Martinez '100% focused' on Villa, insists Emery
Unai Emery says World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez is "100%" focused on Aston Villa ahead of his anticipated return to the side for Wednesday's home fixture with Wolves.
Aston Villa Sport News
Nasser Al-Attiyah survives rocky route to win Dakar stage
ALULA, Saudi Arabia: Defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) used all his experience of the rocky conditions to win a tough 430km second stage from Sea Camp to AlUla in the 45th Dakar Rally on Monday.As many of his rivals were held up by a series of punctures, including Sebastien Loeb (Prodrive) who lost almost an hour and a half, the Qatari Al-Attiyah plowed to a provisional 14-second win over Erik Van Loon (Overdrive).Carlos Sainz (Audi) was third man home, 5 minutes 5 seconds back, which was enough to give the Spaniard the lead in the provisional general classification, 2min 12sec ahead of Al-Attiyah.Mathieu Serradori (Century) is running third, 24min 55sec behind Sainz.“It was absolutely the time to attack and drive a good stage,” said Al-Attiyah.“It was not an easy day. There were a lot of rocks and the navigation wasn’t easy.
Cristiano Ronaldo due to arrive in Riyadh on Monday
Riyadh: After a week of media anticipation about Cristiano Ronaldo joining the Saudi Al-Nassr club, the world-renowned footballer was due to arrive at Riyadh’s King Khaled International Airport from Madrid late on Monday.
Pelé funeral: Fans line up to mourn Brazilian soccer great
SANTOS: Fans lined up early Monday outside the Vila Belmiro Stadium ahead of Pelé’s funeral in his hometown of Santos. The Brazilian soccer great died Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was 82.
No Messi, no Neymar as PSG suffer first loss of season
LENS: Paris Saint-Germain, without World Cup winner Lionel Messi and Neymar, lost for the first time in any competition since March 20 last year when they were defeated 3-1 at Lens on Sunday. “Lens deserved their win,” said PSG coach Christophe Galtier. Lois Openda scored one and set up another as Lens, who have only lost once in Ligue 1 this season, closed the gap on PSG at the top to four points after 17 rounds.
Mattias Ekstrom edges Loeb to take opening Dakar Rally prologue
YANBU, Saudi Arabia: Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom drove his Audi hybrid to victory in the 13km-long prologue of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Ekstrom edged out France’s nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb (BRX) by a second. “It’s always nice to start in a good way, but, of course, the day is long and the rally is even longer,” said Ekstrom.
Al-Wehda goalkeeper Monir El-Kajoui voted Saudi Pro League player of the week
RIYADH: Monir El-Kajoui has been voted the Roshn Saudi Pro League player of the week by statistical website Sofascore after an incredible performance in round 11 of the season.
Conte argues Spurs lumbered with unrealistic expectations after loss to Villa
Antonio Conte has cast doubt over Tottenham's Premier League top-four hopes and tried to address unrealistic expectations after his side were booed off following a damaging 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa. Second-half goals from Emiliano Buendia and Douglas Luiz gave the visitors all three points to make it a sorry start to the new year for Spurs. Tottenham conceded first for the 10th fixture in a row and have dropped to fifth in the table following Manchester United's win at Wolves. Even though Conte guided the club into the Champions League last season, he described that achievement as a "miracle" and insisted he will continue to be realistic with the club. "I know what is the reality because I am the coach," he said. "The club knows very well what are my thoughts on the situation. The situation was very clear. I continue to work and to improve and to help you to improve the club, to create a solid foundation and then to develop. "You have to know that there are clubs who can invest £200m or £300m and others with different policies and I repeat you have to respect the policy. "The policy has to be very clear with all people otherwise we created a situation that's not positive for the environment to create expectations that are not realistic, honestly. "I was expecting this moment. Now we have to start to fight strong, because the situation in this league you can slip quickly. "If you ask me if I'm scared, I'm not scared. I believe in my work, I believe in these players, but don't ask me for things I cannot promise you." Conte arrived at Spurs last November and, despite an inconsistent opening few months, managed to help them overturn Arsenal in the race for the top four last season.