Robert Lewandowski scored his 300th Bundesliga goal vs Koln

Robert Lewandowski scored his 300th Bundesliga goal as Bayern Munich netted for a record-breaking 66th consecutive league game to beat Koln.

The Poland striker gave Bayern an early lead, with Corentin Tolisso adding a second before the break.

Lewandowski made it 3-0 before completing his hat-trick late on.

The win lifts Bayern six-points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

Mark Uth thought he had pulled a goal back for Koln with the score at 2-0, but the striker's effort was ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee.

Bayern's 66-game scoring run sets a new club and Bundesliga record, eclipsing their own 65-game streak between February 2018 and February 2020.

In reaching 300 Bundesliga goals, Lewandowski became the first player to do so since Bayern great Gerd Muller in 1976.

NorthEast United FC Sign Marcelinho On Loan from Rajasthan United FC

Marcelinho has played for Delhi Dynamos, FC Pune City, Hyderabad FC, Odisha FC and ATK Mohun Bagan.

NorthEast United FC signed Marcelinho Pereira on loan from Rajasthan United FC till the end of the season, the club announced on Friday.

The Brazilian magician has 33 goals and 18 assists in the Indian Super League (ISL). He has played close to 80 matches over a span of five seasons in the league.

The forward was awarded the golden boot (10 goals) and had the most number of goal contributions (15) in the 2016 season.

he was instrumental to FC Pune City’s run to the semi-finals. He had eight goals and seven assists that season.

The 34-year-old has played for Delhi Dynamos, FC Pune City, Hyderabad FC, Odisha FC and ATK Mohun Bagan.

Marcelinho struggled last season. He managed only two goals in sixteen appearances. But the quality he possesses has never been in question. His stats speak for themselves and now it remains to be seen if he can provide the lift NorthEast United FC have been searching for.

Predicted Starting XI: Manchester United vs Aston Villa

Manchester United welcome Aston Villa to Old Trafford tomorrow night as they kick off their FA Cup campaign. Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has promised a strong team as he hopes to secure United's first piece of silverware since 2017, although he will have to navigate a way past Steven Gerrard's in-form team first.

The 1-0 defeat against Wolves last week sparked rumours of unrest within the squad, although Fred, Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire have all publicly spoken about the matter over the past couple of days.

Dean Henderson could be given a rare start as David De Gea is given a rest whilst Phil Jones could retain his place in the back four after his impressive comeback last week. 

Raphael Varane could be preferred ahead of Victor Lindelof with the fitness of Harry Maguire unknown.

Diogo Dalot and Alex Telles both started Rangnick's first couple of games before Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw regained their places!!

Star Pogba still away from full fitness

The France international has not played since November and remains several weeks away from a comeback.....

Paul Pogba is not expected to return to action for Manchester United until February, with the midfielder set to be sidelined for another weeks.

The 28-year-old has been out since November after suffering a groin injury on international duty with France.

After beginning his rehabilitation in Dubai, Pogba returned to the UK at the end of December, but boss Ralf Rangnick has warned he is still some way from a return to full training.

The bigger picture

Pogba has entered the final six months of his contract at Old Trafford and is now able to discuss terms with foreign clubs over a free transfer at the end of the season.

He has not played for United since November 2 and has only made seven Premier League starts this season. 

ISL 2021-22, Chennaiyin FC 2-4 Bengaluru FC Highlights: BFC makes a brilliant comeback to secure comprehensive win😉

ISL 2021-22 Chennaiyin FC vs Bengaluru FC: Bengaluru Win 4-2

ISL 2021-22  Chennaiyin FC vs Bengaluru FC: Pratik Chowdhary and Udanta Singh score to put Bengaluru FC in the lead again. Score:- CFC 2-4 BFC

ISL 2021-22 Chennaiyin FC vs Bengaluru FC: Pratik Chowdhary scores off another Kaith howler. Udanta Singh puts Bengaluru Fc in the lead again. Now Gurpreet has a brain fade moment as Rahim Ali’s shot goes through his legs. A absolute embarrassment from Chennaiyin keeper Vishal Kaith and the ball takes Alan Costa’s shoulder and goes for the goal.

FT: Chennaiyin FC 2-4 Bengaluru FC

FULL TIME! A day of goalkeeping howlers as Bengaluru FC beat Chennaiyin FC 2-1 to win only their second game of the season. Cleiton Silva, Alan Costa, Udanta Singh and Pratik Chowdhary scored to lead Bengaluru to the victory. Mirlan Murzaev and Rahim Ali scored Chennaiyin’s goals. Chennaiyin’s Vishal Kaith made two howlers to sink Chennaiyin’s ship.

Coach Speak - Marco Pezzaiuoli, Bengaluru FC

THE CLEAN SHEET WAS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT IN THE LAST GAME BECAUSE IT GIVES US A BIT OF CONFIDENCE.

Coach Speak - Bozidar Bandovic, Chennaiyin FC

WE ARE A NEW TEAM IN A NEW PROCESS SO I WANT MY TEAM TO BE STABLE. IN THESE SEVEN GAMES, MY TEAM HAS SHOWN STABILITY, DISCIPLINE AND ORGANISATION ON THE FIELD.

Crivellaro Ruled Out

Rafael Crivellaro has been ruled out of the ongoing ISL season.

Bengaluru FC Starting XI

Here is how Bengaluru FC line up: Gurpreet Sandhu (GK) (C), Alan Costa, Bruno Silva, Jayesh Rane, Suresh Wangjam, Prince Ibara, Ajith Kamaraj, Ashique Kuruniyan, Cleiton Silva, Parag Shrivas, Roshan Naorem. Substitutes: Lara Sharma, Pratik Chowdhary, Iman Basafa, Danish Farooq, Rohit Kumar, Damaitphang Lyngdoh, Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, Siva Narayanan.

Chennaiyin FC Starting XI

Here is how Chennaiyin FC line-up: Vishal Kaith (GK), Reagan Singh, Rahim Ali, Anirudh Thapa (C), Ariel Borysiuk, Mirlan Murzaev, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Narayan Das, Slavko Damjanovic, Germanpreet Singh, Vladimir Koman. Substitutes: Debjit Majumder, Deepak Devrani, Balaji Ganesan, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Edwin Vanspaul, Suhail Pasha, Jonhson Mathews, Jobby Justin, Lucasz.

ISL 2021-22 - CFC vs BFC

Cleiton Silva converts from the spot after Bengaluru FC get a penalty for a Jerry handball. Milan Murzaev puts Chennaiyin FC in the lead in the fourth minute. For the third straight game in a row, Sunil Chhetri starts on the bench.

Chennaiyin FC will look to bounce back from defeat while Bengaluru FC eyeing first win in their last five matches as they face each other at the Tilak Maidan in Vasco, Goa in the Indian Super League match No.45.

Form Guide

Chennaiyin FC

The Marina Machans have registered just one win in their last five matches as they sit sixth in the league table with 11 points. A win against Bengaluru FC takes them up to the second position in the league standings.

Bengaluru FC

The Blues have been winless in their last seven games, with their last win coming in their season opener against NorthEast United FC. Marco Pezzaiuoli’s side sit tenth in the league standings with six points.

Head-To-Head

The two sides have met on nine separate occasions with Bengaluru FC having the edge, winning four times whilst Chennaiyin FC have won the encounter thrice as the remaining two encounters ended in draws. Notably, Chennaiyin FC’s last win against Bengaluru FC came in the 2018-19 season when they won 2-1.

The two sides also faced off in the Hero ISL 2017-18 final where Chennaiyin FC emerged 2-1 winners in Bengaluru FC’s backyard to win their second title.

Team News

Chennaiyin FC will be without midfielder Rafael Crivellaro due to his muscle injury.

In the Bengaluru FC camp, forwards Leon Augustine and Harmanpreet Singh are ruled out of action whereas Udanta Singh is doubtful due to soreness, and defender Yrondu Musavu-King has picked up a minor injury in the training.

Chelsea's wing-back woes leave title hopes in tatters

Chelsea

Romelu Lukaku looked gobsmacked as the final whistle blew at Stamford Bridge. After starring in the Boxing Day victory at Aston Villa, the Belgian had proclaimed Chelsea "the hunters" in this season's title race, arguing that "every game now is like a final".

A 1-1 draw at home to Brighton, then, felt like a fatal blow to the Blues' hopes of overhauling Manchester City at the top of the table.

Having already lost Ben Chilwell for the rest of the season, the Blues saw Reece James forced off in a damaging 1-1 draw with Brighton

Romelu Lukaku looked gobsmacked as the final whistle blew at Stamford Bridge. After starring in the Boxing Day victory at Aston Villa, the Belgian had proclaimed Chelsea "the hunters" in this season's title race, arguing that "every game now is like a final".

A 1-1 draw at home to Brighton, then, felt like a fatal blow to the Blues' hopes of overhauling Manchester City at the top of the table.

Lukaku himself had opened the scoring in West London, meaning he had struck in consecutive Premier League games for the first time since March 2019, when he was still playing for Manchester United.

But it wasn't enough to earn his side three badly needed points, as Danny Welbeck's 92nd-minute header from Marc Cucurella's cross earned Brighton a fully deserved share of the spoils.

In Chelsea's defence, they gave their all. It just wasn't enough. Their squad has been struggling with illness and injury for the past few months, resulting in a patchy run of form.

And their misfortune continued against Brighton. Indeed, the match, and arguably the league title, began to slip away after Reece James was forced off during the first half with a suspected hamstring problem.

It was perhaps unsurprising that his body broke down. After all, he had been asked to play on the left, instead of his usual right side, in order to give a rest to Marcos Alonso, who has been filling in for the injured Ben Chilwell.

FIFA WC 2022 QATÀR: India Looking For Bangladesh Game After Qatar Loss

HIGHLIGHT 

• India will take on Bangladesh on June 7
• India lost to Qatar 1-0 after playing with 10 men for most of the match
• India are already out of contention for place in the 2022 FIFA WC Finals. 

The focal point of Indian Football players have shifted, it's no more about the fight put up against Qatar. That's the past. Rather, it's now about the forthcoming match against Bangladesh in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 preliminary joint round qualification round. Both India and Bangladesh had mixed results. While Bangladesh came back from behind to hold Afghanistan 1-1 and earn a point, India, despite fighting it out with 10-men against Asian champions Qatar did manage to win hearts but returned empty handed.

Brandon Fernandes states, "We are moving as a team and we need to back each other. We are aware that we have specific roles in the team."

"The next match is extremely crucial as we need to sustain the momentum gained in the first match. The first match is history," Fernandes said.

"I am very pleased with the performance against Afghanistan. The players did very well on the field, and worked extremely hard. It reflects the attitude which this team possesses, to come back from behind and get back into the game," Bangladesh coach Jamie Day mentioned.

Captain Jamal Bhuyan, also the poster boy of Bangladesh football, who had played for Mohammedan Sporting in the I-League, feels it's "going to be an intense match" when the two teams take the field on June 7.

"It will be intense with a lot of battles. It's a beautiful match to be a part of. Last time in Kolkata we were disappointed not to get the 3 points as India scored very late in the game. We have that hunger in us, and we know we can do some damage," he avers.