CSKA Moscow 1 Roma 2: Di Francesco´s side edge towards knockouts

Gareth Southgate has offered his full backing to John Stones following the defender s costly error against the Netherlands, insisting he remains England s best centre-back.

Thursday s Nations League semi-final was poised at 1-1 in the first half of extra time when the 25-year-old was caught in possession on the edge of his own box.

Stones was robbed by Memphis Depay, who forced a save out of Jordan Pickford, but Kyle Walker bundled the ball into his own net under pressure from Quincy Promes.

The Netherlands went on to win 3-1 to set up a showdown with Portugal in the final, with Stones taking plenty of flak after the match.

It s all over in Portugal and it ends in disappointment for the .

Congratulations to the Netherlands on reaching the final. <…

Liverpool left Manchester City s unbeaten Premier League record in tatters with a thrilling 4-3 win over the leaders.

Anfield has long provoked a sense of dread for City, who last won at the Merseyside ground in May 2003, and they collapsed under an unsustainable weight of individual errors as Liverpool ran amok after half-time.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain produced a midfield performance to thrill the Liverpool faithful in the wake of Philippe Coutinho s departure to Barcelona and opened the scoring with an excellent ninth-minute opener on an afternoon of high-class finishing.

Leroy Sane thrashed a shot beyond Loris Karius at the near post to draw City level five minutes before half-time and Jurgen Klopp s choice of goalkeeper might have come in for greater scrutiny …

According to a recent report from Sky Sport Italia, Juventus’ chief football officer Fabio Paratici has ruled out the possibility of making any signings during the upcoming January transfer window. The expectation has always been that the Old Lady would be dipping into their pockets in order to try and bring in a few new faces, especially when you consider just how tight the Serie A title race is right now with Inter Milan and Lazio keeping it tight as we head into the second half of the campaign. 

Paul Pogba is the big name that continues to be linked with a return to Turin, but it really doesn’t seem as if that’s going to be done until the summer at the very least. Paratici has always been pretty active when it comes to discussing Juve’s transfer dealings, and ba…

Inter Miami have found their star signing, set to land Manchester City playmaker David Silva.

The MLS side, set to start playing next year, have been linked with numerous big names, with Barcelona star Lionel Messi among them.

But they appear to have found the man to lead them into their debut campaign.

TOP STORY – DAVID SILVA SET TO JOIN MLS SIDE INTER MIAMI

David Silva is likely to join Inter Miami at the end of the 2019-20 season, according to the Independent.

The 33-year-old has previously said this campaign would be his last with Manchester City, the club he arrived at in 2010.

David Beckham is a co-owner of Inter Miami and it seems they are set to land the star they have been chasing.

Exclusive: David Silva set t…

As reported by L Equipe, Rolando has signed a contract extension with Marseille that will keep him at the French club for at least another season. The 32-year-old has been recovering from an Achilles tendon injury with many believing that it d be the catalyst behind his departure from Marseille, but clearly, that isn t the case, and he ll instead be battling to get back on the pitch with the end of 2018 being targeted as a realistic date.

Rolando, who was born in Cape Verde, has been with Marseille since 2015 when he made the switch over from Portuguese giants Porto. He s made more than 20 appearances for the Portugal national team since debuting back in 2009 but has been out of favour for quite some time now, focusing more on his domestic football.

Despite reaching the…

Arsenal can improve on their superlative Premier League form, believes Wes Morgan, who also lauded Erling Haaland s Premier League start.

The Gunners lead the title race this season, holding an eight-point lead over defending champions Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta s side have been the team to beat in the English top-flight this term, and could end a near-two-decade wait for the crown if they hold their nerve.

But Morgan, who famously captained Leicester City to the Premier League title in 2016, feels that they may still have a way to go before they hit their ceiling.

Arsenal, they ve been building over the last couple of seasons, he told Stats Perform. That young squad firing at the top of the league, [it should not be a surprise].

They will on…

Franck Kessie s penalty salvaged a last-gasp point for Milan against Udinese at San Siro but Zlatan Ibrahimovic s absence was felt as the Rossoneri s title hopes took another blow in a 1-1 draw.

Leading scorer Ibrahimovic is set to miss up to three weeks with a thigh injury and on Wednesday s evidence Milan could struggle to cope.

With leaders Inter in action on Thursday, Milan would have moved to within a point of their city rivals with a victory, yet a mistake from Gianluigi Donnarumma looked set to cost them.

Rodrigo Becao s 68th-minute header found its way past the Italy goalkeeper, but Jens Stryger Larsen s inexplicable handball enabled Kessie to rescue a point from the penalty spot with the last kick of the game.

Draw at the San Siro

A San S…

Rafinha scored in Lionel Messi s absence as Barcelona beat the Brazilian s former club Inter 2-0 in the Champions League to move three points clear at the top of Group B.

Messi was absent due to a fractured arm that will keep him out for three weeks but Rafinha justified being brought into the team by opening the scoring in the first half at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

Luis Suarez sent in a brilliant cross and Rafinha slotted home against his old colleagues, with Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic in fine form before being beaten late on by Jordi Alba.

After taking maximum points from three rounds Barca are on the brink of qualification but Inter can expect to join them as they have a five-point cushion from winless PSV and Tottenham.

Today s crowd; 86,290 fa…

So, Manchester City s Premier League champagne remains on ice after a 2-1 defeat against Chelsea but what, if anything, did the phoney war tell us?

Raheem Sterling s first club goal since February put City ahead during a magnificently silly ending to the first half, which wrapped up with Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy being able to go to ground, get back up and still have time to catch Sergio Aguero s gentle interpretation of a Panenka.

Hakim Ziyech, as he did in the Blues 1-0 win over City in last month s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, found the net and Chelsea looked the most likely winners from that point.

Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi each had the ball in the net from offside positions before Marcos Alonso did so legally with a scuffed effort in stoppa…

Robert Lewandowski famously scored five goals in just nine minutes for Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg five years ago today.

The Poland international achieved the astonishing feat on September 22, 2015 in a match that ultimately finished 5-1 to Bayern.

A half-time substitute, Lewandowski s heroics ensured Bayern came from behind to thrash Wolfsburg at the Allianz Arena.

Here, we look at the story behind one of the finest moments of Lewandowski s career.

.: The coach didn t have to say anything I knew what I had to do.

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN)

WHAT HAPPENED

Then a 27-year-old, Lewandowski was introduced at half-time and fired in a four-minute hat-trick before adding two more in a breathless spell from Bayern.