Bradley Carnell is eager to get going again when St. Louis City return to MLS action against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, two weeks on from their last game.

St. Louis were last in action on April 21, when Tomas Totland s last-gasp equaliser saw them claim a 3-3 draw against rivals Sporting Kansas City.

Carnell s team have only lost one of their last eight MLS games, though five of those have finished level to leave them ninth in the Western Conference standings, one point behind the Dynamo.

Speaking about the challenges of their long wait for a game, Carnell said: The week off was nice, it gave us some time to plan and prep for the next few weeks and where we re going.

There s going to be a ton of games so it s really important for us to do that. We c…

Pep Guardiola hailed a mature performance from Manchester City as they claimed a hard-fought 1-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday.

Julian Alvarez scored the only goal of a tight Premier League encounter at the Etihad Stadium in which the treble winners impressively stifled any threat from the visitors.

Newcastle had travelled in buoyant mood after their opening-day 5-1 defeat of Aston Villa last week, while City may have had reason to feel lethargic after their draining Super Cup outing against Sevilla in Athens on Wednesday.

Two wins out of two for

— Premier League (@premierleague)

Yet City played with a confidence and determination that overcame any fatigue and Guardiola, who made just two changes to his side and did not make any substitutio…

Getafe goalkeeper Vicente Guaita has accepted that Atletico Madrid are in another league in terms of ability as they prepare to make the short trip across the Spanish capital for Tuesday s La Liga clash.

Fran Escriba s side clinched their first points of the season on Friday, as Stefan Scepovic s goal in the second minute settled a tight affair at home to Malaga, with defeats to both Athletic Bilbao, Granada and Espanyol preceding that win.

But Atletico, who spent approximately €130million during the close-season, have enjoyed a far more impressive start, with a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona the only blemish following victories over Las Palmas, Sevilla and Eibar.

And Guaita acknowledged that in some ways Getafe, who were restricted to loans and free deals in the tra…

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has expressed his happiness with the transfer of playmaker Wesley Sneijder to Galatasaray.

The Netherlands international agreed terms with the Istanbul giants on Sunday for a fee of 7.5 million euros.

Sneijder had been frozen out of the Inter first team after refusing to take a significant pay cut, effectively forcing him out the door at San Siro.

Yes (I am happy), without a doubt. Galatasaray did everything properly, their president, their vice-president, he was quoted as saying on the club s official website.

They re very good people. I think the player is happy too, otherwise he wouldn t have gone there.

Moratti went on to say the potential signing of Corinthians midfielder Paulinho depends on his price…

Michy Batshuayi is in great pain with an injury sustained in the derby defeat to Schalke, Borussia Dortmund coach Peter Stoger has confirmed.

Batshuayi was carried off on a stretcher towards the end of Dortmund s 2-0 loss to Ruhr rivals Schalke in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

The Belgium striker who has hit seven league goals since joining on loan from Chelsea in January covered his face with his hands as he left the field.

And Stoger, while unwilling to offer a diagnosis for Batshuayi s apparent ankle injury, accepted it could be a serious blow for the forward, who was seen leaving the stadium on crutches and was reportedly taken to hospital.

He is in great pain, Stoger said.  It looked like he could be out for a long time. I hope it s not that bad.

…

Arsene Wenger concedes it will be strange to face-off against Alexis Sanchez on Sunday when the Chile international steps out for Manchester United at home to Arsenal.

Alexis made the switch from north London to Old Trafford in January, in a deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan move the other way, and is set to tackle his former team-mates for the first time this weekend.

Wenger brought Sanchez to Emirates Stadium from Barcelona in 2014 but Arsenal were unable to agree to a new contract with the 29-year-old, forcing the Gunners into a mid-season sale amid anger from fans.

Sanchez was amongst those who paid tribute to Wenger following the announcement he will leave Arsenal this summer, bringing an end to a historic 22-year spell with the club, and the French boss feel…

Barcelona saw their long winning run against Rayo Vallecano end on Wednesday as they lost 1-0 at Estadio de Vallecas.

In need of a positive result after their 2-1 Clasico defeat, Ronald Koeman s men instead suffered a fifth loss of the season in all competitions courtesy of Radamel Falcao s first-half goal.

Barca went into this latest contest on a run of 13 consecutive LaLiga wins over Rayo in which they had averaged 4.3 goals per game, yet they paid the price for Memphis Depay s missed penalty midway through the second half.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a desperate early save to keep out Oscar Trejo s ambitious long-range chip, but it began to look like Barca would keep up that formidable scoring record, Depay going close and Sergio Aguero seeing vague penalty app…

Romelu Lukaku scored twice as Inter kept the pressure up on Serie A leaders Milan with a confident 4-0 home victory over Benevento on Saturday.

Antonio Conte s side took the lead through a Riccardo Improta own goal in the seventh minute and were never really troubled at San Siro.

Lautaro Martinez ended a run of four Serie A games without a goal with a fine finish for Inter s second as he took his tally against newly promoted teams to eight in 14 appearances.

Lukaku then wrapped up the points for Inter when he scored twice with clinical finishes after smart assists from Martinez and Alexis Sanchez.

A dominant display from the Nerazzurri!

— Inter (@Inter_en)

Inter showed their attacking intent straight from kick-off during a first half in…

Emile Smith Rowe has praised the spirit in Arsenal s squad to recover from a slow start to the season and climb into fifth place heading into the November international break.

The Gunners kicked off the 2021-22 campaign with three league defeats in a row without scoring for the first time in their history.

Since losing 5-0 at Manchester City on August 28, however, Arsenal have gone eight without defeat in the top flight – their best run since another eight-game spell that ended in March 2020.

Mikel Arteta s men are also unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions thanks to Sunday s 1-0 win over Watford at Emirates Stadium.

Smith Rowe, who scored the only goal of the game against Watford with a second-half strike after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had an earl…

Granit Xhaka admits it is a huge blow for Arsenal to lose Gabriel Jesus to injury but is confident the Gunners can compete in his absence, offering his support to likely replacement Eddie Nketiah.

Jesus suffered a knee injury in Brazil s World Cup loss to Cameroon, ruling him out of the remainder of the tournament and leading to surgery – with the expectation he will face two to three months out.

It hands Mikel Arteta a huge blow ahead of the Gunners resumption of their Premier League title push on Boxing Day, with the former Manchester City forward quickly establishing himself as an integral member of the squad.

While Jesus faces an extended period out, Xhaka believes it is a small injury for him to cope with and vowed to support his teammate in his recovery.<…