Manchester City full-back Benjamin Mendy faces a long injury lay-off after the Premier League leaders confirmed yesterday he has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The 23-year-old French international — signed for £50mn ($67mn) from Monaco in the summer — will undergo surgery in Barcelona on Friday on the injury he suffered in last weekend’s victory over Crystal Palace.
“Bad news guys — I’ll be joining Injury FC on loan for a couple months with ruptured ACL... but will be back soon & stronger hopefully,” tweeted Mendy. Mendy had already travelled to Barcelona to see City manager Pep Gaurdiola’s personal medical team for tests yesterday.
“After initial tests in Manchester at the start of the week, Benjamin travelled to Barcelona to see a specialist doctor, where further examinations of the knee today confirmed the extent of the injury,” read a Manchester City statement. “Benjamin will undergo surgery tomorrow (Friday) in Barcelona, and everyone at the Club wishes him a speedy recovery.”

West Ham, Spurs fined by FA over melee
The Football Association fined West Ham and Tottenham £20,000 ($27,000, 23,000 euros) each yesterday after both Premier League clubs admitted failing to control their players during last Saturday’s derby at London Stadium.
Spurs won 3-2 but the Hammers were pressing for an equaliser in stoppage time when tempers frayed. “West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur have each been fined £20,000 after they admitted an FA misconduct charge and accepted the standard penalty,” read an FA statement.
“It was alleged that in or around the 95th minute of their fixture on Saturday (23 September 2017), both clubs failed to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion.”
Five players were cautioned by referee Michael Oliver in stoppage time. West Ham’s Andy Carroll, Winston Reid and Andre Ayew were shown yellow cards, while Eric Dier and Fernando Llorente were booked for Spurs.
The incident that prompted the charge came after a foul by Carroll, which drew angry reactions from both sides and saw four players booked. Ayew’s caution for a foul came earlier in stoppage time. Spurs were under pressure after being reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining when Serge Aurier received a second yellow card.
Asensio extends Real Madrid contract to 2023
Marco Asensio has extended his contract with Real Madrid by one year, tying him to the Santiago Bernabeu until 2023, the club announced yesterday.
“Real Madrid CF and Asensio have agreed an extension to the player’s contract, binding him to the club until the 30th of June 2023,” read a statement on the club’s website. Asensio, 21, signed from Real Mallorca in 2015 and burst onto the scene last season to quickly become a favourite with Madrid fans.
A scorer of one of Madrid’s goals in their 4-1 Champions League final win over Juventus in June, Asensio is just the latest in a long line of players to extend their contracts in the Spanish capital. French defender Raphael Varane extended his contract to 2022 on Wednesday, while Marcelo, Isco and Dani Carvajal have also extended their deals to 2022 over the past fortnight. Meanwhile, Karim Benzema penned an extension to 2021.

North Korea, Malaysia clash postponed after travel ban
North Korea’s Asian Cup football qualifier with Malaysia was postponed for a third time yesterday after Malaysia imposed a ban on travel to the country, citing rising nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Next week’s game in Pyongyang had already twice been delayed following a row over the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un, at a Kuala Lumpur airport.
Yesterday, Malaysia’s foreign ministry banned travel to North Korea with immediate effect, citing the “escalation of tensions in the Korean peninsula” arising from Pyongyang’s missile tests. “All Malaysians are banned from travelling to North Korea until further notice... The travel ban will be reviewed once the situation has returned to normal,” the foreign ministry said. 
The Asian Football Confederation said Thursday’s game was now postponed, adding it “will now refer the matter to the appropriate committees to decide on the future status of this match”. The game was originally scheduled for March 28, but was deferred because of the row over the murder of Kim Jong-Nam in Malaysia in February.
Kim’s assassination sparked a diplomatic crisis which saw both countries banning each other’s citizens from leaving, and withdrawing their ambassadors. Tensions have since eased. The fixture was rescheduled to June 8 in Pyongyang but then moved again to the next best available date in the international football calendar, which fell on October 5. 
The latest postponement comes after Malaysia’s football chief Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim met a North Korean envoy in Malaysia last week and discussed the safety of players and officials, in what appeared to be positive talks.
Tunku Ismail, who had earlier warned about the dangers of Malaysian players being poisoned in North Korea, was told he could travel directly through North Korean airspace any time he wanted to visit the country.