Leaders Bayer Leverkusen took a huge step towards winning their first Bundesliga title after restoring their 10-point advantage over reigning champions Bayern Munich with a 3-2 victory at Freiburg.

Florian Wirtz fired Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten pacesetters ahead after only two minutes at Stade Europa-Park and, after Ritsu Doan promptly equalised, Leverkusen went ahead once more through Adam Hlozek shortly before the break.

Patrik Schick put daylight between the sides with a 54th-minute strike only for Yannik Keitel to jangle the visitors’ nerves with his first Freiburg goal in the 79th minute.

First minutes or final minutes… We score goals.

6 | 0-1 | |

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en)

With only eight games of the season remain…

Raheem Sterling and Antonio Valencia both saw red as England and Ecuador played out an eventful 2-2 friendly draw in Miami on Wednesday.

As both sides continued their build-up to the FIFA World Cup, England youngster Sterling and Ecuador captain Antonio Valencia clashed late on in an incident that saw the duo given their marching orders.

Antonio Valencia took exception to a challenge from Sterling and grabbed the Liverpool winger by the neck, although fortunately for the pair they will be clear to play in the Brazil showpiece.

The flashpoint came at the end of the enthralling friendly that burst to life when Enner Valencia s fourth goal in as many games for his country gave England an early scare.

Wayne Rooney hauled the sides level with a controversial equaliser…

Former Barcelona and Real Madrid player Luis Enrique has struck an agreement with Roma to become head coach of the Serie A club.

Although a proposed two-year deal is yet to be finalised, Enrique is expected to earn approximately 1.6 million euros a season with the option of a third year being thrown into the package.

The 41-year-old Spaniard is set to take over from the outgoing Vincenzo Montella, who replaced Claudio Ranieri on a temporary basis in February.

Confident of completing the deal within days, Enrique is already looking forward to the challenge of coaching in Italy s top flight.

There is a total agreement with (Roma). All that is missing is my signature. In the next few days I will be in Rome, Enrique told Sky Sport Italia.

I am happ…

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea admitted he considered quitting Old Trafford after a difficult initiation into the Premier League.

De Gea was heavily scrutinised during his debut season with United, having arrived from Atletico Madrid as a £17.8million replacement for Edwin van der Sar in 2011.

The Spaniard s physique and decision making were brought into question, while a dip in form saw him axed by Alex Ferguson in favour of understudy Anders Lindegaard.

De Gea winner of United s Player of the Year award last term has gone on to silence his critics and in a big way after singlehandedly denying Everton victory in a man-of-the-match display on Sunday.

The 23-year-old stopped a first-half penalty before producing a stunning save to flick the bal…

Spanish midfielder Juan Mata claimed on Monday he had no relationship with Jose Mourinho during their time together at Chelsea.

Mata left Chelsea for Manchester United in January having seemingly been frozen out by Mourinho, who returned to Stamford Bridge at the start of the 2013-14 Premier League season.

Having been named Chelsea s player of the year for two consecutive seasons, Mata played just 13 of the London club s first 22 games in the Premier League last season and Mourinho indicated on numerous occasions that the Spaniard did not work hard enough.

Mata has now joined United and although he is still struggling to nail down a starting position, the 26-year-old playmaker is convinced he is in a better place.

For better or for worse, we had no relat…

Portuguese forward has agreed to terms with Championship side Fulham as he makes his move from Sporting Clube de Braga to The Cottagers for €9 million, according to A Bola.

The report states that the 27 year-old Fonte is on his way to England to go through the medical examination process to join the London-based club.

Fonte has had quite a career, playing for seven teams over the span of his 10 years as a professional.

He started his youth career with Arsenal and appeared for the senior Gunners’ squad in one League cup match before being loaned out to Crystal Palace.

From there he returned to his native Portugal to play for Setúbal before joining Espanyol for three years, where he accumulated 47 appearances for the Catalan squad.

After term…

Nice have signed Christophe Jallet from Ligue 1 counterparts Lyon on a free transfer.

The 33-year-old right-back was released from the final year of his contract with Lyon to join Lucien Favre s men, who face Ajax in a Champions League qualifier next week.

Jallet, who has 14 France caps to his name and was a member of Didier Deschamps Euro 2016 squad, is understood to have penned a two-year deal.

The former Loreint player joined Lyon from Paris Saint-Germain in 2014 and made 92 appearances for the club. Over the course of his career, Jallet has played 308 times in Ligue 1.

Jallet is Nice s fourth new recruit of the close season after Jean-Victor Makengo, Adrien Tameze and Pierre Lees-Melou, while striker Mario Balotelli was persuaded to sign a renewed co…

According to a recent report from AS, Paris Saint-Germain are willing to get rid of some high profile players including Neymar so long as they re able to keep hold of Kylian Mbappe.

The young Frenchman has continued his upward trajectory ever since scoring in the World Cup Final back in 2018. He is easily the most influential player in PSG s first team, and you could argue he s the most exciting player in European football right now alongside Erling Haaland.

The expectation has always been that he d make the jump overseas at some stage, with the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid being heavily linked in the past. However, it now appears as if PSG are willing to do whatever it takes in order to keep him on the books.

If this is true, and Neymar has heard about t…

Watford rejected an offer from Crystal Palace for the services of Ismaila Sarr on the Deadline Day of the extended English transfer window, according to . Apparently, the offer stood at £25 million.

The winger mostly stood out compared to the rest of his team in what was a disappointing 2019/20 season for the Hornets as they ended up relegated to the Championship.

The 22-year-old was linked with Liverpool before the Premier League champions signed Diogo Jota from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and later with Manchester United as they reportedly considered alternatives for Borussia Dortmund s Jadon Sancho. However, both clubs were put off by Watford s demands of over £40m to give him up.

It seems Palace were waiting for the final day of the window to see if Watford w…

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jake Livermore is keen on continuing to receive first-team playing time after the 22-year-old made his 23rd appearance of the year in Spurs 2-0 victory over Everton on Wednesday.

Livermore started the game for an injured Scott Parker, playing a full 90 minutes in central midfield.

Following an impressive shift, Livermore told London 24: I want to be here at Tottenham.

I want to  establish myself here in midfield but obviously I realise it s  difficult with the quality in front of me.

To be honest if you d said at the start of the season that I d have played 23 games at this stage, I would have been delighted with that. The manager s shown good faith in me and I ve been happy with the opportunity I ve been given.…