Southampton captain Jose Fonte was taken off at half-time in Sunday’s 2-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth as a precaution after he sustained a hamstring injury, manager Ronald Koeman said yesterday.

Fonte has been an integral part of the Saints’ defence that has kept four clean sheets in the league this season.

“Jose had hamstring problems and it was not the moment to take that risk to continue and I hope because we changed in half-time he can be fit for the next weekend,” Koeman said.

Mattia Destro hails Bologna supporters

Striker Mattia Destro ended his goal drought after scoring one of Bologna’s goals in a 3-0 win over Atalanta on Sunday.

At the end of the match, which marked coach Roberto Dona-doni’s first in charge after replacing Delio Rossi, Destro thanked the fans for giving him their backing even in hard times.

“I really wanted to score a goal and I thank the fans for always supporting me,” Destro said.

“Apart from the goal, the im-portant thing was the victory. With Donadoni we are all trying to fight for safety.”

Destro had been without a goal for 834 minutes of football.

Diego Costa avoids disciplinary action

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has avoided disciplinary action after appearing to kick out at Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat, according to English FA sources.

Referee Mark Clattenburg is understood to have seen the incident and opted against issuing a caution, meaning there can be no retrospective sanction by the authorities.

The two players had fallen to the ground after a challenge by Spanish international Costa.

“I think it is a clear red card,” former referee Howard Webb said on television at the time.

“Diego Costa is a lucky boy on that occasion.”

Rastar Group to invest in Espanyol

China’s Rastar Group said its Hong Kong unit will buy up to 56 per cent stake in Spanish club Espanyol as mainland companies continue their investment in European clubs.

Principally engaged in model car and related raw materials business, the company said it will pay 78 euros for each share of the La Liga club in a deal valued between 143-178 million euros.

The company said it will pay in cash for the deal.

After acquiring the stake, Rastar said it will increase its investment in Espanyol, who are currently 10th in La Liga standings, by up to 45 million euros.

Last month, CEFC China Energy bought a majority stake in Slavia Prague, one of the Czech Republic’s oldest soccer clubs.

Kone gets new Everton contract

Manager Roberto Martinez hailed one of Arouna Kone’s finest performances in an Everton shirt after the Ivory Coast international bagged a hat-trick in the 6-2 Premier League win over Sunderland.

Martinez also confirmed that Kone had triggered a clause in his contract that means his deal with the Goodison Park club has been extended until June 2017.

“He has been very impressive and on Sunday was the most impressive,” the Spaniard said.

Kone was Martinez’s first signing as Everton manager in a six million pounds move from Wigan Athletic in 2013.

Barca apology

Barcelona have apologised to Getafe after some of their players donned Halloween outfits and cavorted around the Madrid club’s Coliseum stadium after the 2-0 victory for the Catalans.

The ghoulish images of the likes of Gerard Pique, Luis Suarez and Neymar were widely reproduced in local media and the Getafe players and officials were less than impressed, particularly by the intrusion into a post-match news conference being conducted by midfielder Victor Rodriguez.

“In no case was it our intention to offend or annoy any member of Getafe’s team,” Barca said.

“The gate-crashing of the post-game interview area was an un-fortunate accident.”

Corinthians step closer to league title

Atletico Mineiro fans let off fireworks outside Corinthians’ hotel before Sunday’s decisive league match but it had no effect on their visitors who scored three goals without reply to virtually secure themselves the Brazilian league title.

After a scoreless first half, Malcom, Vagner Love and Lucca got the goals that silenced a full house in Belo Horizonte.

Corinthians are now 11 points clear of Atletico at the top of the table.

The Sao Paulo club have the league’s best attack and tightest defence and need just five points from their final five games to guarantee their sixth league star.

“It’s not won yet,” a cautious but beaming Love told reporters yesterday.

“But this is a huge step forward...it was a decider.”