SPORTS

LeBron James has become the fifth highest points scorer in NBA history, passing Wilt Chamberlain, as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trailblazers 126-117. The 33-year-old beat Chamberlain’s record of 31,419 points with a free throw late in the fourth quarter. James, who now has 31,425 career points, scored a season-high 44 points. It was the highest score by ...

England’s record goalscorer Wayne Rooney will captain the side and wear the number 10 shirt when he comes on to make his farewell appearance. Rooney, 33, retired from international football in 2017 but will win his 120th and final cap in a friendly against the United States at Wembley on Thursday. Fabian Delph will start the match as captain but ...

Real Madrid have appointed Santiago Solari as the club’s permanent manager until June 2021. Solari, 42, took over on 29 October on an interim basis after the sacking of former Spain manager Julen Lopetgui. He has since led Real to four wins in four games – the best start of any manager in the club’s history. Real had to give ...

All 20 Premier League clubs have been asked for a £250,000 contribution so that the league’s outgoing executive chairman Richard Scudamore can be given a £5m farewell gift. The clubs were asked for the money before a meeting on Tuesday. It is expected they will agree to Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck’s request. Scudamore, 59, who is reportedly paid £2.5m per ...

“You can go for stats, that’s the way people who don’t understand football analyse football,” said Jose Mourinho after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat by Manchester City. Well Jose, we’ve looked at them anyway. League leaders and reigning champions City are now 12 points ahead of United, who languish in eighth after the derby loss. BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty ...

Goals by Mo Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri took Liverpool from third place to the top of the Premier League for a couple of hours at least with a 2-0 victory over bottom club Fulham at Anfield on Sunday. They moved above the other two unbeaten teams, Manchester City and Chelsea, who were both playing home games later on Sunday. Jurgen ...

Teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe told AFP on Thursday that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi remain football’s greatest players but that his own World Cup heroics could help crown him as the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner. Mbappe, 19, helped France to World Cup victory in Russia as his four goals included one in the 4-2 final victory over Croatia as he ...

Arsenal booked a place in the Europa League knockout stage and extended their unbeaten run to 15 matches despite a 0-0 draw with Sporting Lisbon on Thursday, while Olivier Giroud’s first goal of the season sent Chelsea through. Unai Emery’s Gunners were the better side for long periods at the Emirates against a team who have already had three different ...

Scotland manager Alex McLeish recalled Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher for the first time in over a year on Tuesday for a crucial Nations League double header against Albania and Israel. Injuries to Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths and Hearts forward Steven Naismith have left McLeish short on options up front. On-form Celtic playmaker Ryan Christie and West Brom’s Matt Phillips also ...

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo was left on the sidelines again as expected by Portugal coach Fernando Santos who named his squad on Thursday for Nations League games against Italy and Poland. Ronaldo was initially left off Portugal’s squads earlier this season as he tried to settle into life in Turin following his summer move from Real Madrid. But the five-time ...