List of All Articles with Tag 'al'

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson let loose a wave of indecipherable tweets that seemed to reference his bout with Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez.What is going on with Tim Anderson?The White Sox shortstop got into a fight with Jose Ramirez of the Guardians on Saturday night, throwing ha...

Perhaps David Raya would have saved it. It was a tame penalty, after all. But Aaron Ramsdale did save it, diving to his right, blocking Julian Alvarez’s lacklustre effort, punching the air, just as he had when Kevin de Bruyne thumped the underside of the bar with his spot kick. Whichever, it amounted to a response from Ramsdale. A seeming success story of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, the goalkeeper signed from relegated Sheffield United, who signed him from relegated Bournemouth, who seemed the spirit animal of a young, hungry side who went on to top the table for 248 days. And who, then, suddenly, brutally, seemed undermined when it emerged Arsenal were bidding for Brentford’s Raya. But Ramsdale brings character. The sense is that he will not surrender his position without a fight, even if the Gunners do land Raya or another potential No 1. A Community Shield triumph and a third trophy of Arteta’s reign came courtesy of two of his saves. The first, stopping Phil Foden from doubling Manchester City’s lead, had a hint of fortune, the ball striking the inside of his leg and then rolling past the post. Fortune may have favoured Arsenal again with the goal that secured a shootout. The 101st-minute strike may become a more frequent phenomenon as the amount of added time mushrooms this season. Two months earlier, City won the Champions League in part because of a save deep into added time; when another trophy beckoned and still later, Stefan Ortega was wrongfooted when Leandro Trossard’s shot took a huge deflection off Manuel Akanji. And then Martin Odegaard, Trossard and Bukayo Saka – who had missed in a more famous shootout at Wembley two years earlier – found the net from 12 yards. De Bruyne’s miss and Ramsdale’s save afforded Fabio Vieira the chance to win it: his namesake, Patrick, had decided a shootout against a Manchester club in the 2005 FA Cup final and history repeated itself. At the end of it, Arteta had just a second win in 10 managerial meetings with Guardiola: on penalties, with the aid of added time and deflections, but after losing three previous games in 2023 and eight in all, any victory was welcome. He may feel he had found a method, too. Kai Havertz has been bought to play as a free eight for Arsenal but his debut came as a false nine, the role in which he frequently flattered to deceive at Chelsea. It was the product of an injury to Gabriel Jesus and a tactical ploy alike. If Arteta was camouflaging his main gameplan for the season, his signings shape the way they will probably play against lesser opponents. But not against City, who had eviscerated them 3-1 and 4-1 in games that could be billed as title deciders: that, though, was with De Bruyne and Erling Haaland in harness and when the Belgian came on, the Norwegian went off. But Arsenal had more restraint, more patience as much of the match had the feel of a phoney war. There was a cautiousness to them, with two defensive midfielders, men behind the ball and a willingness to stand off, rather than pressing. The Arteta blueprint may entail Declan Rice operating on his own at the base of the midfield, but he had Thomas Partey for company, and Havertz debuting alone in attack. Chances were a premium; three of different kinds fell to Champions League final scorers. Rodri tried an audacious attempt to lob Ramsdale from the halfway line: the backpedalling goalkeeper was spared embarrassment when the ball landed on the roof of the net. Havertz, whose Champions League final goal came for Chelsea and against City, had his opportunities when Arsenal allied patience and restraint with hints of a counterattacking menace. Ortega saved twice from Havertz after low passes from the right, with Ben White and Saka picking out the German. It continued a theme that felt all too familiar at Stamford Bridge. It was Havertz in a nutshell, the supposed generational talent with the elusiveness to earn chances and the inability to take them. The great xG underachiever scored too few goals for Chelsea, but found the net in Champions League and Club World Cup finals; perhaps the Community Shield was not a big enough occasion. It did, though, seem Cole Palmer’s day. The 20-year-old came on with De Bruyne and put City ahead in sumptuous style, curling a shot past Ramsdale. It earned him the player of the match award – a sign in itself of how little had happened before his arrival – but the verdict was made before Trossard, Akanji and Ramsdale’s interventions. And so City were denied a fourth trophy in as many months and a third in as many games. With honours scarcer for Arsenal, the Community Shield probably meant more to them. And with his place at threat, it may have had an added importance to Ramsdale. Read More Mikel Arteta benefits from new law changes as Arsenal clinch Community Shield Arsenal vs Man City LIVE: Latest Community Shield updates Can Mikel Arteta become Pep Guardiola’s greatest nemesis – or merely the latest? What time is the Community Shield and how to Arsenal vs Man City today Arsenal will need ‘unheard of’ points tally to win title – Mikel Arteta Pep Guardiola expects Arsenal summer signings to take them to the next level

NFL rumors: Panthers add to veteran pass rusherJustin Houston may be 34 years old, but he's coming off a season with nine sacks in 14 games for the Baltimore Ravens. The guy can still play, especially if he's freed up to get after the passer.And now he's a Carolina Panther.T...

With two of the quarterfinals already decided, attention now turns towards the other half of the draw where, on Monday, the fates of England, Nigeria, Australia and Denmark will be determined.

US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher stood alone holding the ball and inhaled deeply, her eyes wide in disbelief, as Sweden's players raced pitchside to form a joyous heap of yellow on the grass. Some of her teammates were in tears. "Feels like a bad dream," Alex Morgan would later tell Fox Sports.

The 2023 Leagues Cup Round of 16 is finally here, and it starts with Inter Miami and FC Dallas taking it to the pitch in Frisco, Texas.Lionel Messi and Inter Miami roll into Frisco, Texas, and Toyota Stadium to take on FC Dallas in another MLS matchup of the Leagues Cup. Will FC Dallas have enou...

Arsenal and Manchester City faced off on Sunday in the Community Shield, with the Gunners pulling off a stunner late to capture the silverware.

Erik ten Hag praised Manchester United’s character after they fought back from conceding a “stupid” goal to end their pre-season campaign with a draw against Athletic Bilbao. Facundo Pellestri’s stoppage-time equaliser, which was set up by Harry Maguire, secured a 1-1 draw with 10-man Bilbao at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Sunday afternoon. However for the second time in 48 hours, they had to come from behind after Maguire’s error had gifted the LaLiga outfit a first-half lead. Ten Hag told the club’s official website: “In one weekend, two times we are losing, but you see this team have character and that’s what you need in a season as well. “Sometimes you are down and then you have to show resilience and especially in such moments, you need determination. We have shown that this weekend, it was a good weekend for us. “Yesterday I thought it was a very good level, today I have seen also very good spells. “I think the start of the game was also very good and we should have scored a goal to go up, because it was a great chance from Jadon Sancho. “We had some good moments after that as well and it was stupid how we went down, but as I said, we had a result and we came back so it was a good weekend for us.” Maguire, who was replaced as United captain by Bruno Fernandes during a summer of speculation over his future, was included as one of 11 changes to the side which beat Lens 3-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday, but there was no place for injured £72million signing Rasmus Hojlund, a day after he had been presented to the club’s fans. Ten Hag’s men might have got off to the perfect start when Pellistri played Sancho in behind the Athletic defence with just four minutes gone, but his attempt was blocked by goalkeeper Unai Simon. Goalkeeper Tom Heaton was called upon to claim Inaki Williams’ 15th-minute strike as the Spaniards responded and they though they had been awarded a 25th-minute penalty, seconds after United had seen their appeals waved away at the other end. Referee Neil Doyle initially pointed to the spot after Nico Williams had been brought down by Alvaro Fernandez, only for the official to change his mind and award a free-kick, with which Heaton dealt comfortably. However, the LaLiga side took the lead with 29 minutes gone when Oihan Sancet capitalised on Maguire’s slip-up to feed Nico Williams, who fired past the advancing goalkeeper. Eighteen-year-old Dan Gore tested Simon as the second half got under way with neither side taking a backward step. But Bilbao’s hopes of retaining their advantage were dealt a blow with 24 minutes remaining when last man Aitor Paredes was given a straight red card for hauling back Hannibal Mejbri after conceding possession to the Tunisia midfielder. We don’t give up. We fight until the end Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag Hannibal passed up a glorious opportunity to level when he volleyed the ball over from Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross, but redemption arrived deep into stoppage time when Maguire headed down another Wan-Bissaka delivery for Pellistri to steer home the equaliser. Ten Hag said: “We don’t give up. We fight until the end. Finally, we got the equaliser and I thought it was justified. “We wanted a good result, to finish the pre-season well.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Bryson DeChambeau fires record-breaking 58 on way to LIV Golf Greenbrier title Kylian Mbappe to be barred from training with PSG first team Arsenal ‘obviously paid way too much’ for Declan Rice, says Roy Keane

Kylian Mbappe will be barred from training with Paris St Germain’s main first-team group as his contract dispute with the club continues, the PA news agency understands. PSG return to their training base on Monday following their pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea, but Mbappe will be part of the so-called ‘loft’ training group rather than the first team as his stand-off with the club drags on. PSG sources remain convinced the player, who is out of contract next summer, has already agreed a free transfer deal with Real Madrid. Mbappe’s management are understood to have refused to engage with an offer from the club to sign a new contract containing a guaranteed sale clause, which would allow him to join another club for a fee next summer. From PSG’s perspective, there is no reason why he would turn down the offer, because it gives him the opportunity to leave when he wants and join the club he wants. PSG had given Al Hilal permission to speak to the player after they tabled a world record bid of £259million last month, but Mbappe reportedly refused to even meet with delegates from the Saudi club who had flown to Paris. Chelsea and Barcelona are understood to be two of the clubs trying to work out a player-plus-cash deal for Mbappe, who was part of France’s World Cup-winning squad in 2018 and also one of the stars of the last tournament in Qatar. PSG kick off their 2023/24 Ligue 1 campaign at home to Lorient on Saturday.

If not for Indianapolis Colts reasons, the New England Patriots could have reunited with their former star cornerback Stephon Gilmore instead of him going over to the Dallas Cowboys.As if we needed more proof that the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots despise one another, I present...

The Yankees' pitching rotation could have more struggles ahead after Carlos Rodon exited Sunday afternoon's game with an apparent injury.The New York Yankees pitching rotation is in flux. Although Nestor Cortes returned from the 60-day IL and had a solid outing, the rotation has had mo...

The Black and Gold is well represented in Canton, Ohio. These five talented members of the Pittsburgh Steelers are worthy candidates as well.The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023 is in the books. Nine new members bring the total of busts in Canton, Ohio, to 371. It won’t be long befo...