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Borussia Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is delighted that his hero Paolo Maldini has acknowledged his progress since leaving AC Milan.

Gabon international Aubameyang was on Milan s books between 2007 and 2011, but he failed to make a first-team appearance before moving to Saint-Etienne.

An impressive stint in France was rewarded with a move to Dortmund, where Aubameyang has established himself as one of Europe s top forwards and scored 31 Bundesliga goals last season.

Maldini who was a player at Milan until 2009 recently conceded that the Serie A giants had failed to recognise the forward s potential and could not now afford him something that Aubameyang is pleased with.

Happy to read that Maldini had some nice words about me, Aubameyang twee…

Mikel Arteta has escaped punishment following a Football Association charge after the Arsenal manager’s recent post-match rant at refereeing standards.

The Spaniard labelled the decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s goal to stand in a 1-0 Premier League defeat at Newcastle on November 4 as “embarrassing” and a “disgrace”.

Arteta was later charged by the FA for breaking Rule E3.1 – which could have resulted in a ban but has instead been cleared of any wrongdoing.

“An independent Regulatory Commission has found the charge against Mikel Arteta for an alleged breach of FA Rule E3.1 to be not proven,” an FA statement read.

“The manager was charged following various comments in media interviews after Arsenal’s Premier League game against Newc…

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Hoping to extend their stay at the top of the Premier League table this weekend, Arsenal will make the trip to Leicester on Saturday afternoon.

Leicester

Starting with the hosts, while Leicester might have opened February in the midst of a stellar purple patch, the Foxes certainly came crashing back down to earth last weekend. Putting in a downbeat display away at Old Trafford as they slumped to a 3-0 drumming at the hands of Manchester United, Brendan Rodgers is calling on his side to find some much-needed stability. However, while the one-time Liverpool boss might have seen his side stun many as they claimed a 4-1 romp against Tottenham on February 11th, Leicester are still firmly looking over their shoulder at the drop zone. With m…

Substitute Josh Magennis was the hero as Northern Ireland snatched a dramatic 2-1 comeback win at Estonia in Saturday s Euro 2020 qualifier.

Estonia skipper Konstantin Vassiljev s first-half free-kick appeared to have done enough for the hosts to claim all three points, but a Conor Washington strike deflected off Magennis to level the scores in the 77th minute and the latter sealed the victory three minutes later.

The late turnaround in Tallinn keeps Northern Ireland s 100 per cent start to qualifying alive and ends their winless away run, which spanned seven matches heading into this contest.

Michael O Neill s side are now six points clear at the top of Group C, but all of the four sides below them still have games in hand.

Full-time and ANOTHER three po…

Manchester United have tied Jose Mourinho down to a new contract, which could keep the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager at Old Trafford until 2021.

Mourinho succeeded Louis van Gaal as United boss before the start of the 2016-17 season and, although the Red Devils were only able to muster a sixth-place finish in the Premier League, he led the club to glory in the EFL Cup and Europa League.

United find themselves 12 points off the pace behind Manchester City in the top flight this time around, but the blockbusting arrival of Alexis Sanchez has prompted renewed optimism over the prospects of future success at Old Trafford.

These are efforts that Mourinho will helm until the end of the 2019-20 season, with an option included to extend his contract by a further…

The dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Ballon d Or has finally ended, with Luka Modric taking home France Football s 2018 prize.

Starting in 2008, great rivals Messi and Ronaldo had combined to account for the honour in 10 consecutive years.

Yet Modric s role in guiding Croatia to the World Cup final and Real Madrid to Champions League glory saw him rewarded, breaking up the monopoly that began after Kaka s sole win.

Much has changed since AC Milan s Brazilian midfield star was victorious

KAKA S YEAR

Champions League triumphs have tended to heavily influence voters for this award and Kaka s role in the 2006-07 final made him the obvious candidate later that year. The midfielder played a role in both goals as Milan d…

Troy Deeney saw a penalty saved as Tottenham saw their Premier League winless run extend to four matches with an uninspiring 0-0 draw at Vicarage Road.

Jose Mourinho s men have suffered a significant drop in form in recent weeks, and now have just one win from their last six league games following a dour stalemate with Nigel Pearson s relegation-threatened side.

With Christian Eriksen not introduced until the 73rd minute as links with Inter persist and loan signing Gedson Fernandes left on the bench until the 80th minute, a Tottenham team missing the injured Harry Kane lacked the creativity to break Watford down.

They did, however, almost grab an underserved win in stoppage time with goalline technology ruling Ignacio Pussetto had managed by the smallest margi…

Jose Mourinho does not expect his next coaching position to be in Italy despite the phenomenal success he masterminded while at Inter.

The 56-year-old won five major honours during his two seasons at San Siro, including a historic treble in 2010 that culminated in a 2-0 win against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

Mourinho hinted after that victory at the Santiago Bernabeu it would be his last match in charge and he officially departed less than a week later to take over at Real Madrid.

He lasted three years at Madrid and has since endured similarly mixed fortunes at Chelsea and Manchester United, being sacked by the latter last December.

48 Ole Gunnar Solskjær has won 48 points from his 27 league games as Manchester United manager so far (…

Antonio Cassano likened Cristiano Ronaldo to Rafael Nadal and Lionel Messi to Roger Federer as the former Real Madrid forward praised the two football superstars.

Ronaldo and Messi have dominated the sport over the past decade, splitting the last 10 Ballons d Or as former players, pundits and fans debate the pair s standing among the best ever.

And after Ronaldo swapped European champions Real Madrid for Italian giants Juventus in a sensational €112million transfer completed this week, Cassano used tennis greats Nadal and Federer to compare the 33-year-old Portugal captain and Barcelona icon Messi.

I love Messi not as a counter-point to Cristiano, but because in my view he s the best of all time and the emotions he gives me are unique, former Italy internation…

Algeria s Africa Cup of Nations title defence hangs in the balance following a 1-0 defeat by Equatorial Guinea.

Esteban Obiang struck 20 minutes from time at Stade omnisport de Douala to lift the National Thunder to second place in Group E.

The result also condemned Algeria to a first defeat in this competition since a 2-1 reverse against Tunisia in 2017, while they must now beat Ivory Coast in their final group game to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stages.

Despite only enjoying 33 per cent of the possession, Equatorial Guinea had the better first-half chances. Oscar Siafa drew a smart save out of Rais M Bolhi, while Iban Salvador s rasping long-range drive was just wide of the target.

Algeria had the ball in the net at the other end, but…