Seattle Sounders returned to the top of the Western Conference after ending the Colorado Rapids 12-match unbeaten streak in a comprehensive 3-0 win in MLS action on Sunday.
Cristian Roldan, Jimmy Medranda and Joao Paolo scored in a three-goal first half to inspire the Sounders against the Rapids in Seattle.
The Rapids were enjoying their second-best unbeaten run in club history, only behind the 15-game undefeated streak from April 2016 to July 2016.
But Colorado came unstuck away to the Sounders at Lumen Field, where Roldan broke the deadlock in the second minute before Medranda and Paolo s moment of individual brilliance made it 3-0 prior to half-time.
The Sounders are top of the west, two points clear of Sporting Kansas City, who beat Houston Dynamo 4-2…
At the start of the Premier League campaign, Cardiff City were one of the favourites to suffer relegation. The Bluebirds won promotion last season under the Marmite of English football Neil Warnock. A few weeks ago, the Welsh side looked dead and buried after a terrible run of form. However, going into the last few weeks of the campaign they are still alive and kicking in the top-flight.
A big win against Brighton
In the last few weeks, Brighton have suddenly become the team that Cardiff need to catch to survive the drop this season. The Bluebirds went to the south coast and picked up a precious 2-0 win against the Seagulls on Tuesday night.
The win leaves Cardiff just two points behind the south coast outfit in the table. The Seagulls may have a game in hand, but thei…
Karim Ansarifard is confident Iran will beat Portugal to qualify for the next round of the World Cup ahead of Monday s winner-takes-all Group B clash.
Iran are third and only a point adrift of European champions Portugal and Spain leading in to the third and final matchday in Saransk.
Carlos Quieroz s men were unfortunate not to at least claim a point against Spain on Wednesday, having an equaliser ruled out by VAR.
It was an impressive performance against the 2010 world champions and Olympiacos forward Ansarifard said Iran are ready to advance to the last 16 for the first time in their history.
We ve learned so many things from the previous World Cup and know how to play Portugal in this edition, Ansarifard said.
Iran is led by the best coach i…
Niko Kovac is certain Leroy Sane will improve Bayern Munich s squad if he joins from Manchester City.
Sane has been linked with a move to the Bundesliga champions following the departures of experienced wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery at the end of last season.
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge revealed on Monday he is hopeful a deal could still go through, with Sane expected to make a decision over his future once he returns from his close-season break.
Kovac has no doubt his side would be signing a player of huge talent, saying at a news conference on Tuesday: He can definitely help us. Period. Exclamation mark. He has showed that in the national team and at City.
Our squad for the !
— FC Bayern English (@…
Barcelona have offered their backing to Lionel Messi after he was given a prison sentence for tax fraud offences.
The 29-year-old, along with his father, was found guilty of three counts of fiscal fraud related to image rights accrued between 2007 and 2009, and given a 21-month jail sentence by a Spanish court, along with a fine totalling €2million.
Neither Messi nor his father, Jorge, are likely to serve any time in prison as the sentence was less than two years for a non-violent offence and neither holds a criminal record.
Both men who have always denied any wrongdoing may appeal the decision, which came about despite a voluntary corrective payment of €5m made to authorities in August 2013 to cancel out the alleged amount of unpaid tax, plus interest.
…
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas says the club are prepared to go a bit crazy in their attempts to keep Alexandre Lacazette.
Lacazette has scored 24 goals in 27 Ligue 1 appearances this season, but Lyon cannot finish in the top three – leaving the Europa League as their only avenue back into the Champions League for next season.
Playing in Europe s premier club competition could be vital if Lyon are to keep Lacazette out of the clutches of reported admirers Liverpool, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.
After claiming seven straight league titles between 2002 and 2008, Lyon have gone a decade without winning Ligue 1 – in which time Paris Saint-Germain have dominated with the backing of Qatari investment – but Aulas believes Lyon are ready to challenge again, h…
Jordan Henderson has signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool, according to the Independent.
The midfielder, and club captain has signalled his intention to finish his career with the Merseyside advert after putting pen-to-paper on an extension to his current deal with improved terms.
The twenty-eight-year-old signed from Sunderland in the summer of 2011 and has since racked up two hundred and eighty-four appearances in all competitions, scoring twenty-four goals.
He was part of the squads that won the League Cup in 2012, finished second behind Manchester City in 2014 and as runners up in last season’s Champions League.
Internationally he has been capped forty-four times for his country, with five of those outings coming at this summer’s W…
Marten de Roon struck late for Middlesbrough as Manchester City were made to pay for failing to add to Sergio Aguero s 150th goal for the club in a 1-1 Premier League draw on Saturday.
City absolutely dominated the game at Eithad Stadium, but former Barcelona player Victor Valdes produced an inspired performance in the Boro goal to ultimately deny Pep Guardiola, with whom he enjoyed four glittering years in Catalonia.
Aguero had pounced late in the first half to put City ahead following a frustrating opening period.
However, the Teessiders left Arsenal with a point in their last away game, had only lost once on their travels previously, and the menace they had showed on the break elsewhere this season slowly came back into their game.
It was an unlikely g…
There has been a lot of talk about the money Liverpool are investing in Darwin Nunez.
The Uruguay striker arrives at Anfield for a fee that will likely end up surpassing their previous club record of £75million spent on Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in January 2018.
Benfica confirmed on Monday they had agreed to sell Nunez to Liverpool for an initial fee of £64m (€75m), with a further £21.4m (€25m) in add-ons. Liverpool provided their own confirmation on Tuesday.
The Merseyside club will likely be saying goodbye to a key player at the same time, though, with Sadio Mane being strongly linked with a move to Bayern Munich.
So can Nunez emulate what the Senegal star has been able to in his time at Liverpool, or can he even surpass it?
Stats …
Federico Gatti scored a last-gasp winner to send Juventus top of Serie A with a battling 2-1 victory at Monza.
The hosts had looked like rescuing a point when Valentin Carboni struck at the start of stoppage time to cancel out Adrien Rabiot’s opener.
But Juve would strike back deep into added time as Gatti’s effort sealed the three points to take Massimiliano Allegri’s side top ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.
Captain Goalscorer Match-winning assist Highest-scoring midfielder in Serie A over the past two seasons
Adrien
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)
Dusan Vlahovic saw an early penalty saved by Michele Di Gregorio after Andrea Cambiaso had been upended in the box.
The visitors would not be kept at bay for long, though, a…