Lukaku on target as United top City in Houston derby
Strikers Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford delivered a devastating one-two punch just before half time to carry Manchester United to a 2-0 victory over Manchester City in a derby held 5,000 miles from home on Thursday.
Lukaku struck first in Houston in the 37th minute with his second goal for his new club after moving to Old Trafford from Everton last week in a deal reported in the British media to be worth nearly $100 million.
The Belgian found the net with a sensational finish on the half-volley from a narrow angle which exposed the positioning of goalkeeper Ederson, who recently joined City from Benfica for around $45 million.
Two minutes later, Rashford took Henrikh Mkhitaryan's pass all alone to the right of the City penalty area and placed the ball beyond Ederson to ensure the red half of Manchester prevailed in the first derby played outside England.
The strike duo gave the United faithful hopes of a more explosive attack in the upcoming season by creating numerous chances against City, who were playing their first match of the pre-season in the International Champions Cup opener.
Lukaku missed two more tantalising opportunities early in the second half, misdirecting a header off a corner from Rashford and then rattling the frame of the goal with a rocket off his left foot.
"I couldn't be happier with what he's doing, and I could not be happier we managed to sign him before the pre-season," United manager Jose Mourinho said of Lukaku on MUTV.
"(He's a) team player, who holds the ball, who waits for support, who allows the team to leave pressure zones. People look to goals and chances, I have a different perspective."
The entertaining contest drew a crowd of more than 67,000 to NRG Stadium, home of the National Football League's Houston Texans.
United, who have already played two games in the U.S. against Major League Soccer clubs LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, will play another four pre-season contests against Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valerenga and Sampdoria.
City have games against Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United following the derby clash.
"It was our first game, a good training (run) against another team," said City manager Pep Guardiola.
Zouma signs six-year Chelsea deal, joins Stoke on loan
Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma has signed a new six-year contract at the club but will spend the 2017-18 campaign on loan with Stoke City, the Premier League champions said.
The 22-year-old France international has made 71 appearances for Chelsea since arriving at Stamford Bridge at the start of 2014-15 season.
"It is fantastic Kurt has chosen to commit his future to Chelsea," Chelsea's technical director Michael Emenalo said in a statement.
"He has shown his talent since joining us three years ago, and has returned from a serious injury with a fantastic attitude.
"Now he has the opportunity to play regularly in the Premier League and we will be monitoring his progress closely while he is at Stoke."
Zouma featured 13 times for Antonio Conte's side last season, having recovered from a knee ligament injury suffered in February 2016.
Newcastle sign defender Manquillo from Atletico
Newcastle United have signed right back Javier Manquillo from Atletico Madrid on a three-year contract, the newly-promoted Premier League club said on Friday.
Madrid-born Manquillo, 23, started his career at Atletico and has previously featured in the English top flight during loan spells at Liverpool and Sunderland. He will join Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez's side at their pre-season training camp in Ireland.
"From the first moment that Rafa Benitez called me, I just knew that I had to come here, to such a big club," Manquillo, who made 20 league appearances for Sunderland last season, said in a statement.
"I've come here to work hard and give everything on and off the pitch. Hopefully then everything will go in the right direction."
Manquillo is Newcastle's fourth signing in the close season transfer window after adding winger Jacob Murphy from Norwich City, midfielder Christian Atsu from Chelsea and defender Florian Lejeune from Spanish side Eibar.
Manchester City's Kolarov close to joining Roma, says Guardiola
Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov is set to leave the Premier League club after seven years to join AS Roma in Italy, manager Pep Guardiola said.
Kolarov, 31, played for Italy's Lazio from 2007-10 before moving to City, where he won two league and one FA Cup titles.
Guardiola believes the Serbia international's return to Rome was the best decision for all parties.
"Kola helped me a lot last season in terms of many, many things," Guardiola said after his team's 2-0 pre-season loss to Manchester United.
"But he had a big chance to go back to Rome where he was before and he spoke to me, the club and asked me to leave.
"I don't like to stay with players who don't want to stay. That's why it's the best option for everybody.
"I wish him all the best because he's a really nice guy. We had an excellent relationship. I was very pleased to train him and I wish him and his family the best."
City are short of defensive options after releasing Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna in May and failing to find adequate reinforcements, forcing Guardiola to use midfielder Fernandinho as a full-back during Thursday's game.
"We don't have another option, we don't have full-backs," Guardiola told the post-match news conference.
"We try to buy full-backs on the right side, not just Kyle (Walker) because the other three full-backs we didn't extend the contracts.
"Kolarov is one step to go to Roma. That's why we don't have any other options."
City will continue their International Champions Cup run against Spanish champions Real Madrid on July 26.
Liverpool stars not for sale, says Klopp
Juergen Klopp has declared Liverpool will not part with their best players as speculation continues over the future of midfielder Philippe Coutinho amid a proposed move to Barcelona.
The Spanish side are believed to have made a 70 million pounds ($91 million) bid to sign the Brazilian this summer, but the German manager stressed none of his squad were for sale.
"I'm not surprised but it's not a compliment," he said of interest in one of his key players.
"It's not that I need it but a few people obviously see that Liverpool have a few good players. So, that's how it is.
"But, a very important message -- maybe we're not a selling club. That's how it is.
"We believe in working together, we believe in development together, we believe in using the basis that we want to work together, we want to make the next step together and for this we need to stay together."
Coutinho was a standout performer for Liverpool last season as Klopp's team put in a strong challenge for the Premier League title before eventually slipping to fourth and securing a place in the qualification rounds of the UEFA Champions League.
Klopp, however, is hoping for more from the 25-year-old as Liverpool chase a first league title since 1990.
"Phil is a very, very important player but we need to react better when he's not on the pitch," said Klopp.
"There were a few games when he was out and when he came back and he was not in the best shape and he tried to get back his rhythm.
"Phil, when he's able to run properly then you want to have him on the pitch again. We have to be better in moments like this.
"Phil can improve, he has inconsistency, but there's no doubting his qualities."
Team mate Adam Lallana is confident Coutinho will stay at Anfield as the club prepare to take part in the Champions League qualifying rounds next month.
"Off the back of his season, he's a fantastic player so there's no surprise that there are teams interested in him," said Lallana.
"There are probably teams interested in other players in our squad. I think we're going to achieve big things and I'm sure Phil will be part of that.
"We're a massive club, we're in the Champions League -- OK, we need to qualify -- but if we're going to win competitions like that and the Premier League we need to keep hold of players like Philippe."
Benteke content at Palace as World Cup looms
Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke has declared himself happy at the Premier League club ahead of next year's World Cup even as speculation mounts over a possible move away from Selhurst Park.
The former Liverpool and Aston Villa front man has been linked by media with a move to either Everton or Chelsea in recent weeks as both clubs seek to reinforce their attacking options ahead of the start of the new season.
As he seeks to confirm his place in the Belgium squad for the World Cup finals in Russia next year, the 26-year-old wants to remain with new Palace manager Frank de Boer.
"I'm very happy," he said. "I want to be part of the project of the manager and I'm looking forward for this new season.
"I want to perform and to score more goals and to really help the team to reach where they want to be.
"Since we came back for preseason I didn't really want to talk, but I want to be here.
"There's the World Cup and that's an important aspect of being with the club and you have to perform to be part of that group."
Benteke showed an improvement in his form in the second half of the last season as Palace avoided relegation and he believes the club can now look forward to the season ahead.
"I think with the squad that we have and the players that are coming we have to be really ambitious and have to try to play our best in the league," he said.
De Boer is hopeful next year's World Cup finals will have a positive impact on his squad as Benteke and others aim to find their form in the build-up to the tournament next summer.
"Sometimes it's a good thing for the World Cup coming for a manager, and I think it's the same for Yohan Cabaye," said de Boer.
"Sometimes you have to take advantage as a manager and for me I hope he can play every game and score all of the goals he wants to score and that's a benefit for the club, the manager and for Christian himself."
