European Super Football

Real Sociedad 1 - 2 Bournemouth  Bournemouth held on to claim a famous victory at Real Sociedad in the first European match in the club's history. Author | Ajay Stadium | Estadio Municipal de Anoeta Goals from Justin Kluivert and Rayan put the Cherries in control as their relentless pressing overwhelmed their Basque opponents during a dominant first half. Sociedad improved considerably after the break, pulling one back through Sergio Gomez and pushing hard for an equaliser late on, but Marco Rose's side held firm to secure victory and make a winning start to their Europa League campaign. A closer analysis of what happened In a remarkably open start to the game, both sides found dangerous positions, but the first chance of note came in the 11th minute and was converted by Kluivert at the end of a fine move. The goal was initially ruled out for offside, but the video assistant referee intervened and, after a two-minute delay, it was confirmed that the Netherlands international h...

A comfortable win for Manchester United on their return to the Champions League  Here's out their players rated in a comfortable 4-0 over Sabah from Azerbaijan Author | Olivia T Stadium | Old Trafford Senne Lammens: Not the busiest of nights for the Belgian, who dealt comfortably with everything required of him. 6 Noussair Mazraoui: Got forward regularly, with an early shot blocked before another effort found the side netting. Was fortunate to escape punishment when he failed to spot Joy-Lance Mickels dropping towards the far post, where the Sabah player was left with a clear header in the first half. 6 Leny Yoro: A big season awaits the young Frenchman, who needs to find the consistency that has so far been missing during his United career. Had limited opportunity to shine but made no real errors. 7 Lisandro Martinez: Led United's defence and helped guide Yoro through the game. Marked his return to the scoresheet by pouncing on a loose ball after the Sabah defence hesitated. 7...

Napoli 0 - 1 Arsenal Martin Odegaard's excellent start to the season continued as the Arsenal captain came to his side's rescue against Napoli in Naples. Author | DJ Stadium  |  Stadio Diego Armando Maradona The Gunners ere guilty of wasteful finishing and appeared destined for a frustrating draw in their first Champions League game since agonisingly losing last season's final. However, Odegaard had Arsenal's 1,500 travelling supporters celebrating with a fine finish from outside the box, the captain's fourth goal in five games, including the Community Shield. Piero Hincapié dropped to his knees after the final whistle and thumped the ground with his hands in relief at the result. Arsenal won all eight group phase games on their way to last season's final, and they are up and running after a fine win in Italy. A closer analysis of what happened in Naples Mikel Arteta's side had missed three great chances to punish last season's Serie A runners-up befor...

Club Brugge 2 - 3 Aston Villa Aston Villa breathed fresh life into their season with a narrow Champions League victory over Club Brugge. Author | Peter Grainger  Stadium | Jan Breydelstadion Villa try to build an attack First-half goals from John McGinn, Emi Buendia and Nicolas Jackson secured a hard-fought win for the Premier League side in Belgium. Hugo Vetlesen had briefly brought the hosts level after McGinn's opener, but Buendia and Jackson, with his first goal for the club, restored Villa's advantage. Nicolo Tresoldi's 61st-minute penalty, awarded after Aaron Wan-Bissaka's handball, set up a nervy final 29 minutes for the visitors, with Tresoldi later striking the post. Villa held on for a result they will hope can provide a platform to build on after three successive league games without scoring, with Unai Emery still working to integrate 10 new signings. View from the away end The Europa League winners have lost six members of the starting XI from their triumph...

It has been another summer of transfer records in the Premier League Let's explore a rather eventful few months Author | Josh T Three of the 10 most expensive transfers in football history have taken place this summer, with all three involving Premier League clubs. The window also produced four of the top flight's five biggest deals on record. Fernandez was the headline signing, eclipsing the £116m Manchester City paid earlier in the window for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson.  Chelsea, meanwhile, spent £117m to bring Morgan Rogers to Stamford Bridge from Aston Villa. Liverpool paid an initial £106m, potentially rising to £123m, for Paris St-Germain and France forward Bradley Barcola. Yan Diomande's move to Real Madrid and Anthony Gordon's switch from Newcastle to Barcelona are the only deals completed so far this summer by clubs outside the Premier League to exceed £60m. Tottenham's signing of Sandro Tonali represented a club-record fee that could even...

Shocks, thrashings and more Let's have a look at the biggest talking points from the Premier League this weekend Author | Josh T Champions Arsenal start as they mean to go on First-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka put the champions in control before captain Martin Odegaard added a third shortly after the restart to complete a straightforward opening-day win. Full match report here Arsenal were without new signing Bruno Guimaraes because of injury, but another summer arrival, Christos Tzolis, provided an early glimpse of what he can offer. The Greek winger cut in from the left and curled a shot over after five minutes. Newly promoted Hull City shock Manchester United  Michael Carrick insisted the club's opening-day defeat at Hull City will not change the overall direction the club are heading in. The defeat was only Carrick’s third in 21 games as head coach, but it was a disappointing start to the new campaign. Central defenders Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy scored first...

Arsenal 3 - 0 Coventry City Arsenal began their Premier League title defence with a comfortable victory over newly promoted Coventry City Author | DJ Stadium | Emirates Stadium Pre-match atmosphere Mikel Arteta ended the club's 22-year wait for a league title last season and, after a commanding performance against Frank Lampard's Sky Blues, his side offered an early reminder of why they are favourites to retain the crown. First-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka put the champions in control before captain Martin Odegaard added a third shortly after the restart to complete a straightforward opening-day win. Arsenal were without new signing Bruno Guimaraes because of injury, but another summer arrival, Christos Tzolis, provided an early glimpse of what he can offer. The Greek winger cut in from the left and curled a shot over after five minutes. View from behind the goal Tzolis was involved again when Arsenal opened the scoring It was a familiar face who supplied the fi...