The Guardian

‘Heartbroken’ Tottenham midfielder stretchered off in win at Wolves Netherlands star faces eight months out after scans confirm injury Xavi Simons has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and will be out for around eight months. The Tottenham midfielder suffered the injury in his team’s 1-0 win at Wolves on Saturday and will be unavailable for the remainder of the club’s Premier League surviva…

‘I had a feel for what they needed psychologically,’ he says Daniel Farke admits nerves got the better of Leeds Chelsea’s interim manager Calum McFarlane admitted they had to “break the momentum” of five straight Premier League defeats without scoring as they held off Leeds to reach the FA Cup final. A header in the first half from Enzo Fernández proved decisive as Daniel Farke’s side were frustr…

American led from first round at Memorial Park Korda leads rankings for first time since August Nelly Korda won the Chevron Championship on Sunday with a performance worthy of her return to the No 1 ranking in women’s golf. Holding a five-shot lead at the start of the final round, Korda was efficient as ever and no one could get closer than four shots all afternoon at Memorial Park. She closed wi…

Nikola Vlasic scores Torino equaliser in 2-2 draw Dortmund seal Champions League spot with 4-0 win Champions-elect Inter were held to a 2-2 draw at Torino on Sunday, with the Serie A leaders letting slip a two-goal lead and leaving the title race ticking over with four rounds left. Inter appeared to be cruising after Marcus Thuram put them in front in the 23rd minute and Yann Bisseck doubled thei…

The current season has become a meme-war without end, an endless rolling wall of gloat and taunt in which players and managers must try to block out the noise In his new book, Saved, Gianluigi Buffon talks about feeling crushed by nerves even at the peak of his playing career. The day before the 2006 World Cup final Buffon and Gennaro Gattuso walked past the French squad after training and were i…

American beats Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 Gauff struggles as virus spreads through locker room Coco Gauff described how difficult it has been for players to remain healthy at the Madrid Open this year after she reached the fourth round despite vomiting on court and struggling with a virus that appears to have torn through the locker room . “I think I got a little cocky because I’ve been at tour…

Hearts boosted their Scottish Premiership title hopes after Blair Spittal’s 86th-minute winner earned a dramatic derby victory over nine-man Hibernian, putting Derek McInnes’ side three points clear after Rangers lost at home to Motherwell. Hibs took an early lead at Easter Road, with Martin Boyle striking after just seven minutes – but seven minutes later, the game changed as goalkeeper Raphael …

Blues could begin and end the season with silverware, a bewildering prospect given the changes and poor displays Out of chaos comes trophies. It shouldn’t be so, but it’s been the Chelsea way for more than 20 years now: no matter how shambolic everything seems behind the scenes, no matter how many managers they burn through, no matter how scattergun the transfer policy, no matter how much discont…

The London Marathon is run over a mostly flat course that starts in Blackheath and finishes on the Mall. The vast majority of the more than 59,000 participants are raising money for charity or running for personal milestones Continue reading...

Chelsea coach unhappy as officials miss ball crossing line United draw at Spurs to endanger European hopes Sonia Bompastor, the Chelsea head coach, called for goalline technology to be brought into the Women’s Super League next season after Sam Kerr was controversially denied a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory at Everton . The Chelsea and Australia striker scored with two clinical low finishes – either…

Gloucester 34-31 Exeter Home side edge 10-try thriller Almost 12 months ago to the day Exeter shipped 79 points in front of the Shed, precipitating a major coaching reshuffle and a finger-wagging lecture in the dressing room from their chair Tony Rowe. The scale of this eventful defeat was much less but there could yet be a sizeable cost to pay as the end-of-season playoffs loom larger. The Chief…

A calamitous defence error from the goalkeeper Christiane Endler helped defending champions Arsenal to come from behind against OL Lyonnes and ensure they take a narrow lead into next week’s Champions League semi-final second leg in France. Jule Brand had giving the visiting team, the record eight-time winners of this competition, a first-half lead in front of 26,758 fans at the Emirates Stadium …

UFC president says events were ‘pretty crazy’ Man in custody after chaotic scenes in Washington DC While many of those present during the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner were shocked by Saturday night’s events, UFC CEO Dana White seemed to rather enjoy himself. White, a long-time ally of Donald Trump, was sitting near the front of the ballroom hosting the dinner when the event …

Kenyan first man to run sub-two-hour marathon ‘I have shown that nothing is not possible’ Sabastian Sawe’s astonishing world marathon record of one hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds at Sunday’s ­London Marathon was fuelled by running 150 miles a week, wearing the ­lightest super shoes in history and a pre-race breakfast of bread and honey, the Kenyan and his team have revealed. With an estimated 800…

Gianluca Rocchi accused of pressing Serie A officials VAR chief also under investigation for same charge The head of referees for Serie A and Serie B has temporarily stepped aside after being placed under investigation by prosecutors in Milan for “sporting fraud”. Gianluca Rocchi said on Saturday that he has decided to “suspend himself” from his role as the man who assigns referees to matches in …