Manchester City moved five points clear at the top of Group C in the Champions League with a 5-1 victory on Tuesday.

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Raheem Sterling might not be keen on comparisons to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo but he will have to get used to it if he continues to perform like this in the Champions League.

Manchester City were in the midst of another sloppy European performance when the England forward took control.

Surprisingly trailing to Italian rookies Atalanta, City scored five goals in 35 minutes and Sterling’s fingerprints were all over each of them.

It was exactly the sort of impact that Messi and Ronaldo make when the going gets tough – and it is now the sort of response you expect from Sterling.

Since his Champions League debut for City in September 2015, he has had a hand in 29 goals in the Champions League (18 goals, 11 assists) – more than any other English player in that time.

Within six minutes of falling behind to Ruslan Malinovskyi’s penalty, Sterling delivered a perfect cross that Sergio Aguero finished from eight yards out.

And four minutes later he darted into the box and was caught by a clumsy challenge from Andrea Masiello – Aguero converting the penalty.

Sterling then cut loose himself in the second half.

He rounded off a brilliant team goal to virtually kill off the game midway through the second period, before clinically finishing two more in the next 10 minutes to claim a hat-trick.

There was even time to beat the offside trap and drag a shot inches wide before the final whistle.

That miss was more the talking point for team-mates Riyad Mahrez and Benjamin Mendy when the trio walked off smiling at the final whistle.

City are now five points clear at the top of the Group C with a perfect record of three victories.

Another win away at San Siro in two weeks’ time would ensure a place in the knockout stages for a seventh consecutive year.

The only downside on the night was that youngster Phil Foden won’t be making the trip to Milan after picking up a red card in the dying minutes of the victory.

It was a disappointing end to the 19-year-old’s first start in either the Champions League or Premier League this season after what was otherwise an encouraging outing.

Foden took every opportunity to impress manager Pep Guardiola – claiming an assist for Sterling’s opener.

He showed his composure when, with the opportunity to shoot from just eight yards out, he calmly rolled the ball across for Sterling to smash into the roof of the net.

Foden was lively all night, linking up instinctively and dangerously with Kevin De Bruyne and Aguero.

The Argentine could have had his own hat-trick had he finished another cleverly crafted opportunity by Foden, when he escaped a challenge on the by-line and pulled the ball back, only to see Aguero’s shot sail over the bar.

But Foden blotted his evening when he picked up two unnecessary, but deserved, bookings – an incident that was not expensive on the night and one he will learn from.

Guardiola might not believe that City are ready to win the Champions League, but Sterling and Foden – dismissal aside – are out to prove him wrong.

Source – Goal.com

The French star stole the show on Tuesday night as a substitute and broke an impressive record in the process.

Paris Saint-Germain attacker Kylian Mbappe has broken Lionel Messi’s record to become the youngest player to score 15 Champions League goals.

Only just back from injury, the 20-year-old was brought on in the second half of PSG’s 5-0 away win against Club Brugge and proved instrumental in securing the comfortable victory as he bagged an impressive hat-trick.

Brought on in the 52nd minute, Mbappe headed home his first just nine minutes later and added an assist not long after as he set up Mauro Icardi.

In the 80th minute, the Frenchman fired home his second after beating two defenders and completed his hat-trick four minutes later having been set up once again by Angel Di Maria.

Another magical performance from Mbappe in Europe’s top competition means he’s now scored 15 Champions League goals at the age of 20 years and 306 days.

That feat has seen him become the youngest player to bring up the milestone, smashing the record previously held by Messi, who achieved the same aged 21 years and 288 days.

Messi himself had beaten Real Madrid legend Raul’s mark of 22 years and 163 days initially, making Mbappe’s new record all the more impressive.

The PSG star’s hat-trick also made him the first Champions League substitute to score three times since Joseba Llorente did the same for Villarreal in October 2008 against Aalborg.

Despite struggling with hamstring and thigh issues so far this season, Mbappe has still managed to make his mark in Ligue 1 with two goals and three assists to his name across just five appearances.

Only returning to action for PSG on Saturday against Nice, the 20-year-old starred in a seven-minute cameo, scoring after just five minutes before claiming an assist in injury-time as Thomas Tuchel’s side claimed a 4-1 win.

Mbappe’s strong form this season comes on the back of a very strong 2018-19 campaign where he struck 39 times across all competitions and chipped in with a further 17 assists.

The Frenchman’s 33 Ligue 1 strikes last season in fact saw him miss out on the Golden Shoe by only three goals as Messi claimed the award for a sixth time.

PSG’s comfortable win in Belgium on Tuesday means they’ve now won four straight Champions League games away from home for the first time in their history.

Tuchel’s side currently sit five points clear at the top of Group A after three games with Real Madrid the only other side to have won a match in their group.

Source – Goal.com

Jose Mourinho joined his successor at Old Trafford in rubbishing Jurgen Klopp’s complaints after the league leaders lost their 100% record on Sunday.

Photo by Getty Images

The Liverpool manager criticised United’s tactics and said their opening goal should have been ruled out for a foul, receiving a response not only from his United counterpart Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but also the man who was in charge of the club until he was sacked in December last year.

Klopp had made some pointed comments about the way Solskjaer set United up with a 5-3-2 formation and the way they focused on frustrating his side, who had won all eight of their previous matches in the Premier League.

“Man United had momentum in the first half because they were purely there to defend us,” said Klopp, who has yet to win at Old Trafford with Liverpool.

“Since I’m in England Man United always played like this,” he continued.

“I’m not the person who should be frustrated by United’s style. In the last years they just defend, that’s how it is, it’s no criticism, it’s just a fact,” he added.

“When you think United v Liverpool you think both teams attacking, but it’s not,” he said.

Solskjaer rejected the suggestion his team were defensive saying they had been set up to pressure and attack and he received some support from his predecessor, who was more than once accused of ‘parking the bus’ at Anfield.

Mourinho said Klopp had clearly not enjoyed the way United made the game difficult for Liverpool.

“He didn’t like the menu. He likes meat and he got fish. so he was not happy,” said Mourinho, who noted that Solskjaer’s tactics had worked.

“They are of course much stronger against opponents who give them a chance of transitions and counter-attacks. United didn’t do that. And he didn’t like the menu.”

“They were organised, they had a plan. You can agree or disagree, but they had a game plan, they stuck to it.

“If I was Ole I would be proud, and a little bit frustrated, because I think the boys, they gave everything,” said Mourinho who had heard his name sung by United fans in the Stretford end.

Klopp was also upset that referee Martin Atkinson had not seen what he considered a foul by Victor Lindelof on Divock Origi at the start of the move that led to United’s goal.

The German was annoyed that VAR had not overturned the goal but Solskjaer, unsurprisingly perhaps, felt the referee was correct in his verdict. “Foul? No chance, we’re not playing basketball. He touched him but it’s not a clear and obvious error,” he said. (Reporting by Simon Evans; editing by Clare Lovell)

Source – Eurosport.com

Virgil van Dijk is one of seven Liverpool players named on the 30-man shortlist for the 2019 Ballon d’Or.

Van Dijk helped Liverpool win the Champions League last season

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Georginio Wijnaldum and Alisson have also been chosen from the Reds.

Five Manchester City players – Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero – are on the list.

Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-min are also included.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have won the award 10 times between them, again feature among the contenders.

Some of the biggest omissions from the list include Paris St-Germain and Brazil forward Neymar, Manchester United and France midfielder Paul Pogba and Tottenham and England striker Harry Kane.

Champions League winners Liverpool have the most players on the list from one club with Premier League champions Manchester City the next highest number with five.

Barcelona have four players; as well as Messi, Frenkie de Jong, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Antoine Griezmann feature in the list.

Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is also included, as is Real Madrid’s former Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard.

When do we find out who has won?

The Ballon d’Or winner will be named in Paris on 2 December.

Luka Modric won in 2018 to end the seven-year dominance of the award by Messi and Ronaldo.

Van Dijk is among the favourites to win this year’s award after being named Uefa Player of the Year in August.

What are the game’s three main player awards?

A version of the Ballon d’Or has been awarded by France Football magazine since 1956, but was merged with Fifa’s World Footballer of the Year award from 2010 to 2015.

However, Fifa ended its association with the Ballon d’Or the following year to set up its own – the Best Fifa Player award.

In September, Messi won that award in the fourth edition of the Best Fifa Football Awards.

Meanwhile, Uefa’s Player of the Year award has been going since 1998 and was previously called Uefa Club Footballer of the Year (1998-2010) and Uefa Best Player in Europe (2011-16).

Best keeper award

Four Premier League-based keepers are in the running for the Yashin Award – named after Russia legend Lev Yashin – the only goalkeeper to have won the Ballon d’Or itself.

They are Liverpool’s Alisson, Ederson of Manchester City, Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga and Tottenham’s Lloris.

Also nominated are Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer, Inter Milan’s Samir Handanovic, Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak, Ajax’s Andre Onana, Juventus’ Wojciech Szczesny and Ter Stegen of Barcelona.

Who are the young player candidates?

The Kopa Trophy is presented to the best performing player under the age of 21 and is selected by former Ballon d’Or winners. Like the main Ballon d’Or prize, it is also organised by France Football.

It is open to those who play outside Europe and was first awarded in 2018, with Paris St-Germain and France World Cup-winning forward Kylian Mbappe the clear winner.

This year’s nominees include Borussia Dortmund and England winger Jadon Sancho, 19, Everton and Italy forward Moise Kean, 19, and Arsenal’s French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi, 20.

Others in the running are Juventus’ Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt, 20, Real Madrid’s Brazil forward Vinicius Junior, 19, Valladolid and Ukraine keeper Andriy Lunin, 20, Bayer Leverkusen and Germany midfielder Kai Havertz, 20, Atletico Madrid and Portugal forward Joao Felix, 19, Villarreal and Nigeria winger Samuel Chukwueze, 20, and Valencia and South Korea forward Lee Kang-in, 18.

List of nominees for the main award:

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)

Son Heung-min (Tottenham)

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

Alisson (Liverpool)

Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus)

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona)

Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)

Dusan Tadic (Ajax)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)

Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain)

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Donny van de Beek (Ajax)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)

Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)

Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)

Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)

Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)

Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)

Mohammed Salah (Liverpool)

Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)

Marquinhos (Paris St-Germain)

Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)

Source – BBC News

Serbia have been ordered to play their Euro 2020 home qualifier against Luxembourg behind closed doors because of the “racist behaviour” of their supporters.

Serbia will host Luxembourg at the Rajko Mitic Stadium

Uefa imposed the punishment following Serbia’s 4-2 defeat to Portugal in Belgrade on 7 September.

Serbia, who will host Luxembourg on 14 November, were ordered to play two matches behind closed doors.

However, the second game is suspended for one year.

In addition, Serbia’s Football Association has been fined £28,550 for other charges relating to the Portugal game including fans on the pitch and the setting off of fireworks inside the ground.

Serbia are third in Group B with 10 points from six games, one point behind second-placed Portugal.

Source – BBC News

The former Reds defender says he should have taken a leadership role and prevented the show of support.

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Jamie Carragher has admitted Liverpool made a “massive mistake” by supporting Luis Suarez in wearing t-shirts depicting the former Reds forward after he was accused of racism against Manchester United‘s Patrice Evra.

Suarez was charged with racially abusing Evra following an October 2011 clash between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield.

The club stood behind the forward immediately after, saying that they would “remain fully supportive” of the striker following the accusations.

Before Liverpool match against Wigan shortly after, the Reds, including manager Kenny Dalglish, donned shirts in supporting the striker, drawing plenty of criticism in the process.

Suarez was eventually handed an eight-match ban and a £40,000 fine for racially abusing Evra, and the forward avoided shaking the defender’s hand prior to the next meeting between Liverpool and Man Utd.

Carragher admits that he’s now embarrassed by the incident, and apologised to Evra while adding that he should have taken a leadership role and told his team-mates not to wear the shirts.

“There’s no doubt we made a massive mistake that was obvious,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.

“We travelled on the day of the game, had our lunch and had a team meeting and I remember either Kenny or Steve Clarke said, ‘Are you still wearing the shirts?’ and that was that first I heard of it.

“And I’m not saying I wasn’t part of it because as the club we got it wrong and I was vice-captain.

“So I’m not sure who was actually behind it, maybe it was one of the close players, I don’t think it was anything to do with Kenny. It was the players who were close to Suarez in the dressing room and they wanted to support their mate.

“What I would say maybe I look at myself and say I didn’t have the courage as an individual to say I wasn’t wearing it. I don’t think everyone within LFC thought we were doing what was right.

“As with your own family, as a football club, your first reaction no matter what someone does is to protect even when you know they have done something wrong. And that is wrong.

“I’m not in any way condoning what we did with Suarez, it’s wrong. But it doesn’t matter what instance, it is that is the first reaction, and apologies we got it massively wrong.”

Suarez ended up leaving Liverpool in 2014 to join Barcelona while Evra concluded his career with stops at Juventus, Marseille and West Ham after departing Man Utd in 2014 as well.

Source – Goal.com

The LA Galaxy rode a pair of second-half goals to a 2-1 win over Minnesota United to advance to the MLS Cup Western Conference semifinals on Sunday night.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, right, battles for the ball in the LA Galaxy’s 2-1 win over Minnesota United. USA Today Images

The victory for the No. 5-seed Galaxy sets up a road matchup with cross-town rival LAFC on Thursday, with the winner moving one win away from a spot in MLS Cup.

Sebastian Lletget and Jonathan dos Santos scored four minutes apart midway through the second half to spoil United’s postseason debut.

Jan Gregus gave the Loons life with his goal in the 87th minute, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the Galaxy hung on to advance to face top seed LAFC on Thursday in the Western Conference semifinals and set up another El Trafico derby between the Southern California rivals.

“I think everybody is excited for this game,” Ibrahimovic said. “I think everybody wanted this game.

The Galaxy are 2-0-3 against LAFC, which joined MLS in 2018 and set the league record this year with 72 points by going 21-4-9 in the regular season.

“It’ll be a special day,” Lletget said.

In front of a frenzied crowd that filled up Allianz Field, the new-in-2019 stadium for the third-year MLS franchise, Minnesota had the fans roaring and groaning throughout the first half while largely owning the attack. Robin Lod had three prime chances, including a one-timer from the middle he sent sailing over the net.

All those missed scoring opportunities came back to haunt the Loons, when Ibrahimovic’s close-range shot was blocked by Michael Boxall, and Lletget knocked in the rebound in the 71st minute. Then in the 75th minute, Dos Santos let one fly for the lower right corner that was out of a diving goalkeeper Vito Mannone‘s reach. The 6-foot-5 Ibrahimovic leaped to grab the crossbar and briefly swung back and forth to celebrate what turned out to be the winning goal.

The fourth-seeded Loons were the only home team to lose in the first round. The five-time MLS champion Galaxy, returning to the playoffs after a two-year absence, were a tough draw despite their up-and-down regular season.

“This game was the most difficult game we played this season,” Ibrahimovic said. “They were good. They were confident. You could see that in their game.”

The Loons started without under-the-weather leading scorer Darwin Quintero, one of their three designated players whose costs can exceed the salary cap. The 32-year-old midfielder subbed in early in the second half for a spark, but the home team couldn’t quite muster enough.

“We were the better team for large periods of the game,” Minnesota coach Adrian Heath said. “We had the best chances all evening, and I can’t remember Vito having to do anything until, maybe, the goal.”

Source – BBC News

Real Madrid are monitoring Borussia Dortmund and England winger Jadon Sancho, 19, as well as Norway’s 19-year-old forward Erling Braut Haaland, who plays for Red Bull Salzburg. (El Desmarque, via Mail)

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is interested in signing RB Leipzig’s 23-year-old German striker Timo Werner, who has previously been linked with Liverpool. (Express)

Manchester United are set to offer a new contract to English midfielder Angel Gomes, 19, amid interest from Barcelona. (Sun)

Newcastle United scouts are monitoring 20-year-old Lille and Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen. (Chronicle) 

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says he wants 33-year-old France striker Olivier Giroud, who is unhappy with his lack of first-team football, to stay at Stamford Bridge. (Telegraph)

Chelsea have added Atalanta and Ukraine midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi, 26, to their list of possible transfer targets for next summer. (Express) 

Paris St-Germain defender Thomas Meunier, 28, says he could have moved to Everton in the summer but the Belgium international was put off by the lack of European football on offer at Goodison Park. (Het Laatste Nieuws, via Mirror)

Arsenal manager Unai Emery is not worried about England Under-21 striker Eddie Nketiah’s lack of action on loan at Leeds United. The 20-year-old has still not started a Championship game for the club. (Mirror)

Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman would like to manage Barcelona one day and has a clause in his contract allowing clubs to hire him after the 2020 European Championships, according to Dutch Football Federation sporting director Nico-Jan Hoogma. (Fox Sports, via Marca)

Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette, 28, is aiming to make his return from an ankle injury in the Premier League game at Sheffield United on Monday. (Mail)

Millwall are in advanced talks with Gary Rowett which could see the former Birmingham City, Derby County and Stoke City boss become their new manager. (Telegraph)

Source – BBC News

The Gunners take on the Blades on Monday night – with memories still fresh of a remarkable FA Cup tie between the two teams 20 years ago.

For 76 minutes it was just a classic FA Cup tie.

Sheffield United, the plucky underdogs, were going toe to toe with holders Arsenal at Highbury and were threatening a fifth-round upset after Marcelo’s header had cancelled out Patrick Vieira’s opener to make it 1-1.

Roared on by their travelling support who were packed into the Clock End, the visitors were looking well set to at least take Arsene Wenger’s side back to Bramall Lane for a replay.

But then, with just under quarter-of-an-hour remaining, an incident would occur which ensured the game, played on February 13, 1999, would go down in English football folklore and the result would be expunged from history.

United keeper Alan Kelly had kicked the ball out of play so that striker Lee Morris – who had been hurt by Gilles Grimandi – could receive some treatment from the physio. At that point, all seemed normal.

“There was no doubt about it, we thought we were going to get that ball back,” David Holdsworth, Sheffield United’s captain that day, told Goal.

“It was made clear to us that they were going to give it back to Alan, but then things transpired differently.”

The ball was in the hands of Ray Parlour and, when the referee signalled for the game to restart, the midfielder did throw it back in the direction of the visitors’ Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper.

The only problem was Nwankwo Kanu – just 10 minutes into his Arsenal debut – wasn’t quite on the same wavelength as his new team-mate.

With United’s defenders standing in disbelief, Kanu collected the loose ball and squared it for Marc Overmars to slot it into an empty net.

“I just remember seeing the throw going down the line and then suddenly Kanu was latching onto it and rolling it across for Marc,” said Nigel Winterburn, who was making his 529th appearance for Arsenal that day.

“It was just a complete misunderstanding of the etiquette and what usually happened in the English game because it was clear what Ray was trying to do.

“There was a lot of confusion and angry players around. Sheffield United were furious and that was understandable because everyone knew an injustice had taken place.

“I spoke to a couple of their players and could only apologise. I mean, what can you do after a moment like that? It was pandemonium, I don’t think any of us really knew what to do.”

Enraged by what had just happened, most of the United players raced straight to surround referee Peter Jones demanding the goal be ruled out.

But a few, including Holdsworth, made a beeline for Kanu – who was celebrating with Overmars in front of the North Bank.

“You could say our reaction was a little bit intense,” said Holdsworth, who is now director of football at Carlisle United.

“I was so angry because we had spoken to their players and we all thought they were sending the ball back. So for that to happen and for them to go on and score, it was very hard for us to keep our heads.

“It was a unique situation. At the time I was furious with Kanu. He didn’t really get a chance to explain himself to be honest because we were a bit aggressive towards him. But he has apologised since, we’ve shook hands and he’s a good guy.”

With emotions running high following the gaol, it looked for a time that the Sheffield United players were going to leave the pitch in protest.

Manager Steve Bruce was incandescent on the touchline and was calling for his team to return to the changing room, while chants of ’shame on Arsenal’ rang out from the visiting fans.

But after a delay of around eight minutes, the match restarted – with Marcelo furiously kicking the ball deep into Arsenal’s half to signal his obvious frustration.

“Steve was a very young manager at the time and didn’t really know how to act,” recalled Holdsworth. “He wanted us to come off, but we didn’t really want to do that so me and Graham Stuart tried to rally the boys.

“It was all very strange when the game did restart, it was a weird atmosphere and it obviously finished 2-1. But I still think it would have been wrong for us to come off and to be fair to Arsenal and to Arsene Wenger, they showed their class straight away.”

Within minutes of the full-time whistle, it started to become clear that the story had not ended, with Wenger immediately offering to replay the game. “We don’t want to cheat,” declared the Frenchman in his post-match interview.

It was an offer that went down well in both changing rooms.

“It became apparent quite quickly that we had made the offer,” said Winterburn. “I was pleased because I didn’t want to win a game like that.”

“Arsene did it straight away,” added Holdsworth. “It was immediate. He was absolute class.”

Sheffield United accepted the offer and the Football Association granted the rematch.

It was played 10 days later at Highbury with Arsenal again winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Overmars and Dennis Bergkamp.

So, ultimately, there was no upset, the holders went through and the underdogs went home. But, thanks to Wenger’s offer to replay the game, football was seen as the real winner

“What Arsene did afterwards was quite amazing,” said Holdsworth.” And, to be fair to Marc Overmars, he came into the players’ lounge after the game, I think he knew my son was mascot that day and he gave him his shirt and signed it.

“We’ve still got it nicely presented in one of our rooms in the house. Whenever I look at it now, it makes me smile. I’m not someone who has a lot of memorabilia, I tend to give a lot away but that shirt always makes me reflect on that incredible day.”

Source – Goal.com