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POCHETTINO GETS FIRST WIN AT PSG AS KEAN, ICARDI STRIKES, DOWN BREST AT PARIS.

Mauricio Pochettino claimed his first win with Paris Saint-Germain as the French champions edged closer to the top of the Ligue 1 table by beating Brest 3-0 at home on Saturday.

PSG prevailed through goals by Moise Kean, Mauro Icardi and Pablo Sarabia to be on 39 points from 19 games, one point behind Lyon who salvaged a 2-2 draw at Rennes.

Three days after a lacklustre performance during a 1-1 draw at Saint-Etienne in Pochettino’s debut, PSG failed to impress again but at least bagged three points at the Parc des Princes.

Marquinhos’ header bounced off the post and into the path of Italy forward Kean, who tapped in for his ninth goal in 13 league games.

It took a quick save from Gautier Larsonneur to deny Marquinhos shortly afterwards as PSG kept the pressure on, although the home side were far from convincing and left it late to wrap it up.

Icardi doubled the tally nine minutes from time with a cool finish from Kylian Mbappe’s pass, before Sarabia added the third two minutes later with a crossed shot.

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HAALAND AND SANCHO LEAD DORTMUND TO 3-1 VICTORY AT LEIPZIG.

Borussia Dortmund scored three times in the second half with two goals from Erling Haaland and one from Jadon Sancho, to beat hosts RB Leipzig 3-1 on Saturday and close the gap to the top spots in the Bundesliga.

After a toothless first half Dortmund improved after the break, taking the lead when Halaand charged down the wing and Marco Reus flicked his cross on for Sancho to fire in.

The England international has now scored for the second consecutive game after failing to find the back of the net in the first 13 league matches of the campaign.

The visitors came close to a second goal in the 65th minute but Haaland’s powerful shot was tipped onto the crossbar by keeper Peter Gulacsi.

Leipzig, who had kept a clean sheet in their previous four league games, responded with a chance of their own two minutes later as Dani Olmo hit the post with his shot.

But Haaland got onto the score sheet, heading in a Sancho cross at the far post after launching the move himself in the 72nd minute.

The Norway international grabbed a second goal six minutes from the end when he was sent through by Reus to round Gulacsi before Leipzig scored in the 90th minute with Alexander Sorloth.

Dortmund are fourth in the standings on 28 points, five off leaders Bayern Munich, who lost 3-2 at Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday. Leipzig, who suffered their first home loss of the season, are in second place on 31.

“Everyone knows that today this was an extremely important game for us,” Dortmund’s Emre Can said, who came on after half an hour for the injured Axel Witsel.

“It was a game that would tell us which way our season will be going. It was decisive to win it.

“The last few weeks have not been easy. Now we want to launch our attack.”

Dortmund had won only one of their last five games of 2020 before December’s two-week winter break.

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MESSI, GRIEZMANN NET BRACES IN BARCA BIG WIN AT GRANADA.

Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann each bagged two goals as Barcelona eased to a comfortable 4-0 victory at Granada on Saturday.

Griezmann ended his goal drought of nine matches in all competitions as Barca closed the gap on the Madrid clubs at the top of the table.

Granada almost scored the opener inside the first two minutes but Marc-Andre ter Stegen produced a superb save from Antonio Puertas.

Barca took the lead after 12 minutes when Griezmann reacted quickest inside the box and finished into the bottom corner.

Griezmann then turned provider when he set up Messi who curled the ball into the top corner.

Messi scored his second just before half-time with a stunning free-kick. The Barca captain has now scored 10 goals or more in La Liga for the 15th consecutive campaign.

Griezmann grabbed his second of the match after 63 minutes with a half-volley from a tight angle.

Granada went down to 10 men after Jesus Vallejo was dismissed for a professional foul on Martin Braithwaite.

“Before I could barely score one goal but right now it looks like things are going pretty well,” Griezmann said postmatch.

Ronald Koeman’s side sit four points off league leaders Atletico Madrid after their match against Athletic Bilbao was postponed due to disruptions from a rare snowstorm.

“This is an important win, we knew we were in a difficult situation and couldn’t afford to lose any more games and it’s been a very good week for us, winning three games, all away from home, and while playing some very good football,” Koeman said after the match.

“We showed that the team is growing in quality and in confidence. I’m very pleased that we scored four goals and we need to keep playing like we did today, when we only needed a few chances to score.”

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OZIL TO BE PAID OUTSTANDING WAGE OF £7M BEFORE LEAVING ARSENAL.

Arsenal will have to pay Mesut Ozil a fortune before he leaves to join Fenerbahce, reports say.

The German playmaker has slipped to the bottom of the pecking order under Mikel Arteta in recent months, and was left out of both their Premier League and Europa League playing squads.

The 32-year-old, who was a fan favourite during the tenure of Arsene Wenger, looks set to leave after eight years in north London, during which time he has created 77 goals across 254 appearances.

Although he looks very unlikely to add to that tally, his wages are not yet paid up in full.

That total fee is due to his £350,000-a-week deal, which is set to end in the summer.

He adds that terms are currently behind discussed with Fenerbahce, with Ozil having family ties to Turkey.

Should he join Fenerbahce this month, it is likely that Arsenal will have to come to a mammoth financial agreement with the World Cup winner.

Arteta said of the player this week: “We will discuss it internally, what the best situation is for him in the near future, with the player and the agent and try to find the best solution for everybody.

“We will decide what is happening in the next few days.”

Before adding of his omission from their Premier League playing squad: “We have to make a decision.

” I had to make a decision. I made it. I knew the consequences of it.

“And now we are having to make another in January, and we will put in the balance of the best thing for the club, the best thing for the team, the intention of the player and try to find the right solution.”

Although Ozil has been training with the first-team, he was recently given time off for personal reasons.

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SAM ALLARDYCE STILL COMBING FOR FIRST WIN AS WESTBROM ARE DUMPED OUT OF FA CUP ON PENALTIES.

Sam Allardyce’s wait for a first win in charge of West Brom will continue after the Baggies were dumped out of the FA Cup by Sky Bet League One Blackpool, losing a penalty shoot-out 3-2.

Seasiders captain Chris Maxwell, playing his first game since December 19 after testing positive for Covid-19, saved spot-kicks from Kyle Edwards, Darnell Furlong and Matheus Pereira to give Blackpool their first FA Cup win over top-flight opposition since they beat Burnley 1-0 45 years ago.

The match had finished 2-2 after 90 minutes, with West Brom needing a slightly fortuitous penalty from Pereira with 10 minutes left to extend the contest after Jerry Yates and Gary Madine struck either side of Semi Ajayi’s equaliser.

Though Yates missed the opening penalty to hand West Brom the advantage, they could not take it as Maxwell saw his side through to the fourth round.

It is nearly 25 years since Allardyce was abruptly sacked by the Seasiders after narrowly missing promotion, and he will have felt little better on his way out of Bloomfield Road this time around after seeing his Premier League strugglers outfought by a side mid-table in the third tier.

Having said he wanted his fringe players to state their case for more Premier League playing time, Allardyce made seven changes but still named an experienced side with Branislav Ivanovic in defence and Jake Livermore returning as captain following a three-match ban.

Blackpool, now a decade removed from their own stint in the top flight, did not look overawed however, enjoying the better of the opening exchanges.

West Brom were playing without a recognised striker, asking Filip Krovinovic to lead the line the best he could, but struggled to test Maxwell as the hosts created more.

Krovinovic proved more of a threat when he shifted out wide midway through the half, twice cutting inside as his first attempt went narrowly over before a second was palmed clear by Maxwell.

But few could argue Blackpool were not worthy of the lead as they struck five minutes before the break, Yates stepping in to sidefoot home an inviting low ball from Bez Lubula.

The Baggies pushed forward in greater numbers after the break and needed a little over five minutes to draw level as Ajayi headed in Kamil Grosicki’s cross from a short corner.

Grosicki and Conor Gallagher passed up clear opportunities to take the lead for West Brom and it proved costly as Blackpool struck again.

Yates should have had his second when he somehow turned Ollie Turton’s cross wide from close range, but the Seasiders would lead with 66 minutes gone as they hit West Brom on the counter-attack, Madine’s sweeping finish capping a fine move.

Pereira, the latest man to lead the visitors’ attack, fired a first-time effort over in response but the Baggies lacked a real cutting edge.

Instead they were gifted an equaliser as Grosicki’s cross struck the arm of Ollie Turton and John Brooks, after a pause, pointed to the spot from where Pereira brought them level.

Both sides had chances in extra-time, with David Button denying Madine early on, but the extra half an hour could not separate the sides. It would take Maxwell to do that instead.

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SCHALKE END 30-GAME WINLESS RUN AS MATHEW HOPPE SCORES HATRICK IN 4-0 WIN OVER HOFFENHEIM.

Schalke finally ended their 30-game winless run as 19-year-old Matthew Hoppe bagged a hat-trick to help give the Bundesliga side their first league victory in 358 days.

The German side are on their fourth manager of the season and were rock bottom of the table with their last three points coming on January 17, 2020.

But their 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim means they have moved off the foot of the table and avoided equalling a league record of 31 games without win, which was set more than 50 years ago.

The result is a huge relief for the players and staff and it seems former Schalke star Weston McKennie was also overjoyed with the win.

McKennie, who left Schalke for Juventus in August, tagged the club in a celebratory video on social media in which he sang in German.

The club shared the post with the caption: ‘Once a Schalker, always a Schalker.’

It was McKennie’s United States team-mate Hoppe who was the star of the show with the youngster scoring his first three senior goals in only his fifth appearance.

Amine Harit was the provider for each of Hoppe’s strikes and the midfielder got on the scoresheet himself to round off an emphatic victory.

Christian Gross was appointed as the club’s new manager on December 27 after Huub Stevens was sacked. Manuel Baum and David Wagner were also axed by the German club earlier this season.

Gross suffered a 3-0 defeat by Hertha Berlin in his first game in charge on January 2 but will now be hoping this result can be a turning point in the club’s campaign.

The win also came on Sead Kolasinac’s first game back for the club after he joined on-loan from Arsenal last week.

The defender captained the side and received a congratulatory message from his Gunners’ team-mate Mesut Ozil.

The midfielder tweeted: ‘Yessss my brother!!! Ladies and gentlemen – The Kolasinac Effect! Maschiiiine!!!’

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DEAN SMITH AND ASTON VILLA FIRST TEAM SQUAD SET TO MISS FA CUP TIE AGAINST LIVERPOOL DUE TO COVID-19.

Aston Villa will be without their first-team squad and coach Dean Smith for the FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool on Friday after an outbreak of Covid-19 at the Midlands club.

The home side will use their Under 23s squad and other academy players for the clash with the Premier League champions, depending on how many test negative for the virus.

In place of Smith, U23s boss Mark Delaney will take charge of the team.

Villa were forced to close their Bodymoor Heath training ground on Thursday after reporting a “significant coronavirus outbreak”.

A number of senior players and staff received positive tests on Monday and began to self-isolate, with a further round of testing yielding yet more positive results on Thursday.

It meant the Villa first-team squad had their training session cancelled a little over 24 hours before they were due to take on Liverpool at Villa Park, in a repeat of the game that ended 7-2 to the home side in the Premier League earlier this season.

There were initial fears that the match would have to be called off and that Villa may have been forced to forfeit as the already-packed calendar means there is precious little time to reschedule the game.

Instead, they will field a team of younger players just as Championship side Derby plan to do when they take on non-league Chorley on Saturday after an outbreak forced their entire senior squad, including interim manager Wayne Rooney, to self-isolate.

Villa’s improvised squad will be a reversal of what happened at the Carabao Cup quarter-final tie between the sides in December 2019, when Liverpool were forced to play a reserve team as the senior squad were playing in the Club World Cup in Qatar on the same day.

Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said his side had no positive cases to report before they travel to Villa Park on Friday, but the results from the latest tests are yet to come in.

Asked if his side are in the clear, he told reporters: “Yes, 100 per cent we have no cases in this moment. But the tests from yesterday we don’t have the results yet. But up until then it was all fine.”

The Reds are expected to name the likes of James Milner, Xherdan Shaqiri, Divock Origi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Takumi Minamino, Neco Williams and Curtis Jones in the squad.

Villa are the latest of a growing number of Premier League clubs to suffer an outbreak of positive cases in recent weeks, which saw four matches postponed during December.

Newcastle’s match against Smith’s side at the start of last month was postponed because of an outbreak at the Magpies’ training ground. Manchester City then had to postpone their match against Everton on December 28 just four hours before kick-off after a number of cases were reported among players and staff.

Two of Fulham’s festive fixtures, against Tottenham and Burnley, were also called off after an outbreak among the Cottagers squad. Sheffield United also reported a number of positive cases, though their fixtures against Burnley and Crystal Palace went ahead as planned.

It is perhaps little surprise therefore that the Premier League reported on Tuesday that a season-high 40 positive cases had been recorded in the latest round of testing.

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I ALMOST JOINED ARSENAL – WILFRED ZAHA REVEALS.

Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha has revealed how close to came to joining Arsenal in 2019.

Zaha, an Arsenal fan, was targeted by then-Gunners manager Unai Emery 18 months ago and both clubs entered into negotiations.

Palace reportedly stood firm on their valuation prompting Arsenal to end up spending a club-record £72million on Nicolas Pepe in a deal which required little payment up front.

I had a conversation with the manager,” Zaha told Jamie Carragher’s The Greatest Game Podcast.

“[Unai] Emery was just like, ‘We don’t really need to go through much’. He said he’d seen me play, he knows I can change games at any time and stuff like that.

He was like, ‘Yeah we’d love to have you’ and I was just like, ‘Yeah I’d love to come’.

“The conversation was rather straightforward because I played against him when he was manager of Arsenal.

“He saw what I could do, saw my work-rate, and what I could add to the team.”

Pepe has underwhelmed since his big-money move from France, only showing in flashes his form from Ligue 1.

Zaha, meanwhile, is enjoying the best form of his career with eight goals in 15 games this season.

He added: “Obviously, it was up to the club who they chose. And they chose Pepe over me.”

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OMAR REKIK BECOMES ARSENAL’S FIRST SUMMER SIGNING.

Premier League giants Arsenal have confirmed the first winter addition to the club’s squad, in the form of starlet Omar Rekik.

Rekik, a central defender who can also play in midfield, had long been viewed as one of the most highly regarded young talents in Germany.

The stopper previously spent time honing his craft as part of the youth setups of all of Feyenoord, Manchester City, PSV and Marseille.

With brother Karim, who has since departed the German capital to join Sevilla, having been on the books of Hertha Berlin, though, Omar opted to link up with the Bundesliga outfit in the summer of 2018.

And it was with Die Alte Dame that Rekik went on to showcase exactly what a top defender he looks primed to develop into.

Highlighting just how impressive the teen’s performances have been over the last couple of years is the fact that, despite his tender years, Rekik has already established himself as a senior Tunisian international.

In turn, it came as little surprise to hear of interest in the gifted stopper’s services begin to mount this past summer.

Chief among a host of clubs tipped as admirers of Rekik’s talents, meanwhile, were Premier League giants Arsenal.

As such, it no doubt came as music to the ears of the Gunners faithful when, late last year, word began to spread that their side were not only stepping up their interest, but closing on a deal for the Hertha starlet.

In fact, some outlets went as far as to claim that an agreement was in place to take Rekik to the Emirates in January.

And, as outlined above, such claims have today proven to be spot on.

In a post across the club’s social media platforms a short time ago, Arsenal announced that the 19-year-old, described as ‘a ball playing centre half who can play on both sides’, has put pen to paper on professional terms with the club.

Rekik is set to join up with the Gunners’ U23 side, where he will spend the remainder of the campaign developing under Per Mertesacker.

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MANCHESTER UNITED COMPLETES AMAD DIALLO CAPTURE FROM ATALANTA.

Manchester United have completed the signing of teenage sensation Amad Diallo from Serie A outfit Atalanta.
As confirmed by the club’s official website, Premier League giants Manchester United have confirmed the arrival of Ivorian winger Amad Diallo from Serie A side Atalanta BC.

The 18-year-old winger joined the Atalanta youth setup in 2015 and has risen through the youth ranks quite rapidly. Diallo broke into the club’s Primavera outfit back in 2018, at the age of just 16 and made rapid strides over the years. In 46 appearances, he bagged 13 goals and 15 assists, forcing his way into the first-team last season.

Diallo made his senior debut for La Dea in October 2019 and has since added four more appearances at the highest level, two of which have come in the ongoing season. Despite his limited experience at the first-team level, the 18-year-old is considered as one of the brightest prospects to have come through in Italy in recent years.

Manchester United had reached an agreement with Atalanta for the signing of the Ivorian back on the deadline day of the summer transfer window itself. However, a move was held due to work-permit issues while a medical and agreement on personal terms were also pending.

Now all the steps have been completed, with an application made for his visa. Once that is issued, the 18-year-old will be able to travel and train with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

“After waiting since the summer, it is finally a dream come true to complete my move to Manchester United. I am hugely ambitious and there is so much that I want to achieve in the game; when I spoke to the manager I knew that I had joined the perfect club,” Diallo said, having completed the transfer.

“This is a really exciting squad with so many great players, I can promise that I will work hard every day to learn from them and give everything to develop my game.”

Solskjaer welcomed the latest addition to his squad, saying: “As a club, we have followed Amad for a number of years and having watched him myself, I believe he is one of the most exciting young prospects in the game. Manchester United has such a proud history of developing young players and everything is in place to enable Amad to reach his potential here.”

According to Sky Sports, Manchester United paid £37.2 million to secure Diallo’s signing. The Ivorian is said to have signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Manchester United, that runs till 2025, with the club retaining the option of extending it by another year.