Burton Albion will appear in the EFL Cup semi-finals for the first time after Jake Hesketh earned the League One team a 1-0 win at Middlesbrough.

Hesketh made the most of some slack defending in the 48th minute to beat Darren Randolph and make Nigel Clough s side the first from the third-tier to reach the final four since Sheffield United in 2014-15.

Middlesbrough had the better of the opportunities in the opening period, with Lewis Wing the first to test the impressive Burton goalkeeper Bradley Collins – on loan from Chelsea – in the 12th minute.

Stewart Downing saw his 25-yard free-kick pushed away from the top-right corner by Collins, who kept out Jordan Hugill from an acute angle in the 37th minute.

Burton went ahead three minutes into the second …

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has been accused of defrauding tax authorities to the tune of €3.3million by a Spanish regional prosecutor.

The complaint was made in court on Tuesday and relates to the Portuguese coach s time in charge of Real Madrid.

According to the local prosecutor, Mourinho is under suspicion of having committed two offences in relation to personal income tax.

Mourinho coached Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013, guiding the club to wins in LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana.

He returned to Chelsea before arriving at Old Trafford for the 2016-17 season, collecting the Europa League and the EFL Cup during his maiden United campaign.

The news follows reports in Spain that suggest Madrid s Cristiano Rona…

Roberto Martinez is confident Portugal s defeat to Georgia on Wednesday was good preparation for the knockout stage at Euro 2024.

Portugal had already made sure of top spot in Group F, although the result against Georgia would impact the identity of their opponents in the last 16.

With Georgia 2-0 winners and advancing to the next round, Hungary were eliminated, leaving the Selecao to face Slovenia, who handed Martinez his first defeat in the job in a friendly in March.

This was now his first competitive loss, but the former Belgium coach believes Portugal are in a better place as a result.

We made a lot of changes. The focus was on preparing all the players, Martinez said. Now we are more prepared.

We had players on the bench today that we did …

Bordeaux have announced a deal for Brazilian forward Wellington Silva, who will join the Ligue 1 club from Fluminense subject to a medical.

The 24-year-old failed to make a single Premier League appearance for Arsenal after joining in 2010, with work permit issues seeing him loaned to clubs including Levante, Alcoyano, Ponferradina, Murcia and Almeria.

Wellington returned to Fluminense in July 2016 but he has now been given another shot at European football after a deal was agreed with Bordeaux.

Bordeaux also joked the club is in talks with Wellington s fellow Brazilian Neymar, who is rumoured to be joining Ligue 1 rivals Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record fee of €222million from Barcelona.

Pour ceux qui demandent Neymar, les négociations con…

Garry Monk has told Nathan Dyer that he does have a future at Swansea City, despite being left out of the squad for the last three Premier League games.

Dyer, who joined the club in 2009, has slipped out of the first-team fold in recent weeks, but Monk insists the winger has nothing to worry about.

These are very difficult decisions for me,  said Monk.

Nathan had a fantastic start to the season, then he had a little dip and then he came back a bit. He has probably been a bit more inconsistent, but he has still contributed fantastically to the team.

There are no problems whatsoever with Nathan. He is one who does deserve to be in the match-day squads, but unfortunately with the way things are sometimes, that isn t always possible.

I have known…

Former Brazil international Gilberto Silva has confirmed he is to retire from football at the age of 39, having spent two years out of the game due to a serious knee injury.

Gilberto won the 2002 World Cup and 2007 Copa America with his country as well as two Confederations Cup titles.

He also spent six years at Arsenal and was a key part of Arsene Wenger s Invincibles side that won the Premier League title unbeaten in the 2003-04 season.

As of today, I’ve called time on my career as an athlete. It’s a difficult decision, Gilberto said in a statement.

“Worldwide, we do not ask to be born. When we are born, we do not want to die. I’ve heard a phrase that says footballers dies twice. I disagree. I think the football player dies once, and makes a…

Chelsea maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season as Alvaro Morata, Ross Barkley and Willian scored in a 4-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday.

The Blues made light work of Burnley in Eden Hazard s absence – the Belgian missing with a back problem – as a devastating attacking display saw off the Clarets and moved Maurizio Sarri s side up to second in the table, two points behind leaders Liverpool.

Barkley s deft pass in the 22nd minute set Morata up for Chelsea’s opener and the England international scored in his third consecutive Premier League game 12 minutes into the second half to put the game beyond Sean Dyche s side.

Willian added a third after 62 minutes with a wonderful finish from distance and Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored …

It is that burning drive deep inside .

With a disappointing MLS season behind them the American franchise is heading into a calm waters of winter break knowing that keeping the Swedish sensation happy without a ball at his feet would a tough challenge.

Any Cure for Winter Boredom?

Despite ultimately failing to push his team into , Zlatan Ibrahimovic is coming off from a highly successful Stateside stint.  The total of 22 goals and 10 assists in 27 appearances made him the while his debut LA Galaxy striker was voted the MLS Goal of the Year.

It’s an overall remarkable achievement for a 37-year-old who entertained the United States audience and once again walked into the limelight with a host of European sides casting admiring glances towards his time-def…

Manchester City midfielder David Silva has signed a one-year contract extension to remain with the Premier League leaders until June 2020.

Silva joined City under from Valencia in 2010 after being a part of Spain s triumphant World Cup squad and has gone on to win two Premier League titles, two League Cups and this FA Cup during his time at the Etihad Stadium.

The 31-year-old has played a typically influential role this season, with Pep Guardiola s side sitting eight points clear at the top of the Premier League – winning 13 of 14 unbeaten games – and boasting a 100 per cent record in the Champions League.

Silva has supplied eight assists in 14 top-flight appearances this term. No player has created more goals in the Premier League since his City debut in 20…

Lionel Messi sparkled as Barcelona saw off Levante 5-0 on Sunday to restore their three-point lead at the top of LaLiga.

Messi set up Luis Suarez for the opening goal before scoring a hat-trick as Ernesto Valverde s side made amends for their shock 5-4 defeat at Ciutat de Valencia last May.

The 31-year-old has now scored 50 goals for club and country eight times over the last nine calendar years and he helped round off the rout by setting up Gerard Pique for the fifth two minutes from time.

Barca s third straight LaLiga win put daylight between them, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid after 16 matches.

Levante were 2-1 up at half-time of this fixture last season and they caused Barca problems from the off once again, with Emmanuel Boateng, scorer of a hat-trick …