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NORWICH SACK MANAGER DANIEL FARKE AFTER FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON

Norwich City have announced the departure of head coach Daniel Farke with immediate effect.

The German leaves shortly after Norwich had earned their first Premier League win of the season, a 2-1 success at Brentford.

Despite the victory, Norwich remain bottom of the table with five points.

“In continuing to demand the very best for our football club, this decision was not an easy one,” Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber told the club’s official website.

“I know how determined Daniel and his staff were to succeed at this level, but we feel that now is the right time for a change to give ourselves the best opportunity of retaining our Premier League status.”

The club have confirmed that Farke’s backroom staff members, Eddie Riemer, Chris Domogalla and Christopher John, have also left.

Norwich are next in action after the international break at home to Southampton on 20 November.

“We have 27 league games remaining and a long way to go in the current season,” Webber added.

“We know we have the ability within our playing squad and staff to start picking up points and climbing the league table.”

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NORMANN, PUKKI GIVES NORWICH FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON AWAY TO BRENTFORD

First-half goals by Mathias Normann and Teemu Pukki handed Norwich City their first win of the season in a 2-1 victory at Brentford.

Normann put Norwich ahead on six minutes when he collected a clearance and drove forward, beating three players before drilling a shot into the bottom corner.

Pukki doubled Norwich’s lead from the penalty spot on 29 minutes after he had been brought down by Brentford substitute Charlie Goode.

Brentford rallied in the second half and, after Bryan Mbeumo had an effort ruled out for offside following a VAR review, pulled a goal back on 60 minutes when Rico Henry volleyed in Saman Ghoddos’ cross at the far post.

The hosts pushed for an equaliser but Tim Krul was equal to efforts from Ethan Pinnock and Sergi Canos.

A first win in 21 Premier League matches means Norwich end the day bottom but are level on five points with 19th-placed Newcastle United.

A fourth consecutive defeat drops Brentford to 14th on 12 points.

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DEAN SMITH SACKED BY ASTON VILLA AFTER LOSING FIVE SUCCESSIVE MATCHES

Dean Smith has been sacked as the manager of Aston Villa, the Premier League club have announced.

Smith, who guided the club back to the top flight, has paid the price for the team’s disappointing form this season with Villa having lost their last five games.

Friday’s 1-0 defeat at Southampton proved the last act for Smith, that result leaving Villa with just 10 points from their opening 11 games.

Villa chief executive Christian Purslow said in a statement on the club’s website: “This year we have not seen the continuous improvement in results, performances and league position which we have all been looking for.

“For this reason we have decided to make a change now to allow time for a new head coach to make an impact.”

Former Brentford manager Smith took charge with the club 15th in the Championship in October 2018.

He led the club to promotion via the play-offs in his first season and he then went on to keep them in the Premier League, and reach the Carabao Cup final, the following year.

They finished 11th last season but lost star player Jack Grealish to Manchester City in the summer.

Purslow added: “The board would like to sincerely thank Dean for his many excellent achievements, on and off the pitch, during this time.

“Everyone knows how much Aston Villa means to Dean and his family.

“He has represented the club with distinction and dignity – universally liked and respected by everybody associated with Aston Villa – our staff, players and supporters alike.

“We wish him the very best.”

Following the news, Grealish tweeted: “No1 will ever compare, the real goat (greatest of all time).”

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MAN JAILED AFTER RACIALLY ABUSING ENGLAND TRIO FOLLOWING EURO 2020 FINAL PENALTY

A man who livestreamed himself on Facebook while racially abusing England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after the Euro 2020 final has been jailed for 10 weeks.

Jonathon Best, 52, a forklift driver, used the site to rant about the England trio, who are all Black, after they missed penalties in the shootout against Italy in the final on July 11.

Best was sentenced at London’s Willesden Magistrates Court on Tuesday, having pleaded guilty to sending by public communication network a grossly offensive or indecent or obscene or menacing message or matter, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Wednesday.

One of Best’s Facebook friends reported the video clip to the police and Facebook after he refused to take it down.

“While the majority of the nation took great pride in the Three Lions reaching their first international final in more than 50 years, Jonathon Best took to Facebook to livestream a barrage of racist abuse at the three players who missed penalties during the game,” Elaine Cousins from the CPS said.

“There is absolutely no room in the game, nor elsewhere, for racism.”

National Police Chiefs Council’s football revealed last week that Euro 2020 caused an “explosion” in online racist abuse, causing the police to write to all 92 professional clubs in England and Wales ahead of the 2021-22 season to offer further support.

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DAMIEN DUFF APPOINTED AS NEW SHELBOURNE MANAGER

Damien Duff has been appointed as Shelbourne’s new head coach.

The former Republic of Ireland international takes over the week after they collected the First Division title.

They captured the League of Ireland First Division with a six point gap over Galway United. The team who plays at Tolka Park were last in the top flight of Irish football back in 2019

A two-time Premier League winner with Chelsea, Duff had been working with Shelbourne’s under-17 side.

He initially turned down an offer to take the top job – but says he thought about it again over the weekend.

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UCL: LIVERPOOL INTO LAST 16 WITH WIN OVER ATLETICO MADRID

Liverpool marched into the knockout stages of the Champions League with two games to spare after a convincing 2-0 victory over 10-man Atletico Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday guaranteed them top spot in Group B.

Diogo Jota put Juergen Klopp’s side ahead in the 13th minute, nodding home at the back post after a great cross from the right by Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Alexander-Arnold was again the provider for the second eight minutes later when his low ball into the box was brilliantly met by Sadio Mane who fired past Jan Oblak.

The Spanish side’s troubles intensified after Felipe was sent off in the 36th minute for a deliberate trip on Mane that earned him a harsh straight red.

Jota thought he had his second and Liverpool’s third, shortly after the interval, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez also had a deflected effort which beat Alisson Becker ruled out by VAR for offside.

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XAVI IN NEGOTIATIONS FOR SPECTACULAR RETURN TO BARCELONA

Al-Sadd manager Xavi Hernandez said a return to Barcelona would be “spectacular and exciting” as he confirmed on Wednesday that he is in negotiations to become his former club’s new coach.

Barcelona officials Rafa Yuste and Mateu Alemany travelled to Doha on Tuesday to try to negotiate Xavi’s release from the Qatari club and met with the former midfielder’s agents on Wednesday.

Barca are looking to replace Dutchman Ronald Koeman who was sacked last week following a poor start to the campaign.

“The clubs are talking. Can’t say much but I’m a positive person. It’s about common sense. They need to reach an agreement. That’s the issue,” Xavi told reporters after his team’s 3-3 draw with Al-Duhail in the Qatari league on Wednesday.

“I have been talking to Barca for days, it’s all set. The clubs know my position and I hope it gets resolved soon.

“I wish I go back home. Going back to Barcelona would be spectacular and exciting,” Xavi said before adding that he was going out for dinner with Al-Sadd and Barcelona officials.

Earlier on Wednesday, Al-Sadd appeared unwilling to let their manager leave.

“We welcome the visit of the administrative delegation from Barcelona, and we appreciate and respect this,” the Qatari club’s CEO Turki Al-Ali said in a social media statement on Al-Sadd’s official Twitter account.

“The club’s position is clear from the beginning – we are committed to keeping our coach Xavi with us and we cannot have him leave at this sensitive time of the season.”

Spanish media reported that Xavi, who enjoyed an illustrious career with Barcelona from 1998-2015, has a release clause of €10 million.

Barcelona sacked Koeman after a dismal start to the season. The club, who are ninth in LaLiga, are currently under the guidance of caretaker coach Sergi Barjuan.

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REAL MADRID’S KARIM BENZEMA BAGS BRACE IN WIN OVER SHAKHTAR DONETSK

Karim Benzema scored twice to steer Real Madrid past Shakhtar Donetsk in a 2-1 victory at the Bernabeu in the Champions League.

The striker opened the scoring and then put Madrid back ahead in the second half after Fernando equalised for the visitors.

Benzema’s opener was a landmark strike for the LaLiga giants as they became the first club to score 1,000 European goals.

The France international limped off before the end of the game but said it was down to fatigue rather than an injury.

“It was a difficult game for us. Shakhtar are a good team, a very good opponent,” Benzema said. “We suffered together and we won in the end. Sometimes you win games like that.

“We weren’t at our best like in the first game, but we won. We play every three days and it’s a bit difficult. It’s a lot of games at a high level. Like today, we didn’t play well but we won. The most important thing is the three points. You can’t always play well.”

Benzema scored after 14 minutes after a Shakhtar defensive mix up saw Vinicius Junior set him up with an easy tap in.

The visitors made it 1-1 just before the break when Fernando finished off a swift move.

Madrid were booed off at half time and withheld pressure early in the second half as Benzema grabbed his second after 61 minutes.

The hosts needed Thibaut Courtois to produce a fine save in stoppage time to come away with the three points.

“We started well, we were aggressive in both halves, we scored the first goal, we needed to be more aggressive and a bit more effective with the ball,” Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said.

“We tried to have control without doing damage. That’s what I said. The two changes, [Dani] Carvajal was to avoid physical problems, I brought Nacho on to control the right wing, and Karim was a bit tired, I brought on [Luka] Jovic, I didn’t want to change the shape in attack or defence.”

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UCL: MANCHESTER CITY EASE PAST BRUGGE AFTER SLOW START

Manchester City got back to winning ways with a 4-1 victory over Brugge to move to within sight of the Champions League knockout rounds although it was not a trouble-free night for Pep Guardiola’s side on Wednesday.

In the end, goals by Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus earned a comfortable enough victory to leave City in second place with nine points from four games in Group A.

But there were periods after a John Stones own goal gave Brugge an early equaliser in which City looked uncomfortable.

The Belgians had several decent opportunities before Mahrez headed Pep Guardiola’s side back in front in the 54th minute. Sterling gave City breathing space with a tap-in after 72 minutes and the hosts were able to coast home.

Substitute Jesus gave the scoreline an emphatic look as he added the fourth with the last kick of the game.

City, who suffered a surprise Premier League defeat by Crystal Palace at the weekend, need only one point from their remaining two games to secure their last-16 place. Brugge are in third spot with four points.

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TOTTENHAM CLOSING IN ON ANTONIO CONTE AFTER SACKING NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO

ENFIELD, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 01: New Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte poses for a photo at Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on November 01, 2021 in Enfield, England. (Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)

Tottenham are closing in on the appointment of Antonio Conte as their new boss after sacking Nuno Espirito Santo.

Spurs fired Nuno after just four months on Monday morning following Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United where the fans turned on him.

They moved quickly to find a successor, renewing interest in former Chelsea boss Conte, who was close to getting the job before Nuno in June.

The two parties were in advanced discussions on Monday, the PA news agency understands, with the Italian believed to be in London ahead of a possible announcement.

A deal would see Conte, who has been out of work since leaving Inter Milan at the end of last season, return to the Premier League where he guided Chelsea to the title in 2016-17, adding an FA Cup the following season.

Conte, who delivered the Scudetto to Inter before departing, had previously been in advanced talks with Spurs about becoming Jose Mourinho’s successor in June, but they broke down after the two parties were at odds over key issues.

However, managing director Fabio Paratici is now in position at the Premier League club and has a strong relationship with the 52-year-old, having worked with him at Juventus.

And it looks like any differences will be overcome, with chairman Daniel Levy turning to the serial winner to turn Spurs back into a force in English football.

Nuno was relieved of his duties after Levy and Paratici met on Sunday to discuss his future, with the news delivered early on Monday morning.

The Portuguese was a condemned man following the loss to United at the weekend, where fans chanted ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ and roundly booed him at full-time.

And a statement from Tottenham on Monday morning read: “The club can today announce that Nuno Espirito Santo and his coaching staff Ian Cathro, Rui Barbosa and Antonio Dias have been relieved of their duties.”

Paratici said: “I know how much Nuno and his coaching staff wanted to succeed and I regret that we have had to take this decision. Nuno is a true gentleman and will always be welcome here. We should like to thank him and his coaching staff and wish them well for the future.”

Nuno’s appointment on June 30 ended a 72-day managerial search following Jose Mourinho’s sacking six days before the Carabao Cup final.

The former Wolves boss was previously discounted from the role by Levy for his pragmatic style of play, but after the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rogers, Erik Ten Hag, Mauricio Pochettino and Conte proved elusive, the chairman was eventually persuaded by Paratici to appoint Nuno.

It started well as, amid the backdrop of Harry Kane’s summer transfer saga, they won their first three Premier League games, including an opening day 1-0 victory over Manchester City which helped win Nuno August’s manager of the month.

However, they lost five of their next seven games and the style of play flew in the face of Levy’s demands for “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining football”.

The losses to West Ham and Manchester United in their last two Premier League matches have seen them go two hours and 16 minutes without having a shot on target.

Conte could be in charge for the Europa Conference League clash with Vitesse Arnhem on Thursday night, with a Premier League trip to Everton following on Sunday.