Stoke City avoided a sixth straight game without a win as Ryan Shawcross and Peter Crouch secured a 2-0 Premier League win over Watford.
The hosts went into Tuesday s contest with pressure beginning to build on manager Mark Hughes, but provided him with some welcome relief against a similarly out-of-form Watford side.
Injury-hit Watford, who were missing 10 first-team players for the game, had failed to win in their previous four and rarely looked like ending that run at the bet365 Stadium.
Stoke always appeared the more likely goalscorers, but it took them until the stroke of half-time to break the deadlock, captain Shawcross doing so by turning in at the near post from Charlie Adam s corner.
Just under four minutes after the restart Crouch made it 2-0 w…
Carlo Ancelotti commended Napoli s efforts in the transfer market after capturing Hirving Lozano a day before the new Serie A season.
Napoli reportedly spent €40million to sign the Mexico international from PSV.
Lozano, 24, joins centre-back Kostas Manolas, right-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo and teenage midfielder Elif Elmas among the new faces at Stadio San Paolo.
Ancelotti guided Napoli to second last term, 11 points behind champions Juventus, and thinks his squad is better resourced this season.
We have become more competitive, Ancelotti said.
With Lozano and the other new arrivals, the level of quality in the squad has increased and we re stronger overall than last year.
The club has had a very good transfer window and spent big, whic…
Cash-strapped Portsmouth remained rooted to the bottom of the English Premier League after Jonathan Greening scored the winner for Fulham in a 1-0 victory at Craven Cottage here on Wednesday to end the hosts run of five successive league defeats.
Portsmouth, as has been the case in recent matches, created several good chances but could not finish and they were made to pay the price when Greening scored his first goal for Fulham 16 minutes from time to nudge the visitors nearer relegation.
Now Pompey, who are battling off the field against a winding up order from British tax authorities and have paid their players late several times this season, travel to Old Trafford to play champions Manchester United on Saturday with the south coast side five points adrift at the foot…
New coach Carlos Alberto Parreira says struggling 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa can defy the odds and reach the quarter-finals.
The greatest challenge is getting to the second phase. South Africa must work hard but I m confident we will get there, he told Brazilian television ahead of a second spell in charge of Bafana Bafana (The Boys).
I hope that with the backing of home fans we will reach the quarter-finals and after that the sky is the limit, said the 66-year-old, who guided Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title.
The World Cup is kill, kill, kill, and it is not always the best teams that reach the final. It is different from a championship and I think we could have a very competitive team.
Brave words from a man inheriting a national team ranke…
Former Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld feels it would make sense if Pep Guardiola were to sign a one-year extension with the Bundesliga champions.
Guardiola s existing deal with Bayern is due to expire at the end of the 2015-16 campaign and he recently re-iterated that he is in no rush to make a decision on his long-term future.
Hitzfeld has advised the former Barcelona coach to sign a new contract until June 2017, though, as both parties would benefit from such an agreement.
A one-year extension would be a good solution for both Bayern and Guardiola, Hitzfeld told Bild.
A one-year deal would not work when a coach just arrives at a club, but it would make sense after three years.
Guardiola has rebuilt the team at Bayern and is nearly done d…
Borussia Dortmund ended Bayern Munich s unbeaten start to the league campaign with a 1-0 Der Klassiker victory courtesy of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang s first-half goal.
The hosts, who had not triumphed over their fierce rivals in the league since 2014, ignited their Bundesliga title hopes with a gritty display at Signal Iduna Park, where they spent long spells on the back foot en route to a 27th home league match without defeat.
Thomas Tuchel s men rode their luck at times and were ultimately indebted to Aubameyang s close-range 11th-minute finish, which brought them to within three points of their visitors.
It is RB Leipzig – 3-2 winners over Bayer Leverkusen on Friday – who lead the way, but Bayern will wonder how they did not at least claim a draw on S…
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In a showdown that could see a host of chances at both ends of the pitch this weekend, Bayer Leverkusen will welcome Borussia Dortmund to the BayArena on Saturday afternoon.
Bayer Leverkusen
Starting with the hosts, while Bayer Leverkusen might have been disappointed to have only opened the 2021/22 campaign with a 1-1 draw away at Union Berlin, it appears that was just a minor blip for Die Werkself. Making the decision to appoint new boss Gerardo Seoane over the summer, they were last seen heading into the international break a fortnight ago enjoying a real purple patch. Once again securing themselves another European finish last season, the one-time Young Boys manager has seen his side collect seven points from their opening three B…
Diogo Dalot insists Portugal s approach in their final Nations League Group A2 game against Spain will not be any different after rising to the top of the table.
A comfortable 4-0 victory over the Czech Republic in Prague, where the Manchester United full-back scored a brace, came alongside a surprising 2-1 defeat for Spain against Switzerland.
Those results set up a decisive match between Portugal and Spain on Tuesday in Braga, where the hosts know avoiding defeat will secure a spot in next year s Finals tournament.
Despite now finding themselves in pole position, Dalot says the outlook ahead of the game has not changed.
Our thinking will be the same, whether Spain had won or our result [had been different]. We re going to Braga to win, he said.
Udinese starlet Luis Muriel has confirmed that he will remain with the club for the coming season.
The 22-year-old has starred for the Serie A side since moving from his native Colombia in 2010, reportedly attracting a number of European suitors in the process.
But Muriel has now revealed that he will not seek a transfer during the current transfer window so he can pay back the owners support and continue his development.
The Pozzo family have always supported me and they want to keep me in Udine for another season, that is what they have told me, Muriel told El Deportivo.
I want to grow as a player in this campaign so that I ll be able to go on and subsequently join a bigger club.
Muriel scored 11 goals and provided three assists in 22 Italian top-flight …
Nottingham Forest have re-signed David Vaughan for the remainder of the season,.
The 30 year old originally moved to Billy Davies’ promotion chasing side in October making six appearances in all competitions, the last of which coming in the goalless draw with Preston North End in the fourth round of the FA Cup last Friday evening.
Prior to his switch to the City Ground, the midfielder had been used on just four occasions by the Black Cats, who he joined from Blackpool in the summer of 2011.
The Wales international could return to the Forest line-up for Sunday afternoon’s visit of bottom of the table Yeovil Town when they the East Midlanders will hope to extend their unbeaten run, which currently stands at twelve games.
Forest can back backed at a…