Sports

Anghel Iordanescu revelled in Romania s Euro 2016 berth but lamented the fact his team did not book their spot in France earlier.

After four consecutive draws, unbeaten Romania finally qualified for next year s European Championships with a 3-0 Group I win over the Faroe Islands on Sunday.

Goalless stalemates against Northern Ireland, Hungary and Greece, and a 1-1 draw at home to Finland, threatened to derail Romania as pressure mounted on the Euro 2000 quarter-finalists.

But Constantin Budescu s brace and Alexandru Maxim s late goal ensured Romania finished second behind group winners Northern Ireland, much to the relief of Iordanescu.

This victory is in a big way a victory by our fans. I m so sorry about what happened in Bucharest against Finland, Iord…

Non-league minnows Salford City have been rewarded for their FA Cup heroics on Saturday with a first-round tie against League Two side Notts County.

Salford – who are owned by former Manchester United stars Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Gary Neville and Phil Neville – booked their place in the hat for the first round thanks to an audacious strike from James Poole against Southport, his long-range effort securing a 1-0 win.

That victory will see Notts County travel north desperate not to avoid a relative giant killing in the early stages of the competition.

Another league side hoping to avoid a potential banana skin are Chesterfield, Dean Saunders men having been drawn away against FC United of Manchester.

The draw – which will see ties playe…

Sevilla will take up their option to sign Andre Silva on a permanent deal from AC Milan having impressed since joining on loan, according to the Spanish club s sporting director Joaquin Caparros.

Silva rose to prominence with Porto in the 2016-17 season, his 16 Primeira Liga goals in 32 appearances earning him a reported €38million move to Serie A as Milan brought in a raft of reinforcements.

Things did not go to plan for Silva in Italy, as the striker scored just two Serie A goals in 24 outings, but that poor form opened the door for Sevilla – who had previously missed out on his Milan team-mate Nikola Kalinic – to make their move.

The Portugal international signed on loan in August and scored a hat-trick on his LaLiga debut nine days later, and Caparros…

Liverpool produced an incisive attacking display to make the most of some dreadful defending from Manchester City and pick up a 4-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium.

Jurgen Klopp s side were clinical on the counter-attack, racing into a three-goal lead that brought an end to a run of six Premier League matches away at City without a win.

Eliaquim Mangala – brought into the centre of defence along with Martin Demichelis as two of Manuel Pellegrini s four changes – opened the scoring with an own goal early on, setting the tone for a dismal defensive display.

Philippe Coutinho scored his fourth goal in five top-flight appearances against City to double Liverpool s advantage, with Roberto Firmino – in for Christian Benteke as one of Klopp s three changes – …

Market: Vila Nova win

Odds: 8/11 @

Looking to make it three Serie B victories on the bounce this weekend, Vila Nova will welcome Guarani to the Onesio Brasileiro Alvarenga on Saturday night.

Starting with the hosts, while Vila Nova might have been disappointed after settling for a bottom-half finish in Brazil’s second-tier last season, the Tigers have come flying out of the traps this time around. Last seen putting in another rugged display as they clinched a 1-0 victory away at Chapecoense, Claudinei Oliveira s men suddenly find themselves sat second in the standings and with their sights set on booking a famous Serie A return in 2023. Opening May with a thumping 3-0 romp at home against Sampaio Correa, the Goias-based outfit have collected 12 points from jus…

The United States came from behind to beat rivals Costa Rica 2-1 in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying on Wednesday.

Sergino Dest scored a stunning goal as a youthful USA side overturned an early deficit to bounce back from their shock loss in Panama – the nation s first defeat during the 2022 qualifying campaign.

With an average age of 22 years and 229 days, USA s starting XI was the youngest fielded by the country in a World Cup qualifying fixture midweek.

USA faced an early test in Columbus after Keysher Fuller s volley found a way past goalkeeper Zack Steffen and into the back of the net in just the first minute.

No words. What an absolute banger. x

— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT)

A moment of brilliance from 20-year-old Dest restored pa…

Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has been sounding out Cameroon international Jean II Makoun ahead of a possible swoop for the wantaway Lyon midfielder in the January transfer window, reports said Friday.

Makoun on Thursday announced he was looking for a way out of the former French champions, especially as some unhappy fans have openly called for his departure in recent weeks.

L Equipe daily said former Lyon coach Houllier, who did not know the Cameroonian during his spell with the club as Makoun played in Lille at the time, has made Makoun one of his priority signings for January .

In the last few days he (Houllier) has been sounding out the player, who he likes a lot, the report added.

Makoun has not been playing as regularly as he would like at L…

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri has warned his team against complacency when they come up against Fiorentina on Saturday in the Serie A.

After their 3-0 thumping of Juventus on Sunday which came courtesy of a hat-trick from Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani Napoli are in second place in the league table, just four adrift of leaders AC Milan.

Yet Mazzarri insists the side must continue doing the hard work that put them in such a lofty league position, rather than admire the view from the top.

I don t look at the table, I m just saying that we re making great progress and that we want to continue doing so, Mazzarri said.

You can see that we re organised and can play. We don t just play with heart but we ve also got good football brains.

However we …

Few will have put AFC Bournemouth and Chelsea next to each other in the table when they made their Premier League predictions, but victory for Eddie Howe s men on Saturday would pull the sides level on points.

Bournemouth were among the pre-season favourites to be relegated straight back to the Championship, while Chelsea were fancied by many to defend their title.

However, both have upset the odds with their contrasting fortunes this term a fact exemplified by Bournemouth s 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge in December.

Glenn Murray scored eight minutes from time to heap pressure on then-Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who lasted just one more Premier League fixture before being sacked.

Chelsea s form has recovered somewhat since Guus Hiddink replaced Mourinho unt…

Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola has struggled in the latter stages of the Champions League with the German giants

Bayern Munich suffered a narrow defeat against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash on Wednesday night at the Vicente Calderon, and their chances of making the final in manager Pep Guardiola’s last season are in jeopardy. For the third year at Bayern, the head coach is struggling to get the best from his side, and it’s perhaps not a coincidence.

Bayern fared better in Europe prior to Guardiola s arrival

Guardiola took over the German club in controversial circumstances. Predecessor Jupp Heynckes departed in 2013 after having sealed the treble, but there was a feeling that he was forced out of the door to…