Kylian Mbappe scored from the penalty spot as Paris Saint-Germain eased to their seventh straight Ligue 1 win on Saturday, beating Nantes 3-0 away to move provisionally three points clear at the top of the table. All the goals came in the second half at the Stade de la Beaujoire, with Ander Herrera opening the scoring two minutes after the restart and Mbappe converting a 65th-minute spot-kick before Pablo Sarabia secured the points late on. PSG have now taken maximum points since starting the season with back-to-back defeats and the reigning champions are three clear of Lille and Rennes at the summit. Lille, who are unbeaten, can rejoin the club from the capital at the top if they beat Lyon on Sunday. Rennes beat Brest 2-1 on Saturday. “I am very happy. We made lots of changes because we f...
Jose Mourinho has slammed VAR after incidents in the Merseyside derby and Manchester City’s win over Porto in the Champions League. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was not sent off after a horrible tackle on Virgil van Dijk, while Ilkay Gundogan escaped punishment after fouling Porto goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin. Tottenham boss Mourinho thinks both players should have been sent off and wants changes made to the VAR system. “I think the attention [the incidents have received] is based on the fact that there is a VAR. Without VAR, the situations on the pitch happen and the human being, the referee, makes mistakes,” Mourinho said. “And you know me for quite a few years – it was difficult for me to accept the human mistakes but I learned and in this moment, I always accept the referee’s mis...
Juventus are in talks to renew Paulo Dybala’s contract, but managing director Fabio Paratici revealed the club’s coronavirus scare made negotiations difficult. Dybala has two years remaining on his existing deal in Turin but an extension has long been mooted, with the Bianconeri said to be discussing an agreement until 2025. But no clarity has been forthcoming in the opening weeks of the 2020-21 season. Paratici is not overly concerned, though, explaining the reason for the delay. “We’re in talks to extend Paulo’s contract,” he told Sky Sport Italia . “He wants to stay and we want to keep him – he’s part of our future. “It has been a tricky period because we were locked in the hotel for two weeks due to the Covid scare and not allowed to meet anyone. “But we’ll continue the negotiations to...
Manchester City’s flight to London had to be rerouted after a technical issue on the plane meant that they could not land at their scheduled destination. The first-team squad flew to the capital on Friday ahead of City’s lunchtime Premier League clash with West Ham United. But their flight had to redirected from City Airport to London Stansted more than 30 miles away. Goal reports that there was a problem with the plane’s anti-skid system which meant that it could not land at an airport with a short runway. The team suffered a slight delay ahead of travelling to the hotel before Saturday’s clash. It is understood that there was no fault on the part of the airport but the flight would not have needed to be rerouted had it been scheduled to land at a major airport. In 2016, a City team fligh...
Kepa Arrizabalaga has been ruled out of Chelsea’s trip to Manchester United but Frank Lampard has said Petr Cech will not be drafted in as the Blues eye a long-awaited Premier League win at Old Trafford. Spain goalkeeper Kepa made yet another mistake in a 3-3 draw with Southampton last weekend after stepping in to replace Edouard Mendy, who missed out with a thigh injury. Mendy returned for a goalless Champions League draw with Sevilla in midweek instead of Kepa, who will not travel north to face United on Saturday due to a shoulder injury. Chelsea surprisingly added club legend Cech, who retired last year, to their Premier League squad but the 38-year-old keeper is not in the squad to take on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side. Lampard was asked about the status of Thiago Silva and Christian Pul...
Liverpool will face Ajax in the opening fixture of their 2020/21 Champions League campaign on Wednesday night at the Johan Cruyff Arena. The two sides haven’t met face to face in over 50 years, but it promises to be a cracking game. Both the teams finished top of their respective leagues last season, but Ajax weren’t crowned Champions as the competition was concluded abruptly due to the coronavirus pandemic without declaring the winner. Liverpool are heading into this game on the back of a 2-2 draw against derby rivals Everton. Ajax, on the other hand, earned a convincing 5-1 victory against Heerenveen at the weekend in the Dutch league. Where to watch? Kick-off time: 20:00 (BST) Watch on Tv (UK): The match will be shown live on BT Sport 2. Subscribers can also stream...
Manchester United’s victory against PSG in the Champions League has seen the club win 10 consecutive away games for the first time in their history. A late winner from Marcus Rashford saw the Red Devils win 2-1 against the Parisians at the Parc des Princes – the scene of their famous Champions League win versus PSG in 2019. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have now won their last 10 matches on the road, dating back to the 2-1 extra-time win against Norwich City in the FA Cup on June 27. Since Harry Maguire’s 118th minute to sink the Canaries, United have beaten Brighton (three times), Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Luton Town, Newcastle United and now PSG. The victory against PSG was arguably the best performance of the Red Devils’ streak, with United having more shots on target t...
Club Brugge began their 2020-21 Champions League campaign with a 2-1 triumph over Zenit St. Petersburg. Goals from Nigeria’s Emmanuel Dennis and Charles De Ketelaere scored the goals as Philippe Clement’s men silenced the Russian Premier League title holders at Krestovsky Stadium. The Belgians went into the encounter without goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, Cote d’Ivoire’s Odilon Kossounou and Michael Krmencik, who are in isolation after contracting Covid-19, while Simon Deli was unavailable due to suspension. In a tight first-half that saw Dennis, Mats Rits, Clinton Mata getting cautioned by referee Benoit Bastien, both teams were unable to find the net as they adopted a cautious approach. Club Brugge’s first chance at goal came in the 30th minute when Dennis found his way in the hosts’ goal ar...
Thibaut Courtois has insisted Real Madrid are “always the favourites” for the Champions League while expressing his confidence that the Blancos can conquer Europe again in 2020-21. Madrid have won the competition a record 13 times, six more than any other club, but an underwhelming start to the La Liga season has hardly served to inspire confidence they can claim a 14th title come May. Madrid are third in the early La Liga standings, one point behind early leaders Real Sociedad having slumped to a 1-0 home loss to newly-promoted Cadiz last time out. Zinedine Zidane’s side failed to reach the quarter-finals last season, losing in a two-legged last-16 tie to Manchester City with a five-month interval between the games due to the suspension of football amid the Covid-19 crisis. Drawn in Group...