The Guardian

There was a time when the old trophy with the three handles felt like the personal property of Pep Guardiola. The Manchester City manager won the League Cup for the first time in 2018, beating Arsenal in the final, and he repeated the trick in each of the next three seasons. The ensuing years have been less kind to Guardiola and the club in the competition but here was the riposte. On so many lev…

Leicester 33-19 Bristol Victory lifts Leicester into third place in Prem table Swapping the bright Saturday night lights of the Stade de France for the rusty old Crumbie Stand can be a real mental challenge. There is certainly less demand for foie gras in Aylestone but for certain people nothing beats a constant diet of rugby. England’s Ollie Chessum did occasionally look a tad weary during anoth…

It seems that no matter what Tottenham do, they are unable to stop themselves plummeting towards the Championship Crises do strange things to people. Some ignore the danger as though they can make it go away by pretending it doesn’t exist, which is how teams sleepwalk into danger as Tottenham appeared for much of this season to be doing. Once the cliff edge is acknowledged, there are those who fi…

Two-goal display against Atlético gives Tudor hope his playmaker can inspire strugglers to Premier League safety The kind of night that saves a season? That might be pushing it. A comeback for the ages was on, then off, then on again for a little while: a flickering traffic light that, like Tottenham’s season to date, stopped ultimately on red . But they will hoover up any morsels of hope at this…

It promises to be a long three weeks for Tottenham Hotspur and Igor Tudor. That is if Tudor gets the time, after Nottingham Forest plunged Spurs deeper into the relegation fight, recording a humiliating 3-0 victory at this vast arena. When Spurs, now a point above the relegation zone, do re-emerge after the international break, their trip to Sunderland will be the first of seven games to save the…

While Ollie Watkins gave the most articulate response to his omission from the England squad with the goal that clinched this confirmation of Aston Villa’s place in the top four, ending their three-game losing sequence in the Premier League, the most rousing noise around Villa Park arrived when Youri Tielemans replaced John McGinn a minute earlier. The whole of the ground took to their feet and c…

Flamengo player accused singer’s security of speaking ‘in an extremely aggressive manner’ to his wife and stepdaughter at hotel in São Paulo The American singer Chappell Roan has responded to claims that her security guard made the stepdaughter of the Flamengo footballer Jorginho cry, saying the situation makes her feel “really sad” and she “did not deserve that”. On Saturday, the former Premier …

Ronald Araújo scores only goal in hard-fought 1-o win Como thrash Pisa in Serie A for fifth straight victory Ronald Araújo’s header helped Barcelona extend their lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga to seven points with a tight 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano on Sunday. Álvaro Arbeloa’s Real Madrid host Atlético Madrid, who are fourth, later on in a derby clash. Araújo nodded home João Cancelo…

Running back retracts comments he gave on podcast Player’s mother says she is asthmatic New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo has apologized for saying that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and asthma are “fake”, insisting that his comments were not meant to be taken seriously. In an appearance on the Bring the Juice podcast, the 24-year-old was asked whether he believes CTE – a degener…

Oisin McEntee hits late Hearts winner against Dundee Rangers cruise to comfortable 4-1 win over Aberdeen Slipshod Celtic stumbled in this season’s compelling Scottish Premiership title race with a damaging 2-0 defeat by Dundee United at Tannadice. The pressure was on Martin O’Neill’s side after leaders Hearts and title-challenging Rangers both won on Saturday, but they meekly failed to meet the c…

As recently as Friday morning Eddie Howe talked about some results having “bigger consequences than others”. This was most definitely one of them. In completing a Premier League double against Newcastle, Régis Le Bris’s promoted Sunderland surely consigned Howe and his players to one of their most chastening afternoon’s at St James’ Park. Continue reading...

There was talk of this being a last hurrah at home for a golden generation of Matildas. But their performance showed a glimmer of something else Two steps to the left. That’s probably all the space Alanna Kennedy needed to poke the ball away from the edge of her own penalty area and back into the field of possibility. But these are the gaps where football lives, in the inches that open and close …

Essendon lacked energy and cohesion. If they don’t learn to defend, other clubs will continue to run rings around them Heading into the season, Essendon released a mini-documentary called “Spend a day with Brad Scott”. To be honest, it didn’t really present as the most riveting 24 hours. Most of it took place in a classroom type setting, with the coaches and players endeavouring to bed down a tea…

Brighton 0-0 Liverpool Both sides have big chances to win game at the end Brighton and Liverpool both went agonisingly close to snatching victory late on as they provided a tense finish to their goalless stalemate, but both sides had to settle for a draw that edges Liverpool slightly further away from the drop zone. In a game that was low on final-third quality and one where the highlights reel w…

ECB decision to back coach will be confirmed on Monday Lord’s summit with all county directors due next week Brendon McCullum has been told he must improve relations with the counties after being backed to stay on as England coach despite this winter’s 4-1 Ashes defeat. The Guardian revealed the day after England’s T20 World Cup exit three weeks ago that McCullum would continue , a decision that …