Torino add to Napoli’s woes with comprehensive Serie A victory

Napoli’s dismal season continued as they succumbed to a seventh defeat of the season in Serie A, losing 3-0 at Torino.

Antonio Sanabria, Nikola Vlasic and Alessandro Buongiorno got the goals as Walter Mazzarri’s defending champions had another miserable afternoon.

A dismal afternoon for the visitors was compounded by the 50th-minute dismissal of Naples-born wing-back Pasquale Mazzocchi, less than three minutes into his debut.

They are now winless and without a goal in four matches and lie 20 points behind leaders Inter Milan.

Napoli had a 20-3 aggregate goal advantage in the last eight meetings of these two teams in Turin, winning seven and drawing the other.

However, it was destined to be the hosts’ day from the moment Sanabria broke the de…

Tim Krul: Luton disappointed not to beat Bolton in FA Cup

Luton goalkeeper Tim Krul spoke of his side’s disappointment at having to settle for an FA Cup third-round replay against League One high-flyers Bolton.

The teams played out a drab goalless draw at Kenilworth Road on Sunday, despite the hosts coming close to winning at the death when Alfie Doughty struck a post before being controversially denied a penalty by VAR.

Prior to that, Andros Townsend and Jordan Clark had gone close with efforts that were deflected wide, as Ian Evatt’s Bolton gave a dogged defensive showing to earn themselves a second go at knocking out the Premier League outfit.

Thank you for your support yesterday

— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown)

The additional match means Luton’s planned warm-weather training retreat will have t…

Bundesliga Wrap: Stuttgart cruise, Dortmund go top

Stuttgart posted their first Bundesliga win of the season with a 6-2 thrashing of Hoffenheim, while Borussia Dortmund also won on Sunday.

After three successive losses, Stuttgart coach Bruno Labbadia was sacked, with former player Thomas Schneider taking on the job.

And the new man would have been delighted with what he saw, as they cruised to victory thanks to a Vedad Ibisevic hat-trick.

Antonio Rudiger opened the scoring in the 11th minute for the winners, tapping Alexandru Maxim s low cross into an empty net, before Ibisevic opened his account against his former team.

Kevin Volland produced a quick response for Hoffenheim but Romanian Maxim pounced on a mistake by Hoffenheim goalkeeper Koen Casteels to restore Stuttgart s two-goal lead.

And Bosnia intern…

Belhadj nears Lazio switch

Algerian full-back Nadir Belhadj could be joining Lazio in the summer transfer window, .

The Al Sadd footballer is set to leave the Qatari side when his contract expires at the end of the season, and he is free to negotiate a Bosman deal with interested clubs.

According to Il Corriere dello Sport, Italian giants Lazio are leading the race for the experienced defender.

The Biancocelesti are looking to sign another left-sided defender to provide competition for Stefan Radu, and they see Belhadj as a great low-cost option.

Lazio have declared their interest in the Algeria international a while back, and club officials are expected to open negotiations with the player’s representatives in the coming days.

Nadir Belhadj has been at Al Sadd since lea…

West Ham 1 Arsenal 5: Sanchez hat-trick sends Gunners second

Alexis Sanchez scored a 14-minute hat-trick in a frantic finale as Arsenal moved second in the Premier League with a 5-1 victory over struggling West Ham at London Stadium on Saturday.

With Manchester City having lost 3-1 at home to leaders Chelsea, Sanchez ensured Arsenal took their chance to move one point ahead of Pep Guardiola s side in a match that exploded into life in the closing stages, highlighted by a six-minute spell in which four goals were scored.

Arsenal moved ahead when Chile international Sanchez capitalised on an error from Angelo Ogbonna to tee up Mesut Ozil for his eighth strike in all competitions this term – equalling the total he managed in the entire 2015-16 season.

West Ham initially showed signs of improvement after the restart, but …

Italy would be at World Cup if I´d paid Conte €2.5m more – Tavecchio

Former Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio thinks Italy would be at the World Cup if he had agreed to Antonio Conte s request for a €2.5million pay rise.

Conte led an unfancied Italy side to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, eliminating defending champions Spain in the last-16 and drawing praise for his tactics.

The coach announced his intention to step down in the months leading up to the tournament, joining Chelsea following the campaign in France.

Gian Piero Ventura subsequently took the helm but failed to guide the Azzurri past Sweden in a play-off for a spot at Russia 2018, with Tavecchio standing down in the aftermath.

Asked what his greatest regret from his time at the FIGC helm was, Tavecchio told La Gazzetta dello Sport…

Prediction: Arsenal vs Leeds United

Prediction: Match to end in 2-2 draw

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Arsenal and Leeds United will face each other in the Premier League this weekend. The match at the Emirates Stadium in North London is slated to kick off at 4:30pm UK time on Sunday and promises to be a cracking game of football.

Arsenal

Arsenal will head into the match against Leeds on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa away from home at Villa Park in the Premier League. It followed a 2-1 loss at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium in the league.

The Gunners are 11th in the Premier League table at the moment with 31 points from 23 matches. The former English champions are as many as nine points behind fourth-placed Liverpool and still have a chance of finis…

Alexis Sanchez refuses Roma loan

Manchester United and AS Roma had reached an agreement about a loan move for Alexis Sanchez only for the Chilean to refuse the move, according to BeIN Sports journalist .

In a swap deal involving Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Sanchez arrived to Old Trafford from Arsenal in January 2018 as a player expected to make immediate impact on United s fortunes. However, it can be safely said that he completely failed to live up to those expectations. In a season and a half, he has scored five goals in 45 games an abysmal record for an experienced forward, and United have reportedly been trying to sell him for a while now.

However, his enormous wages have always been the factor that made any such deal impossible, with no suitors willing to match them and him refusing to go for anything les…

Kowalewski parts company with Iraklis

Experienced Polish keeper Wojciech Kowalewski has left Greek side Iraklis after they released him from his contract.  The 32 year old joined Iraklis in 2008 from Korona Kielce and made 39 league appearances for the Super League side in his stint at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium.

Kowalewski is now being linked with a return to Legia Warsaw, the club where he began his senior professional career. Apart from Legia, Iraklis and Korona, he has also represented Dyskobolia Grodzisk, Shakhtar Donetsk and Spartak Moscow.

He has been capped 11 times for Poland and even featured for them last year in the qualifying games for the 2010 World Cup.

Legia are currently in the market for a goalkeeper because Slovak stopper Jan Mucha is expected to leave after his contract expire…

Schwarzer: Qualifying is tough

Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer feels fans underestimate how difficult it is to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

After their move into the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, Australia had a relatively straightforward path to South Africa in 2010, finishing comfortably on top of their final qualifying group.
Things have not been so easy this time around, with four draws and a loss from their six matches seeing them in third spot in AFC Group B with two games to play on the road to Brazil.
The Socceroos face a clash with Jordan in Melbourne on Tuesday, before finishing their qualification campaign by hosting Iraq in Sydney a week later.
Schwarzer feels people do not give some of the region s lesser lights enough credit for their performances.
I don t think we underestimate…