Gomis eager for Lyon stay

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has challenged his Manchester United players to raise their game against the Premier League s lesser teams .

United picked up back-to-back wins over Tottenham and bitter rivals Manchester City in the space of four days to revive their domestic campaign.

The Red Devils also beat Chelsea 4-0 on the opening day of the season and are the only side to have taken a point off leaders Liverpool this term.

However, they have lost to two teams in the bottom six and drawn against two more struggling sides in Southampton and Aston Villa.

With games against bottom-half teams Everton, Watford and Burnley to come in three of their next four league outings, Solskjaer admitted a change of mentality may be required.

This time yesterday

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West Ham United have completed the signing of Cheikho Kouyate from Anderlecht for a fee of around £7m, .

Premier League heavyweights Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool had also been linked with a move for the 24 year old, though the Hammers have won the race to secure his services.

In thirty-eight appearances for the Belgian champions last season, Kouyate scored three goals while he also boasts a host of European experience, turning out nineteen times in the Champions League over the past four seasons.

Internationally, he has won four full caps for Senegal and also featured for them at the 2012 London Olympics.

He becomes the second new arrival at the Boleyn Ground this summer following Argentine striker Mauro Zarate’s transfer from Velez Sar…

While Neymar s switch to Barcelona has provoked much controversy, the Brazilian feels he and Lionel Messi are making strides on the pitch.

Neymar believes a better understanding with Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi is the primary reason for their free-scoring form so far this season.

The Brazil international joined Barca from Santos in June 2013 in a move that has been the subject of much controversy in Spain.

Barca have recently hit back at calls for the club to stand trial over alleged tax fraud surrounding the transfer, however, on the pitch the move is paying dividends.

After scoring 15 times last season, Neymar has netted 22 goals in 26 appearances this term, with Argentina superstar Messi on target on 32 occasions.

And Neymar is delighted …

Coach Raymond Domenech has recalled both Patrick Vieira and Franck Ribery to the French squad for the World Cup qualifier against Romania in Bucharest on October 11.

Both players missed France s opening two qualifiers a 1-3 loss to Austria in Vienna and a 2-1 win over Serbia in Paris which resulted in growing calls for Domenech to be axed.

Former skipper Vieira was in the French squad that contested the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland during the summer but a thigh strain kept him on the sidelines. He returned to action with Inter Milan on September 13.

Ribery sustained an ankle injury in the 0-2 Euro loss to Italy and only just made his comeback with Bayern Munich last week.

Also called back up was striker Florent Sinama-Pongolle, who has…

Hasan Salihamidzic blasted Bayern Munich as inferior in all areas in their loss to Bayer Leverkusen, as the champions slipped up in the Bundesliga title race.

A 2-1 defeat in the final game before the international break saw Julian Nagelsmann s side fail to reclaim top spot a day after losing it to Borussia Dortmund.

With the two sides set to meet in their first game back on April 1, Bayern will enter the crunch clash knowing a second reverse in a row could spell the end of their title defence.

Sporting director Salihamidzic was left fuming by what he perceived as a poor mentality throughout, and felt the visitors deserved nothing at BayArena.

That s not what Bayern means, he told SPORT1 in discussing the performance. We missed everything [that we] deman…

Gianluigi Buffon is leaving Paris Saint-Germain after one season at Parc des Princes, the Ligue 1 champions have confirmed.

Buffon joined the club on a free transfer in July 2018, bringing his glittering 17-year spell at Juventus to an end, and he helped PSG win the Ligue 1 title at a canter.

The 41-year-old former Italy international started 17 of PSG s 38 league matches, with Alphonse Areola more frequently the preferred option of head coach Thomas Tuchel.

Buffon indicated that he would return to Italy after leaving the French capital, with player and club jointly deciding not to renew his deal.

He told the club s official website: I leave happy to have enjoyed this experience which has undoubtedly helped me to grow.

Today my adventure outside …

Andre Gomes was brave to open up about his problems at Barcelona, according to coach Ernesto Valverde, while Sergio Busquets has sympathised with his team-mate s troubles.

In an extraordinary interview, Gomes told Spanish magazine Panenka he is not enjoying life at Barcelona, where a lack of form has made his life a kind of hell .

Gomes suggested he has felt unable to leave his house because of feeling unsettled at the LaLiga leaders, with the midfielder having been booed during a win over title rivals Atletico Madrid earlier this month.

Valverde praised Gomes for being honest about his issues on and off the pitch and said the interview would not affect his selection plans.

It s nothing new in football, this happens a lot, Valverde told a news conferenc…

Queens Park Rangers midfielder Adel Taarabt is hoping he can continue the good form he has enjoyed against Swansea City in recent years.

The Welsh side have suffered at the hands of the 23-year old, who netted a brace against them during the 2010/11 Championship campaign before putting in a man-of-the-match display in a 3-0 home win last term.

Rangers will host the encounter at Loftus Road on Saturday and Taarabt is looking forward to the game.

I can t wait to get started and it s nice that we start with Swansea as I have a good record against them, Taarabt told the Daily Star.

I always seem to play well and score goals against them.

They must hate playing against me and will probably be sick of the sight of me. They do play very good footbal…

Gael Clichy believes Manchester City were right to sack Roberto Mancini after failing to win silverware this season.

The France full-back made 41 appearances this term as the club failed to retain their Premier League title, lost the FA Cup final to underdogs Wigan and were eliminated from the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.

Mancini was sacked by City on May 14 and Clichy said that the manager has to take responsibility for their failings this season.

It s the first time a manager has been axed while I ve been at a club, he said. So it s a bit of a shock and if you look at his record it s hard to
understand.

But he s the manager and you have to take responsibility. When results are good it s all down to the manager. When the results are not …

Zinedine Zidane was frustrated by Ronald Koeman s complaints about refereeing decisions in Real Madrid s favour, insisting he would never engage in such a debate. 

Barcelona coach Koeman said on Monday he could not understand the failure to award a penalty to Eibar late in their 3-1 defeat to Madrid. 

Eibar trailed by just a single goal at the time when the ball appeared to strike Sergio Ramos on the arm inside the penalty area. 

No spot-kick was given and the on-field decision was not reviewed, a call Koeman claimed nine out of 10 people would disagree with. 

These comments were relayed to Zidane on Tuesday, to which he replied: It has been annoying because I never get involved with the referees. 

I think the referees are in charge of the…