Zenit began life without Luciano Spalletti in a 1-0 defeat at CSKA Moscow while Anzhi s unlikely bid for survival gathered pace.
Spalletti – who led Zenit to two league titles after joining the club in December 2009 – was sacked last week after a goalless draw against strugglers Tom Tomsk.
That saw Zenit drop to second in the table, with Spalletti s departure coming after a run of one win in six league matches.
The club were unable to improve their form as interim head coach Sergei Semak took charge on Saturday.
Former Chelsea and Tottenham coach Andre Villas-Boas has been tipped to take over at Zenit soon, but that may come too late to secure another title if their poor form continues.
CSKA Moscow, who sit fifth, won on Saturday thanks to a first-half …
Dijon have parted company with coach Olivier Dall Oglio, the club have confirmed.
The Ligue 1 strugglers announced assistant David Linares will take charge until a permanent replacement is found.
Dall Oglio had been at the helm for six and a half years, leading Dijon to promotion from Ligue 2 in 2015-16 and to a club-record 11th-place finish in Ligue 1 last term.
Dijon won their first three games to start the season but have since won just one of their last 15 league matches.
[Club president] Olivier Delcourt and all of Dijon FCO would like to thank Olivier Dall Oglio for having participated in the development of our club and wish him all the very best as his career continues, Dijon s statement read.
Dijon return to action in the Coupe de France …
Verdict: Draw
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Valencia travel to Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan this weekend hoping for three points that would additionally boost their top-three chances but Sevilla are out for revenge after the heavy 4-0 blow at Mestalla last October.
Sevilla
The current season has been a tough ride for Sevilla by all accounts taken into consideration. The Rojiblancos went off to a poor start of the 2017/18 season which resulted in Eduardo Berizzo getting the sack in December and former AC Milan boss Vincenzo Montella taking over.
The Italian did not enjoy a smoot start to his life at Sevilla but he still managed to consolidate the club and launch a top-table challenge in La Liga. Sevilla are currently sitting in fifth place in the standings, tr…
Marco Silva has been appointed as Hull City s new head coach on a deal until the end of the season, the Premier League club have confirmed.
Mike Phelan was surprisingly dismissed on Tuesday, with a 3-1 defeat to West Brom a day earlier proving his last match in charge of the Tigers, who are bottom of the Premier League.
Hull have acted swiftly to replace Phelan, with 39-year-old Silva, who led Olympiacos to the Greek Superleague title last season, drafted in on a deal until the end of the season.
Tigers vice-chairman Ehab Allam said via a news release: Marco is a young coach who has impressed us with his philosophy and football style.
He has a great track record and we feel this is a bold and exciting appointment in our aim to retain the club s Premier L…
Erik ten Hag will not be targeting a Premier League title challenge in his first season as Manchester United manager, instead aiming for a return to the Champions League.
Ten Hag was confirmed as the club s next permanent manager in April, with the Dutchman set to pick up from interim boss Ralf Rangnick.
After guiding Ajax to a third Eredivisie title in four full seasons at the helm, Ten Hag ended his contract in Amsterdam early in order to start work with United ahead of schedule.
The 52-year-old and his two assistants, Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren, were present on Sunday as United lost their final match of the season 1-0 to Crystal Palace.
Ten Hag was in Manchester the following day to be introduced to the media for the first time, with play…
Derby County could face a points deduction after being charged with a breach of spending rules by the English Football League.
The Championship club have been accused of recording excess losses for the three-year period ending June 30, 2018.
Teams in English football s second tier are permitted to lose £39million over the course of three years.
An English Football League (EFL) statement said: Following a review of Derby County’s profitability and sustainability (P S) submissions, the EFL has charged the club for recording losses in excess of the permitted amounts provided for in EFL regulations for the three-year period ending 30 June 2018.
An independent disciplinary commission will hear representations from the EFL and Derby, who will hope to avoid …
France coach Didier Deschamps saluted the resurgence of Anthony Martial at Manchester United and is certain the attacker has everything needed to be among the world s best players.
Martial joined United from Monaco in 2015 in a deal which could reportedly cost £58million and enjoyed a promising first season under Louis van Gaal, scoring 11 goals in 31 Premier League games and winning the Golden Boy award for the best under-21 player in Europe.
But after Van Gaal s exit, Martial seemed to regress under Jose Mourinho s guidance, finding himself in and out of the team in the Portuguese coach s first two seasons and his international career subsequently suffered, missing out on a spot in France s World Cup squad.
Martial looked set for the Old Trafford exit ahead of…
Fulham are interested in signing Hamari Traore from Rennes in the January transfer window, according to . The report in the French news outlet has claimed that Premier League club Fulham have offered Ligue 1 outfit Rennes between €3 million and €4 million in transfer fees for the right-back.
Traore is out of contract at Rennes at the end of the season and does not appear likely to sign a new deal. Barcelona reportedly wanted to sign the Mali international right-back in the summer of 2022, but they settled on former Arsenal star Hector Bellerin instead. Fulham are now keen on Traore and have made a bid to bring him to Craven Cottage in the middle of the season.
So far this season, Traore has made 16 starts and one substitute appearance in Ligue 1 for Rennes so far th…
Barcelona star Lionel Messi has branded speculation linking him with moves to Inter and Newell s Old Boys as fake news .
Reports in Argentina, Spain and Italy in recent days have suggested Inter could launch an audacious bid to sign the six-time Ballon d Or winner, with Barca said to be keen to speak with the Nerazzurri about striker Lautaro Martinez.
TNT in Messi s homeland even suggested discussions had already begun over a series of transfers that would see Martinez move to Camp Nou and Messi head to Inter along with rising Velez Sarsfield star Thiago Almada.
However, Messi has made it clear there is no truth to the rumours, publishing a screenshot of the claim on his official Instagram page and labelling it fake news .
He described the report of the I…
Monaco have signed Jean-Eudes Aholou from Strasbourg following Joao Moutinho s transfer to Wolves.
The 24-year-old Ivorian has moved to the Stade Louis II stadium on a five-year deal, for a fee believed to be in the region of €15million
He becomes Leonardo Jardim s second-most expensive signing of the summer, eclipsed only by €20m paid to Lyon for 16-year-old Willem Geubbels.
Ahoulou joined Strasbourg in January 2017, helping them gain promotion from Ligue 2 before scoring five goals last term as they avoided relegation and finished 15th in Ligue 1.
Monaco moved quickly to secure the midfielder s signature after Moutinho s exit was confirmed.
The Portugal international, capped 113 times by his country, made 211 total appearances for Mona…