Football

Newcastle signed Townsend, who has played just 67 minutes of EPL football at Spurs this season, this week on a five-and-a-half year deal for a reported 12 million pounds ($17.18 million).

North Korean Kim Song Yong struck a brace in Bengaluru FC's convincing 3-0 win over Shillong Lajong to emerge as table toppers in the I-League on Sunday.

Milan took the lead through Carlos Bacca and Giacomo Bonaventura but Piotr Zielinski and Massimo Maccarone each time canceled out the visitors' goals.

"The 28-year-old Cerci will stay in Genoa until the end of the current season," Genoa declared on Friday.

Elena Pavel accused referee Santiago Quijada Alcon of trying to provoke her by asking her on a date in Sporting Huelva's first-division game against Santa Teresa on Sunday.

Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink says the intensity of the Premier League has increased since his first stint with the club in 2009 with all clubs now attracting big-name players across Europe.

Watford have signed goalkeeper Pantilimon from struggling rivals Sunderland, who have conceded more goals than any other Premier League team this season, in a three-and-a-half year deal.

Manchester City manager Pellegrini thought the referee was the only person in the Etihad Stadium who did not believe Sterling deserved a penalty in Wednesday's Premier League stalemate against Everton.

Manchester City stayed third in the Premier League after a goalless draw with Everton on Wednesday.

Munir El Haddadi scored both goals as Barcelona beat Espanyol 2-0 on Wednesday to ease into the Copa del Rey's quarter-finals with a 6-1 victory on aggregate.

Messi ended Cristiano Ronaldo's two-year hold on the Ballon d'Or trophy, football's top individual honor. The Barcelona forward regained the prize after his club won five major titles last year, leaving Ronaldo's Real Madrid with nothing.

The former France great was promoted from managing Madrid's reserve team, which plays in the third division, to taking over for Rafa Benitez after the Spaniard was fired following Madrid's 2-2 draw at Valencia last weekend.

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has been given a two-match cup ban for using provocative language after their King's Cup last-16 first-leg clash against Espanyol, the Spanish federation said on Friday.

New Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane's attacking football may be welcomed by the players but he will need to deliver results he was unable to achieve when in charge of the club's reserve team.

Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Oscar has taken to Twitter to deny reports of a training ground row with team mate and Spain international Diego Costa.

I-League club Shillong Lajong FC have re-signed Nigerian midfielder Penn Orji for the upcoming season of the league which starts from Saturday.