Latest Football News

Mourinho to serve one match ban with immediate effect

Jose Mourinho has been handed a one match touchline ban by the FA's Independent Regulatory Commission on Wednesday afternoon.

The Portuguese is only fined £16,000.

He was sent to the stands after he kicked a water bottle following referee's decision on Paul Pogba against West Ham on Sunday.

With this ban, Mourinho will have to watch the EFL cup tie against West Ham who returns to Old Trafford again tonight.

Coutinho names the three best players in the world

Phillipe Coutinho has named his choices for the three best players in the world. 

According to the Brazilian, the Barcelona trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar are world's best.

Several fans can disagree with this as he gave Cristiano Ronaldo a miss despite him being favourite for 2016 Ballon d'Or.

"My top three players in the world are MSN trio," Coutinho told FourFourTwo.

"Obviously there are others, at Real Madrid too, like Cristiano Ronaldo.

"But those three complete each other. One is fast, the other is skillful and then there is the top scorer. So they really complete each other."

Ronaldo is rested by Zidane with El Clasico in sight

Cristiano Ronaldo is not named in the Los Blancos squad for the 2nd leg of Copa del Rey match against Leonesa.

Several other first team players are also rested as the first El Clasico of this season is just few days away.

Real Madrid won the first leg 7-1 away, about a month ago.

Gareth Bale had a successful surgery

Real Madrid confirmed on Tuesday evening that the Welshman had a successful surgery to his right ankle as the long injury layoff begins.

The forward targets a speedy recovery from his latest injury setback, which he suffered during the match against Sporting CP in Lisbon.

In a statement on their official website, the club confirmed: "Our player Gareth Bale has successfully come through the operation he underwent today after suffering an injury to the peroneal tendons in his right ankle.

"The operation was carried out at London's King Edward VII Hospital by Dr James Calder and Real Madrid Sanitas' Dr Mikel Aramberri, under the supervision of Dr Jesus Olmo, head of Real Madrid's medical department.''

Gareth Bale injury bolted a big blow on Real Madrid as the season enters a crucial part with the first El Clasico awaiting this Saturday.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Gareth Southgate appointed new England manager on a 4 year contract

Interim manager Gareth Southgate is now appointed as the manager of the Three lions on a 4-year contract by the FA today. 

He was appointed as the Interim coach after controversial dismissal of Sam Allardyce in September after the Telegraph released footage of the 62-year-old discussing how to 'get around' FA rules with undercover journalists. 

England have played 4 games under the leadership of the former Middlesbrough manager. 

Their first game was a 2-0 win against Malta, then they played a 0-0 draw against Slovenia.

A comfortable 3-0 win over Scotland earlier this month made things more likely for Southgate but a late fightback by Spain in the friendly few days later prevented England from back to back wins.

Gareth Southgate has the confidence of his squad and the board. With World Cup 2018 in sight, this move should prove effective for the England football team who are still in search of an international glory since 1966.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

One of the biggest managerial link ups

RB Leipzig is currently taking Bundesliga by storm. Standing top of the pile, 3 points clear of defending champions Bayern Munich, this team has written quiet a script this season.

Their manager, Ralph Hussenhütl, has grabbed a lot of eyeballs in Europe this season. According to Metro, he is the latest addition in the potential growing list of Arsene Wenger's successor at Arsenal.

RB Leipzig has produced remarkable performances in Bundesliga this season, and their manager, proudly takes credit for it.

Leipzig are yet to lose a game this season, while Arsenal have lost 1 game(opening day defeat to Liverpool).

Arsenal's chief executive Ivan Gazidis is clearly trying to plan ahead and by building up a dossier of candidates; whoever ends up being given the nod will have one of the most daunting tasks in football. If Feguson's retirement from football has taught us anything, 'replacing a legend' is as tough as it gets.

According to The Sun, Hussenhütl is now one of the main contenders for the job.

Hussenhütl's team has scored 27 goals in 12 games this season winning 9 of them. Their performance is better than the Bavarian giants.

So looking at the stats one must agree that he can succeed Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Injury Updates

Get the latest updates on player injured.

Phillipe Coutinho 

The Brazilian suffered a nasty looking ankle injury against Sunderland. He was carried off the field on a stretcher and every Liverpool fans had their hearts in the mouth. the extent of injury was not known till Monday. 

After undergoing a scan on Monday, it has been revealed that Coutinho will be out for up to six weeks. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp confirmed the news last night before the EFL cup quaters-final tie against Leeds United as reported by Liverpool's official website.

"Phil needs between five and a few weeks until we have him back. We will see. He is not in for tonight and for the next few games." 

Liverpool won the game 2-0 and moved to the last four of EFL cup. 

Connor Wickham

Another player who suffered injury  is Crystal Palace striker Connor Wickham. Wickham suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee. He picked up this injury in his club's 5-4 defeat at Swansea and his return date is still not confirmed.

"Connor Wickham's injury sustained at the match against Swansea City on Staurday has seen him undergo an MRI scan and it is confirmed he received an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury to his right knee," the statement on Crystal Palace's official club website reads. 

"He will now undergo surgey and his return to action will be confirmed once rehabilitation starts following surgery.

"Everyone at the club wishes Connor a speedy recovery and we look forward to seeing him back in action as soon as possible."

Alan Pardew's side are already in relegation battle and desperately need some points to come out of it. 

Hector Bellerin

The 21- year old suffered an injury after being at the receiving end of a strong Danny Rose's challenge against North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur earlier in November. 

The Spain defender has subsequently missed the two draws with Manchester United and PSG, as well as the 3-1 win against Bournemouth and is targeting a return to action in four weeks time.  

"It's going really good. Better than i expected," Bellerin told the Daily Mirror.

"It is a hard injury to recover from and a bit painful.

"But I am going to try to be running from this week and hopefully I'll be back on the pitch in less than four weeks."

Bellerin has recently signed a contract extension with Arsenal. He is one of the important first team member for Arsene Wenger.

Bellerin, who developed at Barcelona's youth academy, debuted for Arsenal in 2014 and has established himself as the first choice right back in the team. He has made 87 appearnces in all competitions for the Gunners, scoring three goals. 

Olivier Giroud

The Frenchman is ruled out of the Arsenal's EFL cup tie against Southampton today. He has reported of a groin problem. Lucas Perez is set to take his place after returning from an ankle injury. 

Arsene Wenger confirmed the news on the club's official website.

"Lucas is in the squad.

"We will have a mixture of youth and experience, but still 90 per cent of the first team squad." 

Mathieu Debuchy

Arsenal suffered another blow last Sunday when Mathieu Debuchy, who made a return, had to go off after suffering hamstring problem. He made his first start of the season and played for only 16 minutes before leaving the field. 

He underwent a scan yesterday.

"Mathieu has a scan on Tuesday, but we do not have the results yet," Wenger said.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Plane Crash carrying Brazilian Football Club Chapecoense death toll revised to 71

According to reports officials have lowered the death toll for the plane crash in Colombia involving Chapecoense to 71.

Officials lowered the count to 71 after finding out that 4 players did not board the flight.

It was evident that the plane carrying Chapecoense players and some journalists, crashed on Monday night in remote locations in Colombian mountains, with only six survivors.

The first team members were travelling to Medellin, to play the first leg of Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional. Several photos were circulated across the social media, showing the players and other people on board, as they looked really happy.

After the crash reports, players and clubs from every corner of the world send their tributes, and offered help, in whatever way they could.

This tragic incident left everyone heartbroken. All smiles turned into grim faces.


©sportskafun.blogspot.com

India two to the good

A commanding display by a young Indian Team, helped them to win the third test match at Mohali by 8 wickets.
Led by their aggressive captain Virat Kohli, India outclassed England quiet remarkably and extend their unbeaten streak to 16 after the win today. 

After losing the toss, everything just went right for Virat Kohli and India in this test right from day 1. Everybody stood up to the task, eager to take part in the game. The hunger was visible in the Indian team as they were playing against a side who won the last 3 test series, both home and away. England ran out of weapons as they had no answer for the brilliant spin bowling by India.


One thing which India enjoyed in this test was the resistance shown by the lower order during the first innings. Both Jadeja and Ashwin are in top 10 all-rounders in the world. The way they bowled in the 1st innings and then batted to take India past England's score and then take the lead was commendable.

Jayant Yadav has grown leaps and bounds as he enjoyed his 2nd test with maiden test fifty and some crucial breakthroughs. His experience in 1st class cricket helped him a lot.

Alastair Cook will be having some big concerns as their batting department hasn't fared very well in this test as well as the last test. Joe Root did show some signs of being the top run getter in tests in this calendar year but failed to bundle up big score. Moeen Ali was another failure with the bat.
New entrant Gareth Batty could not open his account today.and Jos Butler too crumbled under the pressure. Youngster Haseeb Hameed put up a brave performance despite a broken finger and coming out to bat at no. 8.

Parthiv Patel hit a half century in the 2nd innings, chasing a small total of 103. He looked aggressive right from the start, played great shots in both the innings. Virat Kohli is impeccable with his bat and he has shown it time and again. Other Indian batsmen should aspire to reach Kohli's level.

India has come a long way with Virat Kohli at the helm and there is still a long way to go but the kind of performance this team has put up just assert that why they are the no 1 ranked team in the world.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Cristiano Ronaldo closing in on another record

After starting this season tad slow, Cristiano Ronaldo has been among the goals recently. A hat-trick at Vicente Calderon then followed by a brace against Sporting Gijon. he is already leading the race for the Pichichi. 

Ronaldo has established himself as a prolific goal scorer since joining Real Madrid in 2009. He is already the leading goal scorer for Real Madrid. His movements in the box coupled with his finishing and heading skills makes him a deadly in front of the goal.

A player who was more of a midfielder at his previous club, Manchester United, has transformed himself into one of the best strikers in the world.

Cristiano is just 12 goals away...

All his goal scoring has brought him to this position and now he has just two men ahead of him.
In the all-time record of top goal scorers from the top 5 European leagues, only Gerd Muller 365 goals and former Spurs man Jimmy Greaves with 366 goals are ahead now.

The goal scoring ratio Cristiano has he can beat this record in about 10 La Liga matches. Leo Messi isn't too far behind either and he must also have somthing to say on this record.
Well time will tell who breaks more record between Ronaldo and Messi.

Most goals ever in top 5 leagues Europe:

366 ― Jimmy Greaves
365 ― Gerd Müller
354 ― Cristiano Ronaldo
321 ― Leo Messi
317 ― Steve Bloomer

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

England reeling at the end of day 3

Team India in complete control of the Mohali Test. Indian spinners are on a roll. England still trail by 56 runs in 2nd innings with almost half of their side back into the pavilion.

It was a good day at the office for Team India. First with the bat and then with the bowl. Ravindra Jadeja resumed from where he left on day 2 along with Ashwin. They both added some valuable runs with their partnership. After Ashwin got out, Jadeja found a new partner in Jayant Yadav, who only in his 2nd test match scored his first test fifty. A fifty of real quality. England were helpless in the first session of the day. Striking just one blow on India.

India's lower order showed great resistance and helped mount a good lead of 134 runs. India batted for almost two sessions of day 3. It was a remarkable performance from Ashwin, Jadeja and Jayant.
India ended their 1st innings on 417 runs. Ben Stokes was the pick of the bowlers with a five-wicket haul. His figures were 5/73.

England started their 2nd innings under real pressure with such a big lead to overcome, they knew they could not afford to lose early wickets. But looking at the form India bowlers were in, wickets were inevitable.

And as it was written in the script for India, Ashwin drew the first blood in the form of Alastair Cook's wicket. It was just 27 runs on board. Ashwin's blistering performance continued as he scalped Moeen Ali's wicket to get his 2nd of the innings.England were 39/2 at the moment. Bairstow and Root tried to make amends for the early losses but could not go the distance as England lost two more wickets by the end of day's play.

The killer blow was Ben Stokes' wicket in the last over of the day when he was given not-out by umpire Chris Gaffaney and Team India challenged the decision and got it right as the three reds which brought smile on India's face made Ben Stokes' face red.

England ended day on 78/4 and have their lives on the sword as team India are completely on top. 

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Nico Rosberg wins his maiden Formula 1 World title

German driver won his maiden Formula 1 world title despite coming 2nd in the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

Lewis Hamilton did all he could to stop Rosberg from winning, but only came 2nd in the world championship despite winning the race.

Nico Rosberg only had to finish in top 3 to claim the title and he did just that. Despite not being at the pole position, the German was determined to finish in top three. As he was 12 points ahead of Hamilton when they began the race, he knew a podium finish will make him the champion regardless of whatever Hamilton does.

Lewis Hamilton commanded the race from start to finish but Rosberg stayed just behind him to take the title. Hamilton had to throw out Rosberg out of the top three finish in order to win the title and for this he even drove slowly in order to bring other drivers into the battle. 

Hamilton was consistently asked from his team to speed up. But he told the team, "Let us race." 

There was close competition in the last few laps when Hamilton was driving slow to bring Ferrari's Vettel and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen to defy the top 3 finish for Rosberg.

But Rosberg kept his cool in the dying laps and didn't allow Vettel to overtake him on the crucial turns. 

Hamilton defied his team orders and also didn't respond to the team radio in the last few slaps. But kudos to Rosberg, who didn't lose his concentration. 

"It's a childhood dream come true," Rosberg, 31, said over the radio. "Thank you for everything."

After the drama of the race, Hamilton congratulated Rosberg on his world championship and the two men embraced and shook hands on the podium.

Rosberg said he had not decided whether to take the number one on his car as is his right next year or whether to stick with the number six, which he chose as his race number because his father Keke won the 1982 world title with it.

The Rosbergs are only the second family in which a father and son have won the F1 world title, after Graham and Damon Hill.

All in all it was a very tense race and a treat for the F1 fans to witness a rivalry like this. 

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Arsene Wenger claims that Arsenal has returned to fluency but in 'Patches'

Arsenal saw out AFC Bournemouth 3-1 at Emirates, in what was one of the gruelling games of this season for Arsenal. Alexis Sanchez gave a standout performance, scoring 2 goals. He was simply brilliant on the afternoon. 

Arsenal ended a run of four consecutive draws, with a win over Bournemouth and kept in touching distance to the top of premier league. Theo Walcott also found the net and capped the moment with a celebration dedicated to his new born baby.

This was 19th consecutive unbeaten game in all competitions for Arsenal this season since losing to Liverpool on the inaugural day of the league. But last few games saw them drop points and thus losing the momentum thus drawing in some criticism.

So despite the win,  in the post match interview Arsene Wenger admitted his team is still suffering from a slight dip in form.

When asked whether his side has regained the fluency, he told Sky Sports : "In patches, it's always a different game after Champions League, mentally it's so demanding. The players questioned themselves after a few draws.

"We got better during the game but Bournemouth played well. They started with high intensity physically and when I saw that I thought they would drop a little bit in the second half.

"After that we were a bit unlucky because I think there was a second penalty on Sanchez and the penalty for them is another questionable one. After that, we had to improve our level in the second half and we did."

Arsene Wenger was then inevitably asked about the loaned Jack Wilshere, who was ineligible to play against his parent club. He also praised Eddie Howe's Bournemouth side.

Wenger said, "(Wilshere is)In very safe hands, because they are a team who have can have as much possession as the top team and play well as well and that's what they did today. They are a top side.

"I never forget when they came from the Championship they scored over 100 goals and that's never a coincidence, that means the quality is in the side.

"I saw him before the game and he told me he'd come in after the game." 



©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Australia holding a upper hand after end of Day 2 in Adelaide

South Africa declared for 259/9 on Day 1 and Australia resumed their batting from 14/0 on Day 2.

Despite losing two wickets under a score of 50 runs, Australia fought back with Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith.

Usman Khawaja was the star player of the day with his unbeaten 138.
Steve Smith added 59 runs before getting run-out in a silly fashion.

Australia are 2-0 down in the series and their batting display was at stake in this match.

Debutant Peter Handscombe had a busy debut thanks to his 54 runs. He along with Khawaja added 99 runs for the 4 the wicket.

After Handscombe got out it looked like another debacle was on the cards as they lost 2 more in quick succession in form of Maddison and Wade.

But Khawaja stood tall and finished the day at unbeaten 138 with Mitchell Starc 16 on the other end.

Australia ended day 2 on 307/6 with a lead of 48 runs.
Kyle Abbott had the best figures for Proteas with 3/38.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Arsenal miss Santi Cazorla admits Wenger

Arsene Wenger has acknowledged the fact that Arsenal has been missing Santi Cazorla.

Gunners are still on an unbeaten streak since their defeat to Liverpool on the opening day of the season.

Santi Cazorla suffered an Achilles injury during the 6-0 win against Ludogorets and could not play the last four Premier League matches.
Out of those four Gunners had three draws as they dropped some valuable points and thus losing the momentum.

The 31-year old is long awaited for the return to squad as Arsenal continue their journey.

"Santi is important to our technical stability in the team, to the quality of our decision-making and to our build-up from deep midfield to the high midfield," Wenger told reporters.

"That is an important stage because it gets the ball out from the defenders. Santi is a massive player for us.

"But we have enough quality players in our side to get around that. We are good enough to find solutions despite the fact he is not there."

Arsene Wenger brought Granit Xhaka in summer transfer to give them more alternatives and depth to the squad.

Though the Swiss international has struggled to live up to high expectations at Emirates. Wenger's adamant that Swiss international has fared nicely.

"I am very happy with Granit's commitment," Wenger added.

"I think he is developing well. Maybe he has not started enough since the start of the season but he is adapting to a different league, a different way of playing.

"Overall I am happy because every day he is focused on working hard and I am confident he will get his number of games."

Arsenal faces Bournemouth in Sunday's Premier League clash.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Zinedine Zidane calls for players to show flexibility to fill void left by Gareth Bale

After it is confirmed that Gareth Bale will be out for a significant period of time. Zidane feels the available players should show some versatility to fill up the void left by Gareth Bale's unprecedented injury.

Real Madrid are the current LaLiga toppers and head to Camp Nou for the first El Clasico of the season next weekend.

And Zidane believes it's time, the depth of squad will be tested. With players like Kroos and Morata still on the sidelines, Los Blancos are given some boost as Casemiro and Pepe are back in training and available to play this Saturday against Sporting Gijon.

"It's quite hard to see those injured players miss out," said Zidane, whose LaLiga leaders travel to Barcelona for the first Clasico of the season next weekend. "We do everything in our power, but sometimes that is not enough. Things happen when you play.

"We know we are doing things well. It is upsetting when you see a player out injured – our latest injury for example, Gareth Bale. He is going to be out for quiet a while.

"We are going to maintain our focus on Saturday's game, which is a tough game after two demanding outings.

"Sometimes you may think we might change formations or what our plans are, but we have a set idea and a lot of versatile footballer who can play in many positions That's the benefit of having great players." 

Zidane was asked whether delaying Bale's surgery until after El Clasico was a possibility and he confirmed taking such a risk was never realistically on the table.

"We looked at all the options, we spoke to all the best doctors and they all agreed," he explained.

Following the controversy around James Rodriguez's alleged bad behaviour after being left out on the bench against Sporting CP midweek, Zidane was asked if he would leave the club if he were in his shoes,

Zidane replied: "No, what a question.

"It's not true that he's not playing at all. I'd stay here at the club, a great club, and he will play."

Zidane added: "A player of his standing, of course he wants to play more, but it is down to me to decide.

"I know he is going to be an important player for Real Madrid. He hasn't been playing recently because others have come in and done a very good job.

"There's not much more to say – you look at the rest of the footballers and they are playing very well too, but James is a key player."

The Frenchman tried clearing the cloud over James Rodriguez's move away from Santiago Bernabeu and says he will get time to play.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

James Rodriguez eyes move away from Real Madrid

James Rodriguez has been an outcast at Real Madrid this season.

One doesn't know the reason but he somehow is not able to make into Zinedine Zidane's line-up.

James has only made six appearances this season and majority of them came from the bench, despite some of the recent injuries to the likes of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro.

One of the brightest talent in the footballing world, Real Madrid are lucky to have a player of his quality but he is only wasted on the bench, struggling to get some playing time.

According to ​Spanish news outlet ​Marca, being overlooked has had a detrimental effect on the player's relationship with coach Zidane, who appears to have exiled the player.

The pair's toxic affair came under even more scrutiny following the club's Champions League 2-1 victory over Sporting CP. While Rodriguez was an unused substitute for the tie, his attitude and general negative presence on the bench was picked up on by the television cameras.

This has led to strong rumours suggesting that Rodriguez will demand to leave the Bernabeu either in the winter or summer transfer window, with Manchester United said to be keen to take on the Colombia international to boost their attacking options.

However, the club's hierarchy, including president Florentino Perez, are said to be keen to keep the player in Madrid, and are eager for Zidane to find a place for him in their starting XI.

Los Blancos injury woes have risen as Gareth Bale recently picked up an ankle injury in Lisbon and if possible Zinedine Zidane may now hand James some playing time.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Cricket Updates

Skipper du Plessis hits century on Day 1, South Africa declared at 259/9 

Faf du Plessis left the ball tampering controversy behind him and produced a solid batting display against Australia in the 3rd test at Adelaide Oval.

It is a day-night test and du Plessis hits century on the first day. He remained not-out at 118 runs. 

With the help of his century South Africa declared their innings at 259/9.

Australia, in their 1st innings, scored 14 runs in 12 overs till the end of day's play.
Openers Matt Renshaw (8*) and Usman Khawaja (3*) were at the crease.

At a time Steve Smith reduced South Africa to 95/4, but du Plessis stood firm and played a brilliant innings to overcome early fall of wickets.

du Plessis was heavily booed when he came out to bat. He was found guilty of ball tampering and was fined for the same but he made it to the test.

After early fall of wickets du Plessis had a partner in Steve Cook (40) to some extent. However Mitchell Starc caught his leg before wicket in the 3rd over but replay showed Starc foot went over the line and was termed as a no ball so Cook was called back.

Cook was then dismissed by Starc in the 2nd session.
The star man of South Africa in the series Quinton de Kock failed to emulate his performance from the previous test and got out for just 24 runs.

Faf du Plessis completed his century in the 3rd session, after taking two runs off a Josh Hazlewood delivery.
It was his 6th Test century.

In reply, David Warner could not come out to bat as he was termed unfit to bat and was receiving treatment. And there was also not much time left after Proteas declared their innings.

Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers for Australia with figures of 4/68. Mitchell Starc got 2 for 78 runs.

'The accusations of ball tampering on Virat Kohli are false' - Anil Kumble

It was earlier reported by a British tabloid that Virat Kohli has tampered with the ball in the Rajkot test.

A pic of Virat Kohli surfaced where he was seen applying spit on the ball. 

But Coach Anil Kumble has denied all this accusation and said he does not believe in giving wind to such kind of stories.

It's been in rules of ICC that if a player does tamper with the ball, the opposition team or the ICC match referee had to report such incident to ICC within 5 days but as the pic came out after the Vizag test it had no point.

ICC also made it clear that according to rules there is no such case.

Yuvraj Singh reaches Parliament

Yuvraj Singh, who is set to marry his fiancé Hazel Keech, this December, reached the Parliament to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his wedding.

Yuvraj was seen outside the Parliament in a cool look with the invitation cards in his hand.

Mohali Test begins tomorrow

India are 1-0 up in the series and with the third test match starting tomorrow India will be hoping to win it to put pressure on England and take the series away from their reach.

England will also be hoping for a comeback just like they did in 2012.

Last test in Mohali just ended in 3 days when India played South Africa.
It will be interesting to see how the pitch performs this time.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Wayne Rooney inspires Manchester United to a comprehensive victory

A Wayne Rooney special goal to couple it with an assist and some brilliant individual performances on a European night.

The Red devils were absolutely lethal in the night.

It was one of the important games to stay in hunt for a place in last 32 and Manchester United just played like that.

The hunger to score, the eagerness to get the ball every time it was with opponents, it was the kind of performance one expects to see from a United team.

Wayne Rooney was the star of the night, as he broke European goal scoring record for Manchester United.

As soon as he chipped the goalkeeper to open the scoring in the 35th minute, a move which he started himself and finished, he went past Ruud van Nisterlooy of scoring most goals in European competitions for Manchester United. He now moves to 39 goals.

Rooney assisted another for Juan Mata to score with a sublime reverse pass to make it 2-0 for United in 70th minute. Manchester United look ever hungry to score goals as  they added two more, an own goal from goalkeeper Brad Jones, trying to save a Zlatan Ibrahimovic shot and a stunning finish from substitute Jese Lingard in the dying minutes of the match.

Manchester United had 12 shots on target, most in Mourinho's era till now.
It's also the biggest win since the arrival of José Mourinho.

One player who proved himself on the night was Henrikh Mkhitaryan. He displayed an absolutely brilliant individual performance like he did all the time in Germany.
He got heavily involved in a number of chances and deserved a goal to his name but unfortunately didn't. He showed Mourinho what he had been missing. 

A player of his calibre deserves to start and even José Mourinho agreed in the post match conference.

Read what Mourinho had to say on Wayne Rooney's record breaking goal, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and more.

"It's an amazing achievement obviously," Mourinho said of Rooney at his post-match media conference.

"His performance was like the team performance. We showed direction even at 1-0 up, we want to score more goals and get into a position where we are ahead of them in a situation where there are two or three teams on the same points.

"It will be even better if he can help the club to win the one trophy they don't have in their history which is the Europa League.

"I know it's not the biggest competition, but let's push. Let's qualify, I know there are a lot of knockout games, but let's try."

Mourinho heaped praise on Mkhitaryan too.

Mourinho said: "I am very happy. We coped very well with the pressure on our shoulders - it was a good solid performance.

"Some players had chances, like Sergio Romero who made a double save at 0-0 and Mkhitaryan who put in a good individual performance.

"I think now Mkhitaryan just has to replicate this kind of performance in the Premier League.

"The Premier League is a level higher and he needs to replicate that in the Premier League with more physicality, with more pressure.

"But the quality we knew - that was why we brought him to the club. He has great quality."

And about Jese Lingard's superb late goal.

He added: "The goal was amazing. If it is another team scoring that goal with another manager on the touchline people would say that it's magic. But not Man United and not a Mourinho team."

It felt great to see Manchester United get back to winning ways in a must win game.

This performance if replicated in Premier league will surely make it even more exciting.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Latest Transfer news and rumours

Liverpool looks for an audacious swap deal for Saints duo using Sturridge 

​Liverpool look set to offer Daniel Sturridge in a huge £40m swap deal for Southampton pair Virgil van Dijk and Sam McQueen, according to ​reports.

The 27-year old has seen himself fall down the pecking order under Jürgen Klopp this season, after failing to impress since his return from injury.

The England striker has been linked with a move away from Anfield in January, with West Ham and Stoke City reportedly keeping close watch.

​The Daily Star claim that Liverpool are in hot pursuit of Saints duo Virgil van Dijk and Sam McQueen, with Jurgen Klopp reportedly ready to spend £40m on bringing the pair to Anfield.

Donnarumma will not leave AC Milan

​AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has been the subject of rumours that he might leave the Rossoneri for Juventus, but his brother has reassured fans that the 17-year-old would never join the Turin giants.

“He won’t leave Milan for any reason. We talk every day, in the evenings we play video games online. He goes Milan, I go Atletico Madrid or Barcelona."

“We don’t talk about football that much, but we always call each other after games. After Inter he was angry and I tried to calm him down."

“Right now the number one is Buffon, the symbol of the school of Italian goalkeeping. After Gigi, it’ll be him [Donnarumma] in the national team."

“Knowing Gigio though, he won’t leave Milan for the world. He’s really happy with the Rossoneri, and he’s always been a Milanista.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic feels this player will be a fit for Manchester United

​Zlatan Ibrahimovic is confident that Benfica's Victor Lindelof is ready for a move to Manchester United, after his impressive performances in Portugal ​reports Goal. 

The 22-year-old centre-back is a highly sought-after talent and is being heavily linked with a January move away from Lisbon. 

On whether or not the young Swede has what it takes to make it at United, Zlatan replied:“Is he good enough for United? I think he’s good enough for the big clubs out there." 

“I think Victor is doing great things, he is playing good for Benfica, he gets a lot of responsibility for the national team now, he is growing.” 

With such a special talent, many clubs would be wanting to sign him, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic could play a pivotal role in his transfer to Manchester United.

Jose Mourinho is not so happy with the defence and will look to swap some of the old ones with new talents.

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