Benevento secured promotion to Serie A for the first time in their history with a 1-0 win over Carpi at Stadio Ciro Vigorito on Thursday.

After a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Serie B play-off final, George Puscas first-half strike proved decisive to send them into the top flight alongside SPAL 2013 and Hellas Verona.

It is a second successive promotion for Benevento, who were founded in their current form in 2005 and finished the regular season in fifth.

Inter loanee Puscas fired into the roof of the net after 32 minutes when he was picked out at the near post by wing-back Lorenzo Venuti, who did brilliantly to get past his man and drive in along the byline.

4 Benevento are the 4th side from Campania to have been promoted to Serie A after Napoli, Sale…

The contract between Arsenal and Sokratis Papastathopoulos has been terminated early, the north-London club have .

Having previously played for the likes of AEK Athens, Genoa, AC Milan and Werder Bremen, the Greek centre-back joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2018, for a fee believed to have been around €20 million.

Between then and now, Sokratis played a total of 69 games in all competitions for the Gunners, scoring six goals. His first season at the Emirates went relatively well he started 25 Premier League games and was an important part of a rather fragile back line. However, his significance gradually dropped and practically disappeared when Mikel Arteta replaced Unai Emery at the helm.

This term he hasn t played for the first team at…

Wolfsburg have signed Manchester City striker Lukas Nmecha on a season-long loan.

The 20-year-old was born in Hamburg and has represented both England and Germany at Under-21 level, featuring as part of Stefan Kuntz s squad when they finished as runners-up in this year s European Championship.

Nmecha made three senior appearances for City in 2017-18 – all as a substitute – before spending 2018-19 with Preston North End in the Championship.

He only scored four times in 44 appearances for Preston but was on target twice for City during their pre-season tour of Asia last month.

Best of luck to as he joins on a season-long loan. 

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

It had been my aim to play in the Bundesliga and in my home coun…

Dominic Calvert-Lewin struck twice and Ollie Watkins scored a debut goal as England started their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 5-0 thrashing of San Marino at Wembley.

Gareth Southgate was able to celebrate his 50th match as manager of his country with a Group I victory which should have been much more emphatic on Thursday.

James Ward-Prowse opened the scoring with his first senior international goal before Calvert-Lewin and Raheem Sterling got in on the act in a first half that saw England waste a host of clear-cut chances.

Calvert-Lewin doubled his tally early in the second half and substitute Watkins was on target on his Three Lions bow on another tough night for a San Marino team sitting at the bottom of the FIFA rankings, with much bigger test…

Prediction: Draw

Best Odds: 

Bookmaker: 

We re edging towards the end of the current international break and a whole host of teams have already booked their place at next year s FIFA World Cup. Of course, we still have plenty of places left to fill between now and next winter, and home nation Wales will hope to take a big step towards qualifying themselves when they play host to Belgium on Tuesday evening.

Wales

The Welsh have had to endure some tough times off the pitch as of late and on it, they ve been okay at best. They re picking up big wins here and there but they aren t quite pushing themselves to the limit in the way they did at the start of their Euro 2020 campaign. They ve got the star power necessary to make waves in the play-offs, but t…

Wolves have alleged one of their players was subjected to discriminatory abuse during their Premier League game at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

The club reported the matter to the officials and stadium authorities at Selhurst Park and a supporter was subsequently ejected from the ground. Police have also been informed.

The player affected has not been named.

A statement from Wolves read: “We are very disappointed to report that one of our players was the target of discriminatory abuse by an opposing fan during today’s game with Crystal Palace.

We are very disappointed to report that one of our players was the target of discriminatory abuse by an opposing fan during today’s game with Crystal Palace.

— Wolves (@Wolves)

“We reported t…

A late header from Denzel Dumfries earned Serie A champions Inter a 1-1 home draw against Lazio after Daichi Kamada gave the visitors a first-half lead.

Inter have 93 points, while Lazio are in seventh place on 60 with one match to play.

Lazio are level on points with sixth-placed rivals Roma, who are set to play against Genoa later on Sunday.

Kamada broke the deadlock for the visitors in the 32nd minute with a well-placed low shot into the corner from just outside the box, after each of the sides had several chances.

Both teams continued to attack after the break, with Dumfries beating his marker at the far post to head in the equaliser from a free kick in the 87th minute.

It finishes in a draw. And now it s time to lift the trophy!

Powe…

Villarreal head coach Marcelino will have to do something he has failed to do in 11 previous attempts if his side are to end Barcelona s record unbeaten run at El Madrigal on Sunday.

Spaniard Marcelino has gone head-to-head with Barca 11 times during his career and has yet to chalk up a victory over the Catalan giants, with just two draws to show from those encounters.

Moreover, recent history is firmly on Barcelona s side.

Villarreal, nicknamed the Yellow Submarine, have failed to beat Barca in their past 13 Liga matches, losing the last five.

Barca s last defeat at El Madrigal came in 2007 and Luis Enrique s men are on a 38-match unbeaten run in all competitions  surpassing the previous best in Spanish football of 34 set by Real Madrid.

That …

Norwich City captain Sebastien Bassong has signed a new deal with the club, .

The Cameroon defender switch to Carrow Road from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012, and was crowned the Canaries player of the season in his first campaign with the club.

He was handed the team captaincy following Grant Holt’s move to Wigan Athletic, and has expressed his delight at extending his stay with Chris Hughton’s side.

Bassong moved to England in 2008 with Newcastle United where he made thirty league appearances and was named their Player of the Season as they dropped down into the Championship.

He then moved to Spurs where he spent three seasons, towards the end of which he was loaned to Wolverhampton Wanderers before moving to Norfolk.

Norwich host Swansea …

UEFA will elect a replacement for former president Michel Platini at a meeting in Athens on September 14.

Platini was banned from all football-related activity last year, after receiving a disloyal payment from then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter in 2011.

The Frenchman, who continues to deny wrongdoing, has since seen that suspension reduced to four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but they did not overturn his ban when their verdict was delivered on May 9. Following that decision, Platini confirmed his intention to resign.

UEFA has been without a president since the revelations and a new one will be chosen in September, meaning European football s governing body will not have someone in the role permanently during Euro 2016 in France, which gets u…