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Diogo Jota became the first player in Liverpool history to score in his first four top-flight home matches following his opener against Leicester City on Sunday.

Jota has enjoyed a scintillating start to life at Anfield following his £41 million ($53m) move from Wolves in pre-season.

Before Sunday's visit of Leicester, Jota had scored seven goals in 11 matches for the Reds across all competitions, forcing his way into the team despite the settled nature of their first-choice attack of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

That haul included strikes in three successive Premier League home games, equalling a club record, and he went one better against Leicester.

Arriving on to Andy Robertson's precise cross from the left, Jota got in front of his marker and sent a glancing header past Kasper Schmeichel in the Foxes' net to make it 2-0 just before half-time.

Firmino would go on to add a third before the final whistle as the champions earned a comprehensive 3-0 win.

Jota was starting in the Liverpool attack in place of Salah, who was ruled out due to contracting coronavirus during the international break. 

His goal came after a sequence of 30 passes; since Opta have this data available from 2006-07, it was the most in the build up to any Premier League goal by the Reds.

Jota, who had his first season the Premier League with Wolves in 2018-19, has regularly terrorised Leicester City since, with his four goals in five appearances against the Foxes the most he has scored against any club.

The 23-year-old's progression in recent months has seen a former coach say the forward will eventually succeed Cristiano Ronaldo as Portugal's talisman - after making the prediction early on in Jota's career.

"Nobody does what Jota is doing now without having real ambition," Jorge Simao told The Athletic, after having worked with the player at Pacos de Ferreira.

"When he signed for Porto [in 2016], I told a Portuguese website that, for me, Jota would be the successor to Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Obviously, that was quite a big claim to make at that time, because Jota had only played for Pacos and had not had a good time at Atletico Madrid.

"When Jota signed for Liverpool, I sent him a message to congratulate him. He replied, five seconds later, with a link to that old article about him and Ronaldo.

"It was the very first thing he sent! He must have had it bookmarked. Incredible! He hadn’t forgotten."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic maintained his scoring run with a goal in each half to help Milan earn a 3-1 win over 10-man Napoli that takes his side back to the top of Serie A.

Sassuolo moved to the summit earlier on Sunday with a 2-0 win at Hellas Verona but Milan responded with an Ibrahimovic-inspired victory at Stadio San Paolo to go two points clear.

The veteran striker headed in from 14 yards with 20 minutes played to score for the eighth league game running before kneeing in an unorthodox second after 54 minutes, but he worryingly limped off late on with a thigh injury.

Dries Mertens had responded for Napoli only for Tiemoue Bakayoko to be sent off 165 seconds later and Milan, without head coach Stefano Pioli and a number of other backroom staff members due to coronavirus, wrapped up the win through Jens Petter Hauge's debut Serie A goal in injury time to maintain their unbeaten start.

Returning Napoli keeper Alex Meret pushed Hakan Calhanoglu's shot past the post and Simon Kjaer shinned wide from the resulting corner as Milan made a positive start.

The visitors did not have to wait long to make the breakthrough as Ibrahimovic got in front of Kalidou Koulibaly and headed Theo Hernandez's left-sided cross away from Meret.

Gianluigi Donnarumma produced fine saves to deny Dries Mertens and Hirving Lozano, either side of Giovanni Di Lorenzo firing against the crossbar, as Napoli initially responded well.

Those missed chances for Napoli would prove costly as Ibrahimovic converted Ante Rebic's floated delivery from underneath the crossbar to give his side some breathing space.

Ibrahimovic had an instant third rightly ruled out for offside and Napoli gave themselves hope when Mertens turned Alessio Romagnoli and beat Donnarumma with his shot.

But a clumsy challenge from Bakayoko on Theo saw the ex-Milan midfielder pick up a second yellow and Napoli failed to create any more clear-cut openings.

Ibrahimovic pulled up in what will be a big concern for the absent Pioli but substitute Hauge squeezed a shot past Meret from a tight angle to seal the three points.

What does it mean?

Milan had shown signs of slipping up before the international break, drawing two of their last three league games and losing 3-0 against Lille in the Europa League.

In the absence of Pioli in Naples, they produced the type of win that suggests they may just last the distance this term.

Despite having only 37 per cent of the ball, Milan hit the target seven times to deservedly earn the win -  their first away at Napoli since 2010-11, the year they won the most recent of their 18 Scudetti.

Ibra-him-again

There is simply no stopping the 39-year-old striker. He scored from two of his three shots and now has 10 goals for the season.

Only Marco van Basten (12 in 1992-93) has scored more for Milan in the opening eight games of a Serie A campaign, but he may now be facing a spell on the sidelines.

Bakay-oh-no

Mertens' strike gave Milan something to think about, only for Bakayoko to pick up what seemed an inevitable second yellow against the team he represented in 2018-19.

Bakayoko turned over possession seven times - only Ismael Bennacer (8) did so more before the midfielder was dismissed - and his absence was keenly felt as Napoli struggled to grab a foothold in the match and conceded a third.

Key Opta Facts

- Ibrahimovic has scored at least 10 goals in a top-five European leagues campaign for the 14th time in his career (eight of these in Serie A).

- In the last 50 years, Ibrahimovic is only the fifth player to have scored at least 10 goals in the first eight Serie A matchdays: Marco van Basten in 1992, Gabriel Batistuta in 1998, Paulo Dybala and Ciro Immobile in 2017, Ibrahimovic in 2020.

- Ibrahimovic has scored a goal in each of his six 2020-21 Serie A appearances. Only three players before the Swede have done so in the three-points-for-a-win era (Batistuta in 1994-95, Christian Vieri in 2002-03 and Krzysztof Piatek in 2018-19).

- He is the oldest player to score at least 10 goals in the first eight Serie A matchdays (before him the record was the Silvio Piola in 1942-43, aged 29).

What's next?

Both sides are in Europa League action on Thursday, with Napoli hosting Rijeka and Milan traveling to Lille.

Liverpool have set a new club record for their longest unbeaten run at home after beating Leicester City 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday. 

Jurgen Klopp's side took the lead after a 21st-minute own goal from Jonny Evans, with Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino also finding the back of the net for the Reds. 

That win means Liverpool have now gone 64 Premier League games without defeat at home - eclipsing their previous record run which was set in December 1980. 

The Reds' last loss at Anfield in the Premier League now dates back to April 2017 when Crystal Palace claimed a 2-1 victory courtesy of a brace from Christian Benteke.

Liverpool brought up their new record in emphatic fashion on Sunday as they dominated at home against Brendan Rodgers' side. The Reds took 24 shots across the 90 minutes and boasted 58 per cent of possession. 

The 3-0 win means Klopp's men have jumped up to second in the Premier League, level on points with leaders Tottenham but with an inferior goal difference. Leicester meanwhile have remained in fourth and are only two points shy of Liverpool and Spurs after nine games of the new season. 

The Reds' 64-game unbeaten run at home in England's top-flight has seen the club claim an impressive 53 wins and only 11 draws as they make the most of playing at Anfield. 

Chelsea hold the all-time English top-flight record for consecutive unbeaten league home matches, with their 86-game run coming to an end in 2008.

Klopp's side can next look to extend their club record on December 5 when they host Wolves in the Premier League. 

New Liverpool recruit Jota is clearly enjoying life at Anfield and is the first player in their history to score in each of his first four home top-flight league appearances for the club.

Roberto Firmino has also found goals easier to come by at Anfield this season with two league goals at the venue to his name this campaign, compared to the one he managed across all of 2019-20. 

The Reds will return to Anfield on Wednesday night when they welcome Club Brugge in Champions League action. 

Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has written himself into Serie A history by becoming just the fourth player to net in their first six league games of the season.

The veteran Swede continues to confound critics with his performances for the Serie A leaders.

At 39, there were those who believed he was too old to be a force in one of Europe’s leading leagues, yet he has started the season in utterly prolific form.

On Sunday, he continued his six-game domestic scoring streak by opening the scoring away from home against Napoli, elevating him into a select club of stars.

The Swede wasn't done after his 20th-minute opener however, as he also netted in the 54th minute to seal a brace in a 3-1 win.

The two goals gave Ibrahimovic another record: He is now the oldest player to score at least 10 goals in the first eight Serie A matchdays.

Previously, there were only three other players to score in their opening six Serie A matches of the season.

Gabriel Batistuta of Fiorentina was the first to complete the feat in 1994-95, before Christian Vieri matched it in the 2002-03 season with Inter. Krzysztof Piatek then did it in 2018-19 under Genoa's colours.

Ibrahimovic’s run started on September 21 when he struck both goals in a 2-0 win over Bologna. His season was then interrupted as he missed a couple of fixtures after being infected by Covid-19.

When he returned to the field, he did so in spectacular fashion. Again, he was on target with a double, this time in the derby against Inter, then versus Roma he bagged another pair in a 3-3 draw.

The run continued into November when he both scored and assisted in a 2-1 victory over Udinese and prior to the international break he scored versus Hellas Verona.

While he has been deadly in Serie A, he has not been quite so effective in European football. He has featured in all three of Milan’s Europa League group-stage matches but has just a single assist against Sparta Prague to his credit on the continent thus far.

Liverpool cruised to a 3-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday to set a new club record of 64 top-flight home matches unbeaten as Diogo Jota continued a remarkable Anfield streak of his own.

Jurgen Klopp was without a host of key men, with Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah among the latest to join their lengthy absentee list, but they dealt with the threat posed by Leicester with impressive ease considering their circumstances.

Leicester had won all four of their away Premier League games this term prior to Sunday but once they fell behind to Jonny Evans' unfortunate own goal – the sixth of his top-flight career – they never looked likely to end the Reds' run.

Jota made it 2-0 just before half-time, becoming the first Reds player in history to score in his first four Anfield league games, and from there it was plain sailing, Liverpool finally adding a third late on through Roberto Firmino – the Brazilian have previously hit the post twice.

The Reds' positive start belied the depleted nature of their squad, as Sadio Mane headed into the side-netting and Curtis Jones tested Kasper Schmeichel from a tight angle before Evans put into his own net from a corner in the 21st minute.

But they were given a warning soon after when Leicester spurned a glorious chance – Harvey Barnes shooting agonisingly wide of the top-right corner first-time from Jamie Vardy's cut-back.

That was not the start of a Leicester resurgence, however, and Liverpool increased their lead just before the break, Jota glancing an Andrew Robertson cross into the net for his own slice of Anfield history.

Although Liverpool lost Naby Keita to an apparent hamstring problem early in the second half, they continued to dominate and carve out chances.

Schmeichel produced a strong save from the marauding Mane, and then Firmino hit the goal frame with a close-range header.

Firmino, scorer of just two goals in his previous 23 league games, struck the other post again 13 minutes from time in a remarkable sequence that also saw Schmeichel turn a Mane effort on to the woodwork.

But the Brazil international's misfortune finally ended late on when he sent a towering header beyond Schmeichel, as Liverpool ensured they would end the day second in the table.   

What does it mean? Depleted or not, Reds always a force

Producing such a professional and dominant performance – and translating that into a similarly comfortable win against fine opposition – is a real accomplishment for Liverpool.

Much has been made of their general defensive issues this season, yet there was little sign of vulnerability there in spite of such a makeshift back four – Leicester only managed four shots on target in the match.

Similarly, going forward Liverpool gave Leicester's defence so much to contend with, their 24 attempts indicative of the control they exerted.

Robertson rampant on the wing

Scotland star Robertson was a doubt for this game having suffered a knock on international duty – not that you would have been able to tell from his performance. The left-back was menace on the flank, creating three chances and setting up Jota's header with a fine cross. That was his 31st Premier League assist for the Reds – only Kevin De Bruyne (41) has more than him in that timeframe.

The tonic for Firmino's frustrations

It looked like being another infuriating outing for Firmino, who had hit the right post from just a few yards and then the left when one-on-one with Schmeichel. He eventually found the mark with Liverpool's third of the day, only his second Premier League goal of the season.

What's next?

These two turn their attentions back to European football in midweek, as Liverpool host Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday and Leicester face a Europa League trip to Sporting Braga a day later.

Mikel Arteta has confirmed Willian and Bukayo Saka picked up injuries during Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Leeds United.

Nicolas Pepe stole the headlines from Sunday’s Premier League stalemate after being sent off for headbutting Ezgjan Alioski, but it was far from the only bad news the Gunners took from the match.

Willian did not appear for the second half and Saka failed to finish the match - being replaced by Ainsley Maitland-Niles - after entering the field from the bench in the 57th minute.

Arsenal have an intense passage of games over the course of the next month, and Saka and Willian will be assessed by the club’s medical staff on Monday.

“He was in pain,” Arsenal boss Arteta told the club’s official website of 19-year-old Saka. “We're going to have to assess with the medical staff how bad it is, but it looked like a pretty bad challenge and he was in pain so we decided to take him out straight away.” 

Commenting on Willian, Arteta said: “He was feeling something muscular and we had to take him off.”

Arsenal travel to Molde in the Europa League on Thursday, and Arteta admits it may be a patched-up side that turns up in Norway.

“We will see what happens in the next few hours,” Arteta said. “But we will put a team there to compete in the way that we do now and every team is going to face challenges with the amount of fixtures we have. Let’s hope that we can get some back.”

Arsenal are struggling for goals at the moment - they have scored a mere nine from their opening nine games in the Premier League - but Arteta feels his side will soon be rewarded for their positive play, provided they are more ruthless.

“That flair, that creativity and that momentum that the players need to make the last action, it's the most difficult thing in football,” he said. “It's not that you're not creating the chances, but we have to create more and we have to be more consistent in the final third with the amount of things that we finish and how we finish them.

"It will come, and the reality as well is that we haven't had much continuity in a lot of the players for various reasons, which is very important to get the understanding right with them.

"We need a lot of goals to win football matches and to be the top team that we want to be - without that it’s impossible. It doesn’t matter how good we are defensively.

"It’s not a lack of attacking players that we have, because we have attacking players on the pitch all the time, but we need some moments where we have to make decisions earlier, better and they have to be more ruthless. But it’s the most difficult thing in football and sometimes we go through these patches and we have to overcome them and I have to help the players to do it as quick as possible."

Arsenal have now managed only nine goals in their first nine Premier League matches – the club’s lowest tally since 1986-87.

Mikel Arteta’s side were again held to a blank on Sunday as they picked up a point in a scoreless draw against Leeds at Elland Road.

It was an encounter in which it took them more than an hour to muster a single shot on target, while their opponents had 25 efforts over the course of the encounter.

The offensive misery that the Gunners endured was summed up by Nicolas Pepe being dismissed for a petulant headbutt early in the second half.

For Arteta’s men, it was the fourth time in five Premier League matches that they had experienced a shutout, with the only goal they have scored during that run a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty against Manchester United at Old Trafford in a 1-0 win.

The season actually started quite brightly for the Gunners in front of goal as they routed Fulham 3-0 then scored another couple goals in a victory over West Ham.

Shortly before the match against the Hammers there had been optimism about Arsenal’s offence, which was in part generated by the new contract that Aubameyang had signed, ending speculation over his future.

The Gabon international, though, has scored only that single penalty since putting pen to paper on the fresh deal.

He has often found himself shunted out to the left wing, however, and there has been a significant push for him to be handed a more central role. Club legend Paul Merson, for example, has called for Alexandre Lacazette to make way for the former Borussia Dortmund and Saint-Etienne forward.

Though Aubameyang did start through the middle against Leeds, he was still unable to find the back of the net.

Arsenal will hope to get back on the goal trail in midweek when they go to Molde in the Europa League. Victory in that match would guarantee their place in the knockout stages with two rounds remaining.

Their next challenge in the Premier League is a home encounter against Wolves next Sunday, with Arteta’s men seeking to move up from their current position of 10th.

Patrice Evra has claimed Ezgjan Alioski was deserving of an Oscar for his part in Nicolas Pepe’s red card, but the former Manchester United man said the Arsenal forward only had himself to blame.

Pepe was shown a straight red card by referee Anthony Taylor for aiming a headbutt at Alioski on 51 minutes of the 0-0 draw in the Premier League.

It was the culmination of a running battle Alioski and Pepe had been involved in for the previous few minutes.

Alioski fell to the ground easily under what looked like minimal contact, but Pepe did thrust his head towards the Leeds United man’s face and can have no complaints.

Evra noted as such, as he told Sky Sports: “Really silly from Pepe.

“You are not playing a lot and Arteta gave you a chance, so do not cry when you play the next game.

“When you do that it is a frustration. It is silly. I think [Pepe] should say sorry to all his team-mates because Arsenal had a plan and of course everything changed."

Evra feels Pepe is being weighed down by the £72 million fee Arsenal paid for him from Lille in 2019.

“I saw him playing in France, he was happy, he was smiling,” Evra said. “You can see, the price tag, the fans are against him.

“A good player but I am really disappointed. I always protect him but I cannot defend him."

Commenting on Alioski’s part in the dismissal, Evra noted: “Alioski deserves an Oscar. He played so well, if I was the Leeds coach I would be so happy with Alioski but come on, he looked like he broke his nose.”

Pepe is now facing up to the prospect of a three-game ban, which is the standard for violent conduct, and he will have a battle on his hands to get back in the side.

Being handed a start at Elland Road on Sunday was viewed as a big opportunity for the Ivory Coast international, and Gunners manager Mikel Arteta looked deeply unhappy with his player when discussing the matter in his post-match interview, so it remains to be seen when another chance emerges for the 25-year-old.

Ajara Nchout's Valerenga booked a place in the final of the 2020 Norwegian Women's Cup following Sunday's 4-0 thrashing of Avaldsnes despite Rasheedat Ajibade's presence at Intility Arena.

The Cameroon international continued her impressive run this term following her strike in her side's midweek 7-0 triumph over Gintra Universitetas to reach the Champions League Round of 32.

Ajibade, on the other hand, played a crucial role in Avaldsnes' 1-0 quarter-final triumph over Ngozi Ebere's Arna-Bjornar two weeks ago.

Prior to their 23rd meeting in all competitions on Sunday, Avaldsnes enjoyed huge dominance over Valerenga, having recorded 13 wins, three draw and only six defeats to the hosts. 

The Champions League campaigners had a rough start to the encounter as the visitors came close on several occasions to score early but goalkeeper Hannah Seabert proved to be a huge influence between the posts.

In the 20th minute, the tired hosts, who only returned to Norway in Thursday, grew into the match and almost gained the lead when Nchout fired at goal from 20 meters but her effort came off the crossbar. 

Five minutes later, Sherida Spitse gave the hosts the all-important lead, with a powerful shot from the penalty spot before doubling the advantage for the hosts with another strike on the half-hour mark.

Two minutes later, Synne Jensen struck to bury the comeback dreams of Avaldsnes as they shockingly found themselves three goals down before the half-time

After the break, the hosts crushed the visitors' hopes when Dejana Stefanovic netted a fourth of the match sixth minute into the second half to guarantee their semi-final victory.

The result saw Valerenga reached the final for the third year in a row and marked the end of the road for Avaldsnes' Cup quest this term.

After the international break, Valerenga will aim to celebrate their domestic title triumph at home against Arna-Bjornar on December 6, while Avaldsnes will relish a win at Sandviken to wrestle for the title.

Having overcome Avaldsnes, Valerenga will square up against Lillestrom in the final, for the third time in a row in December.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Everton and fans have taken to social media to celebrate with Yakubu Aiyegbeni on his birthday.   

The centre-forward, who is also known as ‘the Yak’, was born in Benin City on November 22, 1982, and is celebrating his 38th birthday.

Aiyegbeni enjoyed success with club and country during his professional career, which spanned over two decades.

The attacker has been sent heartfelt messages by the Nigeria football governing body and the Toffees, while the forward’s supporters have also wished him well as he reaches a new age.

Aiyegbemi made 57 appearances for the Super Eagles and scored a number of amazing goals during his time with the national team.

The attacker helped the West Africans finish third at three Africa Cup of Nations outings, in 2002, 2004 and 2010.

Aiyegbemi also featured at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where he missed an open goal from three yards against South Korea in the last group game.

Although he later scored a penalty in the encounter it was not enough to help Nigeria advance in the global tournament.

The forward remains the third-highest all-time goalscorer for the Super Eagles with 21 strikes to his credit.

Aiyegbeni started his career with Gateway in 1994 and also played for Nigeria Premier League side Julius Berger, before moving abroad to continue his development.

 On leaving Nigeria, he joined Maccabi Haifa and won two Israeli Premier League titles with the club before he moved to England to team up with Portsmouth.

He became an instant hit in the English Premier League, where he starred for Middlesbrough, Everton and Blackburn Rovers.

Aiyegbeni last featured for Coventry City before his retirement from active professional football in November 2017.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will one day coach Germany according to Rudi Voller, a man who has himself held that position.

Klopp is currently on a high at Anfield, having led the Reds to the Premier League title last season and while Germany are currently reeling off the back of a 6-0 thumping by Spain, Voller does not predict change any time soon.

Indeed, he says that Joachim Low, who has been in charge of the national team since 2006, remains the correct man for the job, despite coming under massive criticism for recent performances.

“I do believe that Jogi Low can still do it for a while, but at some point it will be Jurgen Klopp,” he told Sky90.

One of the reasons that Low is presently under fire is because of his stance towards Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels, a trio he has frozen out of the national team.

Voller, meanwhile, indicated that he does not think the three players are essential to the strong functioning of the side.

“You have to be open to saying: ‘What makes sense?’ But I don’t think all three are necessary either,” he indicated.

Germany finished second in Nations League Group A4 but managed to win only two of their fixtures in the pool.

Indeed, they had gone into their final match with Spain as the group leaders only to be blown away in Sevilla, with Ferran Torres notably bagging a hat-trick for the hosts. Germany, meanwhile, did not manage a single shot on target and posted just 30 per cent of possession.

Such a result comes off the back of a wretched performance at 2018 World Cup. In Russia, the Germans failed to make it past the group stage for the first time in the modern era.

Low, though, is supported by his success in 2014, when Germany went to Brazil and became world champions thanks to Mario Gotze’s extra-time strike against Argentina.

He has overseen 189 games for Germany and has claimed 120 victories with just 31 defeats, boasting a win percentage of 63.49.  

Racheal Nachula scored her second goal in the 2020-21 season as Zaragoza romped to a 3-2 comeback victory against Collenrense on Sunday.

The Zambia international played a crucial role in helping the Copper Queens qualify for Olympic Games for the first time in March, and has been called up for an international friendly against Chile.

On the heels of a 1-0 win at home over Athletic Club II at Enrique Porta Stadium, Nacho Bracero's side made a false start as Pili Espadas gave the hosts a shock lead in the seventh minute. 

In the 22nd minute, Rocio Garcia netted a second for Collerense as the visitors went into the half-time break two goals down.

After the break, Nachula raced from the left wing into the hosts' box before setting up Annelie Leitner to pull one back with a sublime finish in the 58th minute for Zaragoza.

The visitors continued their fightback as Cara Curtin levelled matters in the 78th minute before Nachula grabbed the crucial winner nine minutes from full-time to complete the comeback for Zaragoza.

Nachula, who featured from the start to the finish, has now scored two goals in four matches for Zaragoza this season.

Besides Nachula, compatriot Hellen Mubanga played the final four minutes, while Nigeria's Peace Efih lasted 65 minutes and Morocco's Hanane Ait El Haj the duration in Zaragoza's triumph.

The result marks Zaragoza's first win of the season and sees them move to fourth position with eight points from four matches.

In their next fixture, Zaragoza will play host to Seagull with the hope of extending their unbeaten run on November 29.

After missing the country’s outing at 2020 Cosafa Cup along with Mubanga, Nachula's strike comes as a boost for Zambia ahead of their two-legged international friendly against La Roja next week.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has insisted there are no excuses for Nicolas Pepe’s red card, and accused the forward of letting his team-mates down.

The Gunners were forced to settle for 0-0 draw at Leeds United on Sunday, but the main talking point was the dismissal of Pepe.

The Ivory Coast international was shown a straight red card by referee Anthony Taylor for a headbutt on Ezgjan Alioski.

The contact was minimal, and Alioski made the most of it, but Pepe gave the official a decision to make. 

Arsenal fans made their feelings known on Twitter, with some describing him as "brain dead" and that would appear to be a view shared by Arteta who looked decidedly unhappy with his player during his post-game interview with Sky Sports.

“It is unacceptable,” Arteta said. “I’ve spoken to him; it is unacceptable.”

Arteta concluded his interview by saying Pepe had left his team-mates in the lurch.

“I really like the personality of the team,” Arteta said. “When Pepe let the team down, how we suffered together and stuck to what we had to do.”

Reflecting on his side’s performance, Arteta felt a point was acceptable given the Gunners played the majority of the second half with 10 men.

“Considering how we got Pepe sent off, a draw is okay,” he said. “I never like playing for a draw, but in the circumstances a point is okay.

”In the first 30 minutes we were more dominant and created a lot of issues. But then the game broke a bit and we gave the ball away in difficult areas.

“We suffered and in the second half we were early with 10 men and it was a matter of defending well and staying patient, and using the pace of our players and the spaces they were leaving.”

Bukayo Saka had a big chance to win the game for Arsenal when getting beyond the Leeds defence, but he was thwarted by a fine save from Illan Meslier.

“It was the best chance in the game, but the keeper did very well,” Arteta said. “On another day we could have won the game, but the reality is they had a lot of threats on our box and we were lucky in certain moments.”

Young Africans Sports Club (Yanga SC) have wasted a chance to open the gap on top of the Tanzania Mainland League after being held to a 1-1 draw by Namungo FC on Sunday night.

Carlinhos was the first to score for the former champions before Stephen Sey levelled matters.

In previous matches, Azam FC had lost to KMC on Saturday and a win for Wananchi was enough to send them top of the table with a two-point gap. But it was not going to be the case as the visitors came well prepared.

It took Timu ya Wananchi just 13 minutes to show they mean business in front of the thousands of fans who had flocked to the stadium. Tuisila Kisinda managed to get a good ball on the right, brought in a cross which Angola international Carlinhos connected with to give his team a deserved lead.

But three minutes later, Namungo were on level terms. Farid Mussa lost the ball in a dangerous area and Sey took full advantage to put the teams into level terms.

Neither of the two teams could get the winner in the second half despite the many chances created.

The Jangwani Street-based charges are now on 25 points, level with leaders Azam FC, who have a superior goal difference.

Wananchi are the only unbeaten team in Tanzania's top-flight football. They have managed to get seven wins and four draws in the 11 matches they have played.

Defending champions Simba SC are third with 23 points after thrashing Coastal Union 7-0 on Saturday.

Simba got the opener in the seventh minute when Hassan Dilunga, who has not been enjoying first-team opportunities in the recent past, scored to stun the home side in the seventh minute of the game.

The champions doubled their lead in the 25th minute when captain John Bocco found the back of the net in a match Simba looked comfortable on all fronts.

It took the Tanzania international another two minutes to add the third for Simba and earn a brace as his side dictated the rhythm and pace while Coastal Union looked disjointed in their effort to stop the rivals.

Bocco scored again in the 37th minute to earn a hat-trick which came after a sleek forward move by the 2020 treble winners. Bernard Morrison, who started after fully serving a three-match ban, scored the fifth one in the second minute of added time of the first half.

Zambian international Chama, after recently adding two more years to his expiring contract after he had been heavily linked with Yanga SC, scored the sixth goal for the Dar es Salaam side on the hour mark.

He added the seventh in the 85th minute as Simba ran riot at Sheik Abeid Karume Stadium.

Mesut Ozil aimed a brutal put-down in the direction of Piers Morgan during a back and forth between the pair on Twitter.

Ozil has slipped totally out of favour at Arsenal in recent months, and has been using his time on the sidelines to up his social media game.

While his team-mates have been on the pitch, Ozil has often been found tweeting about the games as they progress.

Ahead of Arsenal’s meeting with Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday, Ozil wrote: “Let's goooooo.”

The tweet prompted a response from Gunners fan Morgan, who said: “I wish you would, Mesut. For your sake and Arsenal’s.”

Ozil chose to respond, and his answer could certainly raise a few eyebrows.

“Piers, was that really you, or was your phone hacked?” was Ozil’s response.

Morgan, the former editor of the Daily Mirror, is never short of a retort and he fired back with a couple of tweets of his own.

“First tackle you’ve put in this season - well done!,” he said, which was followed up with a more lengthy response.

Morgan wrote: “I must say Mesut Ozil I admire your nerve in trolling Arsenal fans who pay your wages given you’re getting £350k-a-week of OUR money to sit on your a*se doing f*ck all. Try training as hard as you work on being a clever dick. Then the manager might pick you.”

As Ozil has pointed out with regularity, he says he is training hard in a bid to win back the faith of manager Mikel Arteta - but it has so far been to no avail.

Ozil’s last game for Arsenal was the 1-0 win over West Ham on March 7. 

Arteta has elected to go in a different direction to Ozil but the Spaniard could have done with some of the former Germany international’s creative spark as his side were toothless in Sunday's 0-0 draw with Leeds.

Bengaluru FC shared spoils with FC Goa in their inaugural fixture of the Indian Super League (ISL) after Juan Ferrando's side completed a resounding comeback in the second half at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Sunday. 

The visitors opened the scoresheet with Cleiton Silva scoring in the first-half and Juanan then added another in the second half. However, a brace from Igor Angulo dashed Bengaluru FC hopes of bagging home all three points. 

Bengaluru FC head coach Carles Cuadrat, however, backed his players as he said that they fought for every point without showing any signs of complacency.

"Of course not no complacent, my players fought for every point and that is what they were wishing for from the first minute. You know the thing is that it has been a short pre-season for all of us and they have been giving their best. They have quality players and this kind of thing happens," Carles Cuadrat said after the match.   

FC Goa looked like a different side altogether in the second half with Brandon Fernandes making the most of his appearance off the bench that lasted 30 minutes. Cuadrat was not surprised by his oppositions' gameplay as he believes that they have been studying Bengaluru's system well. 

"No, I am not surprised, I was sure that they were studying our system and we tried to change little things to try to surprise them and I think it was working. I think we created a lot of counter-attacks but we were missing in the last phase to really create the chance for a goal. I'm quite happy with the match plan, I think it was working for us," said the Bengaluru boss.

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa has explained why Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee is the best fit to lead Harambee Stars.

Mwendwa, after being re-elected into office for another four years in October, announced the exit of Francis Kimanzi as the head coach of the national side and appointed Mulee in his place.

He has now stated why they went for the services of the former Tusker coach.

“I was given a special job by Kenyans to determine the leadership of Harambee Stars and from time to time we need to make changes. We agreed by mutual consent that Kimanzi leaves,” Mwendwa told Radio Jambo.

“I have seen Kimanzi has joined a new team [Wazito FC] and I wish him all the best there as we need coaches like him to take charge of such teams.

“The perception is that whenever a coach leaves, there was some kind of conflicts but that was not the case between us and Kimanzi.

“In future, you never know he might come and do some good job for us again. He is among the best and few coaches with experience just like Mulee.

“I needed a Kenyan with knowledge and experience and that Kenyan was Mulee. We were not going to hire a white coach this time around and Mulee was the best candidate to lead this team at this time. We have given him the job and that chapter is closed.”

Mwendwa listed transition, World Cup and African Cup of Nations’ qualifications as the main reasons why they needed a coach of Mulee’s calibre to take charge of Harambee Stars.

“Mulee is the last Kenyan coach who took us to Afcon and we have been frustratingly looking for a local coach who can do such a job and now we have given him the job,” the FKF chief added.

“Barring any disaster, he has got an opportunity to try and take us to the World Cup in 2022.

“That is a big job because our team is on a transition given that some of the players are nearing the sunset days of their careers and there is need for great coordination that Mulee should do especially looking at the U23, U20 and the U17 teams.

“Seven players from U17 have graduated into the U20 side and in the senior team Brian Bwire, Musa Masika and Benson Omalla have joined from the U20 side.

“That shows some good coordination from the junior sides and the senior side.”

Mulee is yet to win a game as he drew 1-1 against Comoros before losing the second encounter 2-1 in Moroni.