In what could prove to be a season-defining victory on Sunday afternoon, Manchester United snatched a late 2-1 win away at Aston Villa.

Appearing to have turned a recent corner, Erik ten Hag’s side opened the scoring after just 17 minutes as the red-hot Rasmus Hojlund notched his fifth strike in as many domestic appearances.

Although the former Premier League champions might have entered the half-time break with a deserved 1-0 lead, Villa certainly put in an improved performance after returning from the interval.

Creating a string of chances and watching Andre Onana make a host of eye-catching stops, Douglas Luiz finished from close range midway through the second half and handed Unai Emery’s men a platform to build on.

However, although Sunday’s h…

Amid reports a deal for Petr Cech to join Arsenal has been completed, the Chelsea goalkeeper has taken to social media to insist that is not the case.

Cech is widely expected to bring an end to his 11-year stay at Stamford Bridge and move to London rivals Arsenal, having seen his first-team opportunities at Chelsea limited due to the presence of Thibaut Courtois.

However, after reports indicated an announcement was imminent, Cech took the unusual step of sharing a message posted by his management company The Sports PR Company   on Twitter.

The message retweeted by Cech read: as we told you, No transfer deal has been done yet for @PetrCech as soon as [there is] any news @PetrCech will confirm.

Earlier on Monday, John Terry suggested Arsenal would bene…

Chelsea s Juan Mata has backed former Valencia team-mate Roberto Soldado to shine at Tottenham.

The pair played together at the Mestalla between 2010 and 2011, before Mata made the switch to Stamford Bridge, having also featured alongside one another for Spain.

Soldado followed Mata to the Premier League in August, and has scored twice for his new club from the penalty spot so far this campaign.

Mata has watched on with interest at his compatriot s start to life at Tottenham, and while he believes the 28-year-old can continue to improve, he refused to be drawn on whether he can rival the likes of Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie.

When asked if Soldado could compete with that duo for goals in the Premier League, Mata said: Let s see.

I really enjoyed it wh…

Lyon s first home Champions League group-stage game will be played behind closed doors as a result of crowd trouble against CSKA Moscow last season, UEFA has confirmed.

The governing body charged the French club under multiple counts, including throwing of objects, setting off of fireworks, crowd disturbances, racist behaviour and blocking stairways.

As a result, UEFA s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) has fined Lyon €100,000 and determined that the next European game they host must be played without fans in attendance.

A ban for another home fixture has been deferred for a two-year probationary period.

Lyon were already in the midst of a two-year suspended ban imposed by the CEDB following crowd trouble in the first leg of their Europa Lea…

Kepa Arrizabalaga feels his battle with David de Gea to be first-choice goalkeeper can only be a good thing for Spain.

Chelsea keeper Kepa has started four of the national team s last five matches, with De Gea returning to the XI for the 4-0 win over the Faroe Islands last month.

De Gea endured a poor World Cup after a disappointing club campaign with Manchester United, but national team boss Robert Moreno recently stated he does not have an undisputed number one.

Spain take on Norway in Oslo on Saturday and Kepa is keen to earn a recall to the starting line-up.

My goal is to play, he said at Friday s pre-match news conference. All players want to be in the starting XI. I am obviously confident and want to help the team. 

If I am one of the ele…

He has tamed Fabio Capello s Three Lions, demolished Diego Maradona s dream and snuffed out Lionel Messi s magic, but can Germany coach Joachim Loew now inflict some World Cup pain on Spain?

After routing Argentina 4-0 in Sunday s quarter-final, Germany face Spain in Wednesday s semi-final in Durban with a place in the July 11 final against either the Netherlands or Uruguay at stake.

My team showed great resolve, a great willingness to win and it wasn t just a high-level victory, but a true champions performance, beamed Loew after Germany out-classed Maradona s Argentina.

The 50-year-old s contract with the German Football Federation (DFB) expired last Wednesday, but if Germany are crowned world champions next Sunday, Loew will be able to name his price.

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Thierry Henry questioned why Barcelona were not awarded a penalty in their contentious 1-0 loss to Inter despite 20 billion cameras spotting Denzel Dumfries handball.

Inter claimed a valuable victory at San Siro in Tuesday s Champions League tie through Hakan Calhanoglu s brilliant first-half strike.

But Barca were left furious after a Pedri equaliser was ruled out by VAR for handball against Ansu Fati in the build-up, before having a late penalty call rejected.

A cross towards Fati was cut out by the hand of Dumfries, but Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic and his officials decided against awarding the visitors a stoppage-time penalty.

It is a decision that left Xavi furious, with the Barca boss already on a yellow card for protesting the disallowed goal, a…

AC Milan defender Philippe Mexes has rubbished speculation linking him with a summer move away from San Siro.

The Frenchman has a contract until June 2015 with the Rossoneri and having struggled for playing time this season, he was tipped to leave the club in search of first team football at the end of the current season.

However, Mexes has made it clear he has no intention to leave AC Milan before his contract expires and instead hopes to sign a new deal.

“I have one year left on my contract and I plan to respect it until the end,” the experienced defender said to Sky Sport Italia.

“I hope to sign an extension. I know I am 32 and I don t run after money. I earned this contract because I had been out of contract at Roma.”

Philippe Mexes j…

Hull City manager Steve Bruce has defended owner Assem Allam and called for an end to the row over the proposed name change of the club.

The Premier League outfit have enjoyed a largely successful spell under the stewardship of Allam, who took over in December 2010, culminating in promotion to the top flight last season.

But his idea to rebrand the club as Hull Tigers has sparked outrage among some supporters, with Allam vehemently defending the proposal.

The row has led to Bruce calling on everyone at the KC Stadium to unite as he prepares his charges for a trip to table-toppers Arsenal on Wednesday, adding that fans should accept Allam s decisions due to his positive impact on the local community.

We can t let it be a distraction and to be fair I m fed up talki…

Arsenal greats Ian Wright and Martin Keown have questioned Arsene Wenger s decision to drop Alexis Sanchez and suggested the Chilean star, who has been linked with Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, would be right to leave the club.

Amid reports that a falling out with Wenger was behind the surprise exclusion of Sanchez from the starting line-up for Arsenal s 3-1 defeat against Liverpool, former Gunners striker Wright expressed his sympathy for the Chile international and claimed other clubs will be monitoring the situation.

Sanchez was brought on as a second-half substitute at Anfield when Arsenal were already 2-0 down and he made a positive impact, providing the assist for Danny Welbeck to pull a goal back.

Wright speculated about how the omission and Arsenal s…