England

Liverpool supporters would have found themselves sighing in exasperation when Joel Matip came off injured at halftime against Tottenham on Thursday.

There is a genuine argument to be made that, when fit, Matip is a top-five center back in the league. Much to the chagrin of Reds everywhere, the Cameroonian international is seldom fit for more than a few games at a time. He was substituted at halftime against Fulham due to injury, subsequently missing out against last month's game against Spurs, before returning against Crystal Palace.

Manchester United on Thursday condemned the racial abuse of some of their players following Wednesday's shock 2-1 Premier League home defeat by Sheffield United.

Sky Sports reported that former England under-21 defender Axel Tuanzebe and France forward Anthony Martial were targeted on Instagram, with several users posting racist comments and symbols on their pictures. Tuanzebe also suffered abuse on Twitter, the report added.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin on Wednesday reiterated the ruling body's commitment to holding the rescheduled European Championship this year in 12 cities across the continent as originally planned.

The 24-nation event, which was due to take place in June-July last year, was postponed by 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament, scheduled to start on June 11, is to be played in 12 cities across Europe and Ceferin is also optimistic that fans will be allowed inside stadiums again.

As 19-time Süper Lig champions residing in the cultural and historic center of Istanbul, Fenerbahçe has long captured the imagination of football fans around the globe. Images of the Eternal Rivalry — the pitched battle between bitter derby foes Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray — are enough to drive the most ignorant of Americans into a Wikipedia deep dive.

Chelsea dismissed manager Frank Lampard after 18 months in charge on Monday after the man at the heart of much of their greatest success as a player failed to deliver as coach despite spending over $300 million in the summer transfer window.

Former Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel is the favorite to replace Lampard, British media reported.

Lampard, who led the club to a top-four finish and the FA Cup final in his managerial debut 2019-20 campaign, leaves with Chelsea ninth in the Premier League after a run of five defeats in eight league games.

One week after Manchester United and Liverpool delivered a 0-0 Premier League stalemate that’s already been largely forgotten, the eternal rivals more than made up for that shit on a stick performance with a roaring FA Cup fourth round match that saw the Red Devils ultimately prevail 3-2 at Old Trafford on Sunday.  

Most expected to see fireworks when Manchester City visited third-division Cheltenham Town in the FA Cup on Saturday. Few expected they would be literal fireworks.

The FA Cup fourth-round match, which the Premier League side rallied to win 3-1, was suspended for five minutes late in the first half as a fireworks spewed above Jonny-Rocks Stadium on Saturday. The referee halted proceedings as some of the sparks actually landed on the pitch. Fortunately, nothing caught on fire, even if players were left bemused by the display.