Blanc hot favourite for Roma

FA Cup holders Chelsea shrugged off the absence of captain John Terry to cruise into the quarter-finals with a 4-1 win over Championship side Cardiff in the fifth round on Saturday.

With Terry granted time off to fly to Dubai to be with his wife as he deals with allegations of an affair, Ashley Cole sidelined after ankle surgery and Petr Cech and Nicolas Anelka rested, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti sent out a slightly unfamiliar line-up at Stamford Bridge.

The Italian s team was still strong enough to kill off Cardiff. In the second minute, Didier Drogba ran onto Jon Obi Mikel s long pass and fired past Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall for his 23rd goal of the season.

Cardiff forward Michael Chopra stunned the hosts when he punished poor marking to head the equa…

Gareth Southgate s four-match spell as England interim manager came to a dramatic conclusion as Spain scored twice in the dying minutes to snatch a 2-2 draw at Wembley.

It looked as though Southgate s hopes of landing the job on a full-time basis would be given a major boost as the hosts led 2-0 with a minute of normal time remaining in Tuesday s friendly.

But Spain debutant Iago Aspas bent in a superb goal off the inside of the left-hand post and, in the sixth minute of stoppage time, Isco squeezed a shot through the legs of substitute goalkeeper Tom Heaton at his near post.

It was a disappointing end to what amounted to a four-game audition for Southgate, which also featured comfortable World Cup qualifying wins over Malta and Scotland either side of a frustrat…

Julian Nagelsmann enjoyed a glorious return to former club RB Leipzig on Saturday as Bayern Munich ran out comfortable 4-1 victors in the Bundesliga.

Nagelsmann became a source of anger among Leipzig fans after he departed for Bayern and then also took Marcel Sabitzer with him, and any such ill-feeling will not have eased after this victory.

Robert Lewandowski put Bayern in front early on with a well-taken penalty and then a quick-fire double courtesy of Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sane early in the second half put the game beyond the hosts.

Jesse Marsch s men quickly pulled one back in spectacular fashion through Konrad Laimer, but it was not enough to inspire a comeback as Leipzig s miserable record against Bayern continued, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting adding a stoppa…

Manchester City halved their losses for a second consecutive year, financial results released on Wednesday have revealed.

The 2011-12 Premier League champions posted a loss of almost £100million in their title winning season, but that figure fell to £51.6m for 2012-13.

Turnover at the Etihad Stadium was up to £271m, taking it over the £250m mark for the first time in the club s history.

City also confirmed that they are for the first time, operating with zero financial debt having paid off all remaining borrowings .

Those figures make City the sixth-richest club in world football, according to a study by financial service provider Deloitte.

Chief executive Ferran Soriano said: Financially, the club continues to improve.

Growing revenues and contro…

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino used an unusual cow analogy to discuss experience ahead of his team s Champions League clash with Inter.

Coming off back-to-back losses in the Premier League, Spurs head to San Siro on Tuesday to begin their European campaign.

Spurs have gained some Champions League experience in the past two seasons, a group-stage exit in 2016-17 followed by a last-16 loss last campaign.

But, using an unusual analogy, Pochettino said that experience would only count if his players made the most of it.

Look, experience is experience but you need to apply the experience, plus the hunger, plus your own motivation, he told a news conference.

If you re not clever, experience on its own is not going to help you in the future.

…

Market: Reading win

Odds: 19/20 @

Desperate to extend their buffer over the drop zone on Tuesday night, Reading will welcome Port Vale to the Madejski.

Starting with the hosts, eventually falling to a 4-1 drumming at the hands of promotion contenders Portsmouth over the weekend, Reading are certainly seeking an immediate response here. However, while the Royals might be dealing with a string of issues behind the scenes in Berkshire, Ruben Selles’ men have skyrocketed their way out of the drop zone and should be smelling a golden opportunity here. Losing just one of their previous seven appearances across all competitions over the past month, Reading should also be excited by their extended success on home soil. Last seen at the Madejski claim a deserved 2-0 vi…

Russian newspaper that Zenit are considering a January bid for Udinese midfielder Alexander Merkel.

Luciano Spalletti knows the player well from Italian Serie A and he believes the German would be a good addition to the squad at Stadion Petrovskij.

The Italian coach is hoping to add some fresh blood to his ageing midfield and is convinced Merkel can make the grade in Russian Premier League.

Alexander Merkel had been showing a great deal of promise while at San Siro, having made 6 Serie A starts during the 2010/2011 season with AC Milan.

However, he has since struggled for playing time at Genoa and Udinese, and hasn t even made a single league appearance for the Zebrette this term.

With the 21-year-old clearly not in Francesco Guidolin s first te…

Three Ligue 1 sides are keeping close tabs on Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana, .

The 21-year-old has largely impressed since joining the Amsterdammers from Barcelona in January 2015, enjoying a great debut season in Dutch Eredivisie.

Onana managed to keep impressive 14 clean sheets in 29 top flight appearances for Ajax and his excellent showings did not go unnoticed.

Free-spending Marseille are believed to be one of the favourites for his signature as OM sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta knows the youngster well from his time at Camp Nou.

Barcelona’s decision to allow Onaja to join Ajax was one of the reasons why Zubizarreta left the Catalans in the first place and he now hopes to get reunited with the Cameroonian footballer.

It is no secret tha…

Nicolo Barella scored a wonderful winner with seven minutes left as Inter came from behind to defeat Hellas Verona 2-1 and move top of Serie A.

Valerio Verre scored a 19th-minute penalty, his first Verona goal, to give the visitors a surprise lead at San Siro.

Inter piled on the pressure but could not find a breakthrough until Matias Vecino headed in to score for the second straight game with 25 minutes remaining.

And just as it looked like Verona would come away with a point, Barella produced a moment of magic.

The victory moved Inter two points clear of champions Juventus, who will attempt to respond when they host AC Milan in their game in hand on Sunday.

FULL-TIME

Great tenacity to come back and get the win!

That Nicolò Barell…

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp insisted he saw nothing wrong with Darwin Nunez’s controversial stoppage-time winner at Nottingham Forest.

Nunez marked his return from injury by heading home in the ninth minute of time added on to seal a 1-0 win, which lifted his side four points clear at the top of the Premier League.

But the Uruguay international’s last-gasp effort left Forest’s players, staff and fans furious at the final whistle after referee Paul Tierney had stopped play before the build-up to Liverpool’s winner for an apparent head injury to Ibrahima Konate.

Tierney blew with Forest in possession on the edge of Liverpool’s area and after Konate had quickly recovered, the official dropped the ball to visiting goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, who then star…