..::Football IV::..

[Wolverine GTR]

Nantes 0-2 PSG: Cavani double sweeps visitors to victory

Edinson Cavani scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain moved within one point of Ligue 1 leaders Nice with a hard-fought 2-0 win at Nantes.

Cavani finished a well-worked team move involving Julian Draxler and Lucas Moura in the 21st minute of Saturday's encounter to open the scoring at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

And the Uruguay striker made it 20 league goals for the campaign, the first time he has achieved such a feat for PSG, with a superb direct free-kick in the second half.
Unai Emery's men were not always at their best against a stubborn Nantes side - who had won their previous four league games without conceding - and Emiliano Sala should have punished a Thomas Meunier error in the eighth minute.

But PSG, who also saw Marco Verratti the victim of bizarre first-half yellow card, did enough to rack up a third straight league win and move level on points with second-place Monaco - who can go top by beating Lorient on Sunday - ahead of a crunch clash between the two at Parc des Princes next weekend.

PSG almost gifted Nantes an early lead when Meunier's poor clearance was charged down by Amine Harit and landed at the feet of Sala, who wastefully shot into the side-netting.

The visitors created little against Nantes' high-press game in the opening exchanges until they went in front with a fine flowing move.Draxler sprayed the ball right to Lucas and his first-time low centre was expertly side-footed home by Cavani.

There was a moment of confusion shortly after the half-hour mark when Verratti was seemingly booked for getting on his hands and knees to head the ball back to goalkeeper Kevin Trapp rather than attempt a pass with his feet.

And Nantes wanted further sanction against Verratti for a challenge on Valentin Rongier that resulted in a free-kick, although replays suggested he got a foot on the ball.

Nantes started the second half with similar verve as they did in the first and Sala failed to react quickly enough to a cross into the area.Half-time substitute Felipe Pardo then combined brilliantly with Yacine Bammou before seeing a low drive deflected wide for a corner.

Verratti's interesting outing continued when he was accidentally struck in the face by a Thiago Motta clearance, before Meunier's improvised flicked header from Lucas' whipped free-kick hit the crossbar.

But the game was put beyond doubt in the 65th minute when Cavani bent a brilliant 25-yard free-kick well beyond the reach of Maxime Dupe and into the top left-hand corner - taking his tally to six goals in seven appearances against Nantes.

Adrien Rabiot twice went close to making it 3-0 in the closing stages, first shooting straight at Dupe before lashing a thunderous 20-yard effort off the crossbar - with Angel Di Maria failing to get enough power on his header from the follow up - but PSG had done more than enough to rack up a 13th straight win over Nantes in all competitions.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Manchester City 2-2 Tottenham: Alli & Son rescue Spurs after Lloris gifts

Tottenham bailed out captain Hugo Lloris, storming back after a pair of uncharacteristic errors from the goalkeeper to snatch a 2-2 draw at Manchester City.

Within the space of five second-half minutes, Lloris mistakes had gifted goals to Leroy Sane and Kevin De Bruyne, the Belgium international scoring his first City goal in 14 games in the simplest manner.City really had deserved to be ahead after a searing first-half performance, in which they had laid siege to Lloris's goal but somehow not taken the lead.

But, after Dele Alli nodded Spurs back into the contest, Pep Guardiola was apoplectic as Raheem Sterling was denied a clear penalty and Son Heung-min equalised within a minute.

A pulsating game swung back and forth and there was no end to the drama as debutant Gabriel Jesus was denied a first City goal by the offside flag, forcing City to settle for a draw that ought to have been much more.

A point apiece does little for either side's Premier League ambitions, but completes a fantastic day for leaders Chelsea who also saw Liverpool and Manchester United shell points and could be as many as nine points clear if they beat Hull City at home on Sunday.

Guardiola said pre-match that he may not be good enough to lead City's players but his clear attacking intentions resulted in a fantastic show from the off, with Yaya Toure deployed in a holding role behind Sterling, De Bruyne, David Silva and Sane.

As City succeeded in putting Spurs swiftly on the back foot, Guardiola will have lamented the best of City's chances falling to Pablo Zabaleta, who intercepted a one-two between Sergio Aguero and De Bruyne and scuffed wide.

From the resulting goal kick, Aguero was off-target after Zabaleta tenaciously won the ball back and the right-back was again in the thick of the action as he drove narrowly wide left-footed.

Eric Dier and Kevin Wimmer were booked by the 13th minute as Spurs struggled to cope and Lloris tipping a shot wide from Silva prompted Mauricio Pochettino to alter his formation, with Dier pushed forward from defence in an attempt to stem the flow of midfield runners.

A stooping Sane aimed wide and a diving Lloris plucked Aguero's header before denying the striker one-on-one and punching a sharp Sterling shot as Spurs clung on to reach the interval level - perhaps through more luck than judgement.
But Lloris's judgement abandoned him to hand City control of the game.

The Spurs captain first rushed out to meet a long ball, but succeeded only in heading the ball into Sane, who gleefully rolled into an unguarded net before De Bruyne was afforded similar luxury to tuck home after Lloris had inexplicably spilled Sterling's cross.

But the visitors' first piece of attacking incision halved the deficit, Kyle Walker latching onto a loose ball and whipping a stunning cross that allowed Alli the simple task of nodding home from inside the six-yard box - Claudio Bravo conceding the first shot at him for the fifth time in eight games.

Danny Rose hooked the ball away from Sterling as he bore down on goal, amid calls for a penalty, but referee Andre Marriner baffled the home crowd when the England attacker was one-on-one with Lloris, only to have his shooting stride interrupted by a clear shove in the back from Walker.Lloris subsequently launched a counter-attack and Kane - just offside - touched Christian Eriksen's pass into Son and the South Korean finished with unerring cool.

Jesus was afforded a huge reception as he replaced Sterling and his first touch almost put the winner on a plate for Sane before his own moment of glory was cut short to compound the feeling of deep frustration at the Etihad Stadium.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Mourinho: Rooney now a Manchester United legend

Jose Mourinho described Wayne Rooney as "a legend of Manchester United" after his last-gasp equaliser against Stoke City saw him break the club's goalscoring record.

The 31-year-old swept in a brilliant free-kick with seconds remaining at the bet365 Stadium to move onto 250 goals in 546 appearances - one more than former record-holder Bobby Charlton.And Mourinho praised his captain for claiming a place in the history of both the club and the global game.

"The record is the record," he told Sky Sports after the 1-1 draw. "It is the record of the biggest club in England and one of the biggest in the world. "Before him the record belonged to a legend of English football. Now Wayne becomes a legend of Manchester United."

Stoke boss Mark Hughes, twice a Premier League-winner in a distinguished United playing career, believes Rooney can now set a record that will never be broken.

"It is an outstanding record and won't be surpassed," he told BBC Sport. "It has taken 40-odd years for Sir Bobby's record to be broken which shows how high a mark it was."

Rooney's goal came in the fourth minute of injury time to salvage a point after Juan Mata's first-half own goal looked to have handed Stoke the win.Mourinho was frustrated that his side did not do better with the chances they created but credited Stoke for a well-organised defensive approach.

"It was a big game with two teams in the beginning trying to win," he said. "But after 25 minutes one team tried to win and the other tried to defend, which they did amazingly well. They showed great work rate and did everything to try and stop us.

"We did everything well except in front of our target. We missed unbelievable chances. We hit the post, the keeper saves, we miss chances and we have another draw. We have too many draws for the attacking play we produce. Opposition goalkeepers are always amazing against us."

Hughes felt a little aggrieved at the amount of injury time added by referee Mark Clattenburg but praised his side's resilience during long spells of United pressure.

"I didn't feel there was five minutes added on but that gave them enough time to get something out of the game," he said. "We are disappointed but we need to pick ourselves up. We were within seconds of beating a very good Manchester United team.

"My only criticism to the guys is that we didn't keep the ball long enough. We are good enough to do that but we needed more care to get up the other end of the pitch. But fair play to Man United: they put on attacking players and made it hard for us to get out.

"In the end we tried to protect what we had and I can't criticise what we did for the free-kick."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Mike Dean makes dreadful penalty call after demotion to Championship

Mike Dean may not be on his way back to the Premier League any time soon.
The much-maligned referee's spell in the Championship - the result of a demotion from the top flight for repeated errors - got off to a disastrous start at Barnsley on Saturday evening.

With the home side having earned a 3-1 lead over Yorkshire rivals Leeds United, Dean - from a position a long way behind the play - awarded Garry Monk's side a penalty for handball.The only problem was that the culprit, Marc Roberts, was quite clearly outside of the penalty area when he handled.

Luckily for Dean, the fact that Chris Wood converted the spot kick did not prevent Barnsley from running out 3-2 winners at Oakwell.But the decision is unlikely to endear him to the referees' assessors as he seeks a swift return to Premier League assignments.

The 48-year-old was roundly criticised for his performance in Manchester United's 2-0 victory over West Ham earlier this month after awarding Sofiane Feghouli a red card that was later rescinded and allowing an offside Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal.

Dean, known for his flamboyant style of refereeing, also came under fire for failing to dismiss Ross Barkley for a poor tackle on Jordan Henderson during the Merseyside derby in December.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Mike Dean ta Championship 1kenuth yanna wei mehema giyoth​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Cavani wins race to 20 goals in Europe's top leagues

Edinson Cavani has become the first player in Europe's top five leagues to score 20 goals this season.The Uruguayan netted twice to lead Paris Saint-Germain to victory against Nantes on Saturday, meaning he has now struck 20 times in just 18 games in Ligue 1.

That leaves him well clear of the competition, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - currently away at the Africa Cup of Nations - four goals behind him on 16.

Among players with at least 10 goals this season, Cavani's rate of 74 minutes per goal scored is better only by Monaco's Falcao, who has netted once every 71 minutes in 2016-17.

In Serie A, Mauro Icardi leads the way with 15 goals in 20 games for Inter, while Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette is the fourth player to hit the 15-goal milestone.Barcelona duo Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi both have 14 goals in La Liga, as does Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski in the Bundesliga.

There is a three-way tie in the scoring race on 14 goals in the Premier League, meanwhile, between Alexis Sanchez, Diego Costa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

This is the first season in which Cavani has scored 20 goals in Ligue 1, beating the tallies of 16, 18 and 19 he has recorded in his previous three seasons with PSG.
The most prolific league campaign of his career came in 2012-13 with Napoli, during which he notched 29 goals in Serie A and was snapped up by the Parisians for around €64 million.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

AC Milan 1-2 Napoli: Insigne & Callejon give visitors thrilling win

Two goals in the first nine minutes ensured a 2-1 win for Napoli in an enthralling Serie A clash on Saturday.

A sublime Lorenzo Insigne strike and a clever finish from Jose Callejon were enough to give Maurizio Sarri's side all three points, despite Juraj Kucka's finish just before half-time.

Napoli went into the game with only one defeat in 11 league matches against Milan and struck twice before the 10-minute mark thanks to two brilliant moves, with Dries Mertens at the heart of both.

Mertens wasted a good chance for a third before Kucka pounced on some slack defending to get a goal back, giving Milan hopes of coming back from 2-0 down for the second Serie A match in a row.

Chances came and went for both teams in a breathless end-to-end encounter, with Mario Pasalic hitting the crossbar for Vincenzo Montella's side while Mertens twice made a mess of one-on-one opportunities.

Milan continued to press for a leveller in a vibrant San Siro - in which banners could be seen showing solidarity with the victims of the hotel disaster in the mountains of Abruzzo - but Napoli held out for a win that moves them to within a point of leaders Juventus, having played two games more.For Milan, who have won only one of their last five in the top flight, the seven-point gap to the top three is looking difficult to bridge.

Napoli needed only six minutes to break the deadlock with a spectacular piece of counter-attacking play.

Jorginho won possession and found Mertens, who switched the play first time to Insigne, and the Italy international blasted a left-footed shot into Gianluigi Donnarumma's top-left corner from 20 yards out despite the goalkeeper getting a touch on the ball.

Three minutes later and Napoli doubled their lead, Mertens this time sliding the ball through to Callejon down the right, and the Spaniard steadied himself before slotting beneath Donnarumma at the near post.

Napoli's incisive one-touch passing was causing problems for Milan's high line and Mertens wasted a glorious chance for 3-0 when he beat the offside trap to reach Allan's cross only to scuff his half-volley into Donnarumma's grasp.

Milan should have halved the deficit 10 minutes before the break but Gustavo Gomez steered his header wide when he met Giacomo Bonaventura's cross from the left unmarked near the penalty spot.

But moments later, Kucka kept his composure far better to prod the ball beyond Pepe Reina and into the bottom-right corner after their high press forced Lorenzo Tonelli into conceding possession.Pasalic headed against the crossbar and Jose Sosa brought a low save from Reina inside the first three minutes of the second half as Montella's side pressed for an equaliser.

Carlos Bacca came inches from turning Ignazio Abate's cut-back over the line before Insigne almost produced one of the goals of the season, twisting his way into space just inside the Milan half before sending a 45-yard chip onto the roof of the net.

Reina denied Bacca following a good run from Bonaventura before Mertens failed to make the points safe for Napoli, as Donnarumma - making his 50th Serie A appearance - saved low to his left to deny the Belgium winger after he broke through the Milan defence.

Callejon became the eighth player to be booked as the game became scrappy in the closing stages, with both teams visibly tiring, but Napoli held out for a result that will give them renewed belief in their title chances.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Chapecoense return to pitch for emotional first match against Palmeiras

Chapecoense returned to the pitch on Saturday night for an emotional friendly against Palmeiras which saw them lift the Copa Sudamericana trophy before kick-off.

The match at their home stadium, Arena Conda, was the first they have played since the plane crash that killed 71 people, including 19 of their players, on November 28.

The three surviving players, Neto, Jakson Follmann and Alan Ruschel, were in attendance and presented with the Sudamericana silverware in front of a capacity crowd.

"It's a little complicated for me as I'm still at the hospital," Follmann, who has had a leg amputated, said. "It's a great emotion to be here, this is where we used to play and train, and now there's a beautiful tribute like this.

"There's no holding back the tears. I'm happy and recovering well. There's no explanation for this feeling - we must respect God's will and move on with our lives now. We're certainly stronger, and learning to value the simple things after all that happened."

The Sudamericana was awarded to Chapecoense after the crash, which occured while the team was en route to the first leg of the final of the competition against Atletico Nacional of Colombia.

Atletico Nacional had requested that their opponents been crowned champions in the aftermath of the tragedy and subsequently received the Fair Play Award at the recent FIFA Football Awards.

"It's a unique feeling - all we can do is thank eveyone for their prayers," Ruschel said. "There's a big challenge ahead of us, so let's try to honour the ones we lost last year the best way possible."Of his own health, he added: "I'm thinking about a return to the pitch, yes. Doctors have given me six months to fully recover, and I'm focused on that."

A tribute to the players, coaches, journalists, crewmembers and other guests who lost their lives in the tragedy followed before the game itself got underway.

Chapecoense, who have mostly loaned players in order to be able to compete during the 2017 season, fell behind in the 11th minute to Raphael Veiga's goal.
They showed superb spirit to roar back, however, and Douglas Grolli, a loanee from Cruzeiro, scored a goal he will never forget to level the score just three minutes later.

It looked as if Chape may secure a historic victory when Amaral, playing against his parent club, gave them the lead shortly after half-time.

But Palmeiras, the reigning Brazilian champions, struck back with 12 minutes to go through Vitinho and the match ended in a 2-2 draw."A fair score for the Friendship Game," Chapecoense posted on Twitter after the match. "Thank you for the affection of all those who supported Chape! Thank you very much!"

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Welcome back Chapecoense!

​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Pogba risks becoming like Memphis at Manchester United, says Gullit

Paul Pogba risks becoming a Manchester United flop like Memphis Depay if he does not concentrate on his football, according to Ruud Gullit.Depay has recently departed Old Trafford for Ligue 1 side Lyon after failing to make an impact since his high-profile transfer from PSV in 2015.

Pogba, signed for a world record fee from Juventus, is yet to consistently replicate his best form at Old Trafford and has been frequently criticised for his displays this season.The midfielder’s performances have been overshadowed by his own official Twitter emoji and eye-catching haircuts this week and Gullit says he has to prove his worth on the pitch.


“Paul Pogba is going through the same thing at United as Memphis Depay,” he said according to the Mirror.“He may be the most expensive player in the world, but that does not count if he is spending more time on his dress style, the colours in his hair and his social media.

“Paul should ask Memphis – and he will realise that being successful and reaching top level in England is only possible if you perform every week and if you dedicate everything to your career.

“Memphis was heavily criticised because he found it more important to pimp his image than improve his football. He should have known that stuff on the pitch goes before anything.”

Gullit also feels that the Old Trafford faithful could turn on Pogba if he fails to justify his huge price tag on the pitch and that his priority must always be to his club.

“Pogba will also get the wrath of the fans. People will start to moan and have a go at him,” he added.“Even for the biggest football stars in the world there is a big rule: Playing well for your club comes first, don’t let all the other stuff catch the limelight. That is my advice.”

Pogba was again unable to inspire United to victory on Saturday as they slumped to a 1-1 draw against Stoke on Saturday, thanks to a 94th minute Wayne Rooney equaliser.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Guardiola insists: I'm never going to give up on Premier League title!

Pep Guardiola says he will "never" give up on fighting for the Premier League title, despite Manchester City's hopes taking another blow in Saturday's thrilling 2-2 draw with Tottenham.

Leroy Sane and Kevin De Bruyne benefited from Hugo Lloris errors to put City in command, but Dele Alli and Son Heung-min pegged them back and snatched a point in a game that Guardiola's side had dominated.

City remain fifth after the draw, nine points adrift of leaders Chelsea - who host Hull City on Sunday - having picked up just one win in their last four league games.

Guardiola lamented the gap to the Blues after last week's 4-0 shellacking at Everton, but he says reports that he was looking beyond the end of the season are inaccurate.Asked if he had given up on the title, Guardiola told a news conference: "I didn't say that.

"My answer was they [the media] said we have been ruled out of fighting for the trophy."But I'm never going to give up... ever. It's going to be difficult, of course, but I'm not worried about that now."

Guardiola was glowing in praise for his side's dominant performance, and the debut of Gabriel Jesus was another positive for City to hold on to.The Brazil striker emerged from the bench in the 82nd minute and almost provided Sane with a tap-in before seeing a goal of his own chalked off for offside.

Guardiola warned that Jesus will not be the answer to City's attacking struggles and also moved attention to the performance of Sane, who scored just his second goal for the club.

"Over the season we have to score goals and we have to create the chances to score goals. We tried to create and when we created, we didn't score and when that happens, it's impossible to win the game."The crowd is always excited for the new players.

"I'm so happy for the performance of Leroy. He arrived as a young player, 19 or 20 years old, and everybody expects [performances]."It's not easy to come here and to play. He arrived injured, but for the last 10 days in the training sessions that guy looks different.

"I encourage him to keep going because he has special qualities for us and he made a good performance."To be able to look at him a little bit more, we will be more dangerous, I'm so happy for him."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Zidane urges Madrid fans to stick with Ronaldo and Benzema

Zinedine Zidane has encouraged Real Madrid fans to have patience and support Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema after their indifferent showings in a 2-1 La Liga win over Malaga.

After delivering an uncharacteristically poor performance against Celta Vigo in midweek, Ronaldo missed a number of chances on Saturday as Benzema was also jeered by his own supporters.

While recognising his forwards' disappointing form, Zidane urged the Madrid fans to stand by the duo, while insisting the club's injury crisis is of greater concern at this stage."We are finding it hard to score and opponents are doing us damage," the Madrid coach said. "We need to be relaxed and rest, we are generally happy with the scoreline.

"We must also have patience with the forwards. Karim and Cristiano have scored goals, maybe not in the last games, but I am not concerned."We had chances to score more, but we got two and it is a fair result. We must continue working as we have been. [It] is a good result in general.

"When you have difficulties, you need [the supporters] to be calm and support the team. I can only ask for everyone to remain calm."The fans will always demand more. We know that, but sometimes the players and the coaches need more affection from their fans. Our fans are very demanding.

"I understand the sentiments of the people. It is an audience that always want more from their team, but, sometimes, over the season, with many games, many injuries, the players need some affection, and the coach too.

"It is not the form of the attackers which worries me at the moment, it is more the injuries."With Luka Modric and Marcelo the club's latest injury victims, Madrid ended the game with Lucas Vasquez at right-back - a source of frustration for Zidane."Lucas did perfect, but I do not like playing him there," he added. "He is not a full-back. As always, he did phenomenal - even out of position."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2017.01.22

Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2017.01.22

Southampton Vs Leicester

Arsenal Vs Burnley

Chelsea Vs Hull City

​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

LA Liga Fixtures 2017.01.22

LA Liga Fixtures 2017.01.22

Osauna Vs Sevilla

Athletic Bilbao Vs Atletico Madrid

Real Betis Vs Sporting Gijon

Real Sociedad Vs Celta Vigo

Eibar Vs Barcelona​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Serie A Fixtures 2017.01.22

Serie A Fixtures 2017.01.22

Juventus Vs Lazio

Bologna Vs Torino

Empoli Vs Udinese

Genoa Vs Crotone

Palermo Vs Inter

Pescara Vs Sassuolo

Atalanta Vs Sampdoria

Roma Vs Cagliari​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Bundesliga Fixtures 2017.01.22

Bundesliga Fixtures 2017.01.22

Leverkusen Vs Hertha

Mainz Vs Cologne​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Juventus 2-0 Lazio: Higuain & Dybala keep champions ahead of the pack

Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain struck as Juventus got their Serie A title bid back on track with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Lazio in Turin.

Leaders Juve increased their advantage over Roma – who face Cagliari later on Sunday – to four points as they made an impressive response to their loss away to Fiorentina last time out.Dybala put Massimiliano Allegri's men in front within five minutes, his third goal in four games across all competitions.

Higuain quickly doubled the advantage, striking for the 12th time in his Serie A career against Lazio, his favourite top-flight opponents.

And the hosts controlled proceedings from then on, Dybala missing second-half chances to add to the lead with Simone Inzaghi's men never threatening a comeback.Juve's record home league winning streak now stands at an astonishing 27 matches after victory in Allegri's 300th Serie A match as a head coach.

Fourth-placed Lazio had won five of their last six games coming into the match, but are used to struggling against Juve, who they have not beaten in 25 league attempts.

Juve switched to a new 4-2-3-1 formation for the match and made a magnificent start. Stephan Lichtsteiner and Mario Mandzukic – in as two of Juve's four changes – combined, before the Croatia striker's headed pass set up Dybala to lash in a left-footed strike from just outside the area.

It was two for the champions after 16 minutes, Juan Cuadrado curling in a cross from the right and the onrushing Higuain stabbing in a low finish for his 14th league goal of the season.

Lazio threatened for the first time when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic struck narrowly wide from 25 yards, but Higuain had the ball in the net again just before the half-hour mark at the other end, only to rage at the assistant for flagging him offside as he headed in Dybala's free-kick.

Gianluigi Buffon was called into action for the first time with simple saves from Stefan Radu and Felipe Anderson early in the second half, while Dybala squandered a good chance to put the match beyond doubt for Juve, firing wide after Cuadrado created the opportunity.

Dybala was visibly frustrated after wasting an even better chance in Juve's next attack of note, failing to hit the target after Higuain's throughball had left him one-on-one with Federico Marchetti.

Lazio, meanwhile, were unable to test Buffon at all in the closing stages, with Juve substitute Marko Pjaca wasting two good late chances at the other end as his side saw out a low-key second half with surprising ease.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Southampton 3-0 Leicester: Saints end losing streak but suffer potential Van Dijk blow

Southampton ended a four-game losing streak in the Premier League by comfortably beating Leicester City 3-0 at St Mary's Stadium, but the loss of captain Virgil van Dijk to injury left a sour taste.

A first top-flight win since a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth on December 18 provides Saints with a timely confidence boost ahead of Wednesday's EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool, but they may be without Van Dijk for their trip to Anfield.

The Dutchman hobbled off in the 56th minute after attempting to play through a knock sustained in the second period, potentially leaving Claude Puel short of options at centre-back in midweek with Jose Fonte having completed his £8million switch to West Ham on Friday.

James Ward-Prowse impressed as England manager Gareth Southgate watched on from the stands, opening the scoring with a sweet cross-goal strike from the right-hand side of the box in the 26th minute - his first goal in any competition since September.

Ward-Prowse then supplied the set-piece that led to Jay Rodriguez tucking home 13 minutes later, and Dusan Tadic wrapped up the points from the penalty spot after Wes Morgan felled substitute Shane Long.Leicester have now conceded one more goal than they did in the entire of last season's title-winning campaign.

The Foxes also remain winless away from home in the top flight and are just five points clear of the drop zone following Swansea City's win at Liverpool on Saturday, while Saints are one point adrift of the top half.

Leicester reverted to a back four after deploying a three-man defence in a 3-0 loss to Chelsea last time out, but Saints width caused them problems with Kasper Schmeichel getting down to his left to stop Nathan Redmond converting from Tadic's deflected cross.

Schmeichel was beaten in the 26th minute, though. Ward-Prowse was left in space just inside the box and swept a fine right-footed finish from Cedric's cut-back inside the far post.

Oriol Romeu passed up a great chance to double Southampton's lead when he failed to connect with a corner while unmarked in the six-yard box, but it was 2-0 before half-time.

Under pressure from Maya Yoshida, Robert Huth could only nod Ward-Prowse's free-kick down to Rodriguez, who made no mistake with a clinical finish.Van Dijk attempted to play on after sustaining an injury early in the second half but limped off and was replaced by Jack Stephens.

An errant pass from Christian Fuchs put Pierre-Emil Hojbjerg one-on-one with Schmeichel, only for the former Bayern Munich midfielder to miss the target again.

Morgan contrived to spoon over from inside the six-yard box after Huth cushioned Marc Albrighton's corner down for him, and the centre-back put through his own net in the 76th minute.

The Jamaica international headed Tadic's in-swinging free-kick past Schmeichel but was let off the hook by an extremely harsh, and potentially incorrect, offside call against Maya Yoshida.

Long replaced Rodriguez in the 80th minute and his pace proved too much for Morgan, who pushed him to ground inside the box to allow Tadic to round off the win by rifling home an emphatic penalty.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Palermo 0-1 Inter: 10-man Inter extend winning run

Inter extended their Serie A winning streak to six games with a 1-0 victory over Palermo courtesy of Joao Mario's second-half goal.

Stefano Pioli's side arrived in Sicily on the back of a draining midweek extra-time victory over Bologna in the Coppa Italia, and it took the Nerazzurri over an hour to break down their struggling hosts.

After heavy pressure on the Palermo goal failed to pay off, Pioli sent on Joao Mario for Ever Banega and it took the Portuguese midfielder just 10 minutes to make his mark when he volleyed home Antonio Candreva's cross to put Inter ahead.

Palermo - who reduced to 10 men in stoppage time with Alessandro Gazzi's red card - continued to battle in the hope of salvaging a point, but in the end coach Eugenio Corini was left with a third consecutive defeat and mounting pressure on his position at the club.

Inter had Cristian Ansaldi and Pioli sent off in the closing stages, but the hope of achieving a finish in Serie A's top four is growing with each result with the head coach now enjoying a league record of seven wins, one draw and just one defeat.

Ilija Nestorovski fired just wide with Samir Handanovic at full stretch in the opening exchanges and Palermo looked bright while their visitors were perhaps fatigued after their cup exploits.

Inter eventually came to life and began to feed Mauro Icardi, who controlled a long Marcelo Brozovic pass wonderfully on his chest only to see his shot easily saved by Josip Posavec.

In the pouring rain in Sicily, Palermo battled hard to stay on terms with their in-form visitors and Robin Quaison went through on goal but hit the side netting with his shot, while at the other end Posavec twice saved well from Candreva's close range attempts.

Inter ramped up the pressure and Brozovic's dipping 25-yard drive would have found the net had it not been for Posavec's acrobatic save, but Pioli's men failed to make a breakthrough before half-time.

Eugenio Corini's side continued to frustrate Inter in the second half, withstanding a series of corners and a Roberto Gagliardini shot that flew narrowly over the crossbar, but there was a sense that Palermo's resistance would not last.Pioli sent on Joao Mario for Banega and, after Posavec had made a good reaction save from Icardi, the Inter substitute broke the deadlock with a deft close range volley from Candreva's cross.

Ansaldi was sent off for his second bookable offence after he slid in recklessly on Nestorovski, and Pioli was also dismissed for his remonstrations in the aftermath.
And there was more late drama to follow when Quaison had a goal disallowed due to a preceding free-kick being taken too quickly.

Palermo's refusal to give up in the dying minutes made for a nervous ending to the game but their hopes ended with Gazzi's dismissal for a second bookable offence, Inter holding on for a victory and their claim to the title of Serie A's form team.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Pogba hails 'brother' Griezmann as Manchester United speculation continues

Paul Pogba has described Antoine Griezmann as a "brother" as speculation continues to link the Atletico Madrid star with Manchester United.


A report in England in the past week claimed that talks between United and Griezmann had reached an advanced stage, with Jose Mourinho said to be willing to match the forward's €100 million release clause.Atletico president Enrique Cerezo responded by saying that he expects Griezmann - who joined from Real Sociedad in 2014 - to stay with the club for years to come.

But Pogba has likely encouraged further talk of the 25-year-old joining United by saying that their relationship off the field encourages them to play well together.
"I always have good times when I'm with Grizou," he told Telefoot. "He's my brother, we're always together.

"When you're feeling good away from the pitch it's easier for you on the pitch, and that's what's happening with the France team."

Pogba has struggled to find consistent form for United since his world-record transfer from Juventus and failed to make a significant impact in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Stoke City.

But the 23-year-old is confident that the team are showing signs of progress under Mourinho and he has not given up hope of claiming the Premier League title this year."It took a little time to adapt with the team," Pogba said. "We feel much better, the results are here and we're getting closer and closer to the top."

Asked for his objectives for the year, he added: "Winning the Premier League, the most trophies possible and to keep going well in the France team. Next year, the World Cup!"