The Guardian

Boxing Day’s sole Premier League fixture tingled the senses and was graced by Patrick Dorgu’s killer finish that claimed the points and moved Manchester United up to a season-high fifth. They could – and maybe should – have been limited to a draw because Newcastle dominated the second period as their hosts’ rhythm went awry. But the visitors’ problem was a lack of teeth. Towards the end Joelinton…

Jets reinstate fan after backlash over kick contest Coach had qualified before being ruled ineligible The New York Jets have reversed a decision that had barred a longtime fan from participating in a $100,000 halftime field-goal contest, announcing Friday that she will be allowed to take part in Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots. The New York Post first reported that Ashley Castanio-…

Wrexham roar back to win 5-3; Coventry stretch lead Ipswich and Millwall draw; Bristol City beat Albion Kieffer Moore struck twice against his old club as Wrexham recovered from 3-1 down to beat Sheffield United 5-3 in a late afternoon Boxing Day thriller at STōK Cae Ras. Patrick Bamford had looked like stealing the headlines with a well-taken early double for the visitors but Wrexham powered bac…

Sale 43-17 Harlequins Flanker scores two tries to help Sale romp to victory For Sale and Alex Sanderson a bonus-point victory which harvested seven tries was surely beyond their wildest imagination. But for Harlequins the abject misery and humiliation continues after a shocking second-half capitulation as they surrendered a 17-12 interval lead to ship 31 unanswered second-half points. Continue re…

Former football manager’s horse wins Kempton thriller Cheltenham Gold Cup up next for the gutsy winner “Today, we’ve gone into the Champions League,” Harry Redknapp, the owner of The Jukebox Man, said after his horse had fought back to win an extraordinary three-way photo-finish in the King George VI Chase here on Friday. “We got into the Premier League, which was fantastic, but today we were tak…

The four-time women’s world champion, ranked the No 2 all-time woman after the retired Judit Polgar, shows that she retains her skills Hou Yifan, the all-time No 2 woman grandmaster after the retired Judit Polgar and currently ranked women’s world No 1, showed that she retained her brilliant skills when she made a rare appearance in the Global Chess League for Alpine SG Pipers, who defeated the r…

Kim Hellberg’s determination to succeed as Middlesbrough manager runs deep. So deep that he decided it would be best if his wife and two small children spent Christmas in their native Sweden while he continued to put in 12-hour days on Teesside. Given that the Hellberg family will soon be reunited in a new home in North Yorkshire and Blackburn’s visit represented the first of four games in nine d…

Salah penalty gives Egypt second win in two Angola and Zimbabwe battle to 1-1 draw Mohamed Salah scored a first-half penalty as 10-man Egypt defeated South Africa 1-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations Group B clash in Agadir on Friday to become the first team into the knockout stages of the competition. Egypt have six points from their opening two games and cannot finish outside of the top two in th…

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Spaniard, who at 30 has been coaching for half his life, discusses Arteta, tactics and how to win players’ trust Carlos Cuesta, towards the end of his first major interview, briefly lets himself wonder how far his journey will take him. “Maybe one day it brings the Maldives,” he says with a laugh, the joke being football managers can quickly be banished from view, twiddling their thumbs on the be…

‘Difference between us and other teams is too small’ Liverpool have conceded 11 league goals from set pieces Arne Slot has claimed Liverpool have much more to offer this season and can become the dominant team he envisaged, although only once their set-piece failings have been eradicated. Liverpool have stemmed a damaging sequence of nine losses in 12 games – the club’s worst run in 71 years – to…

Week 17 delivers a decisive at Soldier Field as Chicago and San Francisco battle for positioning in a crowded NFC race for the No 1 seed and a precious first-round bye Chicago Bears (11-4) v San Francisco 49ers (11-4) Continue reading...

No rational judge could have expected England’s fall guys to succeed at the MCG where they were thrown on to a festive bonfire by a lack of red-ball cricket and a slack set-up Guess who just got back today? Those wild-eyed boys that had been away. This was a day of brittle, over-caffeinated cricket, on an MCG pitch streaked with faint green ridges. But it was also a day when the boys were, howeve…

Late Portuguese’s former English clubs meet on Saturday Dinis and Duarte also attended clubs’ season openers Diogo Jota’s two sons will join the mascots at Anfield when Liverpool face Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday, the club confirmed on Friday. The Portuguese forward, who played for both Premier League clubs, died in a car crash alongside his younger brother in July in northwestern Spa…

Forest great was loved in Nottingham but under-appreciated in Scotland before going on to thrive as a coach On the eve of a Celtic European tie 25 years ago, Stiliyan Petrov cut an increasingly agitated figure. The young Bulgarian, soon to shoot to prominence under Martin O’Neill, was finding it impossible to snatch the ball from a rotund, wizened coach during a possession drill. Petrov’s teammat…