Sports

Barcelona leapfrogged Atletico Madrid to go top of La Liga after Lionel Messi's acrobatic volley secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory against tenacious Malaga on Saturday.

Chelsea will make the short journey across London to the Emirates Stadium to face an Arsenal side looking to end their 12-year wait for the league title.

The West Ham United say Sam Byram is on a 4-1/2-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He can play at right back or in midfield and has spent the last four seasons in the Leeds first team.

Rupinder scored in the 24th and 36th minutes as Delhi Waveriders edged past Jaypee Punjab Warriors in a closely-contested Hockey India League match in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

Swann was bought by Dabang Mumbai for $75,000 at the auction last year. Mumbai will begin their Hockey India League campaign against Kalinga Lancers in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.

Swansea City climbed out of the relegation zone after a first-half header by captain Ashley Williams gave them a 1-0 win over Watford on Monday just hours after they named Francesco Guidolin as their new head coach.

Chelsea captain John Terry, whose current deal expires at the end of the season, is confident he will extend his stay at the club and the 35-year-old defender brushed aside any concerns he may have lost a yard of pace over the years.

"Harold Mayne-Nicholls of Chile "repeatedly asked for personal favors related to the hosting and training of his relatives (a son, nephew and brother-in-law)," FIFA ethics judges said in a statement on Thursday.

India football team's coach Stephen Constantine took a dig at SAFF Cup 2015 organisers for poor management and providing unplayable training pitches before the matches.

Bengaluru FC got their I-League campaign off to a winning start as they went past hosts Salgaocar FC 2-1 in the first round clash at the Tilak Maidan Stadium here on Saturday.

ISL provided three weeks' extra time to FC Goa to respond to the charges levelled against them for breach of the Disciplinary Code of the AIFF after the unsavoury incidents that happened post the ISL final.

"FC Goa have been charged under the ISL Regulations for 'boycotting match and league ceremony', 'public criticism and threatening match officials', 'allegation of match fixing', and 'non-adherence of league rules'," an ISL release said.

Under-fire Rafa Benitez said Real Madrid needed to be more consistent and also accused his players of easing off in games ahead of Sunday's La Liga clash with his former club Valencia.

Scraping a victory when under pressure is often a sign of backbone in potential title winners and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was delighted his side "dug deep" to beat Newcastle United on Saturday.

Former Liverpool star Steven Gerrard is keen to go into coaching once his ongoing sting at US club Los Angeles Galaxy comes to an end.

The Abu Dhabi-owned club were English soccer's biggest spenders in the summer, splashing out heavily on the likes of forwards Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne and defender Nicolas Otamendi.