Month: December 2024

Nemanja Matic wants his Manchester United team-mates to accept their share of the blame for the club s failings under Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho was sacked by the Old Trafford hierarchy last week after a humbling 3-1 loss to Premier League leaders Liverpool compounded a dispiriting start to the season.

Former crowd favourite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season and United s players responded with a resounding 5-1 victory over Cardiff City in his first game in charge.

But concluding the latter result was simply down to the squad being liberated from Mourinho s rule is overly simplistic according to Matic, who was also signed by the Portuguese at Chelsea in 2014.

Asked whether his team-mates should take respon…

A second-string Mexico team battled to a 1-0 win over Ghana in an international friendly in Houston.

With Mexico s stars Javier Hernandez, Carlos Vela, Hirving Lozano, Giovani dos Santos and Andres Guardado away in Russia preparing for Thursday s Confederations Cup semi-final against Germany, Wednesday s fixture was a chance for the CONCACAF Gold Cup squad to impress.

And the Mexicans emerged triumphant thanks to Elias Hernandez s 32nd-minute penalty at NRG Stadium in the United States.

Luis Pompilio Paez – Juan Carlos Osorio s assistant – oversaw proceedings in Houston. The team – made up of players based in Mexico – only had six men with 10 caps or more as Hugo Ayala, Jesus Molina, Moises Munoz, Jesus Duenas and Hernandez were named in the starting XI.<…

Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes has been charged by the Football Association (FA) over alleged betting breaches.

Scholes, who left League Two side Oldham Athletic a month into his first managerial post earlier this year, allegedly placed 140 bets on football matches.

The FA stated on Tuesday the bets were placed between August 17, 2015 and January 12, 2019 prior to Scholes appointment at Oldham.

He has until April 26 to respond to the misconduct charge.

Scholes, considered among the best midfielders of his generation, has previously taken temporary charge of non-league outfit Salford City, where he is involved in the ownership, in January 2015.

Paul Scholes has been charged with misconduct in relation to The FA’s Bet…

Verdict: France win and under 2.5 goals

Best Odds: 

Bookmaker: 

Making their first home appearance since being crowned World Champions this past summer, France will welcome Holland to the Stade de France for their inaugural UEFA Nations League home match.

France

Starting with Didier Deschamps World Champions, while France could only play out a 0-0 draw with Germany on Thursday, the mood around Les Bleus camp could not be higher. Picking up their first piece of silverware on 20 years, Deschamps the hosts have now not lost a competitive matchup since June 2017. Now winning nine of their last 12 matches in all competitions, aside from a 3-2 loss to Columbia in an international friendly earlier in the year, they have now lost a match on home soil in t…

Lucas Leiva is set to end a decade-long stay at Liverpool by joining Serie A side Lazio.

Former Brazil midfielder Lucas arrived in Rome on Sunday to conclude a move to the Stadio Olimpico.

He was greeted by a group of Lazio fans at the airport and the club posted a picture of the 30-year-old holding a club scarf on their official Twitter page.

After moving to Anfield from Gremio in his homeland in 2007, Lucas made 346 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions, scoring seven times and winning the 2011-12 League Cup.

@LucasLeiva87

— S.S.Lazio (@OfficialSSLazio)

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With the FA Cup making its return to action this weekend, we have a stacked schedule from up and down England. So, for those of you looking to stick on a Saturday acca, we have found a handful of helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.

Saturday November 6th

BST 15:00 Crystal Palace vs Wolves

Starting with Saturday s hosts, putting in a hugely impressive performance last weekend, there is no doubt that Crystal Palace will find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Shocking almost everyone across the Premier League as they stormed their way to a 2-0 victory away at defending champions Manchester City, the Eagles have enjoyed an eye-catching start to the 2021/22 campaign. While the south London outfit might have struggled to pick up maximum points…

Italy will hope their excellent record at the Stadio Olimpico can propel them towards Euro 2020 glory in Roberto Mancini s first tournament as coach, with a tricky test against Turkey first up for the competition s curtain-raiser on Friday.

It has been all change for Italy since their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, with Mancini installed as Gian Piero Ventura s replacement and tasked with restoring the Azzurri s reputation.

What they hope will help is the fact all three of their group games – and a quarter-final – will be played at Rome s Stadio Olimpico, where they have never lost (W6 2D) in eight matches at major tournaments, while the Azzurri were one of just two teams along with Belgium to win all of their 10 qualifiers.

Of course, Italy wrapp…

Germany boss Joachim Low caused a stir with his announcement of his latest national team squad. Only three players remain from the squad that won the World Cup in 2014 in Brazil. The only three players Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos and Matthias Ginter were in that World Cup-winning squad.

That could be explained by the passing of five years. However, that squad was a relatively young one. In addition, only just over half the World Cup 2018 squad have made Die Mannschaft’s latest squad to take on Serbia and The Netherlands.

Low had to change things after recent nightmares

German head coach Joachim Low was under immense pressure after the former World Cup champions not only endured a nightmare World Cup campaign but also suffered relegation in the Nations League.

It…

The Everton fans who had bravely bothered to stick around until full-time of Wednesday s derby-day surrender to Liverpool made their voices heard in no uncertain times.

Sack the board was the chant aimed in the direction of the directors boxes, with chairman Bill Kenwright and director of football Marcel Brands bearing the brunt of the ire from the disgruntled Toffees faithful.

Conversely, there were plenty of songs of support for Everton boss Rafa Benitez – the only issue being they were songs of joy from a buoyant Liverpool away end keen to serenade their legendary former manager as his present employers were ruthlessly dismantled 4-1 at Goodison Park.

The exodus of home fans began from 20 minutes, by which time Reds captain Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Sala…

Istanbul Basaksehir have announced the signing of former Brazil star Robinho, who joins their push for a first Turkish Super Lig title.

Robinho has scored eight goals for Sivasspor in the Super Lig this season, with only two players more prolific in the division in 2018-19.

And the former AC Milan and Real Madrid forward will now join ex-Manchester City team-mate Emmanuel Adebayor at Basaksehir, who are six points clear in top spot.

Robinho joined Sivasspor from Atletico Mineiro in January despite being sentenced to nine years in prison just two months earlier for an alleged incident of group sexual assault on a 22-year-old woman involving five other men in January 2013.

The 34-year-old entered a not-guilty plea and denies the charges, with the c…