Erik ten Hag was justified in criticising his Manchester United players on the back of last week s heavy Premier League loss to Manchester City, full-back Diogo Dalot has said.

United s four-match winning league run was ended in emphatic style by rivals City, who led 4-0 at half-time and 6-1 in the second half en route to an eventual 6-3 victory.

It marked the fourth time United had conceded six goals in a Premier League match and leaves them sixth in the table after seven matches of the 2022-23 campaign.

Ten Hag admitted after the match his side produced an unacceptable display, one in which they were undisciplined , lacked belief and made wrong decisions .

And Dalot, who played the full 90 minutes at the Etihad Stadium, accepts he and his team-mates can…

Robbie Blake capped a superb fightback by 10-man Bolton as his late free-kick rescued a 2-2 draw against Birmingham on Sunday.

Owen Coyle s side looked in deep trouble as Roger Johnson and Craig Gardner scored for Birmingham either side of Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen s red card for violent conduct.

But Johnson then gave away a penalty which Kevin Davies converted to reduce the deficit with 20 minutes to go, setting the stage for substitute Blake to curl home his first goal for the club.

The dramatic finish at the Reebok Stadium maintained Bolton s unbeaten start to the season and left Birmingham rueing their failure to push home their numerical advantage.

It was the Bolton defence that looked their weak link early on as Birmingham took the lead …

The opening shots of the 2010/2011 Champions League campaign are fired this week with tricky assignments lying in wait for Inter Milan and the main pretenders to the Italian holders coveted crown.

Group stage action gets under way on Tuesday with Inter away to Dutch champions FC Twente in what promises to be a rigorous examination of their capability to become the first back-to-back winners since AC Milan in 1989-90.

Inter, with Rafael Benitez succeeding Jose Mourinho in the San Siro hotseat, received an early season bodyblow last month when coming unstuck 2-0 to Atletico Madrid in the European SuperCup in Monaco.

After that former Liverpool boss Benitez will be looking for a firm statement of intent from his new team in a Group A that also comprises competition…

Russian forward Andrei Arshavin is set to join Kairat Almaty, French daily newspaper .

The 34-year-old has reportedly agreed a one-year deal with the Kazakh side that ended the previous campaign as runners up, finishing one point behind champions Astana.

Kairat clearly have big ambitions for the upcoming season as witnessed by their latest capture.

Andrei Arshavin has largely struggled for form ever since he left Arsenal back in July 2013, and he could only make eight league appearances for Kuban Krasnodar after joining from Zenit.

The veteran forward enjoyed the most successful periods of his career playing for Zenit and Arsenal, but the general impression is that he never quite managed to realise his full potential.

Arshavin was a fans’ favou…

Germany s midfield partnership of Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich is  one of the best duos in the world , according to Hansi Flick.

The Bayern Munich pair have started together in each of their country s last three matches and are likely to anchor the midfield in the World Cup Qualifying Group J clash against North Macedonia on Monday.

Goretzka and Kimmich have also partnered each other in all seven of Bayern s Bundesliga outings this season, helping Julian Nagelsmann s side to the top of the table in the process.

Ahead of Germany s trip to North Macedonia, where victory could see Die Mannschaft secure their place in Qatar with two matches to spare, Flick lauded Kimmich and Goretzka, who also formed a key part of his dominant Bayern team.

Everyone kno…

It appears that, if Lionel Messi has his way, he will be playing for a new club before long.

The Barcelona captain and talisman has told his employers that he wants to leave and, although the club seem determined to keep him, they may be fighting a losing battle.

Of course, prising Messi away from Barca is by no means straightforward. His basic salary is said to be roughly €71million and, when you add in bonuses and other possible commitments, that represents a huge outlay on a 33-year-old player.

That s before you consider the prospect of a nine-figure transfer fee, assuming he cannot successfully argue that the clause allowing him to walk away from Barca for nothing is still valid. Only a tiny handful of clubs are even capable of pulling off such a deal, part…

Cristiano Ronaldo s decision to leave Real Madrid for Juventus should be appreciated , Andre Villas-Boas said as the Marseille coach backed the star to win the Ballon d Or.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi is tipped to win the award for a record sixth time in Paris on Monday.

Ronaldo is also a five-time winner of the prize, but has not been as prolific since joining Juve from Madrid in 2018.

However, Villas-Boas backed his fellow Portuguese, although he labelled both Ronaldo and Messi as extraterrestrials.

It s difficult I am Portuguese so of course I support Ronaldo more, he said.

Cristiano took a risk by leaving the best team in the world, with more titles in the world. That kind of risk should be appreciated. Playing in Italy and scoring goals is …

Chelsea head coach Graham Potter says that injured Reece James will give everything in his race to make England s World Cup squad.

The defender has been sidelined for eight weeks after sustaining a knee injury during the Blues Champions League victory over Milan on Tuesday.

But the 23-year-old is clinging onto his hopes of playing at the World Cup, which begins on November 21 with England opening their campaign against Iran.

While Potter is unsure on James chances of appearing in Qatar, the Chelsea boss insists the full-back will not give up without a fight.

The race against time is on… But we won’t give up.

— Reece James (@ReeceJames)

In terms of his involvement in the World Cup, I don’t know. It will depend on how he recovers, …

Manchester City will begin their bid for a record fourth consecutive Premier League title away to Vincent Kompany’s Burnley.

The Treble winners will visit Turf Moor to face their former captain’s newly-promoted side on the evening of Friday, August 11 to raise the curtain on the 2023-24 campaign.

It will be the second time Kompany – who won the title on four occasions as City skipper – will have faced his old side as a manager, with City running out 6-0 winners at the Etihad in March’s FA Cup quarter-final.

Premier League debutants Luton will play their first top-flight fixture since 1992 away to Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton on Saturday, August 12, having to wait until the following weekend for their first home game when Kenilworth Road will become the…