Chelsea midfield ace’s goals could not rescue his country Croatia from home defeat to Portugal who bagged an away victory at stoppage time through Ruben Dias in the UEFA Nations League.

Dias, who also recorded a brace in the match, had earlier scored to cancel out Kovacic’s first-half goal.

Watch Kovacic’s goals:

Photo Credit: Twitter/EURO2020

Hakim Ziyech’s incredible run of form has continued in Morocco’s second Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Central African Republic.

In the 38th minute of the tie, Ziyech stepped up for an indirect free-kick from deep on the left-wing, the dangerous ball in from Chelsea’s new star actually evaded everyone and ended up hitting the net.

One of the playmaker’s Morocco teammates narrowly missed a connection with the ball at the near post, with this seemingly leaving the Central African Republic’s keeper in no man’s land when it flew past.

In the 91st minute, Ziyech was picked out on the right-wing, with the playmaker controlling the ball with his head before slotting a pass across to Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri for a simple tap-in.

This comes after Ziyech turned in another Man of the Match performance in the first meeting against the Central African Republic, scoring twice and registering an assist.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Didier Deschamps suggested Olivier Giroud will need a transfer in order to keep his place in the France squad.

The Chelsea striker, 34, has featured for just 33 minutes in the Premier League so far this season.

Les Bleus boss said: “I make the choices that seem best to me for the France team. With Anthony (Martial) who is a good player, it allows us to have a little more depth.

“Compared to Olivier, he has to be impacted, first of all with the situation he has at his club, knowing that he has a large frame and that he needs rhythm, it’s hard.

“That’s not why I want to lose him, it’s complicated, we’ll talk, but obviously he has every interest in it not lasting, for him, to remain competitive, but we must not forget what he did with us and what he is still able to do. Anthony has a different profile but one that gives options. Anthony, today, is more fulfilled and in better physical and psychological conditions, obviously.”

Inter coach Antonio Conte has revealed his effort to sign Romelu Lukaku and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk for Chelsea during his stint at Stamford Bridge.

The Nerazzurri coach won the Premier League in his first season at the Stamford Brigde and followed up with the FA Cup trophy in his second year.

He was then replaced by Maurizio Sarri, who guided the team to the Europa League title, and Conte admitted the Blues ‘lost momentum’ during his two years at the helm.

“I asked for two players and we were very, very close after we won the League,” Conte told the Telegraph.

“One player was Romelu Lukaku, the second player was Virgil van Dijk, and these two players were very, very close.

“We were in contact every day and I always said that with these two players we would improve the team by 30 per cent.

“I think maybe we lost momentum to bring Chelsea at the very top and then to stay for many years.

“It was a pity that it didn’t happen and Romelu is showing with Inter that my idea was right and also Van Dijk has shown with Liverpool that my idea was right for the club.”

Conte feels he would have managed to help Lukaku succeed in the Premier League and sees ‘a lot of improvement’ from the Belgium international after one season with the Nerazzurri.

“For sure, it would have been a different story if I was the coach of Romelu,” Conte added. “Romelu is an incredible player and he has a lot of space for improvement.

“In one year at Inter, he had a lot of improvement because he wants to learn, and I think I’m a teacher.

“But he can continue to improve to become one of the best strikers in the world.”

Thomas Partey was advised by Emmanuel Adebayor to reject Manchester United and Chelsea to sign for Arsenal, the striker has claimed.

The Gunners paid £45.5million to sign the Ghana international in a deadline day switch from Atletico Madrid.

The 36-year-old told reporters in Ghana: “About six months to a year ago, he was telling me about contacts he had had from England. He mentioned Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea. And I told him, ‘Listen, if I have a chance to play in England, a chance to play for Arsenal, the place you to have go to is Arsenal’.

“Because he is young, he is still learning and Arsenal are a family club, and I’m very happy and impressed with his first steps in the team.

“Unfortunately we all saw what happened against Aston Villa at home but he is a great player, a great personality. He is like a younger brother to me who is always looking for advice and we get along very well.”

Chelsea and Napoli are reportedly in talks over a loan deal for Emerson Palmieri.

Repubblica claims the Italy left-back, 26, could be set to join Tiemoue Bakayoko at the San Paolo this winter.

Emerson hasn’t made a single Premier League appearance this season following the £50million arrival of Ben Chilwell from Leicester.

And Chelsea could now send him to Napoli on loan before letting the Serie A side make the deal permanent next summer.

Emerson joined Chelsea from Roma in January 2018 for £17.5m.

Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell has been assessed by medical staff and is in contention for Wednesday’s game against Iceland.

The former Foxes man was forced off against Belgium with a back problem but it does not appear to be too serious.

The news is a massive boost for Blues boss Frank Lampard.

Earlier on, the Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate didn’t give Blues fans much to be thankful for regarding the former Foxes man’s back injury.

He said: “He had some sort of issue with his back that he was complaining about and he didn’t feel he could carry on.”

The 23-year-old has been one of the buys of the season and nailed down the left-back position at Stamford Bridge.

There are reports that Pep Guardiola is spoiling for a showdown with Barcelona over Lautaro Martinez as the Manchester City’s boss sees the Inter striker as the heir to Sergio Aguero.

The Blaugrana made absolutely no secret of their negotiations for the Argentina international over the last year, but Inter held firm with a release clause worth €111m.

According to Eurosport, Marca Claro and TyC Sports in Argentina, Manchester City are also preparing a possible bid for the 23-year-old hitman.

Football Italia report that Lautaro could represent the ideal heir to Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero, and might even end up being teammates with Lionel Messi after all.

Messi’s contract with Barcelona expires at the end of this season and he has not yet committed his future to Camp Nou, ready to reunite with Pep Guardiola in England.

Lautaro Martinez has an excellent record of 10 goals in 19 senior caps for Argentina, while he has 35 goals and 10 assists in 94 competitive games for Inter.

Former Chelsea keeper Asmir Begovic has backed Blues flop Kepa Arrizabalaga to ‘prove everyone wrong’.

The world’s most expensive shot-stopper has lost his No1 spot to new signing Edouard Mendy after a number of gaffes.

The Bosnian told talkSPORT: “I don’t think it’s gone to plan for everyone.

“These situations are never straightforward. If you spend a big transfer fee it doesn’t mean everything is going to work out; there are a lot of factors into making a move work and making an impact at a club.

“Mendy has come in and done really, really well, I think he’s really solidified that position. He’s been impressive, he’s been a joy to watch to be honest and he’s someone I really enjoy watching.

“But can Kepa still prove everybody wrong? Possibly. I think Kepa is a really good goalkeeper, he played really well in Spain before his move to Chelsea and it’s obviously been a bit of a tricky time for him.

“He’s got really good quality and I’m sure he’ll be a huge success, whether it’s at Chelsea or somewhere else.

“When you have that equality it’s only going to be matter of time before things turn around for him again in a positive way.”