Champions league

It moved Brendan Rodgers's side above Manchester United into second place with 53 points from 28 games with United away to runaway leaders Manchester City on Sunday. * Earlier Southampton ended a horrendous run of form as they beat bottom club Sheffield United 2-0. Burnley also secured an important point in their quest to stay clear of trouble as they drew 1-1 with Arsenal. * Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Romain Saiss provided a contender for miss of the season during a 0-0 Midlands derby stalemate away to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday. The draw left Villa in ninth place on 40 points from 26 games with Wolves in 12th spot on 35 points. * Paris St Germain geared up for their Champions League last-16 second leg against Barcelona with a no-nonsense 3-0 victory at Stade Brestois in the French Cup last 32 on Saturday. Elsewhere, RC Lens, who are fifth in Ligue 1, slumped to a 3-2 defeat at third division Red Star. Olympique Lyonnais advanced by beating Ligue 2 side Sochaux 5-2. * Barcelona continued their rampant run of domestic form to beat Osasuna 2-0 away from home on Saturday and move to within two points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, with Lionel Messi setting up goals scored by Jordi Alba and teenager Ilaix Moriba. The victory followed Barca's heroic second leg comeback win over Sevilla to reach the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday and notched a 13th league win in 16 games, while they are unbeaten since losing at Cadiz on Dec. 5. * Faced with a poor penalty record this season, Eibar again turned to goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic in Saturday's La Liga game at Cadiz but the move did not pay off as they suffered a 1-0 defeat. Eibar dropped to 18th in the standings and into the relegation zone having failed to win any of their last nine league games. * Two goals from Alvaro Morata helped Juventus come from behind to beat Lazio 3-1 in Serie A on Saturday, closing the gap on leaders Inter Milan to seven points. The win moved Juve on to 52 …

[Read more...] about Leicester turn up heat in top-four race

With the win Chelsea tightened their grip on fourth place in the Premier League table, four points ahead of Everton who are fifth. It was the sixth win in nine league games for the Blues since Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard in late January and Chelsea have drawn the other three, conceding only two goals under their new coach. * West Ham United maintained their push for a top-four finish as goals by Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson earned them a 2-0 home victory over Leeds United in the Premier League on Monday. David Moyes's side are two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea having played a game less. * A second-half goal from defender Milan Skriniar was enough to earn Inter Milan a 1-0 win over Atalanta on Monday, with the victory sending Antonio Conte's side six points clear at the top of the Serie A standings. The seventh league win in a row took Inter one step closer to a first Serie A title in 11 years. They have 62 points, six clear of rivals AC Milan in second, and 10 ahead of third-placed champions Juventus. * Rotherham United's fixture against Coventry City on Saturday has been postponed due to more COVID-19 cases within the first team squad and staff, the Championship club said on Monday. A second COVID-19 outbreak at the second-tier outfit had resulted in their games against Brentford last Saturday and Luton Town on Tuesday postponed. * Derek McInnes, the longest serving manager in the Scottish Premiership, has left Aberdeen after eight years in charge, the club announced on Monday. Aberdeen are fourth in the league but have won only one of their last nine games and have scored only five goals so far in 2021. * The English Football League's (EFL) 2021-22 season will kick off on Aug. 6 with a televised game to begin the campaign. A majority of matches from the opening weekend will be held the following day, the EFL announced on Monday. * A decision on whether international spectators will be allowed to attend the Tokyo Olympics Games this summer …

[Read more...] about Chelsea march on under Tuchel with 2-0 win over Everton

More tough times could be ahead for Hà Nội FC. Photo thanhnien.vn Peter Cowan At long last, Vietnamese football is back. Alright, by the time SHB Đà Nẵng and Hà Tĩnh kick-off this coming Saturday we’ll only have gone without V.League 1 football for 42 days. That may not be that long in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly felt like an interminable wait, especially for those of us tasked with writing a football column without any actual football taking place! To celebrate the imminent return of the beautiful game, I’m going to stick my neck on the line and make a few bold predictions for the rest of the season. Hà Nội FC will finish outside the top three The country’s top team over the last few years may be languishing at the very bottom of the table right now, but few pundits or fans expect them to stay there. I’m not so sure a bounce back to title contention is on the cards though. Yes, Hà Nội have been hit badly by injuries and will be getting some key defensive players back soon, but I think their problems lie further up the park. Coach Chu Đình Nghiêm is blessed with attacking talent in spades and that embarrassment of riches is what I think may prove his downfall. Too many forward-thinking players are often crammed into the Hà Nội starting XI, leaving them exposed in the middle of the park where football matches tend to be won and it’s hard to see that changing without Nghiêm making tough decisions and leaving out some well-paid star men. Hà Nội have too much talent to stay in the bottom half, but I can see them failing to mount a proper title challenge. Viettel make it out of their Champions League group Việt Nam's champions face formidable opponents in the AFC Champions League’s Group F in the form of South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai, Thai champions BG Pathum United FC and the winner of a playoff. It will be a big ask for Viettel to go through and they’ll deservedly be underdogs, but I fancy …

[Read more...] about The Local Game: Three bold predictions as Vietnamese football returns