Scott McTominay says Manchester United must maintain standards of Chelsea win

City fell to a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa as United bounced back from the lifeless loss to Newcastle by beating Chelsea 2-1 thanks to McTominay’s brace, moving them within three points of their fourth-placed neighbours.

When that was pointed out to the matchwinner, along with the bunched-up standings, McTominay said: “We barely pay attention to that in terms of we just concentrate on how we’re playing and if the style of football that we’re playing is how the manager wants.

“In games like tonight it was and against Newcastle it wasn’t, so we have to find that balance between us where we try and do that every single week.

“I felt like that was a game where we had to come out and show to the fans that we have full focus on this game, we want to play we…

Calhanoglu savours ´karma´ moment as Inter topple Milan in Supercoppa

Hakan Calhanoglu relished Inter s Supercoppa Italiana win over Milan more than most, saying karma came back to bite the Rossoneri.

The former Milan player, who switched allegiance to Inter on a free transfer in 2021, faced mockery from a number of former team-mates when Stefano Pioli s team won last season s Serie A title.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was among those who invited scorn to be poured during Milan s celebrations, but Inter s 3-0 victory on Wednesday not only gave them the first silverware of the Italian season, it also gave Calhanoglu a chance to hit back.

It was a very important victory, even more so for me. I m very happy. We were hungry, we showed what we are worth on the pitch, Turkish midfielder Calhanoglu said.

I always prefer to shut up, it wa…

Prediction: Martinique vs USA

Best odds: 41/50

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Martinique and the USA are set to face each other in the second round of Group B at the CONCACAF Gold Cup at the Children s Mercy Park in Kansas, United States, on Thursday evening (a couple of hours past midnight in Europe). The other match of the round will see Canada take on Haiti.

Martinique

Martinique ended their involvement in the previous two editions of the Gold Cup in third place in their group, finishing behind the USA and Panama in 2017, and behind Mexico and Canada in 2019.

Since then, they managed to qualify for the CONCACAF Nations League and having faced Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago (twice each), they finished second in Group C.

This tournament didn t start very well for Mario Bocaly s team, despite…

Liverpool set to complete Mamardashvili transfer

According to multiple relevant sources, Liverpool are now very close to completing the signing of goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia. As defined in the terms of the agreement, the Georgia international would spend the 2024/25 season on loan at Valencia, before actually arriving to Liverpool next summer.

Liverpool s determination to get this transfer done is perhaps surprising, given that they already have a top-class goalkeeper in Alisson Becker, who will remain the No.1 choice between the posts for now. However, it shows that they re planning for the future as the Brazilian turns 32 in October (Mamardashvili is 23), and his future beyond next summer appears to be uncertain at the moment.

The Merseysiders will pay a fee of €35 million as the guaranteed part…

Conte open to Serie A return

According to a recent report from Calciomercato, Antonio Conte is open to returning to Serie A at some point in the future.

It’s well known that Conte is a bit of a legend in the realm of Italian football. In addition to his early work, he’s best known for his time at Juventus, Inter Milan and the Italy national team.

Of course, he’s also had a lot of experience in England, most notably with Chelsea. In the present day, however, he is the manager of Tottenham Hotspur.

How long he stays there for will continue to be a hot topic in the weeks that lie ahead, given that Conte has refused to comment on the idea that he’ll depart in the summer.

Despite his success, Conte has never stayed at a job for longer than three years with his last three jobs las…

Nagelsmann: Bayern ´absolutely deserved the win´ against Inter

Bayern Munich head coach Julian Nagelsmann believed his side absolutely deserved the win as they beat Inter 2-0 at the San Siro to kick off their Champions League campaign.

A brilliant first-half goal from Leroy Sane set the German champions on their way to victory, before a Danilo D Ambrosio own goal as he clumsily tried to block a Sane shot killed the game off.

The Bundesliga side saw out the remaining minutes to earn a clean sheet and all three points to make it 11 games unbeaten against Italian teams in the Champions League, as they look for their first European title since the 2019-20 season.

And Nagelsmann was delighted with his team s performance, telling reporters: I m happy with the performance today. We had a good intensity throughout the 90 minutes.…

Ibrahimovic brands Guardiola ´immature´ over Barcelona row

Zlatan Ibrahimovic says Pep Guardiola is the most immature coach he has worked with over his distinguished football career.

Guardiola s Manchester City came out on top in Sunday s Premier League derby clash with Ibrahimovic s United at Old Trafford, with the pair having had a stormy relationship during their time at Barcelona.

Ibrahimovic moved to Camp Nou from Inter in 2009, but spent a single season under Guardiola s leadership before returning to Serie A, joining AC Milan.

Although Guardiola and Ibrahimovic won the 2009-10 LaLiga title together, the former Sweden striker was unimpressed with the way the Catalan handled him and star man Lionel Messi.

I d scored a lot of goals in my first six months and we won two Super Cups, Ibrahimovic told Sky Italia…

Prediction: Spain vs England

Prediction: Spain win

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As fans prepare for the second and final week of the international break, it feels like there s even more of an appetite than ever before to see domestic football get back underway once again. Alas, while that could well be the case, it still seems like there are some big games left before we get back into the nitty gritty of the Premier League and beyond with Spain vs England being a particularly exciting contest. It s a game that we saw take place a little over a month ago, and given how that went, we re quite excited to see the sequel.

Spain

Since Luis Enrique began his new role as manager of the national team, Spain have been on fire. Their somewhat disappointing World Cup campaign is already behind them…

It’s just like watching Brazil for Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola will draw on his childhood memories of watching Brazil as he aims to secure Club World Cup glory for Manchester City.

City face the Brazilian winners of the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League, in Saudi Arabia on Friday for the global title.

Manager Guardiola admits City have not faced the like of Fluminense before but is familiar with their style having grown up watching and admiring some of the great Brazil sides.

The final awaits!

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

The Spaniard told reporters at a press conference: “We have to be resilient because of the way they play – they will demand a lot of effort – and try to be aware and precise with the ball.

“The way they play, we’ve ne…

Rennes 2-1 Paris Saint-Germain: Champions squander lead as away woes stretch into new campaign

Paris Saint-Germain let slip a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 against Rennes in their first away Ligue 1 outing of the season on Sunday.

Penalty shoot-out winners when these sides met in the Coupe de France final last season, the hosts produced another shock result over the top-flight champions thanks to goals either side of half-time at Roazhon Park.

Edinson Cavani profited from a defensive error to put Neymar-less PSG into the lead, but M Baye Niang pulled one back a minute before half-time and Romain Del Castillo headed Rennes in front early in the second half.

PSG, who triumphed when these sides met in the Trophee des France two weeks ago, have now lost five of their last six away matches in the league.

Cavani sent a glancing header crashing off the woodw…