Italy secured a routine 4-0 victory over Malta to keep the pressure on England in Group C of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. Giacomo Bonaventura opened the scoring for the Italians for his first-ever international goal and Domenico Berardi then scored twice – either side of half-time – before Davide Frattesi added a fourth in added time. Ukraine picked up an important three points in a bid for their group-stage hopes after they ran out 2-0 winners over North Macedonia. Ukraine opened the scoring in rather fortunate fashion as an Heorhiy Sudakov effort from outside the area was heavily deflected into the net to make it 1-0. The Ukrainians had to wait till stoppage time to rubber stamp the points when Oleksandr Karavayev spotted goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski off his line before firing home. In Group G, Hungary put themselves in the driving seat to qualify from the group after they defeated Serbia 2-1 at home. Barnabas Varga put the hosts ahead after 21 minutes and they were pegged back 12 minutes later through Strahinja Pavlovic, but Hungary instantly regained their lead when the ball fell for Roland Sallai, who let fly from 25 yards to win the match. Lithuania registered their first win of the qualifiers at the sixth attempt thanks to defender Pijus Sirvys’ double either side of half-time to beat 10-man Bulgaria 2-0. Three minutes after Adrian Kraev was sent off for a second bookable offence, Lithuania opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time after Sirvys bundled the ball home from a corner and he doubled their advantage 10 minutes after the break to pick up their first three points of the competition. In Group H, Northern Ireland wrapped up a 3-0 victory over lowly San Marino. Paul Smyth opened the scoring for the home side at Windsor Park in superb fashion with his scissor-kick from inside the area and they doubled their advantage six minutes later through Josh Magennis before adding a third – nine minutes from time – when Conor McMenamin netted his first international goal from close range. Slovenia strengthened their grip on qualifying following a 3-0 rout over Finland. Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko netted twice in the first half, firstly from the penalty spot before he raced through on goal and buried his second and all three points were rubber stamped in stoppage-time thanks to Eric Janza’s strike. Denmark stayed level on points with Slovenia to occupy the top two spots after they earned a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan. Jonas Wind opened the scoring in Parken when he bundled home from close range and Robert Skov added a second before he latched onto Christian Eriksen’s through ball to slot home Denmark’s third. Read More New Zealand end Ireland’s World Cup dreams as quarter-final curse continues Ben Earl convinced England can prove critics wrong in last-eight Fiji showdown Sam Tomkins’ career ends with Grand Final loss to his former side Wigan Warren Gatland admits change of referee did not help Wales in Argentina loss Sheikh Jassim withdraws from Manchester United takeover process Emiliano Boffelli stars as Argentina send Wales home from World Cup

Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario earned praise from captain Son Heung-min following his key role in their latest victory. Spurs made it four wins in a row after they battled to a 2-1 triumph at Crystal Palace, with Joel Ward’s 53rd-minute own goal and Son’s eighth strike of the campaign enough to earn all three points. Jordan Ayew netted in stoppage time for the hosts, but Ange Postecoglou’s resurgent team held on and Son subsequently paid tribute to summer signing Vicario. Vicario made two crucial early saves to deny Ayew and Odsonne Edouard, and while he missed out on a fifth clean sheet since he displaced Hugo Lloris as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper, he continues to grow his reputation. “Before we score without Vic’s saves we are going behind and when you go behind in this stadium, you know what is going to happen. I think big credit to Vic for making unbelievable saves,” Son told SpursPlay. “I am enjoying every single moment (with Vicario) because he made a good save, is playing out well and it is fantastic to have him behind the goal. “Obviously any game we are going to face chances and shots on target, but when you have Vic behind us you are just very comfortable he is going to make unbelievable saves, which he did. “Big, big credit to Vic today and also the way he play with the feet is fantastic. It brings so much to the team and I am very, very happy to have him in the team.” Vicario has adapted to life in England immediately and been an unsung hero during Tottenham’s ascent to first place in the Premier League. The role of top goalscorer Son has earned more headlines and he netted again on Friday, but only after a brilliant team move. Pape Sarr’s diagonal ball was headed down by Brennan Johnson to James Maddison, who touched back into Johnson’s path and he teed up the Spurs captain for a smart close-range finish. Former Empoli goalkeeper Vicario said: “I think our second goal was a top masterclass of football from the back. Find the spare man and then he (Son) attacks the right space. “It is easy for him to come to the back and score this kind of goal. It is a big situation we work on during the week, so we’re happy for that and we have to keep going, keep improving on that because we can do it. “Of course we enjoy the win, we take the rest of the week and then we go again.” A largely perfect night for Tottenham was rounded off with Rodrigo Bentancur returning from injury to play for the first time since February 11. Bentancur suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage to his left knee in a defeat at Leicester, which curtained a fine individual campaign that had seen him score five times. We couldn't wait to have him back and when he came on I was getting emotional Son Heung-min on Rodrigo Bentancur Captain Son was thrilled to see the midfielder return with a late cameo, he added: “What an unbelievable player. Having him in our squad is kind of like a new signing. “We couldn’t wait to have him back and when he came on I was getting emotional. He is one of my good friends and last year when I suffer with injuries, he was always pushing behind me. “I am really grateful he came back healthy.” Palace boss Roy Hodgson was downbeat about the impact of his substitutes and called for patience with Brazilian attacker Matheus Franca after his home debut off the bench. “They need more time,” Hodgson insisted. “The fact is I feel sorry for Franca. For some reason people have tried to imbue him with qualities that we can’t expect to see from him. “He’s 19 years of age, he has a handful of games in Brazil behind him and now we’re asking him to play against Tottenham, the team that is running away at the top of the Premier League at the moment.” Read More Erik ten Hag admits Man Utd ‘have a way to go’ as they prepare for derby day Luka Doncic scores 49 with four straight three-pointers to beat Brooklyn Texas Rangers win World Series opener in extra innings On this day in 2017: Anthony Joshua beats Carlos Takam to retain world titles Wolves v Chelsea on Christmas Eve means ‘unhappy wife’ for Mauricio Pochettino Matthew Mott wary of ‘raging favourites’ as England look to avoid further shame

Brian White scored 19 minutes into the match and Yohei Takaoka made it stand up as the Vancouver Whitecaps edged the Chicago Fire 1-0

The Chicago Cubs have placed closer Adbert Alzolay on the 15-day injured list and promoted top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong from Triple-A Iowa

Carlos Sainz topped the times for Ferrari in Friday’s opening practice at the Monaco Grand Prix, the Spaniard outpacing compatriot Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin...

Disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed multiple times by a fellow inmate after he made lewd comments about girls during a Wimbledon match, the suspect reportedly told prison workers. The convicted sex abuser, 59, was stabbed in the back and chest by another inmate at the high-security United States Penitentiary Coleman in Florida on Sunday afternoon. A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson said that an inmate at the prison required “life-saving efforts” after the attack took place and the victim was transported to a local hospital for further treatment and evaluation. The Daily Beast reports that the incident happened after Nassar said “I wish there was girls playing” while inmates were watching a women’s match at Wimbledon. The suspect, who The Associated Press has named as Shane McMillan, allegedly stabbed Nassar with a makeshift weapon, wounding him in the neck, chest and back. Four inmates then rushed in and pulled McMillan off Nassar, a source told the news outlet. McMillan was convicted of assaulting a correctional officer at a federal penitentiary in Louisiana in 2006 and attempting to stab another inmate to death at the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado in 2011, according to court records. Nassar remains in hospital in stable condition with injuries including a collapsed lung, reported AP. The Independent has reached out to the Bureau of Prisons for comment. The former USA Gymnastics team doctor is serving between 40 and 175 years in prison for sexually abusing young female athletes in his care. As the team doctor, the sexual predator abused his position of trust and preyed on dozens of young gymnasts for several decades, including Olympic great Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, and McKayla Maroney. In many cases, he sexually assaulted his young victims under the guise of it being medical treatment for hip and leg injuries sustained during the sport. As well as USA Gymnastics, based in Indianapolis, he also worked at Michigan State University and preyed on athletes there as well. Many of his victims went on to become America’s biggest gymnastics stars and have since spoken out about the years of abuse they endured at his hands. The scandal not only plagued USA Gymnastics – with victims revealing that they had confided in adults and coaches about the abuse – but also the FBI which failed to take the accusations seriously and left Nassar to abuse more than 120 further victims while they sat on the information for a year-and-a-half. It was July 2015 when Maggie Nichols became the first victim to report his sexual abuse to USA Gymnastics bosses, who then passed the information on to the FBI’s Indianapolis field office. W Jay Abbott, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis office, resigned from the bureau in 2017. He was accused of waiting five weeks before telling the FBI about the first allegations received by US Gymnastics about Nassar’s behaviour. Agents failed to open an investigation for another 17 months when a complaint about Nassar was then made to Michigan State University’s campus police. The Justice Department watchdog later released a scathing report on the bureau’s handling of the matter, which it said let the sexual predator go on to abuse dozens more victims. Following his 2016 arrest, Nassar pleaded guilty to child sex abus images in December 2017 and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Two months later, he pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct at a separate trial and was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison. He is also serving a separate 40 to 125 years for sexual abuse in Michigan. While behind bars, the serial sex offender has sought to fight his conviction, claiming that he was treated unfairly by the judge at his 2018 trial who called him a “monster” and said he should “wither” in prison like the wicked witch in “The Wizard of Oz”. His final appeal was struck down by the Michigan Supreme Court in June 2022. Read More Larry Nassar was stabbed in his own cell and attack was not picked up on camera, report says The mysterious connection between Larry Nassar and Jeffrey Epstein Disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar almost killed after being stabbed in prison

DeAndre Hopkins could play for your favorite NFL team, but he won't be coming cheap either.If an NFL team wants to sign new free agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, it better pony up some cold, hard cash, bruh!After being released by the Arizona Cardinals last week, the soon-to-be 31-y...

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Tigers reporter Johnny Kane wasn't mad. He was just disappointed.

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