New Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce praised the club’s vast army of travelling fans after a late penalty from Jordan Ayew secured a 2-1 win at Reading late Tuesday.
More than 4,000 supporters made the trip to Berkshire and were rewarded with Villa’s first away win in 14 months.
“You have to make a special mention of the fans,” Bruce said.
“They’ve travelled down here in their thousands, they’ve got behind their team and breathed life into the lads.
“I’ve got to try to get a bit of belief back into the whole club.
“They’ve had it tough but it shows you the magnitude of the club when they bring 4,000 fans to Reading on a Tuesday night.”
Wimmer still inTottenham’s plans
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino is adamant Kevin Wimmer remains in his plans despite leaving the defender out of his squad to face Bayer Leverkusen.
Wimmer did not even make the bench as Spurs drew 0-0 at the BayArena. Instead, Pochettino chose Eric Dier to replace the injured Toby Alderweireld at centre-half and 18-year-old Cameron Carter-Vickers was named on the bench.
“Why are you confused? You are creating an issue that doesn’t exist,” Pochettino told reporters.
“Wimmer’s situation was (he was) out of the 18 players. I need to take a decision about that but he remains in our plans.”
Fenerbahce team’s plane hits bird
Fenerbahce’s plane transporting them from Turkey for today’s Europa League clash at Manchester United has been forced into an unscheduled landing in Budapest.
A message posted on the club’s official Twitter page just before midday yesterday said a forced landing was made in the Hungarian capital after a bird struck the aircraft’s windscreen.
The message was accompanied by photographs apparently of the plane’s windscreen, with the glass covered in cracks.
Copenhagen facing fireworks charge
FC Copenhagen are facing disciplinary proceedings after their fans lit up a corner of Leicester City’s King Power stadium with pyrotechnics during their Champions League match on Tuesday.
UEFA said in a statement that the Danish champions had been charged with “setting off of fireworks” during their 1-0 defeat and the case would be dealt with on November 17.
UEFA has a strict ban on flares and fireworks in stadiums although many supporters said on social media that they were impressed after FC Copenhagen supporters put on what amounted to a full-blown pyro-technics display.
Buffon admits Juve must improve
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon insists his side must improve if they want to be serious Champions League contenders this season following a narrow 1-0 win in Lyon.
Juve, who played most of the second half with 10 men after midfielder Mario Lemina’s dismissal, owed victory to skipper Buffon as he kept out Alexandre Lacazette’s first-half penalty and pulled off world-class saves.
“Juve must improve because this is not enough to go all the way,” he said.
“I know what we did when we were 11 against 11 and it’s not enough... the spirit is good but there is room for improvement.”
Wenger hopes to keep key duo
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes a serious challenge for trophies will go a long way towards convincing influential winger Alexis Sanchez and midfielder Mesut Ozil to sign new long-term deals at the club.
Ozil and Sanchez have entered the last 20 months of their current contracts at the Emirates Stadium and will hope to secure hefty pay rises to their reported £140,000 per week salaries to stay beyond 2018.
Wenger said: “I think these kind of players can raise a little bit above the financial aspect of the game because they are not poor and they have to look really at the football side.
“It is more about whether the club can meet their needs on the football front. If ‘yes’ then a Premier League club can find an agreement with the play.”
Drogba returns
Didier Drogba has returned to Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact after abruptly leaving for one game when told he would not be in the starting line-up.
The 38-year-old striker, who has 10 goals and six assists in 18 starts this season, missed Sunday’s game but the team said that the two sides have since met and resolved their issues.
“Didier Drogba has accepted to assume the role that the head coach sees fit while contributing to the success of this club moving forward,” Impact president Joey Saputo said.
“Didier Drogba said he came here to win and he still has the same objective.”