Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger heralded Mesut Ozil after the German playmaker rose from his sickbed to inspire his team to victory over Premier League title rivals Manchester City.

Ozil teed up first-half goals for Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud at the Emirates Stadium on Monday as Arsenal secured a 2-1 win that left them four points above City and two points below leaders Leicester City.

Just days after Jose Mourinho's abrupt departure from Chelsea, Louis van Gaal is teetering on the brink of becoming the next high-profile victim of the Premier League sack race.

The pressure is mounting on the embattled Manchester United manager, who was hunkered down at United's Carrington training base on Monday amid speculation he will be axed if his side lose either of their next two matches at Stoke City on Saturday or at home against Chelsea next Monday.

David Beckham has barely found a new stadium site for his Miami-based Major League Soccer expansion team, and he already says he wants to sign Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Beckham told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that he is interested in the Paris Saint-Germain striker, according to a posting on the MLS website.

An ethics tribunal of scandal-plagued FIFA on Monday banned Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini for eight years saying they had abused their positions over a 2 million Swiss francs payment made to Platini.

The sentence against the two most powerful men in football stunningly highlighted the troubles faced by the world's most popular sport where billions of dollars have been invested in recent years.

Jurgen Klopp challenged his Liverpool flops to prove they have the stomach for a fight after capitulating in a woeful 3-0 defeat against Watford.

Klopp's side fell apart after a blunder from Reds goalkeeper Adam Bogdan was punished by Watford's Nathan Ake in the third minute at Vicarage Road on Sunday.

Roma can achieve "big things" this season but only if an ongoing fan boycott that has seen the Serie A title hopefuls play to a near empty Stadio Olimpico ends, said embattled coach Rudi Garcia.

Garcia was whistled and jeered by fans as his face appeared on the big screen prior to kick-off on Sunday, when Roma dug deep to end a four-game winless streak with a 2-0 win at home to Genoa.

Real Madrid's under fire coach Rafael Benitez admitted a section of the club's support can't be contented despite his side hitting a historic 10 goals to sweep aside nine-man Rayo Vallecano 10-2 on Sunday.

Gareth Bale scored four for the first time in his Madrid career, whilst Karim Benzema struck his second hat-trick in three games as Real became the first side to score 10 in a La Liga match in 55 years.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving quickly shook off the rust from his long injury layoff on Sunday, scoring 12 points in a 108-86 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in his NBA season debut.

Irving hadn't played since breaking his left kneecap in the opening game of last season's NBA Finals, an injury quickly followed by surgery in June.

Davis Cup hero Andy Murray won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award for 2015 at a star-studded reception in Belfast on Sunday.

The world number two, who was picking up the honor for the second time, led Great Britain to their first Davis Cup title since 1936 last month.

Italy international Antonio Candreva struck twice including a late winner as Lazio stunned leaders Inter Milan 2-1 on Sunday to throw the Serie A title race wide open.

Inter welcomed Stefano Pioli's men to the San Siro expected to restore their four-point lead on title rivals Fiorentina and Napoli after their respective wins over Chievo and Atalanta.