Rashford injury overshadows Man Utd win over Wolves

Alex Livesey, getty

Juan Mata's clinical finish sent Manchester United into the fourth round of the FA Cup at Wolves' expense with a 1-0 win at Old Trafford that came at a cost as Marcus Rashford hobbled off with an injury.

Rashford started on the bench in one of three United changes, came on as a second half substitute but was forced off after less than 15 minutes on the field. He is now a doubt for the trip to runaway leaders Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.

The brief cameo from United's top goalscorer coincided with the only goal as Mata ensured Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men will travel to either Watford or Tranmere on January 26th.

Wolves put United out of the FA Cup last season and were unbeaten in five previous meetings between the sides since returning to the top flight in 2018.

Nuno Espirito Santo signalled his intent by making just one change from his side's Premier League clash with Newcastle at the weekend as John Ruddy replaced Rui Patricio in goal and Wolves looked likely to inflict more pain on the Red Devils in the first half.

Pedro Neto's strike was ruled out after a VAR review for handball against Raul Jimenez before Matt Doherty hit the post for the visitors.

At the other end, Ruddy made a fine save to deny Daniel James. The Welsh international fired just wide of the far post early in the second half.

Rashford had come off on Saturday after scoring twice in a 4-0 thrashing of Norwich, with Solskjaer admitting the England international is carrying "quite a few knocks."

The Norwegian still ran the risk of introducing his star striker 25 minutes from time and within three minutes United led.

A rare moment of defensive disorganisation from Wolves allowed Anthony Martial to play Mata through on goal and the Spaniard coolly dinked the ball over the advancing Ruddy.

Rashford then went down holding his back and was replaced by Jesse Lingard.

His absence could be a huge blow to United's fight for a top-four finish in the Premier League and in three cup competitions.

Cardiff set up a fourth-round visit to Reading by edging a seven-goal thriller against fourth-tier Carlisle United 4-3.

Djordje Denic har forlatt treningsleiren til Rosenborg i Marbella.

Foto: Thomas Karlsen, Karlsen Foto

Den serbiske midtbanespilleren er nemlig snart klar for en ny klubb. Det er ukjent hvilken, men den er ikke norsk.

- Han gjennomfører medisinsk test torsdag. Det er snakk om ett års utlån om ting går i orden, forteller Mikael Dorsin til Adresseavisen.

Denic ble kjøpt fra Rad sommeren 2018. Han har aldri greid å spille seg til fast plass, men han har bokført 30 kamper og ett mål.

Bød én million for Helland

Norrköping ville ikke sprenge banken for Pål André Helland.

Foto: Thomas Karlsen, Karlsen Foto

 Avslo bud på Helland (03.01.20)
 Helland foretrekker Norrköping (02.01.20)
 Norrköping ønsker Helland (17.12.19)

Ifølge Dagbladet var det avslåtte budet fra Sverige på bare én million kroner.

Norrköping prøvde å kjøpe Helland allerede i august i fjor. Da var Mikael Dorsin agent og forsøkte å overbevise Rosenborg om å selge fordi at Helland ikke hadde tillit til Eirik Horneland, som vraket ham fra laget i mai.

Nå ser samarbeidet mellom Helland og Horneland ut til å fortsette.

Hólmar með sigurmarkið gegn Kanada

Kanada 0 - 1 Ísland
0-1 Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson ('21)

Varnarmaðurinn Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson skoraði eina markið þegar Ísland vann Kanada í vináttulandsleik í Bandaríkjunum. Þetta var fyrri leikur Íslands í þessu janúarverkefni en á sunnudagskvöld verður leikur gegn El Salvador.

Davíð Kristján Ólafsson tók hornspyrnu á 21. mínútu og boltinn datt til Hólmars á fjærstönginni og hann náði að skora. Höskuldur Gunnlaugsson komst nálægt því að tvöfalda forystuna fyrir hlé en staðan 1-0 í hálfleik.

Meira á leiðinni...

Uppgifter: Djurdjic träningsvägrade efter nobbat bud

Nikola Djurdjic fanns inte med på Hammarbys träning under onsdagen.

Fotbolldirekt uppger att 33-åringen ska ha träningsvägrat på grund av ett nobbat bud från en kinesisk klubb.

– Vi har ett längre kontrakt med ”Niko” i Hammarby sen har jag inga kommentarer, säger klubbens sportchef Jesper Jansson.

Fotbolldirekt skriver att Hammarby ska ha nobbat ett bud från en kinesisk klubb på två och en halv miljon kronor. Något som ska ha gjort att Djurdjic vägrat träna med Hammarby.

”Tränade inte i dag”

Enligt lagets assisterande tränare, Joachim Björklund, stämmer det att Djurdjic inte fanns med på träningen.

– Ja, det gör det. Så mycket mer har jag inte att säga. Han tränade inte i dag och har ni några fler frågor får ni ringa de lite högre upp, säger Björklund.

Fick ni tränare reda på det innan?

– Vi fick höra det innan, så det är lugnt. Vi visste om det.

Visste ni om anledningen?

– Nej, och återigen, det får du ta det med som sköter och styr i klubben.

Fåordig sportchef

Sportchefen Jesper Jansson var dock fåordig.

– Jag har inga kommentarer på det, säger han.

Jansson på frågan om intresset för Djurdjic:

– Vi har ett längre kontrakt med Niko i Hammarby sen har jag inga kommentarer.

Djurdjics agent Michael Kallbäck är ovetandes till om Djurdjic medverkade eller inte på träningen.

– Jag har ingen aning. Jag har inte pratat med Niko sedan någon dag tillbaka. Det är inte så att jag har koll på när spelare tränar och inte tränar, säger han.

Xavi 'will be manager' of Barcelona one day

Alex Grimm, getty

Xavi Hernandez may have just turned down the chance to coach Barcelona but "he will be manager one day", the Catalan club's president Josep Maria Bartomeu said on Wednesday.

Former Barca captain Xavi was approached for the Camp Nou job last week but rejected the offer, preferring to remain as boss of Qatari team Al-Sadd for the time being.

That led to Quique Setien's appointment as successor to sacked Ernesto Valverde on Monday, the 61-year-old signing a contact until June 2022, with a break clause in 2021, to allow for change after the club's presidential elections.

Bartomeu believes that in Setien they have found a more than suitable alternative after failing to land their first choice.

"He has shown in the teams he's been with that he loves the beautiful game, he loves above all the way we like to see the game played and it's because of this that he was selected," Bartomeu told Sport website.

But he also had warm words for Xavi, who won the World Cup with Spain in 2010, came through Barcelona's academy and played 855 senior games for the club.

After an emotional farewell, he joined Al-Sadd as a player in 2015 before being appointed coach last July.

"Xavi will be manager of Barca one day, I have no doubt about that," he said.

"He is very competent, he is someone with an enormous drive and who knows our football perfectly."

Valverde was the first coach to be sacked by Barca mid-season since Louis van Gaal in 2003.

Despite the change of management Setien inherits a side sitting top of La Liga, albeit level on points with Real Madrid, and facing Napoli next month in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Mueller, Hummels surprise inclusions in Olympic team

Alex Grimm, getty

Despite being axed from the Germany team last year, former World Cup winners Mats Hummels and Thomas Mueller are surprise contenders to feature at the Tokyo Olympics after being included on a 50-strong preliminary list of candidates for the German team.

The squad will not be finalised until June, but both Borussia Dortmund defender Hummels, 31, and Bayern Munich forward Mueller, 30, are on the extended list submitted on Wednesday by Stefan Kuntz, who will coach the German team in Tokyo.

Football at the Games, which will take place between July 24 and August 9, are contested at Under-23 level, but each team is allowed to add three older players.

Despite having played key roles in helping Germany win the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Hummels and Mueller were dumped by head coach Joachim Loew in March after the national team failed to qualify from the group stages of the 2018 World Cup.

The German Football Association (DFB) has stipulated that no player can play at both the Euro 2020, being held across Europe between from June 12-July 12, and the Olympics.

Germany have been drawn in Group F in the Euros, alongside world champions France and holders Portugal.