Lautaro Martinez scored the only goal as Inter made hard work of a 1-0 win over struggling Hellas Verona at San Siro.

Though the team effort was far from convincing, the Nerazzurri s in-form Argentina forward struck early to secure the narrow victory that moves them level on points with third-placed Juventus in Serie A.

Martinez has now netted three times in four appearances since his national team s World Cup success, while he took his league tally for the campaign to nine goals.

Meanwhile, Inter maintained their record of having never lost a top-flight match against Verona on home soil, where they have won each of their last eight games.

8 In his last eight games as a starter in , Lautaro Martínez has been involved in eight goals (six goals and two ass…

Bruno Fernandes says every Manchester United player must look in the mirror and accept blame for the club s poor run of form.

United were outclassed on home soil by one of their fiercest rivals for the second game running on Saturday as they fell to a 2-0 loss against Manchester City.

While City did not rack up the five unanswered goals managed by Liverpool at Old Trafford two weeks ago, the manner of the loss was just as chastening for the Red Devils. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s side had just four touches in the opposition box – their fewest in a league game since 2008-09 when Opta first began recording such data.

Those four touches were also the fewest by a home team in a Premier League game since Fulham against Arsenal in September 2020.

A fourt…

Mourinho won only 51.2 per cent of his matches at Tottenham and left without lifting a single trophy, albeit he was sacked just days before the 2021 EFL Cup final.

His record in the English top flight before 2015-16 saw him boast a success rate of 69.4 per cent – since then it is just 48.5 per cent.

The 95 points won by Spurs during Mourinho s time at the club was the fourth highest in the Premier League. However, that was 21 fewer than former team Manchester United – Liverpool had 117 and Manchester City were out in front on 130.

Mourinho s teams are supposed to be hard to beat, that had essentially been his unique selling point for years, yet Spurs lost 13 times in 2020-21 under him – it was the worst season he has ever had in that regard.

I m…

Dani Alves says Barcelona lived a night to frame  after an emphatic 4-0 Clasico victory over Real Madrid on Sunday.

Having not beaten their rivals since March 2019, the Blaugrana ended their three-year wait in spectacular fashion at Santiago Bernabeu.

The in-form Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a brace, while Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres were also on target during the comprehensive rout.

Xavi s side trail the LaLiga leaders by 12 points, but still have a game in hand and are full of momentum after stretching their unbeaten run over 90 minutes to 20 matches across all competitions.

Alves, who replaced Jordi Alba for the final four minutes, was a regular feature in El Clasico during his initial stint with Barca between 2008 and 2016.

…

Northern Ireland manager Michael O Neill was in an upbeat mood despite seeing his side drawn against Germany, Poland and Ukraine in the Euro 2016 finals.

O Neill s men will face Poland in their Group C opener at the Allianz Riviera in Nice on June 12 before taking on Ukraine in Lyon and world champions Germany at Parc des Princes in Paris.

It promises to be a stern test for Northern Ireland s defence, which will come up against the top scorer in qualifying in Poland s Robert Lewandowski and his Bayern Munich team-mate Thomas Muller.

Lewandowski was on target 13 times for Poland in qualification, while Germany s Muller found the net on eight occasions.

O Neill told BBC Sport: Both showed what they re capable of qualification. In many ways it s a good tes…

Best Odds: 8/11

Bookmaker:

Two camps who are looking to get their first Copa America points on the board late on Wednesday night, Ecuador will meet Jamaica at the Allegiant Stadium.

Ecuador

Starting with Ecuador, suffering major World Cup frustration out in the Middle East 18 months ago as they failed to progress past the group stage, La Tri are desperate to put in a better account of themselves this summer. However, although Felix Sanchez Bas might have seen his squad suffer just a single defeat from any of their opening six World Cup qualifying appearances last year, the Yellows do have the feel of a squad seeking some recent stability. Missing out on what they had billed as a golden opportunity last weekend as they opened their Copa America adventure with a …

England boss Gareth Southgate is proud of reaching 100 games in charge of the Three Lions, but says that statistic means nothing compared to the final result against Switzerland.

Southgate has been in charge of England since 2016 and has led them to a sustained period of relative success.

Having reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, England finished third in the Nations League the following year and then were runners-up at Euro 2020.

A quarter-final exit to France at the 2022 World Cup followed, but England went into Euro 2024 as favourites.

And while they have so far failed to deliver spectacular performances, the Three Lions are just two games away from another final.

I m very proud but it is the least important stat of the week, said …

Erling Haaland got back on the goal trail as his first-half double helped Manchester City to a 3-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The Norwegian was kept quiet as City fell to their first defeat of the Premier League season at Liverpool last Sunday, but he bounced back in convincing fashion by putting the Seagulls to the sword.

Haaland was the beneficiary of an Ederson assist when he tapped into an empty net for his first, then rifled home a penalty to double up shortly before half-time.

Leandro Trossard dragged Brighton back into contention after the break, but Pep Guardiola s champions weathered the storm before Kevin De Bruyne made the points safe with a trademark long-range strike.

24 Since his Premier League debut…

Ellen White will be sad to see several talented Spain players miss the Women s World Cup over a dispute with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and head coach Jorge Vilda.

Last September, 15 Spain players pledged to resign from the national team unless Vilda was dismissed, claiming his tenure was having a negative impact on their emotional state .

The RFEF stood by Vilda, who has coached La Roja since 2015 but has failed to take the side beyond the last eight of three major tournaments, and just three of the players involved in the dispute have made the trip to Australia and New Zealand.

Barcelona duo Mariona Caldentey and Aitana Bonmati – as well as Manchester United s Ona Batlle – have been recalled by Vilda, but 12 others remain frozen out.

Sp…

Prospective Manchester United investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Nice are emerging as Ligue 1 title contenders this season.

While United suffered their fifth Premier League defeat of the campaign at the hands of local rivals City on Sunday, the French club – bought by Ratcliffe’s chemical company Ineos in August 2019 – ended the weekend unbeaten in 10 games and a point clear at the top of the table.

Here, the PA news agency examines the data behind Nice’s impressive start to the campaign.

Flying high

Sir Jim Ratcliffe dropped in to congratulate Les Aiglons

— OGC Nice (@ogcnice_eng)

Nice are enjoying their best start to a campaign since 2016-17, when they began with an 11-game unbeaten run on their way to finishing third – their highe…