Images from Sunday's English Premier League matches.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
European football is incomplete without African flavours and players like Chelsea's Senegalese striker Demba Ba and Juventus's Ghanaian Asamoah Kwadwo lifted the game with their superb skill in their respective football matches over the weekend. Rediff.com presents a round-up of the interesting matches and the footballers of the weekend.
Liverpool need a top-level striker who can play every week and Daniel Sturridge could lose his role as the club's leading man after an injury-hit season, manager Brendan Rodgers has said.
The first meeting of the season between Hero Indian Super League heavyweights finished all square after FC Goa and Bengaluru FC shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, in Margao, on Monday.
Canadian striker Iain Hume proved his worth once again as he scored a last minute goal to help Atletico de Kolkata hold NorthEast United FC to a 1-1 draw in the Indian Super League match, in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Dharamsena had signalled to add six runs to England's total, instead of five, when Martin Guptill's throw from the deep raced to the boundary ropes after being deflected off the bat of a diving Ben Stokes.
'My ancestors and my parents suffered for my generation to be free today, to work, to take the bus, to play football'
Hosts Mumbai City FC suffered their third defeat in a row after going down 0-2 to North East United FC in a lop-sided Indian Super League game, in Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Manchester United moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League after a Paul Pogba goal gave them a hard-fought 1-0 win over Burnley at a freezing Turf Moor on Tuesday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the club's ex-assistant coach Mike Phelan are set to return to Old Trafford as caretaker managers until the end of the season
Liverpool charge towards English Premier League title with win at Wolves. Here are images from the match played on Thursday.
Financial details of Oscar's transfer to Shanghai SIPG from English Premier League club Chelsea have not been released, but media reports have suggested Shanghai paid 60 million euros ($62.6 million) to lure the 25-year-old to the Chinese super league club.
Kerala Blasters secured their first point in the Hero Indian Super League after playing out a goalless draw at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Kochi, on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Australian great Tim Cahill opened his goal account in the Hero Indian Super League but that wasn't enough to prevent Kerala Blasters from holding Jamshedpur FC to a 2-2, in Jamshedpur, on Monday.
Women's football is expected to get a boost with India hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup next year and the AFC Asian Cup in 2022.
Two-time champions ATK made their Christmas celebrations special, pipping Bengaluru FC by a David Williams solitary strike to secure their first ever win over the defending champions in the Indian Super League, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
The France international is widely expected to move to Liga champions Barcelona at the end of this campaign.
But the hosts did have their equaliser in the 54th minute from another corner. Rene Mihelic whipped one into the far post where Rana Gharami managed to head it back across the box. Kotal, this time around, directed it home from close-range.
The city's newest community-based football club introduced the three players to the media during a meet and greet session at the Cooperage Football Ground in Mumbai on Thursday.
FC Goa secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over FC Pune City to climb up from the bottom of the Indian Super League points table in Pune on Thursday. FC Goa were in danger of exiting the league early this season but coach Zico masterminded his first win over a team coached by Antonio Habas as Brazilian striker Rafael Coelho scored the all-important goal from a free-kick in the 32nd minute at Balewadi Sports Complex Stadium here. The win helped FC Goa move to the seventh spot with seven points from eight matches while FC Pune City are now at the bottom with six points from seven matches.
Reports this weekend have claimed Bale will put pen to paper on a three-year deal with Jiangsu and earn a staggering one million pound per week as he leaves Real Madrid following a six-season stint during which the winger has won four UEFA Champions League titles and the 2017 La Liga crown.
Nishu Kumar's seventh minute strike turned out to be enough for the hosts to claim full points as Hyderabad failed to convert multiple chances including a penalty strike.
Uruguayan striker Emiliano Alfaro struck twice, including one in the final minute of the game, as FC Pune City staged a remarkable fightback to beat Mumbai City FC 2-1 in the Indian Super league (ISL) in Pune on Wednesday.
Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba has asked FIFA for special permission to leave China's Shanghai Shenhua on loan before the January transfer window, Chinese media reported on Thursday.
With an eye on the future, Hockey India's selectors made as many as seven changes from the squad that finished a disappointing 12th and last at the London Olympics.
United are 16th in the standings with a game in hand heading into the international break.
Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, failing to make it past the group stage of the competition for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is not a transfer target for Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande, coach Marcello Lippi has said.
You may be entranced by the foot magic, but don't miss the hair cuts!
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Sunday.
Defeats at Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion had left Arsenal down in 11th place but their victory on the south coast lifted them to ninth with 43 points from 31 games -- eight behind fourth-placed Chelsea who were playing City later.
Bala Devi is hoping for an Indian Super League-style women's league in the near future.
Arsenal have agreed to sign 21-year-old Japan forward Takuma Asano from J-League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima subject to a medical and regulatory processes, the club said on Sunday. Several teams have been chasing Asano, who has five caps after making his international debut in August last year and is expected to be a part of the Japan squad for the Rio Olympics.
Former Chelsea strikers Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka could be sold by China's Shanghai Shenhua due to an escalating equity stake row among shareholders, local media reported.
Mohun Bagan and India striker Jeje Lalpekhlua was declared winner of the 'Indian Player of the Year' award by the Football Players Association of India (FPAI) at its annual awards function held at the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai. The 25-year-old from Mizoram, who made his international debut in 2012 and came through the junior ranks, received the highest number of votes from fellow professional footballers, beating the challenge from the short list of India captain Sunil Chhetri, Bikash Jairu, David Lalrinmuana and Dhanachandra Singh, to win the coveted award. Jeje, incidentally, was the winner of the FPAI's Junior Indian Footballer of the Year award in 2011, AIFF Emerging Player of the Year award in 2013 and the 2015 Indian Super League Emerging Player of the League award while representing franchise outfit Chennayin FC, the eventual champions, on loan from Bagan.
A summary of Saturday's matches in the Premier League.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
