Marcus Rashford became the third-youngest player to score 50 Premier League goals for Manchester United as he opened the scoring against Leicester City.

Having missed a great chance in the opening minutes when he headed over from Bruno Fernandes cross, Rashford slotted home his sixth league goal of the season to put United 1-0 up against the Foxes.

Aged 23 years and 56 days, Rashford is behind only Wayne Rooney (22 years and 157 days) and Cristiano Ronaldo (22 years 341 days) in terms of the youngest United players to reach a half-century of Premier League goals.

Rashford s opener – which was set up by Fernandes, who has been directly involved in over half of United s Premier League goals since his debut (30/59), scoring 17 and assisting a further 13 – als…

Thibaut Courtois backed Eden Hazard to eventually explode for Real Madrid after his luckless injury run.

Hazard is yet to make an appearance for Madrid this season, having suffered a muscle injury just as he neared a return from an ankle issue.

The playmaker struggled to have much of an impact for the LaLiga giants in his first season following his arrival for a reported €100million (£86m) from Chelsea last year.

But Belgium and Madrid team-mate Courtois believes it is only a matter of time before Hazard delivers at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Hazard? I have no doubt, I am sure we will see the best Eden Hazard, the goalkeeper told Cadena SER on Wednesday.

He is the first with the desire to show it. I see him very well and hopefully soon he can pro…

Cristiano Ronaldo has been suspended for two matches by the Football Association (FA) and fined £50,000 for smashing an Everton supporter s phone last season.

The Portugal international, who had his contract mutually terminated by Manchester United on Tuesday, has also been warned by the FA over his future conduct.

Ronaldo was charged by the FA in September for breaching Rule E3 after footage of the incident emerged following United s loss at Goodison Park in April.

He was also questioned by Merseyside Police in relation to an alleged assault and criminal damage and received a caution in August.

Erik ten Hag suggested last month Ronaldo would fight the FA ruling, but the governing body announced on Wednesday he has now accepted the charge

Cristi…

Romelu Lukaku s double helped Belgium recover from an early setback in Tallinn as they saw off Estonia 5-2 to retain top spot in their World Cup qualifying group.

The Red Devils fell behind for the third time in four Group E matches when Mattias Kait fired the hosts – ranked 110 in the world – into a shock lead inside two minutes at A. Le Coq Arena.

But Belgium, in action for the first time since their Euro 2020 quarter-final loss to Italy, replied before the half-hour mark through a Hans Vanaken header and Lukaku s clinical finish.

Lukaku doubled his tally early in the second half and further goals followed from Axel Witsel and substitute Thomas Foket as Roberto Martinez s side made it three wins and a draw from their first four qualifying fixtures, despite…

Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic s red card as Saud Abdulhamid s late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King s Cup semi-finals.

Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday s clash.

Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.

Al Ittihad s Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal s opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.

Al Hilal are 10-time King s Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.

The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo s Al …

Former England captain Faye White praised the Lionesses for being “calm and composed” during their Women’s World Cup semi-final victory against Australia.

England reached their first World Cup final and will play Spain for the trophy on Sunday after Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo secured a 3-1 victory over the tournament co-hosts in Sydney, where Australia captain Sam Kerr had equalised with a stunning individual goal after half-time.

Ex-Arsenal defender White, who earned 90 England caps, said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have had so many different challenges and styles of play to (come up) against in this tournament already and then dealing with the hosts…

— Lionesses (@Lionesses)

“(Look at) how calm and comp…

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has revealed he hopes to manage in the Premier League at some point in his career.

Earlier this month Lennon led the Hoops into the last 16 of the Champions League, recording a historic victory over Barcelona at Parkhead as they finished second in their group.

I m ambitious and maybe one day, if I m still good enough, a Premier League team might shine the eyes at me and it would be something to consider, he said.

I m very happy here at the minute but who knows? This time last year I was thinking about resigning, because we were 3-0 down at half-time to Kilmarnock and 15 points behind Rangers.

It s funny how football changes so quickly so I m aware it can change quickly again.

I love what I do here and have a great …

Frank Rijkaard has been sacked as the coach of Saudi Arabia just halfway through his three-year contract.

The 50-year-old Dutchman – who was in charge of Barcelona from 2003 to 2008 – lost his job following the recent Gulf Cup of Nations, in which Saudi Arabia failed to make it out of the group stages.

They opened the tournament with a 2-0 defeat to Iraq and although a win by the same scoreline against Yemen restored some pride, a 1-0 loss to Kuwait on Sunday ended the country s hopes.

And the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) acted swiftly to dispense with Rijkaard s services as a result of the failure at the Gulf Cup.

It has been agreed with the Dutchman Mr Frank Rijkaard to terminate his contract, an official statement on the SAFF website …

Cristiano Ronaldo can t hide his disappointment at Valencia. Image via Getty

A point clear at the top of the table with two games in hand, Barcelona thrashed in the Champions League, you could forgive feeling a little smug, but the title favourites have had the grins well and truly wiped off their faces by Valencia.

Madrid blow chance to extend lead

Incredibly it was Simone Zaza who sent them on their way to defeat, yes the same Simone Zaza who seemed to have spent most of the season wondering where the goal was.

The former West Ham flop served his critics a rather stunning piece of humble pie with a gorgeous strike to make it 1-0. Munir El Haddadi fizzed the ball in from the right, Zaza with his back to goal controlled it, turned and smashed the ball into the…

The Premier League s two highest-scoring teams shared a goalless draw at the King Power Stadium as Leicester City missed the chance to go top and Manchester City s winless away run continued.

Manuel Pellegrini s men – 4-1 winners over Sunderland on Boxing Day as Leicester were beaten 1-0 at Liverpool – had the better of the first half, but found Kasper Schmeichel in fine form as Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling were denied by the Dane.

Leicester carried a threat of their own, though, and could have gone in ahead had Marc Albrighton been able to hook Christian Fuchs delivery into the net after Joe Hart had been taken out of the equation.

Jamie Vardy spurned an even better chance when he blazed over the target after being put through one-on-one, while…