Everton defender Holgate warned for alleged homophobic tweets

Mason Holgate has been warned by the Football Association (FA) after allegedly posting homophobic insults on Twitter earlier in his career.

The Everton defender deleted his Twitter account after historical messages dated between 2012 and 2013 were uncovered that included offensive language.

This followed January s Merseyside derby in which Holgate alleged that Roberto Firmino used a discriminatory comment towards him. The Liverpool striker was cleared of wrongdoing.

The FA has now concluded its investigation into Holgate, giving the player a warning and directing him to undertake a mandatory inclusion programme.

[1/2] The FA has concluded its investigation into historic tweets posted by Everton’s Mason Holgate.

— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesper…

Alba and Lahoz had forgotten first yellow card before Espanyol dismissal

Jordi Alba and referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz had both forgotten about the Barcelona defender s first yellow card prior to his dismissal against Espanyol on Saturday.

Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw by their Catalan rivals on what was a bittersweet day for Alba, who became only the 12th different player to make 300 LaLiga appearances for the club.

Alba s landmark outing was marred as the left-back received two yellow cards in the space of five minutes after Espanyol s leveller, with Lahoz losing control of the latter stages.

Lahoz, who was in charge of Argentina s fiery World Cup quarter-final clash with the Netherlands earlier this month, also sent off Vinicius Souza, while only a VAR review saved Leandro Cabrera after he was initially shown a red card for a stam…

Alderweireld completes move to Qatar: Tottenham will always be in my heart

Toby Alderweireld says Tottenham will always be in his heart after completing a move to Qatari side Al-Duhail.

The Belgium international has joined Al-Duhail on a three-year deal for a reported £13million fee (65.34m QAR), ending his six-year association with Spurs.

Former Atletico Madrid and Southampton defender Alderweireld made 236 appearances for Tottenham and was a regular in the club s run to the 2018-19 Champions League final.

He appeared 25 times in the Premier League last season, with his 2.61 headed clearances per 90 minutes the most of any Spurs player, just ahead of Eric Dier (2.43).

Spurs won 97 of the 172 league games Alderweireld started for a 56.4 per cent win rate, compared to exactly 50 per cent in the games without him (28 wins in 56 m…

Rooney will be ready for Man Utd reunion – Derby boss Cocu

Phillip Cocu said Wayne Rooney will be ready for his reunion with former club Manchester United after Derby County earned a FA Cup tie against the Premier League giants.

Derby captain and ex-United skipper Rooney, 34, converted a 77th-minute penalty as the Championship outfit defeated Northampton Town 4-2 in Tuesday s fourth-round replay.

Rooney – who left United in 2017 having arrived from Everton in 2004 – can now look ahead to a Pride Park clash against United, where the superstar became the Red Devils record scorer with 253 goals.

At Derby as a player-coach since January following a two-season stint with MLS side DC United, Rooney is relishing the FA Cup date, according to Dutch head coach Cocu.

 

 

— Derby County (@dcfcofficia…

Barcelona injury problems mount as defender Jules Kounde sidelined by knee issue

Barcelona’s Jules Kounde faces an indefinite lay-off after his knee injury was diagnosed as medial collateral ligament damage, the club has said.

The France defender will miss his nation’s forthcoming fixtures against the Netherlands and Scotland and is the latest Barca player to be ruled out through injury.

The 24-year-old was forced out of Barca’s 2-2 LaLiga draw at Granada on Sunday night.

MEDICAL NEWS | Tests carried out have shown that first team player Jules Kounde has a left MCL sprain. He is out and his recovery will determine his availability.

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

The Catalan club said on their official website: “Tests this Monday morning have revealed that Jules Kounde has sprained the lateral collateral ligament in …

Lewandowski revels in ´perfect day´ as Bayern star extends scoring streak in Barca triumph

Robert Lewandowski described Bayern Munich s trip to Camp Nou as the perfect day after the red-hot striker scored twice in a 3-0 Champions League win over Barcelona.

Bayern kicked off their 2021-22 Champions League campaign with a comprehensive victory at Barca thanks to Lewandowski s brace and Thomas Muller s opener on Tuesday.

Lewandowski has scored in his last 18 appearances for Bayern, netting 29 goals in a run that stretches back to February in all competitions.

In the last three seasons since the start of the 2019-20 season, Lewandowski has scored 113 goals in 93 appearances for Bayern – 36 more than any other player in Europe s big five leagues in that time (Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo on 76 goals each).

It s always nice to be on the pit…

Fulham relegated from Premier League after loss at Watford

Fulham were relegated from the Premier League following a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Watford at Vicarage Road on Tuesday.

Goals from Abdoulaye Doucoure, Will Hughes, Troy Deeney and Kiko Femenia left the visitors 16 points adrift of safety with just five games remaining.

Fulham spent close to £100million on new players after earning promotion to the top flight via the Championship play-offs last season.

However, they won just one of their opening 12 Premier League games and sacked Slavisa Jokanovic in November with the team bottom of the table having earned five points from those dozen matches.

Claudio Ranieri, who steered Leicester City to the Premier League title in memorable fashion in 2015-16, was unable to turn things around.

The Italian…

Tomori pays tribute to Maldini for guidance after earning England recall

Fikayo Tomori has credited Milan legend and current technical director Paolo Maldini with helping him improve his game after earning an England recall.

Tomori looked destined for a promising future at Chelsea, returning to the club in 2019-20 to play under Frank Lampard having also linked up with him the previous season at Derby County.

In the Championship, Tomori played 47 times as Derby got to the play-offs, and he proved an able back-up option upon his return to Stamford Bridge as he made 15 Premier League appearances – all as a starter – in 2019-20.

But things soon changed, the signing of Thiago Silva at the start of 2020-21 pushing Tomori further down the pecking order – when January came around, he had played in just one Premier League match and was s…

It´s the sign of a great team: Benzema revels in another France fight back

Karim Benzema hailed France s comeback ability as a sign of a great team after Les Bleus fought back to defeat Spain 2-1 and claim the 2021 Nations League.

The Real Madrid forward equalised after Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring, the seventh time in 2021 France have fallen behind first – three more times than any other calendar year.

Kylian Mbappe then scored the winner after 80 minutes, his fourth goal involvement at the Finals – more than any other player – to secure Les Bleus second trophy in three attempts after winning the 2018 World Cup and faltering at Euro 2020.

Didier Deschamps side are now unbeaten in 25 competitive matches, only doing better once in their history between 1994 and 1999, and Benzema pinpointed the team s comeback ability as a hal…

Rodgers hails Sterling´s ambition to be the best

Brendan Rodgers says he has always been impressed by Raheem Sterling s drive to be one of the best as he prepares to face the Manchester City forward on Monday.

Leicester City boss Rodgers was in charge at Liverpool as Sterling established himself as a star before moving to the Etihad Stadium ahead of the 2015-16 campaign.

That switch made Sterling unpopular with Reds fans, yet he has established himself as one of the Premier League s top players, winning the Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year and Professional Footballers Association Young Player of the Year awards this season.

While Rodgers was sacked at Anfield soon after Sterling s transfer, he is delighted that the move panned out for the England international.

The Leicester manager r…