Ronald Koeman was not impressed with Everton s second-half performance against Sunderland despite going on to win the Premier League match 2-0 at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Everton were dominant in the first period and deserved their 1-0 lead at the break, after Idrissa Gueye scored his first goal for the club with a well-taken finish.
But rock-bottom Sunderland were brighter after the interval and Koeman believes that was as much down to his side s play as it was the visitors improvement.
Koeman also accepted that Everton got lucky when a late Jermain Defoe effort came back off the crossbar, just a few moments before Romelu Lukaku wrapped things up, in the process joining Duncan Ferguson on 60 goals as the club s joint top Premier League scorer.
It s th…
Alphonso Davies is capable of managing Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi in the Champions League quarter-finals, according to Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Davies, still just 19, joined Bayern from Vancouver Whitecaps in January 2019 but has forced his way into Hansi Flick s first team this season.
The speedy Canada winger has forged a starting role at left-back, meaning David Alaba has played in the centre of defence while Lucas Hernandez has spent much of his first Bundesliga campaign injured or on the bench.
Davies was named the German top flight s Rookie of the Season and particularly excelled in both legs of the Champions League last-16 tie with Chelsea.
Now, in the final eight in Lisbon, Davies might be tasked with handling six-time Ballon…
Anthony Martial is still very much part of France s plans going forward despite missing out on selection this time around, says head coach Didier Deschamps.
Manchester United forward Martial has been in fine form for the Red Devils since returning from the thigh injury that ruled him out for two months three weeks ago.
The 23-year-old has scored three goals in his past six outings and has linked well with Marcus Rashford and Daniel James at Old Trafford.
However, Martial – whose last international appearance came in a friendly against Russia in March 2018 – has again been omitted for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers with Moldova and Albania.
Deschamps, though, says he is likely to be included in the future.
He was part of the French team on …
Liverpool signed defender Paul Konchesky from Fulham, while Sunderland smashed their transfer record to land Asamoah Gyan and Birmingham made a surprise swoop for Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb on the final day of the transfer window.
Reds boss Roy Hodgson had been keen to land left-back Konchesky from his former club since taking over at Anfield in the close-season and he finally got his man on a four-year contract once Finnish striker Lauri Dalla Valle and Swedish winger Alex Kacaniklic agreed their moves in the opposite direction.
That deal, Sunderland s signing of Rennes star Gyan and Birmingham s loan move for Hleb took centre-stage as Premier League clubs tried to beat the 1800BST (1700GMT) deadline for registering new signings.
Hleb s capture represe…
Gareth Southgate has rejected the suggestion that most of his England squad are not fully vaccinated against coronavirus and reiterated his support for a vaccine programme.
The subject of wildly varying vaccination rates at Premier League clubs recently prompted a passionate outburst from Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
Southgate supports the vaccination programme and Tammy Abraham this week became the first England player to reveal he had been jabbed, but others have been reluctant to speak about the matter publicly.
Asked about most players in the squad and Premier League in general not being fully vaccinated ahead of England s World Cup qualifier in Andorra, Southgate replied: I m not sure that s totally accurate, in terms of most , but I think everybody knows …
Former Italy international Gianluca Vialli is expecting Andrea Pirlo to be decisive at both ends of the pitch during the FIFA World Cup.
Some had suggested that the former Milan star s career was on the wane as he left San Siro in 2011, but the midfielder has been an ever-present in a Juventus team which has relentlessly dominated Serie A ever since.
Pirlo also played a major role in helping Italy reach the Euro 2012 final, where Cesare Prandelli s men ultimately lost 4-0 to Spain.
Two years on and with a couple of extra Serie A titles under his belt, Vialli is confident that Pirlo s influence and presence in the Italian midfield will be an strong as ever, suggesting the 35-year-old will be an important factor attacking as well as helping out at the back.
Athletic Bilbao have rejected a bid in the region of €36million from Manchester United for midfielder Ander Herrera.
Bilbao confirmed on Thursday that United this week tabled an offer for the 24-year-old and that it has been rebuffed.
Former Spain Under-21 international Herrera was reportedly set to join United last season but the transfer fell through on the final day of the transfer window.
Herrera moved to Bilbao from Real Zaragoza in 2011, and was part of the team that were finalists in the Copa del Rey and UEFA Europa League in 2011-12.
Bilbao beat United on the way to the showpiece of the Europa League, only to lose to Atletico Madrid.
In his three years at San Mames, Herrera has made 128 appearances and scored 11 goals.
Arturo Can…
Carlos Bacca has stressed AC Milan cannot afford to drop points in Sunday s Serie A trip to Atalanta if they are to qualify for European football and he is looking forward to meeting former team-mate Gabriel Paletta on the pitch.
Milan sit sixth in the Serie A table heading into this weekend s encounter with 49 points from 30 games, four points clear of seventh-placed Sassuolo.
Bacca insists Milan must keep pushing, while he also has one eye on the Coppa Italia final versus Juventus in May.
It will be hard this weekend versus Atalanta. They are coming off the back of a good win versus Bologna, they have a good side and they need the points, Bacca told Milan Channel.
Paletta is a friend, he helped me a lot and also during the summer tour to China when…
Barcelona s amazing MSN strikeforce of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar have scored 100 goals for the third consecutive season.
The star trio came into Saturday s home LaLiga match with Villarreal on 98 for the season, and strikes from Neymar and Messi took them to a century.
Since Suarez s arrival from Liverpool in 2014 saw him join Messi and Neymar at Camp Nou, the forwards have been prolific in helping Barca to silverware.
They netted 122 goals in their first campaign together as the club won a historic treble of LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.
They then bettered that tally with 131 in 2015-16, a campaign which saw Barca win the league, Copa del Rey, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
This season Barca have already won t…
The Office, one of the most iconic and beloved American TV shows, is reportedly getting a follow-up series, and now a major piece of news about it has emerged. Deadline reports that Michael Koman, the co-creator of Nathan For You, is the “leading creative voice” in the writers room that Greg Daniels opened this year to explore ideas for a potential new series. Come from Sports betting site VPbet
If the series moves ahead, Koman could be the co-creator. Importantly, nothing is official here. A potential new series would not be a reboot of The Office. Instead, it’s believed it could follow a similar mockumentary-style approach that documents the life and careers of different people.
Intriguingly, though, reports have sugg…