Football highlights

Yes, Ciro Immobile Has Scored Goals for Fun at Lazio - But He's Not Right for Everton The sound of Chris Kavanagh's whistle brought a merciful end to the longest of seasons at Goodison Park. A limp 3-1 loss was the latest disappointment in a whimpering end to the campaign, as Carlo Ancelotti's side slumped to 12th place - the club's lowest league finish since 2004. Ancelotti has overseen one win in Everton's last six macthes There have been flickers of promise since Ancelotti's arrival in December. Yet, in a (wise) attempt to swiftly banish any lingering memories of the previous 11 months of mediocrity, whispers concerning the single biggest distraction technique in any club's armoury have surfaced: transfers. 90min has recently been told  that Ancelotti is lining up Lazio hotshot Ciro Immobile as one of his key targets. This season, the Italian striker became just the fourth player to score more than 30 Serie A goals in a single campaign during the last 60 ...

Romelu Lukaku scored twice as Inter returned to winning ways with a 3-0 Serie A success at Genoa. Consecutive draws had seen the Nerazzurri pass up the opportunity to properly capitalise on Juventus' shaky form, with the leaders still able to seal the Scudetto against Sampdoria on Sunday. But even with their title hopes virtually extinguished, Antonio Conte's side were back on their game at the Luigi Ferraris to move up to second. Lukaku nodded in his 22nd league goal of the season 34 minutes in and, after Alexis Sanchez added a late second, got his 23rd with a marvellous individual effort, leaving Genoa still just four points clear of the bottom three, having played a game more than 18th-placed Lecce. Pressure had steadily built on the Genoa goal after a slow Inter start, with Lukaku - at the heart of all of their best work - helping to create chances for Marcelo Brozovic and Christian Eriksen that were both squandered. The Belgium striker made sure the visitors were ...

There will be no Ballon d'Or awarded in 2020 due to a "lack of sufficient fair conditions", France Football has announced. The French publication, which organises football's most prestigious individual prize, believes the effects of the coronavirus pandemic upon the sport at the elite level means it would be unfair to declare a 2020 winner. In a list of reasons published to explain the decision, France Football said it "did not want to put an indelible asterisk" on the trophy due to present circumstances, adding "we will always prefer a small sprain (to our history) to a large scar". It will be the first time since the Ballon d'Or launched in 1956 that its ballot to decide the finest player in the world will not be taken. Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi claimed the top prize for a record sixth time in 2019, with United States forward Megan Rapinoe lifting the Ballon d'Or Feminin. Football across the world shut down in March as COVID-19 spr...

Thibaut Courtois is the goalkeeper who wins the Ricardo Zamora Trophy in the wake of conceding only 20 goals in 34 matches and keeping 18 clean sheets for Real Madrid this campaign. It's his 3rd trophy subsequent to winning with Atletico Madrid in 2012/13 and 2013/14. Courtois turned into the first-ever footballer to win the LaLiga championship with two Madrid clubs on Thursday night.  Presently, the goalkeeper has become the first footballer in LaLiga ever to win the Zamora Trophy with both Madrid clubs being a key figure in the Real Madrid LaLiga champions team.  The Zamora award goes to the goalkeeper with the least goals conceded in a LaLiga campaign and with just 20 goals in 34 matches, the Belgian was the greatest. His (0.59) ratio gives him the edge over Atletico keeper Oblak's with (0.64) and Athletic Bilbao's Unai Simon's with (0.84) and Barcelona's Andre Ter-Stegen's with (1.00). Having secured the trophy with  Atletico Madrid  twice, this award was th...

Sergio Ramos has won it all for Real Madrid and Spain. From the World Cup to the Champions League, the Madrid and Spain captain has a full trophy cabinet. As Ramos celebrates his 34th birthday on Monday, we look at what the former Sevilla defender has achieved since moving to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2005. 1 – Ramos helped Spain win their first World Cup in 2010. Playing as a right-back, with Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique the centre-back pairing – Ramos was crucial in Spain keeping five clean sheets in South Africa. It is his only World Cup title to date. 2 – Spain's most-capped player has two European Championship trophies to his name – Euro 2008 and Euro 2012. Ramos returned to the heart of Spain's defence for their title defence in 2012, partnering Puyol. Ramos also has a pair of Copa del Rey (2011 and 2014) successes. 4 – Not many can boast four Champions League winners' medals, but Ramos can. The face of Madrid, Ramos hoisted the coveted piece of silverware aloft i...

This weekend has been all about surprises. Teams like Chelsea and Leicester City were both humiliated, but we don't care about team results here. What's caught our eye is the sheer number of unlikely goalscorers. This weekend was full of  "What, really? Him?!"  moments. We're used to getting one of those every once in a while, but not all at one time. The football gods are spoiling us. Here are some of the most unlikely goalscorers from the past weekend. 1. David McGoldrick Sheffield United 's David McGoldrick entered this weekend as the man with the most shots on target without scoring in the  Premier League . He'd played 25 games (20 starts) and failed to find the back of the net. Then  Chelsea  rocked up to Bramall Lane. The Blues, who had only just recovered from letting  Crystal Palace 's Christian Benteke net his first home league goal in 800 days, watched on as McGoldrick fired home.  Twice . It's a Chelsea thing. 2. Dominic Solanke Speaking...