Sports

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lauded Luke Shaw, labelling the full-back absolutely incredible after his performance in the derby win over Manchester City.

Shaw scored as United upstaged runaway Premier League leaders City 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty after just 101 seconds before Shaw doubled the lead five minutes into the second half away to City, who had their 21-match winning streak snapped and a run of 28 games unbeaten across all competitions.

Solskjaer hailed Shaw – who joined from Southampton in 2014 – following his impressive display as the England international continues to impress at Old Trafford after his rocky start to life in Manchester.

Absolutely incredible, Solskjaer said of…

Vincent Kompany has confirmed he will leave Manchester City after 11 seasons to become player-manager at Anderlecht.

The 33-year-old has enjoyed a stellar career in Manchester since joining the club in 2008, becoming a key figure as City transformed from Premier League also-rans to serial trophy winners.

While the Champions League has remained out of Kompany s grasp, the Belgian counts four league titles, two FA Cups and four League Cups among his honours.

And, using Opta facts, we take a look at the key numbers from Kompany s time at City.

10 Since Vincent Kompany s first season with the club, have won more domestic trophies than any other side in England (4 Premier League titles, 4 League Cups, 2 FA Cups). Era.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)

…

Inter extended their lead at the Serie A summit to 10 points but could only draw 1-1 with Spezia following another Samir Handanovic error on Wednesday.

In their first match since joining and withdrawing from the much-criticised European Super League project, league leaders Inter failed to fully capitalise on second-place Milan s 2-1 loss to Sassuolo earlier in the day.

After scoring an own goal in the 1-1 draw that ended Inter s 11-game winning run in Serie A at Napoli on Sunday, some more shoddy goalkeeping from Handanovic enabled Diego Farias to put Spezia in front early on at Stadio Alberto Picco.

Ivan Perisic bundled in the equaliser on his 200th appearance in all competitions for Inter, who saw Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez each denied by the offside fl…

Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira is close to joining Brazilian club Flamengo in the summer transfer window, according to . It has been reported that Flamengo have been in talks with Premier League giants United, and that an agreement will be reached soon.

Pereira will join Flamengo on loan from United. The Brazilian club will have an option to make the deal permanent for €20 million. The 25-year-old will stay at Flamengo until the end of next June, according to the report.

The Brazil international joined Premier League giants United from PSV back in January 2012. The 25-year-old has failed to progress at Old Trafford and has not established himself in the first team. Pereira has been out on loan at Granada, Valencia and Lazio in recent years.

…

Watford s Christian Kabasele has revealed he is now close to agreeing a new contract with the club.

Kabasele started his career with Belgian side Eupen back in 2008, but he ultimately failed to establish himself as a regular part of the team there, and in two and a half years he was there, he only appeared in nine games. In January 2011, he moved to Mechelen, but his luck wasn t much better there either. The following summer, he made his way to Bulgaria and joined Ludogorets Razgrad, for which he played 14 times and even managed to find the opposition net six times. In 2012, he returned to Eupen, this time for a much more successful spell which lasted two years, and then he joined Genk. He arrived to the Vicarage Road in 2016, and has worn the Hornets shirt 67 times in all comp…

Paul Pogba accepted responsibility for Manchester United s 1-0 Premier League defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, recognising he made a stupid mistake in conceding the decisive penalty.

While Mikel Arteta s Gunners only managed to get the one goal at Old Trafford, few would claim they were unworthy of the victory.

Arsenal were particularly impressive in the first half, their high press suffocating United and causing them to struggle when playing out from the back.

The winning goal came in the second half as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang converted a penalty that Pogba conceded when tripping Hector Bellerin, the France international; producing a needless tackle attempt with the Spaniard seemingly moving away from the United net.

The error was not lost on the 27-year…

Netherlands hosted Italy in the second round of the League A Group 1 of the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam on Monday evening. The home side entered the match on the back of a 0-1 triumph away to Poland three days earlier, while the Italians had managed only a 1-1 draw at home against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the opening round.

Despite the game seeing only one goal, it was a lively affair with plenty of attacking intent from both sides, even if there weren t too many clear-cut chances.

Physical approach pays off for Italian defenders

The efforts of Memphis Depay, Quincy Promes and Georginio Wijnaldum, who constituted the Dutch front three, to cause worry for Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, always seemed too tame to achieve t…

Luis Enrique claimed Spain are among the top teams in the world, but insisted they have to improve if they want to be the best.

La Roja defeated a plucky Kosovo side 2-0, making it consecutive wins to top Group B after Sweden ended their 66-game unbeaten run in World Cup qualifying that stretched back to 1993.

Pablo Fornals was on target for his first international strike, while Ferran Torres scored to become the first player to score six goals in a calendar year for Spain since David Silva (seven) in 2017.

Second-place Sweden slipping up against Greece opened a four-point gap but Luis Enrique implored his team to improve if they are to challenge to be the world s number-one outfit.

We have made many mistakes, we have had many inaccuracies and we have …

Jurgen Klopp is excited by Ben Davies potential following his surprise switch from Preston North End, but concedes the move only happened due to Liverpool s injury problems in the centre of defence. 

Davies joined the Premier League champions on Monday in a long-term deal reportedly worth £1.6million.

The 25-year-old made his Preston debut in January 2013 before spending time on loan at York City, Tranmere Rovers, Southport, Newport County and Fleetwood Town. 

His arrival goes some way to resolving the Reds  issues in the heart of defence. 

Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are long-term absentees, while converted midfielder Fabinho and Joel Matip are struggling with injuries.

That led to Jordan Henderson and the inexperienced Nat Phillips pair…

Happy anniversary, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

In his two years and one day in charge, Manchester United s manager has made a habit of coaxing out big performances against stronger opposition. It s one common trait his maddeningly inconsistent team has: it s why he has only lost two of six games against Pep Guardiola but lost back-to-back home games to Crystal Palace.

It also explains why Leeds United left Old Trafford on Saturday having lost 6-2 and feeling fortunate it wasn t even worse.

Leeds last visit to this ground was in the FA Cup nearly 11 years ago, when Jermaine Beckford caused an upset for a team that started the day 42 places behind their fierce rivals in the football pyramid.

This time, the gap before kick-off was six points; few would have consi…