Jose Mourinho’s criticism of Antonio Conte in the aftermath of Manchester United’s 4-0 defeat to Chelsea was justified, according to former Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque. Reports suggest Mourinho accused the Blues boss of ‘humiliating’ him with his animated behaviour on the touchline throughout the encounter at Stamford Bridge. The pair were captured exchanging words at the final whistle and Del Bosque, who masterminded Spain’s 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 wins, believes Mourinho has every right to feel aggrieved. ‘It did not seem like a wrong message from Mourinho to Conte,’ Del Bosque told AS. ‘Sometimes Conte has to be a little more considerate when he celebrates victories, really. ‘I was also hurt when we played against Italy at Euro 2016. ‘I’m not saying don’t express joy, there’s no need to be as dull as me, but express a moderate joy. It is not that I am a defender of Mourinho, but he had a point.’

South Africa have dismissed former Bournemouth star Tokelo Rantie from the national team after he farted at boss Ephraim Mashaba. The 26-year-old allegedly dropped his trousers and farted during the last international break. Rantie, who joined the Cherries in 2013 for a club-record £2.5million, was immediately kicked out of the training camp. And his international future now looks to be at an end despite being in good form for new Turkish club Genclerbirligi.

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Liverpool have beaten Stoke to the signing of promising Bury teenager Emeka Obi. The 15-year-old has agreed to join the Anfield club once they get approval from the Football League and Premier League over his visa as he has Nigerian heritage. Obi, who is already 6ft 5ins tall, has already appeared for the League One club’s first team and had a trial with Stoke during the summer. He has been described by Bury manager David Flitcroft as the ‘best talent at 15 years old in the entire country’.

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Obafemi Martins (Football) – The former Newcastle and Nigerian striker now playing for Chinese Super League Shanghai Greenland Shenhua, born 1984, is celebrating his 32nd birthday.

Alan Smith (Football) – The former Leeds and Manchester United player, now with Notts County, born 1980, turns 36.

Milan Baros (Football) – Former Liverpool and Czech Republic striker, now playing for Slovan Liberec, born 1981, is 35 today.

Algeria have appointed Georges Leekens for a second spell as their national coach. The Belgian, who previously led the team in 2003, replaces Milovan Rajevac, who was ousted by reported player power earlier this month. Thursday’s appointment came just 16 days before Algeria play Nigeria in a 2018 World Cup qualifier. “This choice was unanimously approved by members of the federal bureau,” said the Algerian federation in a statement. “The commission, having consulted several coaches, had decided on a shortlist of five trainers.” Leekens is the third Algeria coach this year after Serbia’s Rajevac replaced Frenchman Christian Gourcuff, who surprisingly stepped down in April with two years left on his contract. The 67-year-old takes charge just two days after losing his job at Belgian side Lokeren, who have lost eight out of 12 games this season. The bespectacled coach led Algeria for four months in 2003 before leaving for ‘family reasons’ just days after qualifying the team for the 2004 Nations Cup.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association for his comments about referee Anthony Taylor prior to the goalless draw at Liverpool. Taylor’s appointment for the Oct. 17 clash drew criticism from some, as he was born around six miles away from Old Trafford, and Keith Hackett, the former head of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited body, said the appointment would place undue pressure on the referee. When those comments were put to Mourinho ahead of the match, the United boss said: “I think Mr Taylor is a very good referee but I think somebody with intention is putting such a pressure on him that I feel that it will be difficult for him to have a very good performance.”

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Maria Mutola (Athletics) – Mozambican 800 metres runner, who won three outdoor world titles and Olympic gold in 2000, born 1972.

Patty Sheehan (Golf) – first woman to win US and British Opens in the same season (1992), born 1956.

Glenn Hoddle (Football) – Former England midfielder and manager, born 1957.

Kumar Sangakkara (Cricket) – Sri Lanka batsmen, who retired from Test cricket in August 2015, born 1977.

David Warner (Cricket) – big-hitting Australia batsman, born 1986.

Amy Tinkler (Gymnastics) – Rio 2016 Floor Olympic bronze medallist, born 1999.

Arsène Wenger has challenged Alex Iwobi to find the missing piece in his game, having said he is currently “too nervous” in front of goal. The Arsenal manager played Iwobi in the No10 role in the 2-0 EFL Cup win against Reading on Tuesday night, and he watched him link the play smartly. Like many of Arsenal’s attacking midfielders over the years, Iwobi would love to be given the roaming role behind the striker. At present, though, there is a significant obstacle in his way – Mesut Özil. Iwobi had sightings of goal against Reading but he could not finish and one moment served to undermine what was a positive all-round performance.

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Crowd trouble marred West Ham’s EFL Cup fourth-round home win over Chelsea, with police making seven arrests. Plastic bottles, seats and coins were thrown during the Hammers’ 2-1 victory at London Stadium as hundreds of supporters clashed and riot police entered the concourse. It is the latest outbreak of disorder at West Ham’s new ground this season. West Ham boss Slaven Bilic called the behaviour “unacceptable”, adding: “We are totally against it as a club.” The Premier League club says it will ban any fans involved for life and is confident it can identify those responsible via its high-definition CCTV system and through fans’ ticket purchasing history. Security was boosted for the London derby and an alcohol ban imposed as part of a “robust policing plan” following crowd trouble at the stadium this season.

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Uzbekistan wrestler Soslan Tigiev has been stripped of an Olympic medal for the second time, for failing a drugs test at the Beijing Games. He is one of nine athletes, including six medallists, disqualified by the International Olympic Committee after samples from the 2008 Games were retested. The 33-year-old has lost the silver he won in the men’s freestyle wresting. Four years ago he was disqualified from London 2012 after winning bronze. The IOC has been retesting more than 1,200 samples from Beijing and London.

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Liverpool vs Leeds United

Manchester United vs West Ham United

Hull City vs Newcastle United

Arsenal vs Southampton

Ties will take place on 29 and 30 November.

Wednesday 26th October, 2016:

Southampton 1 – 0 Sunderland

West Ham United 2  – 1 Chelsea

Manchester United 1 – 0 Manchester City

Kenyan marathon runner Rita Jeptoo has had her two-year ban doubled after an IAAF appeal was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. She became Kenya’s first high-profile athlete to fail a test when she tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug EPO in 2014. Jeptoo, 33, says she may have been prescribed banned substances at a local hospital after a road accident. Jeptoo will forfeit her 2014 Boston and Chicago Marathon titles as part of the punishment.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wants to recall midfielder Yaya Toure but is still waiting for an apology from the player’s agent. The Ivorian, 33, has played just once this season, in the Champions League play-off round. He was then left out of the competition’s group stage squad. Dimitri Seluk claimed Toure had been “humiliated” by the decision. Asked if Toure could play in the EFL Cup tie at Manchester United, Guardiola said: “You know the situation.” The Spaniard said in September Seluk “must apologise” if Toure is to play in the first team again, but the agent told BBC Sport at the time: “What do I need to apologise for? He should speak to Yaya, who is doing his job.” But with no apology forthcoming, a stand-off remains between the manager and player. Guardiola, speaking ahead of Wednesday’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford, added: “I would like to take Yaya [with the team], believe me, I would like, but you know the situation.” City won their first 10 games under the ex-Barcelona boss but have failed to win in their last five.

Natasha Annie Tonthola is a Malawian and the founder of Mama Africa Foundation Trust which she uses to fight injustice meted out to girls in rural Malawi. Fight against issues of male ‘hyenas’ (men paid to have sex with young girls from their village, as part of a sexual initiation ritual) and girls dropping out of school are very dear to her. Hear her:

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Wednesday 26th October, 2016:

Southampton vs Sunderland 7:45 pm

West Ham United vs Chelsea 7:45 pm

Manchester United vs Manchester City 8 pm

Tuesday 25th October, 2016:

Bristol City 1 – 2 Hull City

Leeds United 2 – 2 Norwich (Leeds won 3 – 2 on penalties)

Liverpool 2 – 1 Tottenham

Newcastle 6 – 0 Preston

Arsenal 2 – 0 Reading

The former Brazil captain Carlos Alberto has died, aged 72. He is sadi tohave had heart attack. Alberto was the skipper of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup winning side and netted the iconic fourth goal in the final against Italy when he blasted home Pele’s cool layoff.  The right-back played 53 times for his country, scoring eight goals. He played the majority of his career in his native Brazil, turning out for Santos over 400 times, before finishing his career in America.

English championship club Wolves have parted company with head coach Walter Zenga after just 87 days in charge. Former Italy goalkeeper Zenga took charge at Molineux seven days before the start of the season and his side took eight points from their first four league matches, but have claimed only eight from the following 10 games. Zenga is one of the few former goalkeepers to have gone into full time coaching just like our own Imama Amapakabo of Enugu Rangers.

The Spanish football federation has been fined 220,000 Swiss francs for violating youth player transfer rules in the case involving Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Real and Atletico are banned from registering players in the next two transfer windows after losing an appeal against their own punishments. FIFA has given the Spanish FA six months to improve its transfer system. It has strict rules restricting Under-18 players moving to foreign clubs. FIFA’s investigation concerned youth players who played for Atletico between 2007 and 2014, and Real from 2005 to 2014 with the clubs respectively fined £622,000 and £249,000 for breaching rules. Barcelona were banned from registering players for two transfer windows in April 2014, but bought Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal in 2015, finally registering them to make them eligible to play when their suspension was lifted in January 2016. Real and Atletico are banned from registering new players until January 2018.