Everton miss out on Belgian midfielder

Tomer Hemed and John Koutroumbis were on target as Western Sydney Wanderers ended Wellington Phoenix s unbeaten start to the new A-League season with a 2-0 away win.

The hosts took four points from their opening two games of 2021-22, stretching their unbeaten league run to a club-record 13 matches before the visit of the winless Wanderers.

Former Phoenix striker Hemed scored his eighth goal in as many games as he netted 66 minutes into his first appearance against his old club, while Koutroumbis sealed the victory in stoppage time on Friday.

Reno Piscopo dominated the first half for Phoenix as he arrowed wide and saw a second effort saved by Tomas Mejias either side of Josh Laws having a goal ruled out for offside at WIN Stadium.

Three points and a clean…

Frank Lampard s position as Chelsea head coach is under threat, while Tottenham have started talks to extend Harry Kane s deal.

Lampard is under increasing pressure at Stamford Bridge after just one win in their past six Premier League games.

Sunday s 3-1 loss to Manchester City has only put further pressure on the Chelsea boss.

TOP STORY – LAMPARD S POSITION AS CHELSEA BOSS UNDER THREAT

Lampard s job as Chelsea head coach is under serious threat, according to The Athletic.

The report says the Premier League club, who are eighth in the table, have started looking at replacements.

Lampard took charge of Chelsea in July 2019, but they sit seven points behind Liverpool and Manchester United – who have both played one game fewer…

Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 3-3 draw at home to relegation-battling Le Havre on Saturday and will need to wait before confirming their 12th Ligue 1 title.

PSG would have clinched the title with three games to spare with a victory. They have a 12-point gap over second-placed Monaco, who are at Lyon on Sunday, and a goal difference of 47 to Monaco s 18.

The away side opened the scoring in the 19th minute through Christopher Operi and PSG levelled 10 minutes later with Bradley Barcola scoring, but Le Havre went ahead again seven minutes before the break when Andre Ayew found the net.

Le Havre made it 3-1 with an Abdoulaye Toure penalty in the 61st minute, before Achrif Hakimi gave PSG hope with a goal 12 minutes from time and Goncalo Ramos levelled in added t…

Richarlison scored twice as Brazil opened their World Cup campaign with a routine 2-0 win over Serbia.

The Tottenham forward broke the deadlock with a close-range finish just after the hour mark at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Richarlison then sealed the points with a stunning acrobatic effort 17 minutes from time as Tite s side made a winning start in Group G.

The Selecao remain unbeaten in their opening match at the finals since 1934, when they lost 3-1 to Spain in the first round.

Unbeaten in their past 15 World Cup group games, Brazil controlled the first half, but without creating many goalscoring opportunities.

Casemiro tested Vanja Milinkovic-Savic with an ambitious effort from distance, while the Serbia goalkeeper was quickly off his line to…

Melbourne Heart defender Aziz Behich is ready to find something extra for the derby against his former club Melbourne Victory on Friday.

The left-back moved on from the Victory at the end of the 2009/10 season before finding himself at the Heart for their inaugural A-League campaign.

Behich, 21, became the first player to play for both Melbourne clubs and was sent off in the first derby.

While he said the encounter was just like any other game, he admits taking on the Heart s rivals helps him lift.

Every game is the same to me. I just want to win, Behich told Sportal.

This season we ve set ourselves goals and playing against your old team, and obviously being a derby, you get that extra bit of something.

It s always good to play in a d…

Former Newcastle United midfielder Lee Clark hopes to see more local players emerge from the club s youth ranks and progress into the first team.

Paul Dummett, 23, and Adam Armstrong, 18, were born in Newcastle and both are prospects at St James Park, while Jack Colback, who arrived from Sunderland last year, is also from the area.

Wales defender Dummett has made 43 Premier League appearances since debuting in 2010, while Armstrong – on loan at Coventry City – has played 15 matches over the past two seasons.  

Clark, who enjoyed two spells at Newcastle between 1990-97 and 2005-06, believes the duo are good enough to make a name for themselves in the senior team – and he wants others to follow suit.

Paul has done extremely well and forced his w…

Napoli winger Dries Mertens will end speculation regarding his future at Stadio San Paolo by signing a new deal with the club, Sky Sport Italia has revealed.

The 28-year-old hasn t quite managed to establish himself as an undisputed starter in Naples and with quite a few top clubs showing interest in his services, he was linked with a summer exit.

But, with the Azzurri keen to keep hold of their prized asset, they have now offered the winger a new deal until June 2010.

It is believed that talks over a new contract are already in progress and they should eventually result in Mertens extending his stay at Stadio San Paolo.

The Belgium international arrived as a big name signing from PSV Eindhoven two years ago and he has done well to justify the hype.

…

Barcelona could be set to make a surprise move for Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil, .

The Spanish giants are on the lookout for a new midfielder with Andres Iniesta, now 32, struggling to cope with the demands of playing every game.

Ozil will have twelve months remaining on his current deal at the Emirates Stadium come the end of the season and doesn’t appear to be any closer to agreeing new terms.

The twenty-eight year old moved to the North London outfit from Real Madrid in the summer of 2013 has since racked up over one hundred and fifty appearances in all competitions, scoring thirty-one goals while he was part of the squads that won the FA Cup in 2014 and 2015.

Internationally, he has been capped eighty-four times by Germany, scoring twenty-one …

Jerome Boateng is glad to be back in action after returning from four months out in Bayern Munich s 3-0 home victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga.

Germany international Boateng replaced Javi Martinez in the second half of Saturday s game, having recovered from a chest muscle injury, as Bayern extended their advantage at the top of the table to 10 points.

Boateng s return is timely as Bayern have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal, with the treble in their sights, but Boateng is just happy to be playing again.

Welcome back, ! (65 ) 3-0

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN)

It s always a comfortable feeling when you come into the game and the score is 3-0, Boateng told the DFB w…

According to a recent report from Sky Germany, Borussia Dortmund have a buy-back clause for striker Alexander Isak.

The 21-year-old was sold to Real Sociedad by Dortmund back in 2019, but as it turns out, they could get the first option on bringing him back to Germany if all the pieces fall into place, that is.

The youngster has been turning heads with Sociedad for quite some time now and given his upward trajectory, we aren’t expecting that theme to change. However, if another club comes in with a sizeable offer, you’d have to imagine Sociedad will at least consider it.

Making a decision on your future is hard at any age but especially when you re that young. The wrong move could be the catalyst behind success or failure, and when you re someone like Isak w…