Football

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) postponed the majority of the upcoming Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023. "Taking into consideration the existing travel and quarantine restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic across the Continent and following a process of close consultation with Asias Member Associations, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA have jointly agreed to postpone the majority of the upcoming Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian

ROME: Bukayo Saka earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw against Benfica in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 tie on Thursday. The youngster slotted home from close range in the 57th minute just after Benfica grabbed the lead with Pizzi's penalty. A draw was the least Arsenal deserved as they carved out some great chances in Rome's Stadio Olimpico, which was hosting the game for Benfica because of COVID-19 travel restrictions between Portugal and the UK. Saka could have scored again while

LONDON: Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur built hefty leads with emphatic away wins in their Europa League last 32 first-leg matches but AC Milan were held to a 2-2 draw at Red Star Belgrade as the competition resumed on Thursday. United crushed Real Sociedad 4-0 in a game played in Turin because of COVID-19 restrictions between the UK and Spain with Bruno Fernandes again proving pivotal for his side with a brace. The Portuguese midfielder opened the scoring after 27 minutes with his

Martin Braithwaite has taken to Twitter in the wake of Barcelona’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16. The Denmark international, who played the last five minutes against the French champions, doesn’t seem to have given up hope yet despite Barca losing the first leg 4-1. Barca players have unsurprisingly been pretty quiet since the match and were given two days off by manager Ronald Koeman. Sport have reported that the dressing room was “hurt” and “full of doubts” after

Reigning champions Al Sadd beat Al Rayyan 1-0 to reach the final of 2021 Qatar Cup. Santi Cazorla scored the only goal of the feisty semifinal contest by converting a penalty kick in the 84th minute at the Al Duhail Stadium on Thursday. He was declared the Man of the Match for his brilliant allround show in what was a pulsating clash. The start of the much-awaited clash was exactly how fans expect in matches involving the two sides - plenty of action

Pavard is the fourth Bayern player to have contracted the virus, after Leon Goretzka, Javi Martinez and Thomas Muller all tested positive in recent weeks. Berlin: French defender Benjamin Pavard is in quarantine after becoming the latest Bayern Munich player to test positive for the coronavirus , the Bundesliga club announced Thursday. "Benjamin Pavard has tested positive for the coronavirus and is in quarantine at home. He is doing fine," said Bayern in a short statement, confirming media reports from Wednesday evening. French World Cup winner Pavard,

Long before Brazil's infamous 7-1 drubbing by Germany at the 2014 World Cup, another six-goal defeat almost stopped David Luiz's development dead in its tracks. As the veteran defender prepares to face Benfica, his first European club, with Arsenal in the Europa League last 32 on Thursday, he might reflect on how that 6-0 defeat by Criciuma in 2006 changed his future and set him on the path to success in Portugal. "The boat only passes once and David has missed it because

Seeking its first league title since 2014, Atlético Madrid still has a game in hand compared to its city rival. Atlético Madrid was held to a 1-1 draw at Levante on Wednesday in a Spanish league match postponed from the second round, a result that still extended its lead over Real Madrid to six points. Seeking its first league title since 2014, Atlético still has a game in hand compared to its city rival. Diego Simeone’s team is unbeaten in 11 straight league

Porto scored in the first minute of each half to beat Juventus in their Champions League round of 16 first-leg tie. It was a crucial win for the hosts as Juventus have a lot to play for in the return leg in Turin. Mehdi Taremi scored after just 63 seconds in the tie to kick off the proceedings. Taremi pounced on Rodrigo Bentancur's poor back pass to slide in and convert the first. Juventus saw an Adrien Rabiot shot get saved after an

Erling Braut Haaland scored a brace for Borussia Dortmund as the Bundesliga side overcame Sevilla in their Champions League round of 16 first leg tie. Dortmund were trailing in the match 1-0 before Mahmoud Dahoud and Haaland helped them go 3-1 up. Howerver, Luuk de Jong scored late to keep Sevilla alive. Here we present the records broken. Sevilla took a lead with Suso's shot that deflected in off Mats Hummels. Dahoud leveled before Haaland got two goals in a space of 16

Pep Guardiola has told his players not to look at Manchester City's forthcoming schedule but to embrace the 'beautiful challenge' after watching his side go 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 3-1 win at Everton. Carlo Ancelotti's side did manage to lay a glove at least as Richarlison cancelled out Phil Foden's opener - only the second time in the last nine league games City have failed to keep a clean sheet - but there was no

Timo Werner netted late in the first half at Stamford Bridge after setting up Olivier Giroud's opener for Thomas Tuchel's revitalised Chelsea team. Timo Werner ended his Premier League goal drought as the Chelsea forward sealed a 2-0 win against Newcastle that lifted the Blues into fourth place on Monday. Werner netted late in the first half at Stamford Bridge after setting up Olivier Giroud's opener for Thomas Tuchel's revitalised team. It was a cathartic moment for Werner, who had gone 14 league

Tuesday's win over RB Leipzig was not only the ideal result for Liverpool after their recent problems, it was pretty much the perfect performance too. Jurgen Klopp's side looked organised and hungry in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, plus they played with such high intensity, and their pressing was really strong. After three successive Premier League defeats, it was like the old Liverpool was back - the team that has been so hard to stop in the past couple

BARCELONA: Barcelona's crushing 4-1 home defeat by Paris St Germain in their Champions League last-16 first leg at Camp Nou on Tuesday underlined the scale of the rebuild the club needs to get back to their former glory days, coach Ronald Koeman said. Barca were back in the knockout stage of Europe's elite club competition for the first time since an 8-2 hammering at the hands of Bayern Munich in last season's quarter-finals and started well with Lionel Messi's opener from the penalty

BARCELONA: Kylian Mbappe ripped Barcelona apart on Tuesday by scoring a stunning hat-trick in a 4-1 rout to put Paris Saint-Germain on the brink of the Champions League quarter-finals. Mbappe underlined his status as the rising superstar of world football with a ruthless display of finishing at Camp Nou that will go down as one this competition's most devastating individual performances.The 22-year-old eclipsed Barca's Lionel Messi, whose opening goal from the penalty spot had been reduced to nothing more than a footnote by

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says the Premier League should be worried about a potential rise in coronavirus cases because of next month's international break. City are away to Everton on Wednesday in a game that was postponed on 28 December, four hours before kick-off. It came during a period when City, Newcastle, Fulham and Aston Villa were forced to call matches off and shut their training grounds after a surge in positive tests, which sparked fears the season would have to be paused.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane struck in the space of five minutes near the start of the second half in an away leg played in Budapest's Puskas Arena because of Covid-19 restrictions. It came after the Reds had fallen to three straight defeats in the Premier League - results that have led Klopp to concede defeat in their defence of the English top-flight title. But Tuesday's display was far more like the dominant side of last season, with their greater experience and quality

Champions Bayern Munich played out an entertaining 3-3 draw against Arminia Bielefeld in gameweek 21 of the Bundesliga 2020-21 season. The Bavarians trailed 2-0 at half-time before Arminia led 3-1. However, Corentin Tolisso and Alphonso Davies rescued a point for the leaders. Bayern have a five-point lead over RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga 2020-21 table. Source: https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/sports/bundesliga-bayern-munich-involved-in-six-goal-thriller/story

The Spaniard admits that he would love to have a player to match the calibre of the club's success but is more than happy with his current cropPep Guardiola says that Manchester City don't have a player like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo who can be a solo matchwinner on their own terms - but that he is more than happy with his squad at the Etihad Stadium. The Spaniard's side racked up another convincing victory on Saturday against former title-chasers Tottenham, to

The midfielder says he is fully focused on "getting back to the old Jesse" after leaving Old Trafford until the end of the seasonJesse Lingard has explained why he took the decision to join West Ham in January, insisting "I didn't get my chance" at Manchester United after lockdown last season. United were happy to sanction Lingard's departure when the Hammers enquired about a short-term loan deal last month, with the midfielder moving to London Stadium on a contract set to run until