Russia will play a friendly against Romania in Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic on November 15, the Russian Football Union (RFU) announced.
“Everything regarding the friendly match with Romania is all right, we will definitely be playing in Grozny,” RFU president Vitaly Mutko was quoted as saying by the R-Sport news agency.
The match will take place at the Akhmat Arena, which has a capacity of 30,000 and was opened in 2011.
This will be the first time that Grozny, which is one of the biggest cities in the North Caucasus, will host a Russia national team match.
Three man bailed after stadium trouble
Three men arrested in connection with crowd disturbances at Saturday’s Premier League fixture between West Ham and Middlesbrough have been bailed pending further enquiries.
Two of the three were arrested on suspicion of affray and the third on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.
Supporters were seen confronting each other inside West Ham’s London Stadium and then fighting outside, while footage of violence appeared on social media on Saturday evening.
Police said no injuries were reported during or before the 1-1 draw.
Concentration key to clean sheet – Alonso
Marcos Alonso gave a glimpse into Antonio Conte’s plan to turn Chelsea back into Premier League title contenders with a pivotal role in his side’s 2-0 win at Hull on Saturday.
Alonso was favoured over Branislav Ivanovic in a new-look three-man defensive formation. It was the Spaniard’s first league start for the club and a major gamble by Conte after successive defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal.
Alonso told Chelsea’s official website: “It’s the first game I’ve started in the Premier League for Chelsea, we got three points and a clean sheet so I’m very happy.
“We’ve been conceding a lot of goals and against Hull we were concentrated for 90 minutes and kept a clean sheet so that was good.”
Kranjcar... no title talk
Niko Kranjcar reckons Rangers should put thoughts of a title challenge to the back of their minds until Christmas.
Gers avoided registering their worst start to a league campaign since 1989 with Saturday’s 2-0 win over Partick Thistle.
Kranjcar, Rangers’ stand-out performer against Thistle, said: “I think at the moment we shouldn’t think about it (title challenge). I think we should think about winning the next game.
“We can talk come Christmas where we are in the title race.”
Di Matteo facing Aston Villa axe
Aston Villa are ready to end Roberto Di Matteo’s reign with the Italian on the brink after just five months in charge, Press Association Sport reported yesterday.
Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Preston left Villa 19th in the Championship with just one win from their opening 11 games and only two points clear of the relegation zone, a run that has piled the pressure on Di Matteo (picture).
The club spent around £50 million in the summer, including £12 million on Ross McCormack and £15 million on Jonathan Kodjia, to ensure an instant return to the Premier League.
But owner Tony Xia, who bought the club and appointed Di Matteo in the summer, is now losing patience with Villa 15 points behind leaders Huddersfield.
Mourinho dislikes corruption ‘rumours’
Jose Mourinho believes anyone who accepts illegal payments needs to be punished and outed in a bid to clean up the game.
The Daily Telegraph last week published information gathered during a 10-month investigation into corruption in football.
Agent Pino Pagliara, a central figure in the newspaper’s probe, has admitted he lied about current and former Premier League managers taking bribes.
“What I don’t like – to be honest I hate and don’t accept it – is the rumour,” the Manchester United boss said. “You cannot make fun with rumours and this is too serious to listen to rumours.”
Former Man. United striker Herd dies
Former Manchester United and Arsenal striker David Herd has died at the age of 82.
The Scotland international was a significant figure for United as the club was rebuilt following the 1958 Munich air disaster.
Herd is perhaps best remembered for scoring twice in United’s 3-1 FA Cup final defeat of Leicester in 1963. The trophy was their first since the Munich tragedy, and his goals contributed to the tally of 145 that makes him United’s 13th highest goalscorer.
His career began at Stockport County, who in 1954 sold him for £10,000 to Arsenal, where he scored 97 goals in 166 games prior to his £35,000 transfer to United in 1961.