Football Mag

Pep Guardiola has conceded that Manchester City are set to be without Kevin De Bruyne “for a while”, but insists a knock picked up by John Stones is “not a big problem”. The reigning Premier League champions moved back to the top of the table on Saturday with a 1-0 win away at Bournemouth. Victory was most welcome, but it came at some cost. De Bruyne was forced off shortly before half-time, before Stones joined him back in the dressing room shortly after the restart. Guardiola admits that he is set to lose a Belgium international playmaker for a third time this season, but he is confident that an England international defender will return to his plans shortly. The City boss told BBC Sport: “Vincent Kompany wasn’t 100% and John Stones does not have a big problem, it was a precaution. “Kevin will be out for a while with a muscular problem, hamstring.”

Romelu Lukaku has said he was happy to let Paul Pogba take a late penalty rather than go for a hat-trick in Saturday's win over Southampton. Lukaku scored a pair of goals as Manchester United earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over Southampton at Old Trafford. The Belgian had a chance to seal a hat-trick deep into stoppage time after Marcus Rashford was fouled by Stuart Armstrong in the box. But, rather than take the penalty, Lukaku opted to hand the ball to team-mate Pogba, whose spot-kick was down the middle and stopped by a kick save from Angus Gunn. Despite the miss, Lukaku had no regrets about giving Pogba the chance to score from the spot rather than try for a hat-trick himself. "I am a striker and I wanted Paul Pogba to score the penalty," Lukaku said. "He has been on a good run but he has been an important player for us and will bounce back."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits the Manchester United “dressing room is bouncing” after seeing a Romelu Lukaku brace secure a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Southampton. The Red Devils headed into a home date with the Saints on Saturday boasting an unbeaten Premier League record under their interim boss. At times it appeared as though Solskjaer could suffer just the second setback of his reign at Old Trafford, with the visitors taking the lead and putting in a spirited showing. Solskjaer told BBC Sport: “It was one of those games, it had everything. “It was an open game and they came here to beat us. We should have been 1-0, 2-0 up in the first five minutes. “They settled down and scored with two unbelievable strikes. My team did fantastic and the boys did great in the second half."

Alexis Sanchez was forced off injured during Manchester United's Premier League clash with Southampton at Old Trafford on Saturday. With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men trailing 1-0 early in the second half, the Chile international appeared to hurt his knee in a collision with Jan Bednarek in the Saints box. He was immediately replaced by Diogo Dalot. It was a blow that appears to put the former Arsenal attacker's participation in Wednesday's Champions League last-16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germainat Parc des Princes in grave doubt. The Red Devils have been luckless on the injury front in recent weeks, losing Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard to muscular injuries in the first leg against PSG before Solskjaer was forced to make three changes in the first half of last weekend's scoreless home draw against Liverpool.

Hugo Lloris kept out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's stoppage-time penalty as Tottenham rescued a 1-1 draw with Arsenal in a dramatic north London derby on Saturday. The Gunners had led through Aaron Ramsey's early goal and may have felt aggrieved to have been pegged back 16 minutes from the end via Harry Kane's penalty, the England forward becoming the all-time leading scorer in Premier League matches between these two sides. Kane appeared to be offside from Christian Eriksen's free-kick before he was bundled over by Shkodran Mustafi, but the Gunners had a golden chance to restore their advantage in the first minute of time added on after Aubameyang went down easily under contact from Davinson Sanchez. Yet Lloris, who was involved in a bizarre Kieran Trippier own goal in Wednesday's 2-0 defeat at Chelsea, kept out Aubameyang's weak effort low to his right before Jan Vertonghen denied the Gabon striker right on the line as Arsenal tried to capitalise on the...

Riyad Mahrez scored decisively to sink Bournemouth but Manchester City's second consecutive 1-0 win in the Premier League came at a cost. City are back at the top of the table, with Liverpool needing to address a two-point deficit in Sunday's Merseyside derby at Everton after Mahrez snuck in his 11th goal of the season 10 minutes into the second half at the Vitality Stadium.. Yet the Algeria winger was only on the field because Kevin De Bruyne suffered the latest setback of an injury-ruined season. Eddie Howe's hosts remain 12th after a far more robust showing than in their 5-1 loss at Arsenal in midweek, but they offered little attacking threat from their disciplined 5-4-1 setup.

Two goals from Romelu Lukaku secured a thrilling 3-2 win for Manchester United over Southampton that lifts them back into the Premier League's top four. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side looked to be heading for a fourth home game in a row without a win in all competitions after James Ward-Prowse converted a superb free-kick. United, who lost Alexis Sanchez to injury, had overturned Yan Valery's opener through Andreas Pereira and Lukaku only to see the lead slip away. But Lukaku's emphatic finish in the 88th minute was enough for all three points, even though Paul Pogba missed an injury-time penalty.

La Liga games will no longer take place on Mondays, says the Spanish FA's president Luis Rubiales. Alaves supporters held a mock funeral during their La Liga win over Levante in protest at the match being switched to Monday night for live TV coverage. Alaves fans also protested about fixture changes during their game against Athletic Bilbao, held on a Monday in December. "Business is important, but fans more so," Rubiales said on Twitter. He added: "There will be no more football on Mondays. From next season in La Liga, there will be football on Saturdays and Sundays. We will see what happens on Fridays, if we reach a good agreement for all." Spanish top-flight games have been played on Mondays since 2010 and while the league's organising body says the matches have large television audiences, they have led to a fall in attendances.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has warned Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe to ignore the increasing hype that surrounds him. The 20-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent seasons, playing an integral role in France's World Cup triumph last year and winning the inaugural Kopa Trophy in December – a new award given to the world's best male footballer aged under 21. The PSG star man has enjoyed another stellar campaign this year for the Ligue 1 leaders, and stepped into the void left in the wake of injuries to Neymar and Edinson Cavani to put the club on the brink of the quarter-finals of the Champions League. "Mbappe is fantastic," the LA Galaxy forward told the MLS club's official website. "He's young, he's won nice trophies so far and he's developing. He is doing a good job and he'll continue to do the job. "He just has to keep his focus, even if the hype is around him and all things happening. Just keep focused, train h...

Victor Lindelof said he has nothing bad to say about former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho as he praised Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for bringing "presence" to Old Trafford. Mourinho was sacked in December amid reports of dressing-room unrest and replaced by United favourite Solskjaer, who has only tasted defeat once in all competitions. Lindelof was brought to United by Mourinho in 2017 but the Sweden defender found himself in and out of the team under the Portuguese boss, who wanted to sign a new centre-back before his departure. The 24-year-old Lindelof has since established himself in Solskjaer's starting XI and earned rave reviews for his performances, and the Swede insisted there is no bad blood with Mourinho. "Look, I will be always grateful to Jose," Lindelof told the Daily Mail. "He bought me. I have nothing bad to say about him. When he wanted to buy other defenders, it was OK. I like the competition. You don't improve without it....

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted he is looking into signing a new left-back over the summer due to Benjamin Mendy's continued injury struggles. Mendy has made just 16 Premier League appearances since joining City in the summer of 2017, with serious knee injuries disrupting both of his seasons in English football. The French international was on the bench for City's victory over West Ham on Wednesday night, but Guardiola has now revealed that the 24-year-old remains some way from full fitness and was never likely to take the field at the Etihad. "I don't know what's going to happen but we are thinking about the chance to find some players in that position," Guardiola said on Friday. "Today he (Mendy) is not fit. It (injury) happened two seasons, it can happen three. Hopefully not, he's working on that, but the truth is we have only been able to use him a few games, that is the reality. "So at the end the strongest gu...

The FA are reviewing allegations following reports of alleged illegal payments to Andreas Christensen's father around the time of his transfer to Chelsea from Brondby. The Blues reportedly employed the young Dane's father - Sten - as a scout on the same day that they signed the player, and was paid over £650,000 across four years. Clubs are not allowed to make payments to families of minors and the Premier League have handed both Liverpool and Everton fines and youth transfer bans in the past for similar breaches of conduct. “The FA is aware of the allegations and we are reviewing them,” an FA spokesman said in a statement to Goal. Sten was a goalkeeping coach at Brondby, and Football Leaks' original allegation - published by Politiken in November - suggested that he remained at his post at the Danish club and did not actually work as a scout for Chelsea. If the Blues were to be handed a youth transfer ban, it will come at a bad time for the club, who have rece...

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed he is preparing for life at Manchester United next season, making plans for the summer transfer window and even featuring in club season-ticket promotions. The caretaker manager has led United to 12 wins in his first 15 games in charge after replacing Jose Mourinho, but the club has made no announcement yet regarding a long-term appointment. Yet Solskjaer has explained that he continues to plan ahead even if he is not making any assumptions that he will be handed the role beyond the end of the current campaign. “Yes I have. We’ve been discussing the future of the club,” he told reporters on Friday when asked whether he had suggested playing squad changes for next season. “We did that before I had won two or three games and all this talk about if I should stay or not. My contract is up in the summer but I still, as I’ve always done for Man United, give my 100 per cent and my best. “You have to plan. Even if I'm not here, I still give my...