In what was a frantic affair from Stamford Bridge on Monday night, Chelsea secured a 3-0 victory against Newcastle in west London.
Two sides who opened Monday’s showdown separated by just four points, it was the Blues who got off to a flying start as Nicolas Jackson produced a smart flicked finish after just six minutes.
However, with Alexander Isak hammering home just seconds before the half-time break, Mauricio Pochettino’s men faced a real psychological test after returning from the interval.
With Cole Palmer restoring the Blues’ lead after notching an 11th Premier League goal of the season just before the hour mark, Mykhailo Mudryk then appeared to have wrapped up all three points for Pochettino’s side.
While second-half substitute Jacob Murp…
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Following Maurizio Sarri s resignation, Lazio is determined to kickstart their recovery in what has been a challenging season as they travel to face Frosinone on Saturday.
With a potential loss to their regional rivals, the Rome club faces the risk of dropping into the bottom half of the Serie A standings. Frosinone, meanwhile, is entrenched in a fight for survival in the top flight.
Frosinone
When Lazio and Frosinone last faced off at the end of the previous year, both teams were in better form. However, since then, Frosinone s performance has taken a drastic downturn.
The Canarini, after a string of setbacks, find themselves in the relegation zone for the first time this season, despite a promising start upon their …
Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion are battling to secure the services of Brighton and Hove Albion winger Will Buckley, .
The Black Cats have tabled an offer of £2.5m for the 24 year old, who was signed by Gus Poyet for the Seagulls for a then record £1m in 2011 though West Brom are expected to table a rival bid.
During his time with the south coast club, Buckley has made one hundred and nine appearances in all competitions, scoring nineteen goals.
Prior to his move to the Amex Stadium, he spent one-and-a-half seasons with Watford having begun his career with Rochdale.
He played the final half hour as Sami Hyppia lost his first game in charge of Brighton at the weekend, while he was absent from the squad beat League Two Cheltenham Town in the fir…
Italy come into Saturday s friendly with Republic of Ireland in rude health off the pitch as they build up to the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Head coach Cesare Prandelli signed a contract extension on Monday, which will keep him in the job beyond the UEFA European Championships in 2016.
That sense of stability can only aid Italy as they prepare for two friendlies ahead of the World Cup, the first of which sees them take on Martin O Neill s Ireland team at Craven Cottage.
Italy s chief of medical staff, Enrico Castellacci, explained that the squad was in good shape, with Prandelli yet to cut his provisional 30-man party down to the final 23.
The state of the health of the team is good enough, except for a few obvious muscle problems seen in recent days because the b…
Lionel Messi and new Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli will need to luck on their side to win the World Cup, according to Brazil great Pele.
Messi and La Albiceleste fell at the last hurdle in their quest to emulate Argentina s achievements of 1978 and 1986, losing the 2014 final to Germany in extra time in Rio de Janeiro.
Their place at the tournament in Russia next year is by no means guaranteed Argentina occupy fifth, the inter-confederation play-off berth, in the CONMEBOL qualifying group.
In seeking to secure safe passage to the finals, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) succeeded in luring Sampaoli away from Sevilla after just one season to replace Edgardo Bauza as national team coach.
And despite his 2015 Copa America success with Chile, the…
England assistant coach Gary Neville said Manchester City could struggle to repeat their recent heroics with an ageing squad.
City have won two of the last three Premier League titles and they also won the FA Cup in 2011 and the League Cup earlier this year.
They have failed to claim continental success, though, and lost their first UEFA Champions League match of the season 1-0 at Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Neville – a former stalwart of City s arch-rivals Manchester United – said he believes Sunday s fixture against league leaders Chelsea could highlight their need for youth.
With great teams you can reel off most of the starting XI without thinking. With Manchester City, nine of the Premier League-winning players roll off the tongue, Neville wrote…