List of All Articles with Tag 'sport'

Kyle Larson edged Christopher Bell at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway finish line to become the first driver locked into NASCAR’s championship race

Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers showed flashes of potential in Sunday's 42-21 loss to the Miami Dolphins

Sam Howell threw three short passes for touchdowns, Washington intercepted Desmond Ridder three times and the Commanders have snapped a three-game losing streak with a 24-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons

Republic of Ireland coach Stephen Kenny insists he cannot allow himself to wonder what might have been after his sliding doors moment in Faro. The 51-year-old will send his team into Euro 2024 qualifier battle with European minnows Gibraltar in the Algarve on Monday evening knowing their automatic qualification hopes are already over, and that even the chance of a wild card via the play-offs may be out of their grasp. Just how different things could have been had his last visit to the Estadio Algarve, for a World Cup qualifier against Portugal in September 2021, not ended with a last-gasp Cristiano Ronaldo double which transformed a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory for the hosts – and established Ronaldo as international football’s leading scorer – is something upon which Kenny admits he has reflected since. Kenny said: “You can’t dwell on things, but have I reflected on it? Of course. “We were 1-0 ahead after 89 minutes and the game should be finished out. Cristiano Ronaldo has other ideas and the world record was on the line that night, so he was hugely motivated to break that. “It was a very good performance that night. VAR intervened for an absolute cast-iron penalty to go 2-0 up in the second half, nailed-on penalty. “That’s the way it goes. What ifs… there’s no point in complaining. You move on and that’s it.” If we were to play any game, we'd play to win, any international game Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny Ireland ultimately did not make it to last year’s World Cup finals, and neither will they be in Germany next summer unless their fortunes change markedly and they manage to secure a play-off spot and make it count. There is even a complicated scenario in which they might be better off losing their final qualifier in the Netherlands next month depending on results elsewhere, although Kenny insists he is not even contemplating that. He said: “No, it’s not something that’s really entered our heads. It’s not something that really we’d focus on. If we were to play any game, we’d play to win, any international game. “We would just focus on Gibraltar tomorrow. It’s an international game that we want to win. We have to get a win under our belt tomorrow and I’m not really fixated on that scenario.” Kenny, who confirmed that his contract would cover any play-off, has found himself in the firing line since Friday night’s 2-0 home defeat by Greece, although with World Cup finalists France and the Dutch also in Group B, the alarm bells starting ringing after their 2-1 reverse in Athens in June. However, asked if he would resign should things go from bad to worse in Faro, he said: “I’m not considering resigning. My contact is to the end of the campaign and I will finish it. “We want to finish the campaign strongly and we are very determined to do that. After that, it’s completely out of my control. I have no control over the rest.” Read More Wales defeat Croatia to boost Euro 2024 qualification hopes Steve Borthwick hails ‘written off’ England after reaching World Cup semi-final Stephen Kenny puts speculation to one side for Gibraltar clash Jos Buttler tells England to ‘let it hurt’ after World Cup loss to Afghanistan Baltimore boss John Harbaugh thrilled to end ‘heck of a week’ in London on high Talking Points as Republic of Ireland seek win against minnows Gibraltar

Arizona ace Zac Gallen and slugging first baseman Christian Walker were both raised in the Philadelphia area

Desmond Ridder’s second three-turnover game in his last three starts left the second-year quarterback open for renewed questions about his inconsistency and even his job security as the Atlanta Falcons’ starter

Jonquel Jones scored 27 points and Breanna Stewart added 20 to help the New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-73 and force a Game 4 of the WNBA Finals

Antoine Dupont sank to one knee and covered his face with his hand as the disappointment of France’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal loss to South Africa in Paris sank in

Trevor Lawrence threw two touchdown passes, Travis Etienne ran for a pair of scores and the Jacksonville Jaguars beat Indianapolis 37-20 for their third consecutive victory

Harry Wilson celebrated his 50th cap with a brilliant double as Wales boosted their Euro 2024 automatic qualification hopes with a 2-1 win over Croatia in Cardiff. Wilson rewarded an excellent home performance with two clinical second-half strikes, enough to stave off a late Croatia rally that saw Mario Pasalic convert 15 minutes from time. Wales came into the contest knowing victories in their final three group games were probably necessary to secure a top-two place and avoid the play-offs in March. Rob Page’s side still have to work to do in November – away to Armenia and at home to group leaders Turkey – but upsetting the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists in such fashion offers great encouragement. This win takes Wales into second place above Croatia by virtue of them having done better in their head-to-head ties, the Dragons having drawn their opening game of the campaign 1-1 in Split in March. The result will ease the pressure on manager Rob Page, who awoke to newspaper headlines on Saturday morning linking Roy Keane to his job. Page vowed he would shut out all external noise at his pre-match press conference in which he became visibly emotional, and that chatter will now surely dim after this result. Victory in Latvia last month had boosted Wales, but Aaron Ramsey and Brennan Johnson had picked up injuries and were replaced by David Brooks, a scoring substitute in Riga, and Kieffer Moore. Ben Davies took over the captaincy in Ramsey’s absence as Wilson won his landmark cap, exactly a decade on from becoming Wales’ youngest-ever player at the age of 16 years and 207 days. History was against Wales with no wins in seven games against Croatia and the visitors were smarting from Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Turkey – their first-ever home defeat in European Championship qualification. Croatia made three changes from that shock defeat but their midfield triumvirate of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic – the heartbeat of this ‘Golden Generation’ – remained in tact. Wales started on the front foot but the pattern of the game soon developed with Croatia dominating possession and the hosts seeking to spring swift counter-attacks. Wilson almost profited from one such raid after Brooks had tricked Josko Gvardiol in the build-up. The ball just run away from Wilson, who could not connect with enough power and Domagoj Vida blocked. A period of Croatia keep-ball ended with Josip Juranovic crossing and Petar Musa heading over, but it was a rare moment of concern for Wales who were gaining in confidence. Ethan Ampadu picked out Brooks after 21 minutes and his feather-like touch and pass freed Wilson through the middle. Wilson was brought down in full flow by Vida, with the close attendance of Gvardiol preventing the yellow card from turning to red. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic tipped away Wilson’s resulting free-kick and was also equal to Neco Williams’ curling effort after the wing-back had cut inside on his right foot, Gvardiol’s intervention was also needed to deny Connor Roberts after Wilson’s clever back-heel had created space. Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic made three changes at half-time, a sign that he was unimpressed with his side’s first-half performance. But Wales struck within two minutes of the restart as the visitors failed to cope with Danny Ward’s punt forward. The ball came off a Croatia player under pressure from Moore and Brooks volleyed the ball on. Wilson took it in his stride and outpaced Vida to chip the ball over the stranded Livakovic for his seventh Wales goal. The lead was doubled after 60 minutes as Daniel James, having replaced Brooks three minutes earlier, swung over a cross that Wilson glanced beyond Livakovic into the corner of the net. Croatia rose from their slumber with Ward saving from substitute Dion Drena Beljo, the ball turned inches around the post. Modric’s resulting corner glanced off the head of Moore for Pasalic to pounce from close range, but Wales held on for a famous victory against the world’s sixth-ranked team. Read More Scotland qualify for Euro 2024 after Spain result confirms place Steve Borthwick hails ‘written off’ players as England book World Cup semi-final Stephen Kenny puts speculation to one side for Gibraltar clash Jos Buttler tells England to ‘let it hurt’ after World Cup loss to Afghanistan

Joe Burrow threw two early touchdown passes and Cincinnati intercepted Geno Smith twice in the second half as the Bengals held off the Seattle Seahawks late to get their second win a row, 17-13

Rookie Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field goal with six seconds left as San Francisco was stunned 19-17 by the Cleveland Browns, who ended the 49ers’ regular-season winning streak at 15 and handed quarterback Brock Purdy his first loss as an NFL starter