Football Briefs: Leicester through to FA Cup fourth round

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho scored the first goal in English football to be awarded using the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) as they reached the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-0 replay victory over third-tier Fleetwood Town on Tuesday.

Iheanacho, who had put the hosts ahead in the first half, was initially ruled offside when he deftly chipped the ball over the keeper into the net in the 77th minute but the goal was given after consultation between referee Jon Moss and the VAR.

Video replays showed former Manchester City striker Iheanacho was level with Fleetwood defender Nathan Pond's back foot before the Nigeria international raced clear to finish.

Championship sides CardiffCity and Sheffield Wednesday also reached the fourth round with victories over LeagueTwoMansfieldTown and Carlisle United respectively.

Cardiff swatted Mansfield aside 4-1 away to set up a tie at home to Premier League leaders ManchesterCity, whose manager Pep Guardiola was watching the third round replay in the stands.

Sheffield Wednesday scored in each half through Marco Matias and Atdhe Nuhiu to beat visiting Carlisle 2-0.

Reading's Icelandic forward Jon Dadi Bodvarsson got a hat-trick for the second-tier side who beat Stevenage 3-0.

Premier League West Ham United were taken to extra time by third-tier ShrewsburyTown after the game finished 0-0 at the end of normal time.

Man United are Europe's biggest earners

Manchester United enjoyed the biggest revenue of any European club in the last financial year after a 32 percent increase propelled them above Real Madrid and Barcelona, UEFA said in an annual report published on Tuesday.

The European Club Football Landscape report said revenues among Europe's 700-odd top-flight clubs totalled 18.5 billion euros ($22.7 billion) for 2016, compared to 16.9 billion the year before and 2.8 billion in 1996.

However, the report acknowledged that nearly half that amount - 9.1 billion euros - was generated by 30 clubs and that the financial gap between the elite ones and the rest was increasing.

English Premier League television revenues were now such that mid-table Bournemouth earned the same as three-times European champions Inter Milan.

United's revenue for 2016 was 689 million euros, compared to 521 million euros in 2015, the report said.

United were followed by Barcelona and Real Madrid (both 620 million), Bayern Munich (592 million), Paris St Germain (542 million) and ManchesterCity (533 million).

United's operating profit of 232 million euros was also the highest followed by Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and City.

United was also burdened with the highest net debt of 561 million euros, ahead of Benfica, Inter Milan, Juventus and Liverpool.

The report confirmed that the English Premier League enjoys by far the highest revenues in Europe, averaging 244.4 million euros per club.

Next was Germany's Bundesliga with 149.6 million per club followed by Spain (126.3 million) and Italy (100.2 million)

Revenues fell dramatically elsewhere, even in traditional football nations such as the Netherlands (26.7 million) and Portugal (20.3 million).

Greek clubs earned an average of 8.9 million euros while figures for Eastern Europe were even lower at 5 million euros for Hungary, 4.4 million for Czech Republic and 1.5 million for Slovenia.

The report confirmed that transfer spending reached record levels of almost 5.6 billion euros in the European summer of 2017, including six of the top 20 most expensive transfers ever recorded.

Arsenal were the club who made the most from paying fans. UEFA said their yield of 97.8 euros per spectator was the highest in Europe, followed by Chelsea, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Barcelona, Galatasaray, ManchesterCity and West Ham United.

Man United can still hunt down leaders City, says Jones

Manchester United defender Phil Jones remembers his team's title meltdown six years ago and believes rivals ManchesterCity's 12-point lead in the Premier League title race can still be overhauled.

United closed the gap on City with Monday's 3-0 victory over Stoke after leaders Pep Guardiola's City suffered their first loss of the league campaign against Liverpool at Anfield.

In Jones's first campaign at Old Trafford, Alex Ferguson's United were eight points ahead of City in April with six games to go, only to see the title end up across town on the final day when Sergio Aguero scored late on against Queens Park Rangers.

"Football's football, never say never," Jones told the British media.

"I remember in my first season (2011-12) we were eight points clear, absolutely cruising, (everyone thought there was) no way we'd let the lead slip, and we lost it on the final day.

"People can say what they want but we'll continue to be positive and push forward. You never know. It happened in 2012 to us so why not?"

Jose Mourinho has faced criticism for United's more conservative approach against the top United visit Burnley, who secured a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture last month.

Mourinho close to signing new deal at United: reports

Manchester United are close to reaching an agreement with manager Jose Mourinho over a contract extension that would keep him at the club until 2021, British media said on Tuesday.

The reports said there had been good progress in talks and the Portuguese was likely to stay at Old Trafford for longer than the three-year deal he signed through to June 2019.

Mourinho, 54, has described his commitment to United as "total" and said he wanted to "bring the club to where the club belongs". He has described reports he could leave as "garbage".

Mourinho won the League Cup and Europa League in his first season in charge, though United finished sixth in the league.

They currently sit second, 12 points behind local rivals ManchesterCity, and are in the Champions League last 16 and FA Cup fourth round.

Wenger called referee "a disgrace" and "not honest"

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said referee Mike Dean was "a disgrace" and "not honest" following December's Premier League game at West Bromwich Albion, the official said in his report, part of which was published by the FA on Tuesday.

Wenger received a three-match touchline ban for misconduct following the New Year's Eve game, which ended 1-1 after West Brom were awarded a disputed late penalty which they converted.

In giving the written reasons for punishing the Arsenal manager, the FA included testimony from Dean which said Wenger confronted the officials after the game.

"He was very aggressive leaning towards me, pointing aggressively at me saying, ‘You’re not honest’ on numerous occasions," Dean said.

"I replied, ‘So you’re calling me a cheat’. He replied, ‘I maintain what I say, you’re not honest’.

"He then said, ‘You’ve done this to us many times before, you’re supposed to be professional, you’re a disgrace’."

The testimonies of the assistant referees and the fourth official supported Dean's account of the confrontation.

An independent disciplinary panel on January 5 gave Wenger a three-game touchline ban and 40,000 pounds ($55,172) fine.

The FA said Wenger admitted his "language and behaviour was abusive, improper and questioned the integrity" of Dean.

Wenger served the final match of the ban in Sunday's 2-1 Premier League defeat at Bournemouth.

The Frenchman received a four-match ban for misconduct last January for pushing the fourth official after Arsenal's 2-1 win against Burnley.