Scott McTominay s stoppage-time strike spared Marcus Rashford s blushes as Manchester United toiled to a 1-0 Europa League win over Omonia Nicosia at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Rashford, who is United s top scorer this season, had a whopping 10 shots, but a combination of wasteful finishing and fine goalkeeping from Francis Uzoho denied the Red Devils forward.
Substitute McTominay stepped up three minutes into added time to get his team-mate out of jail, though, as United sealed a third consecutive Group E win despite a listless performance in front of goal.
The result means Erik ten Hag s side only need a point from their final two group games against Sheriff and Real Sociedad to book their spot in the knockout stages.
SCOTTTTYY! ||
— Manches…
Borussia Dortmund made a statement of intent to the Bundesliga on Saturday, as Thomas Tuchel s youngsters thrashed 10-man Darmstadt 6-0 at home.
Dortmund were surprise 1-0 losers away to RB Leipzig in their previous league fixture, but bounced back with a crushing 6-0 win at Legia Warsaw in the Champions League on Wednesday.
And, despite being without several first-team regulars, including Mario Gotze and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, they built on that result by brushing aside Darmstadt at Signal Iduna Park, the visitors finishing a man light and taken apart by goals from Adrian Ramos, Christian Pulisic, Sebastian Rode, Emre Mor and a Gonzalo Castro double.
The result, their biggest in the league since May 2009, sees Dortmund remain three points off champions and…
Martin Zubimendi has been named in Real Sociedad s squad for their final pre-season friendly versus Union Berlin, despite being strongly linked with a move to Liverpool.
La Real travel to the Stadion An der Alten Forsterei to face Union on Friday, as they work towards their opening match in La Liga versus Rayo Vallecano on August 18.
Star midfielder Zubimendi has a £51million buyout clause in his contract and has been strongly linked with an exit in recent weeks, with Liverpool reportedly showing an interest.
The Reds are the only Premier League side yet to make a signing ahead of the 2024-25 season, which will be their first campaign under former Feyenoord boss Arne Slot.
Reports have suggested Liverpool are keen to negotiate a lower transfer fee for th…
Celta Vigo have appointed Oscar Garcia as their new head coach until the end of the 2019-20 season.
LaLiga strugglers Celta 18th in the table on nine points after four straight defeats have turned to the former Barcelona player after sacking Fran Escriba following a 1-0 loss to Getafe on Sunday.
Garcia s coaching career has seen him work in various leagues across Europe, including a spell with Maccabi Tel Aviv where he won the title in Israel.
He was also crowned champion twice in Austria while in charge of Salzburg and was most recently at Olympiacos, leaving his role at the Greek club last April.
Garcia also had stints in England with Brighton and Hove Albion and Watford, though he was only at the Hornets for 27 days in 2014 before stepping down …
Raphael Varane cannot be held solely responsible for his struggles since joining Manchester United last year, says former Red Devils defender Rio Ferdinand.
According to Ferdinand, United s zero functionality organisation under managers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick was a crucial factor behind the 2018 World Cup winner s poor first season in England.
Now the United backline could be set for an important overhaul under new boss Erik ten Hag, Ferdinand believes.
Four-time Champions League winner Varane played 29 times in his debut season with United after arriving from Real Madrid, contributing to just six clean sheets as the Red Devils posted their worst Premier League points tally (58), finishing sixth.
Only four teams – relegated duo Norw…
Gonzalo Higuain said star Juventus team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo has matured since the pair s time together at Real Madrid.
Juve striker Higuain and Ronaldo have reunited in Turin after the duo won three titles with LaLiga giants Madrid before the former departed for Napoli in 2013.
Higuain eventually joined Juventus in 2016, while Ronaldo arrived in 2018-19, prompting his ex-Madrid team-mate to move to Serie A rivals AC Milan on loan and then Chelsea last term.
Higuain and Ronaldo – who won the Scudetto in his first season – are now together again under Juventus head coach Maurizio Sarri, and the former Argentina international hailed the five-time Ballon d Or winner.
We had already played together with Real, Higuain, who has impressed for the Serie A …
Mohamed Salah scored again to help stretch Liverpool s Premier League lead to six points, as a 4-0 home win over Newcastle United gave Jurgen Klopp his 100th Reds victory.
Klopp s 181st game in charge saw Liverpool take an early Boxing Day lead at Anfield, Dejan Lovren smashing in a superb half-volley to set up their eighth straight Premier League win.
And when Salah stepped up to convert a penalty he won himself immediately after the restart, Rafael Benitez s side were heading to defeat on his Anfield return.
Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabinho added late goals for the rampant hosts and Manchester City s 2-1 loss at Leicester City means the 2017-18 champions fall further behind Klopp s men ahead of their clash at the Etihad Stadium on January 3, with Tottenham mov…
Marseille have announced goalkeeper Steve Mandanda has left the club via mutual agreement, two years ahead of his contract expiring, having played a record 613 times for the club.
Mandanda, who has 34 caps for France and served as understudy to Hugo Lloris during Les Blues 2018 World Cup win, extended his contract at the Stade Velodrome in August 2020 to run until the end of the 2023-24 season.
But Marseille announced on Wednesday that he would depart earlier than anticipated, amid links with fellow Ligue 1 sides Rennes and Nice in recent weeks.
Olympique de Marseille and Steve Mandanda have decided to separate by mutual agreement, read a statement on the club s website.
OM would like to sincerely thank Steve for everything he has brought to the club…
SPAL have sacked coach Leonardo Semplici following a miserable run of form.
The Serie A side are bottom of the table and have lost five of their last six league matches, a stretch that has left them seven points adrift of safety.
Semplici, who took over in 2014 and led SPAL from Serie C to promotion to Serie A in 2017, has paid the price for that run of form and is expected to be replaced by Luigi Di Biagio.
The club thanks Mr Semplici and his staff for the work done and results achieved over the years, SPAL, beaten 2-1 by Sassuolo on Sunday, said in a statement.
SPAL comunica di aver sollevato dall’incarico di responsabile della prima squadra biancazzurra mister Leonardo Semplici.
La società ringrazia mister Semplici e il suo staff per il la…
Romelu Lukaku is a crazy talent who can still get even better, according to former Chelsea team-mate Didier Drogba.
Having failed to score in nine consecutive appearances, Lukaku netted twice in wins over Crystal Palace, Southampton and Paris Saint-Germain to re-establish his importance to Manchester United.
The Belgium international, who first moved to England with Chelsea in 2011, has been one of the United stars to benefit the most from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s spell as caretaker manager and is expected to be involved in Saturday s FA Cup quarter-final at Wolves.
And Drogba thinks his former team-mate, who is still only 25, can develop even further in the coming years.
I am really happy for him because I remember the way he started with us. He was a kid…