Please, Mr Matic, get out to the ball, said an anguished Rio Ferdinand as BT Sport replayed Oliver Burke s winning goal for Sheffield United at Old Trafford.
It came after a passage of lacklustre Manchester United play that Ferdinand insisted would not have been allowed in yesteryear , in which players ambled back, stood stock still or pointed in vain before Burke fired in a shot via Axel Tuanzebe s knee.
He took his shot just in time – there was one Manchester United player sprinting back to challenge in a desperate attempt to lift his ailing side. No prizes for guessing who that was.
Bruno Fernandes will celebrate one year as a United player on Saturday. His transfer from Sporting CP for an initial fee of £47million in January 2020 came after a similar abje…
Liverpool centre-back Rhys Williams is set to join Swansea City on loan for the rest of the 2021-22 season, according to .
The 20-year-old defender made a significant breakthrough with the Merseysiders last season, mostly due to the heavy injury crisis which saw Jurgen Klopp s centre-back department seriously depleted. Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all suffered long-term injuries, and the experiment the German tactician tried with midfielders Fabinho and Jordan Henderson didn t work too well. Eventually, Henderson also picked up an injury and Klopp was forced to put his faith in Williams, along with Nathaniel Phillips.
The young duo performed very well towards the end of the season, playing a big part in the team s late winning run to secure Champions League…
Gareth Bale has been named in the Real Madrid team for Sunday s Clasico at home to Barcelona, while Luis Enrique selected Paco Alcacer in place of suspended striker Neymar.
Bale s return is a major boost to Madrid, who held a three-point lead over their rivals at the top of LaLiga before the game.
After giving up on an attempt to have Neymar s ban rescinded, Alcacer has been handed a place in the Barcelona attack alongside Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, the record goalscorer in Clasico history.
Javier Mascherano is on the Barca bench with Samuel Umtiti preferred as Gerard Pique s partner at the back, while Nacho plays alongside Sergio Ramos in the Madrid defence in the absence of injured pair Pepe and Raphael Varane.
Real Madrid team: Navas; Carvajal, Nac…
Sky Sports understands that Celtic have completed the signing of former West Bromwich Albion midfielder Yousouff Mulumbu.
The thirty-one-year-old was a free agent after leaving Kilmarnock at the end of last season, having played for them twenty times, scoring once.
Prior to his move north of the border Mulumbu spent nine years in England, seven of which with West Brom where he racked up over two hundred appearances in all competitions, scoring fifteen goals.
He moved to Norwich City in 2016 following their promotion to the Premier League though couldn’t help save them from relegation after just one season back in the top flight.
Internationally he has been capped thirty-six times for DR Congo with his one and only goal coming in a defeat to Equato…
According to a recent report from Sport Bild, Bayern Munich are set to sign Atletico Madrid defender Lucas Hernandez in the upcoming summer transfer window. They are preparing to meet the £69 million buy out clause for the 23 year old, who is coming off the back of a World Cup winning year last year.
It would make him Bayern’s record signing, as they aim to improve their squad following a season which started off pretty poorly domestically.
Hernandez first joined Atletico back in 2007 as part of their youth setup, and made his debut for the senior team back in 2014. He’s been able to establish himself as one of the most exciting young defenders in world football today, which is likely why he’s receiving all of this extra attention.
Atletico are currently …
Aston Villa have confirmed the appointment of Unai Emery as the club s new head coach, following the sacking of Steven Gerrard.
The former Arsenal boss returns to the Premier League after rebuilding his reputation with success at Villarreal, clinching Europa League glory in 2021 and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.
Villa, who stopped the rot with a 4-0 thrashing of Brentford on Sunday under first team coach Aaron Danks, confirmed the Spaniard will take his position on November 1 and will therefore not be in the dugout for Saturday s trip to face Newcastle United.
It means Emery s first task will be back-to-back tests against Manchester United, hosting Erik ten Hag s side in the Premier League on November 6 before travelling to Old Tra…
Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has reached the notable milestone of 200 Serie A appearances, shattering a record in the process.
Donnarumma made it to his double century when starting in the derby against Inter on Sunday, with San Siro hosting a pivotal battle between the top two in the table.
At 21 years and 361 days, the Italy international is comfortably the youngest to achieve the feat in the competition since the switch to three points for a win in 1994-95.
The great Gianluigi Buffon (24 years and 83 days) previously held the record.
Donnarumma was handed his league debut at 16 by then-Milan boss Sinisa Mihajlovic in October 2015. He has saved 73.09 per cent of the shots faced during his career in the Italian top flight, as well as…