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De Bruyne wins player of the year

Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne has won the Professional Footballers’ Association men’s Players’ Player of the Year award.

De Bruyne, 29, praised City manager Pep Guardiola for helping him earn the honour, saying “he just lets me be me”.

Beth England, 26, won the women’s award having helped Chelsea do the Women’s Super League and League Cup double.

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, 21, won the men’s Young Player of the Year award.

Jordan Henderson was among five Liverpool players to be named in the Premier League team of the season.

And Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford won a PFA merit award for his work combating child food poverty.

De Bruyne beat last year’s winner Virgil van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold, Sadio Mane, Henderson and City team-mate Raheem Sterling to the award voted for by his fellow players.

The Belgian is the first Manchester City player to win the award since its inception at the end of the 1973-74 season.

“This is a big honour,” he said. “To be voted by your colleagues, competitors from other teams who you always play against on the field. That they vote for you for best player; it’s amazing.

“It’s maybe strange that I’m the first one at City, seeing all the good players who played there before and who are still playing. But it’s nice to represent the club.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th goal for portugal

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo became the first European to score 100 international goals in men’s football and then passed that mark with both goals in the Nations League win over Sweden.

The captain curled a stunning free-kick into the top corner – the 57th of his career – to reach the landmark.

The Juventus forward, 35, then fired in a fine second from outside the box.

Ronaldo, who played 81 minutes, is within eight goals of the world record.

Iran’s Ali Daei – the only man to score more international goals than Ronaldo – hit 109 during his playing career from 1993 to 2006.

The next top scoring current players are India’s Sunil Chhetri (72) and Argentina’s Lionel Messi (70).

The result means defending Nations League champions Portugal have won their opening two games of this year’s event.

Their task was made easier when Sweden had Gustav Svensson sent off for two bookings – but there was a downside to their win as Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva was replaced after suffering a suspected muscle strain.

Portugal could have won by more with Bruno Fernandes hitting the bar and Ronaldo, on his 165th cap, forcing a good save from Robin Olsen as he searched for a hat-trick.

Almost half of Ronaldo’s international goals have come since his 30th birthday – 49 goals in 47 games.

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Mbappe test positive for corona virus

Paris St-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss France’s Nations League match against Croatia on Tuesday.

Six Paris St-Germain players tested positive for coronavirus last week, with Mbappe’s result putting the start of their Ligue 1 season in doubt.

Mbappe, 21, scored the only goal as France beat Sweden in their Nations League opener on Saturday.

He was placed away from team-mates on Monday and has since been sent home.

France face Croatia at the Stade de France at 19:45 BST on Tuesday.

“His Covid-19 test carried out by Uefa on Monday morning revealed a positive result, he was separated from the squad after receiving the results at the end of training and returned home in the evening,” the France Football Federation confirmed.

“Mbappe was tested before joining up with the squad. The result was negative, like that of a test taken on Wednesday at Uefa’s request for the Sweden game,” it added.

Reigning champions PSG are due to start their title defence at Racing Lens on Thursday after being given an extended break following their appearance in last month’s Champions League final.

The Ligue 1 season has started but the opening game between Marseille and Saint-Etienne had to be postponed last month after four home players tested positive for Covid-19.

The league told clubs last week its protocol for dealing with coronavirus meant more than three positive cases at a club was likely to lead to a postponement.

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Serena Williams moves on to the next round of US Open

Six-time champion Serena Williams battled through a challenging three-set test against Greek 15th seed Maria Sakkari to reach the US Open quarter-finals.

Williams, 38, looked composed as she took the first set in 37 minutes.

The third seed lost a close tie-break in the second and was forced to find her best tennis to come from a break down in the third and win 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 almost two hours later.

“I just kept fighting,” Williams said.

“She was doing so well. She was being so aggressive and I knew I needed to do the same thing.”

The American is seeking a 24th Grand Slam singles title as she attempts to equal Margaret Court’s record.

Her next opponent is Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova, who has never reached the US Open quarter-finals before and is playing her first tournament since Wimbledon 2017.

Pironkova beat French world number 56 Alize Cornet 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3.

American second seed Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open winner, lost 6-3 6-3 to Elise Mertens of Belgium.

Mertens, seeded 16th, will face Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the last eight after the former world number one reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final in more than four years.

The 31-year-old fought back from a set down to beat Czech 20th seed Karolina Muchova 5-7 6-1 6-4.

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Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood leave England camp after breaking rules

Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood are to leave the England camp after breaking coronavirus quarantine guidelines in Iceland, says manager Gareth Southgate.

The Football Association is investigating the breaches after Saturday’s 1-0 Nations League victory.

Manchester City midfielder Foden, 20, and Manchester United forward Greenwood, 18, both made their senior international debuts in the game.

Southgate described the pair as “naive” and said they have apologised.

“Two of the boys have broken the Covid-19 guidelines, in terms of our secure bubble,” Southgate said on Monday.

“We had to decide very quickly that they couldn’t have any interaction with the rest of the team and wouldn’t be able to train.

“Obviously they have been naive. We have dealt with it appropriately. I recognise their age but the whole world is dealing with this pandemic.

“Now they will have to travel back to England separately.

“Nothing has happened in the areas we occupy in the hotel.”

Greenwood’s England call-up followed a breakout season at United, in which he scored 17 goals, while Foden became a regular starter in Pep Guardiola’s City side in 2019-20.

A Manchester City spokesman said Foden’s behaviour was “totally inappropriate” and “fell well below the standard expected of a Manchester City player and England international”.

A Manchester United statement said the club are “liaising with the Football Association and are disappointed with the actions of Mason Greenwood”.

England face Denmark in the Nations League on Tuesday

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Callum wilson joins newcastle

Newcastle United have signed England striker Callum Wilson on a four-year-deal from Bournemouth for about £20m.

The 28-year-old, who has four England caps, made 187 appearances for the Cherries and scored 67 goals.

Aston Villa were also interested in Wilson but withdrew a higher bid of £21m, with the former Coventry City striker preferring a move to Newcastle.

Wilson is Steve Bruce’s third summer signing since the collapse of the proposed takeover of the club in July.

He follows midfielder Jeff Hendrick and goalkeeper Mark Gillespie’s arrival

at St James’ Park on free transfers.

“From the minute I knew Newcastle were interested, it was definitely something that appealed to me,” Wilson told the club’s website.

“It’s a massive club with great history. Along the years, they’ve had great strikers so if I can emulate half of what they’ve done, I’d like to attempt that.”

Bruce, who has also been linked with Norwich City left-back Jamal Lewis and Wilson’s former Cherries team-mate Ryan Fraser, says he is “grateful” the club have made the signing happen.

The Newcastle manager said: “Callum is somebody I’ve admired for a long time and I’m delighted to get him. He has done fantastically well at Bournemouth and was deservedly playing centre-forward for England less than two years ago.

“The club has worked ever so hard to get Callum here and we have beaten off competition from a number of clubs.”

Wilson has scored one England goal – on his debut against the United States in November 2018 – and won his most recent international cap in the 6-0 win over Bulgaria in Sofia in October 2019.

The striker is the latest high-profile departure from Bournemouth following their relegation from the Premier League, with Nathan Ake moving to Manchester City in a £41m deal and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale signed by Sheffield United for £18.5m.

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Mahrez and Laporte test positive for corona virus

Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez and defender Aymeric Laporte have tested positive for Covid-19.

Algeria’s Mahrez, 29, and Frenchman Laporte, 24, will not train with their team-mates while they self-isolate in line with UK government and Premier League rules.

Manchester City say neither player was displaying symptoms of coronavirus.

Pep Guardiola’s side play Wolverhampton Wanderers in their first fixture of the new league season on 21 September.

Both players are in the United Kingdom and with the self-isolation period being 10 days, Mahrez and Laporte should be available for City’s game with Wolves in two weeks’ time.

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Premier League coming back

The 2020/21 Premier League campaign gets underway on September 12 and it promises to be an exciting nine months of domestic action as Liverpool look to defend their crown.

Nobody could have envisaged the events that happened during the 2019/20 season, with the coronavirus outbreak threatening to void the English campaign at one stage before Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions for the first time.

There has been little time for rest with the final game of last season taking place on July 26 and it will be interesting to see how the players cope with fitness levels as the weeks go by, especially with international fixtures thrown into the mix.

After landing the title by a mammoth 18 points, Liverpool are expected to be put under greater pressure by Manchester City, who will be itching to gain revenge, while Manchester United and Chelsea could also close the gap.

There was huge relief around Anfield when the Reds were crowned champions, ending the long wait for a first PL title, but now the real questions will be asked of the Merseysiders and they can’t afford to stay still.

It is crucial that a manager keeps adding to his squad, providing more competition for places, but Jurgen Klopp has only brought in left-back Konstantinos Tsimikas and there is a sense more additions are required.

Liverpool are expected to put in a staunch defence, but there is just the feeling they may fall short, especially with the fact City will have the bit between their teeth to hit back.

Having lost their crown, Pep Guardiola has brought in centre-back Nathan Ake from Bournemouth for £40million, an area that desperately needed strengthening, while Ferran Torres has arrived from Valencia to provide more in the attacking third.

City may not have Lionel Messi arriving at the Etihad Stadium – what an incredible story that would have been – but they look strong favourites

Both Manchester United and Chelsea managed to finish in the top four last season and there is a sense both clubs are building squads that are at least capable of closing the gap to the top two.

The Blues have been busy in the transfer market, adding the attacking trio Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, while Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell have been brought in to strengthen defence

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Djokovic disqualified after hitting an official

Novak Djokovic has apologised for hitting a line judge with a ball at the US Open, saying he is “extremely sorry for creating her such stress”.

The world number one was disqualified from his fourth-round match against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.

The Serb, 33, who had just had his serve broken, took a ball out of his pocket and hit it behind him, striking the woman in her throat.

“This whole situation has left me really sad and empty,” said Djokovic.

“I checked on the linesperson and the tournament told me that thank God she is feeling OK.

“I’m extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong. I’m not disclosing her name to respect her privacy.”

After a lengthy discussion, Djokovic was defaulted by tournament officials at Flushing Meadows.

He will lose all ranking points earned at the US Open and will forfeit the prize money he had won at the tournament. He could also be fined for the incident.

“As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being,” Djokovic added in a statement on Instagram.

“I apologise to the US Open tournament and everyone associated for my behaviour. I’m very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me.

“Thank you and I’m so sorry.”

His exit ended his hopes of winning an 18th Grand Slam title and narrowing the gap on Rafael Nadal (19) and Roger Federer (20) in the race to finish with the most men’s major wins.

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Ansu Fati breaks youngest record

Barcelona forward Ansu Fati broke a 95-year national record to become Spain’s youngest goalscorer at the age of 17 years and 311 days against Ukraine.

Fati – also the youngest goalscorer in Champions League history and Barcelona’s youngest scorer in La Liga – curled home a fine 20-yard shot off the post on his first start.

He had already won a penalty, scored by Sergio Ramos, as he became the youngest player to start a Nations League match.

Ramos added a header in the win.

The Real Madrid defender has now incredibly scored 10 goals in his last 15 caps.

The 34-year-old has 23 goals for his country, as many as the great Alfredo di Stefano.

Manchester City defender Eric Garcia, 19, made his debut as a second-half substitute while new City signing Ferran Torres scored a late fourth with a volley at the far post.