Spurs hit Everton for six
Liverpool: Tottenham Hotspur showed why manager Mauricio Pochettino is a wanted man by thrashing Everton 6-2 at Goodison Park to close to within six points of Premier League leaders Liverpool. Spurs have had to cope with the unwanted attention of Pochettino being linked with the Manchester United job following Jose Mourinho's sacking this week. But they showed no signs of being distracted as they roared back from a goal down thanks to doubles from Son Heung-min and Harry Kane with Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen also on target. "There is a lot of rumours but our job is Tottenham and we have to be focused to try to be successful," said Pochettino. With Liverpool facing Arsenal and Manchester City in a top-of-the-table clash in their next three games over the festive period, Tottenham have the opportunity to haul themselves into a three-way title race if they maintain the standards set at Goodison.
5 banned after tests reanalysed
Paris: Five weightlifters, including two Olympic champions, have been provisionally suspended after reanalysis of urine samples provided during the 2012 London Olympics, the International Weightlifting Federation announced on Monday. Ukrainian Oleksiy Torokhtiy, Olympic -105kg Gold medallist six years ago, and Uzbek Ruslan Nurudinov, who won the same category in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, both tested positive for anabolic steroids. Only Torokhtiy stands to lose his title, as the samples retested were given four years before Nurudinov's Gold-medal winning performance in Brazil. Valentin Hristov of Azerbaijan, currently serving an eight-year ban following two positive doping tests in 2013 and 2015, could lose his 2012 Bronze medal from the -56kg category after also testing positive for an anabolic agent. The other two athletes to test positive — Armenia's Meline Daluzyan and Belarusian Mikalai Novikau — did not win medals in London.
Brown joins Pune as head coach
Pune: Indian Super League (ISL) franchise FC Pune City on Monday announced Phil Brown as their new head coach for the remaining 2018-19 season. With close to two decades of managerial experience, Brown has been at the helm of top English football clubs like Blackpool, SouthEnd United, Preston North End, Derby County and Hull City, a media release issued by the club said. Before starting his managerial career in England in 1999, Brown played across England for clubs like Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool for over 18 years. "FC Pune City has been having a difficult season but I am optimistic about taking up this job as the points table really isnt the real representation of the talent thats existing at the club," said Brown on his new role. The potential at the club is exciting and I am really looking forward for the season with FC Pune City," he added.
Inter Milan suspend Nainggolan
MAdrid: In their last La Liga match of 2018, Rayo Vallecano downed Levante 2-1, thus pulling themselves a bit closer to the threshold where they could avoid relegation in the Spanish football league. The highlights included a great individual effort by Rayo's Alex Moreno, which led to an own goal by Toño Garcia, putting the home team on the board in the 23rd minute. Rochina who got Levante into the game in the 59th minute with a goal for the visitors, tying the match at 1-1. But it didn't take long for the home team to score the death sentence goal after Oier was forced to reject a shot, allowing De Tomas to score in the 66th minute.
