Conor Gallagher scored the equaliser as Chelsea fought back from two goals down to clinch a deserved 2-2 draw with Champions League-chasing Aston Villa on Saturday.
Villa looked set to go nine points clear of Tottenham in the race to finish in the Premier League s top four, with Marc Cucurella s own goal and Morgan Rogers low drive giving them a handsome half-time lead.
Mauricio Pochettino s men dominated much of the first half without reward, but they continued to press after the interval and cultured finishes from Noni Madueke and Gallagher dragged them level.
They almost completed a fine comeback in stoppage time, but there was relief for Villa when referee Craig Pawson disallowed a goal for Chelsea defender Axel Disasi following a VAR review due to an infring…
Manchester City s director of football Txiki Begiristain described Julian Alvarez as a born winner after sanctioning his €95million (£81.5m) move to Atletico Madrid.
Atleti will pay an initial €75m (£64.5m) plus €20m (£17m) in add-ons for the Argentina international, who has penned a six-year contract with the Spanish giants.
His departure, which has netted City a club-record transfer fee, comes after two successful seasons with the club, with whom he won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
Alvarez scored 36 goals in 103 appearances for Pep Guardiola s side, with 19 of those coming in 54 outings last season, the forward playing more games than any other City player.
Alvarez also h…
N’Golo Kante will join Saudi club Al-Ittihad when his Chelsea contract expires at the end of June, the club has confirmed.
The 32-year-old midfielder joined from Leicester in 2016 and has won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup during his time at Stamford Bridge.
He had been an integral part of the Foxes’ surprise title success under Claudio Ranieri after arriving in England from Caen in 2015, just two years after having played in the French fourth tier.
Farewell, N Golo. Thanks for everything.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley told the club website: “N’Golo’s impact and influence during his time at Chelsea cannot be overstated. His tireless performances in midfie…
Manchester United are interested in signing Keylor Navas in the summer transfer window, according to . Naves is out of contract at Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season and will leave the Ligue 1 champions, and the report has claimed that Premier League club United are among the clubs who are keen on securing the services of the former Real Madrid star to compete with Andre Onana.
Navas has been on the books of PSG since 2019 and has done well for the French giants. The Costa Rica international goalkeeper has won the Ligue 1 title on three occasions with PSG. During his time at Madrid, the Costa Rican star won the La Liga once and the UEFA Champions League on three occasions.
The 37-year-old has made three appearances in Ligue 1 for PSG this season. He made 17 ap…
With England’s professional leagues making their return this weekend, we certainly have a heavyweight schedule on the cards. So, for those of you looking to stick on a Saturday acca, we have found a trio of tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.
Saturday, August 5th
BST 15:00 Bristol City vs Preston
Although Bristol City might have been disappointed last season as they missed out on a top-half finish, Saturday’s hosts certainly enjoyed what was a stunning summer romp. Along with signing off their pre-season preparations with a gritty 1-0 victory away at Portsmouth, Nigel Pearson’s men should find the mood in their camp at a real high heading into this weekend’s Championship opener. In fact, on a summer purple patch that is highlighted by a remarkable 8-…
Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are UEFA s top-ranked players going into Euro 2016, while England s James Milner is a surprise inclusion in the top five.
UEFA explains that the player barometer for the tournament tracks players form in the build-up to and during the tournament through official player statistics and a specially designed algorithm .
The pre-tournament statistics are based on performances for club and country since the start of January and stats are weighted depending on the quality of the opposition they have faced.
Once the Euros get under way, displays in France will generate a higher priority in deciding upon the rankings to ensure the stars of the event feature highly in the list.
Real Madrid and Portugal star Ronaldo sits …
Best odds: 28/25
Bookmaker:
Ivory Coast will face DR Congo at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium on Wednesday in the second semi-final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
This match marks the Elephants return to Ebimpe since their disappointing 4-0 defeat against Equatorial Guinea during the group stage. Ivory Coast now has the opportunity to redeem themselves and please their supporters in Abidjan.
On the other hand, Congo will be eager to reach the competition s final for the first time since 1974 and will provide a tough challenge for the nation hosting the tournament.
Ivory Coast
No team has embodied the drama of the Cup of Nations more than the host nation, Ivory Coast, who have persevered despite facing challenges with injuries and a disappointi…
The knockout stages may have changed due to unprecedented circumstances, but there will no asterisk next to this season s Champions League winners.
The coronavirus pandemic forced UEFA to relocate teams to Portugal for one-off knockout games rather than the usual two-legged fixtures, with Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich the last teams standing.
When they go head-to-head at the Estadio da Luz on Sunday, Bayern will be aiming to complete a treble and deny PSG a first taste of Champions League success and a quadruple.
With the help of Opta, we look back at their respective campaigns and see how they got to this weekend s showpiece.
PSG:
Group Stage:
Top spot in Group A was always likely to be determined by the results between PSG and…
Gareth Southgate says it is still too early to tell whether Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson will be fit for England s Euro 2020 campaign.
The 30-year-old underwent groin surgery at the end of February and was initially ruled out for around five weeks.
But Southgate, who has made clear he will not select players on reputation alone, does not expect Henderson to return until towards the end of the campaign.
England face Austria in a pre-Euros friendly on June 2 and Southgate is unsure if Henderson will be part of his squad for the rescheduled tournament.
Well done lads
— Jordan Henderson (@JHenderson)
We know it s going to be close to the end of the season and we will just have to see how it goes, he said.
We are conscio…
Eric Ramsay urges Minnesota United not to get ahead of themselves despite a high-flying start to the season as they prepare to travel to Colorado Rapids.
Minnesota have lost just two games in the MLS this season and are currently second in the Western Conference after a run of five without defeat.
However, Ramsay is keen to make sure his side do not get complacent despite their good run of form.
I m trying not to read too much into the table because it changes so quickly, he said.
You can feel as we are at the moment that you re on a really good run, but when you look at the table, and you find you haven t really got much separation, although you feel like you ve had five games when you ve had to grind out good performances and results.
I ve u…