Sports

Andre Gray scored his first Premier League hat-trick to move Burnley nine points clear of the relegation zone and heap more misery on David Moyes with a 4-1 win over Sunderland.

Gray broke the deadlock after 30 minutes at Turf Moor, making the most of some abysmal Sunderland defending and setting the tone for another dreadful day for Moyes.

He wrapped up his hat-trick with two goals in just under three second-half minutes before Ashley Barnes 67th-minute penalty added to Sunderland s humiliation.

Jermain Defoe did restore some pride for Sunderland four minutes later, but his effort will provide little comfort for a team that lost Lamine Kone to injury 24 minutes in and saw Victor Anichebe sustain a hamstring problem.

Moyes, who went into Saturday s…

Kevin De Bruyne s gesture during the closing stages of Manchester City s Premier League game against Brighton and Hove Albion was one of selflessness towards a team-mate and friend, but also one that backfired.

De Bruyne ceded his penalty-taking duties after drawing a foul from Albion goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in stoppage time at a sodden Etihad Stadium, giving Raheem Sterling the chance to step up.

Unfortunately, the England international ballooned his attempt into the deserted North Stand, leaving Pep Guardiola s side with a few more needlessly nervy minutes to see out a 1-0 win.

A key contributor as City racked up six major trophies in the three previous campaigns under Guardiola, Sterling is yet to fully hit his stride this time around, even as his colleagues…

ESPN understand that Manchester City will make a move to sign Leicester City full-back Ben Chilwell – but not until the summer.

The Premier League champions are keen to strengthen in that area of the pitch with Benjamin Mendy consistently struggling with injury since signing eighteen months ago and have made the England international their top target.

Aside from a brief loan spell with Huddersfield Town during the 2015/16 season, Chilwell has spent the whole of his short career so far with the Foxes, racking up seventy-six appearances for the club in all competitions.

His one and only goal so far came in a 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the 2016/17 campaign, while he has been capped five times for the Three Lions having made his debut …

Norwich City maintained their position at the Championship summit with a crushing 4-1 win away at Swansea City, while Leeds United remain three points behind them after beating Bristol City 2-0 at Elland Road.

Daniel Farke s side were in imperious form at the Liberty Stadium, securing a sixth straight win thanks to an own goal from Mike van der Hoorn and strikes from Emiliano Buendia, Marco Stiepermann and Teemu Pukki.

Leeds made light work of 10-man Bristol City thanks to goals from Kemar Roofe and Pablo Hernandez to remain on the Canaries  coattails, although they could be leapfrogged into second by Middlesbrough if they overcome Brentford in the late kick-off.

Derby County, meanwhile, kept up their promotion push with a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday, Pre…

Kwadwo Asamoah is seemingly poised to join Inter on a free transfer after announcing he will leave Italian champions Juventus at the end of the season.

Asamoah has been linked with Serie A rivals Inter and the Ghana international is now set to swap Turin for Milan following his decision not to sign a new Juventus contract.

The versatile wing-back and midfielder joined Juve from Udinese in 2012, and he has since gone on to win six successive Serie A titles and four consecutive Coppa Italia trophies, while he was involved in unsuccessful Champions League finals in 2015 and 2017.

Asamoah posted a letter to Twitter on Friday, bidding farewell to Juve and thanking the club s fans ahead of Saturday s season finale against Verona.

This s it, a clarification of m…

Next Generation is a series focusing on the young players tipped to establish themselves as the elite in the 2020s.

Rayan Cherki is Lyon s latest academy prodigy and has set his sights firmly on the top, openly admitting last week that he aspires to one day play for Real Madrid.

He is the 16-year-old who has already made 12 senior appearances for Lyon and been tipped to emulate Kylian Mbappe as the next big thing to come out of Ligue 1.

Madrid are not alone in showing an interest in the teenage midfielder, though, with Manchester United and Liverpool also among those to have been linked.

Able to play on either flank or through the middle and capable of embarrassing defenders with his trickery, Cherki is very much a player with the world at his feet.

…

Cesc Fabregas stopped short of confirming his move away from Chelsea but admitted  everyone knows the situation amid reports linking him with a transfer to Monaco.

The World Cup-winning midfielder left the Stamford Bridge pitch in tears after the Blues 2-0 FA Cup third round victory over Nottingham Forest, in which he captained the side but also missed a first-half penalty.

He was given a standing ovation when replaced by N Golo Kante in the 85th minute and the Spaniard indicated in a post-match interview that reports of his imminent departure were true.

The occasion got the better of me, Fabregas told BBC Sport.

I didn t expect all of this to happen today. I can t say anything out of respect for Chelsea but everyone knows the situation.

…

Former San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh was officially introduced in his new role at the University of Michigan on Tuesday.

After trying to lure Michigan alum Les Miles away from LSU in 2007 and 2010, the Wolverines finally landed their Michigan Man in Harbaugh to serve as football head coach.

The introduction got off to a rough start when Harbaugh tripped on his way into the press conference.

Anybody see me trip in the way in? A lesser athlete would ve gone down, Harbaugh said. 

He then went on to explain how happy he is to be back in Ann Arbor.

I have dreamed about that since I was a young lad, [since I was] nine, 10 years old [I have] dreamed about coaching Michigan. Now it s time to live that, Harbaugh added.

Harbaugh repla…

According to a report from Sport, Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic is said to be a big transfer target for Chelsea in the summer. Maurizio Sarri is said to be interested in bringing the 30 year old to Stamford Bridge in the summer, as the Blues gear up for a potential title push next season. Chelsea are currently embroiled in a battle with several other sides in the race to finish in the top four, whereas Rakitic is part of a Barcelona side that are leading the way in La Liga. The Croatian international, who was first called up to the senior team back in 2007, has been at the Nou Camp since 2014 when he made the jump over from Sevilla. In that time he’s been able to cement himself as a consistent force in the middle of the park for the Spanish champions, although it’s believed tha…

Frank Lampard has been fined £2,000 after the Derby County manager was hit with an improper conduct charge from the Football Association (FA).

Lampard was sent off during Derby s Championship defeat to Rotherham United on Saturday, the first time the former England midfielder has been dismissed since taking his maiden managerial job.

The former England international accepted the charge and the FA confirmed a standard penalty had been handed out to Lampard, who left his technical area during the game.

Speaking ahead of Derby s Championship game against Blackburn Rovers, Lampard called for consistency in the way managers are punished.

Derby County manager Frank Lampard has been fined £2,000 after he admitted an FA misconduct charge and accepted the standa…