The Guardian

Around this time last week Matthias Jaissle wore a sorrowful look as he spoke of his “disappointment” at the “negativity” surrounding a transitional young Newcastle side. Fast forward seven days and a team slightly unlucky to have been held to a draw at home by Liverpool last Sunday have now provided Jaissle with his first competitive win since replacing Eddie Howe as head coach. It is safe to sa…

Thierno Barry resembled a striker reborn, and the goalscorer David Moyes desperately needs, as the first hat-trick of his Everton career plus an assist for new signing Brennan Johnson delivered a resounding win for the Scot on his competitive return to Preston. The France under-21 international scored eight times in a difficult debut season in England but has half that amount two games into this …

The WNBA has attracted grifters who care little for basketball – and whose latest stunt exposes the hollowness of their supposed concern I regret to inform you that yet another dildo has hit a WNBA court. The Chicago Sky v Golden State Valkyries game was sullied by sex toys being chucked on to the playing surface on Friday . Aren’t we tired of all this yet? To paraphrase the Sky’s Natasha Cloud ,…

Possession numbers, the intense physicality and the pure rhythm of games all felt noticeably new as the season began There has been something oddly narcotic and moreish about the drip‑drip of fresh Pep Guardiola content either side of the start of the new Premier League season. Eras come and go. Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact. But four‑part Amazon Prime documentaries make angels of us all. …

The failure to replace Robert Sánchez remains a mystery but the new-look front three should buy time for the new manager’s principles to bed in After a weekend on which pretty much every potential challenger to Arsenal had demonstrated their flaws , there was a sense, perhaps even a need, for Chelsea to emerge as a serious contender – if only to prevent the title race becoming a procession. And w…

Sisters to appear in New York for first time since 2022 Serena played mixed doubles with Alcaraz on Tuesday Serena and Venus Williams are teaming up again at the US Open. The sisters will play doubles at the tournament after receiving a wild card on Wednesday into the event they have won twice. Continue reading...

Joe Root’s side have golden chance to claim first series win since 2024 but are dealing with familiar off-field issues Here we go again, then. It feels like every Test involving England these days is one of critical importance in some way or other. On one level, this is good for business, showing the depth of interest compared with other, ahem, products. But it is not necessarily a good thing for…

League ends flag football and skills competitions Only original 88 selections will earn Pro Bowl status Players to be honored at Super Bowl week in LA The NFL is ending the Pro Bowl Games after repeated format changes to its annual all-star event. Beginning ⁠with the 2026 season, 88 Pro Bowlers will be selected but the NFL no longer plans to stage an ⁠AFC-NFC game, a ⁠flag-football matchup ​or an…

Boston was one of the finest players in the sport’s history Wigan plan series of tributes in Thursday’s Hull KR clash Andy ­Burnham says he is “heart­broken” by the death of Sir Billy ­Boston after the prime minister led tri­butes to the rugby league icon. Boston died on Tuesday at the age of 92. He was one of the sport’s all‑time great players, scoring almost 500 tries during an illustrious care…

The San Francisco 49ers owner’s arrest in Ohio over the weekend was quickly put behind him. Others are not so lucky The Wheat Hill Mobile Home Community sits off state Route 170, on the edge of East Palestine, Ohio, a town most Americans only learned about because a train derailed there in February 2023 and released toxic chemicals into the creek . I grew up in a trailer park like this one, and k…

Nearly a decade after I watched him defy Erdoğan at great personal cost, the ex-NBA player is using his hard-won freedom to turn transgender people into a punchline Nine years ago, I watched Enes Kanter ask America to take him in . It was May 2017, inside the National Basketball Players Association’s offices in midtown Manhattan. Kanter had just returned from a frightening detention at Bucharest …

Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 4-1 at the Bernabéu on Wednesday ⁠in their first home match since the return of José Mourinho as head coach. Mbappé put Madrid ahead in the 40th minute before Luka Sucic levelled four minutes later, but the ⁠France forward restored the ⁠hosts’ lead on ​the hour. Vinícius Júnior added a third in the 68th minute before Mbappé comple…

A new season at the snazziest modern stadium in England and something extremely welcome for Tottenham. A home win over domestic opposition. There were only four of them last season; three in the Premier League with the final one – over Everton on the last day – helping them to avoid relegation. Had they lost that, this Carabao Cup fixture against Charlton would also have been played in the Champi…

Third qualifying round, first leg: Chelsea 5-2 Real Sociedad Girma 29, Buurman 54, Malard 67 88, James 74; Marín 7, Marcos 59 Chelsea’s sluggish start in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Real Sociedad will have made far from satisfying viewing for their suspended manager, Sonia Bompastor, but two goals from the new signing Melvine Malard contributed to a five-goal haul as…

Playoff second leg: Rapid 2-2 Hearts (aet, 3-4 on pens) Kara 34, Cvetkovic 119; Kabore 79, Miller 100 Beau Reus made two penalty saves as heroic Hearts overcame Tomas Magnusson’s red card to pull off a stunning shootout victory away to Rapid Vienna, and book themselves a return to the Conference League’s main phase. Following a 2-2 draw in the first leg at Tynecastle, the Jambos’ European journey…