Melbourne City 3-1 Newcastle Jets: Maclaren hits 20-goal mark again as leaders dominate

Jamie Maclaren scored a landmark goal as Melbourne City went four points clear at the top of the A-League with a clinical 3-1 win over lowly Newcastle Jets.

Captain Scott Jamieson and Maclaren, the league s leading scorer, added second-half strikes to an early own goal, before Steven Ugarkovic grabbed a late consolation for the league s bottom side.

The result means Melbourne City hold a comfortable lead over Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners, who each have 31 points and have both played one more game than the leaders.

City edged ahead against Newcastle in the 32nd minute when Andrew Nabbout raced in from the left and shot across goal, with his strike taking a decisive deflection off Jets defender Johnny Koutroumbis on its way past goalkeeper Lewis Italiano.…

Italy secure Euro 2024 place with goalless draw against Ukraine

Defending champions Italy secured their place at Euro 2024 after a battling goalless draw with Ukraine.

The fixture, which was played at Bayer Leverkusen’s BayArena due to Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia in their homeland, was not short of chances, but Serhiy Rebrov’s men failed to find the winner they required to send them automatically through to next year’s tournament in Germany.

It means Ukraine must contest a play-off in March, while Italy boss Luciano Spalletti can reflect on a job well done after they clinched the point they needed to finished second behind England in Group C.

The equation was simple for both teams, but any hint of caution was thrown to the wind during an action-packed start with Viktor Tsygankov testing Gianluigi Donnarumma from…

Cowboys vs Broncos Preseason Picks and Predictions: Dallas and Denver Play Off the Rust

After losing in the Wild Card Round to the 49ers, Mike McCarthy looks to make good on a promising young Dallas Cowboys roster in his third season as head coach. 

Opposing tonight will be the Denver Broncos, who are looking to follow the last two Super Bowl winners by taking a promising, underperforming roster and catapulting it with a big-splash move at quarterback. 

Before either team can begin that journey, they will open their preseason schedule against each other on Saturday. 

Continue reading for free NFL picks for the Cowboys vs. Broncos on August 13.

Switzerland 1-1 Spain (aet, 1-3 pens): Unconvincing La Roja reach Euro 2020 semi-finals after nervy

Spain will contest their first major tournament semi-final since 2012 despite failing to beat 10-man Switzerland after extra-time, with La Roja finally getting the job done on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Luis Enrique s men were dominant throughout and even had a man advantage throughout extra-time, and although their finishing left a lot to be desired, they proved more clinical from 12 yards than the Swiss.

It was a Switzerland player who provided the decisive touch to put Spain one up as Denis Zakaria scored an early own goal, but they capitalised on a defensive error to level through Xherdan Shaqiri in the second period.

Spain could not take advantage of Remo Freuler s contentious sending off, with Yann Sommer starring between the posts for Switzerland, but eve…

Hodgson: Crouch refused Euro 2012 spot

Stoke City striker Peter Crouch refused a spot on the Euro 2012 standby list, according to England manager Roy Hodgson.

The 31-year-old target man has been left out of Hodgson s first two World Cup qualifiers, despite injuries to both Wayne Rooney and Andy Carroll and doubts over Daniel Sturridge s fitness.

And the veteran manager revealed that it was the former Liverpool and Tottenham man s decision to avoid involvement in the summer tournament and not his.

I selected him for the Euros but he didn t want to come, Hodgson said.

He made it clear that unless he was in the squad he didn t want to be considered.

As a result, we ve selected squads since that time when I felt I didn t need him here. I m not going to bring him here to fill up the ben…

Sean Payton Cuts Sleeves Off Shirt While Wearing It, Sparks Amazing Broncos' Rally

data-mm-id=”_yippum7ta”>Sean Payton rolled into Denver with lots of thoughts about the job previous coach Nathaniel Hackett did and how Russell Wilson should stop running for offense and promptly lost the first three games, including a 70-20 debacle in Miami last week that somehow could have been worse. The Broncos had a much easier task in Chicago this afternoon against the Bears, but wasted no time making Justin Fields look like the best quarterback in the world and digging a 28-7 deficit. Desperate times call for desperate measures and, noticing the temperature on the Lake Michigan shores was above 80 degrees, Payton decided to make a wardrobe alteration. Because whereas a normal person would simply roll up their sleeves to vent the forearms, a football coach tasks an equipment mana…

Man Utd transfers: Atalanta man Ederson ‘considered’ after back is turned on Ugarte move

Manchester United are reportedly considering going after Atalanta midfielder Ederson, after turning their back on the signing of Paris Saint-Germain man Manuel Ugarte.

United have been hunting a midfield transfer for weeks, having already strengthened the back line and attack. Leny Yoro was the preferred centre-back signing, and Joshua Zirkzee was recruited up top.

Ugarte was the main name being courted for the midfield, and after PSG signed Joao Neves, it was suggested that move would have become easier, as he had been replaced in the side.

But the Ligue 1 giants have not budged from their valuation, and , so alternatives have been sought, and Ederson is one of them.

United have previously been linked with him, and since backing off from Ugarte, those l…