Leicester City booked their place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 2012 thanks to a 1-0 win over Sheffield United on Friday.

Jamie Vardy scored the only goal of the game at the King Power Stadium, as his looping header over goalkeeper Jamal Blackman in the 66th minute settled a hard-fought tie.

Riyad Mahrez provided the assist on his first start for the Premier League side since January 20, the winger s deep cross setting up his unmarked team-mate at the back post.

Yet the hosts needed a moment of excellence from Kasper Schmiechel to deny Sheffield United an equaliser, the goalkeeper stretching low to his left to keep out a first-time effort from George Baldock that looked destined to find the corner of the goal.

Instead, Vardy…

Sam Allardyce was left frustrated on his Crystal Palace debut as Troy Deeney s second-half penalty earned Watford a 1-1 draw at Vicarage Road on Monday.

Palace parted ways with Alan Pardew last week after a poor run of form left the Eagles just a point above the relegation zone.

Allardyce was consequently confirmed as his replacement marking a return to management following his dismissal as England boss after just 67 days after he was caught on camera reportedly claiming to give advice on how to circumvent third-party ownership rules as part of an undercover newspaper sting.

His return to the dugout started well with Palace rewarded for a lively opening when Yohan Cabaye opened the scoring following good work from Andros Townsend.

However, the smile was w…

Liverpool are closing in on the surprise signing of Southampton striker Rickie Lambert, .

The Reds, who finished second in the Premier League last season – two points behind champions Manchester City, are preparing to compete in the Champions League after an absence of five years.

Strike pair Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez scored a combined fifty-two top flight goals between them last term though back up forward Iago Aspas failed to hit the net in fourteen league outings.

Lambert, a boyhood Liverpool fan, has averaged twenty goals in the last three seasons and is currently preparing for this summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil having been selected by Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson.

The 32 year old spent five years at the Merseyside club as a youn…

Sadio Mane has beaten Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah and Manchester City s Riyad Mahrez to the CAF African Player of the Year award for 2019.

Mane was a standout player as Liverpool went all the way in the 2018-19 Champions League, while he has also enjoyed a strong start to the 2019-20 Premier League campaign.

The Senegal international placed in the top three in each of the previous three years, finishing runner-up to Salah in 2017 and 2018, and third in 2016, when Mahrez came first.

But this time Mane claimed the prize, ahead of Liverpool team-mate Salah and Mahrez, who won a domestic treble with City and captained Algeria to glory at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

It s official!

The African Player of the Year for is

What an achieve…

“My head is 100 per cent here at River, I am fully committed”.

Those are the short and sweet words of Exequiel Palacios, quoted by AS, who seems to have confirmed that he won’t be leaving River Plate anytime soon. The young Argentine, who has already had a few call ups to the senior national team, first made his debut for River back in 2015 and hasn’t looked back since. Of course, due to his success he has been looked at by a series of top clubs across Europe, with Real Madrid being located towards the top of that list.

There’s been heavy speculation linking him with a move to the Bernabeu, with some suggesting that the deal would be finalised during the January transfer window. Alas, that didn’t prove to be the case, and Real will likely now have to wait it…

Jurgen Klopp admits Real Madrid are favourites for the Champions League final, but says a club of Liverpool s stature should not be viewed as underdogs.

The two teams will enter Saturday s much-anticipated decider in Kiev at vastly different stages of their development.

Zinedine Zidane s star-studded Los Blancos are aiming to be crowned European champions for the fourth time in five seasons, while the Reds have surpassed expectations to reach the final in just their second Champions League campaign in eight seasons.

Yet Klopp, a beaten finalist with Borussia Dortmund in 2013, is far from overawed by the size of the task, drawing inspiration from his club s famous 2005 triumph.

Yes [Madrid] are favourites, they know everything, they can write their own sc…

Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko is on the verge of a move to AC Milan in the summer transfer window, according to . The well-known and well-respected Italian journalist has claimed that Bakayoko is set to return to Serie A outfit Milan on a season-long loan deal.

Bakayoko spent the 2018-19 season on loan at Milan from Chelsea. The 27-year-old scored one goal and gave one assist in 26 Serie A starts for the Rossoneri . The midfielder also played six times in the Europa League during his loan spell at Milan.

Milan finished in the top four of Serie A last season and will play in the Champions League this campaign. The former Italian and European champions will be keen on challenging for the Scudetto this campaign, and the addition of France international midfielder Bak…

Dwight Yorke has questioned whether Manchester United interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has the personality to handle high-profile players.

Solskjaer was appointed as United s temporary boss on Wednesday, a day after the club had sacked Jose Mourinho.

First up for Solskjaer is a trip to his former side Cardiff City, whom he managed in 2014, and Yorke – who spent four years alongside the Norwegian at Old Trafford – doubts that his old team-mate has the ability to deal with United s big players, an area in which Mourinho reportedly struggled.

I think he can t believe his luck that he s got this wonderful opportunity to come back to the club, I think he d be the first to admit that, Yorke told beIN Sports.

He s said he s a changed man, he s grown…

Oliver Kahn believes motivation could be an issue for the goalkeepers living in Manuel Neuer s shadow in the Germany squad.

Neuer has been his country s first choice between the posts since the 2010 World Cup, racking up 74 caps in the process and limiting the opportunities afforded to the likes of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Kevin Trapp and Bernd Leno.

Former Germany stopper Kahn says consistency is the key to Neuer s stranglehold on the number-one jersey but believes it could be detrimental to those looking to unseat him.

Manuel Neuer is extremely dominant. He always proves it in important matches, Kahn told Omnisport.

I don t recall a match where he struggled. Maybe in Madrid [a 4-2 Champions League quarter-final second-leg defeat that would prove to be N…

Hertha Berlin have announced head coach Pal Dardai will leave the club at the end of the season.

The 43-year-old, who is the club s record appearance maker, took over the reins in February 2015 on an interim basis and his appointment was made permanent three months later.

He guided the club to seventh- and sixth-place finishes during his first two full Bundesliga seasons in charge but could only steer them to 10th last term.

A run of five straight defeats this campaign has left them languishing in 11th, 12 points adrift of the European qualification places.

My years in charge of Hertha Berlin have been very intense and eventful. I m thankful for this chance and I m proud of what we ve achieved during this time, Dardai said in a statement on the club s…