List of All Articles with Tag 'al'

Eddie Howe admits defeat at Brighton is a warning Newcastle cannot allow their Champions League adventure to distract from the “ruthless” Premier League. The Magpies are back in the group stage of European football’s premier competition for the first time in 20 years and travelled to the Amex Stadium having been drawn to face heavyweights AC Milan, Paris St Germain and Borussia Dortmund. But anticipation of those upcoming fixtures was swiftly tempered by a third successive top-flight loss as a hat-trick from 18-year-old Evan Ferguson earned the Seagulls a 3-1 success. Manager Howe, whose side were beaten 2-1 at home by 10-man Liverpool last weekend following a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City, accepts responsibility for the mini slump but insists he will not over-react. “It’s never been lost on me how difficult the Premier League is,” he said. “I know how tough a league it is, it’s ruthless, so if you get your focus swayed, you’re going to have big problems – I don’t think our focus has been. “We’ve tried to very much concentrate on our next match, that will always be our focus and we’re determined to be successful in the league this year and win as many games as possible. “But we know the demands placed upon us are going to be extreme so this is a warning, I think, that we can’t be swayed and the Premier League is a very tough division. “We’ve lost three in a row and we have to take responsibility for that. It’s important that I don’t over-react.” Newcastle had the better of the early chances on the south coast but fell behind to Ferguson’s 27th-minute opener following defensive errors. The Republic of Ireland striker doubled his tally with a stunning long-range effort before becoming only the fourth teenager to register a Premier League treble thanks to an effort which deflected in off Fabian Schar. Howe, who revealed sidelined midfielder Joe Willock will be out for a further six weeks after his hamstring issue was compounded by a fresh Achilles problem, is itching for a swift return to action going into a two-week international break. “I’d like a game pretty quickly, if I could,” said Howe, whose team host Brentford on September 17. “We have some great games to come and we’re looking forward to that challenge. “I think the challenge to me is to lift everybody and keep our confidence levels because we are a very good team and we have to always have that in the back of our minds as we go into the next two weeks. “The lads are very disappointed. Collectively we’ve got an outstanding group of individuals, great mentalities and we know what we’ve got to do.” Ferguson’s first senior hat-trick, which was followed by Callum Wilson’s consolation, was the third in the Premier League on Saturday after trebles for Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Tottenham forward Son Heung-min. “It’s a good day,” he told Brighton’s website. “It’s an unbelievable feeling. “It’s not bad company to be in; Haaland’s record last season (52 City goals in all competitions) and Son’s been doing it for a number of years, so it’s good company to be in.” Ahead of kick-off, the Seagulls paraded 20-year Spain forward Ansu Fati following his deadline-day loan switch from Barcelona. “He’s going to be great for the squad, especially as competition,” said Ferguson. “It’s tough up that area of the pitch and he’s going to be another one chucked in there and I reckon he’ll be very good for it.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On this day in 2006: Andre Agassi makes emotional retirement from tennis Thomas Frank salutes ‘fantastic’ Brentford as they grab late equaliser Jack Draper is the last Brit left standing at the US Open

Labor Day weekend means a few extra days of college football, but who is playing on the Sunday slate for Week 1 of CFB action?

Thomas Frank credited his “fantastic” Brentford side after Bryan Mbeumo’s late equaliser against Bournemouth earned a 2-2 draw in the Premier League. Mbeumo’s fourth of the season cancelled out goals from Dominic Solanke and David Brooks after Mathias Jensen took the lead for Brentford in the first half. And Frank praised his team’s second-half display which saw them extend their unbeaten start to the season. “First half we were good but second half we were fantastic,” Frank said. “I think we ran over Bournemouth in the second half and we created chance after chance. “I would love to have 10 points (Brentford have six) and I think we could easily say we deserve to have more, but it’s up to others to discuss if we should have eight or 10. “I think we had a chance to win all three draws at home (Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth), the Tottenham and Crystal Palace games were tight but it was clear we should have won them and we have to keep going.” Cherries boss Andoni Iraola admitted Brentford’s late goal hurt as his side searched for their first win of the season. And the Spaniard revealed his side rued a series of mistakes which led to Mbeumo’s goal. “The worst thing for us is the way we concede the goal,” Iraola added. “It comes from our own goal-kick and we made two or three mistakes because we were probably not at our best but we have have to know how to finish the games because we had run a lot and (played) good stretches of football. “To lose it in this way hurts. “In set-pieces they have very good players and we needed maximum help in the duels and the crosses we received in the last minutes but it didn’t work as we conceded the second goal. Iraola highlighted that Bournemouth suffered out of possession in the lead up to the final goal. He said: “The game was a little bit territorial and the advantage was very important because we were suffering when they were playing in our half and they had set-pieces like corners, free-kicks. “Whenever the game was in their half I think we were playing better, we were more in control of the situation and so at the end they had nothing to lose and put more bodies up front and closed with three defenders. “We tried to defend the long balls, crosses and throw ins better because sometimes you have to suffer to win the games and be compact.”

Jalen Milroe was named the starting quarterback for Alabama, and he showed why he's deserving of the job after an incredible play on Saturday against Middle Tennessee.

Michigan State must regret giving Mel Tucker such a massive contract. His buyout is prohibitive even as he struggles to beat lesser opposition.

Caleb Williams may be the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, but true freshman receiver Zachariah Branch already looks like a threat to become the USC Trojans' ninth Heisman winner.

Nick Saban is just messing with us at this point, as his Alabama quarterback depth chart ahead of the Middle Tennessee game is a total mess, or does it reveal something particularly interesting?

WWE present its latest premium live event, Payback 2023, on Saturday, Sept. 2. Here are the full live results and highlights from the show.

If a new report is to be believed, Chris Jones may not be asking for as much as originally thought from the Chiefs as he holds out for a new contract.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders had plenty to say after the Buffaloes scored an upset victory over the TCU Horned Frogs.

After beating the TCU Horned Frogs, what can the Colorado Buffaloes do to move the program forward and suprass expectations for the 2023 season?

Gareth Southgate believes England can benefit from Harry Kane’s move to Germany – especially if his captain goes on to lift the first silverware of his career at Bayern Munich. Kane, 30, swapped boyhood club Tottenham for the Allianz Arena in a deal that could be worth £100million. He had been linked with a move away from Spurs for the past few summers, including while heading into tournaments as England skipper. Now Kane’s future has been sorted, during a year where England were not relying on his goals, Southgate is pleased to see him hit the ground running at Bayern. “I definitely think from a selfish England perspective it’s good that his future’s settled now for the next few years,” the England manager said. “I think potentially that can be a distraction for players. But also it’s good for him that he’s got to go and perform at a new club now. He’s been at one club for so long. “To have a change means you’ve got to impress new team-mates, new staff, new fans and also there’s the life experience of having the breadth of adjusting to a new country. I think there’s a lot of positives there.” I’m not sure that he’s going to become a better player but there might be other aspects of the mentality that this move will help him with Gareth Southgate As England and Tottenham’s all-time leading goalscorer, Kane has already hit three goals in his first two Bundesliga appearances and will be aiming to win trophies this season to break his duck. He lost two League Cup finals and the 2019 Champions League final at Tottenham but, with Bayern having won the last 11 Bundesliga titles, Kane could finally get his hands on a winners’ medal. “I’m sure for his own belief that would be brilliant,” Southgate added. “I’m not sure that he’s going to become a better player but there might be other aspects of the mentality that this move will help him with. “They’re probably the bits that as you get older are the only bits you can improve upon. “I think the Bundesliga is a bit different to some of the other leagues we’ve talked about, a bit more transitional. “There is an intensity to that. We’ll have all the data on that from training sessions and matches, so we’re able to track that really closely. “I think the big difference for Harry this year will be that there’s going to be a lot of games where they’re very dominant and in the opposition third of the pitch, so I think there will be a lot more play for him in penalty box I suspect than he had in the last couple of seasons.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Erik ten Hag tips Rasmus Hojlund to have ‘very good impact’ at Manchester United Rob Page will not be ‘influenced by negativity’ ahead of critical Wales period Mikel Arteta hails Eddie Nketiah’s fight to play for England after first call-up