A masterful performance from Manchester City playmaker David Silva in the 2-0 win at Bournemouth helped to give boss Pep Guardiola the slick control he craves.
City recovered from an early injury to in-form striker Gabriel Jesus, with Raheem Sterling s opener before the half hour and a Tyrone Mings own goal in the second period securing the points.
Guardiola s men kept only their sixth clean sheet in 25 top-flight matches as they moved up to second, eight points behind leaders Chelsea, and he was delighted by how Silva orchestrated closing out the contest on the front foot.
The core of the side who won City s first Premier League title in 2011-12 have endured a chequered existence under the former Barcelona coach.
Joe Hart was forced into a season-long lo…
Pep Guardiola was recommended David Silva when the Manchester City playmaker was at Valencia, but the Spaniard was too expensive to bring to Barcelona.
Silva is considered one of the best players in City s history, having moved to the Premier League club from Valencia in 2010, when current Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery was in charge of the LaLiga outfit.
Guardiola, who was at Barcelona, revealed that Emery had recommended Silva to him but the Catalans could not make the finances work on the deal.
I remember when I was at Barcelona and the first or second year I was there, Unai Emery was there and after the game he said, David Silva is the player for you, for Barcelona. Believe me that is a Barcelona player,’ Guardiola told reporters.
And he was s…
Burnley midfielder Joey Barton says he has been effectively forced into an early retirement after being banned for 18 months by the Football Association (FA) over betting offences.
The 34-year-old, who was also fined £30,000, is alleged by the FA to have made 1,260 bets over a 10-year period between March 2006 and May 2016.
Barton, who confirmed his intention to appeal against the length of his suspension, accepts that be broke FA rules, but claims the governing body s sanction is too harsh and that it did not take into account his gambling addiction, for which he provided a medical report.
I am very disappointed at the harshness of the sanction. The decision effectively forces me into an early retirement from playing football, Barton said via a statement on …
Real Madrid will equal the club s record winning run with victory over Basel in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
The defending champions are already assured of their place in the round of 16 and only a Basel victory by four goals or more could jeopardise Real s chances of topping Group B.
Real currently sit six points clear of their Swiss opponents and claimed a 5-1 triumph when the sides met at Santiago Bernabeu back in September.
Carlo Ancelotti s men will head into this week s clash having embarked on a winning streak of 14 matches in all competitions.
The club record currently stands at 15 achieved under Miguel Munoz in 1960-61 and Jose Mourinho in 2011-12.
However, in Basel, Ancelotti who this week revealed talks over a new contract ha…
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo could command a price tag of £300million, according to agent Jorge Mendes.
Cristiano Ronaldo s agent believes Real Madrid would receive a fee of £300million if they opted to sell the Portugal captain tomorrow and revealed that the forward has a £1billion release clause in his contract.
Ronaldo moved from Manchester United to Real in 2009 for a then world-record fee of £80m and has since gone on to win the FIFA Ballon d Or twice.
The 29-year-old has been constantly linked with a return to Old Trafford despite agreeing a new deal to stay in Madrid until 2018 but his representative, Jorge Mendes, warned his client would command a huge fee.
When asked what Ronaldo s valuation would be, Mendes told BBC Sport: Cristano…
Former Barcelona star Luis Suarez Miramontes has lavished praise on the club s star forward trio of his namesake, Neymar and Lionel Messi.
The defending Spanish and European champions have turned in a pair of stupendous performances over the past week, thrashing bitter rivals Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu before returning to Camp Nou to demolish Roma 6-1 in the Champions League.
Neymar and Suarez have shouldered much of the burden in attack this season after Messi was sidelined by knee ligament damage at the end of September but the Argentina superstar marked his return to the starting line-up with a brace as Roma were put to the sword.
The 1960 Ballon d Or winner Miramontes, who currently works for another of his former clubs Inter as a scout, told …
Defending champions Manchester United will open their EFL Cup campaign against Burton Albion in the third round.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the hero last season as United edged Southampton in extra time to claim the trophy, and Jose Mourinho s men are set to start their title defence at home to the Championship outfit in September.
It will be only the second meeting between the two sides following United s FA Cup third-round replay win in 2006.
The draw was heavily criticised prior to Thursday due to the location and unusual time, with it scheduled to be staged in Beijing at 11:15 local time (03:15 GMT) in the Chinese capital.
: Round Three Draw :trophy: v
— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup)
And fans in Britain who set their alarms to follow the…
A confident Romelu Lukaku said he was born for this after a pair of goals in Belgium s draw with Mexico moved him level with the country s all-time leading goalscorers.
Manchester United striker Lukaku scored twice as Roberto Martinez s side were held 3-3 in Friday s friendly, his second salvaging the draw after Hirving Lozano s four-minute double put Mexico ahead.
The 24-year-old is now level with Paul Van Himst and Bernard Voorhoof on 30 goals for Belgium and can set a new benchmark by converting against Japan on Tuesday.
I was born for this, Lukaku is quoted as saying by Het Laatse Nieuws. I just want to score as many goals as possible.
I m glad I matched the record. I knew I d do it. I want to break the record before 2018.
But I really hope…
Javier Pastore is not contemplating leaving Paris Saint-Germain in January despite acknowledging that he needs to play more regularly if he is to get into Argentina s World Cup squad.
The playmaker joined PSG from Palermo ahead of the 2011-12 Ligue 1 season and was one of the first big signings of the club s Qatari revolution.
He was a success in his first four years in Paris, but injuries, inconsistency and competition for places have hampered his progress since 2015.
This term Pastore has featured in seven of PSG s 13 Ligue 1 games, earning his fourth start in Saturday s 4-1 win over Nantes, setting up Edinson Cavani for their first goal and scoring the third.
The 28-year-old knows that he probably needs to be featuring more regularly if he is to be inc…
Wolverhampton Wanderers are interested in signing Folarin Balogun from Premier League rivals Arsenal in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that although the Gunners do not want to sell the striker at the end of the season, if the youngster does push for a move away from the Emirates Stadium, then Arsenal could ask for around £30 million in transfer fees for him.
Balogun is on loan at Reims at the moment. The 21-year-old striker moved to the French club on a loan deal in the summer of 2022 and is scheduled to return to his parent club Arsenal at the end of the season. The England Under-21 international striker has made 27 starts and three substitute appearances in Ligue 1 for Reims so far this season, scoring 18 goals and providing two assists in …