The Netherlands failed to reach the European Championship for the first time since 1984 as they lost 3-2 at home to the 10-man Czech Republic in their final qualifier on Tuesday to miss out on Euro 2016.
Arsenal handed the Premier League initiative back to leaders Manchester United on Saturday with a limp performance in a goalless home draw against a Sunderland side who had lost their previous four games.
Paul Pogba repaid some of his world record transfer fee with two goals as Manchester United rediscovered their early-season shine, cruising to a 4-1 Europa League win over Fenerbahce to go top of their group on Thursday. Pogba scored a penalty and rifled United's third into the top corner. Anthony Martial also netted from the spot and Jesse Lingard fired home in the second half before former Old Trafford favourite Robin van Persie pulled one back for Fenerbahce. Inter Milan and AS Roma, though, had more testing evenings. Coach Frank de Boer breathed a sigh of relief when Inter survived an onslaught from Southampton to end a three-match losing streak with a 1-0 victory while Roma conceded twice late on to draw 3-3 at home to Austria Vienna.
Swansea City turned on the style to beat Arsenal 3-2 and deny Thierry Henry a magical return to the Premier League and Mark Hughes made a losing start as manager of struggling Queens Park Rangers.
Swansea City beat Arsenal 3-2 to deny super-sub Thierry Henry a magical return to the Premier League and Mark Hughes made a losing start as manager of struggling Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.
Stunning hat-tricks from Dimitar Berbatov and Robin van Persie moved Manchester United and Arsenal ahead in the Premier League title race as strikers took the spotlight on Saturday.
Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has been charged with violent and improper conduct during Saturday's 4-2 Premier League win over visitors Arsenal, the English Football Association.
Danny Welbeck and Jesse Lingard both scored twice as English champions Manchester United got their first win of the David Moyes era with a 5-1 victory over an A-League All Stars team at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says his Manchester United counterpart David Moyes should shoulder the blame for Wayne Rooney's desire to leave Old Trafford after suggesting he was a second-choice striker.
Arsenal subdued a spirited Leeds United to reach the FA Cup fourth round with a 3-1 victory in a lively third-round replay at Elland Road on Wednesday.
Luis Suarez warmed up for next week's FA Cup final with a hat-trick in Liverpool's 3-0 win at Norwich City in the Premier League on Saturday while high-flying Newcastle United were thumped 4-0 at lowly Wigan Athletic.
Arsenal's title hopes took another blow when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Liverpool on Sunday after an astonishing finale in which both teams convert stoppage time penalties.
Arsenal's title hopes took another blow when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Liverpool on Sunday after an astonishing finale which saw both teams convert stoppage time penalties.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Barcelona suffered a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal and AS Roma's miserable run continued with a 3-2 home loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League last-16 first-round matches on Wednesday.
Newcastle United produced an astonishing fightback to draw 4-4 at home to Arsenal on Saturday after trailing 4-0 with just 26 minutes gone in the Premier League on Saturday.
Dimitar Berbatov scored his third hat-trick of the season as leaders Manchester United maintained their unbeaten Premier League record with a 5-0 drubbing of Birmingham City on Saturday. Arsenal moved into second place with a 3-0 win over Wigan Athletic at the Emirates Stadium.
Round up of the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Arsenal's miserable end-of-season form continued on Monday with a 2-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers leaving them still short of securing third place in the Premier League.
The English Football Association will investigate Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor's conduct during Saturday's 4-2 Premier League win over Arsenal.
The Netherlands advanced to a second-round meeting with Slovakia in ominous style on Thursday when they beat Cameroon 2-1 to make it three wins out of three and secure top spot in Group E. After wins over Denmark and Japan, the Dutch were already assured of progress and the victory secured with goals by Robin van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar guaranteed top spot.
Live updates from the matches at the football World Cup in South Africa.
Netherlands needed a lucky own goal and a late strike by Dirk Kuyt to get their World Cup campaign off to a winning start with a 2-0 win over Denmark in their Group E match at Soccer City on Monday.
New blood and a change of formation paid dividends for France as debutant Mathieu Valbuena netted the winner in a 2-1 World Cup warm-up win over Costa Rica on Wednesday.
Louis van Gaal came under fresh attack on Friday over his style of play at Manchester United and acknowledged he was still struggling to come up with a preferred system.
Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor was handed a three-match ban for violent conduct by the English Football Association on Thursday.
Lionel Messi ended 10-man Arsenal's Champions League hopes for the second season in a row when he netted a brilliant goal and a penalty to send Barcelona through to the quarter-finals 4-3 on aggregate on Tuesday.
Arsenal are likely to use Cesc Fabregas in an advanced role to add more bite to their attack in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Arsenal will be seeking new players in the January transfer window because of Robin van Persie's long-term injury, manager Arsene Wenger said on Tuesday.
Manchester City passed the first big test of their "big four" credentials on Saturday when they beat Arsenal 4-2 to make it four wins out of four while Chelsea maintained their perfect record with a 2-1 win at Stoke City.
Diego Maradona enjoyed a winning start as Argentina coach with victory over Scotland on Wednesday while Marcello Lippi equalled a world record in charge of Italy. Among the pick of the other friendlies in Europe, a late header from captain John Terry earned England a 2-1 win against old foes Germany, European champions Spain swept Chile aside 3-0 and Robin van Persie's brace helped the Netherlands beat Sweden 3-1.
Manchester United beat Porto 1-0 while Arsenal trounced Villarreal 3-0 in second leg quarter-final matches in the Champions League to make the grade.
Captain William Gallas and striker Emmanuel Adebayor scored second half goals to earn Arsenal a 2-0 win at Twente Enschede in their Champions League third round qualifier on Wednesday.
A controversial late winner by William Gallas earned Arsenal a 2-1 victory over Hull City in their FA Cup quarter-final on Tuesday and set up a last four showdown with Chelsea at Wembley. The other semi-final will be between Manchester United and Everton.
Eduardo da Silva made an emotional return to club action after almost a year, scoring twice to help Arsenal beat Cardiff City 4-0 in their FA Cup fourth round replay at The Emirates on Monday.
Manchester United were held to a 0-0 draw at fourth tier Cambridge United in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday after another embarrassing outing against lower league opposition.
Liverpool ended their seven-year wait for a home league win over Manchester United on Saturday when Ryan Babel came off the bench to give them a deserved 2-1 victory over the champions. Their victory took them to 10 points from four games, the same as Chelsea, who won 3-1 at Manchester City, despite Robinho marking his debut for City with a goal after 13 minutes.
A second-half goal by Robin van Persie gave Arsenal a 1-0 victory over Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday.
Netherlands qualified for the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 with a 4-1 win over France which left the hopes of the World Cup runners-up hanging by a thread on Friday.
, sources said the English champions have offered 30 million euros ($39 million) to bring the former Arsenal captain back to the Premier League.
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