Scolari extends contract with Guangzhou Evergrande

Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal s ability to solve problems after they overcame a hesitant start to thrash Everton 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium, moving five points clear at the Premier League summit.

Arsenal were kept quiet for 40 minutes on Wednesday by Sean Dyche s Toffees – who inflicted a surprise 1-0 defeat on the Gunners less than a month ago, but the floodgates opened with a quickfire double before the break.

Bukayo Saka hammered home the opener before Gabriel Martinelli got the second, with both men reaching double figures for Premier League goals this term to put Arsenal in control.

Skipper Martin Odegaard then added a third before Martinelli clinched his brace late on, dealing Everton their heaviest league defeat since they were thrashed 5-1 on the same gr…

Barcelona may have to rely on selling commercial revenue streams and broadcasting rights to ease financial difficulties should Frenkie de Jong not join Manchester United.

That is the message from football financial expert Kieran Maguire, who outlined to Stats Perform the issues Barca face in meeting LaLiga financial fair play rulings.

The Blaugrana have already spent over €100million to bring in Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, alongside free agents Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen, while renewing Ousmane Dembele s deal.

Barca s dealing have led to question marks from pundits given the club are reportedly €1.3billion in debut, with Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann pondering how they were able to sign Die Roten s prized asset Lewandowski.

Magu…

Real Madrid defender Alvaro Odriozola is likely to be out for the rest of the season after breaking his collarbone.

The Spain international reportedly fell awkwardly in training after a challenge with team-mate Vinicius Junior.

The club confirmed on Friday that the full-back has suffered a fracture and, while there is no time frame on his recovery, he is expected to miss his side s remaining six LaLiga matches of 2018-19.

Odriozola has played only 14 league games since moving from Real Sociedad in a reported €35million deal but has been a regular in the side since Zinedine Zidane returned to the club last month.

Madrid face Athletic Bilbao, Getafe, Rayo Vallecano, Villarreal, Real Sociedad and Real Betis in their final matches of the season.

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Ronald Koeman believes Antoine Griezmann is growing in confidence and the Barcelona head coach hopes the forward s run of form can continue.

Griezmann scored for the third straight game for the first time in his Barca career with the opener in Wednesday s 3-0 Champions League win at Ferencvaros.

Martin Braithwaite doubled the lead before Ousmane Dembele s penalty as Barca, without the rested Lionel Messi, won their first five group stage games in a Champions League campaign for the first time since 2002-03.

But Griezmann s form is a particular boost amid the club s inconsistencies in LaLiga and Koeman praised the forward.

It is always a matter of trust of a player. As I said many times, Antoine has always worked hard to improve his game and effectiveness…

that Manchester United are set to announce the first signing of the summer as Villarreal defender Eric Bailly nears Old Trafford move.

The Red Devils had a £30 million bid accepted for the Ivorian defender, and they will soon make the transfer official.

Bailly has agreed personal terms with the Premier League giants and will undergo a medical in the next couple of days.

Villarreal are set to earn a healthy profit on the 22-year-old footballer, having signed him for mere £4.4 million in January 2015, just weeks before he went on to win the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.

Bailly has since made a total of 35 La Liga outings for the Yellow Submarine, and he clearly did enough to secure a lucrative move to Old Trafford.

Swedish superst…

Luis Suarez was philosophical after Uruguay s group-stage exit at the Copa America Centenario and insisted he is very proud of his team-mates.

Barcelona star Suarez played no part in his country s disappointing Copa campaign, due to fitness issues brought about by a hamstring injury sustained in his club s Copa del Rey final victory over Sevilla last month.

The absence of their talisman and record scorer a man who plundered a scarcely-believable 59 goals in all competitions for Barca in 2015-16 undermined La Celeste, who lost their opening two group games to Mexico and Venezuela.

Oscar Tabarez s team, who have won the Copa a record 15 times, at least signed off in style, beating Jamaica 3-0 in Santa Clara on Monday as Suarez watched on from the bench.

T…

The Solomon Islands came from behind to clinch a hard-fought 1-1 draw against New Zealand in OFC World Cup qualifying on Wednesday.

West Bromwich Albion striker Chris Wood opened the scoring for New Zealand in stifling Honiara heat before Benjamin Totori drew level for the hosts in the 57th minute.

The match served as a dead rubber in Group B after Papua New Guinea and Fiji played out a 1-1 draw earlier in the day.

That result guaranteed both New Zealand and the Solomon Islands a berth in the next round of OFC World Cup qualifying as well as a place in the final four at the OFC Nations Cup.

With that in mind, New Zealand head coach Ricki Herbert rested a number of regular starters including Ivan Vicelich, Chris Killen, Shane Smeltz and Michael McGlinchey…

England goalkeeper Joe Hart is looking for a positive start to Euro 2012 against France on Monday.

The Three Lions come into the tournament with low expectations, with a late change of manager and several key injuries hurting their chances.

And they face many observers outside bet for the tournament in Laurent Blanc s side, but Hart believes Les Bleus can be beaten.

(The game is) really important. We need to play well, we re up against a very strong French side who have got some really talented players, but I think they could say the same thing about us, Hart told Absolute Radio.

We both need to start well and hopefully we ll play the better on the night.”

The 25-year-old also insisted he does not think about his last international tournament,…

Gerard Deulofeu will join Premier League side Watford on loan from Barcelona for the rest of the season, the LaLiga leaders have confirmed.

Spain winger Deulofeu re-joined Barca from Everton during the close-season when his boyhood club exercised a buyback option after the 23-year-old s impressive loan stint at AC Milan.

However, he has been restricted to five LaLiga starts, scoring in October s win over Malaga, and Philippe Coutinho s arrival from Liverpool this month was set to leave Deulofeu further down the pecking order in Ernesto Valverde s squad.

Watford will pay Deulofeu s salary in full during his time at Vicarage Road, with a potential additional payment of €1million to be made to Barcelona if certain stipulations are met.

Catalan newspaper S…

Luciano Spalletti questioned the character of Inter s players after they were held to a fifth successive draw in Serie A.

The Nerazzurri are now eight games without a league win following Saturday s 1-1 result against a Crotone team managed by Inter legend Walter Zenga.

Eder headed the home side in front after 23 minutes at San Siro but Crotone hit back after the break, Andrea Barberis capitalising on a lucky break to poke home an equaliser.

Spalletti acknowledged Inter are not hitting the same heights they were at the start of the season, but challenged his squad to work their way out of their current malaise as they bid for a top-four finish and Champions League qualification.

8 Inter Milan have equalled their longest winless streak in their Serie …