France edged out Croatia 2-1 thanks to Kylian Mbappe s late effort in an end-to-end Nations League encounter.
Buoyed on by a limited, albeit raucous, home crowd in Zagreb, Croatia looked well placed to push on when Nikola Vlasic cancelled out Antoine Griezmann s stunning eighth-minute opener.
Mbappe failed to convert a gilt-edged chance soon after the world champions broke the deadlock, and Croatia could have made France pay earlier if not for an excellent stop from Hugo Lloris, who was then beaten by Vlasic after the break.
Despite a superb stop from Dominik Livakovic to deny Paul Pogba, France had their winner when Lucas Digne brilliantly teed up Mbappe with 11 minutes remaining.
16 Kylian Mbappé has scored 16 goals with France since his debut on 25 M…
Watford manager Javi Gracia praised Troy Deeney s influence after the skipper hit the winner over West Brom in his 300th league appearance for the club.
The 29-year-old coolly converted a one-on-one in the 77th minute to secure his side a 1-0 home victory, their second in as many Premier League matches.
Deeney, who joined from Walsall in 2010, looked set to swap Vicarage Road for the Hawthorns in January before Baggies boss Alan Pardew switched his attention to Daniel Sturridge.
Instead, the striker has netted three goals in four appearances for Watford to help make Gracia s appointment an immediate success.
I am very happy with him. I do not know what happened with him in the past, I do not want to know, Gracia told reporters.
I see him working…
Juventus launched their Coppa Italia title defence with a commanding 4-1 victory over Sampdoria at the Allianz Stadium.
A free-kick from Juan Cuadrado gave the reigning champions a 25th-minute lead, while Daniele Rugani s first Bianconeri goal in almost three years doubled the advantage after the break.
Andrea Conti replied for Sampdoria, whose fortunes were overseen by Felice Tufano following the sacking of coach Roberto D’Aversa on Monday.
But substitute Paulo Dybala put the hosts back in control, before Alvaro Morata s penalty sealed their place in the quarter-finals.
Juventus had won eight of their nine previous Coppa Italia meetings with Sampdoria, while they had not been eliminated from this stage of the competition since 2005.
The Bianc…
Rio Ferdinand has questioned whether Manchester United can be considered serious Premier League title contenders with Harry Maguire starting regularly at centre-back.
Maguire, a reported £80million signing from Leicester City in 2018, has struggled for consistency in his third season at Old Trafford.
He has started 27 games for United this term – a tally bettered only by Bruno Fernandes (32) among outfield players – but was benched for Saturday s stalemate with Watford.
Interim boss Ralf Rangnick put that down to fitness reasons, but Ferdinand does not believe the United captain s strengths are suited to the German s style of play.
Speaking on his Vibe with Five YouTube show, Ferdinand said: Is Maguire going to enable you to win the league? That s a…
As Jofra Archer proved in the second Ashes Test, pace changes everything.
Senses are sharper, adrenaline pumps and numerous elements thought to be under control escape it.
Monday s Premier League showdown between Wolves and Manchester United at Molineux – which ended with the spoils fairly shared in a 1-1 draw – was similarly a contest at its best when clattering along without a thought for the consequences.
Only with a full pre-season under his belt can Ole Gunnar Solskjaer truly be considered at the United wheel. And his is a team built for speed.
As in their 4-0 thumping of Chelsea on the opening weekend, plenty of United s early work was scruffy and without structure – they completed only 70.7 per cent of their first-half passes – but they …