Month: January 2025

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…

Cristiano Ronaldo s 700th goal in club football helped Manchester United come from behind to beat Everton 2-1 in the Premier League on Sunday.

Ronaldo, introduced as a first-half substitute following an injury to Anthony Martial, found the net with a low, left-footed strike at the end of a back-and-forth opening period at Goodison Park.

Alex Iwobi had earlier taken advantage of Casemiro s error to put Everton ahead with a long-range strike, with Antony levelling to maintain his fine start to life in England.

Erik ten Hag s men produced a controlled display following Ronaldo s intervention, keeping Everton at arm s length to go fifth in the Premier League table, one point adrift of the top four.

700 Cristiano Ronaldo has scored the 700th club goal of his …

Around 4,000 supporters from football clubs across Germany united on Sunday to demonstrate peacefully against rising ticket prices and the commercialisation of the nation s favourite sport.

The event was attended by supporters groups from more than fifty clubs in the first, second and third divisions of Germany s Bundesliga with a rally held in front of the Rotes Rathaus in Berlin s city centre.

The fans gripes are against rising ticket prices, fan unfriendly kick-off times and heavy-handed action by the police.

People must understand that this comes back on the fans and it kills the atmosphere in the stadiums, said spokesman Wilko Zicht.

Speakers denounced the commercialisation policies of both the German Football Federation (DFB) and the German league…

Glen Johnson is closing in on signing a new deal at Stoke City, .

The full back, who moved to the Potters in 2015 has attracted interest from Premier League duo West Ham United and Crystal Palace and could move on a free transfer at the end of the season when his current deal expires.

Since signing from Liverpool on a free transfer, the England international has racked up fifty appearances in all competitions.

However, he hasn’t been capped for his country since he played in the 2-1 defeat to Uruguay at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil.

Johnson played as Stoke beat relegation threatened Hull City by three goals to one at the Bet 365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Next up for MarK Hughes’ side is a trip to Swansea City, and .

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Market: Finland win

Odds: 

Marching towards promotion, runaway league leaders Finland will travel to Greece fon Thursday night as they look to extend their unbeaten run.

Starting with the hosts, after enduring a hard fought battle in their quest to earn a spot in Russia, Greece are once again struggling with their consistency. Sat six points adrift of their hosts at the top of the table and already suffering a pair of defeats to both Finland and Hungary, the former European champions will also need to improve on their form at the Olympiako Stadio Spyros Louis. Angelos Anastasiadis side have now managed to win just two of their last eight matches on home soil.

As for the visitors, arguably turning into this years surprise package, Finland are enjoying no…

Martin Odegaard insists Arsenal cannot head into a long-awaited Champions League quarter-final draw fearing any opponent and called for Tuesday’s penalty shoot-out win over Porto to act as the catalyst for a Premier League title tilt.

The Gunners ended a 14-year wait to reach the last eight of Europe’s top-level club competition after David Raya saved two spot-kicks to seal progression following a 1-1 aggregate draw with Porto.

Leandro Trossard’s first-half strike at the Emirates Stadium drew Arsenal level in the last-16 tie, but the two sides could not be separated until Raya took centre stage, with all four of the hosts’ penalty takers finding the back of the net.

Mikel praises David Raya on his composure and quality last night

— Arsenal (@Ar…

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is set to offer Mikel Arteta a new contract,.

The Spaniard was officially handed the club captaincy last week following Thomas Vermaelan’s move to Barcelona, and Wenger is keen to secure his services as he runs into the final year of his current deal.

Arteta has made one hundred and twenty-five appearances for the Gunners in all competitions since signing from Everton in the summer of 2011, scoring fifteen goals.

Prior to his move to the Premier League, the 32 year old played for Real Sociedad and Rangers, and enjoyed a loan spell with Paris Saint Germain while he began his career with Barcelona’s C and B sides.

Arsenal began their campaign with a 2-1 win against managerless Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, and…