Star striker Didier Drogba has been left out of the Ivory Coast squad for the March 23 World Cup qualifier against Gambia in Abidjan.

Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni was hit by a triple injury blow on Saturday as Aiden McGeady, Anthony Pilkington and Paul McShane were ruled out of his team's World Cup qualifiers against Sweden and Austria.

Bayern Munich are just two wins from the Bundesliga title after their 2-1 victory at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday allowed them to stay 20 points clear at the top of the table.

Manchester United capitalised on a slip-up by Manchester City to open up a massive 15-point lead at the Premier League summit despite a laboured display in a 1-0 win at home to Reading on Saturday.

Wayne Rooney scored the only goal as Manchester United beat Reading 1-0 on Saturday to open up a 15-point lead in the Premier League and move closer to a 20th English title.

High-flying Manchester United are taking to the skies in the bid to clinch the title in rapid style.

Georgios Samaras scored a wonder winner for Celtic four minutes into stoppage time as they fought from 3-1 down to record a remarkable 4-3 win over Aberdeen on Saturday.

Cardiff got back on track in the race to reach the Premier League as the Championship leaders cruised to a 2-0 win at Sheffield on Saturday.

Stoke City were unable to shake themselves out of their recent slump as they were held to a goalless draw at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Aston Villa eased their relegation worries as Christian Benteke's late strike clinched a crucial 3-2 win over fellow strugglers QPR on Saturday.

Arsenal bounced back from their Champions League exit to step up their challenge for a top-four Premier League finish as goals from Nacho Monreal and Gervinho secured a 2-0 win at Swansea City on Saturday.

Ten-man Everton all but ended Manchester City's title defence with a gritty and controversial 2-0 win over the Premier League champions at Goodison Park on Saturday.

Southampton did their hopes of avoiding the drop from the English Premier League the power of good and dented Liverpool's top six hopes Saturday with a 3-1 win at St Mary's.

Manchester City's faint hopes of retaining the Premier League title appear all but over after the champions crashed to a controversial 2-0 defeat against 10-man Everton on Saturday.

German champions Borussia Dortmund routed Freiburg 5-1 on Saturday to provisionally trim runaway league leaders Bayern Munich's lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 17 points.

Gary Locke was on Saturday appointed Hearts manager on a permanent basis, a day before the club's encounter with St Mirren in the Scottish League Cup final.

Barcelona defender Carles Puyol could miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on an ongoing knee problem, club doctors confirmed on Saturday.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti is relishing the challenge of facing Champions League favourites Barcelona in the quarter-finals and believes his expensively assembled side are capable of producing an upset.

Spain was once again the most represented nation as Friday's Champions League draw took place in Nyon, but alongside the familiar names of Real Madrid and Barcelona there was a newcomer - Malaga.

Ten-man Everton sounded a probable death knell on Manchester City's title defence with a hard-fought 2-0 win over the Premier League champions at Goodison Park on Saturday.