Sports

Manchester City secured the Premier League title on Sunday afternoon with a confident 4-1 victory against Brighton Hove Albion at the AMEX Stadium.

Despite the margin of victory, it was initially a nervous day for Pep Guardiola s men as Liverpool took the lead against Wolves, with Glenn Murray also heading the hosts into an early advantage. However, just over a minute later, Sergio Aguero scored another crucial goal to equalise before Aymeric Laporte nodded home to take the Citizens top once again.

A second consecutive crown was secured after the break as further strikes from Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan took the game away from the hosts and the Premier League crown away from Liverpool and back to Manchester.

Scare for City

Guardiola s troops did not get off…

With the FA Cup making its return this weekend, we certainly have a stacked Saturday schedule from across Europe on our hands. On that note, for those of you looking to stick on a Saturday acca, we have searched far and wide to find you a handful of helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.

Saturday 9th January 

BST 15:00 St. Mirren vs Motherwell 

Starting with the hosts, although St. Mirren would have been relieved to have snatched a last-gasp point away at Kilmarnock last weekend, the Buddies would have been disappointed to have not left with more to show for their troubles. While the Paisley outfit might find themselves on a run of form that has seen them win just one of their last four Premiership contests, Jim Goodwin s men have impressed many…

Kingsley Coman s deflected goal gave Bayern Munich a 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin in their final Bundesliga outing before the Club World Cup.

Amid heavy snowfall at the Olympiastadion, Coman scored in the 21st minute after the returning Rune Jarstein – making his first league appearance since June – became just the second Bundesliga goalkeeper to save a penalty from Robert Lewandowski.

Dodi Lukebakio and Krzysztof Piatek had chances for Hertha in Pal Dardai s first home game since taking over as head coach for a second time but Bayern held on for the win.

Hansi Flick s side consequently opened up a 10-point lead at the summit over RB Leipzig, who face bottom side Schalke on Saturday.

Manuel Neuer did well to keep out Lukebakio and Jarstein matched him b…

Liverpool put seven past Crystal Palace and Manchester United brushed aside Leeds United with six goals on a bonkers weekend of Premier League action.

Reigning champions Liverpool are the first side to sit top of the tree at Christmas in three successive years since last achieving the feat themselves between 1978 and 1980 under Bob Paisley.

While a couple of scorelines stood out, it was business as usual for Jamie Vardy as he scored for the 11th time this season in Leicester City s 2-0 win at Tottenham, making some history in the process.

With the help of Opta, we take a look at some of the more unusual stats to have emerged over the weekend.

Palace plundered as rampant Reds cut loose

There was a magnificent seven for Liverpool at Selhurst Park in…

Wales will play South Korea at home in a September friendly.

It will be the first time the two nations have met at senior men’s level and will take place at Cardiff City Stadium on September 7, four days before Wales’ Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia.

South Korea, who are captained by Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Former Germany and United States boss Jurgen Klinsmann was appointed South Korea head coach in February.

“Many teams are tied up in Europe with qualifiers and it’s not always easy to get strong opposition during the few occasions we get the chance to play friendlies,” said Noel Mooney, chief executive of the Football Association of Wales.

“So to have the likes of Son Heung-m…

Rob Page acknowledged Wales fans are entitled to be frustrated after they were held to a shock goalless draw by Gibraltar.

Page was jeered by sections of the travelling supporters at Estadio Do Algarve, where the youthful Dragons were unable to break down the nation ranked 203rd in the world.

Gibraltar had lost each of their 13 previous matches by an aggregate score of 50-0, but managed to hold out for a memorable draw against the Euro 2016 semi-finalists.

Despite registering 16 shots and having an xG of 1.13, the closest Wales came to scoring was when Josh Sheehan s inswinging corner came back off the crossbar.

It marked another disappointment for Wales, who failed to qualify for Euro 2024 after their play-off defeat to Poland on penalties in March.

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Erling Haaland has revealed he studies Jamie Vardy s game closely as he believes the Leicester City striker is maybe the best in the world at running in behind defenders.

Borussia Dortmund star Haaland has become one of the most sought-after players in world football after scoring 80 goals in 79 games during his two years at the Bundesliga club.

That is a tally bettered only by Bayern Munich s Robert Lewandowski (107) – who has played 11 more games – among players from teams in Europe s top five leagues.

Haaland has been linked with the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern, with reports suggesting he has a €75million release clause that will activate in July.

Despite his impressive exploits, Haaland acknowledges there are still areas …

Nico Estevez says FC Dallas must put their trust in a long-term process as the Western Conference strugglers prepare to visit high-flying Toronto FC on Saturday.

Dallas sit 13th in the West with just two wins from nine matches this year, though they snapped a seven-game winless run by beating the Houston Dynamo 2-0 last week.

Just as Estevez refused to be too critical of his players during their poor run of form, he will avoid getting too high off the back of a single victory.

As we always say, we re never too high and never too low. It s about taking the positive things that we did against Houston to carry through the week, having the same mentality, Estevez said.

Also, with some of the things that we didn t do well, we ll keep improving on those.

…

Jordan Henderson and Riyad Mahrez are the latest big-name players to complete the switch to the Saudi Pro League this summer.

Top target Kylian Mbappe appears to have snubbed an approach from Al Hilal, but that has not halted a powerful recruitment drive by the oil-rich PIF-owned Saudi clubs as the league looks to establish itself among the best in the world.

Here, the PA news agency looks at 12 players to have made the move to the Middle East.

Cristiano Ronaldo – Al-Nassr

After his acrimonious departure from Manchester United, five-time Ballon D’Or winner Ronaldo headed to Saudi Arabia as a statement signing that told the footballing world the league meant business.

Karim Benzema – Al-Ittihad

Reigning Ballon D’Or winner Benzema fo…

Pep Guardiola would love to bring a free-scoring striker to Manchester City, amid speculation surrounding Harry Kane, with Sergio Aguero saying goodbye to the club.

Aguero will leave City after next week s Champions League final against Chelsea in Porto.

The Argentine, who joined the club in 2011 and has gone on to become the Premier League s leading foreign goalscorer, as well as City s record scorer, has won five top-flight titles in Manchester.

Injuries have marred his final season, with the 32-year-old – who has reportedly agreed to join Barcelona – featuring for just 682 minutes across 18 appearances (eight starts) in all competitions.

Aguero faces a late fitness test to see if he will be able to play against Everton on Sunday, in City s final …