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Papu Gomez broke through with an inspired second half goal as Sevilla got back to winning ways on Friday with a book 2-0 success against Elche to keep the pressure on Spanish league leaders Real Madrid. Argentine forward Gomez found the space to blast in after an impressive solo run with 20 minutes to go with new arrival Anthony Martial teeing up Rafa Mir to head in a second five minutes later. Second-placed Sevilla ended a series of three consecutive draws to move three points behind Real Madrid who play at Villarreal, sitting sixth, on Saturday. Sevilla’s run of draws had allowed Real to preserve a healthy lead at the top of the table, despite Carlo Ancelotti’s side only winning two of their last four games. Injuries had played a part in Sevilla’s dip while Ivan Rakitic missing an injury-time penalty in the goalless draw with Osasuna last weekend was particularly hard to take. Martial, who joined on loan from Manchester United in January, was supposed to provide some fres...

Colombian international winger Luis Diaz signed for Premier League side Liverpool on Sunday from Portuguese side FC Porto, which will place further doubt on the future of their Egyptian star Mohamed Salah. The 25-year-old Diaz signed a contract till 2027 for a reported fee of £37.5 million ($50 million), with a further £12.5 million in potential bonuses. There is no resolution in sight to protracted talks over a contract extension for Salah, who is presently away at the Africa Cup of Nations. “Liverpool Football Club have completed the signing of Luis Diaz from FC Porto, subject to the successful granting of a work permit and international clearance,” Liverpool said in a statement on their website. “He joins Liverpool after two-and-a-half seasons with FC Porto, where he made 125 appearances and scored 41 goals.” Diaz was rumoured to be Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s primary target for the summer transfer window, but growing interest in the player, most notably from Totten...

Egypt coach, Carlos Queiroz, has said his team’s poor performance in the first half of the Africa Cup of Nations encounter with Nigeria caused Pharaohs’ loss. He said this during a post-match interview. According to him, Pharaohs were no where to be found on the pitch in the first half. He said, “The performance in the first half was very poor and this is the truth, we were not on the field. We started playing in the second half and there was no reason for this failure and loss against Nigeria. “We lost this match but there are 6 points we must get against Sudan and Guinea Bissau to qualify.” A sweet 34th minute belter, intelligently struck by Kelechi Iheanacho and off a brilliant headed pass by Taiwo Awoniyi, earned Nigeria a first-ever opening match win over Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations as Cameroon’s northern town of Garoua dazzled in green and white on Tuesday night. Former U-17 World Cup winner Iheanacho ran hard at the North Africans’ defence a number of times in...

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone and forward Antoine Griezmann have tested positive for Covid-19, as the reigning La Liga champions announced five new cases on Thursday. Atletico said Simeone and 2018 World Cup-winner Griezmann were asymptomatic and isolating along with Koke, Hector Herrera, and Joao Felix. La Liga rivals Barcelona also confirmed three new cases, bringing the total to at least nine at the Catalan club, with the league set to resume this weekend after the winter break. Barcelona’s Sergino Dest, Philippe Coutinho, and Abde Ezzalzouli join the list of players infected, the club said, after Ousmane Dembele, Clement Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti, Jordi Alba, Gavi, and Dani Alves tested positive.

Seven-time European women’s champions Lyon thrashed Benfica 5-0 in Lisbon on Thursday as Barcelona, who took the crown last season, also scored an impressive away victory, 4-0 at Arsenal. Lyon locked up their place in the knockout stages with one round of group games to play, while Barca ensured they will progress as group winners. In Lisbon, Norwegian Ada Hegerberg headed Lyon into lead after 34 seconds from a cross by Delphine Cascarino. Centre-back Wendie Renard headed the second, meeting a corner under the Benfica crossbar in the 27th minute.  In the 40th minute, Hegerberg again won the ball in the area and nodded it down to Griedge M’Bock who volleyed against the post and then scrambled in the rebound. Hegerberg headed her second in added time, again from a Cascarino cross. In the 51st minute one substitute, Melvine Malard sprung the Benfica offside trap and set up another, Signe Bruun, in front of an empty goal.   “It was very satisfying,” said Hegerberg. “We...

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is to be sacked as Manchester United manager, according to widespread reports on Saturday following a humiliating 4-1 defeat at Watford. The Times, The Guardian and the Manchester Evening News reported that the result of an emergency board meeting called after the Watford defeat was to bring the Norwegian’s three-year spell in charge at Old Trafford to an end. Stream Music Manchester United plan to place Darren Fletcher in interim charge of first-team affairs if a decision to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is made. Former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers and Ajax coach Erik ten Hag are the frontrunners to be Solskjaer’s successor. AFP reports that Manchester United will have to pay £7.5m in severance to remove Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from his role as manager. Solskjaer signed a new three-year contract in July and will reportedly be handed a £7.5 million compensation package. The club’s hierarchy stuck by Solskjaer during the r...

Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr, has kicked against the proposition by former Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger that the World Cup tournament should hold every two years. Wenger, head of global development for world governing body FIFA, had suggested overhauling the international match calendar from 2024 to have fewer international breaks and more meaningful matches. The proposition has been opposed by several national team coaches like Didier Deschamps, Roberto Martinez, Dragan Stojković among others. Rohr has also joined the list of national team coaches who disagreed with the Frenchman. “I think it is very difficult to make the World Cup every two years because you don’t have the time,” the Franco-German tactician said in an interview with Elegbete TV. “The dates are already so fixed that you don’t have any time to do other qualifiers or other tournaments or playoffs. We only have 365 days in a year and we cannot play every day. “But it is good that the next World Cup aft...

Manchester United suffered another home humiliation as Manchester City cruised to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford on Saturday to raise further questions over the future of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Eric Bailly’s own goal and Bernardo Silva’s strike on the stroke of half-time was the difference between the sides on the scoreboard. But that did little justice to the chasm between the teams as only a string of stunning saves from David De Gea prevented United from a thrashing similar to the 5-0 humbling they were handed by Liverpool less than two weeks ago. Solskjaer bought himself some time with a 3-0 win at Tottenham last weekend. But United have now won just one of their last six Premier League games and could finish the day 11 points off the top of the table should Chelsea beat Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Solskjaer’s switch to a back five worked a treat at Spurs, but that owed much to the return of Raphael Varane from injury. Without the French World Cup winner, who sustained a hams...

Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward Neymar looks on during the UEFA Champions League group H football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Istanbul Basaksehir FK at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, on December 9, 2020. Brazil star Neymar said Sunday that the 2022 World Cup will be his last as he “doesn’t have the strength to put up with more football”. “I think it will be my last World Cup,” the 29-year-old told DAZN. “I will play it like it is the last because I don’t know if I will still have the mental strength to put up with even more football.” Neymar, who has played in two World Cups and is his country’s second top scorer of all time behind Pele, will be 34 when the 2026 tournament rolls around. “I will do everything to get to the 2022 World Cup in great shape and will do everything to win for my country, to fulfill my biggest dream since I was little,” added the Paris Saint-Germain star. Neymar played in the 2014 World Cup on home soil and scored fou...

 Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said his side did not deserve to win following a toothless attacking display in a 0-0 draw away to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, but the Spaniard took some comfort from a solid defensive performance. After a thrilling 3-1 win over bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur last week, Arsenal were brought back to earth with a bump as Graham Potter's side mesmerised them at times with the kind of free-flowing football Arteta would dearly love to see from his team. Brighton had a total of 21 attempts, but only two of them were on target as Arsenal defended doggedly, and although Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit a post with a first-half header, their blunt performance in possession is a cause for concern. "(The header) was probably the only open situation in the first half, and we were unlucky not to score it. I don't think we deserved to win the game, we have to take the draw with the performance we had today and improve," Arteta told t...

Chelsea got back to winning ways on Saturday, beating Southampton 3-1 in the Premier League thanks to late goals by Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell after the Saints were reduced to 10 men. Blues coach Thomas Tuchel overhauled his side after back-to-back defeats by Manchester City in the English title race and by Juventus in the Champions League and he was rewarded when one of the fresh faces, defender Trevor Chalobah, put the hosts ahead. He stooped to head in at the far post after nine minutes when Ruben Loftus-Cheek, making his first start of the season, flicked on a corner by Chilwell, who was also restored to the team for the first time this campaign. Chelsea thought they had extended their lead twice before halftime only for the officials to rule out the efforts by Romelu Lukaku and Werner, which incensed Tuchel who earned a yellow card for his protests. Southampton hit back with a penalty converted by James Ward-Prowse in the 61st minute after Chilwell fouled former Chel...

Celtic suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Livingston, while champions Rangers were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Motherwell in Sunday’s Scottish Premiership action. Andrew Shinnie’s first-half strike consigned Celtic to a sixth defeat in seven away games under new boss Ange Postecoglou. Shinnie, playing as a makeshift striker, got across Stephen Welsh and fired the only goal into the top corner in the 25th minute.  Livingston held on for their first league win of the season as they climbed off the bottom of the table. That cool finish was the sort of quality Celtic lacked in the final third as they failed to make their possession count, leaving them without a win in their last five games at the Tony Macaroni Arena. Rangers dropped league points at Ibrox for the first time since March 2020. On the day fans cheered the unfurling of the Premiership champions flag for the first time in a decade before kick-off, Steven Gerrard’s side saw a run of 21 home wins ended.