Sports

Chelsea s Hakim Ziyech became the first player since Diego Costa in August 2014 to score on each of his first two starts for the club after he netted the opening goal against Burnley on Saturday.

The Morocco winger put Chelsea ahead midway through the first half of the Premier League fixture at Turf Moor when he wrong-footed goalkeeper Nick Pope with a low shot after being set up Tammy Abraham.

Ziyech had scored on his full Champions League debut on Wednesday with the third goal in Chelsea s 4-0 win over Russian side Krasnodar.

2 Hakim Ziyech is the first player to score in both of his first two starts for Chelsea in all competitions since Diego Costa in August 2014. Arrival.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)

The 27-year-old signed a deal to join Ch…

Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes insisted he does not need to be rested after coming off the bench to secure FA Cup victory over rivals Liverpool.

Fernandes was among the substitutes in Sunday s 3-2 FA Cup fourth-round triumph at Old Trafford, where he was introduced in the second half and scored the match-winning 78th-minute free-kick.

The Portugal international has now scored 28 goals for United in all competitions since his debut in February 2020 – more than any other player for a Premier League club.

Fernandes has helped rejuvenate United, who have gone from struggling to qualify for the Champions League to topping the Premier League table through 19 matches in 2020-21.

But Fernandes dismissed claims he is tired, saying: Tired? With 26 years o…

President Joe Biden phoned the United States team in Qatar to urge Gregg Berhalter s players to shock em all at the World Cup.

Ahead of their opening game against Wales on Monday, the team gathered to listen to Biden offer words of encouragement to a group he acknowledged were outsiders.

The United States men s team took third place at the inaugural 1930 World Cup but have never gone further than the quarter-finals since, only reaching that stage once, in 2002.

By comparison, the US women s national team are four-time World Cup winners, and will be chasing a hat-trick of consecutive titles at next year s finals in Australia and New Zealand.

Biden, who turned 80 on Sunday, told Berhalter: Coach, put me in, I m ready to play.

He added: You guys, I …

Thomas Tuchel has been gifted such a talented squad at Chelsea, according to Jurgen Klopp, who described the decision to sack Frank Lampard as really harsh . 

Having confirmed Lampard s departure on Monday, Chelsea announced Tuchel s appointment just over 24 hours later, initially on a contract that runs through until the end of the 2021-22 season. 

Chelsea s spending in the previous transfer window, including bringing in Bundesliga talents Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, certainly gives their new head coach plenty to work with. 

Still, Klopp felt Lampard deserved more time and hopes the former England international can go on to enjoy a fresh start elsewhere in his managerial career, free from the pressures of being in charge at a club where he has such a dee…

Thursday marks exactly five years since Marcus Rashford exploded onto the scene for Manchester United.

Having been fast-tracked into the first-team squad due to injuries, the then-18-year-old was handed a surprise start against Midtjylland in the Europa League after Anthony Martial was injured in the warm-up.

Rashford responded with two goals in a 5-1 win, both in front of the Stretford End, in a game neither he nor fans have forgotten.

On February 25, 2021, Rashford could well be afforded a rest when United host Real Sociedad at Old Trafford, having scored in the 4-0 first-leg win to put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s side in control of the tie.

The importance of saving Rashford for major games to come is a sign of his status within the squad after five years, t…

Noni Madueke believes Chelsea have finally found answers to the goalscoring problems that plagued them last season.

The England Under-21 international came off the bench to fire Mauricio Pochettino’s side to a 2-1 win at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday, slotting the winner from the penalty spot in the 89th minute after being fouled by Eberechi Eze.

Earlier Michael Olise, who nearly became a Chelsea player in the summer, had equalised on the stroke of half-time after the hosts had failed to build on Mykhailo Mudryk’s 13th-minute opener.

There were chances for Mudryk, Nicolas Jackson and Ian Maatsen on his first start to add to the hosts’ tally but a combination of wayward finishing and Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson kept Roy Hodgson’s side in it, unt…

Marcus Rashford has his sights on a career-best goal haul this season after adding to his tally in Manchester United s Premier League win over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

Erik ten Hag s side returned to top-flight action in miserable conditions at Old Trafford, but exerted their control to run out comfortable winners in a 3-0 victory.

Rashford, who struggled across a tough 2021-22 campaign, picked up where he left off with his revitalised club form, netting his side s opener before assisting the second.

It takes him to 10 goals in 21 matches across all competitions for United this year, and the 25-year-old acknowledges he has a target in mind.

Every forward always has a number that they want to try and reach, he told Amazon Prime Sport.

For me…

Robert Lewandowski s header to crown Bayern Munich s 3-0 Champions League semi-final victory over Lyon gave him a place in the competition s history alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

It was the Poland striker s 15th goal in this season s tournament, part of a remarkable haul of 55 across all competitions.

Ronaldo is the only other player to hit that number, although he has incredibly done so on three occasions – each time in successful campaigns for Real Madrid.

In 2013-14, the five-time Ballon d Or winner struck an unmatched 17, while he scored 16 and 15 in 2015-16 and 2017-18 respectively.

15 – Robert Lewandowski has become only the second player to score 15+ goals in a single campaign after Cristiano Ronaldo (17 in 13-14, 16 in 15-16 15 in 17-18). Mons…

Jurgen Klopp s 1,000th match in management; the English top flight s 50,000th fixture – Chelsea s trip to Liverpool on Saturday wasn t short of milestones, intrigue or importance.

But there was certainly no surplus of quality at Anfield as two teams who ve been feeling sorry for themselves for most of the season failed to produce the spark that could reignite their thoroughly underwhelming campaigns.

Graham Potter s men left with a 0-0 draw that Chelsea might ultimately be relatively happy with, but generally speaking it was a match devoid of brilliance, and by extension an indictment of two teams who should be faring far, far better.

It bears remembering that, in fairness, Liverpool and Chelsea played out draws in seven of their previous 17 Premier League meet…

It s never easy for any team in any competition to lose a final. The feeling of coming so close only to be left so far away in the end is surely frustrating, even for those who had won the previous edition of the competition. The bigger stage the bigger the pain of it, and there s no bigger stage than the World Cup.

France were very impressive throughout the tournament in Qatar, despite missing some key players. Paul Pogba, who played a major part in France s World Cup triumph in 2018, is yet to play at all this season, and Karim Benzema picked up an injury before the start, having just won the Ballon d Or. Left-back Lucas Hernandez was forced to drop out after only 12 minutes of the opening match.

Didier Deschamps made the right mixture and set the right combination ag…