Wigan ease to victory against 10-man Shrewsbury

Goals in either half from Stephen Humphrys and Callum Lang gave Wigan a third 2-0 win in the space of a week as 10-man Shrewsbury were seen off in comfortable fashion at the DW Stadium.

The visitors had been on the back foot for the entire game after seeing former Wigan centre-back Chey Dunkley – facing his old club for the first time since leaving in the summer of 2020 – sent off inside four minutes for hauling down Thelo Aasgaard on the edge of the box.

After that, it was only ever a question of when and not if Wigan would break through.

It was Humphrys who opened the scoring after 35 minutes when he was given too much time and space 20 yards from goal.

After Shrews defender Mal Branning hit his own post, Humphrys inexplicably headed wide just after…

Foden no longer ´young talent´ but now ´one of the guys´ – De Bruyne

Kevin De Bruyne now considers Phil Foden simply one of the guys at Manchester City and hopes the 21-year-old can play a decisive role against Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Foden was long seen as the most promising young prospect at City but had to wait for his opportunity to feature regularly in Pep Guardiola s first team.

Although the midfielder made his senior debut in the 2017-18 season, he was kept on the fringes for his first two years.

Even in 2019-20, when making 38 appearances, scoring eight goals and assisting nine, Foden was restricted to just 18 starts.

Since then, though, the England international has gone from strength to strength, following up 26 goal involvements last term (16 goals, 10 assists) with another 24 this time out (13 goals, 11 assis…

Zouma completes West Ham move

Early Premier League leaders West Ham have signed defender Kurt Zouma from London rivals Chelsea on a four-year deal.

The Hammers revealed they have paid an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £25million, to land the France centre-back.

Zouma, capped eight times by his country, made 151 appearances for the Blues following his move from Saint-Etienne in 2014.

The 26-year-old won two Premier League titles, the Champions League and the EFL Cup during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Zouma has spent loan spells with Everton and Stoke City and he is on the move again in a permanent switch to join David Moyes high-flying side.

Welcome to West Ham United, !  

— West Ham United (@WestHam)

I m very happy and very proud,  Zouma…

Besiktas and Trabzonspor want to sign Cedric Soares

Besiktas and Trabzonspor are interested in signing Cedric Soares from Arsenal in the January transfer window, according to Rudy Galetti. The Italian journalist has reported on X that the two Turkish clubs are already in talks over a deal for Soares.

Soares is out of contract at Arsenal at the end of the season. It is unlikely that the Premier League club will want to hand the 32-year-old Portugal international full-back a new deal. Galetti has added that Soares could leave Arsenal in the January transfer window.

🚨🔥 and are interested in Cedric , among their main targets: both 🇹🇷 clubs already approached his agent and talks are ongoing.

📌 The 🇵🇹 RB whose contract with expires in June could leave already during the winter session. 🐓⚽ …

Notts County back in EFL with sub goalkeeper Archie Mair the shoot-out hero

Substitute goalkeeper Archie Mair was the hero as Notts County beat Chesterfield in a Wembley penalty shoot-out to end a four-year absence from the English Football League.

Mair, on loan from Norwich and sent on in the final minute of extra time for the spot-kick contest, denied Darren Oldaker and Jeff King with full-length saves as County won 4-3 on penalties after the game had been drawn 2-2 after 120 minutes.

Macaulay Langstaff, Ruben Rodrigues, Jodi Jones and Cedwyn Scott were successful from the spot for County, the latter achieving redemption having missed from 12 yards in the promotion showdown with Wrexham last month.

Andrew Dallas’ early penalty seemed set to signal more end-of-season misery for County before John Bostock equalised with just two minute…

Busquets: I could talk for five or six hours about Barcelona drama

Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets says he could talk for five or six hours  about the turbulence at the club. 

LaLiga giants Barca have been engulfed in drama for much of 2020, following Lionel Messi s public declaration that he wanted to leave the club, Luis Suarez s contentious departure to Atletico Madrid and the appointment of Ronald Koeman as new head coach following Quique Setien s dismissal in the wake of an 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich.

Messi ultimately remained at Camp Nou after it became clear he would be unable to exercise a get-out clause in his contract, while Koeman refuted Suarez s claim that he was forced out of the club. 

Busquets – currently on international duty with Spain – holds strong views on the state of his club but suggeste…

Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in Wrexham takeover bid

Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are in talks over a shock takeover bid for National League side Wrexham, the club confirmed on Wednesday.

Deadpool actor Reynolds and It s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star McElhenney will get the chance to put forward their vision for the Welsh team after a resolution was passed at a Special General Meeting.

Wrexham have been in fan ownership since 2011 but a takeover would see a reported £2million being invested into the club.

A statement said 97.5 per cent of Wrexham Supporters Trust voters (1,223 members) voted in favour of the resolution at a ballot on Tuesday.

Trending across the UK, the interest in tonight’s friendly with has been outstanding, thank you 

Still 0-0.

— …

April 21st: Sunday’s Premier League Double – 5/1 Special, Betting Tips & Predictions

With four Premier League fixtures stealing centre stage throughout Sunday afternoon, we have a host of season-defining showdowns from both ends of the table.

Along with Liverpool making the trip to Fulham, Everton will welcome Nottingham Forest to Goodison Park for what is a real relegation six-pointer.

Ahead of a stacked Sunday of Premier League action, we have taken a look at two of the best available betting markets.

15:00 Aston Villa vs Bournemouth

Edging their way past Lille earlier in the week following a nail-biting penalties victory, the mood in Aston Villa’s camp should be at a red-hot high. Extending on their Europa Conference League adventure on foreign soil and punching their semi-final ticket, Unai Emery’s men are pencilled in as a lea…

Orlando City v FC Cincinnati: Acosta hails visitors for absorbing punches

Luciano Acosta has hailed FC Cincinnati for coming through a testing period as they look to make it three straight wins in MLS play at Orlando City on Saturday.

After going unbeaten through their first six games of the season, Cincinnati suffered back-to-back 2-1 defeats against the New York Red Bulls and CF Montreal.

However, they have since bounced back with two wins over difficult opponents, seeing off Atlanta United and the Colorado Rapids by the same scoreline.

Acosta scored his 44th goal for Cincinnati – the most of any player in franchise history – in that latter game, and he believes their resilience has been key.

I think it s just about our mentality, Acosta said. We lost those two games and it was a bit of a punch that woke us up. But now …

Brazil boss Tite hails Neymar but stops short of Ronaldo and Romario comparisons

Brazil head coach Tite lauded Neymar after the superstar inspired the Copa America champions to a 3-0 win against Venezuela in Sunday s curtain-raiser.

Neymar scored and was involved in the two other goals as Brazil kicked off their title defence in victorious fashion behind closed doors in Brasilia.

Marquinhos opened the scoring following Neymar s corner in the 23rd minute before the latter converted a penalty after the hour mark.

It was Neymar s 67th international goal – just 10 shy of Pele s all-time record. Since making his Brazil debut in August 2010, the Paris Saint-Germain forward has scored 48 more goals than any of his Selecao team-mates.

Neymar then provided the cross for substitute Gabriel Gabigol Barbosa to complete the scoring in the final …