Looking for Soccer News?

Paul Ince says Paul Pogba has been nothing but a "problem" for Manchester United since his return to the club and that it's time for him to "move on" amid links with Real Madrid.

Pogba has endured a frustrating start to the 2020-21 campaign which has seen his commitment to United's cause called into question yet again.

The 27-year-old has faced constant criticism since making his way back to Old Trafford from Juventus for £89 million ($116m) in 2016, with form and fitness issues ultimately preventing him from living up to that huge price tag.

He now finds himself playing second fiddle to Bruno Fernandes, Fred and Scott McTominay in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's plans, having had a spell in quarantine between August and September after contracting coronavirus.

Pogba has had to make do with a cameo appearance from the bench in each of the Red Devils' last three fixtures, with the 0-0 draw at home to Chelsea on Saturday his latest outing.

United decided to trigger the one-year extension in the World Cup winners' contract earlier this month, having seen him admit to harbouring dreams of a move to Madrid while away on international duty with France.

Madrid are being tipped to launch an official bid for the midfielder next year, but Solskjaer talked up his importance to the squad following the stalemate against the Blues.

"I think Paul, all three games this week, he's really come on and made a very positive impact," said the Norwegian boss. "He's been out for a while with coronavirus this summer, so he's getting better and better and maybe more his shape. Maybe I was unfair to him starting him that early in the first few games but he's coming on and he's done great when he's come on."

Ince doesn't think Pogba is having a positive effect on the rest of the group at Old Trafford though, and has urged the Red Devils to part ways.

"Paul Pogba should be on the pitch, this is a big, big game," the ex-United star told beIN Sport. "For him to be sitting on the bench and watching, with no disrespect, McTominay and Fred playing in his position, I would be saying, ‘I must be doing something wrong if I can’t get in this team’.

"I know he has had an injury and he might be trying to bring him on a little later on. But I think it is time to move on. He has come out in the last two weeks and said he wants to join Real Madrid.

"I think his performances since he has been here have been inconsistent. Paul Pogba is a world-class player and when he moved to Old Trafford I thought, ‘great’, but all he has done is been a problem. The fans have gone against him and now Bruno Fernandes has come in and shown what you need to do to be a Manchester United player.

"He has performed consistently and Paul Pogba hasn’t done that and that is why he finds himself on the bench."

Antonio Conte has revealed the reason for Lautaro Martinez's anger following his substitution during Inter's win at Genoa. 

Inter moved up to third in the Serie A standings with a hard-earned 2-0 victory on Saturday.

Conte's side took a while to breakdown Genoa's stubborn rearguard, but were eventually rewarded for their persistence when Romelu Lukaku produced a trademark finish just after the hour mark.

Danilo D'Ambrosio's 79th-minute header wrapped up a crucial victory for the Nerazzurri, who bounced back from their defeat to AC Milan in last weekend's Derby della Madonnina in impressive fashion.

The only negative for Inter was Lautaro's frustrated reaction to being substituted in the second half, as he was seen punching his seat in the dugout after being replaced by Andrea Pinamonti.

Conte has played down any notion of an issue with the Argentine though, insists his outburst was a result of his failure to get on the scoresheet rather than a disagreement over his early withdrawal.

"They told me that Lautaro slammed his fists on the chair when he was replaced, but I don't think he was mad at me because we have a good relationship," the Italian boss told his post-match press conference.

"Maybe something happened on the pitch with some team-mates. The players are guys who leave without any problems after the game and forget what happened. I want people who always give their best.

"Lautaro is a very good guy and everything is fine with him. Even today he put in a lot of effort and gave his contribution. A striker lives for the goal, but it is important that they also play with their team-mates."

Conte added on Inter's latest performance: "We were good, patient and we only allowed one shot. I wasn't worried before the match and I'm not enthusiastic now because for me the situations have always been positive so far. Now we have to recover our energies and prepare for the Champions League because this will be a road with many difficulties."

The Nerazzurri were held to a 2-2 draw by Borussia Monchengladbach in their Champions League group stage opener, but will have the chance to put that result behind them when they travel to Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.

Inter beat the Ukrainian outfit 6-0 in last season's Europa League semi-finals, but Conte is wary of the threat they'll pose this time around having seen them beat Real Madrid 3-2 at Santiago Bernabeu last week.

"This is a completely different situation because the one in August was a mini-knockout tournament, Shakhtar still have great qualities and the semifinal with that 6-0 does not represent the value of the two teams," he said. "Shakhtar are a highly motivated team that won 3-2 against Real, who beat Barcelona [in El Clasico] today."

Arsenal will welcome Leicester City on Sunday for what is expected to be an explosive encounter between the former Premier League champions.

Arsenal vs Leicester City Latest Odds

Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 27 home meetings with Leicester in all competitions (W20 D7) and another victory for them has been priced at (1.95) with BigiBet .

Leicester have played more Premier League away games against Arsenal without ever winning and for them to end the poor record has been priced at (3.75) .

The Foxes 1-1 draw at the Emirates last season ended a run of 12 straight away league losses against the Gunners and another draw has been tipped to happen at (3.75) .

Arsenal vs Leicester City Team News

For Mikel Arteta, Dani Ceballos and Willian are doubtful for the match due to their ankle and calf injuries respectively. Shkodran Mustafi and Smith Rowe could miss out due to their match fitness level.

Pablo Mari, Rob Holding, Miles Chambers, and Gabriel Martinelli will all automatically miss the match due to long-term injuries.

Brendan Rodgers will have to assess Jamie Vardy who got a calf injury to see whether he is fit to face the Gunners while Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu, Daniel Amartey, and Wilfred Ndidi are all injured and will not be part of the squad.

Arsenal vs Leicester City Preview

Only Aston Villa (2) have conceded fewer Premier League goals than Arsenal (6) this season coming into the weekend’s games. However, the Gunners haven’t kept a clean sheet since their opening day victory at Fulham.

Leicester have the best shot conversion rate in the Premier League this season, netting with just under 25% of their efforts (12/49). However, the Foxes have failed to score with any of their last 15 attempts across their last two games.

Arsenal vs Leicester City Tips and Odds

Leicester’s Jamie Vardy has scored 10 goals in his 10 Premier League starts against Arsenal, more than he’s netted against any other opponent in the competition.

Only Aston Villa (2) have conceded fewer Premier League goals than Arsenal (6) this season coming into the weekend’s games. However, the Gunners haven’t kept a clean sheet since their opening day victory at Fulham. Therefore, punters can take an offer of under 2.5 goals being scored at (2.10) with BigiBet .

Under 2.5 goals at (2.10) with BigiBet .

Odds correct at the time of writing. Please gamble responsibly.

England have cancelled their friendly match with Germany on Tuesday after a member of the team’s backroom staff tested positive for coronavirus.

In Germany, any individual who tests positive for Covid-19 in the country must self-isolate for 14 days, and it was decided not to run the risk of this happening to another member of the group.

The Lionesses squad will return to their clubs on Sunday after their training camp at St George’s Park was also cut short.

Phil Neville’s side last played in March, when they beat Japan but lost to Spain and the United States in the SheBelieves Cup.

England have played some intra-squad friendly matches recently in the absence of any other fixtures and fans were keenly anticipating the clash with Germany, currently second in the FIFA world rankings.

They are next scheduled to play Norway on December 1.

Star players Lucy Bronze and Nikita Parris had returned to the England squad for the trip to Germany, with seven uncapped players also called up. In-form Chelsea forward Fran Kirby had been forced to withdraw with an ankle injury.

Head coach Neville said: “While we all wanted to play Tuesday’s game, this was absolutely the right course of action. I thank Germany’s staff for their understanding and our FA colleagues for their support. I know the fans were hoping to see us play again but I am sure they will understand the decision.

“We have still had a good week of training and are looking forward to getting together next month before our match against Norway in Sheffield.”

Mark Bullingham, chief executive at the FA, added: “This has been a difficult but necessary decision.  Nothing is more important than the safety, health and wellbeing of the players and colleagues under our care. We are very grateful to the DFB for their cooperation and understanding and look forward to the possibility of a future fixture in healthier and safer times.”

England are winding down to the end of the Neville era, with the former Manchester United and Everton defender set to step down from his role in September 2021 after the rearranged Olympic Games.

Current Netherlands coach Sandra Wiegman will take his place on a four-year contract ahead of the European Championship in 2022, which England will host.

Antoine Griezmann "no longer knows how to play football" with Barcelona, according to Bixente Lizarazu.

Griezmann's career trajectory has stalled since his €120 million (£109m/$142m) move to Barca from Atletico Madrid in July 2019.

The Frenchman scored 133 goals in 257 games for Diego Simeone's side at Wanda Metropolitano, but has so far been unable to replicate that prolific form at Camp Nou.

He only managed to find the net in 15 of his 48 outings for Barca last season, and his struggles in the final third have continued at the start of the 2020-21 campaign.

Griezmann lost his place in Ronald Koeman's starting XI after failing to score in four successive Liga starts, with Lionel Messi and Ansu Fati tasked with leading the line ahead of him during the 5-1 Champions League win over Ferencvaros on Tuesday.

The World Cup winner finished the match as an unused substitute and found himself back on the bench when Barca welcomed Real Madrid to Camp Nou for the first Clasico encounter of the season on Saturday.

Griezmann was unable to affect the game after coming on for Fati eight minutes from time, with the Blancos ultimately running out 3-1 winners to move two points clear at the top of La Liga.

Former France international Lizarazu thinks his compatriot has lost his identity as a player since moving to Barcelona, and has advised him to leave the club in order to get his career back on track.

“He no longer knows how to play football with the Barca jersey. He no longer finds his place," Lizarazu told Telefoot.

"When you lose your football at this point, it is better to go. It's been eighteen months, so it's impacting his head, and the situation is really critical for him."

Koeman will now start preparing his side for a trip to Turin to face Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday, which will see Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo lock horns for the first time since the latter's move to the Allianz Stadium from Madrid in 2018.

Griezmann will hope to force his way back into the Dutchman's line up for that clash, before Barca's attention switches to an away fixture against Alaves three days later.

Spartak Moscow's summer signing Victor Moses has dedicated his first Russian Premier League goal to End SARS protesters in Nigeria.

The versatile former Super Eagle opened his account for the Red and Whites in their 3-1 victory over Krasnodar on Saturday.

The 29-year-old fired home a beauty to double his side’s lead after Ezequiel Ponce’s opener, before Jordan Larsson’s strike sealed the victory to render Leon Sabua’s effort a mere consolation.

There have been protests in Nigeria in recent weeks over the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a controversial police unit in Nigeria.

Protesters are also calling for an end to bad governance and poor economic conditions in the country and although the government disbanded SARS a few days after the protest started, it continued.

On Tuesday, men in military camouflage fired at protesters at Lekki toll gate in Lagos, killing 12 people, according to Amnesty International.

Moses believes Nigerians have the right to express their grievances through protest without having to lose their lives for it, and lent his support to the campaigners by dedicating his maiden goal in the Russian top-flight to them.

“Brilliant win today and delighted to get my first goal for the club,” Moses tweeted.

“I dedicate my goal today to the people of Nigeria. Enough is enough! Nigerians have the right to protest and not be killed for it. Pray for Nigeria.”

Moses has now made two appearances for Spartak Moscow since he completed his loan move to the side from Chelsea.

The forward had previously played for Liverpool, Stoke City, West Ham United, Fenerbahce and Inter Milan on loan since he joined Chelsea in 2012.

Moses had 38 caps for Nigeria before his retirement from international duty in 2018 and was part of the Super Eagles team that won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

He will hope to continue his impressive performances when Spartak Moscow take on Rostov in their next Russian Premier League game on October 31.

The Kenyan football fraternity was thrown into mourning after news came in that former Nairobi Stima and Tusker striker Stephen Owusu had passed away.

The 37-year-old died on Saturday evening after a battle with a long illness that forced him to go back to Ghana for treatment. 

Owusu was part of the Brewers team that won the 2016 Kenyan Premier League (KPL) as well as the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Shield Cup in the same year. 

After a poor 2017 season in the Kenyan top-tier, Owusu was among the 14 players released by coach Robert Matano.

Others who were shown the door alongside the Ghanaian were Anthony Ndolo, George Mandela, Moses Ndawula, Victor Ndinya, Luis Tera, Danson Kago, Noah Wafula, and Clifford Alwanga. 

Humphrey Mieno, Allan Wanga, James Situma, and Cercidy Okeyo were also axed.

Kenyans and top clubs in the league have now taken to Twitter to remember the striker, whose last assignment in Kenyan football was in the National Super League (NSL) with Nairobi Stima.

Below is how Owusu has been remembered.

KMC coach Habibu Kondo has sent a clear warning to Young Africans (Yanga SC), suggesting they are the ones who will beat them first in the Mainland Premier League this season.

The two clubs will come face to face in a league match on Sunday in Mwanza and coach Kondo says they have worked out how to end the Jangwani giants’ unbeaten run of six matches so far this campaign.

“We thank God we arrived safely in Mwanza in readiness for our match against Yanga, we have also got the chance to train at the match venue and we are now ready looking forward to the match,” Kondo is quoted by Sokaletu.

“We are all happy with the weather down here in Mwanza and my warning goes to Yanga that we have prepared well, studied how they played their last match [against Polisi Tanzania] and are ready to beat them, we don’t care nor fear them, we want to end their unbeaten run on Sunday.

“We played against a very tough Ruvu Shooting side while Yanga got it easy against Polisi, it shows you we are much prepared than them, they should not think we are not ready, we are very prepared to beat them.”

Some of the key players in the KMC squad include captain and veteran keeper Juma Kaseja, who has also played for Yanga before, Israel Mwenda, Hassan Kapalata, Reliant Lusajo, Keny Ally Hassan Kabunda, and Andrew Vicent “Dante”.

KMC are currently in the sixth position on the 18-team league table with 11 points from seven matches.

Like KMC, Yanga have also landed safely in Mwanza but will, however, miss the services of defender Mapinduzi Balama, who remained in Dar es Salaam owing to injury which forced him to miss the clash against Polisi Tanzania two days ago.

Yanga team manager Hafidh Saleh has confirmed to Goal that all the players in the squad are fit to face KMC apart from Balama.

The squad is ready and all of them are doing well,” Saleh told Goal. “We only don’t have one player in our travelling squad and that is Balama, who is not feeling well, and the coach requested that he remains behind because he will not use his services until he gets better.”

The Timu ya Mwananchi are second on the 18-team league table with 16 points, five less than leaders Azam FC, who have won all their matches.

Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer says his side was “too casual” and were their own worst enemies in Saturday’s 1-1 Premier Soccer League (PSL) draw against AmaZulu at Jonsson Kings Park Stadium.

Frank Mhango thrust the Soweto giants ahead from the penalty spot 18 minutes into the match after a controversial call by referee Abongile Tom.

But Lehlohonolo Majoro hit back for AmaZulu after pouncing on a rebound of his initially saved penalty.

It was a winless start to the season for Pirates as Zinnbauer’s highly-regarded men failed to break down a stubborn Usuthu.

“We know AmaZulu have a good team. It’s not easy [playing against them]. We can't expect to come here and get the three points for nothing,”Zinnbauer told SuperSport TV.

“We have to work on this. For me, the key we had the game, we scored. And after we scored, we were too casual. And that was very hard for us to come back in to the game after the break.

“The second half is the style we wanted, what we have to do, what needed to work on. But we needed more chances, we needed more goals to win the game. First half, not good for me, second half better. And we have work ahead.”

Zinnbauer feels the draw did not come as a result of AmaZulu’s brilliance to contain his star-studded side following some good signings, but says his men were just not up for it.

Even after bringing in five substitutes in the second half, the German says the men he introduced did not give enough.

“The problem was not the opponent, the problem was ourself,” said Zinnbauer.

“We did not have a normal build-up, not enough self-confidence, yes you can lose the ball, but we have too many turnovers and it was too easy. That’s the problem. Second half, we were more concentrated.

“It’s not easy, you have a bad first half and you come back and have a good half. But it's not enough. We have a point, yes, but for me, we didn't have enough chances to win the game.

“We need players on the bench that bring in a freshness, new performance and new ideas and I'm happy we have this but today it was not enough.”

While Zinnbauer is ruing dropping two points, his opposite number Ayanda Dlamini was content with gaining a point.

The youthful coach hailed his side for frustrating Pirates but decried his side’s poor finishing.

“For me it’s a good point. We played very good possession football against Orlando Pirates, they are a quality side. They dominated in some stages but we also had our moments,” said Dlamini.

“I liked the intensity in our attack but I think we did not make the right decisions in the final third. We got so many chances that, had we made the right pass [we could have scored]. But again, I think we kept the ball very well which is what we wanted. If they don’t have the ball, we knew they would be frustrated.

“So we kept the ball and found spaces in between their lines. And also the ball behind their full backs because they are very high up in advanced positions. We got those moments like I said. We we got in the final third we would have made better decisions to get goals.

“We had a few chances from [Luvuyo] Memela, the header which was unlucky to go in. We can take the positives from this game but there is a lot to work on.”

AmaZulu now prepare to visit TS Galaxy in their next match while Pirates host Stellenbosch as they seek their first win of the season.

Bruno Fernandes' "body language is not good", according to Steve McClaren, who says the Manchester United star has got to "get his head up" and start having an impact on games again.

United's worst start to a league season at Old Trafford in 48 years was confirmed after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Chelsea on Saturday evening.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side opened their latest campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace before suffering a 6-1 loss at home to Tottenham earlier this month and were unable to get back to winning ways against the Blues.

The Red Devils came closest to finding a winner, with Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy forced to make two impressive saves to keep out Marcus Rashford, but both sides struggled to carve out clear cut chances over the course of the 90 minutes.

Fernandes had an unusually quiet game in the middle of the park and was eventually shifted out onto the right-wing when Edinson Cavani and Paul Pogba were introduced to the action mid-way through the second half.

The Portuguese was also asked to take up an unnatural role during last weekend's 4-1 win at Newcastle, during which he scored a superb late goal, but he struggled to exert the same influence on proceedings against the Blues.

McClaren accused Fernandes of sulking after being moved out of his usual position, with his lack of movement restricting United as they tried to push for a late breakthrough.

“I’ve been watching Bruno Fernandes and he’s disappointed”, the former Red Devils assistant coach said while covering the game for talkSPORT. "He’s disappointed because he’s been taken out of the middle and he’s out on the right-hand side.

“I saw it last week against Newcastle, when he went out wide, and I’m seeing it again now. His body language is not good, he’s not getting involved.

“He needs to be in the game and on that right-hand side he’s not moving from there, he’s got to move from there, he’s got to get his head up and get back into the game and affect the game. At the moment he’s just standing out on the right and he’s making it very easy for Ben Chilwell.”

The result at Old Trafford leaves Solskjaer's men languishing in 15th in the Premier League table after five fixtures, six points behind current leaders Everton.

United will now start preparing for a Champions League group stage meeting with RB Leipzig on Wednesday, which comes four days before they play host to Arsenal.

Kakakamega Homeboyz have sealed the signing of experienced custodian Samuel Odhiambo from Western Stima.

Homeboyz chairman Cleophas Shimanyula has confirmed to Goal they have acquired the services of the 36-year-old after he agreed to pen a one-year renewable contract.

“It is true, we have signed keeper [Odhiambo],” Shimanyula told Goal on Sunday. “We were looking for experience in that area and I am happy Odhiambo has agreed to sign for us, he is a great addition to our squad and we want to use him effectively in the new campaign.”

The shot-stopper, nicknamed ‘Abawa’, has a special attribute to his goalkeeping skills; he is a goal-scoring keeper. In the 2018/2019 Kenyan Premier League campaign, he hit six goals for Stima while last season after only 11 matches, he had scored four, all from penalties.

He also made his debut for the Harambee Stars at the 2019 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup held in Uganda, playing against Tanzania in a match Kenya won 1-0.

Odhiambo started his career with Tusker FC, winning the 2011 and 2012 league titles with them before moving a division lower to Ushuru FC. He then made another move to upcountry side Chemelil Sugar before eventually crossing over to Western Stima in 2016 where he has been to date.

Shimanyula has further revealed they are still in the transfer market for more quality players as they want to have a strong squad capable of challenging Gor Mahia for the FKF Premier League title.

“We are not done yet,” Shimanyula continued. “We are still talking to a few experienced players who will join us soon.

“We want to be able to challenge for the league title because if you remember well, last season we were almost winning the crown before Covid-19 happened and scuttled our plans, this season we want to go all the way, we have a very good squad and my message to our opponents is very clear, don’t underrate us.

“We have already started training in groups and we hope soon we will be able to play a few friendly matches before the league gets underway, we hope the government will soon allow football to return so that the league can also kick-off as planned on November 20.”

Homeboyz will start the season with a clash against Mathare United on November 20 before returning home to host Sofapaka on November 29.

Victor Wanyama’s head coach Thierry Henry has taken the blame after Montreal Impact went down 3-1 to New York FC on Saturday.

Montreal Impact remained firm until midway through the second half when they leaked the first goal which was scored by Jesus Medina after an error in judgment by Rudy Camacho.

The other goals were scored by Maxi Moralez and Tony Rocha. Romell Quioto scored Montreal Impact's consolation goal and missed an opportunity to add one more while Maximiliano Urruti and Bojan Krkic would have scored but were caught offside.

“It was my fault. Maybe we should have stayed [in New York] and trained,” Henry said in reference to the travel back to Montreal in the week.

“I wanted to have faith in my guys and think about the mental aspect. But it’s my fault, no problem. We made, again, a clear mistake that changed the rhythm of the game and changed everything.

“But I take the blame. For everything that’s been happening, I take the blame. Those guys are dealing with something that’s very difficult and I take the blame. It’s as simple as that.”

The French tactician claimed his side would have, however, emerged winners had they been clinical enough.

“It was a game in which we were in control and in which we needed to score much earlier. And once again, we put ourselves in trouble,” Henry added.

“We could have been ahead in this game, let’s be honest, before [the first goal] easily. We disturbed them easily.

“They couldn’t play through us apart from maybe two plays in the first half. But then, obviously, when you do this type of thing, you punish yourself.”

Montreal Impact remain firm in the play-off race despite the loss to New York City.

“It’s not the first time that this happens to us, but what’s nice with football is that there is always another game to respond,” Henry concluded.

“We have a game on Tuesday against a team that’s really hard to handle. A solid team that’s really aggressive, so it will be up to us to manage all of that, it won’t be easy, but sometimes it’s better to play right away in order to move on to better things.”

Over the years, the Indian Super League (ISL) has seen a lot of brilliant foreign players make the journey to India and wow the fans.

This year, there are some established names as well as some promising names who have embarked on an Indian adventure. 

This edition of Goal 's 'Sharp Minds' quiz is for the fans who are up to date with the foreign acquisitions. 

As we see football take a backseat among the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, here's your chance to while away some time.

We will bring you a set of 10 questions, a mixture of easy and tough ones, every week on Indian football. Try answering them on your own (without googling, we hope) and see how much you know about Indian football.

Share your scores with others and showboat. The latest edition of Sharp Minds is right here. Have fun.

NOTE : You are welcome to contact us through social media, if you need any clarification on the answers. We will try, to the best of our abilities, to explain.

Moise Kean said he is happy to play "wherever the coach decides" after netting his first goals in a Paris Saint-Germain shirt.

PSG raised more than a few eyebrows when they decided to bring in Kean on a season-long loan from Everton on October 4.

The 20-year-old's first season at Goodison Park was underwhelming, as he scored just twice in 29 Premier League outings following a €28 million (£25m/$33m) move from Juventus.

The Italian frontman was unable to get to grips with the intensity of English football and quickly fell down the squad pecking order under Carlo Ancelotti, but he has now been given the chance to get his career back on track at Parc des Princes.

Kean produced an encouraging display on his PSG debut during a 4-0 win over Nimes, before making a cameo appearance in a 2-1 Champions League defeat to Manchester United on Tuesday.

He returned to Thomas Tuchel's starting line up for the home fixture against Dijon, and opened the scoring after just three minutes when he volleyed home a pinpoint Mitchel Bakker cross at the near post.

The Everton loanee doubled his account 20 minutes later, tapping into an empty net after great work from Neymar, before a late Kylian Mbappe brace wrapped up another comfortable 4-0 victory for the French champions.

Kean was deployed in his natural role through the middle for the second consecutive domestic fixture against Dijon, but he is open to taking up different positions should Tuchel feel the need to rotate.

"It's going well. The squad and the staff are wonderful. We are working hard to move forward. I trained a lot this week to be able to score and help the team," the Italy international told Canal Plus of his impressive start to life at PSG.

"The second goal is Neymar who gives me a good pass. He could have shot, but he gave me the ball and I thank him very much. My favourite position is to score goals. I'm ready to play wherever the coach decides. I give my best for the team."

Tuchel has been forced to shuffle his pack over the past week amid an injury crisis which has seen a number of key senior stars sidelined, with Marqinhos among those adapting to a different role.

The Brazilian was delighted with PSG's response to their European defeat against United, and is already looking ahead to a midweek meeting with Istanbul Basaksehir.

“We tried to put the commitment back, we also tried to be serious in pressing and counter-pressing. We missed it in the Champions League. Players have come back like [Julian] Draxler and me," he said. "It's not our best match, but the important thing was to win, even if it was Dijon, the most important thing was to win again. You had to win at home. The season is not easy. 

"We are going to do a lot of matches. It's good, the team has turned and there have been a lot of changes. We remained competitive and that's the best way to prepare for Wednesday's match.

"I was warned this week that Danilo [Pereira] was going to play in central defence. We're here to serve the team. Even if it was not our favourite positions, we respected the coach's instructions."

Harambee Stars defender Clarke Oduor featured as Barnsley failed to record a first Championship win of the season against Millwall at The Den on Saturday.

Barnsley and Millwall had plenty of concerns in the game as the latter had to play without their manager Gary Rowett after positive coronavirus test.

Oduor’s manager Adam Murray – who was in charge for the final time – had to make a change for striker Cauley Woodrow and defender Jordan Williams after they were injured 10 minutes before the kick-off.

They were replaced by Conor Chaplin and the Harambee Stars defender, respectively.

The Tykes took the lead before the half-time whistle through Alex Mowatt's 25-yard strike as the new boss Valerien Ismael watched from the stands.

The hosts equalised via defender Jake Cooper’s header but Millwall failed to register a third straight win.

Murray was satisfied with the draw and said the pre-match plan worked for them.

"I thought, for us, it was a really good away performance,” Murray said as per BBC Sport.

"I think when you come to a place like this, with a team that's in the play-off places before the game, there are times where you're going to be stressed out but I thought our game plan worked well.

"I think we caught them a few times on the counter-attack, but again our final pass needs to be a little bit better for us to take the opportunities that we do have."

On his part, Millwall assistant manager Adam Barrett said the game came at an unusual time especially after his boss tested Covid-19 positive.

"Obviously, it's not ideal,” Barrett said.

“Your manager goes down with Covid-19, so it's been an unusual 24 hours, but the good thing with modern technology now is you can keep in contact and the gaffer was still able to do his meeting by video.

"Firstly, he's feeling okay, so we wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully he's back in the dugout soon.

"They were very aggressive on the press and I thought we turned the ball over too cheaply, so we were disappointed with that, but the second half was a much better performance."

Barnsley will remain just above the relegation zone after the draw while Millwall moved up a couple of places and are now seventh.

Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin has conceded that the biggest "problem" in his team is their defence as his side went down 3-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns in Saturday’s Premier Soccer League opener at FNB Stadium.

In his first league match in charge of Chiefs, Hunt started the centre-back pairing of Ramahlwe Mphahlele and Daniel Cardoso, while Reeve Frosler and Yagan Sasman operated as wingbacks, with Willard Katsande the defensive linkman.

The Amakhosi coach could be increasingly worried about his backline as Chiefs have now conceded four goals in two matches following a 2-1 MTN8 win over Maritzburg United the previous weekend.

Against Sundowns, the Chiefs defence let Peter Shalulile head home the Brazilians’ opener from a corner kick, before allowing Kermit Erasmus a free shot inside the box with four defenders in front of him to make it 2-0.

Itumeleng Khune, on the other hand, came off his line more often and almost gifted Sundowns a goal but had to thank Mphahlele for desperately clearing Shalulile’s goal-bound lob.

It was Khune’s ill-timed intervention which brought down George Maluleka inside the box and saw Themba Zwane converting the resultant penalty to complete a woeful afternoon for Amakhosi.

Hunt, whose team are banned by Fifa from signing players, also highlighted the huge gap in quality between his side and Sundowns as having cost his side.

“It doesn’t look good obviously. If you look at the whole game we had some good opportunities ourselves,” Hunt told SuperSport TV.

“But we have to defend better if we know where the problems are. I know the problems from day one. But it is what it is. We ended up with six academy boys on the field. We have to start building, we have to start somewhere planning against a team that has invested very heavily in their squad.

“As you can see, just look at their bench and that’s what you are up against. So we just have to dust ourselves off and go again. I think we created some good opportunities but as I said, defensively-wise, we leave a lot to be desired.”

Chiefs visit Chippa United for their next match on Tuesday as they seek to recover from the Downs setback.

As for Sundowns, the coaching trio of Manqoba Mngqithi, Rhulani Mokwena and Steve Komphela shook off the criticism from the previous weekend’s MTN8 elimination by Bloemfontein Celtic.

Despite a convincing display against Chiefs, Mngqithi feels they could have won by a wider margin as he demanded more from his charges.

“One is just happy to have kept a clean sheet first. Though in some moments we looked like we wanted to give them something,” Mngqithi said.

“But I also believe we could have scored more goals. We missed far too many chances. At times in football when the game allows you to score more you should score more because you don’t know what is going to happen next.

“But the game was a little bit scrappy. It was never really smooth as one would have wanted especially when you have taken a comfortable lead you expect to have a little bit of better possession, a little bit better penetration.

“But we played in patches and we still have to really improve in that regard because our personality as a big team we should be trying to dominate games and not only look for goals but also to dominate possession, to dominate duels, to dominate penetration and to just dominate the field in general in terms of our width and depth.

“From time to time I felt we did a lot right especially in the first half. Structurally we made it difficult for them to identify what we were trying to do. It caused a lot of confusion on Parker and Reeve Frosler. They couldn’t find Themba Zwane. It made our lives a little bit better. But I don’t think we were clinical enough.”

Sundowns now prepare to host Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila in Pretoria in their next match on Wednesday.

Mumbai City FC have completed the signing of Spanish midfielder Hernan Santana ahead of the upcoming Indian Super League (ISL) season. 

The 30-year-old has joined the Islanders on a season-long loan deal from Sporting Gijon. 

Santana's signing completes the foreign contingent recruitment at Mumbai City FC. Mumbai have already signed Hugo Boumous, Bartholomew Ogbeche, Ahmed Jahouh, Mourtada Fall, Adam Le Fondre and Cy Goddard as their overseas players. 

Santana, who came through the ranks of Spanish club Las Palmas, was an integral part of the Canaries for the better part of the last decade. From 2011-2018, he played for Las Palmas in the Segunda division and the La Liga. 

He helped them gain promotion to the La Liga after 13 years in the 2014-15 season, making 36 appearances that campaign. 

Santana, a central midfielder who also plays as a defensive midfielder, made his La Liga debut against Atletico Madrid and has even scored against Real Madrid once. In 2018, he joined Sporting Gijon who are incidentally owned by City Football Group (CFG) who also owns Mumbai City FC. 

Mumbai City will hope Santana plays a key role for the side as they look to embark on an exciting ISL season under the tutelage of new head coach Sergio Lobera. 

It must be noted that Santana knows Lobera well, having played under him at Las Palmas between 2012 and 2014. 

Luke Shaw says Edouard Mendy's "wonderful saves" kept Chelsea in the game against Manchester United, who he believes "created the better chances" at Old Trafford.

United missed the chance to move into the top half of the Premier League table after being held to a 0-0 draw by Chelsea on Sunday.

The home side mustered 14 shots on goal compared to the visitors' six in a dull affair which failed to live up to the pre-match hype, with Marcus Rashford squandering the best chances for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.

Rashford only had Mendy to beat after being played through by Juan Mata midway through the first half, but he saw his effort kept out by a strong right leg from the Senegalese shot-stopper.

The Red Devils striker was also denied in the dying moments of the match as he curled a strike towards the far corner of the net from just outside the box, only for Mendy to fly across his goal and parry the ball out for a corner.

Chelsea were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty shortly before the interval as replays showed Harry Maguire had wrapped his arms around Cesar Azpilicueta while defending a free-kick, but Frank Lampard's men were otherwise unable to create any opportunities of note in the final third.

Shaw felt United would have secured all three points were it not for Mendy's brilliance between the sticks, as he told the club's official website: “I feel like we created the better chances.

"Their keeper made wonderful saves at times. I was right behind it [Rashford’s shot] and, like I said, their keeper was very good today. He made a couple of very good saves that kept them in the game.

“We defended much better than we have been, especially against a very good team like Chelsea who have high-quality players all around the pitch.

“I feel like they didn’t really create much, and we did well in that aspect - but higher up the pitch, we should have maybe grabbed a goal, or maybe even two, and taken the three points.”

Asked to address suggestions of both teams being happy to play for a point, Shaw responded: “Yeah, they were saying up there [on the TV] that neither team wanted to lose.

“You could see that with maybe the way they turned up with that formation – they haven’t played it [a back five] this season, so it was the first time. So I think maybe we felt that from them, but we always want to win every game.

"Of course it was important we didn’t lose today, and we’ll take one point rather than zero, but also we’re disappointed in the back of our minds that we didn’t take three.”

Shaw also expressed his belief that the Red Devils are beginning to hit their stride after a slow start to the campaign, before defending Solskjaer's decision to rotate his starting line up following Tuesday's 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

“When we’re on the pitch now, it feels different to what it was before [at the start of 2020/21]. Before, we made a lot of sloppy, silly mistakes – individual mistakes – and I think we’ve learned from that and we’ve worked hard in training," the Red Devils defender added.

“It’s very good for the manager to maybe have those changes that he can make, but also very good for the team, because everyone wants to play. Everyone’s pushing. The ones on the bench want to be in the starting XI, so it’s good to have that healthy competition that is going to push the lads.

“We need to keep pushing. Of course, we’re a bit disappointed we haven’t got three points but we need to just get our focus back, [because] we have a massive game on Wednesday [against RB Leipzig] that we need to win.”

Thomas Tuchel praised Moise Kean after the forward scored his first Paris Saint-Germain goals in a 4-0 victory over Dijon.

Kean, who joined PSG on loan from Everton earlier this month, netted a brace on Saturday before Kylian Mbappe came off the bench to also score twice.

A €27.5million signing at Everton from Juventus in 2019, Kean only made six Premier League starts last season.

After PSG moved top of the table, Tuchel was happy with Kean, who made his third appearance for the club, but was quick to keep expectations low moving forward. 

"He brings intensity to our game. It is his strength to bring intensity. He is an athletic player," the PSG coach told a news conference.

"I'm happy that he was able to show that against Nimes and against Dijon. It was more difficult for him against Manchester [United], it was another level.

"He showed that he could help in matches at that level [against Nimes and Dijon]. We can't expect too much from him. He didn't play much at Everton. He has to keep improving."

Kean was replaced by Mbappe in the 73rd minute and the star France international delivered a double of his own.

Neymar assisted two goals and has been involved in eight against Dijon in Ligue 1 (four goals and four assists) – his favourite opponent in the top flight. He was involved in 15 shots (seven attempts and eight chances created), which marked his best in Ligue 1.

Tuchel was pleased with his side's performance at Parc des Princes.

"I'm happy with the intensity. It's never easy, we always play behind closed doors," he said.

"The players always have to find the momentum on their own because we miss the fans. It's completely different with 5,000, it's completely different with 40,000 in the stadium.

"It's hard to always have the spirit, the momentum without the atmosphere. Having the right attitude to attack, to do a high pressing.

"It's more difficult for all players and that's why I'm happy because we never lost this intensity."

PSG next face Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League on Wednesday night before backing up in Ligue 1 against Nantes next Saturday.