Vandersloot hesitated to join WNBA super team in New York due to mom's cancer diagnosis
WNBA All-Star guard Courtney Vandersloot sought her mom's blessing before signing with the New York Liberty as a free agency
1970-01-01 08:00
‘Huge talent’ Alejandro Garnacho backed to play key role in Man Utd’s run-in
Erik ten Hag highlighted Alejandro Garnacho’s bravery, maturity and confidence after the Manchester United teenager made a goalscoring return after a two-month injury lay-off. The nascent 18-year-old talent, who recently signed a new deal until 2028, received an excellent reception on his first appearance since sustaining an ankle injury against Southampton on March 12. Garnacho was brought on in the 82nd minute and scored with a stoppage-time strike off the post in front of the Stretford End to wrap up a 2-0 victory against Wolves. Ten Hag was happy with all his introductions after a few weeks when he said the “subs were bad”, but the Argentinian took the headlines after United got their top-four tilt back on track. “Garna, of course, scored a great goal,” the United boss said. “He came in, he did I think almost everything good and then he scored a goal. “That will give him belief and that is good for us for the rest of the season that he is back. It’ll give him confidence and he can have an impact. “He is showing when you score some winners, like Fulham, assist against City, for instance. Now the second goal, he is showing some things. “Also sometimes he lacks defensive transition, in pressing, he has to step up in such things. Also, when you are going into an action or keep the ball, so decisions. “But I think when you see it all over, yeah, he is a huge talent and he’s brave.” Garnacho arrived from Atletico Madrid in 2020 and was last season’s Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year having played a key role in United’s FA Youth Cup triumph. The Argentina youth international frustrated Ten Hag during pre-season but has since won the Dutchman over, making 30 first-team appearances so far this campaign. “One of the aspects from the biggest talent is that they are mature,” the United boss said. “First, they take responsibility and, second, they are mature. “To bring in their skills, they have belief that they can dominate opponents and I think once again he did it. “He has a big impact in many games either when starting or coming on, he’s ready, straight into the game and that is so important for the squad you can bring such players. “I am happy that you can bring young players and hopefully he will progress so quickly that he can compete for a starting XI position because that is his next challenge.” Garnacho’s strike was United’s 100th goal of the season in all competitions and complemented Anthony Martial’s opener in a 25th Old Trafford victory of the campaign. The win was an important response to defeats at Brighton and West Ham, which had allowed Liverpool to close the gap in the race for Champions League qualification. “You have to deal (with setbacks),” Ten Hag said, “Everyone told me in United it is never going in the easy way, we go the difficult way. “I think the team was ready for this battle, for this fight. “Once again, we make the goalie of the opponent the man of the match, so we could have made life easier if we score the second goal early on. “But we have the points, we are happy with that and we move on.” Wolves failed to muster a shot on target as their poor away form continued, leaving boss Julen Lopetegui frustrated. “Obviously, the result was not good for us, but we tried to compete with them,” said the Spaniard, who praised goalkeeper Dan Bentley after making an impressive Premier League debut. “In the context of the match, the first half, we suffered one goal in one mistake that we had and they didn’t have any more chances. “In the second half, we take a risk, we dominate the game and had situations when we could have done better. “In the end, it was a pity, we tried, but, in the end, they deserved to win.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Standards have not been good enough – Ruben Selles on Southampton’s relegation Notts County back in EFL with sub goalkeeper Archie Mair the shoot-out hero Tottenham ‘pulling together’ despite latest setback – Ryan Mason
1970-01-01 08:00
Braves Rumors: Red-hot trade target, Aces to acquire, Chipper sells
Braves Rumors: Brent Rooker has another big momentThe Oakland Athletics are dreadful, but a lone bright spot is the emergence of corner outfielder Brent Rooker. The 28-year-old has seemingly come out of nowhere for Oakland, which appears far more interested in their next location than the current ...
1970-01-01 08:00
Analysis: Playoff outcomes suggest the NBA could see a summer of big moves
It’s the best time of year in the NBA, with the playoff field getting down to its final four on Sunday
1970-01-01 08:00
The new Mount Washington? Rookie tight end brings unusual size, skill set to Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie tight end Darnell Washington may symbolize his team's “go big” philosophy
1970-01-01 08:00
Richardson, Omanyala storm to victory in Nairobi
American sprint star Sha'Carri Richardson signalled her return to form with an easy win in the women's 200m at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi on Saturday while local sensation Ferdinand Omanyala streaked to a...
1970-01-01 08:00
3 Za’Darius Smith replacements for the Vikings revamped defense
The Minnesota Vikings could not stop a lot of teams in 2022. Now the search is on for another pass rusher after Za’Darius Smith was dealt to Cleveland.Only the division-rival Detroit Lions allowed more total yards per game, and only the Tennessee Titans surrendered more passing yards per c...
1970-01-01 08:00
'Fantasy land': Mueller shuts down Bayern exit rumours
Bayern Munich captain Thomas Mueller shot down talk he is on his way out of the club as "fantasy land" after his side's 6-0...
1970-01-01 08:00
Tottenham ‘pulling together’ despite latest setback – Ryan Mason
Caretaker boss Ryan Mason denied managerless Tottenham are drifting after a potentially damaging 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa. Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz struck to move Villa level on points in the Premier League with their sixth-placed visitors. Harry Kane’s late penalty gave the scoreline a flattering look as aimless Spurs were second best throughout. Mason, Spurs’ third manager of the season, is now battling to keep them in the European spots. They are without a head coach and sporting director after the departures of Antonio Conte, Cristian Stellini and Fabio Paratici but Mason insisted the club is still fighting. He said: “The outside world is the outside world. When you are consistent and strong inside that transfers outside. It is a difficult moment but everyone is pulling together. “The environment you try to set within is the most important thing. “To go a goal down so early again, it’s happened too many times this season. We need to be better. It’s a very disappointing day. “I felt we were more of a threat in the second half and their keeper has pulled off an outstanding save at 1-0 which could have changed the flow of the game. “We understand we have two important games and it’s still in our hands, what we want to achieve, we need to learn and try to be better. “We’ve come here against a good side and you have to understand you have to suffer as a team and then the game changes, like we saw in the second half, but you can’t get to that point being a goal down.” Ramsey opened the scoring after just eight minutes, finding the corner from Leon Bailey’s cross, as Villa dominated. Tottenham were dreadful and needed Fraser Forster to keep it at 1-0 when he saved from Bailey after Pedro Porro’s mistake. Emi Buendia hit the bar before the break and was denied by Forster following the restart, with John McGinn shooting wide. But Spurs were almost gifted a way back when Oliver Skipp robbed Luiz to tee up Kane only for to see his shot beaten away by Emi Martinez. Dejan Kulusevski curled wide but Villa found some daylight with 18 minutes left when Luiz curled in a 25-yard free-kick which Forster could only help into the top corner. It seemed like the hosts would cruise to victory but they were forced to sweat in stoppage time when Kane went down under Martinez’s challenge and – after a long VAR delay – referee Peter Bankes awarded the penalty which the England captain scored. Villa remain in the hunt for a Europa League spot, although boss Unai Emery admitted he did not think it was achievable when he replaced Steven Gerrard in October. He said: “No, it was a process but I told the players if we can have chances to go there we are going to try to get it. If we didn’t get it, it’s not a fail. It’s a process. “We played with a high level in the first half and kept our identity. We deserved more in the first half, maybe. Keeping focus in 90 minutes is not easy and we were playing a very good team. “In the second half they played better but at the end we deserved to win. We want to connect with our supporters, get the energy and give them our energy and this is the sixth win in a row here. “I was very, very happy in the first half. We need to be consistent but today we played very well and the players are showing their commitment.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Carly Telford hopes adversity can galvanise England at the World Cup Mark Robins relishing play-off opportunity as Coventry ‘rise together’ Man Utd boss Marc Skinner fires FA Cup final warning to favourites Chelsea
1970-01-01 08:00
Express Diallo hauls Strasbourg away from trouble
Senegalese forward Habib Diallo scored inside the opening minute of a Ligue 1 game for the third time this year as he got both goals in Strasbourg's...
1970-01-01 08:00
Alcaraz marks return to world number one with victory on Rome debut
Carlos Alcaraz marked his return to the world number one ranking by comfortably seeing off fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in his first ever match at the Italian Open on Saturday as the women's...
1970-01-01 08:00
Eberechi Eze double secures win for Crystal Palace against Bournemouth
Eberechi Eze’s brace spoiled Bournemouth’s ambitions of securing Premier League safety after the Cherries’ afternoon ended in a 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Gary O’Neil’s men needed just one point to make certain of another season in the top flight and looked bright to start with, but fell behind when Eze fired his side ahead late in the first half. It was not all good news for Roy Hodgson’s hosts, who saw Wilfried Zaha forced off after the break. However, Eze added a second for the Eagles, who had already secured mathematical safety, while the visiting Cherries still need one more point to mathematically avoid the drop. Neither side was able to create any clear-cut chances inside the first 10 minutes though Bournemouth frequently tested the fortitude of centre-back pairing Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen. Michael Olise curled an effort wide of the far post from the edge of the area before his side were able to stave off a sustained wave of pressure from the opposition as the period ticked past the halfway point. Joel Ward evaded two black shirts in the corner to set up Olise for a second attempt, coming closer with a cross to force Neto into a leaping grab. Olise entered the afternoon with nine assists and nearly added another when he sent a cross to Wilfried Zaha at the far post, who misdirected his effort from three yards out. VAR was called in for the first time following an altercation between Andersen and Jefferson Lerma inside the Cherries’ area for a potential red card on the Palace defender, but the hosts remained at full strength after the review. Palace had failed to make anything of six corners to Bournemouth’s two, but the statistics were otherwise closely split as the contest approached the 40-minute mark as both sides searched for a breakthrough. It was the hosts who finally achieved it, sparked by Zaha, who battled his way around his marker at the edge of the area before cutting back to Jordan Ayew. He took a quick backwards touch to direct the ball to Eze, who gave Neto no chance as he fired home from centre after 39 minutes. Will Hughes quickly tested Neto to start the second half but the Selhurst faithful soon witnessed a worrying scene when Zaha, only recently recovered from a hamstring injury, pulled up and was replaced by Odsonne Edouard. The Eagles talisman, out of contract at the end of this campaign, was treated to a rousing chant by the home support, possibly wondering if this would be the last time they would watch him walk off the pitch in a Palace shirt. Eze bagged his second in the 58th minute, a solo effort that saw him collect the ball from Olise on the left before a mazy run through centre put him in position to fire his 10th of the season into the top right. Palace’s corner tally ticked over into double-digits but the scoreline stood as the hosts survived a late free-kick from a dangerous position. Palace survived before substitute Jairo Riedewald tried to make up for his involvement in the set-piece by attempting to tee up Edouard for a late third – but two was ultimately all it took. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Carly Telford hopes adversity can galvanise England at the World Cup Mark Robins relishing play-off opportunity as Coventry ‘rise together’ Man Utd boss Marc Skinner fires FA Cup final warning to favourites Chelsea
1970-01-01 08:00
