Just when you thought Barcelona had turned the corner with four straight league wins and a place in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey, here comes that nasty debt of $1.42 billion and the ugly realization that the greatest footballer of all-time is headed out the back door again! (Along with another Luis Suárez brace for Atlético.)
Manchester City beat West Ham 4-0 on Sunday to keep pace with Chelsea and Manchester United at the top of the FA Women’s Super League. Rose Lavelle — making her first appearance since spending January with the USWNT — came off the bench in the 65th-minute and promptly scored her first league goal for City in the 71st.
It was a moment to forget for West Ham left back Mayumi Pacheco. The English defender showed for the pass, received it and then spontaneously combusted. Lavelle was free to take a couple touches towards goal before threatening to take Mackenzie Arnold’s head off.
Chelsea notched up their first win under Thomas Tuchel on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Burnley thanks to goals by Spanish defenders César Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso who have both been given a chance to shine under the German coach.
Azpilicueta was entrusted with a place in Chelsea's starting lineup by Tuchel in his two games since replacing Frank Lampard and he scored with an angled shot in the 40th minute after sprinting 80 yards to seize on a lay-off by Callum Hudson-Odoi.
French police in Marseille were holding 18 people in custody on Sunday after hundreds of fans stormed the training ground of soccer club Olympique de Marseille a day earlier, the local prosecutor said.
The hardcore Ultras were demonstrating against the club's leadership and a poor run of results. The supporters forced their way into the Commanderie training ground, hurling flares and firecrackers.
PARIS — The Ligue 1 game between Olympique de Marseille and Stade Rennais at the Stade Velodrome on Saturday was postponed after fans stormed into Marseille's training ground hours before kickoff.
"A few hundred individuals from the ultra fan groups broke into the Commanderie's training centre by force and with violence," Marseille said in a statement.
TV pictures showed fans forcing their way in and some were seen throwing flares and lighting firecrackers.
While he may have been reluctant to admit it ahead of the game, Neil Lennon knows his Celtic side's aspirations for a 10th straight league title will come to naught.
Celtic is 23 points off of Steven Gerrard's Rangers in second place, and on Saturday dropped one of its three games in hand to sixth-place St. Mirren, 2-1. Poor defending from Brighton loanee Shane Duffy allowed Ilkay Durmus to put St. Mirren back in front in the 37th minute, five minutes after Odsonne Edouard had drawn the hosts back level.
Bruno Fernandes joined Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon a year ago Friday. In that time, he’s become the Red Devils’ most important player, scoring and assisting at an incredible rate. This season alone, he’s supplied 16 goals and 10 assists in 31 appearances.
But he was lucky to avoid all punishment for a bad challenge on Granit Xhaka on Saturday. Had the roles been reversed, few doubt the result would have been a red card for the Arsenal man.
AS Roma has today confirmed the return to the club of Italy international Stephan El Shaarawy.
El Shaarawy, who initially joined I Giallorossi on loan from AC Milan in January 2016, departed for China 18 months ago in a $17.6 million deal with Shanghai Shenhua. "Il faraone" enjoyed the most productive spell of his career in the capital, scoring 40 goals and assisting 26 in 139 appearances for Roma.
It’s a decision every footballer has pondered at some point: When is it worth committing a red-card offense to prevent a goal from being scored? It’s hard not to think the Éder Militão red card in a 2-1 defeat to Levante on Saturday was the wrong choice.
Liverpool supporters would have found themselves sighing in exasperation when Joel Matip came off injured at halftime against Tottenham on Thursday.
There is a genuine argument to be made that, when fit, Matip is a top-five center back in the league. Much to the chagrin of Reds everywhere, the Cameroonian international is seldom fit for more than a few games at a time. He was substituted at halftime against Fulham due to injury, subsequently missing out against last month's game against Spurs, before returning against Crystal Palace.
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