Newcastle United have been handed a double
injury boost ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Arsenal with
forwards Joelinton and Yoshinori Muto back in first-team training, the
club said.

Brazilian Joelinton picked up a rib injury in
Newcastle’s 3-2 win at Oxford United in the FA Cup fourth round replay
last week, while Japan’s Muto has not played since early last month
because of a hip problem.

Their return will bolster manager Steve
Bruce’s forward options heading into the weekend with both Andy Carroll
(hip) and Dwight Gayle (hamstring) sidelined.

Nigeria have appointed former captain Joseph
Yobo as assistant coach of the men’s national team, the Nigeria Football
Federation have announced-.

The 39-year-old will work with
manager Gernot Rohr and replaces Imama Amapakabo in the technical crew
of the three-time African champions.

“I’m super excited about the
opportunity,” Yobo, who played for Marseille, Everton and Fenerbahce
during his club career, told ESPN.

Paris Saint-Germain cruised into the
semifinals of the French Cup on Wednesday after thumping Dijon 6-1 in a
match that saw the French champions benefit again from comical own
goals.

PSG were ahead just 47 seconds after kick off thanks to
Wesley Lautoa shanking Mitchel Bakker’s low cross into his own net to
the bemusement of his teammates.

It was the second own goal in a
week to be scored for PSG, who also saw Lyon’s Fernando Marcal slam a
stunning effort past his own goalkeeper at the weekend.

Mohamed Salah’s potential involvement for his
country in the Tokyo Olympic Games will be a decision for the player
and his club Liverpool, Egypt’s Olympic coach told Reuters on Wednesday.

Media
reports on Salah’s inclusion in a provisional 50-man squad led to
speculation that Liverpool could be without Salah for the start of the
next Premier League season.

But Egyptian Olympic team coach Shawky Gharib said they could not force the player to be involved.

Former Spain
goalkeeper Iker Casillas plans to run for the presidency of the Spanish
Football Federation (RFEF), Spanish media reported on Wednesday.

Casillas
told the national sports council (CSD) of his intention to run in the
upcoming RFEF elections, reported the Cadena Ser radio station early
Wednesday.

According to this media, Casillas “has made the decision to run” for the elections and has informed Irene Lozano, who as secretary of state for sport is president of the CSD.

Leeds United fans can be forgiven for feeling
a horrible sense of deja vu as another season that promised so much
under the mercurial Marcelo Bielsa has come off the rails in the new
year.

The visiting thousands crammed into one end of Brentford’s
rickety Griffin Park on Tuesday were serenaded with a familiar refrain
after falling behind: “Leeds are falling apart again.”

Bielsa’s
men fought back to salvage a point and prevent the Bees usurping them in
the Championship table, but a 1-1 draw meant Leeds have taken just 10
points from their last 11 games.

Arsenal midfielder Dani Ceballos felt angry
at not being able to help former coach Unai Emery, but is determined to
prove himself to new boss Mikel Arteta and pay back fans for their
support.

The playmaker, on loan from Real Madrid, missed over two
months with a hamstring injury and has been on the bench of late but not
yet played under Arteta, who took over in December after leaving his
job as Manchester City’s assistant head coach.

“Mikel will be a
brilliant coach. He has learned from Pep (Guardiola, Manchester City
coach), he has a philosophy of play which I think I fit perfectly. It’s
true he arrived in a difficult situation of the club, but mentally he’s
exactly the kind of coach Arsenal need right now,” Ceballos told Marca
newspaper.

An Italian soccer referee has been banned for
one year after he lost his cool and headbutted a goalkeeper he had sent
off during a minor league game earlier this month, ANSA news agency
reported on Tuesday.

In a match between Borgo Mogliano and
Montottone in Macerata on February 1, the referee Antonio Martiniello
had given Borgo Mogliano’s goalkeeper Matteo Ciccioli his marching
orders as the hosts won 3-1.

But Martiniello was not done meting
out punishment and when the pair faced off outside the changing room
after the game as the goalkeeper sought an explanation, the referee
headbutted Ciccioli, who was taken to hospital to treat his injuries.

Belgian football club Anderlecht have been
sanctioned after a firework thrown by a fan exploded next to the
visiting ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

Former Manchester
City captain Vincent Kompany, who joined Anderlecht in June as
player-manager, appealed to a rowdy section of home fans after the
incident as the home side went down 2-1 on the day in a local derby
against Club Brugge.

Part of a stand will be closed for one game and the Brussels outfit must pay a fine of 5 000 euros after the incident.

Odion Ighalo will be in the Manchester United
squad for the Premier League clash with Chelsea next Monday despite
missing a training camp in Spain due to fears he could be denied
re-entry into Britain if restrictions against the outbreak of
Coronavirus are tightened.

The 30-year-old Nigerian international
striker joined United on loan until the end of the season on deadline
day last month from Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.

The British
government called the novel coronavirus a “serious and imminent threat”,
and said anyone with the disease can now be forcibly quarantined if
they are deemed a threat to public health as the number of cases in
Britain doubled to eight.