Aston Villa have sacked Roberto di Matteo as manager after just 124 days in the job. Villa are now looking for their fifth boss inside a year after deciding to replace the Italian, who won just one of 11 Championship games in charge. Former Chelsea player and manager Di Matteo, 46, was appointed shortly after Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia took over Villa on 2 June. Di Matteo’s assistant Steve Clarke will take over as caretaker manager. A club statement confirming the exit of former West Bromwich Albion boss Di Matteo said: “The club decided to act following a run of disappointing results which has the left the team occupying 19th position. “The club would like to place on record its appreciation to Roberto for all his efforts in helping rebuild the squad.”

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Enugu Rangers became Nigeria Professional Football League champions following their 4-0 victory against El-Kanemi on Sunday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium Enugu (Nigeria’s Cathedral of Soccer). The coach Imama Amapakabo’s men needed at least a draw to emerge as champions after Wikki Tourists and Rivers United had stuttered in the title race. And after Ferdinand Udoh’s full-time whistle sounded around Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium and it sunk in that Rangers had won their first Nigeria topflight title after 32-years.

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Tyson Fury is moving closer to being stripped of his world heavyweight titles after the WBO gave him 10 days to clarify his medical status. Fury was due to defend his WBA and WBO belts against Wladimir Klitschko on October 29, but the fight was called off for a second time after his management team declared he was “medically unfit to fight”. The undefeated 28-year-old, who withdrew from the original July 9 date due to an ankle injury, could now lose his titles which he won when he ended Klitschko’s 11-year reign at the top in November last year.

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The English Football Association is investigating allegations England manager Sam Allardyce used his role to negotiate a £400,000 deal and offer advice on how to “get around” rules on player transfers. The Telegraph has footage it says is from August of Allardyce meeting men claiming to represent a Far East firm where he appears to say third-party ownership rules can be avoided. The 61-year-old has yet to respond to the allegations, while the FA has asked to see the paper’s filmed recordings. It will meet on Tuesday morning when new chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn must decide whether the issue is one of poor judgement or something more serious.

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Yaya Toure says he was “very disappointed” at FIFA’s decision to disband its anti-racism task force. The Manchester City midfielder, who was a consultant to the task force, says the decision “makes no sense”. “I have experienced racism all my life, be that in the streets or in the stadiums,” Toure said in a statement. “When I received the letter telling me the FIFA task force was to be discontinued I was very disappointed. The letter listed the good work that had been carried out as a result of the task force’s advice and recommendations. “After failing to deal with racism sufficiently for decades – why stop when something is beginning to work? Are FIFA being complacent ahead of a World Cup in Russia? “My only hope is that FIFA have thought this through. The letter I received does not fill me with confidence. It will be the fans and players that suffer if FIFA do not get this right.” Meanwhile Toure trained today with the rest on the City squad ahead of their champions league game against Celtic tomorrow even though he is not eligible for selection having not been registered in Europe.

English champions Leicester City will tomorrow 27th September, 2016 host their first ever Champions League game at their King Power stadium. Their opponents, FC Porto, are pictured arriving Leicester for the game.

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Burnley striker Andre Gray has been suspended for four matches after being found guilty of misconduct in relation to comments he posted on social media. Gray, 25, had been charged by the Football Association for bringing the game into disrepute over homophobic posts he made on Twitter in 2012. He apologised and asked “for forgiveness” for the posts, saying he was now a “different person”. Both the club and the player have accepted the ban.

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Real Madrid players are pictured arriving Dortmund for their Champions League group game against Borussia Dortmund tomorrow 27th September, 2016.

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Hamburg have sacked boss Bruno Labbadia for the second time, after a poor start to the Bundesliga season. Despite a spirited performance in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat by champions Bayern Munich, Hamburg have lost their past four matches and have taken just one point from their first five games. Labbadia, 50, was appointed Hamburg boss for a second time in April 2015. He had been sacked just three days before a Europa League semi-final second-leg tie against Fulham in 2010. “I am convinced we have to make a change in the coaching position in order to turn our disappointing season start around,” said Hamburg sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer. Former European champions Hamburg are the only club to have played every season in the Bundesliga since its formation in 1963.

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Flamingoes’ Head Coach, Bala Nikyu, has selected his final list of 21 players to represent Nigeria at the 5th FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup beginning in Jordan on Friday. The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, in a statement in Abuja on Saturday by Ademola Olajire, its Assistant Director of Communications, said the team would depart Nigeria on Monday. It said the delegation of players and officials would leave aboard an Emirates Airline flight from Abuja on Monday night. The competition is holding from Friday September 30 to Friday October 21. Nigeria play Brazil on October 1 before matches against Korea DPR and England on October 4 and October 8 respectively in the group phase.

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FIFA general-secretary Fatma Samoura spoke this first morning of the three-day Soccerex conference in Manchester. Amongst other things, Samoura explained FIFA are disbanding their anti-racism taskforce because “it had a very specific mandate which it has fully fulfilled” She said her presence – as a black female – at FIFA was proof the organisation was committed to inclusivity and equality and that stricter punishments can be anticipated: “Not only racism but any kind of discrimination, including violation of human rights.” Samoura also said the organisation was in a much better place than it was a year ago.

Paris St-Germain defender Serge Aurier has been sentenced to two months in jail on Monday for assaulting a police officer. The court also ordered the Ivory Coast international to pay 600 euros in damages and interest as well as 1,500 euros in court costs following an incident outside a Paris nightclub in May. However, the court did not impose an order for immediate incarceration and allowed Aurier to walk free pending a possible appeal. It means full-back Aurier could play for PSG in their Champions League tie against Ludogorets in Bulgaria on Wednesday. Aurier was sent off in Friday’s 2-0 defeat by Toulouse.

Pep Guardiola insists he will adopt a game by game mentality as Manchester City continue to sweep all before them. The Spaniard has overseen 10 successive victories this season, including six Premier League wins, and he is already closing in on records. Guardiola has equalled former Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti’s record of winning their first six Premier League games, while victory over Champions League opponents Celtic on Wednesday – and then Spurs at White Hart Lane next weekend – would set a new Manchester City record of 12 consecutive wins.

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Pep Guardiola could find himself in court over his treatment of Yaya Toure . Toure has been told he will not play for Manchester City again unless his agent apologises for comments he about the way Guardiola axed the Ivorian from his Champions League squad. But while Toure’s outspoken adviser, Dimitri Seluk, has been scathing of the Catalan’s decision to ditch the 33-year-old from his Euro plans, the player himself has kept his counsel. And Seluk believes City are in breach of contract by standing by Guardiola’s banishment of the midfielder from his first-team squad.

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Manchester City won the Women’s Super League title for the first time, with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea Ladies confirming them as champions. Unbeaten City just needed to avoid defeat to guarantee top spot. Chelsea captain Katie Chapman, under pressure from Jill Scott, diverted Toni Duggan’s corner into her own net 12 minutes before half-time. Duggan added the second from the penalty spot after full-back Lucy Bronze was fouled by Gilly Flaherty. City’s victory – in front of a crowd of more than 4,000 – took them 10 points clear of second-placed Chelsea, who will secure Champions League qualification if they take two points from their final two WSL games.

The Rangers International FC of Enugu this evening defeated Ikorodu United 2 – 1 at the MKO Abiola in Abeokuta to move closer to lifting the Nigerian League trophy after 34 years. The Flying Antelopes (as Enugu Rangers are also known) dominated the game and was almost finishing the game 2 – 0 until Ikorodu scored a late consolation goal. As things stand, a draw in Enugu in the final game of the season next Sunday will do the job for Enugu Rangers – the darling club of the Igbos. All roads lead to Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium Enugu, Nigeria next Sunday the 2nd of October to witness the history that would be made. Continue to see today’s results.

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Saturday 24th September, 2016:

Manchester United 4 – 1 Leicester

Bournemouth 1 – 0 Everton

Liverpool 5 – 1 Hull

Middlesbrough 1 – 2 Tottenham

Stoke 1 – 1 West Brom

Sunderland 2 – 3 Crystal Palace

Swansea 1 – 3 Manchester City

Arsenal 3 – 0 Chelsea

Marcus Rashford hopes a prolific goalscoring season can help him become the “ultimate striker” and bring silverware to Manchester United, who face Leicester today. The 18-year-old has come a long way since his debut against Midtjylland seven months ago, embarking on a meteoric journey from near obscurity to the forefront of the first team at Old Trafford. Having scored eight goals in his stunning breakthrough season, he has already found the net three times this term, most recently in United’s EFL Cup victory at Northampton.

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Mamadou Sakho has vented his frustrations at Liverpool on Snapchat after being frozen out of the first-team this season. The 26-year-old France international, who was sent home early from the club’s pre-season tour of the United States before rejecting a move to Stoke, has not played for the Reds this season. Speaking ahead of today’s visit by Hull, Klopp revealed the centre-back was close to a return to full fitness, but added that it wasn’t “how the player feels, it’s about how I feel”.

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