List of All Articles with Tag 'al'

The secret sauce to Marcell Ozuna no longer being terrible for the Atlanta Braves is quite the revelation.All it took was one swing to change the entire dynamic for Marcell Ozuna, possibly saving his Atlanta Braves tenure in the process.Noah Griffith of Braves Today pointed out that a hit to...

Unai Emery has welcomed pressure as Aston Villa look to seal a European return. Victory over Brighton in Sunday’s Premier League finale will book seventh spot and a place in the Europa Conference League play-offs. Villa last competed in Europe in 2010-11 and Emery is relishing the task on Sunday, with the Seagulls having already sealed their Europa League spot. “For me, the pressure is amazing to try to feel matches when you’re playing for something important,” he said. “We want to be excited, not anxious, but to be excited, be very motivated and to enjoy the process. When you’re in the match, you have to be prepared to focus only on your game plan. “The players are doing that. When you are very focused and you’re really trying to work hard on your style and idea, and your players are practicing hard, this is a good way. “That is a moment you feel you are doing all you can on the pitch.” Alex Moreno is out with a hamstring injury while Philippe Coutinho is also sidelined and Diego Carlos is expected to miss out. Emery added: “In front of us is the most important match we are going to face. We are trying to prepare for it like the last matches we played, being motivated and enjoying the process. “Our time is coming on Sunday with our supporters in Villa Park to enjoy this match. We are going to face a very difficult team. “They are playing amazing football. Their structure, tactically, is very strong. I enjoy the matches we are playing in the Premier League and the matches we are watching of other teams. One of those teams is Brighton.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Arguably the two most surprisingly good teams in the American League, the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles, will play a three-game series over the weekend with Game 1 set to take place on Friday night at Camden Yards.The two teams are sitting in second and third in the American League with th...

Manchester City’s third-choice goalkeeper Scott Carson has signed a new 12-month contract, the Premier League champions have announced. The 37-year-old former England international has made just two first-team appearances since joining City, initially on loan, in 2019 but has been an important part of manager Pep Guardiola’s squad. “I’m excited to be staying at City,” Carson told the club’s website, www.mancity.com. “I love working with Pep, (coach) Xabi Mancisidor and our incredible players every day. “Hopefully I can help all of our goalkeepers be at their best.” Guardiola said: “We have him in the locker room and you cannot believe the impact.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

West Ham boss David Moyes has confirmed Gianluca Scamacca will miss the Europa Conference League final next month. Italian striker Scamacca, the £30.5million summer signing from Sassuolo, underwent knee surgery in April but there were hopes he could return before the end of the season. However, Moyes has ruled the 24-year-old out of the final against Fiorentina in Prague on June 7. “I see him being nowhere near it. He’s not back training and not back,” said Moyes. “He’s still doing his rehab in Italy just now, so I don’t expect to see him back before then, no. “He had his operation about four weeks ago, so he has still a few weeks of rehab to do but hopefully, he will be back ready at the start of pre-season.” The Hammers face relegation-threatened Leicester on the final day of the Premier League season, knowing a win on Sunday could lift them as high as 12th, above Chelsea. That would not be a bad result from a campaign which looked at times destined to end in relegation. “I take every game one at a time, that’s all we can ever do,” added Moyes. “It’s a chance to get your league place higher up and we’re all well aware of the value of that in the Premier League. “If you’d given me this position a few weeks ago I’d have snapped your hand off because we go into the last day without any real problems and, more importantly we go into it knowing we’ve got a cup final in a week or so’s time.” Leicester need a victory and a favour from Bournemouth at Everton in order to stay up. “I’m glad it’s a game where it’s not us needing to win it, because it was always a hard-looking game,” said Moyes. “They’ve had a great team over recent seasons, they really have. “I think it’s a bit of a surprise to everyone that they’re in the position they are in. They have got some top players and we’re going to have to defend well and deal with it well. Hopefully, we can.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Just win – Dean Smith keeps Leicester message simple ahead of crunch final day Sean Dyche is not concerned with Everton potentially looking for his replacement Scott Carson commits to Manchester City with new 12-month deal

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was asked about the arrest of his brother, Jackson Mahomes, at OTAs.Jackson Mahomes faces aggravated sexual battery charges from an incident which occurred last February. Per police, a restaurant owner alleged Jackson "grabbed her and forcibly ...

Leicester boss Dean Smith has said his message to his players ahead of their all-or-nothing game with West Ham on Sunday will simply be “just win”. The Foxes have to win and hope that Everton cannot beat Bournemouth if they are to avoid relegation to the Championship. Smith, who was parachuted in on an eight-game SOS mission following the sacking of Brendan Rodgers, says that what happens at the King Power Stadium against the Hammers is the only thing the Foxes need to focus on. He said: “We have got to win the game plainly and simply, we have got to figure out and balance the best way to not give big chances away and create big chances against West Ham, who are in a European final and after a tough first half of the season have climbed away from danger and have got a very good manager there. “We have to win the game and not look at the Everton result until after the game. We have to do our job and see where it takes us. “We can only control what we can do. We have to control our performance, help your team-mates out and go and get a good performance and a win. “If we do our part we are looking at other people to help us, but we have to make sure we concentrate on what we do. It’s quite a simple message really and the lads have trained well so far. “The players want clarity of what their positions are, what we are asking of them and our job is to give them that. It doesn’t get any clearer for me: They have to win. That’s all they need to know and that’s all they do know. “We just have to concentrate on our own game. It’s simplistic, we have to win, it doesn’t matter what is going on at other grounds. Just win. “Whatever else is going on elsewhere we are not in control of. But we have seen how quickly things can change around in the last 15 minutes of games, whether it is this season or previous seasons. We win our games and then see where it goes.” Smith did not want to discuss his future beyond Sunday’s game, insisting that there will be a post-season debrief. Asked whether the outcome of the match will impact his future, Smith added: “Not at all, my future was to come in for seven weeks and eight games and that hasn’t change. My future is exactly the same. That is a question to have after the game and not before it.” The Foxes will be without Caglar Soyuncu, but Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Jonny Evans and Ricardo Pereira will all be fit. Wilfred Ndidi is a doubt with a hamstring injury. “Caglar is not fit, he has tried to get himself back into training this week but he just felt it, obviously it was too close but the fact he wanted to push it to be in contention shows a lot about his character. He’s definitely out,” Smith said. “Dewsbury-Hall is good, he’s been training with us for a couple of days now, so he’ll be available for selection. “(Kelechi) Iheanacho is fine, Jonny Evans had cramp he’s fine. Ricky we scanned him and he is fine, Wilf is the only question mark at the moment, we are waiting to see if he is good enough to train tomorrow.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Sean Dyche is not concerned with Everton potentially looking for his replacement David Moyes: West Ham’s Gianluca Scamacca to miss Europa Conference League final Scott Carson commits to Manchester City with new 12-month deal

The Seattle Mariners' rookie pitcher is off to a historic start.It generally takes time for rookies to acclimate to the MLB. It can be a difficult transition from the minors to the big leagues -- especially for pitchers, who face new levels of pressure on the mound in front of sold out crow...

A list of every La Liga top scorer ever, along with other details about goal scorers in the Spanish top flight. Former Pichichi Trophy winners include Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Everton manager Sean Dyche insists he has no problem with the relegation-threatened club potentially already looking for his replacement. The former Burnley boss arrived late in January as Frank Lampard’s replacement with the challenge of avoiding the drop. Things have not gone entirely to plan with the Toffees just two points above the relegation zone, although their fate remains in their own hands as they seek to extend their stay in the top flight into a 70th season by matching the results of Leeds and Leicester. And reports this week suggested Everton were already thinking about what comes next. “It’s fair to say ‘interesting’ reports, but I don’t know where they come from,” said Dyche. “At the end of the day, good businesses should be succession planning. I’ve got no problem with that, even if that were true.” Everton go into their relegation-decider at home to Bournemouth without striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin or defenders Nathan Patterson and Ben Godfrey. “They won’t be fit. We haven’t had Dom for two-thirds of my time here. We have still won games, still got points on the board and performed,” he said. “Patto has come into the side more latterly and performed well. We lose him as well.” Dyche holds out some hope Vitalii Mykolenko – his only remaining full-back on either flank – could return after a two-match absence. “He’s a bit better so we will see how he reacts tomorrow to training today,” Dyche added. Dyche was already without Seamus Coleman, Ruben Vinagre, Tom Davies and Andros Townsend so more injuries just increase the pressure in an already-tough atmosphere on Sunday. “I think it is part of being a professional footballer. You have to use the feeling in the stadium to your advantage and I think we have a decent experience level for the ups and downs of football to understand that,” added the manager. “We want players to focus on the game, which is not as easy as it sounds, but focus on the game and the idea and don’t worry about the noise. That’s the clear intention.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Just win – Dean Smith keeps Leicester message simple ahead of crunch final day David Moyes: West Ham’s Gianluca Scamacca to miss Europa Conference League final Scott Carson commits to Manchester City with new 12-month deal

Roy Hodgson insisted he expects to be taking charge of Crystal Palace for the final time in Sunday’s Premier League season-ender at home to Nottingham Forest, but did not rule out staying on. Hodgson took the reins at his boyhood club for the second time on a short-term contract after the sacking of Patrick Vieira, and has taken 17 points from nine games to steer Palace well clear of relegation trouble. Such has been the turnaround in form that Hodgson has been seen as a candidate to take the job on a longer-term basis, but the 75-year-old said that was not on his mind. “As far as I’m concerned, this is my last game,” Hodgson said. “I signed a contract here until the end of the season and I was grateful to do so. All along, I have seen this as my last game on my contract and as far as I’m concerned that’s what it is.” When asked if he would be open to staying on if asked by chairman Steve Parish, Hodgson added: “I don’t know, I’ll wait until that day arrives if it ever arrives. At the moment I don’t have to concern myself with that. “What’s on my table is to see my contract out, thank everyone for the last two and a half months and hopefully help the team get a result…I hope to leave all my options open.” Hodgson confirmed that Wilfried Zaha – out of contract this summer – will miss Sunday’s match through injury, raising the possibility that the in-demand forward has played his final game for the club. “Wilfried’s injury was sufficiently severe to keep him out of the next game,” Hodgson said. “He’ll need a week or two more to recover, so it won’t keep him out of next season. He will be fit for pre-season, but we won’t have the benefit of him on Sunday.” Palace forward Ebere Eze has been celebrating his first international call up after being included in Gareth Southgate’s England squad to face Malta and North Macedonia next month, and former Three Lions boss Hodgson has offered the 24-year-old some pointers. “The advice basically, after the congratulations – because as you say I am delighted for him and I’m happy Gareth (Southgate) and Steve (Holland) have seen what we have seen in him as well – but the only advice I can give him is to be himself,” he said. “Go there and be relaxed enough to show how good he is. Show how good he is in training when he is here. If he does that, Gareth and Steve will be more than happy with him.” The pressure will be off for both sides in Sunday’s match at Selhurst Park, with Forest’s victory over Arsenal last weekend having ended the threat of relegation at the end of their first season back in the top flight. “[Cooper] has done a very good job,” Hodgson said. “In particular I think the last five games they have had an incredible upsurge in form. They have taken 10 points from their last five games. That’s top of table form not avoiding relegation form. “They have taken everyone by surprise at the bottom who are fighting relegation, because many clubs thought they wouldn’t do that well. Hats off to him, hats off to his players and staff. It was very touching last weekend when they beat Arsenal and you saw the scenes after the game. “It makes you realise how much staying in this league and doing well means to everyone, not just to your staff and people at the club but also to the fans.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Stormers boss John Dobson praises Munster’s ‘phenomenal’ run to URC final Jonny Hill urges Sale to seize the moment in Premiership final against Saracens Man City claim title for third successive time – The 2022-23 season in pictures

Famed Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored hundreds of goals in his career, invariably celebrates by running to the corner flag to perform his iconic "Siu" celebration -- pirouetting in the air before landing in a power stance.