AC Milan s unbeaten start to 2018 carried into the Europa League as Patrick Cutrone, Ricardo Rodriguez and Fabio Borini fired them to a 3-0 victory at Ludogorets on Thursday.
Gennaro Gattuso s men had won four and drawn two of their six matches in all competitions ahead of their trip to Bulgaria, and Cutrone s 13th goal of the season set them on the road to a comfortable win.
Rodriguez added a penalty before Borini struck in stoppage time to give the Serie A side an enviable cushion heading into the second leg of the last-32 tie.
Cutrone s headed opener came at the end of a first half in which both sides struggled to create clear-cut opportunities, but Milan had one foot in the next round when Cosmin Moti was deemed to have pushed the striker in the box.
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Sonia Bompastor has promised there is more hard work to come for her Chelsea players after they readied themselves for the Women s Super League season with a 9-0 hammering of Feyenoord.
Bompastor marked her first match at Kingsmeadow in fantastic fashion on Saturday, with the WSL champions proving far too good for their Dutch opponents.
Sandy Baltimore and Mayra Ramirez struck inside the opening 10 minutes, with Feyenoord s Celainy Obispo subsequently seeing red.
Chelsea were 4-0 up by the break thanks to finishes from Sjoeke Nusken and Wieke Kaptein, with Millie Bright heading home a fifth after the restart.
Substitute Aggie Beever-Jones netted a second-half hat-trick, with Maika Hamano also getting in on the act in a resounding victory.
A gd aft…
Denmark and Belgium paused play after 10 minutes of their Euro 2020 clash to applaud stricken Christian Eriksen.
The Inter midfielder was given CPR on the pitch during the first half of Denmark s Group B opener with Finland last Saturday after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Eriksen remains in hospital in Copenhagen and assured fans on Tuesday that he is fine – under the circumstances as he continues to be monitored.
Denmark were in action on Thursday for the first time since that shocking incident and opponents Belgium wanted to celebrate Eriksen s survival and improved health.
Romelu Lukaku revealed ahead of the match at Parken Stadium that the Red Devils intended to bring the game to a halt after 10 minutes – 10 being Eriksen s shirt number.
L…
Atletico Madrid s new 35-year-old goalkeeper Gregory Coupet said Tuesday that he hopes to still be part of France s squad during the 2010 World Cup as he was officially unveiled by the Spanish club.
Asked if he intended to be France s keeper at the tournament in South Africa, he said: Playing for Atletico and the possibility of playing in the Champions League allow me to continue to think, to dream of the French squad.
Coupet, who had been linked to English League Cup winners Tottenham, said he had come to Spain to try to show that I have a place in the starting line-up to defend .
Atletico signed Coupet for the next two seasons. He represented France at Euro 2008 and has been capped 34 times.
The Spanish side are in the qualifying round of the Cham…
Roberto De Zerbi has hailed Mason Greenwood s performance after the striker scored a brace on his Marseille debut on Saturday.
The Italian started life in Ligue 1 with an impressive 5-1 win over Brest, with Luis Henrique also scoring twice on either side of Mahdi Camara s goal, before Elye Wahi rounded off the win from the penalty spot.
Greenwood, who joined Marseille on a permanent transfer last month having spent last season on loan at Getafe, settled in quickly, netting his first goal within three minutes and slotting in his second from 12 yards just after the half-hour mark.
He is just the third player to score twice on his Ligue 1 debut for Marseille this century, after Dimitri Payet (2013) and Luis Suarez (2022).
De Zerbi was particularly impressed …
Alphonse Areola has signed a new Paris Saint-Germain contract running through to 2023, the Ligue 1 champions have announced.
Areola appears to have won the battle to be Thomas Tuchel s first choice goalkeeper, starting nine Ligue 1 matches this term despite the arrival of veteran Gianluigi Buffon.
Italy great Buffon, though, has started three Champions League matches and seven games in the league as Tuchel continues to juggle his options between the posts.
And Areola, part of the France squad that won the World Cup in Russia this year, has been rewarded with a new contract.
One-club man signs until 2023!
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English)
The 25-year-old has come through the ranks at PSG and the Paris-born goalkeeper is thr…
Stuttering Borussia Dortmund ended 2016 with an unbeaten home league record, but a 1-1 draw against Augsburg means they could be as many as 12 points adrift of the Bundesliga leaders heading into the mid-season break.
Thomas Tuchel s side s only loss at Signal Iduna Park in the calendar year came in the DFL-Supercup to Bayern Munich in August and, with Carlo Ancelotti s leaders facing second-placed RB Leipzig on Wednesday, Dortmund had the chance to crank up the pressure.
Mario Gotze fired an early warning by hitting the post, but the hosts defence has been suspect at times this season and so it proved again when Ji Dong-won who had a spell at Dortmund in 2014 finished a swift Augsburg counter-attack to put the visitors in front.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the …
Edin Dzeko was a key player as Manchester City won 2-0 at Arsenal yesterday
Yesterday was a good day for the Manchester clubs in the Premier League, as both Manchester United and Manchester City claimed victories in big games.
Manchester United defeated old foes Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford in the early kick-off.
United took the lead on 19 minutes. United worked the ball well and Patrice Evra’s cross was swept home with a first touch finish from goal machine Robin Van Persie.
The Dutchman could have doubled United’s lead in the 27th minute, but the striker fired over from inside the area after Ashley Young had found him with a good pass.
The home side extended their lead in the 53rd minute. Robin Van Persie delivered a dangerous free-kick in…
United States forward Megan Rapinoe has announced she will retire at the end of the season.
Rapinoe, 38, helped the USA win the last two World Cups as well as a gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
Following the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Rapinoe will play out the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League campaign at long-time club OL Reign before hanging up her boots.
legend announces she will retire at the end of the 2023 season »
— U.S. Women s National Soccer Team (@USWNT)
“I’ve been able to have such an incredible career and this game has brought me all over the world and allowed me to meet so many amazing people,” Rapinoe said on ussoccer.com.
“I feel incredibly grateful to have played as long…
France and Portugal remain locked together at the top of Nations League Group A3 after playing out a goalless draw at the Stade de France.
Facing each other for the first time since Eder proved Portugal s unlikely hero in the final of Euro 2016 at the same venue, a pair of all-star attacks found no way through against similarly elite defences.
Didier Deschamps hosts, who enjoyed the backing of 1,000 socially distanced fans within the cavernous arena, were unable to relocate the free-scoring form that saw them demolish Ukraine 7-1 in a midweek friendly.
Portugal followed up their 0-0 draw against Spain with another stalemate, although Pepe thought he had headed a 74th-minute winner, only to see the offside flag raised.
Lucas Hernandez made a last-ditch blo…