List of All Articles with Tag 'all'

The Washington Mystics are coming off a win against the Indiana Fever in their last game, but things will be much tougher on Sunday when they take on the Dallas Wings.Dallas dominated the Connecticut Sun – the No. 3 team in the league – in back-to-back games, and now is favored on th...

Opening-day results can set the tone for a season. Sometimes they don’t, however. Aston Villa’s heaviest defeat at the start of the season in almost four decades may have looked like an anomaly when they were destroyed by Newcastle. It certainly did eight days later. A game later, Villa have wiped out their goal difference. Hammered one week ago, today they inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Toffees. Everton were eviscerated. If there was a deceptive scoreline now, it was because the margin flattered Sean Dyche’s hapless team. They take the place at the bottom of the league that Villa had occupied: unlike them, they could stay there. Villa were terrific. Play like this and it is tempting to wonder how much higher a team who surged from relegation contention to seventh last season can go. Certainly, the ambition that accompanied Unai Emery’s appointment is reflected on the pitch. There was a speed of foot and thought, a sharpness and a style, an evident enthusiasm to suggest that the Spaniard’s impact will not be confined to his first few months. An eighth straight home win – the sort of statistic Everton can only dream of – came with a sense of normality. Villa Park now expects a side brimming with energy and ideas to secure this kind of result. They played with a confidence to bely three setbacks: the loss at St James’ Park and the loss of Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings. But Emery’s rebuilding job has taken on an auspicious look. Pau Torres cruised through his home debut. Moussa Diaby almost marked his with a stunning goal – Jordan Pickford excelling to turn a thunderous volley onto the post – and was still only the second most impressive former Bayer Leverkusen winger. Youri Tielemans was limited to a cameo: Villa’s midfield options are such that he may have to wait a little longer. But much of Emery’s brilliance has been reflected by his inheritance and how he has altered perceptions and results. Bailey has been an inconsistent presence, an expert at flattering to deceive in his first two seasons in the Midlands. An assist and a goal were allied with razor-sharp running. Bailey was a catalyst in a way he had been too rarely. The merits of Emery’s narrow 4-2-2-2 formation were shown by the first goal: one of the tucked-in, attacking midfielders crossed for the other to score, Bailey picking out John McGinn to finish from four yards. It is a system that also gives Villa a surfeit of players in the centre of the pitch and they cut through Everton; too easily, too often. There was a sense that Dyche’s team were too slow to react to everything, perhaps summed up when Pickford clattered into Ollie Watkins, rendering Nathan Patterson’s goal-line clearance from the striker irrelevant. Douglas Luiz has replaced Watkins on spot-kick duty – perhaps another illustration of Emery’s attention to detail and certainly rewarding a player transformed under his tutelage – and he converted from 12 yards. And yet, well-coached as Villa are, slick as some of their moves were, two of their goals stemmed simply from Everton errors. Maybe they were frazzled by Villa’s verve and relentlessness. There could be a few other excuses for Michael Keane’s twin mistakes: first, he only redirected a throw to Bailey, who dispatched a half-volley. Then, worse, came a wild swing at thin air, allowing Jhon Duran to run on and score a first Villa goal, 50 seconds after the introduction. It may have been especially welcome. Villa are well-stocked in several positions but not for out-and-out strikers. Watkins, who did everything but score, lacks a high-class deputy. His young understudy accepted the opportunity. Another substitute was more ill-fated: Philippe Coutinho was hamstrung and in considerable pain. Injuries have been Everton’s constant companion in recent years. On a day when virtually everything that could go wrong did, it was perhaps unsurprising that Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s comeback lasted a mere 37 minutes with the striker hurt after colliding with Emi Martinez. Alex Iwobi went off, too, while Idrissa Gueye’s removal was probably to stop him being sent off. Everton could argue last week’s loss to Fulham offered encouragement, in the number of chances created. This offered none, a side devoid of organisation and fight showing no quality. Maybe there was a deceptive element to their start, too: it could be worse than being beaten by Fulham at Goodison Park implied. Read More Eddie Howe relishing selection dilemmas as Newcastle prepare for packed season Aston Villa suffer another blow as extent of Tyrone Mings knee injury revealed Ashley Young embracing challenge of turning things around for Everton

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The women’s soccer World Cup has now ended with Spain winning the final on Sunday. A goal from Olga Carmona saw off England in a 1-0 win for Spain. That result in turn sets up an exciting next match for Scotland’s women but blocks their chance of a world champion claim.It’s bee...

Aston Villa bounced back from their heavy opening-day Premier League defeat by cantering to a 4-0 home win against Everton. Captain John McGinn and Douglas Luiz’s penalty gave Villa a 2-0 lead at the break and after second-half efforts from Leon Bailey and substitute John Duran, Unai Emery’s side put last week’s 5-1 loss at Newcastle behind them. It was all too easy for Villa as they cashed in on some wayward Everton defending, which prompted half of their fans to leave Villa Park long before the final whistle. Everton have lost their opening two games for the second successive season and their cause was not helped by the first-half withdrawal of the luckless Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The England striker, who scored only two goals last season after being dogged by injury, failed to recover from an early clash of heads with Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez and was eventually forced off in the 38th minute. Villa were without key players Tyrone Mings, Emi Buendia (both knee) and Jacob Ramsey (foot) due to long-term injury, but midway through the first half they had established a comfortable lead. McGinn fired them in front in the 18th minute, volleying home Bailey’s cut-back after the latter had wriggled his way to the byline. Villa doubled their lead from the penalty spot in the 24th minute after VAR ruled Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had taken out Ollie Watkins with a flailing arm. Watkins’ had moments earlier seen his shot cleared off the goal-line, while Pickford, making his 250th Premier League appearance, was booked for delaying the spot-kick, which was coolly dispatched by Douglas Luiz. England’s number one went some way to redeeming himself soon after when turning Moussa Diaby’s goal-bound volley on to a post. Everton troubled Martinez for the only time before the interval when a low, angled shot from Calvert-Lewin’s replacement, summer signing Arnaut Danjuma, forced the Argentinian into a near-post save. The visitors were forced into another change soon after the restart when Alex Iwobi hobbled off and was replaced by Neal Mapauy. It got worse for Everton in the 51st minute when Villa put the result beyond doubt. Bailey pounced after Everton defender Michael Keane had miscontrolled a throw-in into the box and fired home a low shot under Pickford. Watkins went close to adding a fourth when his angled effort rolled inches wide before Martinez superbly blocked Maupay’s close-range effort at the other end following a corner. Keane was caught out again in the build-up to Villa’s fourth, miskicking from former Villa defender Ashley Young’s throw-in and Duran ran clear to bury his first goal for the club, less than a minute after stepping off the bench to replace Watkins. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live We gave everything – Sarina Wiegman so proud despite ‘hard to take’ final defeat World Cup final in pictures: England fall to agonising defeat against Spain Katarina Johnson-Thompson on course for world championship gold

The Atlanta Braves are clearly trying to manipulate MLB service time to get one more year of control out of Michael Soroka.Despite pitching brilliantly for the better part of the 2023 MLB season at Triple-A Gwinnett, there is a method to the madness when it comes to the Atlanta Braves' long...

Kyle Harrison has long been the Giants’ most highly regarded prospect. He’s now being called up to the majors for his debut, sources tell FanSided.The San Francisco Giants are calling up left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, the team’s No. 1 ranked prospect, sources familiar ...

England had covered the gaps, they had filled the holes. They had adjusted, adapted, repositioned, created a new formation, and reached a first World Cup final. Then England changed again. Down 1-0 at half time in the World Cup final, Sarina Wiegman went for a last roll of the dice, a double substitution that saw Alessia Russo and Rachel Daly brought off and Lauren James and Chloe Kelly come on. That 3-5-2 that was England’s revelation of the tournament, that changed their World Cup? It was binned. England went back to 4-2-3-1. They disposed of the wing-backs and brought on the wingers. They stopped pressing Spain and abandoned their plan. With it, and for the first time at the World Cup, the Lionesses did not find the change that was required. James and Kelly brought moments of improvement, but the truth is that England were at their most dangerous when Lauren Hemp and Russo were combining as a front two. Hemp’s switch to a central role took away the threat that was everywhere in the first half and left Wiegman searching for something else. On came Beth England. Up went Millie Bright. But this was a situation England could not overcome. In a tournament that has been defined by England’s ability to adapt and solve the problems they have faced, the changes that were required against Spain were a step too far. Mary Earps’s save from Jenni Hermoso’s penalty gave England some momentum, but this was a final that stuttered and in the second half never found its rhythm, where stoppages played into Spain’s hands and covered the defensive frailties they had previously shown through the tournament. “When Mary saved the penalty I thought we’d go on and score the goal,” Wiegman shrugged. “But we didn’t.” Wiegman felt England improved with the changes and they certainly played with a better balance. But by then the game had changed and in its final moments, Spain managed to stay in control. While England never found the right combinations, Spain never quite felt threatened. While England played with two systems, neither one quite arrived at the right time. Perhaps this was always the natural conclusion for a World Cup that hit its first hurdle in November when Beth Mead suffered a torn ACL, then when England lost Leah Williamson, and then Fran Kirby; the deflating end to a tournament where Wiegman has not had the same consistency or continuity of last summer’s Euros, and where winning the final was beyond the resilience of this side. Perhaps it’s also the rebalance from last summer’s quarter-final in Brighton, where Spain were the better team and lost after England found a moment of magic through Georgia Stanway’s equaliser. England couldn’t produce another one; despite the introductions of Kelly and James, England were at their most threatening when they played into an open, frantic match, even if it left them more vulnerable at the other end and, ultimately, led to Olga Carmona’s winning goal. It was a quality finish, the moment to crown Spain’s golden generation, a magnificent team of sharp passers and quick minds. Aitana Bonmati was the clear player of the tournament and no one will be surprised when the Ballon d’Or follows at the end of the year. They looked a class above England, but the regret is that a head coach who appears to have no impact on how his team plays in Jorge Vilda did not need to have a tactical approach to beat the Lionesses. England gave Spain what they wanted. Wiegman committed to a brave plan but it gave England a hard time. They had pushed high and pressed Spain, hoping to force the error, with Lucy Bronze and Daly defending as forwards as much as wingers, gambling on a misplaced pass. But Spain were too good. They responded by playing through England, isolating a back three that had found strength in its unity. Spain pulled an already stretched team further out of shape and created another problem for England to solve. Bronze’s misadventure then led to another one. As Carmona fired past Earps, Bronze immediately sank to the pitch, as if her legs had been cut from beneath her, the sort of reaction that told you everything about where the goal had come from. It was a run that was too ambitious when what England needed to do was move it faster. Bronze was crowded out, England were outnumbered, and suddenly it was left to Russo to follow Carmona’s run. That was a gap in the team that England could not cover. There had been such a fine balance to it, an open game where the first goal was always going to be crucial. While the final was goalless, England had chances that came from their high press and then found spaces to hit Hemp down the channels. But when Spain scored, the space vanished and Wiegman needed to try something else to protect her side, even if it meant England lost some of their unpredictability. To reach this stage was a triumph of the team’s approach and its mentality; a campaign that always managed to deliver answers. Eventually, and on the biggest stage of all, England were unable to find another. Read More England suffer World Cup heartache as brilliant Spain show Lionesses what’s missing Jorge Vilda: Spain’s World Cup coach at the heart of a civil war England v Spain LIVE: Women’s World Cup final result and reaction as Lionesses suffer heartbreak England players ‘heartbroken’ after World Cup final defeat to Spain England suffer World Cup heartache as brilliant Spain show Lionesses what’s missing Sarina Wiegman has already made the biggest decision of England’s World Cup

England boss Sarina Wiegman felt the Lionesses exhausted every effort to win their first Women’s World Cup final despite coming up just short with a 1-0 loss to Spain in Sydney. The Dutch boss, who led England to their first major trophy at last summer’s European Championship, finds herself with a silver medal in two consecutive attempts after steering 2019 runners-up the Netherlands to the title-decider four years ago in France. Second place is still a best-ever finish for the Lionesses in a global showpiece, beating their bronze medal from 2015, but the three-time FIFA Best winning coach knows from experience it may take some time before the sting subsides. Wiegman, who reiterated her commitment to remaining in England on multiple occasions this week, said: “That’s hard to take now, and of course we did everything, we gave everything, we’ve overcome lots of challenges and today we did everything we could to win. “It feels really bad, of course, and very disappointed, but still very proud of the team. “I’m just hurt about this moment. Losing a game and in a final, when you’re in a final you want to win it. I guess you mean because it’s a second final, I don’t see it (like that), this was a different game, a different team. “I was totally convinced before the game that it would be a very tight game but we were confident that we were able to win it. I hope in the future I get a new moment with the team I work with, that would be amazing, because it’s very special to play finals.” Lauren Hemp came inches away from scoring an opener with a first-half attempt that clipped the crossbar, and it remained England’s best chance of the contest. Spain took a 1-0 lead when Mariona Caldentey slipped the ball to the onrushing Olga Carmona, who finished past Mary Earps with a left-footed effort into the bottom right corner after 29 minutes. Wiegman initially employed the 3-5-2 shape that had been so successful in England’s 6-1 victory over China, but reverted to a 4-3-3 in the second half, when she brought in Lauren James – available for the first time following her two-match ban – and Chloe Kelly after the break. Spain could have doubled their advantage in the second half when Keira Walsh was punished for a handball inside the penalty area following a lengthy VAR check, but the competition’s Golden Glove winner Earps read Jennifer Hermoso’s spot-kick perfectly and produced a fine save to keep England in the contest. Wiegman said: “I think we played better in the second half. We changed shape, we got momentum, we got more in their half. Then they got the penalty and when Mary saved it I thought, ‘OK, now we’re going to score a goal and get the 1-1’, but we didn’t.” The 2027 Women’s World Cup hosts will be announced at the 74th FIFA Congress in May, while England will defend their European title in Switzerland in 2025. First comes UEFA’s newly launched Nations League, which also serves as a qualifier for next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. England, Scotland or Wales would need to reach the final to qualify as Team GB, or finish third if automatically qualified hosts France are one of the last two. Wiegman managed the Netherlands during the postponed 2020 Tokyo Games, but was disappointed by the Covid-19-impacted experience, remarking earlier in the week that “it felt like a jail. We were stuck in a hotel.” So rather than thinking about the next World Cup in an as-yet-undecided location, Wiegman was looking ahead to just over a month’s time when England will kick off their Nations League campaign against Scotland at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on September 22. She added: “Four years is a little bit of a long time. We will start in September in the Nations League to try to qualify for the Olympics. “You want to improve all the time. This team and this group of players are so eager to be successful. We want to grab every moment to be better. We hope we come back and play good games again to win.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live World Cup final in pictures: England fall to agonising defeat against Spain Katarina Johnson-Thompson on course for world championship gold Jac Morgan in line to captain Wales at Rugby World Cup

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England fell short of a first World Cup title after they were defeated 1-0 by Spain in Sydney. Olga Carmona’s strike in the first half was the difference between the two sides while England goalkeeper Mary Earps saved Jennifer Hermoso’s second-half spot kick as the Lionesses fell at the final hurdle. Here, the PA news agency looks at the best pictures from the day.