Soccer

ESPN News Services Oct 2, 2023, 02:10 PM ET Al-Ittihad’s Asian Champions League match with Iran’s Sepahan was called off on Monday after the Saudi team refused to leave their dressing room due to a statue of an assassinated Iranian general being placed at the entrance to the pitch. The game was postponed by officials

A football team is only as good as its goal scorers, and for Manchester United that usually means their fortunes are directly linked to the form of Marcus Rashford. Right now, that’s not good news at Old Trafford. United are enduring their worst start to a season since 1989-90, having lost four of their first

Video Assistant Referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made, and are they correct? After each weekend we take a look at the major incidents, to examine and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game. – How VAR decisions have affected

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentOct 1, 2023, 08:13 AM ET MANCHESTER, England — Several teams have got the better of Manchester United already this season, and it’s easy to see why. Tottenham Hotspur are revitalised under Ange Postecoglou, Arsenal are genuine title challengers, Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton & Hove Albion are one of the most well-coached teams

Oct 1, 2023, 11:52 AM ET Victor Osimhen has said his love for Napoli is “unwavering” after his agent said the player “reserves the right to take legal action” against the club after a video was posted and then deleted from the Serie A side’s official TikTok account on Tuesday. Osimhen deleted almost all pictures

Sep 30, 2023, 06:23 PM ET Saturday produced enough talking points across European soccer to solve the energy crisis, as both Manchester United and Manchester City lost, Tottenham overcame Liverpool in controversial fashion, and Real Madrid thumped Cinderella story Girona to take top spot in LaLiga. Elsewhere, Bayern Munich fought back for a valuable point

LONDON — Jurgen Klopp has spent recent years talking about Liverpool‘s “mentality monsters,” but Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham are emerging as the Reds’ rival for the billing as the team with the greatest fighting spirit in the Premier League. Make no mistake: Liverpool still possess the formidable never-say-die attitude that has seen the team win every

Manchester United slumped to their fourth defeat of the Premier League season as an early Joachim Anderson strike earned Crystal Palace a 1-0 win at Old Trafford on Saturday. Having tasted defeat in their previous home league match, against Brighton, the below-par hosts again found themselves behind in the 25th minute as Anderson arrowed into the

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentSep 29, 2023, 05:30 PM ET Erik ten Hag has admitted Lisandro Martínez played when he “was not 100% fit” before the Manchester United defender suffered a recurrence of the foot injury which cut short last season. Martinez missed the end of last season after fracturing a bone in his right foot in

Sam Marsden Moises Llorens Sep 29, 2023, 12:54 PM ET Sevilla‘s directors will boycott Friday’s LaLiga match against Barcelona on Friday after the Catalan club were charged with suspected bribery. The charges relate to payments worth more than €7 million ($7.3m) made to companies linked to the former vice president of the refereeing committee, José

Constantin Eckner Sep 29, 2023, 09:49 AM ET KIRCHHEIM BEI MÜNCHEN, Germany — Cast your mind back to 2016, when two young footballers became best friends playing for England‘s U15s. They’d grow closer as they represented the country’s U16s, U17s and U21s together. Now, they’re taking the sport by storm. While Jude Bellingham has had

Sep 28, 2023, 09:54 AM ET Sports investment firm Dynasty Equity has bought a minority stake in Premier League club Liverpool, owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) said on Thursday. Financial details were not disclosed but British media reported the minority stake was sold for between $100 million to $200m. – Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga,

Cesar Hernandez Sep 28, 2023, 11:08 AM ET Things just aren’t the same when you can’t rely on arguably the greatest soccer player of all time. With Argentine superstar and World Cup-winner Lionel Messi left off the gameday roster due to a muscle injury, Inter Miami slumped to a 2-1 home loss against the Houston

There are two crucial milestones for every promoted team to reach as quickly as possible: win a Premier League game and bank enough points to make sure Derby County keep their unenviable record of the lowest total ever achieved. Staying in the Premier League and avoiding relegation back to the EFL Championship is the ultimate

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentSep 28, 2023, 04:29 AM ET Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag will hope that after his side’s narrow win over Burnley on Saturday, he’s slowly starting to win the battle for results in the Premier League this season. Off the pitch, however, the Dutchman is still fighting his war against what he

Alexander Isak scored a second-half winner as last season’s finalists Newcastle United dumped eight times winners Manchester City out of the League Cup 1-0 in a third round clash at St James’ Park on Wednesday. The Premier League champions dominated possession in the first half but Newcastle soaked up the pressure and came out fighting

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentSep 27, 2023, 10:06 AM ET Antony has returned to the UK and will meet Greater Manchester Police (GMP) as part of their investigation into accusations of abusive behaviour made against the Manchester United winger, a source has told ESPN. Antony flew back to Manchester from Sao Paulo on Tuesday. The 23-year-old has

Ross Devonport Sep 26, 2023, 03:10 PM ET FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — Lionel Messi‘s availability for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final will come down to a game-time decision, said Inter Miami CF coach Gerardo ‘Tata” Martino on Tuesday. “We will decide tomorrow based on how he’s feeling,” said Martino, whose team will face