Flamengo win Brazilian Serie A

Cardiff City s promotion hopes were dealt another blow as Preston North End won 1-0 in the Welsh capital to condemn Neil Warnock s side to a third consecutive Championship defeat.

Preston captain Tom Clarke netted decisively from close range in the final minute after Neil Etheridge denied Paul Huntington and Tom Barkhuizen from Josh Harrop s left-wing corner.

It means Cardiff missed out on the chance to replace Bristol City in the top two ahead of the weekend action.

Preston are up to seventh – a point and a place shy of the play-off places.

Tom Clarke heads home for 1-0. head home with the points.

— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp)

Elsewhere, Millwall claimed bragging rights over their former boss Ian Holloway with a 1-0 win over…

Competition: Serie A

Market: AC Milan to beat Crotone

Odds:

Serie A returns for yet another round of incredibly interesting games as Italy s top league continues to heat up. The new year will surely bring even more enthralling action, with the top and bottom of the table exceptionally tight as every side continues to look to add points to their current totals. With this in mind, AC Milan host Crotone on Saturday.

AC Milan have been hugely disappointing this season and they are in danger of falling into midtable anonymity if they are not careful. After 19 games they have seven wins, four draws and eight defeats, while they have scored 24 times and conceded 27 goals, which has seen them take just 25 points so far this season. Milan are fairly com…

Italian media outlet that Chelsea have made Everton striker Romelu Lukaku their number one target.

The Blues were believed to be keen on Edinson Cavani, but the latest reports suggest that new manager Antonio Conte has turned his attention towards the Belgium hotshot.

Everybody at Chelsea has lived to regret cashing in on Lukaku in the summer of 2014, and they will now have to pay top dollar if they want the 22-year-old back at Stamford Bridge.

New manager Antonio Conte has been impressed with his recent performances and is ready to pull all the stops to win the chase for his signature.

Lukaku is enjoying his most successful campaign since arriving to England, having netted 18 times in 31 Premier League outings.

He also appears to have won the b…

Mauricio Pochettino hopes Harry Kane s ties to Tottenham will keep him at the club for a long time, comparing the England striker to Roma great Francesco Totti.

Kane is aiming to shake off a bout of illness and feature for Spurs at Swansea City on Tuesday following a stellar 2017, when he broke Alan Shearer s record for the most Premier League goals in a calendar year and outscored Barcelona and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi for club and country over the 12-month period.

A Champions League last-16 tie against Juventus is on the agenda next month, with the prospect of the 24-year-old s stock rising even further in the eyes of Europe s heavyweight clubs.

But, in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Pochettino cited one of Italy s most famous one-club men and …

Feyenoord attacking midfielder Lex Immers has signed a new contract to keep him at De Kuip until 2017.

Immers joined the Rotterdam club from ADO Den Haag in July 2012 and has established himself as a regular with the 14-time Eredivisie champions.

The 27-year-old enjoyed an impressive season in 2013-14, scoring 12 goals in 37 appearances as Feyenoord finished second behind fierce rivals Ajax in the Dutch top flight, ensuring a place in the UEFA Champions League.

Immers deal was due to expire in 2016, but Feyenoord have now secured his services for another year.

At the time I switched to Feyenoord, I needed some time to get used to it, Immers told the club s official website. After a difficult start things began to get better.

From the beginning I played pret…

Venezuela Under-20 captain Josef Martinez impressed at the Campeonato Sudamericano despite his side failing to reach the final stages.

The Young Boys striker scored two of their three goals as they finished fourth in Group B, behind Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador.

Martinez netted the winner in Venezuela s 1-0 win over Ecuador before they suffered losses to Peru and Brazil, who surprisingly failed to progress.

The 19-year-old was on the scoresheet again against Uruguay in their final group match, but a 2-2 draw was not enough to get them through.

Martinez has won five senior international caps after making his debut against Honduras on August 10, 2011.

…

Barcelona coach Xavi is confident Robert Lewandowski will soon find his rhythm at the club, having failed to find the net in pre-season.

The Poland international is one of Barcelona s marquee additions for the 2022-23 season, joining from Bayern Munich, and arrives with an established reputation as one of Europe s deadliest finishers.

Goals have not come in preparation for the new season, but Xavi is not concerned and believes there have been some encouraging signs already.

The positive is that he has had all those opportunities, I am sure he will mark them, he said following Barcelona s win against the New York Red Bulls.

In training, they go in; today, they have not gone in. I am convinced that they will go in, I trust him. 

It happened wit…

Expansion team St Louis City made it three wins from three games to open their debut MLS campaign triumphing 2-1 away to Portland Timbers on Saturday.

The Missouri outfit became only the second expansion team in MLS history to start 3-0-0, with goals from Jared Stroud and Kyle Hiebert completing another comeback win.

Towering centre-back Zac McGraw had put Portland ahead in the third minute with a header from Eryk Williamson s set piece.

Stroud netted his second goal of the season on the stroke of half-time for 1-1, lashing in after Rasmum Alm s cross from the right side.

Canadian defender Hiebert came up with the winner in the 75th minute with his header finding its way into the back of the net from Eduard Lowen s free-kick.

St Louis have come fr…

Prince Oniangue fired Congo to a 1-0 victory that sent them top of Africa Cup of Nations Group A, leapfrogging opponents Gabon.

Gabon missed a chance to book their place in the Africa Cup of Nations knockout stages as Group A winners, losing 1-0 to Congo on Wednesday.

Jorge Costa s men beat 2013 finalists Burkina Faso 2-0 in their tournament opener and would have moved into an unassailable lead at the summit with another three points in Bata.

However, Prince Oniangue capitalised on some questionable Gabon defending to score the winner three minutes after half-time.

Neither side was able to take control in a tight first half, but Frederic Bulot was unlucky not to break the deadlock with a spectacular strike after five minutes.

Oniangue s goal gav…

Daniel Sturridge marked his return from injury with a goal in Liverpool s 2-0 win over West Ham at Anfield on Saturday.

Daniel Sturridge was on target in his first Premier League appearance since August as he rounded off the scoring in Saturday s 2-0 win over West Ham at Anfield.

Sturridge has been plagued with groin and thigh injuries so far this term, but came off the bench to add to Raheem Sterling s opener after the forward had given Liverpool the lead shortly after the break.

The mood was positive around Anfield prior to the fixture due to Sturridge being named on the bench and Sterling added to the feel-good factor by helping maintain Liverpool s mid-season revival with a smart finish following a clever pass from Philippe Coutinho.

Chances co…