Former Croatia coach Kranjcar dies

Man Utd frustrated by penalty row

Earlier, Manchester United were left frustrated by a VAR penalty controversy in their 0-0 draw at Chelsea. Second-placed United had hoped to close the gap on Manchester City with a victory at Stamford Bridge. But instead they now sit 12 points behind the EPL leaders as their title hopes fade following a run of one win from four games.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel is unbeaten in nine matches in all competitions since replacing the sacked Frank Lampard, but the stalemate also did little for the Blues top four challenge.

The biggest talking point of a dour clash came in the first-half when United's appeal for a penalty was rejected by referee Stuart Attwell after he consulted the pitchside monitor when Callum Hudson-Odoi appeared to handle in a challenge with Mason Greenwood.

"It was a penalty, 100 per cent nailed on. If that's a natural position for a hand to be in when the ball comes in then I must be blind," United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said.

Tuchel disagreed, saying: "How can this be a VAR intervention? I don't understand why the referee has to check it but I'm glad it was no penalty."

Former Croatia coach and Dinamo Zagreb star Zlatko 'Cico' Kranjcar died on Monday at the age of 64, the national football federation (HNS) said. He served as national team coach from 2004 to 2006 but was sacked after Croatia failed to make the knockout phase at the World Cup. Kranjcar later had an 18-month spell in charge of Montenegro and stints with Iran's Sepahan and Al Ahli of Qatar. He briefly took over Dinamo again in 2016 and then Iran's U 23 side in 2018.

Rennes coach Stephan quits

Julien Stephan, who guided Rennes to Champions League qualification for the first time in their history, has resigned following a poor run of results, the Ligue 1 club announced Monday. Philippe Bizeul, an assistant to Stephan, will take charge of the first team on a temporary basis, the club added.