Erling Haaland blasted four goals past Wolves in a one-man Premier League show but the Manchester City forward says it would not be possible without manager Pep Guardiola or his team-mates.

The City talisman took his top-flight tally to 25 for this season, moving five clear of his nearest challenger in the Premier League Golden Boot race, after Saturday s 5-1 thrashing of Wolves.

Haaland was twice on target from the penalty spot as part of his first-half hat-trick, adding another after the interval with an arrowed strike into the top-left corner.

It was the first time the Norway star has managed four goals in one Premier League game, with his quartet of strikes coming in 54 minutes. Only Gabriel Jesus has scored as many earlier in one match, doing so in 53 minute…

Wayne Rooney has been appointed as Birmingham’s new manager.

The former England striker will be looking to improve on a 27 per cent win rate across his first two jobs with Derby and DC United after signing a three-and-a-half-year contract at St Andrew’s.

Here the PA news agency looks at his record in detail.

Derby

Rooney moved from his playing role at Derby into the manager’s seat, initially sharing the job with Liam Rosenior, Shay Given and Justin Walker before taking sole charge.

They were bottom of the Championship at the time but climbed to 18th, eight points clear of the relegation zone, before a late-season slump saw them survive by just a point.

Their relegation the following season came after a total of 21 points were deducted – 1…

Fulham missed the chance to move within a point of second-placed Leeds United as they were held to a goalless draw by Charlton Athletic, while fellow Championship promotion hopefuls Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 at home to Reading.

Third-placed Fulham went into the game having won their previous two league matches by a solitary goal but failed to find a way past Charlton, who secured manager Lee Bowyer on a new three-year contract earlier in the day.

Joe Bryan went close to giving the Cottagers the lead when he connected with Tom Cairney s pass and flashed a shot narrowly wide of Dillon Phillips goal midway through the first half.

Bowyer s men had chances of their own, and substitute Jonny Williams looked set to score the winner in a spell of late Addicks press…

Wales newcomer Niall Huggins is ready to step onto the international stage after expressing fears that a mystery injury which left him with weak bones would end his career.

Huggins joined up with the senior Wales squad for the first time this week ahead of decisive Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey after what the Sunderland defender called a “horrendous” period.

The 22-year-old made just a couple of league starts in his first two seasons at Sunderland after joining from Leeds in August 2021, with the full-back becoming increasingly concerned over his football future.

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Naby Keita scored the only goal as a much-changed Liverpool beat in-form Newcastle United 1-0 at St James Park to climb above Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.

Jurgen Klopp, who this week signed a contract extension to keep him at Anfield until 2026, had complained about the timing of this early kick-off and made five changes following Wednesday s 2-0 win over Villarreal in the Champions League.

Mohamed Salah, Thiago Alcantara and Trent Alexander-Arnold watched on from the bench as Keita – one of those recalled – drilled in a contentious goal with 19 minutes gone.

Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka kept his side in the game but Liverpool saw out the victory to move two points above City ahead of the reigning champions trip to Leeds Unite…

Carlo Ancelotti has conferred the Champions League favourites tag upon Manchester City but the Real Madrid head coach insisted there may be some “surprises at the end”.

The most successful side in Europe’s premier club competition with 14 wins, including lifting the trophy five times in the last decade, Madrid are often tipped to progress into the latter stages at the outset.

But Real, who open their Group C campaign on Wednesday against Union Berlin at the Bernabeu, were eliminated in ruthless fashion at the semi-final stage by Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning City side in May.

It is the Premier League giants that have a target on their backs, according to Ancelotti, who nevertheless intimated no team can ever take anything for granted.

“City are…

Monza have been promoted to Serie A for the first time in their 110-year history thanks to a 6-4 aggregate win over Pisa after extra time in the second leg of their Serie B play-off final.

Although a 2-1 win in Thursday s first leg had Monza in charge ahead of the return game in Tuscany, Pisa raced into a 2-0 lead inside nine minutes on Sunday.

Monza brought it back to 2-2 on the day and appeared to have done enough to seal promotion, but Giuseppe Mastinu struck in the 90th minute to level the aggregate score and force an extra 30 minutes.

Former Juventus defender Luca Marrone scored for Monza early on in extra time and Christian Gytkjaer got his second of the day with 101 minutes played.

Eugenio Lamanna was then shown a straight red card, though the back…

It took the man in the waistcoat to turn the tanker.

In a year s time, England will be at the Qatar 2022 World Cup with serious aspirations of bringing back the trophy. And while there are a number of key figures who have made that prospect realistic, nobody stands out quite like Gareth Southgate, who on Tuesday celebrated a five-year anniversary as manager.

Greg Dyke was a newly appointed chairman of the English Football Association (FA) when he declared in a famous 2013 speech: English football is a tanker that needs turning.

He spoke that day of wishing to create an England team that could be successful on the world stage.

The two targets I have for the England team are – one, to at least reach the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and two, win the World …

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In what could prove to be an enjoyable Champions League showdown from the Estadio da Luz on Tuesday night, Benfica will welcome Real Sociedad to Portugal.

Starting with the hosts, while Benfica might be seeking a minor miracle in their bid to punch a Champions League knockout stage ticket, Roger Schmidt’s side are enjoying another real domestic flurry. Making real history last season as they got their hands on a first Primeira Liga crown since 2019, the Eagles have their sights firmly set on defending their Portuguese title this time around. Desperate to put their first Group D points on the board in midweek, Benfica certainly picked up some real momentum over the weekend. Putting in a stellar display as they cruised their wa…

Stephen Frail claims former team-mate Craig Levein’s appointment as St Johnstone boss will have no impact on Motherwell’s focus ahead of their crucial clash on Tuesday night.

The 59-year-old former Scotland boss signed a contract for the cinch Premiership’s bottom side which runs until May, 2026.

Levein, whose previous clubs include Hearts, Dundee United and Leicester, succeeds Steven MacLean, who left the Perth club last week and he will face the struggling Lanarkshire side in his first game at McDiarmid Park.

Well assistant manager Frail, who played with Levein at Tynecastle, said: “Craig is a very experienced manager, I know him well from my playing days at Hearts and I wish him well in the job.

“The last time he was involved in the dugout wa…