New England boss Sam Allardyce has admitted he may talk to former captain John Terry about returning to international football. The Chelsea defender retired from England duty in 2012 having twice been stripped of the captaincy and was never considered an option by previous manager Roy Hodgson. But, with 78 caps to his name, Terry – now considered a veteran at 35 – could make an unexpected return if Allardyce opts to offer him an opportunity to do so. Allardyce said he would want to be fully aware of any lingering politics surrounding … [Read more...]

The criticism of Chelsea striker Diego Costa has left Antonio Conte desperate for him not to let it distract his start to the season. Antonio Conte has urged Diego Costa to focus on his football and not let the criticism of him affect his impressive start to the 2016-17 campaign. Costa netted his second goal of the Premier League season on Saturday as Chelsea came from a goal down to beat Watford 2-1, the Spain international slotting home the decisive goal with three minutes to play. However, his performance attracted criticism with … [Read more...]

Eden Hazard said Chelsea have set their sights on regaining the Premier League title under Antonio Conte this season. Chelsea came from a goal down at Watford on Saturday to make it two wins from two Premier League games for Conte, with Diego Costa scoring an 87th-minute winner. The result puts the Londoners level with Manchester United, Manchester City and Hull City on six points -- a total the Blues took six games to reach as their title defence imploded last season. Hazard is encouraged by that start and said the team's goal was to … [Read more...]

Sadiq Umar scored a brace as Nigeria held off a late Honduras fightback to win Olympic bronze on Saturday at Mineirao Stadium. The 3-2 victory made sure of Nigeria's third Olympic medal in men's football after winning gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games, while they claimed silver in 2008 after a final defeat to Argentina in 2008. The medal was a reward for an Olympic tournament that got off to a rocky start. Nigeria's arrival in Brazil was delayed until just hours before the team's opening match because of a flight mix-up in … [Read more...]

Manager Antonio conte praised the impact of his substitutes as Chelsea again left it late to strike for victory. The Blues had beaten West Ham on Monday with a late Diego Costa strike, and the Spain international produced the goods three minutes from time against Watford as Conte's side came from behind to win 2-1 at Vicarage Road. Etienne Capoue fired the hosts ahead 10 minutes into the second half before Conte reacted, introducing Victor Moses, Michy Batshuayi and Cesc Fabregas from the bench, with summer recruit Batshuayi levelling with … [Read more...]

Diego Costa struck another late winner for Chelsea as they came from behind to beat Watford 2-1 in their Premier League clash at Vicarage Road. Etienne Capoue thrashed the hosts in front 10 minutes after the interval, only for Michy Batshuayi to come off the bench and capitalise on a poor piece of goalkeeping from Heurelho Gomes to draw Chelsea level with his first goal for the club. And it was a superb through-ball from another substitute in Cesc Fabregas which set Costa away in the closing stages, with the striker making no mistake as he … [Read more...]

Eden Hazard hopes Chelsea can strike fear into the rest of the Premier League by maintaining their winning start at Watford on Saturday. Antonio Conte's side won their first match of the campaign at home to West Ham on Monday night, but Hazard hopes a string of wins will get their title rivals worried. “If you win the first few games all the other teams will see that and say you are ready for the Premier League,” explained the Belgium international. “It scares them. If you don’t start well, you can still be champions at the end but it’s … [Read more...]

Antonio Conte insists his bust-ups with Walter Mazzarri are in the past and will shake his hand at Chelsea’s game at Watford tomorrow. The duo had a series of fall-outs in Serie A when Conte was in charge of Juventus and Mazzarri was at Napoli. But Conte has revealed their differences have been resolved and were on good terms when they met at a meeting of Premier league managers before the campaign began. Both are new to English football and the Chelsea boss said: “I saw him in the meeting with the coaches. I spoke with him about this … [Read more...]

Chelsea striker Diego Costa was the subject of controversy once again in the win over West Ham and he feels the attention is undeserved. Diego Costa says he feels targeted in England and receives harsher punishments than other Premier League players. The Chelsea striker scored a dramatic late winner as Antonio Conte's team defeated West Ham on Monday, but only after he had avoided a second yellow card for a foul on goalkeeper Adrian, having earlier been booked for dissent. West Ham boss Slaven Bilic said after the match that Costa would … [Read more...]

Cesar Azpilicueta has hailed N'Golo Kante as a potential Chelsea star following the midfielder's impressive debut against West Ham on Monday night. Kante, who joined Chelsea from Leicester for £32million this summer, was in fine form to help secure a 2-1 win in Antonio Conte's first Premier League game in charge at Stamford Bridge. The France international was an integral part of Leicester's title-winning team last season, and full-back Azpilicueta thinks that the 25-year-old - who was booked after just three minutes against the Hammers - … [Read more...]

Antonio Conte said he was “delighted” with his players after they started his Chelsea tenure with a hard-fought 2-1 win over West Ham United. Chelsea won the game thanks to Diego Costa’s last minute winner, and Conte was thrilled after with the physical effort they had put into the match. Athleticism has always been so important to Conte teams and having worked the players hard in pre-season the Italian coach was pleased with the results on the pitch. “I am delighted for the performance because I saw a lot of good things, a lot of things … [Read more...]

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic felt Diego Costa was lucky to still be on the pitch to score the late winner as West Ham lost 2-1 at Chelsea in the Premier League. Costa, who drilled home from 20 yards in the 89th minute, escaped punishment for a late tackle on Hammers goalkeeper Adrian having already been booked for dissent. Bilic told Sky Sports that the striker should have been sent off for the 67th-minute challenge, even if he did not mean to connect with Adrian's leg. "He had already been booked and it wasn't reckless and I don't … [Read more...]

Diego Costa scored a dramatic 89th minute winner to give Antonio Conte a winning start to his Chelsea career against West Ham. Chelsea’s first goal under the Italian came just after half time as Eden Hazard smashed his penalty into the roof of the net. However, despite being under the cosh for most of the second half, the Hammers equalised through James Collins . But Costa popped up to give Conte a dream start to life in the Premier League. Summer signing N’Golo Kante marked his first competitive Chelsea game with a third minute … [Read more...]

Eden Hazard hopes Chelsea's players can rediscover the form that won them the Premier League title two years ago. Hazard was named Player of the Year as the Blues won the championship in 2014-15, but they suffered in defending their crown and could only finish 10th last season. The Belgium international knows he must find the performances that won him so many plaudits, and is targetting a strong start at home to West Ham United on Monday. "Everybody needs to be the same player as two years ago," Hazard told Sky Sports. "We tried to find … [Read more...]