sport running a splash page on a potential Bianconeri switch.
It is not the first time the playmaker has been the subject of intense speculation, but the feverish nature has irked Sarri now, who believes too much hyperbole is being spun about his player.
I thin…
Luka Jovic has struggled since joining Real Madrid last year, but the Serbia star put his goalscoring woes behind him during the international window.
Jovic swapped Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt for Madrid in a €60million transfer in 2019, however, he has only managed two goals in 32 appearances for the LaLiga champions.
Out of favour and out of touch in the Spanish capital, Jovic returned to form for Serbia in the latest international break.
After scoring in Serbia s stunning Euro 2020 play-off defeat to Scotland last week, Jovic netted a brace as the Balkan side routed Russia 5-0 in Nations League action on Wednesday.
2 Luka Jović scored two goals for Serbia in the game against Russia in the UEFA Nations League, as many as he did in 32 matc…
David de Gea bemoaned an abject Manchester United season as he insisted his Red Devils team-mates who are not committed do not have to stay .
Ralf Rangnick has failed to transform United s fortunes following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s departure in November, ending his tenure with the lowest win rate of any manager in the club s Premier League history (41.7 per cent – 10 wins from 24 games).
Erik ten Hag watched on as United fell to a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, albeit they will be playing in the Europa League next season after West Ham failed to leapfrog them on the final day.
The incoming Ten Hag will have a sizeable rebuilding task at hand after United failed to end a league campaign with a positive goal difference (zero in 2021-22) for the first time since t…
Bayern Munich dominate the nominations for the 2020 FIFA FIFPRO Men s World 11, with the Champions League winners having nine candidates out of 55.
Hansi Flick s team won a Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League treble in 2019-20, seeing off Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the European football s premier competition in August.
Robert Lewandowski and Joshua Kimmich were the only Bayern players to make the long-list last year, and those two again feature this time around.
Lewandowski scored a remarkable 55 goals across all competitions for Bayern last term, and has hit the ground running this season, netting 15 times to take his tally for the year so far to 70.
Manuel Neuer enjoyed something of a resurgence last term and heads up a list of 10 goalke…
This should be an intriguing game between two teams with plenty to fight for. Liverpool will not have given up on the possibility of sneaking into the top four, despite their odds of being able to do that have gone to 16/1. West Ham are looking a bit better after the last couple of weeks but if they have a bad result and the teams below them get a result then they are right back in the relegation mix.
Rafa Benitez has had a torrid time this season and when you look at the investment in the squad last summer it is easy to see why. It is only now that top players Torres and Gerrard have been performing that results have picked up. It might be too little too late, and things will be that little bit more difficult now that Torres appears to be unavailable again.
Gianfranco …