After helping guide Leicester City to the title last season, Jamie Vardy was the difference again as they all but secured Premier League survival with a 1-0 win at West Brom.
England international Vardy has been unable to recapture the scintillating form that fuelled Leicester s unbelievable charge to the 2015-16 crown.
But his quality has rarely been in doubt and he showcased his striking prowess yet again to take Leicester to the 40-point mark.
Vardy pounced on an error from Salomon Rondon to open the scoring shortly before half-time in Saturday s contest at The Hawthorns, which served as referee Mark Clattenburg s final Premier League game.
GOALLLLLL! JAMIE VARDY GIVES THE LEAD! YASSSS!
— Leicester City (@LCFC)
West Brom put press…
Rising Marseille star Maxime Lopez claims he turned down the chance to join Liverpool two seasons ago.
The 19-year-old has forced his way into Rudi Garcia s first-team plans at Stade Velodrome this term, making 22 starts in all competitions.
Barcelona have been linked with a move for the midfielder but he pledged his future to Marseille only last month by signing a new four-year contract.
Lopez has now said that he could have moved to Anfield in the 2014-15 campaign as a long-term replacement for Brazil star Philippe Coutinho, who was himself linked with Barca before renewing his own contract in January.
Confirming concrete interest from Liverpool he told L Equipe: They said to me: In five years, you ll be playing in Coutino s spot . They approached me i…
Ronald Koeman refused to be drawn over the future of Philippe Coutinho but did reveal Frenkie de Jong will be key to a new-look Barcelona.
Coutinho remains the LaLiga club s record signing but has struggled to live up to expectations following his big-money move from Liverpool, leading to him going on loan to Bayern Munich.
That season-long deal came back to haunt Barca in the Champions League, however, as the Brazilian scored Bayern s final two goals in the 8-2 quarter-final rout that led to the sacking of Quique Setien.
Koeman was confirmed in the job on Wednesday, the Dutchman handed the difficult task of overseeing a major overhaul at Camp Nou.
As it stands, Coutinho is set to return ahead of the 2020-21 season and while heavily linked with a m…
Wayne Rooney says Alex Ferguson did not need to control the dressing room at Manchester United as a select group of senior players did the job for him.
Former United captain Rooney became the Red Devils all-time leading scorer during 13 trophy-laden years at Old Trafford between 2004 and 2017.
Legendary boss Ferguson was known for his exemplary man-management skills at United, but Rooney explained how he and other experienced pros ensured new signings quickly fell into line with the team ethos.
That would never be allowed to happen, Rooney told the Men in Blazers podcast.
The likes of Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, myself players who had Man United in them and wanted the best for that club would never allow anyone to mess that u…
Manchester City s millionaires club cruised to a 2-0 win over Red Bull Salzburg while mighty Juventus struggled to a 3-3 draw with Lech Poznan as the Europa League enjoyed a goal-packed start on Thursday.
Forty goals were scored in the night s opening 12 matches with two players Poznan s Artjoms Rudnevs and Patrick Helmes of Leverkusen scoring hat-tricks.
David Silva grabbed his first goal for Manchester City since his 30 million euro move from Valencia in the summer as Roberto Mancini s team took the lead in Austria after just eight minutes.
The goal was set up by Brazilian striker Jo, who went on to score the second in the 63rd minute after Salzburg keeper Gerhard Tremmel failed to hold a 20-metre drive from Carlos Tevez.
City s Belgian defender Vincen…
Kazakhstan s German coach Bernd Storck announced on Saturday he will not be staying on in the post when his contract comes to an end at the end of this year.
The 47-year-old in the post since October 2008 told German agency SID that the Kazakh federation did not wish to extend his contract after he failed to achieve the goal of having at least three points following their first four Euro 2012 qualifiers.
Kazakhstan have failed to score a goal or garner one point and were beaten 3-0 by World Cup semi-finalists Germany in last Tuesday s Euro 2012 qualifier.
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Aston Villa have confirmed the appointment of Roy Keane as assistant manager to Paul Lambert.
Keane a former manager at Sunderland and Ipswich Town has not been involved in domestic coaching since his departure from Portman Road in 2011.
The 42-year-old, who held informal talks over the manager s job at Scottish champions Celtic in May, was appointed as assistant to Republic of Ireland boss Martin O Neill last November and will continue in that role.
I am delighted to be joining Aston Villa and I look forward to what promises to be an exciting challenge, Keane told Villa s official website.
I am grateful to both Villa and the Football Association of Ireland for making this happen and I would like also to thank Martin O Neill.
I am relishing the…
Victor Fernandez will lead Deportivo in La Liga next season after agreeing to become head coach at the Riazor.
The 53-year-old assumes control of the newly promoted club two days after the man who secured a return to the top flight, Fernando Vazquez, was sacked.
Vazquez s comments regarding the club s recent transfer acquisitions saw him relieved of his duties and Depor have wasted no time in bringing in his replacement.
Victor Fernandez becomes new coach of Deportivo following agreement this afternoon between the technician and the club, the club announced on their official website.
Fernandez recently spent time in charge of Gent in Belgium, but he returns to Spain to make Depor the seventh club of his managerial career.
Thursday was a day of in…
The Turin-based media outlet Tuttosport is claiming the notorious super-agent Mino Raiola, who represents some of the world’s most distinguished football stars, has met with Juventus officials to discuss potential January transfer for two of his protégées.
The Serie A heavyweights are prepared to further bolster their squad after acquiring the services of the 2017 Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, all with an aim of throwing a more competitive challenge towards winning the elusive Champions League trophy.
Bianconeri are said to be contemplating a possibility to bring former star Paul Pogba back to Turin, while also thinking about one of Europe’s most exciting defensive talents Matthijs de Ligt.
Both Manchester United and Ajax stars, respectively, are…
Michy Batshuayi s loan from Chelsea to Valencia is to be terminated early, the LaLiga club s sporting director Mateu Alemany has confirmed.
Belgium striker Batshuayi has scored a single goal in 15 top-flight appearances for Valencia, who are 12th in the table having qualified for the Champions League last term.
Batshuayi thrived on loan at Borussia Dortmund during the second half of last season, scoring seven goals in nine Bundesliga appearances before his time at the club was ended by an ankle injury.
But he has struggled to make an impact at Valencia and Alemany said an official announcement regarding his departure from the club could be imminent.
We are negotiating with several clubs an exit for Batshuayi, he told a news conference on Thursday.
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