Barcelona 1-2 Real Sociedad: Player ratings as Blaugrana made to wait for clean sheet record
Match report & player ratings from Barcelona 1-2 Real Sociedad in La Liga.
2023-05-21 05:24
Braves top prospect keeps throwing hat in ring for pitching help
The Atlanta Braves may have something special cooking at Triple-A with AJ Smith-Shawver.With Max Fried and Kyle Wright on the mend for the foreseeable future, look for promising farmhands like AJ Smith-Shawver to potentially help out the Atlanta Braves later this summer.Smith-Shawver made hi...
2023-05-21 05:00
Really sad day – Mikel Arteta rues tame end to Arsenal’s title challenge
Mikel Arteta was apologetic as he reflected on a “really sad day” after Arsenal’s faint Premier League title hopes were ended by a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest. Manchester City were confirmed as champions after Taiwo Awoniyi’s first-half goal saw Forest earn the three points that secured their top-flight status. The Gunners, who were insatiable for most of the campaign, had spent 248 days on top of the table and held an eight-point lead over City in March, but an alarming slide saw them overtaken by Pep Guardiola’s relentless juggernaut who claim a fifth title in six seasons. No team has spent more time on top of the table and not won the league, which left Arteta crestfallen. “Really sad day, a lot of difficult emotions, we lost the game, we lost the championship after 10 and a half months fighting for it and nine and a half months almost on top of it,” he said. “We built a lot of illusion and belief that we could go all the way and win it and in the end we fell short. Congratulations to Man City, they are the champions, they deserve to be the champions, they have done it for 38 games, we haven’t been able to do that. “That is it and from my side I apologise because we have built that belief that we could do it and in the end the team wasn’t able to do it and that is my responsibility. “Today is just a lot of sadness. You see a lot of people, they put everything, they put so much work, so much belief and so much hours and I am sad, I am sad for them because we wanted to find a way and squeeze everything we had in that group. “We fell short and this is my job and my responsibility, I have to analyse that and think. “Today we should have played much better, we gave them a goal and gave them another chance to score another goal if they wanted and we fell short to break them down. “You need, when you come to April and May, 24 players there and available, fit and playing at their best, full of confidence and ready to go and for many reasons we haven’t had that. “There are key moments in the league that define, the momentum goes there, the result goes there and we didn’t have those margins going on our side.” For Forest it was a real red letter day as they secured their survival against the odds. For large parts of the season, which began with more than 20 new signings, they looked destined to return straight back to the Championship, not least when they were on an 11-game winless run going into the end of April. But Awoniyi’s hot streak, with five goals in three games, helped Steve Cooper’s side lift themselves out of the bottom three and they can no longer be caught by Southampton, Leicester or Everton. It completes an impressive job by Cooper, who repaid Forest for the faith they showed when backing him amid their poor run, and his stock continues to rise. Asked how he felt, the Welshman said: “Just pride, a great sense of belonging at being part of something really special and important for me. “A brilliant day for the players and an equally great day for the supporters and one we deserved. It is difficult to use the word achievement at this football club because you have to be careful but it is just amazing to be able to allow the club to move forward, that’s what we all want to do. “Now is the time to talk about the players, the supporters and the game. It is a real sense of belonging and being part of something greater than any one person. “This was always going to be my toughest coaching challenge, but an enjoyable one, not a negative one. We have had everything this year, both positive and negative. “It feels great, but I am more thinking about it just allows us to progress.”
2023-05-21 04:53
NBA Rumors: Heat's foolproof plan vs. Celtics, Lakers pray for LeComeback, and Ja Morant's growing support group
Today's slate of NBA rumors surround two star players from the playoffs and one star player who can't help but attract the wrong attention.The NBA playoff bubble is back. Stare into its iridescent gleam and find a hierarchy of stars, each trying to climb on top of each other to reach u...
2023-05-21 04:45
WATCH: Man City players celebrate Premier League title triumph
Watch as the Man City squad are confirmed as 2022/23 Premier League champions.
2023-05-21 04:24
Haaland signing a master stroke as Man City secure another Premier League title
Manchester City sowed the seeds for their latest title success before they had even completed their 2022 triumph. In May last year, as the team fought hard on the field to hold off the challenge of Liverpool, off it the top brass agreed a deal with Borussia Dortmund to sign Erling Haaland. It was a bold statement by a club used to making bold statements. The prolific Norwegian striker joined them in the summer and, almost instantly, an already formidable team became a seemingly unstoppable force. Obviously it was not quite so straightforward, but after City’s powerful spring charge – when they reeled in and then flew past Arsenal without even a hint of feeling pressure – few could argue they are now one of the greatest teams to have graced the Premier League. Haaland has been at the heart of it, scoring a barely believable and record-breaking 36 league goals so far in the process. He not only surpassed the greats of the past, but left them trailing in his wake. He overtook the previous record mark of 34 – set by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer in 42-game seasons in the mid-1990s – with five matches to spare. He helped himself to four hat-tricks and formed a potent combination with the team’s chief playmaker, Kevin De Bruyne. Rarely has a player made as big an impact as Haaland has and, given how City have adapted and improved around him as the season has gone on, there would seem to be plenty more to come. Yet while Haaland may have been a hugely significant factor in City’s fifth title in six seasons, it would be unfair to give him all the credit. De Bruyne has enjoyed another highly influential campaign, laying on 16 assists and scoring seven goals himself. Jack Grealish, now looking far more comfortable with his £100million tag, has also been a driving force while Rodri has developed into one of the strongest midfielders in the game and John Stones has excelled in a hybrid defence-midfield role. Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Nathan Ake have also made big contributions at different times. The key once again, however, has been the man in charge, Pep Guardiola. The inspirational Catalan has produced another masterclass of management, underlining his pre-eminence in the game and strengthening his position among the greats. After two successive title wins with false nines or makeshift centre-forwards, Haaland’s arrival signalled a change of approach from the former Barcelona boss. Initially there were doubts, with fears Haaland’s presence might disrupt City’s natural flow. Indeed, early on, it did seem his goals were masking some disjointed and indifferent performances. Form either side of the World Cup break was patchy and underwhelming and allowed Arsenal to take early control of the race. Yet Guardiola worked through the inconsistencies and ironed out the problems, with excellent man-management, tactical nous and his ferocious winning mentality. There were some well-timed criticisms, surprise selection calls and eyebrow-raising departures – Raheem Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Joao Cancelo – all of which have been vindicated as City came good when it really mattered. Arsenal obviously let a strong position slip but, in a disrupted season, when City had more players at the World Cup than any other club, Guardiola paced the challenge perfectly. To have maintained intensity while also competing in two other competitions makes it all the more remarkable. City still have to win two more finals to complete a glorious treble, but their Premier League success alone is a phenomenal achievement. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live County Championship leaders Surrey race to emphatic win over Kent Leinster devastated by Champions Cup final loss – Leo Cullen A look at Pep Guardiola’s 10 major trophies as Manchester City manager
2023-05-21 03:59
Erling Haaland’s record-breaking season leads Manchester City to title
Erling Haaland led Manchester City to the Premier League title with a record 36 goals. The Norwegian beat the record of 34, set in the league’s early 42-game seasons by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer, and smashed Mohamed Salah’s 38-game record of 32. With up to three league games remaining for Haaland, the PA news agency looks at his record in his debut season in England. Hot-shot Haaland From the moment Haaland announced himself with a brace against West Ham on his Premier League debut, he has proved a relentless threat to opposing defences. He scored a record nine in his first five games, with hat-tricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, and equalled Micky Quinn’s six-game record to reach double figures. Further trebles against Manchester United and Wolves made it four for the season, one off Shearer’s record of five in 1995-96, with Haaland adding five doubles for good measure. In all, he has scored in 23 of his 33 league appearances and against 16 different opponents. He failed to score in his one league appearance against Liverpool, or in their Community Shield clash, but did score in the Carabao Cup fourth-round tie. Brentford and Chelsea are the other names missing from the list, with return fixtures against those two clubs still to come. Golden Boot winners Haaland began hauling in previous Golden Boot-winning tallies as early as November 5 after 18 goals in his first 12 games. The 23-goal mark that has won the last three awards lasted only until January’s hat-trick against Wolves, which accounted for nine previous Golden Boot seasons in all, while he matched Salah in 28 appearances and Shearer and Cole in 30 on his way to inevitably adding a first Norwegian name to the roll of honour. 18 goals – Michael Owen, Dion Dublin and Chris Sutton 1997-98; Owen, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Dwight Yorke 1998-99Appearances: 12v Fulham (H), November 5 19 – Nicolas Anelka 2008-09Appearances: 14v Leeds (A), December 28 20 – Didier Drogba 2006-07; Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez 2010-11Appearances: 14v Leeds (A), December 28 22 – Teddy Sheringham 1992-93; Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 2018-19Appearances: 18v Tottenham (H), January 19 23 – Hasselbaink 2000-01; Jamie Vardy 2019-20; Harry Kane 2020-21; Salah and Son Heung-min 2021-22Appearances: 19v Wolves (H), January 22 24 – Thierry Henry 2001-02Appearances: 19v Wolves (H), January 22 25 – Alan Shearer 1996-97; Ruud van Nistelrooy 2002-03; Henry 2004-05; Kane 2015-16Appearances: 19v Wolves (H), January 22 26 – Robin van Persie 2012-13; Sergio Aguero 2014-15Appearances: 22v Arsenal (A), February 15 27 – Henry 2005-06Appearances: 24v Bournemouth (A), February 25 29 – Drogba 2009-10; Kane 2016-17Appearances: 27v Southampton (A), April 8 30 – Kevin Phillips 1999-2000; Henry 2003-04; Van Persie 2011-12Appearances: 27v Southampton (A), April 8 31 – Shearer 1995-96; Cristiano Ronaldo 2007-08; Luis Suarez 2013-14Appearances: 28v Leicester (H), April 15 32 – Salah 2017-18Appearances: 28v Leicester (H), April 15 34 – Andy Cole 1993-94; Shearer 1994-95Appearances: 30v Fulham (A), April 30
2023-05-21 03:58
Steelers Rumors: Alex Highsmith deal, next Javon Hargrave, hype for newcomer
Steelers Rumors: Keeanu Benton drawing comps to be next Javon HargraveThere's no question that the first of two second-round picks made by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Joey Porter Jr. with the No. 32 pick sent in the Chase Claypool trade, has gotten far more publicity than the team's other s...
2023-05-21 03:56
Mikel Arteta: Arsenal must 'heal' after 'painful' title race
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reacts to the end of the Premier League title race.
2023-05-21 03:49
Manchester City wins Premier League title as Arsenal suffers shock loss
Manchester City sealed the Premier League title on Saturday, as Arsenal's shock 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest ended any lingering mathematical probability of the north London team usurping Pep Guardiola's side in the title race.
2023-05-21 03:45
Arsenal set unwanted English record as Man City win Premier League
Arsenal set an unwanted English record after conceding the Premier League title to Man City.
2023-05-21 03:29
Ilkay Gundogan admits winning 2022/23 Premier League title is 'dream come true'
Ilkay Gundogan explains what winning the 2022/23 Premier League title as Man City captain means to him.
2023-05-21 03:28