Sunderland were denied a win by former loanee Ki Sung-yueng in a 1-1 Premier League draw at Swansea City on Saturday.

Ki Sung-yueng returned to haunt former club Sunderland as his second-half header rescued a 1-1 Premier League draw for Swansea City on Saturday.

The South Korea international, back in the starting XI after reaching the Asian Cup final with his country, spent the majority of last season on loan at Sunderland.

And the midfielder, who also had a goal ruled out in the first half, made a decisive contribution when he stooped low to meet Kyle Naughton s cross in the second half at the Liberty Stadium denying Sunderland what would have been back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.

Swansea were somewhat unfortunate to go into t…

Antonio Brown and Logan Paul teased a potential fight on Twitter on Saturday.

Having apologised over issues that have kept him out of the NFL since September, Brown asked if he should fight Paul.

A YouTuber, Paul lost to KSI in a bout which attracted plenty of interest in Los Angeles in November last year.

On Saturday, Brown tweeted: Should I fight @LoganPaul for 4.1m with possibly 8.2m raise?! I ll donate proceeds to charity he keep coming at me about this non-stop.

Paul responded: If you do, I ll match your donation.

if you do, i’ll match your donation

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul)

Brown apologised to the NFL following a series of alleged off-field incidents as he played just one game in the league in 2019.

Wide recei…

Almeria have been promoted back to La Liga after a 4-0 aggregate win over Girona in the Segunda Division play-off final.

Javi Garcia’s side have spent two seasons in Spain’s second tier following their relegation in 2010-11, but they secured this year’s final promotion place on Saturday after finishing third in the regular season.

Thanks to a solitary goal from Brazilian striker Charles, Almeria picked up a valuable away win in Wednesday’s first leg before recording a comfortable 3-0 victory at Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos to confirm their passage back to the La Liga.

Charles bagged a double after highly-rated youngster Aleix Vidal gave the hosts a 17th-minute lead, and the Brazilian forward’s goals took his season tally to an impressive 32.

Alme…

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri will have to adapt his methods to make sure he gets the best out of Eden Hazard, according to Paolo Di Canio.

Hazard was outstanding for Belgium at the World Cup in Russia, with his performances prompting a spike in speculation linking him with a move away from Stamford Bridge.

However, he remains a member of Sarri s squad for now as Chelsea prepare for their opening league game of the new season, away at Huddersfield on August 11.

Di Canio, who played in the Premier League with Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Charlton Athletic, has concerns over whether the free-spirited Hazard can flourish under the Italian coach s rigid style.

I m wondering if he [Sarri] will be able to bring his idea of football, Di Canio told rep…

(GSM) European champions Spain will confidently head into the World Cup in South Africa keen on breaking their international stage hoodoo.

The La Furia Roja snapped their 44-year drought in major championships by winning the 2008 edition of the European Championships and are on a good run that could see them end their long awaited international title.

There is a lot of pressure particularly on our players in terms of their club football before the World Cup but there is a lot of optimism in Spain, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said.

It s a nice moment for Spanish football.

Let s see if we can harness our Euro momentum and use it at the World Cup, even though we know it gets harder and harder to win because we ll be up against more difficult rivals. …

Barca want Jonathan Soriano

that Barcelona have made an inquiry for Red Bull Salzburg striker Jonathan Soriano.

The Catalans are aware they cannot rely on Munir and Sandro Ramirez as back-ups for the starting attacking trident, but they are not in a position to recruit any expensive signings.

That is one of the reasons why they have turned their attention to Jonathan Soriano, another player who had impressed under Luis Enrique.

Shortly after bagging 32 goals in 37 league appearances for Barcelona B, the talented forward went on to join Red Bull Salzburg on a free transfer and has since been one of Europe s most prolific forwards.

Having scored 104 goals in 119 league outings, Soriano has caught the eye of Europe s top clubs, with his employers r…

Andrea Pirlo is hopeful Paulo Dybala will stay at Juventus after the forward came off the bench to secure a Serie A win over Napoli.

Dybala scored as a substitute in a league game on Wednesday for the first time since March 2020, steering a fine finish past Alex Meret in Juve s 2-1 win after Cristiano Ronaldo s first-half opener.

It proved to be the decisive goal, with Juve having been left living dangerously in the closing minutes after a late penalty from Lorenzo Insigne.

With a year to run on his contract, it has been suggested Juve could look to move Dybala on after this season, but head coach Pirlo is keen to keep the Argentina international.

Indeed, Pirlo believes Dybala would have made a greater impact this season had he not missed nearly fou…

Hosts South Africa on Wednesday added Israel-based defender Bevan Fransman to a preliminary World Cup squad they named last month.

There are no other changes to the original 29-strong list released by Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira 13 days ago for the June 11-July 11 tournament.

Fransman, a tall, 26-year-old native of Cape Town who plays for Maccabi Netanya, owes his call-up to an injury which ruled out Morgan Gould from champions SuperSport United.

Gould has been sidelined since February and Parreira said the South African Premiership star would not be ready for a challenging Group A schedule against Mexico, Uruguay and France.

Coach of the 1994 Brazil World Cup-winning team, Parreira has five central defenders and one is likely to drop out by …

Paul Dummett scored a dramatic last-minute equaliser as Newcastle United twice came from behind to draw 3-3 with Manchester United in a Premier League classic at St James Park.

In a controversial and thrilling contest, Wayne Rooney s penalty and a Jesse Lingard strike had the visitors two goals ahead, but Georginio Wijnaldum got one back prior to half-time.

Newcastle dominated the second period and Aleksandar Mitrovic won a penalty after tussling with Chris Smalling, converting it himself.

Rooney netted with a stunning finish with 11 minutes remaining, but that would not be enough for victory as Dummett s deflected effort at the death earned Steve McClaren s side a crucial point.

The result sees Newcastle, who stay in the bottom three, end a three-match…

Cristiano Ronaldo spoke of the importance of making the best decisions for the future in the wake of Juventus Champions League exit and the sacking of Maurizio Sarri.

Ronaldo scored twice on Friday to give Juve a 2-1 win over Lyon in Turin, but it was not enough to prevent them going out at the last-16 stage on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw.

On Saturday, the Bianconeri announced they had sacked head coach Sarri barely a year after he was appointed following his departure from Chelsea.

Sarri guided Juve to a ninth Serie A title in a row, but defeat to Napoli in the Coppa Italia final and a failure to instil his playing style on the squad had led to doubts about his suitability to the job.

Andrea Pirlo, who was only appointed coach of the Juventus u…