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PARIS — Lens moved to the top of the French league on Sunday with a 2-1 win at Angers, a day after Paris Saint-Germain faltered. Recalled France winger Florian Thauvin scored a goal in each half for Lens, which has a one-point lead over PSG. The defending champion lost 1-0 at Monaco on Saturday for its second league defeat of the season, as many as all last season for PSG. It was the fourth league win in a row for Lens, and seventh in its last eight matches. Its only setback during that run was a 2-0 loss at Metz in October. Thauvin scored in the 45th with a powerful shot into the top corner and in the 74th, while the hosts’ goal came from Harouna Djibirin in the 76th. Marseille missed the chance to overtake PSG at the top after conceding a stoppage-time goal in a 2-2 home draw with Toulouse on Saturday. Other matches Lille moved up to fourth place with a 1-0 win at Le Havre, with substitute Hamza Igamane scoring a late winner after coming on for veteran strike...

ROME — Lautaro Martinez scored two second-half goals and Inter Milan won 2-0 at promoted Pisa in Serie A on Sunday to bounce back from consecutive losses. Inter lost the city derby to AC Milan last weekend and then was beaten at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday. It looked even bleaker Sunday for the Nerazzurri until Lautaro struck in the 69th and 83rd minutes. The victory moved Inter level with Roma, one point behind Italian league leader Milan. Later Sunday, Roma was hosting defending champion Napoli and Atalanta was hosting struggling Fiorentina. Also, Lecce beat Torino 2-1.

The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from finishing off a dream season. Brian White had a pair of goals in the first half as the Whitecaps earned a 3-1 victory over San Diego FC. The Whitecaps are off to the MLS Cup final as they look for their first league championship since joining in 2011. Standing in their way are Lionel Messi and Inter Miami who took care of New York City FC 5-1 to capture their first Eastern Conference title. More to come.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Lionel Messi will play for another trophy. Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets clearly aren’t ready to begin their retirements, either. Tadeo Allande scored three goals — Alba and Busquets, a pair of longtime Messi teammates who will retire when this season ends, had the assists on his first two — and Inter Miami topped New York City FC 5-1 on Saturday night for the Eastern Conference title and a berth in the MLS Cup final. Mateo Silvetti scored in the 67th minute for Inter Miami, with Messi setting up that goal — the 405th assist of his career for club and country, which is generally believed to be the most in soccer history. Telasco Segovia scored off a heel pass from Alba in the 83rd minute to turn it into a runaway, and Allande finishing off the hat trick in the 89th minute was the final play. Inter Miami — the No. 3 seed in the East — will play host to either San Diego or Vancouver for the league title on Dec. 6 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. San Diego a...

PARIS — Ligue 1 leader Paris Saint-Germain lost at Monaco 1-0 on Saturday for its second defeat of the season, as many as all last season for the defending champion. Japan forward Takumi Minamino scored midway through the second half. PSG’s defeat means Marseille can move one point ahead at the top if it beats Toulouse at home later Saturday. Marseille also has a better goal difference than Champions League winner PSG. Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara was fortunate to escape with a yellow card early on for a dangerous lunge on goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, violently catching Chevalier’s right ankle after he kicked the ball. Chevalier recovered and made a good one-handed save from Minamino’s volley later in the first half. Portugal midfielder Vitinha, who scored a brilliant hat trick in the Champions League in midweek, was kept quiet by Monaco’s hard-working midfield. PSG was exposed to counterattacks and Minamino made no mistake in the 69th, expertly controlling Aleksandr G...

COMO, Italy — Como beat Sassuolo 2-0 and extended its Serie A unbeaten run to 11 matches on Friday. Cesc Fàbregas’ team hasn’t lost since the end of August when it was beaten by Bologna 1-0. The run includes wins at Fiorentina and at home to Juventus and Friday’s victory was its second Serie A triumph in five days following Monday’s 5-1 drubbing of Torino. Como, which also had a cup victory in September, took the lead after 13 minutes with a training ground move. Its practised corner did not come off as seamlessly as planned, but it did lead to a loose ball in the box that Anastasios Douvikas poked home from close range. Spanish defender Alberto Moreno, starting only his second game in the league, made it 2-0 eight minutes into the second half when he got a head on Nico Paz’s delightful chip over the Sassuolo defence. The Argentine midfielder on-loan from Real Madrid was once again a standout performer for Como and one of the reasons the club is just three points off Serie A lead...

Expansion FC Supra du Quebec took University of Montreal midfielder Calin Calaidjoglu with the first overall pick in Friday’s Canadian Premier League-U Sports draft. Calaidjoglu, 24, scored six goals and added three assists in U Sports play this season. Named a second-team all-Canadian, he scored in a 2-0 win over Laval in the RSEQ final. Born in Moldova, he grew up in LaSalle, Que., playing for the CF Montreal youth team with a loan stint in Italy with Bologna. He has also played for FC Laval in Ligue1 Quebec. “Calin fits the type of soccer that our coaches want to install on the field … He’s a good footballer,” said FC Supra president and co-founder Rocco Placentino. Supra also had the second overall pick, taking UQTR forward Alexandre Marcoux in keeping with its plan to only field players from Quebec. The two become the first players on Supra’s roster, with more signings expected in December. Marcoux was named the RSEQ Most Outstanding Player, scoring seven goals and...

D.B. Pridham’s first call-up to the Canadian senior side has turned into a training-only cameo in Japan. Assistant coach Natalie Henderson said the Ottawa Rapid star striker, who holds both U.S. and Canadian citizenship, will be a spectator for friendlies against the eighth-ranked Japanese because she does not have a Canadian passport and so is not eligible to play. “She was aware of this before she came into camp. We were aware of it. We tried our very best to get it over the line as quickly as possible, but unfortunately we haven’t been able to do that,” said Henderson, who is in charge of the team while head coach Casey Stoney is in England with her ailing mother. “So she won’t be eligible for selection. However she has been in (camp) as a training player and has done very well so far.” Pridham, 28, was born in Saratoga, Calif., to Canadian parents (father from Toronto and mother from Fort Erie, Ont.). The family moved to the U.S. for her father’s work in tech sales. She does h...

Expansion FC Supra du Quebec officially starts stocking its roster Friday with the first two picks of the Canadian Premier League’s U Sports draft. Given the franchise leadership’s past ties to Ligue 1 Quebec’s CS Saint-Laurent, Supra no doubt already has other yet-to-be-announced talent ready to roll. And Rocco Placentino, Supra’s president and co-founder, already has a firm vision for his side. “Supra is going to be a local-based product,” Placentino said in an interview. His planned all-Quebec side draws on the example of Spain’s Atletico Bilbao, which exclusively fields players from the Basque region.  Mexico’s Chivas de Guadalajara also has a tradition of signing only Mexican talent, although that includes foreign-born players whose mother or father are Mexican-born and those whose parents are naturalized Mexican citizens. Placentino says Supra, which held a series of tryouts earlier this month, will start announcing other player signings in December. Placentino previous...

DOHA, Qatar — Portugal won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup title Thursday, beating Austria 1-0 in the final of a 48-nation tournament where European teams took the first three places. Benfica forward Anísio Cabral narrowly stayed onside to receive a pass across the goalmouth and score into an empty net in the 32nd minute. It was Cabral’s seventh goal of the tournament, one fewer than Austria’s Golden Ball winner Johannes Moser. It was Portugal’s first U17 title and came in the 20th edition of an event FIFA has expanded and now organizes annually instead of every two years. Qatar staged this edition and will also host in each of the next four years. Earlier in Doha, goalkeeper Alessandro Longoni saved two penalties as Italy beat Brazil 4-2 in a shootout after a 0-0 draw in the third-place game. More from Sportsnet Canada men get look at what could await them at draw for World Cup Nelson, Whitecaps thriving in MLS Playoffs with resilient mindset

PIRAEUS, Greece — Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé scored the second-fastest hat trick in Champions League history by netting three times in just under seven minutes at Olympiacos on Wednesday. Mbappé scored in the 22nd, 24th and 29th minutes — after Chiquinho had put Olympiacos ahead in the eighth. The France international also scored a fourth goal in the 60th after Mehdi Taremi had scored for the hosts in the 52nd. Mohamed Salah’s hat trick for Liverpool at Rangers in 2022 had broken the record for the quickest ever scored in the Champions League, according to UEFA. The Egypt forward needed six minutes, 12 seconds to score his goals after entering the match seven minutes before his opening strike. It was Mbappé’s fifth hat trick in the Champions League — and second this season. He had scored three times against Kairat in the second round of the league phase. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have eight hat tricks each in the Champions League, while Robert Lewandowski...

MANCHESTER, England — Pep Guardiola made 10 changes to his team and Manchester City paid the price. A 2-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday made it back-to-back losses for City and raised questions over Guardiola’s decision to leave out so many of his star players — including top scorer Erling Haaland. “I take absolutely full responsibility,” the City manager said. “It was too much. (It was) the first time in my life I’ve done it and it was too much.” Guardiola acknowledged his mistake at halftime at the Etihad Stadium — making three substitutions after Leverkusen took a 1-0 lead into the break. And by the time he eventually sent for Haaland, the German team had doubled its advantage. But even the introduction of the Norway striker couldn’t turn the game in City’s direction, making it five losses in all competitions this season and adding pressure to its next game in the Champions League against Real Madrid next month. Guardiola’s sweeping...

Defensive lapses cost Manchester City and Barcelona dearly as both teams slumped to notable losses in the Champions League on Tuesday. In Pep Guardiola’s 100th Champions League game as City coach, his team struggled to cope with Bayer Leverkusen’s quick transitions in a 2-0 defeat, while Barcelona had an own goal and a red card in its 3-0 loss at Chelsea. Guardiola made 10 changes to his starting lineup following Saturday’s loss to Newcastle in the Premier League, with Erling Haaland among those on the bench, but it didn’t have the desired effect. Alejandro Grimaldo fired home Leverkusen’s first goal with a low shot into the far corner in the 23rd and Patrik Schick headed in a second in the 54th. Chelsea comfortably beat 10-man Barcelona 3-0 to earn its third league-phase win and move closer to the top. It was the second loss for Barcelona, which went down a man after defender Ronald Araújo was shown a second yellow card just before halftime. The hosts scored with an own-goal by ...

NAPLES, Italy — Napoli and its fans paid tribute to Diego Maradona on the fifth anniversary of his death. A video of Maradona was shown on the big screens in the stadium before Napoli’s match against Qarabağ in the Champions League on Tuesday, with the stadium announcer saying: “Napoli wants to remember you with a special video. Five years ago the greatest of all time left us.” The whole of the stadium chanted “Diego, Diego.” In the 10th minute — Maradonas shirt number — fans started chanting “there’s only one Maradona” and singing songs about him, at the same time as they waved flags, scarves and team shirts in his honour. Maradona died of a heart attack at age 60 on Nov. 25, 2020, two weeks after being released from a hospital in Buenos Aires following surgery for a blood clot on the brain. He led Napoli to its first two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990 and the club’s stadium was renamed Stadio Diego Armando Maradona after his death. Maradona, who famously led Argentina to v...

The Vancouver Whitecaps will go on the road this weekend for the MLS Cup Western Conference final.  Top-seed San Diego FC defeated Minnesota United 1-0 on Monday in the final conference semifinal game of the playoffs and will have home-field advantage for Saturday’s final-four match. San Diego and Vancouver finished the regular season tied atop the West with 63 points, but the Californian side had one more win than the Whitecaps. Vancouver advanced to the West final with a win over visiting Los Angeles FC on Saturday. Los Angeles tied the match at 2-2 in the 95th minute after Vancouver defender Tristan Blackmon was sent off with his second yellow card of the night, but the Whitecaps won 4-3 on penalty kicks. The Whitecaps are appearing in their first conference final since joining Major League Soccer in 2011. San Diego is seeking to advance to the MLS Cup final in its expansion season. Toronto FC is the only Canadian team to make it to the MLS Cup final, winning in 2017 and f...

MANCHESTER, England — Everton beat Manchester United 1-0 on Monday to slow the home team’s recent revival in a Premier League game that will be remembered for an early  red card shown to Everton’s Idrissa Gueye  for striking teammate Michael Keane. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored with a superb strike in the 29th minute, after which Everton was forced to defend its lead. United dominated the visiting 10 men in a one-sided second half but couldn’t find a way past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. “They were the better team, with 11 players or 10,” United coach Ruben Amorim said. “I felt from the first minute that we were not there with the same intensity so they deserve the win. If they have 10, let’s push the opponent to the final third. We need to be near on the transition. We needed to be focused. We need to do more.” It was United’s first defeat since losing 3-1 at Brentford almost two months ago and the first time in 47 Premier League games that a visiting team has won at...

MANCHESTER, England — Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye was sent off for slapping teammate Michael Keane during the first half against Manchester United on Monday. Gueye and Keane were arguing after the midfielder turned the ball over leading to a shot on goal by United’s Bruno Fernandes in the 13th minute with the score 0-0 at Old Trafford. The teammates were face to face when Keane, a defender, shoved Gueye, who responded with a left-handed slap to Keane’s face. Referee Tony Harrington then showed Gueye a red card. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and winger Iliman Ndiaye intervened to walk Gueye away. The Premier League match centre posted on X: “The referee’s call of red card to Gueye for violent conduct was checked and confirmed by VAR — with the action deemed to be a clear strike to the face of Keane.” More from Sportsnet Fan groups call on Premier League clubs to freeze ticket prices Premier League Roundup: Arsenal rocks Tottenham in North London Derby

CINCINNATI — Lionel Messi had a goal and three assists and Tadeo Allende scored twice as Inter Miami beat FC Cincinnati 4-0 Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Miami will take on the winner of Sunday’s other conference semifinal between the Philadelphia Union and New York City FC. Messi set an MLS playoff record with 12 goal contributions (six goals, six assists). Cincinnati had the second-best overall record in MLS behind Philadelphia after winning the Supporters Shield last season. Cincinnati lost to the Columbus Crew in last year’s conference finals. Messi had been scoreless in three matches against Cincinnati, but that streak ended in the 19th minute Sunday when he headed a short cross from Mateo Silvetti, giving Miami a 1-0 lead. Messi, a World Cup champion with Argentina and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, had his 11th goal in the last seven games. Nine minutes after scoring, Messi found himself alone with the keeper, but his shot toward the far pos...

Canada lost its opening game at the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup, beaten 2-0 by Colombia on Saturday. Nicole Mancilla and Angely Camargo scored for eighth-ranked Colombia. Canada, due to its lack of international games, is ranked 74th. Goalkeepers starred on the day with Canadian captain Lea Palacio-Tellier making two stellar stops while Colombians Paula Valencia and Allison Olave also excelled. Camargo broke the deadlock after Colombia’s Isabella Mosquera split the defence with a perfect through ball that found Karen Torres in front of goal. Her nifty layoff went to an unmarked Camargo to knock the ball home.  A turnover by Canada’s Shayle He led to the second goal, with Mancilla making no mistake on a breakaway — deking Palacio-Tellier before slotting the ball home. Canada outshot Colombia 47-43 (17-15 in shots on target). The 16-team tournament runs through Dec. 7 at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, Metropolitan Manila. Canada continues Group B play against N...

Chelsea reduced the gap to Premier League leader Arsenal to three points with a 2-0 win over Burnley on Saturday. Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez scored at Turf Moor as Chelsea provisionally moved up to second. Arsenal plays Tottenham on Sunday, while Manchester City can retake second place later Saturday when it plays at Newcastle. Neto headed Chelsea in front in the 37th minute for his second goal in as many games and his fourth this season. Fernandez sealed the win in the 88th with a low shot from inside the box. Burnley remained one place above the relegation zone in 17th, but could be dragged into the bottom three depending on later results. West Ham, in 18th, was playing Bournemouth, and 19th-placed Nottingham Forest was at defending champion Liverpool. More from Sportsnet Premier League to introduce spending cap beginning next season Stadium project for Birmingham is like ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ supersized

Valour FC, one of the Canadian Premier League’s original franchises, is closing shop. The Winnipeg-based team — owned by the Winnipeg Football Club, the non-profit, community-owned organization that runs the CFL’s Blue Bombers — has been on shaky ground for some time. In April 2024, the Bombers reported that Valour had lost $1.25 million the previous year, noting the club’s finances continued to be uncertain.  In 2022, the Bombers reported a $950,000 loss from operating the soccer team. The football team was not on the WFC’s books this year.  The Canadian Premier League agreed to cover the club’s operating costs in 2024 with a loan, with a similar agreement in place this season. “Valour FC’s ownership informed the Canadian Premier League of its intention to suspend operations following the 2025 season,” the CPL said in a statement. “The league has explored multiple avenues to maintain the club’s viability, engaging in discussions with potential investors and evaluating a...

MANCHESTER, England — Premier League teams agreed Friday to introduce spending caps in England’s top flight from next season. Clubs’ on-field spending will be restricted to 85 per cent of their soccer revenue and net profit or loss on player sales. There will also be an allowance of an extra 30 per cent — but if clubs exceed that limit they face a points deduction. English soccer’s top clubs voted to implement the new “Squad Cost Ratio” (SCR) and “Sustainability and Systemic Resilience” (SSR) financial rules. They replace the “Profitability and Sustainability Rules” (PSR), which resulted in points deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest in recent years. The League said the new regulations were more closely aligned to those used by European soccer’s governing body UEFA. It said the new rules “promote the opportunity for all of its clubs to aspire to greater success, while protecting the competitive balance and compelling nature of the League.“ Squad costs cover the sa...

French soccer club Montpellier has denied racism allegations made by Australia forward Mary Fowler, who said a teammate gave her bananas as a departing gift in 2022. Montpellier said in a statement Thursday it discovered “with astonishment a number of accusations” made by Fowler in her memoir, “Bloom,” and said there’s no evidence to support her claims. “Some of them are particularly serious, and the shortcut that results from them — portraying the club as a racist entity — is unacceptable,” Montpellier’s statement said. Fowler was 17 when she joined Montpellier in 2020 and played there for two-and-a half seasons before leaving for Manchester City. In her book, Fowler wrote that she and teammate Ashleigh Weerden were left out of a presentation for departing players, who were given flowers after the final home game of the season. “Afterwards, when we got inside the changing room, some of our teammates questioned why we hadn’t received any flowers,” Fowler wrote, according to excerp...

BIRMINGHAM, England — Birmingham City unveiled plans Thursday to build a 62,000-seat stadium that would put the second-division club and city on a “trajectory towards greatness” in a project costing at least $3.2 billion (C$4.5 billion). The English soccer team, which counts NFL great Tom Brady as a minority shareholder and U.S. financier Tom Wagner as chairman, said the venue would be the “beating heart” of Birmingham. The proposed Birmingham City Powerhouse Stadium would feature 12 giant chimneys and be built in Bordesley Park, East Birmingham, in time for the 2030-31 season. “Together we are putting the city and the club on trajectory towards greatness,” Wagner said at the unveiling at Digbeth Loc Studios in Birmingham. It would be a “beacon of excellence for Birmingham on the global stage,” he added. The stadium’s price tag would be $1.5 billion (C$2.1 billion), Wagner said. Other costs are related to infrastructure upgrades. A promotional video to unveil the plans ...

ZURICH — Italy was stopped by Sweden from getting to the 2018 World Cup. It was North Macedonia in 2022. Now it is Northern Ireland’s turn. Four-time World Cup winner Italy is back in the qualifying playoffs for a third straight time and the draw by FIFA on Thursday plots a tricky path toward ending a remarkable 12-year wait to play on soccer’s biggest stage. Italy first hosts Northern Ireland in a single elimination game on March 26 with the winner having to travel to face Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina. At stake is a place at the first 48-team World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Northern Irish shape as a similar test to North Macedonia, which resisted waves of attacks in Palermo in March 2022 before stunning Italy with a single goal in stoppage time. “There will be immense pressure on Italy, they have obviously missed the last two World Cups,” Northern Ireland coach Michael O’Neill told The Associated Press. “We have everything t...