Manchester City restored their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League thanks to a goal in the dying seconds by Raheem Sterling that sealed a dramatic 2-1 home win over Southampton.

A Kevin De Bruyne free-kick, diverted into his own net by Virgil van Dijk, had looked likely to be enough to give Pep Guardiola s side a 12th league win in a row until Oriol Romeu snatched an equaliser 15 minutes from time.

But Sterling curled home a sublime winner as the game crept into the sixth minute of injury time to maintain the hosts charge towards the title.

City battled back from a goal down to beat Huddersfield Town last time out, Sterling also scoring the winner in that clash, and they could easily have found themselves behind in the first half at the Etihad Stad…

Florentino Perez has fuelled rumours linking Neymar with Real Madrid after claiming the Brazilian would have a better chance of winning the Ballon d Or at the Santiago Bernabeu than at Paris Saint-Germain.

Cristiano Ronaldo took the prestigious individual accolade for a record-equalling fifth time on Thursday, beating Lionel Messi and Neymar, who came second and third, respectively.

It was the second occasion – after 2015 – that Neymar has finished third to the pair, with Ronaldo and Messi still regarded to be some way ahead of him.

His world-record €222million move from Barcelona to PSG was said to have been completed with the intention of boosting his chances of winning the Ballon d Or in future years.

But Madrid president Perez thinks Neymar woul…

Barcelona plan to lodge an appeal after the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) issued Robert Lewandowski with a three-match ban following his red card against Osasuna.

Lewandowski was shown two yellow cards in the first half of Barca s 2-1 win at El Sadar last Tuesday, in which goals from Pedri and Raphinha helped Xavi s men to a comeback victory.

On Wednesday, it was reported the RFEF had given Lewandowski an extended three-match suspension after accusing him of berating referee Gil Manzano following his dismissal.

That would rule Lewandowski, who is LaLiga s top scorer with 13 goals this campaign, out of the Blaugrana s fixtures against Espanyol, Atletico Madrid and Real Betis after the World Cup, but his club will attempt to overturn the ruling.

A club…

Julian Nagelsmann s reign as Bayern Munich head coach began with a 1-1 draw at Borussia Monchengladbach in the first match of the 2021-22 Bundesliga season, with Yann Sommer frustrating the champions.

Nagelsmann, who joined from RB Leipzig during the close season, will have been largely pleased with the overall dominance exerted by Bayern but they were unable to make the most of their chances.

Die Roten looked shaky at the start and were deservedly behind in the 10th minute thanks to Alassane Plea, though Robert Lewandowski – who had previously been thwarted three times by Sommer – volleyed home the equaliser to equal his longest Bundesliga scoring streak (11 matches).

More presentable chances came and went after the interval, with Sommer loving his personal …

Michail Antonio s late header sealed victory for West Ham as they marked their first Premier League game at London Stadium with a 1-0 win over 10-man Bournemouth.

The former Nottingham Forest winger, who netted in West Ham s final fixture at Upton Park, had a weak to forget following a poor display in the defeat to Chelsea, but did brilliantly to nod home from close-range in the 85th minute after latching onto Gokhan Tore s cross.

In stark contrast to the corresponding fixture last term – which finished 4-3 to Eddie Howe’s side – Sunday’s affair was a slow-burner, with the teams mustering just one shot on target between them in a first-half shorn of clear-cut chances.

Bournemouth came out strongly after the break, Jordan Ibe squandering a gilt-edg…

Burnley host Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday, hoping to avoid a repeat of the shocking start they suffered when the teams last met at Turf Moor.

In the corresponding fixture in April 2010, City blew Burnley away with a devastating attacking display featuring three goals in the first seven minutes  as they enhanced their hopes of a top-four finish and heightened Burnley s relegation fears.

Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez all found the net in a flying start, before Patrick Vieira and Adebayor s second gave City a 5-0 lead at the break.

The match finished 6-1 as Burnley slipped towards the drop, while City were eventually pipped to fourth by Tottenham.

Saturday s meeting sees Burnley scrapping against relegation agai…

Barcelona have a chance to strike a potentially decisive blow in the title race when they travel to face bitter rivals Real Madrid in the first LaLiga Clasico of the season on Saturday.

Ernesto Valverde s men have established a six-point lead over Atletico Madrid at the top of the table and are 11 better off than Madrid having played a game more. The champions will see this is a great opportunity to turn the tables.

Zinedine Zidane led Madrid to LaLiga and Champions League titles last season and he will not want to give up either of those crowns without a massive fight.

But how will Saturday s Clasico play out? Two of our writers, Ryan Benson and Jamie Smith , debate some of the key issues going into this titanic tussle.

Valverde: It will be difficul…

Quincy Promes scored his first international goals as Netherlands sealed their first win of 2018 World Cup qualifying with a 4-1 victory over Belarus at De Kuip.

In his previous 14 Netherlands appearances Promes had failed to hit the back of the net, but he finally broke his duck when he squeezed a shot past three defenders and into the bottom-right corner in the 15th minute.

The 24-year-old winger netted his second with the help of a deflection before half-time, with Davy Klaassen adding to the hosts tally after Aleksei Rios had halved the deficit early in the second half.

Vincent Janssen capped a brilliant display when he slammed the ball into the top-right corner from 18 yards, and there was no way back for Aleksandr Khatskevich s side, who were unable to te…

Luka Jovic, Ante Rebic and Sebastien Haller could all leave Eintracht Frankfurt in the close season, admits sporting director Fredi Bobic.

Jovic, who only moved to the Commerzbank-Arena on a permanent basis in April having proved a success since arriving on loan from Benfica in 2017, has been heavily linked with a switch to Real Madrid after scoring 27 goals in 48 appearances in all competitions this season.

Croatia international Rebic has been touted as a potential target for Arsenal and Tottenham, while Haller is also reportedly being chased by a host of Premier League teams.

Anything could happen, and, of course, it could be that we lose all three, Bobic told Bild.

39 years ago today, Eintracht won the UEFA Cup thanks to a 1-0 win over in the second …

Dimitar Berbatov hopes the soap opera surrounding Paul Pogba s future is at an end after becoming increasingly influential for Manchester United.

Pogba s agent Mino Raiola revealed in December with a crucial Champions League clash with RB Leipzig looming on the horizon that he expected the Frenchman to leave Old Trafford in 2021, albeit not during the January transfer window.

The midfielder, who is under contract until 2022, has by no means been a regular starter this season, though his impact on the team has grown considerably in recent weeks.

His winning goal against Burnley sent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s side top of the Premier League a position they retained on Sunday thanks to a 0-0 draw away at reigning champions Liverpool.

Pogba was unable to take a l…