Chapecoense beat Zulia 2-1 in the Copa Libertadores as the Brazilian club took part in an overseas fixture for the first time since the devastating plane crash which killed most of their squad.
Only six of the 77 people who were travelling to Colombia survived the tragedy in November, including three Chapecoense players – goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, defender Neto and winger Alan Ruschel.
On an emotional night in north-east Venezuela, Neto and Ruschel were named in the squad but did not feature.
Cahill recalled
Australia coach Ange Poste-coglou has recalled talismanic striker Tim Cahill in a preliminary 30-man squad for this month’s crunch World Cup qualifiers against Iraq and UAE.
Cahill, along with a number of senior players, has seen little action at club level in recent weeks, leaving Postecoglou with a headache before he trims the squad to 23 next week.
The Socceroos’ most prolific scorer with 48 goals from 94 appearances, 37-year-old Cahill was a surprise omission from last November’s qualifier in Thailand, where a tentative Australia were held to a 2-2 draw.
The disappointing result dropped the Socceroos to third in Asia’s Group B.
English players’ fees an obstacle says Pep
The high premium that English players command in the transfer market represents a serious obstacle to Manchester City’s plans to fill the team with domestic talent, manager Pep Guar-diola has said.
Raheem Sterling, John Stones and Fabian Delph are the only Englishmen to have featured for City’s senior squad this season.
Guardiola says it is “impossible” to find value for money when it comes to English players.
“I would like to have more English players,” Guardiola said.
“But they are so expensive. I would like English players because they know the league and that is much better.”
Bellerin implores Wenger to stay
Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin has leapt to the defence of manager Arsene Wenger after the side crashed out the Champions League.
“Of course,” Bellerin told British media when asked whether he wanted Wenger to be in charge of the club next season.
“It’s as simple as that, especially for me. We all back him and of course we want him to stay. The whole team is behind the manager.”
Wenger is the most successful manager in FA Cup history with six victories and Arsenal have the perfect chance to erase their painful Champions League exit in Saturday’s quarter-final against non-league side Lincoln City.
Gordon signs new contract with Celtic
Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon (picture), 34, has signed a new three-year contract. The Scottish Premiership leaders opened talks with Gordon after rejecting several offers from Chelsea during the January transfer window.
Gordon’s previous contract expired in the summer but Celtic had an option to extend it for a year. The new agreement means Gordon is committed to the Scottish champions until 2020.
Gordon’s Celtic career looked in doubt in August when Brendan Rodgers signed his former Swansea goalkeeper, Dorus de Vries, from Nottingham Forest.
De Vries went into the team for five matches but Gordon won his place back and kept it ever since.
Sakho impact
On-loan Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho’s composure in the heart of defence has been instrumental in Crystal Palace winning back-to-back Premier League games to climb three points clear of the relegation zone, fellow centre-back James Tomkins has said.
Palace kept consecutive clean sheets while beating Middlesbrough and West Brom in their last two games with Sakho in the starting line-up.
“Mamadou has come in and he’s good to play alongside be-cause he is so chilled and calm,” Tomkins said of the French international, who joined Palace until the end of the season in January.
“He’s been brilliant and I am enjoying my time as we learn from each other and let’s hope it can keep going,” he added.
Boro must focus on form – Gibson
Defender Ben Gibson has urged Middlesbrough to focus on im-proving their form rather than banking on relegation rivals dropping points after Saturday’s loss at Stoke City extended the club’s winless league run to 10 games.
Boro are the league’s lowest scorers with 19 goals and, despite a respectable defensive record, their profligacy in front of goal this season has seen them drop to 18th, three points adrift of safety with 11 games remaining.
“It’s about us, if we aren’t getting our results and doing our jobs we can’t look to other people to not be doing theirs. If we do our job we’ll get out of the relegation zone,” Gibson said.
“We’re running out of opportunities but we aren’t going to give up without a fight.”