List of All Articles with Tag 'al'

Mikel Arteta explains his decision not to substitute Jurrien Timber before his injury in Arsenal's win over Nottingham Forest.

Lukas Jutkiewicz smashed home a stoppage-time winner against Leeds as Birmingham celebrated the life of Trevor Francis and the start a new era in front of NFL great Tom Brady. There has been precious little to cheer about since the Blues’ relegation from the top flight 12 years ago, but the recent takeover led by American businessman Tom Wagner has finally brought hope back to the club. Brady went onto join as minority owner nine days ago and the former quarterback made his first trip to a rocking St Andrew’s on Saturday as Birmingham secured a 1-0 win. Substitute Jutkiewicz fired home from the penalty spot at the death in a dramatic end to a drab encounter on an emotional day in the second city. Birmingham paid a touching tribute to their greatest ever player before-kick-off, with Jasper Carrott leading the tributes to Francis following his death last month. The comedian said Francis was “a hero, a role model and a symbol of a time when there was real hope in this stadium” – a feeling of hope he felt was now back at St Andrew’s. The positive feeling around the club brought the biggest crowd since February 2020 but the occasion did not live up to the hype in a poor first half devoid of opportunities. Both sides improved after the break and pushed hard for a late winner, which went Birmingham’s way after Daniel James brought down Ethan Laird in the box. Illan Meslier got a foot on Jutkiewicz’s thumping penalty but could not stop it finding the back of the net as seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady celebrated a successful first visit. The performance, as much as a result, will alarm Daniel Farke’s Leeds – who were without wantaway Willy Gnonto and fellow forward Luis Sinisterra at St Andrew’s. Neither team did anything of note in a first half that appeared to be impacted by the emotional start to proceedings. The fact there was only one minute of added time at the end of the opening period highlighted just how uneventful it had been. The second half began in brighter fashion and City’s Keshi Anderson met a Siriki Dembele cutback with a shot that deflected narrowly wide. Leeds responded with a James cross-shot that forced John Ruddy into action, before Georginio Rutter saw a fierce drive blocked by Krystian Bielik moments after coming on. John Eustace’s hosts had a huge chance in the 80th minute but Kevin Long powered a free header from six yards just off target. Bacuna saw a driven effort held before Birmingham hearts were in mouths as Sam Byram glanced an effort across the face of goal in front of the 2,213 away fans. But City were pushing hardest for the win and were gifted a chance by James’ late error. The former Manchester United flyer brought down Laird as he attempted to stop the lively right-back meeting a diagonal ball, with referee Tim Robinson pointing to the spot. Newly-introduced Jutkiewicz leathered home the penalty and chants of “USA, USA, USA” filled the air as Birmingham saw out victory. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Everton pay price for missed chances as Fulham snatch win at Goodison Park Joao Pedro and Simon Adingra hit debut goals as Brighton stroll past Luton Rangers get up and running in Premiership with convincing win over Livingston

Sam Lammers, Danilo, Abdallah Sima and Kieran Dowell all scored their first competitive goals for Rangers as the Light Blues came on strong to beat Livingston 4-0 in the cinch Premiership at Ibrox. Attacking midfielder Lammers hammered in the opener after 10 minutes as the hosts dominated but it was late in the second half before Michael Beale’s new-look side secured the points. Brazilian attacker Danilo headed in a second in the 78th minute before Sima pounced from close range six minutes later with fellow second-half substitute Dowell thrashing in a fourth in the final minute of normal time. The Govan outfit lost their league opener at Kilmarnock last week before beating Servette 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier at Ibrox on Wednesday night. Boss Beale – who has signed nine new players this summer with the promise of more to come – will see this as a building block for his side but more will be required going forward, starting with the return game against Servette on Tuesday night. As Beale revealed on Friday, Jose Cifuentes, the 24-year-old Ecuador international midfielder signed last week from Los Angeles FC, made his starting debut. Centre-back Leon Balogun was back in again for the first time since returning to the club for a second spell, with Ryan Jack and Connor Goldson rested. It was a patient start by the home side and the opener came when influential midfielder Todd Cantwell’s shot from inside the box was blocked by the foot of Livi keeper Shamal George but Lammers slammed in the rebound from 16 yards. The goal forced Livi to come out their shell a little although a mix-up in defence allowed John Souttar a shot at goal only for the Gers defender to balloon the ball high over the bar, before George dived full length to tip a Cifuentes drive past the post. When captain James Tavernier’s delivery came over, Cifuentes volleyed into the net at the second attempt but after a VAR check, referee Don Robertson awarded a free-kick to Livingston for an initial hand ball by the midfielder. The tempo dropped towards the end of the first half which finished with Light Blues forward Cyriel Dessers heading a Tavernier cross over the bar. Lammers headed a Borna Barisic cross just wide of the target at the start of the second period and missed the target again from a Dessers cut-back, after George had made a fine save from a Danilo drive. In a rare Livingston attack, Gers keeper Jack Butland was tested twice in a minutes by Andrew Shinnie, twice making good saves before Livi defender Ayo Obileye threw himself to block a Dessers drive from 14 yards after he had been set up by Danilo, the corner coming to nothing. In a 68th minute counter-attack, Danilo flicked a Cifuentes cross over the bar from two yards out which cranked up frustration levels, however all was soon well in Govan. Rabbi Matondo and Sima came on for Lammers and Dessers and in the 77th minute Sima drove a shot from point-blank range against George but the second goal was on its way, coming when Barisic’s deep cross found Danilo at the back post and he rose to head past the Livi keeper for his first Gers goal and alleviate the building pressure. Dujon Sterling came on among more substitutions to make his Rangers debut before Danilo hit the post from close range. Sima then opened his account in a Light Blue jersey and there was time for Dowell, on for Cantwell, to fire in off the crossbar for number four to make his mark at Ibrox. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Everton pay price for missed chances as Fulham snatch win at Goodison Park Joao Pedro and Simon Adingra hit debut goals as Brighton stroll past Luton Tom Brady watches on as Birmingham beat Leeds with last-gasp penalty

NFL great Tom Brady watched on as Birmingham grabbed a late win against Leeds after Lukas Jutkiewicz converted from the spot at St Andrew's. The game had been heading for a draw, before Jutkiewicz’s penalty in the first minute of stoppage time. Before the game, Brady made an appearance at The Roost, a pub near St. Andrew's stadium, before Blues’ game against Leeds in the second-tier Championship on Saturday. A few hours earlier, Brady posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Any plans before kick off guys? See you at St. Andrew’s.” He later went to the stadium, where he was pictured meeting mascots and signing jerseys. The seven-time Super Bowl champion has partnered with the club’s holding company, U.S.-based Knighthead Capital Management, and become chairman of a new advisory board. Birmingham said Brady will “apply his extensive leadership experience and expertise across several components of the club.” That includes working alongside the sports science department to advise on health, nutrition and recovery programs. Brady won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and another with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021. He retired in February, after Tampa’s loss in the playoffs. AP contributed to this report Read More Tom Brady watches on as Birmingham beat Leeds with last-gasp penalty Soccer for sale: What are American sport stars buying British football playing at? Brady proud to join Blues and Housby celebrates – Thursday’s sporting social

Odsonne Edouard’s second-half goal earned Crystal Palace a 1-0 win against Sheffield United to worsen the gloom at Bramall Lane. Edouard struck from close range four minutes after the restart to give the Eagles a deserved three points in the Premier League opener. It was thoroughly convincing for Roy Hodgson’s men as they had two further goals disallowed, while Blades goalkeeper Wes Foderingham made a number of saves to keep his side in it. Indeed, Hodgson’s biggest problem was a tweet from wantaway goalkeeper Vicente Guaita before the game, seemingly questioning why he was not in the team. United’s return to the top flight after two seasons away ended with a whimpering defeat to compound a negative few weeks which saw the sale of Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge. Boss Paul Heckingbottom admitted before the match that United are “nowhere near” where they need to be and that showed as they lacked any real goal threat throughout the match. The signing of Gustavo Hamer from Coventry overnight had boosted spirits and he was paraded on the pitch before kick-off. The atmosphere helped the Blades make a strong start, with Will Osula going close inside the opening 10 minutes with an effort that was deflected just wide. But Palace began to take control of the game, with Eberechi Eze running things with his impressive ball-carrying skills. And he twice saw goalbound efforts blocked, first from Jack Robinson and then from John Egan. The visitors thought they had taken the lead midway through the first half when Jordan Ayew headed home after Joachim Andersen’s shot had been fumbled by Foderingham, but it was ruled out for offside. It was little surprise when they did go in front just after the restart. Ayew found a good position on the right hand side and sent in a wicked low cross which was begging to be converted and Edouard duly obliged, stabbing in from close range. It could have been two 10 minutes later as Edouard found space at the far post from Eze’s free-kick but his header was straight at Foderingham. The former Celtic striker also had a goal ruled out for offside, while Ayew tested Foderingham’s handling with a fierce shot that was palmed away. Palace kept knocking on the door for a second and Foderingham got down brilliantly to keep out Andersen’s header. The Blades had nothing in the way of a response, other than plenty of effort, as Palace saw it out with ease. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Dominic Solanke denies West Ham as Bournemouth snatch draw Mikel Arteta says Eddie Nketiah forced his way into Arsenal team in training Today at the World Cup: England through and Australia prevail on penalties

The Cleveland Browns saw a rookie once again show out in the preseason on Friday night against the Washington Commanders.The first official week of the NFL preseason is underway, and all 32 teams are scouting their rosters to see who they will keep for the start of the regular season. Starters...

Everton paid the price for a string of missed chances as their goalscoring issues were exploited by Fulham in a 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park. A new season brought new hope for recent relegation strugglers Everton but for all the improvements Sean Dyche has made over the summer, it appears he he has not yet solved their problems in front of goal. Substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid struck the only goal of the game to get Marco Silva’s side off to a winning start. Everton, the Premier League’s lowest scorers last season, were again without striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Despite generating twice as many shots as the visitors, Dyche’s side were undone by one square pass across their six-yard area when Andreas Pereira beat Nathan Patterson to an Aleksandar Mitrovic’s through-ball for a 73rd-minute tap-in by Decordova-Reid. It burst the bubble of optimism which had been generated by an energetic and relatively creative opening 73 minutes of the season and will have infuriated Dyche as much as it delighted former Toffees boss Silva. Michael Keane’s first-half goal was disallowed as the centre-back turned the ball into an empty net and celebrated almost apologetically before referee Stuart Atwell, having initially not blown, ruled there had been an infringement in the collision between goalkeeper Bernd Leno and James Tarkowski. Both teams started without their recognised first-choice strikers: Calvert-Lewin was omitted due to his lack of minutes in pre-season while Mitrovic was left on the bench after ongoing interest from Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal. But it was the home team who suffered the most as they generated 19 shots to their opponents’ nine from just 41 per cent possession but failed to capitalise with Calvert-Lewin’s deputy Neal Maupay most culpable. The £15million signing from Brighton last summer has a return of one goal in his 29 previous appearances but the reason for that conversion rate was evident after just 32 seconds when he clipped a shot wide of the far post with only goalkeeper Leno to beat after being put through by James Garner’s cushioned header. It did not get any better for the Frenchman, whose heavy touch from Abdoulaye Doucoure’s square pass denied him another shooting opportunity before Leno blocked his close-range scuff from a Doucoure knockdown and then he fired straight at the German when played in by Amadou Onana. Doucoure, playing just behind the striker, was not without fault either as he should have scored inside five minutes when clean through but shot straight at the goalkeeper when he could also have squared to Maupay. Everton were fortunate the visitors were even more toothless in attack themselves, although Willian, 35, gave 21-year-old right-back Nathan Patterson, who made just 21 appearances in a debut season affected by injury, an uncomfortable 45 minutes before he was replaced by De Cordova-Reid at half-time. But Willian was also lucky to escape with a booking for an over the top challenge on Garner. By contrast, on the other side of the defence Ashley Young, Everton’s second-oldest debutant at the age of 38 years and 34 days, was coping easily with Harry Wilson – 12 years his junior. The 57th-minute of introduction of Mitrovic and Pereira, seconds after debutant Raul Jimenez had struck the post with his last touch before being replaced, threatened a new element of danger for Everton. However, it was the hosts who should have scored when Leno parried Alex Iwobi’s shot to Patterson who lashed his shot against the crossbar. Loan signing Arnaut Danjuma assumed the central striking role from Maupay but, before he had even touched the ball, De Cordova-Reid had scored the goal which secured Fulham’s third successive win at Goodison Park. The return of Calvert-Lewin and a debut for new signing Youssef Chermiti, the £15million Sporting Lisbon striker watching from the directors’ box, cannot come soon enough. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Joao Pedro and Simon Adingra hit debut goals as Brighton stroll past Luton Rangers get up and running in Premiership with convincing win over Livingston Tom Brady watches on as Birmingham beat Leeds with last-gasp penalty

Joao Pedro and Simon Adingra claimed debut goals as Brighton set aside Moises Caicedo’s ongoing transfer saga to thrash Premier League debutants Luton 4-1. Club record signing Pedro doubled Albion’s lead following Solly March’s first-half opener by converting a 71st-minute penalty after being brought down by Hatters captain Tom Lockyer. Carlton Morris slotted home from the spot at the other end following Lewis Dunk’s handball to set up a tense finale but Adingra capitalised on a dreadful error from Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu before fellow substitute Evan Ferguson sealed the Seagulls’ emphatic victory. Build up to the contest was dominated by news of Albion accepting a British record transfer fee of around £111million from Liverpool for star midfielder Caicedo amid reports he would prefer to join Chelsea. The 21-year-old Ecuador international was absent from the Amex Stadium as his current club launched their first campaign to feature European football in commanding fashion. Luton, back in the top flight for the first time since being relegated from the old First Division in 1992, were second best on the south coast and could have lost by more as Danny Welbeck, Pascal Gross and Ferguson each struck the woodwork. With Caicedo seemingly heading for the exit, Brighton handed debuts to Mahmoud Dahoud, James Milner and Pedro. Brazilian forward Pedro, whose every touch was booed by the travelling fans following his £30million transfer from Luton’s bitter rivals Watford, should have opened the scoring inside five minutes but he skewed wastefully wide of the gaping goal. The clubs were facing each other for the first time since the southern final of the Football League Trophy in 2009, with their only previous top-flight meetings coming during the 1982-83 campaign. Luton did the double over Albion by an aggregate score of 9-2 back then but remained on the back foot, albeit the hosts appeared susceptible to counter attacks. Albion eventually turned their dominance of the ball into a lead nine minutes before the break. Kaoru Mitoma was afforded time and space on the left and his inviting, inswinging cross gave the unmarked March a simple headed finish from six yards out. Albion’s advantage was almost instantly wiped out as Hatters forward Morris thumped a header too close to home goalkeeper Jason Steele from Ryan Giles’ corner before Welbeck hit the base of the right post at the other end. Despite their limited possession, Luton, who were a non-league club as recently as 2014, were far from overawed in the first half and went into the break with reason for encouragement. Gross fired against the outside of the left upright from a wide free-kick early in the second period as Roberto De Zerbi’s men attempted to add to their slender lead. Brighton were in need of a cushion and it arrived 19 minutes from time when Pedro tumbled under Lockyer’s challenge before, as he had done twice in pre-season, firing into the right corner from 12 yards. Albion looked set to ease to victory on the back of last season’s club-record sixth-placed finish which secured a Europa League place. Yet Morris’ successful 81st-minute penalty after a cross from substitute Jacob Brown struck the elbow of Dunk briefly brought back the tension. However, Ivory Coast winger Adingra, who was loaned to Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise last season, thumped home just four minutes later after Mpanzu inexplicably failed to clear. Striker Ferguson then rattled the right post with a fine curling effort. The Republic of Ireland international would not be denied a place on the scoresheet and duly slid home Pervis Estupinan’s low cross deep into added time. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Everton pay price for missed chances as Fulham snatch win at Goodison Park Rangers get up and running in Premiership with convincing win over Livingston Tom Brady watches on as Birmingham beat Leeds with last-gasp penalty

Breaking down the five biggest fallers in MLB Playoff probability in the month of August.The MLB Playoffs begin in under two months now, which means it's time for the postseason pushes around the league.But for one reason or another, whether that was a poor trade deadline, negative regr...

Bukayo Saka's offers up further evidence of his world class ability in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest, bending a superb effort into the top corner for what proved to be the game-winning goal.

Jurrien Timber made it less than 50 minutes into his Arsenal Premier League debut before being forced to leave the field through injury. With Arsenal leading Nottingham Forest 2-0 after 49 minutes, Timber pulled up sharply off the ball. It was only his second appearance for the Gunners, having playing in the Community Shield win over Manchester City ahead of the start of the season. But concerningly he was unable to finish the match, pulling up and then being forced to leave the field with the injury. It had looked like Timber sustained an issue in the first half following a coming-together with Brennan Johnson, but he was able to re-emerge after the break before having to come off. “The doctors looked at him and they were happy for him to continue, he was as well,” Arteta said when asked if he could have taken Timber off sooner. “Straight away in the first action of the second half he made a movement and it was a bit funny. We took him out straight after and now we have to assess him and see what he has.” The former Ajax defender, who joined the Gunners this summer for £34 million to further bolster their defence, was replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu, suggesting that Gabriel Magalhaes may also be suffering from an undisclosed injury. Timber was one of a number of summer signings made by manager Mikel Arteta, adding to Kai Havertz from Chelsea, and club record signing Declan Rice from West Ham for £105 million. Arsenal’s start to the campaign was already impacted before the start of play, when kick-off was delayed for half an hour due to a turnstile issue. Read More Why was Arsenal v Nottingham Forest delayed? Arsenal: Thousands of fans stuck outside Emirates Stadium as turnstile issues delay kick-off

It truly is an exciting time in the NBA. The next generation of basketball is in good hands with the amount of young talent dispersed throughout the league, ready to break out as soon as 2023.LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook, among othe...