Marco Parolo scored four goals, including a hat-trick of headers, as Lazio thumped Serie A s bottom side Pescara 6-2 on Sunday.

The midfielder nodded home crosses from Felipe Anderson and Lucas Biglia to put Champions League hopefuls Lazio 2-0 up after just 14 minutes at Stadio Adriatico.

Pescara initially responded strongly, Ahmed Benali and Gaston Brugman pulling them level either side of Gianluca Caprari seeing a penalty saved.

Yet Lazio were back in front just three minutes after the interval, Parolo nodding home a rebound from close range to seal his hat-trick.

Keita Balde Diao and Ciro Immobile each scored from close range to make the points safe for Simone Inzaghi s men.

Parolo then scored his fourth, arriving late to sweep home a Sen…

Former Italy boss Gian Piero Ventura has taken over as the new head coach of Serie B side Salernitana.

The 71-year-old has signed a one-year contract with which contains the option for a second season.

Ventura endured a horror spell in charge of the Italy national side two years ago as the Azzurri failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958 under his watch.

He was sacked in November 2017 and returned to management with top-flight side Chievo 11 months later.

But, after lasting just four matches before stepping down without a win, much-travelled Ventura has dropped down a tier to take charge of Salernitana, replacing Leonardo Menichini in the Stadio Arechi dugout.

The Maroons narrowly dodged relegation last season, finishin…

Mikel Arteta insisted it has not become a psychological issue for Arsenal after they conceded in the first minutes of a home game for the third time this year against Fulham.

Bukayo Saka’s blind pass let in Andreas Pereira to score for the visitors after just 57 seconds in front of a stunned Emirates, after the team made similarly poor starts against Southampton and Bournemouth last season.

The hosts had looked to have done enough to seal a fine comeback victory when substitute Eddie Nketiah slotted past Bernd Leno from Fabio Vieira’s cross 18 minutes from the end.

The points are shared at Emirates Stadium.

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

That was two minutes after Saka made amends for his early error and equalised from the penalty spot, with defende…

Brighton manager Gus Poyet has conceded he did not expect to be so successful with the club as they prepare for the play-offs.

The Championship outift secured their place in the top-six with a 2-1 win at Leeds United on Saturday and can now look forward to the potential prospect of Premier League football next season.

Poyet joined Brighton in 2009 with the club mired in a relegation battle at the bottom of League One and the Uruguayan has revealed that he could not envisage challenging for a place in the top flight when he opted the take over from Russell Slade.
I wouldn t have believed this when I came to the club. I m very positive and try to move forward and try to get to the top but I didn t expect this, Poyet said.
You need to be more than a dreamer; you would need…

Thomas Tuchel insists the opportunity to cut the gap to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to two points with a win in Saturday s Klassiker will not lead to a change in approach from Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund are five points behind their arch-rivals following a routine 2-0 win at Darmstadt and Bayern s shock 2-1 home loss to Mainz on Wednesday.

Those results have given Dortmund the chance to pull within striking distance of Bayern at Signal Iduna Park this weekend.

Despite the favour Tuchel s old club Mainz did for Dortmund in midweek, the 42-year-old says his preparation for Bayern s visit will not alter.

He told Dortmund s website: The gap at the top has been reduced, but this result does not give Saturday s match a different meaning. We would have awa…

Wolves have completed the loan signing of Mexico international Raul Jimenez from Benfica.

The 27-year-old, who will feature for his country at the World Cup, has joined the newly promoted Premier League side on a temporary deal for the 2018-19 campaign.

Jimenez started only six of his 33 league appearances for Benfica last season, scoring six times, and will now seal his move subject to international clearance and a work permit.

The forward arrived in Europe with Atletico Madrid in 2014 but, as at Benfica, struggled for regular starts in his sole season in Spain.

We are delighted to confirm that has joined Wolves on a season-long loan from .

— Wolves (@Wolves)

Wolves signing of Jimenez has allowed the club to move another s…

Mustafa Dogru, Caglar Soyuncu s former agent who oversaw the defender s move from Freiburg to Leicester City last summer, has revealed that Barcelona were interested in the player s services in 2016, when he left Altinordu and moved to the Bundesliga side.

Leicester signed Soyuncu for a reported fee of just over €21 million to replace Harry Maguire, who went to Manchester United as the world s most expensive defender. It s fair to say that the Foxes haven t felt the absence of the current United captain at all due to Soyuncu exceeding all expectations since his arrival to the King Power Stadium.

Speaking to AS, Dogru said negotiations with Barcelona took place and a project was presented to them, but they chose to accept Freiburg s proposal, feeling that it was impera…

It took them three years, but Real Madrid are finally in the Champions League semifinals again for the first time since winning the competition in 2018. They beat Liverpool in the final that year by 3-1, the same scoreline that they earned in the first leg of this tie against the same opponent, which eventually proved enough to see them through.

Too little, too late from Liverpool

In all fairness, Liverpool looked like the better team in this game, but an appalling performance in the first half of the first leg in Madrid, along with chances squandered in the rematch, cost them all they had to give in the Champions League this term. On that day, things took an upturn after manager Jurgen Klopp brought on Thiago Alcantara in the place of Naby Keita just before halftime, and from…

Best odds: 19/20

Bookmaker:

Nantes appear to have taken a big step towards Ligue 1 survival after they triumphed in the first leg of the relegations play-offs, 1-2 away to Toulouse. All three goals came in the opening quarter of the match as Ludovic Blas broke the deadlock in the 10th minute, Devier Machado equalized for Toulouse in the 18th, and Randal Kolo Muani set the final score in the 22nd.

The two teams will face each other again on Sunday, this time at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes.

Nantes

Antoine Kombouare s team faced Montpellier at home in the final round of the league campaign, and a win in that match would have secured their survival then and there. However, they failed to earn a single point, losing 1-2, and finished in 18th place wi…

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo believes his healthy rivalry with Barcelona counterpart Lionel Messi during his time in LaLiga made him a better player.

Both men have won the coveted Ballon d Or five times and are considered to be two of the greatest players of all time.

Ronaldo spent nine years with Real Madrid prior to joining Juventus in 2018 and Messi recently acknowledged the pair spurred each other on in their quest for individual honours.

The former Manchester United star has echoed those views, telling France Football: A lot of people said that we fed each other, that being together in Spain made us better.

That s certainly true. I felt his presence more in Madrid than in Manchester. It was a healthy rivalry. We were the symbols of our clubs.<…