Mesut Ozil s nonchalant backheel flick from the byline for Ainsley Maitland-Niles was legitimately the most efficient way to let his team-mate put Arsenal 4-2 up.

His nonchalant lean on the advertising hoarding as a gaggle of Gunners fans leapt towards him in celebration was simply the best thing he could possibly have done.

After five weeks on the outside looking in, a playmaker of rare talent was back on the field enjoying himself. It was wonderful to see.

Wednesday s riotously berserk 5-5 EFL Cup draw preceding a penalty shoot-out defeat to Liverpool was Ozil s third appearance of the season in all competitions and a first since a 5-0 win at Nottingham Forest in the previous round.

Since then, there s been an error-strewn draw at Manchester United,…

Gabriel Jesus might have beaten Nick Pope to delight fans of both sublime finishes and easy wordplay, but it was Burnley who were truly counting their blessings after the first half of Tuesday s Premier League encounter with Manchester City.

But for Pope s point-blank stop to deny Raheem Sterling from a devilish Kevin De Bruyne cross and another reaction save with his boot when Bernardo Silva roved into the Clarets box, Sean Dyche s men would have been playing for pride alone during the second half at Turf Moor. In the end, it mattered little.

After a sapping run of one win in five matches across all competitions, compounded by Liverpool streaking away into the distance, Pep Guardiola s champions looked something like their old selves in a commanding 4-1 win.

Th…

The 2015-16 Premier League campaign will forever be remembered as the year that great underdogs Leicester City pulled off the most magical title triumph of all time.

That was also the last season in which Arsenal finished in the top four of the Premier League, the Gunners having slipped as low as eighth in the past two campaigns.

Arsenal, then under Arsene Wenger, beat Leicester home and away en route to finishing second that season but have not pulled off a league double in this fixture since.

On a run of eight wins in their past 10 league games, Arsenal will be full of confidence heading into Sunday s contest – though City have themselves finally found some form.

As the two sides prepare to meet at Emirates Stadium, we take a look at some of the key n…

England goalkeeper Tom Heaton has joined Manchester United on a two-year contract.

Heaton, who won the last of his three international caps in 2017, was available on a free transfer after his contract expired at Aston Villa.

The 35-year-old began his career at Old Trafford, graduating through the youth ranks and spending 13 years on the club s books.

He did not make a first-team appearance and embarked upon several loan spells before joining Cardiff City in 2010.

He arrived at Burnley via Bristol City, with his career taking off under Sean Dyche. Heaton played 188 league games for the Clarets and earned all his England caps while at Turf Moor.

A serious shoulder injury saw him lose his place for club and country to Nick Pope, while Heaton s injury…

Defender Alejandro Balde is confident Barcelona can end their Rayo Vallecano “curse” on Saturday.

The reigning LaLiga champions have not beaten Rayo in four attempts and will hope to put the record straight when they head for the Estadio de Vallecas this weekend.

Balde told the club’s official website: “This is an important match for the team. We haven’t beaten Rayo Vallecano for two years and I think a win on Saturday will break the curse of not winning.

Balde talks

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

“The start of the season was good. We are in third place in the league and we are already close to qualifying for [the knockout stage of] the Champions League.

“We are four points away from the top, but the season is still long…

Jose Mourinho has been backed to do a great job at Roma by Paulo Fonseca, the man he will be replacing at the Serie A club.

Roma announced on Tuesday that Fonseca will step down from his role at the end of the season to make way for the arrival of Mourinho.

It marks a swift return to management for the Portuguese, who was sacked by Tottenham on April 19 after a disappointing 17 months in charge. He left Spurs with a 51 per cent win ratio in all competitions only with Leiria (45 per cent) at the start of his managerial career had he posted a worse return.

However, Mourinho won two league titles, the Coppa Italia twice and a Champions League during his only previous spell in Italian football, which was with Inter between 2008 and 2010.

Fonseca expects h…

Putting in what was a dominant display in north London on Sunday afternoon, Arsenal breezed their way back to top spot in the Premier League table as they claimed a 2-0 victory against Brighton.

While the Gunners might have suffered just a second Premier League defeat of the season away at Aston Villa last weekend, Mikel Arteta’s young squad came roaring back here.

Watching ex-Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus open the scoring eight minutes after the restart, Arsenal were completely dominant at the Emirates as they put Brighton to the sword.

With Kai Havertz eventually wrapping up all three points in the final few minutes, Arteta’s side now hold a single-point buffer over the chasing pack and smelling a golden chance to make real history in the New Year.…

Wales play their penultimate Euro 2024 qualifier in Armenia on Saturday.

Automatic qualification is in Wales’ own hands as two closing victories will book their place in Germany next summer.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the main talking points of the game in Yerevan.

Deja vu

The parallels between Wales’ successful Euro 2020 qualification and the current campaign are hard to resist.

Wales reached Euro 2020 with a fast finish – holding 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia to a Cardiff draw before winning in Azerbaijan and downing Hungary after back-to-back summer defeats.

Having suffered another pointless June and just beaten Croatia in Cardiff, Wales head to the Caucasus region again to take on Azerbaijan’s neighbour Armeni…

Kylian Mbappe is further away from Real Madrid than ever before despite slaying Barcelona, according to former Santiago Bernabeu sporting director Jorge Valdano.

Mbappe netted a stunning hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed an overmatched Barca 4-1 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.

Such a performance will undoubtedly further endear the France forward to the Madrid faithful and he has been frequently linked with a move to the Spanish capital.

The 22-year-old s contract at PSG expires at the end of next season, however Valdano believes his Camp Nou heroics have given him leverage to demand the sort of wage only the Ligue 1 giants are in a position to afford.

After this, Mbappe is further from Real Madrid than ever bef…

Ansu Fati will take over the famed number 10 shirt at Barcelona that has been vacated since Lionel Messi s move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi s 21-year association with Barcelona came to an end in August when joining PSG on a free transfer after a new deal at Camp Nou could not be agreed.

The six-time Ballon d Or winner had worn the 10 jersey since Ronaldinho s departure in 2008 and has become synonymous with the shirt, which was also sported by Rivaldo and Romario in the past.

There had been suggestions Barca would leave the number unoccupied, but it was confirmed on Wednesday that fellow La Masia graduate Fati will inherit it.

Fati has been with the Catalan giants for the past nine years, the last two of those in the first team

Our new number
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