Getting the new Premier League campaign underway on Friday night, Manchester United dragged themselves to a late 1-0 victory against Fulham at Old Trafford.

Watching Bruno Fernandes miss a pair of golden opportunities in the first-half Erik ten Hag’s side appeared destined to settle for an uninspiring start to proceedings here.

However, while Fulham might have enjoyed large spells of dominance on either side of the half-time break, the Cottagers were eventually left heartbroken as summer recruit Joshua Zirkzee opened his Premier League tenure with a sensational cameo appearance.

Coming off the bench and sweeping home with just three minutes left on the clock, United would have simply been glad to have got the new campaign with a crucial victory on home soil.

Pep Guardiola has claimed Manchester City would be “killed” if they spent the sort of sums being coughed up by Chelsea over the last 12 months.

City’s spending has long been scrutinised since Sheikh Mansour’s takeover in 2008, with the club still facing 115 Premier League charges for alleged breaches of financial regulations.

But Guardiola insisted their approach had always been prudent, in contrast to that taken by Todd Boehly’s ownership group at Stamford Bridge, where the arrival of former City academy star Romeo Lavia this week had taken spending to nearly £1billion since the start of last summer.

on the grind!

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

City, who have signed Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic in this window, could go back into…

England s troubled bid to stage the 2018 World Cup received a boost on Friday when the Premier League announced a host of measures to revive the spluttering campaign.

English 2018 chiefs have been forced to restructure their board after a month of turmoil sparked by criticism by FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who described the English bid as lightweight , and rows over reduced government funding.

Bid chairman Lord Triesman has also come under fire for reportedly allocating just two days a week for World Cup activities.

But Premier League bosses are keen to get the bid back on track as hosting a World Cup would have substantial benefits for their clubs.

The bid will be promoted via perimeter boards at the 20 English top-flight clubs, in club publication…

England should not expect to win Euro 2024 but they have a chance to triumph if things go their way, according to David James, who also believes the Three Lions will be well-prepared for life after Gareth Southgate.

Southgate s England were penalty shoot-out losers to Italy in the final of the delayed Euro 2020, having also suffered World Cup semi-final elimination at the hands of Croatia in 2018.

The Three Lions, as per FIFA s rankings, are the third-best side in the world at present – behind only World Cup holders Argentina and fellow European side France – ahead of the likes of Belgium, Brazil and Netherlands.

With Germany s Euro 2024 on the horizon, starting on June 14, former England goalkeeper James says the Three Lions should not expect to win the tour…

Germany coach Joachim Loew is aiming to finish Euro 2012 qualifying with a 100 percent record going into Friday s match against Turkey.

Beaten finalists at Euro 2008 and World Cup semi-finalists last year, Germany have already secured passage to next year s European Championship finals in Poland and Ukraine.

They top Group A with a maximum of 24 points from eight matches played so far.

But despite their comfortable position, Loew has no intention of letting standards drop in the last two fixtures, against Turkey and Belgium.

10 games and 10 wins is what we would all wish for, Loew said.

However, both Turkey and Belgium are big challenges. They are both going to give it all they have got to finish second.

But we want to get through the…

Ryan Gauld says Vancouver Whitecaps will not treat the visit of San Jose Earthquakes as an easy game as they look to get back to winning ways in MLS.

Vancouver have lost just one of their last eight league matches but fired a blank for just the second time at home this season in a 0-0 draw with FC Dallas last time out.

They sit sixth in the Western Conference, but a win, coupled with defeats for Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids, could see them move up the table.

Gauld is prepared for a tough fight though, despite how it looks on paper.

We ve got to treat it like any other game, said the captain. They re at the bottom, but they ve still got a lot of good players that can hurt us if we re not at our best.

If you look at the standings, someone …

The 2012 European Championships will be Fabio Capello s last tournament in charge of the Three Lions.

As an England manager, this is it for me, Capello told reporters.

England supporters, you can finally thank your lucky stars.

At this point, it s safe to admit that Capello is not the right man for the England job.

Like many other football experts, I believe that the England boss should be an Englishman, making Spurs boss Harry Redknapp the top candidate to fill Capello s shoes.

This time it will be stronger, Capello added.

It will be stronger because if you look at the groups and all the  teams, particularly the three European teams who reached the World Cup  semi-finals; the technical level is at the top, the organisat…

Khadija Shaw hailed Manchester City s comeback victory over Liverpool as fine margins will decide the Women s Super League.

City striker Shaw was twice on target at Anfield on Sunday in the second half, netting a late winner with a ferocious finish from close range.

That capped a remarkable turnaround for the visiting City, who had earlier trailed from Olivia Smith s stinging 41st-minute strike.

Victory lifted City to the top of the league after four games, and last season s top WSL scorer Shaw referenced the importance of such wins in what is expected to be another tight division.

It s a very important win because we know how tight this league is, Shaw told Sky Sports. Fine margins will decide the championship.

We knew it was going to be tough …

This was not the potential Copa America farewell that Lionel Messi had dreamed of.

With a little over an hour played in Miami, where he is tearing through MLS sides on a weekly basis, the eight-time Ballon d Or winner was in tears as he trudged off with an apparent ankle injury.

The next Copa America is not until 2028; Messi will be beyond 40 surely, this was his last appearance in the competition in which he has now played more games than any other player?

For Messi s individual pain, though, there was national glory. Unlike Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2024, with Portugal crashing out in the quarters, Argentina have gone the distance and, for a third successive major tournament, come out as the top dogs. They beat Colombia 1-0 on Sunday and claimed a record-settin…

Kylian Mbappe was left disappointed by Olivier Giroud s comments over a perceived lack of service, though he insists the situation between the pair will not overshadow France s bid for glory at Euro 2020.

The reigning world champions kick off their campaign in the delayed tournament on Tuesday, as they take on Group F rivals Germany at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Les Bleus recorded successive 3-0 wins in warm-up fixtures against Wales and Bulgaria, Giroud scoring twice against the latter after coming on as a substitute.

However, the Chelsea striker – who now has 46 international goals, just five behind Thierry Henry in the country s all-time scoring list – said in a post-match press conference that he did not feel team-mates had looked for him enough when…