Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo took his international tally to 93 goals when he scored four times to give the European champions a 5-1 win away to Lithuania in their Euro 2020 qualifier on Tuesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo had a big night against Lithuania, scoring four goals in the win. AP

Playing in his 161st international, the 34-year-old notched his eighth hat-trick for his country and the 54th of his remarkable career to help Portugal through what had threatened to turn into a frustrating evening.

Unheralded midfielder William Carvalho completed the rout in stoppage time as Portugal stayed second in Group B with eight points, five behind leaders Ukraine with one game in hand. Serbia are a further point behind in third after a 3-1 win in Luxemburg.

“I scored one goal against Serbia and four today and what I want most is to continue like this,” said Ronaldo, who converted an early penalty and then added three second-half goals.

Portugal coach Fernando Santos said: “Ronaldo is the best player in the world, this is clear and unmistakable proof.”

Ronaldo added: “I am happy and enjoying this moment, not just because I scored the goals, but because of the level that we have achieved in these last years. It suits me to continue helping the national team,” Ronaldo said.

Lithuania, bottom with one point, missed an early chance when Vykintas Slivka fired over from close range and they quickly paid the price when Markus Palionis handled a Joao Felix cross and Ronaldo converted the penalty in the fifth minute.

Lithuania goalkeeper Ernestas Setkus made an excellent save to prevent Edvinas Girdvainis turning the ball into his own net but Vytautas Andriuskevicius then grabbed a surprise equaliser, rising above his marker to head in from a corner in the 28th minute.

Ronaldo set up good chances for Felix and Bernardo Silva, which were wasted, after the break before taking matters into his own hands.

Just as Portugal were beginning to show signs of frustration, Ronaldo produced a low shot which bobbled twice in front of Setkus in the 62nd minute. The Lithuania goalkeeper got his hand to it, but it hit his head and bounced into the net.

Three minutes later, Ronaldo was left free in the area to sweep home Bernardo Silva’s cross and Silva also provided the pass for Ronaldo to sidefoot his fourth 11 minutes later.

Carvalho’s goal, his fourth in 60 games, was a fitting reward for a player who keeps the Portugal midfield ticking over without getting much attention.

“I’m convinced that these players are capable of finishing top of this group,” said Santos.

Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice to keep Serbia’s hopes alive with a win in Luxemburg. He headed Serbia in front after 36 minutes and Nemanja Radonjic curled in the second 10 minutes after the restart.

Substitute David Turpel pulled one back and Serbia were on the ropes until Sergej Milinkovic-Savic produced a delightful reverse pass for Mitrovic to fire in the third.

Source – ESPN

Brazilian police have brought charges against the model who accused the PSG star of sexual assault earlier in the summer.

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Sao Paulo​ police have moved to indict Najila Trindade​ and her partner Estivens Alves over allegations of rape levelled at Brazilian football star Neymar back in May.

Neymar has vehemently denied claims he raped the alleged victim in a Paris hotel room on May 15.

The woman claimed in a television interview with  SBT Brasil  that she exchanged messages with the 27-year-old on social media before meeting him at the Sofitel Paris Arc Du Triomphe.

She said she returned to Brazil two days later but was too emotionally shaken to report the incident until May 31.

Neymar subsequently posted an Instagram update in which he claimed the allegations were part of an extortion attempt.

Police in Brazil closed the investigation into the rape allegations in late July, with Sao Paulo police investigator Juliana Lopes Bussacos saying in a press conference: “I did not see enough elements to indict.”

That was followed by prosecutors in Brazil also finding a lack of evidence and announcing their decision earlier this month to close the case against Neymar.

“We decided in favour of closing the case because there is insufficient evidence,” prosecutor Flavia Merlini said at a news conference.

“The police investigator asked her to plug her phone into a computer so she could see the video [supposedly showing an attack], but she [the alleged victim] didn’t want to do that. She also refused to hand over her phone, and later she said it had been stolen,” co-prosecutor Estefania Paulin added.

“The case will be closed as long as no new evidence is presented. If evidence comes up and we come to understand it is relevant and important, the case could be reopened.”

In Tuesday’s announcement, police said they indicted the accuser (N.) for procedural fraud, slanderous denunciation and extortion, while adding that Alves bas been indicted for “disclosing material with erotic content from N. to a reporter.”

“Based on the evidence gathered during the investigations, the delegate decided for the indictment of N. and Estivens Alves, her former partner, for procedural fraud (art. 347),” a statement from Sao Paulo police reads.

“She [the delegate] also decided to indict Alves for disclosing material with erotic content from N. to a reporter.

“After clarifying the criminal materiality, the authority also decided for the indictment of N. in the crimes of slanderous denunciation and extortion.”

Source – Goal.com

European clubs are looking at new options for the future of the Champions League after a proposal that would have given captive places to 24 teams ran into strong opposition, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.

The Lyon star grabbed two more assists as his country completed a clean sweep of victories through the international window.

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Memphis Depay has set multiple records for assists with the Netherlands after the Dutch defeated Estonia 4-0 in Euro 2020 qualifying on Monday.

Depay grabbed a goal and two assists on the night as the Dutch cruised to an easy away win in Tallinn.

The 25-year-old notched an assist on his side’s second goal in the 47th minute, which came courtesy of Ryan Babel, before assisting on the away’s side’s fourth in the 87th minute through Georginio Wijnaldum.

Depay rounded off a standout evening by scoring the third goal for the Netherlands in the 76th minute.

But it was Depay’s assists that would see him enter the record books, as the Lyon star continues to prove his worth for his national team.

Depay now has 17 assists for the Netherlands this decade, passing Wesley Sneijder on 16 for the most since 2010.

The attacker also has seven assists in 2019 for the Netherlands, becoming the first player to tally that many in a calendar year since Rafael van der Vaart in 2010.

Depay has helped his country to a strong 2019 campaign that has seen them score 17 goals in six games, already surpassing their total of 16 goals scored last year in 10 games.

The Netherlands have opened Euro 2020 qualifying with three wins and one loss from four games, including a 4-2 win at Germany last week.

Seeing his side win both of their games this international window has pleased Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk.

“It’s great that we took two victories in a row,” Van Dijk told NOS. “It was the first time in a long time that we were the favourite on paper, so we had to make it happen.

“Everybody knew it could be tough, but we did well.”

The Netherlands will face some big games in the next couple months, with the Dutch taking on Northern Ireland in two of their next three qualifiers: on October 10 and November 16.

Northern Ireland currently sit in second place in Group C, three points ahead of the Netherlands.

The Dutch, however, do have a game in hand on the Northern Irish as well as first-place Germany, who are also on 12 points.

Source – Goal.com

Manchester City beat rivals Manchester United 1-0 on the opening day of the Women’s Super League season in front of a record-breaking crowd of more than 30,000 at the Etihad on Saturday.

A Caroline Weir screamer from just outside the box was enough to edge Manchester City past rivals United in the first women’s Manchester derby. Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Manchester City beat rivals Manchester United 1-0 on the opening day of the Women’s Super League season in front of a record-breaking crowd of more than 30,000 at the Etihad on Saturday.

The match marked the first women’s Manchester derby, with newly-promoted United dominating City in the first half.

United striker Jane Ross went close on 24 minutes with a half volley heading for the roof of the net before City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck pulled off a great save with an outstretched arm while travelling the other way.

City took the lead shortly after the break after midfielder Caroline Weir found the back of the net from just outside the box on 48 minutes with a laser shot into the top right-hand corner.

“I just remember getting the ball on the edge of the box and having a shot, luckily enough it went in,” Weir told BT Sport.

United’s Jackie Groenen almost scored a late equaliser, losing her footing in the box as she bundled a shot on goal, only for it to bounce back off the post before Roebuck got her hands on it.

The 31,213-strong record crowd dwarfed the previous record of 5,265, which had watched Arsenal clinch last season’s title at the Amex Stadium in April.

“I think the passion from the supporters reflected onto the pitch,” Roebuck said. “It was unbelievable.

“That win was for the fans. Everybody wants to win a derby match. United gave us a great game in the first half and really tested us, that showed our resilience to come out and in the second half.

“Credit to the girls for digging deep for coming out with a win.”

City will look to build on the derby victory as they bid to contend for the WSL title having won two domestic cups last season, while United showed they are ready to compete with the division’s best.

Information from Reuters was used in this report

Source – ESPN

Watford have appointed former boss Quique Sanchez Flores within minutes of announcing the sacking of head coach Javi Gracia.

Gracia, 49, joined Watford in 2018, guiding the team to the final of the FA Cup last season. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Garcia has left the club after a poor start to the Premier League season, with the side bottom of the table.

Watford’s only point so far this season came in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle last weekend, following defeats against Brighton, Everton and West Ham.

Sanchez Flores returns to Vicarage Road, having lead the club to a 13th place finish during the 2015-16 Premier League season, when he also reached the semifinal of the FA Cup before he left his post at the end of the campaign.

Sanchez Flores replaces Gracia, 49, who joined Watford in 2018, guiding the team to the final of the FA Cup last season before ultimately losing 6-0 to Manchester City.

“Javi has represented Watford with great dignity and will always be deserving of our fullest respect for his achievements,” Chairman and CEO Scott Duxbury said in a statement.

“Javi Gracia’s staff will also be leaving the club, ahead of the imminent appointment of a new coaching team.

“Everyone at the Hornets wishes Javi and his staff all the very best for the future, and they will always be welcome visitors in the future at Vicarage Road.”

Source – ESPN

The Manchester City winger registered more goals and assists than the PSG star last season, and was on fine form for England on Saturday evening.

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Raheem Sterling is one of the top five players in the world, better than Neymar, and should be targeting winning the Ballon d’Or in his career – according to former Chelsea and Marseille forward Tony Cascarino.

The Manchester City winger put in another incisive performance for England on Saturday night, with a goal and an assist in the 4-0 Euro 2020 qualifying victory over Bulgaria.

Neymar made a goalscoring return for Brazil earlier in the week, netting in the 2-2 draw with Colombia after three months out with an ankle injury. But for Cascarino, Sterling has surpassed him in recent seasons.

“Who would you rather have: Neymar or Sterling? I’d have Sterling as a player,” he told talkSPORT.

“Try to ignore the antics that have gone on with Neymar off the field, I actually think Sterling’s better on the field.

“His numbers are better and he’s playing in a better team. I’ve seen Neymar do things that no other footballer can do in the game, like a ‘Harlem Globetrotter’ footballer.

“But if you want a player to be brilliant for the team and score goals at the rate Neymar can, Sterling’s your man.”

Sterling registered more goals and more assists than Neymar from a similar position on the left wing last season, and lifted more trophies as City waltzed to a historic domestic treble.

He did, however, also play nearly twice as many games as the Brazilian, whose season was curtailed by injury problems.

Three years Neymar’s junior at 24, Sterling’s improvement in recent seasons has been remarkable, with many crediting City boss Pep Guardiola for his evolution as a player. His manager has been keen to ensure the praise goes to Sterling, who he says could hit the 30-goal mark for the first time this season.

“I would definitely argue he’s in the top five players in the world,” added Cascarino.

“What excites me about Sterling is the improvement. The improvement has been dramatic.

“If you were to put him on the market tomorrow, Man City wouldn’t take £150 million for him.

“If he continues to improve, he’ll become the first or second [best player in the world] and probably win the Ballon d’Or along the way.

“If he wins the Champions League with Man City and plays a big part in that, and he scores a lot of goals over the course of the season, he’ll have a great chance of winning it [the Ballon d’Or].”

Source – Goal.com

European champions Portugal got their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign back on track with goals from William Carvalho, Goncalo Guedes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva helping them to a pulsating 4-2 Group B victory in Serbia on Saturday.

Portugal got their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign back on track with a win over Serbia. PEDJA MILOSAVLJEVIC/AFP/Getty Images

The victory lifted the Portuguese to second place in the group on five points from three games, eight behind runaway leaders Ukraine who have 13 from five matches after their 3-0 win in Lithuania earlier on Saturday.

Third-placed Luxembourg and Serbia in fourth both have four points from as many games while Lithuania are bottom with one point from four matches.

Coach Fernando Santos, who steered Portugal to the Euro 2016 title in France and this year’s triumph in the inaugural Nations League, was pleased with his team’s performance.

“We showed a lot of creativity and attacking intent in a solid performance required to beat a very good Serbia side,” Santos told reporters.

“Getting the opening goal just before halftime was vital and in the second half we controlled the game. We stifled their excellent midfield and deserved the win.

“This win should boost our confidence ahead of Tuesday’s visit to Lithuania and nothing less than a win will do because it’s a complicated group.”

His counterpart Ljubisa Tumbakovic, who replaced Mladen Krstajic on July 1 three weeks after he was sacked by Montenegro, conceded he had endured a sour debut as Serbia coach.

“We lost to a majestic team full of world-class players,” said the 67-year old from Belgrade.

“We lacked the final pass in the first half and it didn’t help that we fell behind just before the break. As ever in Serbian football, we were vulnerable defensively and that undermines every other department.”

Portugal dominated the opening half and Carvalho fired them ahead in the 42nd minute when he poked the ball into an empty net from three metres after Serbia keeper Marko Dmitrovic spilled a Bruno Fernandes cross from the right.

Ronaldo, looking subdued in the opening half and given a hostile reception at Red Star stadium as Serbian fans jeered him every time he touched the ball, twice came close early in the second half.

He fired inches wide from the edge of the penalty area after cutting in from the left and then curled a free kick narrowly off target before Guedes doubled Portugal’s lead with a fine individual effort.

The forward capped a flowing move as he sidestepped a defender and rifled in an unstoppable shot past Dmitrovic into the far corner from 12 metres to silence the raucous home crowd.

Centre back Nikola Milenkovic pulled one back for Serbia in the 68th minute, heading a Dusan Tadic corner past keeper Rui Patricio, who was two minutes later forced to tip a fierce Adem Ljajic shot from 20 metres over the bar.

Taunted by chants of “Messi” from Serbia’s die-hard fans, Ronaldo demonstrated his class in the 80th minute when he took a Bernardo Silva pass in his stride and coolly dinked the ball over the advancing Dmitrovic.

Serbia refused to roll over as Aleksandar Mitrovic drove a shot from inside the penalty area into the roof of the net after a defensive blunder in the 85th minute but Silva sealed the contest with a clinical finish barely 60 seconds later.

Source – ESPN

The Tottenham star delivered a hat-trick while the Manchester City and United stars played big roles of their own in a dominant win over Bulgaria.

Photo by Getty Images

England possess a front three which could grace any Premier League XI and each of Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling performed excellently against Bulgaria on Saturday evening.

These Euro 2020 qualification matches are fine-tuning exercises for Gareth Southgate and his players; this 4-0 steam-rollering no different. There is not a team among England’s Group A opponents capable of giving them a game.

The Czech Republic and Montenegro were blown away before the summer break – with England scoring 10 across two matches – and the Three Lions picked up where they left off here at Wembley.

Bulgaria coach Krasimir Balakov might well have been known as a tidy playmaker in his day but there was nothing gallant about his set-up here.

In fact the pre-match tactical graphic showed a Bulgarian line-up with 10 players stationed inside their own half. Only Brazil-born Marcelinho was depicted over the half-way line.

It suggested strongly that Balakov had come to London to limit the damage. Having lost against both the Czech Republic and Kosovo in their previous two fixtures, Bulgaria needed to stanch the bleeding somehow.

Their defensive gameplan was to be outdone early though, not by any great English attacking manoeuvre, but by sloppy play and inattentiveness on their own part.

One of the knock-on effects of relaxing the rule which stipulated that all goal kicks must cross the lines of the goalkeeper’s 18-yard box has been that more and more teams are attempting to take those kicks short.

That’s all well and good if you play for Barcelona but teams like Bulgaria simply don’t have the quality to do so.

From one, goalkeeper Plamen Iliev coughed up possession inside his own area to Sterling of all people, who needed no second invitation to supply an assist for captain Kane.

It’s been a rough week for the Tottenham striker, criticised for his dive against Arsenal last Sunday, but he put club troubles aside to notch a second international hat-trick here.

Two of those goals came from the penalty spot and Kane’s first penalty – and second goal of the day – owed plenty to strong play from Rashford.

In this kind of England team there are more combinations in attack than outright counters but the Manchester United man nonetheless spotted the opportunity to advance from inside his own half towards the Bulgaria box not long after the break and shortly after the visitors had a half-decent chance for Marcelinho saved by Jordan Pickford.

Rashford drove into the box and was upended by Nikolay Bodurov. There was no club-style dispute over who would take the kick either, with Kane stepping forward unfussily and dispatching the kick past Iliev.

Bodurov would needlessly give the ball away again shortly after and from there Kane saw the far-post run of Sterling, who brought his Manchester City goalscoring form to Wembley.

Kane would be fouled himself and afforded another penalty to round off the hat-trick before time was up.

Rashford should have had the goal his all-round display late on after another powerful run and one-two which was exchanged with substitute Callum Wilson. Iliev stood up to that one however.

It was a dominant, imposing performance from England. They had Declan Rice at the base of midfield to keep the ball moving towards the likes of Ross Barkley and Jordan Henderson further forward.

The hosts were in total control throughout, with opportunities coming thick and fast for that front three.

In a show of depth, Southgate even brought on Jadon Sancho, one of the best young players in the world, for a run at the Bulgarians as legs tired late on.

There will of course be sterner challenges ahead for England but with the best of Tottenham, Manchester City and Manchester United leading their attacks, they may well be primed to meet them.

Source – Goal.com