American swimmer Katie Ledecky's legacy keeps growing

James Trafford saved a stoppage-time penalty to earn England European Under-21 Championship glory for the first time in 39 years as they edged past Spain. The Burnley goalkeeper repelled Abel Ruiz’s spot-kick, awarded after a VAR review in the sixth minute of added time, and then kept out substitute Aimar Oroz’s follow-up at the end of a pulsating contest at the Batumi Arena in Georgia. In the process, he became the first man to keep six clean sheets at the finals to help his side claim glory courtesy of a 1-0 victory, having not conceded a single goal at the tournament. Liverpool Curtis Jones’ had earlier given England, playing in front of senior boss Gareth Southgate, the lead in first-half stoppage time when he deflected Cole Palmer’s free-kick past keeper Arnau Tenas. A third title and a first since 1984 was delivered on a dramatic evening in Georgia which saw England coach Ashley Cole and one of his Spanish counterparts, as well as substituted midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White and Spain’s Antonio Blanco, sent off on the sidelines. Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon made his presence felt early on, cutting inside from Emile Smith Rowe’s pass to force Tenas into a fifth-minute save, with Palmer unable to convert the rebound, then turning smartly and crossing unselfishly to hand Gibbs-White a tap-in, had it not been for defender Jon Pacheco’s intervention. The Spanish response was concerted as Manchester City’s Sergio Gomez and Braga striker Ruiz brought their influence to bear. Trafford was sent sprawling across his goal by Alex Baena’s 16th-minute strike before defender Aitor Paredes glanced Gomez’s corner across goal, with Ruiz unable to reach the ball before it ran out of play. England, who had been guilty of repeatedly surrendered possession cheaply, started to fire, Palmer warming Tenas’ hands with a well-struck 25-yard drive and defender Levi Colwill heading Palmer’s free-kick against a post with the keeper beaten. But the Manchester City man played a key role as the deadlock was broken on the stroke of half-time. After Palmer had been tripped by club-mate Gomez, Jones, making a nuisance of himself in front of the defensive wall, unwittingly deflected his free-kick past the helpless Tenas. Colwill and Oihan Sancet were booked and England coach Cole and one of his Spanish counterparts sent off amid a melee in the wake of the goal, but the former Arsenal and Chelsea full-back’s side led at the break. Ruiz thought he had levelled within six minutes of the restart, but his bullet header from a Gomez free-kick was correctly ruled offside, although England looked rattled with Spain making a big push in the early stages of the half. However, they rallied and, with full-back Max Aarons providing another outlet down the left, began the threaten once again and Gibbs-White might have done better from Gordon’s 64th-minute pull-back, with the Spanish stretched. Tenas kept Spain in it by clawing away Jones’ attempt at the end of a pacy break seconds later and Ruiz should have levelled when he got his head to to Gomez’s 68th-minute cross, but missed the target by inches. But as the clock ticked towards the 96th minute, Norwegian referee Espen Eskas was advised to take a second look at Colwill’s challenge on Ruiz and ultimately pointed to the spot, but Trafford’s heroics sparked wild English celebrations. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Mark Cavendish’s Tour de France record attempt ends with stage eight crash Blink and it’s over – Aryna Sabalenka races into fourth round at Wimbledon Carlos Alcaraz made to work hard for place in fourth round at Wimbledon

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Newcastle’s biggest win in two decades was a draw. After a 20-year absence from the Champions League, they are back, perhaps headed to Madrid or Munich or Milan next season. A point was all they needed against Leicester and a point was what they got. It was a stalemate to savour for Eddie Howe, a largely uneventful game to demonstrate stunning progress in 18 months. Bottom after his first game in charge, Newcastle will now rub shoulders with the European elite. Perhaps a draw means they may face Leicester again next season, though their fate remains more uncertain. They finished three places above Newcastle last year and are 15 below them now. The turnaround has been a triumph of smart recruitment, excellent coaching and, less palatably for many outside Tyneside, Newcastle’s Saudi owners. United have had an injection of funds but some £250 million has largely been spent remarkably well. But around half the starting line-up tends to consist of players Howe inherited and who were winless three months into last season. Some have developed beyond recognition. So has a team: Newcastle’s aim for the season was to qualify for continental competition. Even a Conference League spot would have been considered a success, but instead they have vaulted back into the Champions League. It is a terrific feat by Howe, whose last full season of management culminated in Bournemouth’s relegation to the Championship. It may also be welcomed by one of the world’s more oppressive regimes, with Newcastle 80 percent owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Two of their powerbrokers, Jamie Reuben and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, were applauded as they found the net in a half-time shootout. The players found it altogether harder to apply the finishing touch as they struck the woodwork three times. Which, ultimately, made more of a difference to Leicester, whose fate is out of their hands but who still have some hope; beat West Ham and, if Everton do not win, they will survive. Their plight concentrated their minds but Newcastle succeeded where they twice narrowly failed under Brendan Rodgers. He had twin fifth-place finishes from seasons when Leicester occupied top-four spots for the majority of the time. Newcastle have seen the job through. Perhaps both the scoreline and the venue were fitting. Only Liverpool and Arsenal have won at St James’ Park this season and only four clubs have triumphed there in Howe’s reign. They owe their top-four finish to consistency, particularly for a spell either side of the World Cup. A 17-game unbeaten run was, at one stage, the longest undefeated spell in any of Europe’s top five leagues. Only Manchester City have lost fewer Premier League matches this season and Newcastle, who have won as many games as Liverpool, can see the merit of the draw in the table. They have shown a toughness others lacked, a reliability and a resolve that meant they could grind their way to a point. They had a host of clean sheets in the first half of the season; they have been rarer of late but Nick Pope’s fine injury-time save from Timothy Castagne prevented defeat and spared them an anxious final day at Chelsea. They have benefited from two inspired scoring bursts, from Miguel Almiron in autumn and Callum Wilson in recent weeks. Perhaps it rendered it more of a surprise that Wilson endured an off night. Leicester kept a first clean sheet in six months, but they required assistance from the upright and relied on Newcastle’s radars malfunctioning. They had two double reprieves just before half-time. Wilson almost scored his eighth goal in six games, hooking a shot against the post and heading an effort Wilfred Ndidi cleared off the line. Then Almiron struck the post with a half-volley before Alexander Isak blazed over. Most glaringly. Bruno Guimaraes headed against the post from a yard out after Wout Faes had inadvertently flicked on Kieran Trippier’s corner. Leicester were entitled to argue – as John Terry seemed to – that the Brazilian should have been dispatched to the dressing room long before then but he escaped with a yellow card for planting his studs into Boubakary Soumare’s knee; had VAR intervened the punishment may have been greater. But Leicester got what they came for. Dean Smith adopted a policy of safety in numbers to bolster his porous rearguard, bringing in Harry Souttar as an extra centre-back and playing 5-3-2. Most contentiously – and arguably unsuccessfully given the lack of the threat the impotent strike duo of Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho possessed – he benched his two top scorers. James Maddison came on at half-time, Harvey Barnes for the final half-hour. Neither altered proceedings even if, after his side camped behind the ball for much of the match, Smith urged them on at the end. So Leicester need favours from elsewhere on the last day of the season. Newcastle need none. Champions League, here they come. Read More Newcastle vs Leicester player ratings Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron miss the mark Eddie Howe won’t ‘relax on a beach’ if Newcastle qualify for Champions League Newcastle may have Saudi riches, but Eddie Howe’s team is built on bargains

Chelsea’s policy of targeting young players in the transfer market must be given time to prove its effectiveness, according to boss Mauricio Pochettino. Co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart have led a recruitment drive that has prioritised youth over experience during the last two transfer windows. At an average age of just over 23 the club have the youngest squad in the Premier League this season, with contracts of seven or eight years for new players common at Stamford Bridge. They have broken the British transfer record twice in 2023 on two players who are under 23, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. Yet the team have taken just four points from the manager’s first four league games in charge, after a summer in which recruitment spend in the previous 12 months under the current ownership surpassed the £1billion mark. The manager was unhappy with the ease with which Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga was allowed to run through the heart of his team’s defence to score the only goal in the visitors’ 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge before the international break, and mistakes in defence and in midfield have been a theme in the season’s early weeks. Nevertheless, Chelsea have enjoyed periods of dominance in all four fixtures, particularly in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool on the opening weekend and in the 3-0 win over newly-promoted Luton. Former Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic said this week that the squad lacked the kind of world-class individuals that helped the club win five Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues over the past 20 years. But Pochettino has seen enough to be reassured that his ideas are taking root amongst his young squad, and appealed for the necessary patience for an inexperienced group to find their flow. “They were (once) young also, John Terry was young, Frank Lampard was young, (Didier) Drogba was young,” he said. “You know better maybe than me, that is a completely different pressure. This is a different Chelsea to what I saw when I was at Tottenham or Southampton. Worse or better? I’m not saying that. “But it’s different pressure. Different circumstances. Now we cannot compare with the past. I think it’s not fair. It’s a different Chelsea. What I want to translate is the fans want to win because the normal way in the past for Chelsea is to win. “We need to accelerate all the process, because Chelsea is about to win, and we want to win. But I understand that the process is completely different to in the past. Because we have a different approach to the game and the philosophy and the ideas, (it means) we have a young squad of course. “(We have) very talented players that need time to perform. But for sure we have one of the best squads of young players with the project. But of course we need time. We need to be careful about how we evolve and how we develop these ideas. But it’s true, players that need to improve and improve.” Chelsea travel to Bournemouth on Sunday looking to win away from home for just the second time since March, with their only victory on the road in that time coming on their previous visit to the Vitality Stadium at the end of last season. Pochettino spoke positively about his side’s performances so far this campaign despite a points return that has left them 12th. He emphasised that his young squad are carrying the club into a new era where success is planned over a longer period, investing in potential rather than ready-made stars. “I cannot give my opinion about what (Begovic) said because I didn’t hear,” he added. “But it’s obvious that at the moment, if you’re talking about a name like John Terry or Lampard or Drogba… come on. “Today maybe we have the potential of Lampard or Terry or Drogba, but they are young. They need to prove that they can be one of these guys. “In the past, Chelsea was about to sign (big) players, like Drogba. Now the idea is to buy young people to have the possibility to develop and to build a team. We are in the process of building a team.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Pep Guardiola admits Kyle Walker exit would have given him a ‘big, big problem’ Erik ten Hag unsure whether Jadon Sancho will play for Manchester United again Early stages of life at Spurs ‘nothing like my honeymoon’ says Ange Postecoglou

The United States will host the Club World Cup in 2025