EPL: Fellaini strikes twice as Man United crush Palace 4-0

MANCHESTER (United Kingdom): Marouane Fellaini scored twice as Manchester United maintained their blistering start to the season with a 4-0 thrashing of lowly Crystal Palace on Saturday.



Juan Mata, making his 200th Premier League appearance, gave United the lead after just three minutes, with Fellaini's goals followed by a late tap in for Romelu Lukaku, who scored for the 11th time in 10 games.



Watched from the stand by their former midfielder David Beckham, Jose Mourinho's side kept the pressure on title rivals Manchester City, who were due to play at Chelsea in Saturday's late game.



Palace, meanwhile, remain without a point or a goal in the league this season, and rarely looked like ending either sequence against opponents who have now scored 31 times in a 10-match unbeaten run in all competitions.



Mourinho made five changes to a team that had only arrived home from Russia in the early hours of Thursday morning following their midweek Champions League victory over CSKA Moscow.



There was little sign of early sluggishness, though, as they scored in the third minute from their first attack thanks to two players left out of the starting line-up on Wednesday.



Marcus Rashford showed clever footwork to deceive Palace full-back Joel Ward down the left, then pulled the ball back for the unmarked Mata to sweep in from 12 yards.



That was a huge setback for a Palace team who had been beaten on each of their previous 10 league visits to Old Trafford, since a 2-1 victory in December 1989.



They had lost striker Christian Benteke before the game with a knee injury that is expected to keep him out for six weeks, but despite going behind so early, they started to cause more of a threat.



Centre-back Mamadou Sakho headed over from a free-kick played in from the right by Yohan Cabaye after Ashley Young had brought down Ward near the corner flag, and United had to defend a series of corners after that.



Bakary Sako, the winger pushed into service as a striker to replace Benteke, almost equalised as he ran in from the left on to Andros Townsend's diagonal through ball, but goalkeeper David De Gea beat away the drive at his near post.

United, though, rode out the pressure and added a second goal 10 minutes before half-time, with Young crossing from the left for Fellaini to volley in from close range at the far post.



Chris Smalling almost added a third, heading just wide from Henrikh Mkhitaryan's corner, before Rashford's shot was blocked at the near post by goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.



United's third goal arrived in the fourth minute of the second half, shortly after Rashford had been denied by a Ward block.



Rashford was involved in the goal and looked initially as if he might try to claim it as his free-kick, whipped in from the left, flew in at the far post.

But television replays showed beyond doubt that Fellaini had flicked the ball with his forehead inside the six-yard box, and the Belgium midfielder claimed his second of the match.

The match lost most of its momentum after that, with Sako volleying over a half-chance for Palace, before Lukaku steered wide at the other end when he looked certain to score.

As United sought a fourth, Hennessey advanced from his line and spread himself to block Anthony Martial as the substitute ran into the penalty area on to Mkhitaryan's pass.

The fourth goal arrived in the final minutes, with Martial attacking down the left and crossing low for Lukaku to score from close in.

Footpath to football history: U-17 boys pin hopes on World Cup

PANAJI: Sanjeev Stalin's mother sells clothes on a footpath in Bengaluru and her son, an India Under-17 footballer, still cannot figure how she managed to buy him the boots to fuel his passion for the game. Striker Aniket Jadhav's father drives an autorickshaw in Kolhapur, but the journey to the Capital to watch his son play in the World Cup next month is proving a challenge.

Most players of India's Under-17 team face a strange predicament. Here, they are on the cusp of a historic never-before — even a never-after, because they will probably be the only set of Indians who will play a World Cup in football, at least in our lifetimes — but given their humble backgrounds, they're not sure their families will make it to Delhi next month to watch them make history.

When ex-India captain Renedy Singh visited players' families in Manipur - eight of the squad belongs to the state -- he became aware of their plight. The former Manipur footballer tapped his contacts in the state's sport circles and administration, who have now promised a round trip for two members from each family.

But back in Imphal, Ninthoinganba Meitei's mother, who sells fermented fish in the local market, is still worried. What happens when Ninthoi returns to his tin-roofed shack? It's not just in Manipur where football and poverty co-exist. Jitendra Singh's father is a watchman in Bengal, while Anwar Ali, India's first-choice defender from Punjab, used to graze cattle during his school days. Football, they say, is a great leveller. And families of the U-17 players are also counting on it to be a great uplifter. Once the World Cup dust settles, many of these families will open their doors to club officials and agents with lucrative contracts.

Messi Becomes First Ever Player to Score 350 La Liga Goals

Messi Becomes First Ever Player to Score 350 La Liga Goals

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi scored a second-half brace against Alaves, becoming the first ever player to score 350 goals in La Liga.

Messi's best goal tally for a season came in 2011/12 when he netted 50 goals in 37 appearances. Messi, who has played 384 league matches, is now 66 goals ahead of rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Lionel Andrés Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team.

Source- BBC

When and where to watch FC Barcelona v Real Madrid

It's the game everyone is waiting for - so starts making plans now for one of the biggest global events of the sporting year

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid go head-to-head in the latest edition of El Clásicoon December 3 at the Camp Nou, just three days before the Catalans' last Champions League group stage match against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

It’s a 4.15 pm CET kick-off local time, while the eyes of the world will be looking in on one of the biggest games in football.

On the west coast of America, that’ll mean a very early start indeed, while Asian viewers can enjoy a comfortable evening slot and in Australasia it’s going to be a late night.

This guide should help you to make sure you know how to find the game on a TV near you, but if your country or region is not showing the game, then don’t panic. We’ll have English language commentary online on Ràdio Barça and all of our social networks will make sure you get all the details.

Pogba fires France as Belgium, Portugal run riotogba fires France as Belgium, Portugal run riot

A searing first-half strike from Paul Pogba handed France a 1-0 win at rivals the Netherlands as Belgium and Portugal clocked up 6-0 victories and Christian Benteke grabbed a slice of World Cup qualifying history.

Criticised by coach Didier Deschamps for his performance in Friday's 4-1 win over Bulgaria in Paris, the world's most expensive footballer emphatically replied with a towering display for Les Bleus in Amsterdam in the most eye-catching fixture on Monday.

The Manchester United midfielder's powerful hit from 25 metres out after half an hour left diving Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg able to get his hands to the fizzing ball but unable to stop it.

"I didn't speak to him (Pogba), I just said a few words to him before entering the changing rooms, 'I have confidence in you,'" said Deschamps.

"The match confirms what he is able to do. Pogba was much better in everything he did. He showed what he can do.

"We never doubted he could do it. We mustn't forget Paul is relatively young and he can still progress."

France, losing finalists on home soil at Euro 2016, are equal on seven points at the top of Group A with Sweden, who beat Bulgaria 3-0 at home in Solna. The two countries will play on November 11 at the Stade de France.

Pogba, 23, was imperial in front of a central defence made up of Raphael Varane and Laurent Koscielny, who pushed back wave after wave of Dutch attacks.

And Pogba nearly doubled his account with a header off a Dimitri Payet corner on 66 minutes just lacking power.

"If the team has a good match, I have a good match," said a defiant Pogba. "If it's a bad match, I have a bad match.

"We're not going to talk about individual performances. It's true it's not always nice to hear criticism, 'bad things' about myself. There wasn't any answer. Today it was a good team effort."

The French had a slight scare in the final minute but Hugo Lloris did well to keep out a Memphis Depay effort on the line.

"It's an important win for us, even if we could have had a larger lead," said Deschamps.

"We could have hurt them more in the first half. It's good to have got these two victories."

The Dutch failed to make it to the Euros and now sit third in the group, needing to improve fast if they are to make it to Russia in 2018.

"Our goalkeeper made a mistake which he never makes in training," said coach Danny Blind.

"We played better in the second half and we should have had at least a point because we had chances at the end of the match."

Quick-fire

Belgium and Portugal went on goal sprees against minnows Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands.

Belgium striker Benteke set a new World Cup record for the fastest goal ever — just seven seconds — on his way to a hat-trick in Faro.

Belgium top Group H on nine points out of nine, ahead of Greece on goal difference.

The 25-year-old Crystal Palace forward picked up the ball in the first action in Faro and racing towards goal with the Gibraltar defence in disarray left goalie Deren Ibrahim with no chance.

Benteke's quick-fire goal eclipsed the previous best of 8.3 seconds achieved by San Marino's Davide Gualtieri in a World Cup qualifier against England in November 1993.

Portugal, bidding to catch Group B leaders Switzerland, matched their 6-0 win over Andorra on Friday.

Andre Silva scored a hat-trick for the European champions before captain Cristiano Ronaldo netted his fifth goal in four days, with Joao Cancelo and Joao Moutinho also scoring late on.

Switzerland maintained their unbeaten run, coming away 2-1 winners from Andorra with Fabian Schaer and Admir Mehmedi scoring in either half.

India faces an uphill task against Puerto Rico

Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is named captain as India (FIFA ranked 154) faces an uphill task against Puerto Rico (114) in an international friendly on Saturday.

Stephen Constantine, National coach, chose the 24-year-old to inspire a young side (average age of the team is 23).

Sunil Chhetri, 24, is fit to play against the Puerto Ricans. “There is no alternative to Chetri,” said Constantine, in response to a query about the experienced striker’s fitness. Gurpreet, the only Indian in UEFA Europa League, will don the captain’s armband.

India will need the custodian (first-team goalkeeper with Norwegian club Stabeak this season) to inspire teammates in front.

Constantine was appreciative of Gurpreet’s attitude. He said: “People often say he went to play abroad. I would say that he stayed out there and continued. A country like Norway is not easy at all. It can be very cold in summers. This guy has been fighting it out for the last three years.”

Constantine had watched Puerto Rico take on United States. “When they come in and around the box, they become very dangerous. In the match against the US, they scored from three one-touch passes.”

Gurpreet, who made some brilliant reflex saves against Iran at Tehran (World Cup Asia Zone qualifier), is expected to raise his game against an attack-minded Puerto Rico at home. India lost by four goals against the highest-ranked Asian side.

Process of development

The Indian coach said: “We always try to put ourselves in situations where we are tested. I would continue to look for those games. It is a process of development,” said Constantine, adding: “The fact that we are playing a side ranked 40 places above us is always an incentive.”