Manchester City took the Premier League title race into their own hands with a 4-1 demolition job of leaders Arsenal on Wednesday.

Three straight draws saw Arsenal hand City the initiative before the Gunners trip to the Etihad Stadium, and Pep Guardiola s side showed little mercy in a stunning display of dominance.

Kevin De Bruyne came to the fore, scoring either side of John Stones header, which City s playmaker teed up.

Rob Holding snatched a consolation late on, but Erling Haaland ensured he had the last word with a goal that saw him break the record for goals in a 38-game Premier League season, as City made their point.

City were convinced they should have had a penalty inside three minutes, yet De Bruyne was adjudged to have fouled Thomas Partey afte…

Luciano Spalletti lauded the hunger of Napoli to not rest on their sizeable Serie A lead after a 4-0 hammering of Torino on Sunday.

Victor Osimhen s brace came alongside goals for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Tanguy Ndombele that sent Napoli 21 points clear at the Serie A summit after a dominant performance in Turin.

Inter could cut that significant advantage when they host Juventus later on Sunday, although the Partenopei are within touching distance of their first Scudetto since 1990.

Spalletti continues to be impressed by Napoli s fight and refusal to let their march towards the title stall, embodying the hunger and pride of the Partenopei support.

The Napoli coach told DAZN: It s the umpteenth time that I go to talk to the boys before a game, having the …

Raphinha scored one goal and assisted another as Barcelona restored their 11-point lead at the LaLiga summit with a comfortable 4-0 victory over 10-man Real Betis.

Real Madrid cut the gap at the top to eight points with a 4-2 victory over Almeria before Saturday s kick-off at Camp Nou, but Barca reclaimed their significant advantage in style.

Andreas Christensen s early header from Raphinha s delightful cross set the Blaugrana on their way before Robert Lewandowski struck after a mindless first-half dismissal for Betis substitute Edgar Gonzalez.

Raphinha added a third goal soon after, before a Guido Rodriguez own goal sealed a dominant victory for Barca, who introduced 15-year-old debutant Lamine Yamal in the closing stages.

Max AC

— FC Barcelo…

Unai Emery backed Ollie Watkins to make England’s Euro 2024 squad after his two goals helped Aston Villa to a 3-2 win against Luton.

The 28-year-old took his tally for the season in all competitions to 21 at Kenilworth Road, first heading in from a Leon Bailey corner then finishing via a post following Douglas Luiz’s quick free-kick.

It is now his best Premier League season in terms of goals scored, with 16 in the top flight as Villa have emerged as surprise contenders to qualify for the Champions League.

MOOD.

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial)

Gareth Southgate has less than three months to decide which forward players to take to Germany alongside captain Harry Kane, with Watkins staking a claim as a leading contender.

Brentford strike…

Mario Gomez got on the scoresheet again as Germany romped to a 3-1 win at Azerbaijan in their Euro 2012 Group A qualifier on Tuesday.

Gomez scored for the fourth successive international as Germany made it seven wins from seven qualifiers, all but sealing their place in next year s finals.

Mesut Oezil scored and handed Gomez his goal on a platter before Azerbaijan got back into the contest with a late strike from Murad Huseynov.

But their momentum was quickly snuffed out by Andre Schurrle, whose injury-time sealer surely leaves Azerbaijan coach Berti Vogts in the firing line.

Vogts, who has led the national side to just two victories in three years, was pelted with a toilet roll and a coffee pot by irate journalists in a pre-match press conference and is…

Phil Neville believes Portland Timbers hard work is starting to show ahead of their game against Houston Dynamo on Saturday.

The Timbers have won three of their last four games, including both at home in that run, and sit ninth in the Western Conference.

Against Austin FC on Wednesday, they kept their first clean sheet of the season with a 2-0 victory.

Neville is hopeful Portland can continue to build on their recent momentum as they look to close the gap to the teams above them.

There s a good cohesion to the team and a good structure. The players are now doing their jobs and doing it to the ability that you expect, Neville said.

The last two or three games we ve seen a continuation of the work we ve been doing. We knew we had a lot of work to …

UEFA have hit England striker Wayne Rooney with a three-game suspension after his sending-off in Montenegro.

This decision  wasn’t completely unexpected and England still have a right to appeal.

However Rooney has previous and UEFA are unlikely to change their decision.

Group

A three game ban means that Rooney will miss all three group games. However he could play in the knockout stages if England managed to get through their group. The way England have played at recent tournaments that is no certainty.

Decision

England boss Fabio Capello will now need to make a decision on whether to take Rooney to the European Championships or not. The tournament could be over for England before he has even kicked a ball.

However if Rooney we…

Didier Deschamps acknowledges France s World Cup group could have been worse, but has earmarked Argentina as a potential threat should they make the knockout stages.

Les Bleus, winners in 1998 and among many people s favourites to triumph in Russia, will face Australia, Peru and Denmark in Group C.

If France, who played Denmark in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, make it to the last 16 they could face Argentina – who scraped their way into the tournament with a Lionel Messi-inspired victory over Ecuador in their final qualifier – depending on how they fare in Group D.

But head coach Deschamps is not overly concerning himself with factors beyond his control.

It could have been far worse of course. We made a habit of playing Denmark and we played Australi…

Germany enjoyed a wonderful start to their home Euro 2024 campaign on Friday as they thrashed 10-man Scotland 5-1 in Munich.

A huge contingent of Scotland fans packed into the Allianz Arena in hope of witnessing their country s first major tournament victory since Euro 1996, but they were stunned into silence as Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala put Germany two goals up inside 19 minutes.

Ryan Porteous was then sent off for a dismal lunge on Ilkay Gundogan shortly before half-time, allowing Kai Havertz to kill the game as a contest from the penalty spot.

Niclas Fullkrug came off the bench to score a tremendous fourth for Julian Nagelsmann s hosts, though Antonio Rudiger s own goal gave Scotland s supporters some small comfort late on.

However, Emre Can –…

The official emblem for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been revealed by organisers.

The logo, inspired by local and regional Arab culture and landscapes, is described as embodying the vision of an event that connects and engages the entire world .

The swooping curves of the emblem represent the undulations of desert dunes and the unbroken loop depicts both the number eight – a reminder of the eight astonishing stadiums that will host matches – and the infinity symbol, reflecting the interconnected nature of the event, a statement released by FIFA said.

Qatar s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy added: The infinity sign symbolises the legacy of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which will continue to inspire and accelerate development in Qatar, the regio…