
Scotland sign off on successful Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with Norway draw
Scotland concluded a successful Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with an all-action 3-3 draw with Norway at Hampden Park. Steve Clarke’s men clinched their place in Germany with two games to spare last month and, following a 2-2 draw with Georgia on Thursday night, there were thrills and spills in the final Group A game in Glasgow. The Tartan Army were in party mood but they were silenced in the third minute of a roller-coaster first half when Aron Donnum fired the visitors ahead before Scotland captain John McGinn levelled from the spot 10 minutes later. Norway restored their lead through striker Jorgen Larsen in the 20th minute before an own goal in the 33rd minute by visiting defender Leo Ostigard had the Scots level again. The second half was no less open and a fine finish by midfielder Stuart Armstrong just before the hour mark put the home side ahead but Norway substitute Mohamed Elyounoussi cancelled that out in the 86th minute with a header. Nevertheless it is Scotland and group winners Spain who qualify automatically for next summer’s finals and the Scots will go into the draw as Pot 3 seeds. It was another thrilling match in an unforgettable campaign. Clarke reshuffled his side, with Luton striker Jacob Brown making his first start in his eighth appearance as Jack Hendry, Armstrong and Kenny McLean also came in. Ryan Porteous, Billy Gilmour, Ryan Christie and Lyndon Dykes dropped to the bench. Stale Solbakken’s side were without injured Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland, their captain and Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard and Sevilla goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, which on the face of it increased the home side’s chance of finishing the campaign with a flourish. The visitors, however, were keen to avenge the 2-1 defeat by Scotland in Oslo which had done so much to shape both sides’ fortunes and they got off to the perfect start. A cross into the middle from Julian Ryerson came off the foot of Larsen straight to Donnum, whose shot from 14 yards clipped Scotland defender Nathan Patterson before going past keeper Zander Clark and in off a post. The goal stunned the home fans but they were soon cheering when referee Horatiu Fesnic pointed to the spot after judging that Callum McGregor’s shot had struck the arm of Donnum inside the box. McGinn slotted the penalty past Norway keeper Egil Selvik for his third goal of the campaign and his 18th international goal in total to tie with former Scotland striker Kenny Miller. However, Scotland were again trailing when Larsen got a flick on Ryerson’s deflected cross at the near post and the ball squirmed past Clark and spun over the line with the on-rushing Donnum making sure. The goals kept coming and the home side were level again when Scott McTominay’s whipped-in corner from the left was just missed by McLean, with the ball striking the luckless Ostigard and bouncing into the net. Norway remained dangerous and in the 37th minute captain Patrick Berg came close with a 30-yard free-kick and minutes later only a brilliant block by Patterson denied Donnum a second goal, before Armstrong came close with a drive in the last action of the first half. The end-to-end action continued after the break. Brown missed a good chance from right in front of goal but only seconds before Armstrong drilled McGinn’s cut-back into the net from 16 yards, after playing a one-two with his fellow midfielder. Dykes, Christie and Lewis Ferguson soon came on for Brown, Armstrong and McLean and then Ryan Jack replaced McGinn, who had taken a knock. By then Norway were going all out for their third goal and in the 82nd minute Clark made a good diving save from substitute Kristian Thorstvedt’s header from close range. Former Celtic attacker Elyounoussi made no mistake when burying a Ryerson cross from two yards out, however. The Tartan Army showed their appreciation at the end of five added minutes and now all eyes are on Germany next summer. Read More Ludvig Aberg keen to ‘love golf for long time’ after clinching RSM Classic title Luke Humphries continues stunning rise with Grand Slam of Darts success Gareth Southgate wants vastly-improved display from England in North Macedonia Declan Rice urges England to finish 2023 with a ‘bang’ in North Macedonia Jarrod Bowen adds to England withdrawals after injury in training Manchester City storm back to deny Manchester United in Old Trafford WSL derby
1970-01-01 08:00

Rookie QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson rallies Browns to a last-second 13-10 win over Steelers
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Jalen Ramsey caught a game-sealing interception to help stifle Las Vegas’ fourth-quarter comeback, and the Miami Dolphins overcame three turnovers to hold off the Raiders 20-13
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Jordan Love's late TD pass lifts Packers to 23-20 victory over Chargers
Jordan Love threw for 322 yards and found Romeo Doubs for a 24-yard touchdown with 2:33 left to give the Green Bay Packers a 23-20 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday
1970-01-01 08:00

Michigan and Ohio State have made it to The Game undefeated after turmoil and close calls
It’s finally time for Michigan and Ohio State to meet
1970-01-01 08:00

Cricket World Cup Victory Tops Remarkable Year for Australians
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Amy Yang captures her first American LPGA title and cashes in on $2 million
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Jaguars bounce back from embarrassing loss with 34-14 drubbing of AFC South rival Titans
Trevor Lawrence accounted for four touchdowns, including two perfectly thrown passes to Calvin Ridley, and the Jacksonville Jaguars followed their worst loss of the season with a 34-14 drubbing of the Tennessee Titans
1970-01-01 08:00

Apple Cup will continue for 5 more years after Washington and Washington State agree to deal
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Spain midfielder Gavi leaves European qualifier in tears with apparent leg injury
Spain midfielder Gavi had to be substituted after an apparent right-leg injury in the first half of his team's final European Championship qualifying game against Georgia
1970-01-01 08:00

Newton helps No. 5 UConn pull away from Indiana in 77-57 victory in Empire Classic
Tristen Newton scored 23 points and No. 5 UConn pulled away in the second half for a 77-57 victory over Indiana in the Empire Classic in New York
1970-01-01 08:00

Gareth Southgate wants vastly-improved display from England in North Macedonia
Gareth Southgate says “performance is the priority” in North Macedonia as already-qualified England look to make up for winning with a whimper against minnows Malta. The Euro 2020 runners-up sealed their place at next summer’s edition with two matches to spare and were below par in Friday’s qualifier. England disappointed a packed Wembley crowd by limping to a 2-0 victory over Malta, leading the manager to suggest his players had subconsciously taken their foot off the gas. Southgate did not castigate those that have done so well for him over the years, but he is demanding a vastly-improved display in North Macedonia as they bring the curtain down on 2023. “Performance is the priority,” Southgate said. “We’ve set a standard. We didn’t reach that standard on Friday. We have to get back to what we’re good at. There’s always a chance within that to have a look at a couple of things that we’d like to see as well. “But the biggest thing is making sure we hit the level of performance that we’ve set ourselves.” England’s final match of the year is also set to be their last on foreign soil until the Euros get under way in Germany. A sold-out Tose Proeski Arena awaits despite the Macedonians’ qualification hopes already having gone up in smoke, with revenge the main focus on Monday. Few saw June’s 7-0 Old Trafford annihilation at Old Trafford coming and Blagoja Milevski’s men are looking to get a famous result having drawn at home to reigning European champions Italy since then. “We weren’t at the level of performance that we want on Friday, so all focus on tomorrow’s game,” said Southgate, whose side have so far gone unbeaten this year. “We play a team who, although they can’t qualify, have tremendous pride and they’ll be wounded by what happened in Manchester. “We have to be ready for a really good atmosphere. Full crowd, full stadium. We’ve had a calendar year where we’ve been very good, so we want to finish well.” England’s final camp of the year has been disrupted by absentees. Five players withdrew from the original squad through injury and two more departed the squad before they flew out to the Balkans. The Football Association announced Kieran Trippier had gone home due to a personal issue, while injury meant Jarrod Bowen left the camp on Sunday. “Unfortunately, Jarrod picked up an injury,” Southgate said. “I think he felt it a little bit yesterday and then again at the end of training today. “We didn’t really have enough time to assess it fully and make a really accurate decision before the game, so we felt better to leave him in England so that he can get it properly assessed. “I don’t think it’s got to be anything serious, but we just didn’t have enough time and we wouldn’t take a risk in that situation.” Bowen was in line for a substantial role for rotated England on Monday, so too Trippier. Performance is the priority. We've set a standard. We didn't reach that standard on Friday. We have to get back to what we're good at Gareth Southgate The versatile Newcastle full-back’s withdrawal underlines the dearth of options at left-back in the absence of injured Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell. “We need to adapt,” Southgate said. “We’ve got a couple of different options and we’re comfortable with it. We can find a good solution to the issue. “We haven’t got somebody that is playing there regularly, but we’ve adapted to lots of situations over the last few years and we’re comfortable with doing that again tomorrow.” Asked about the options and formation switch, he added: “We probably have done it a little bit on personnel going back a few years. “So, yeah, that is an option. We’ve obviously got players that have played as wing-backs. We can adjust. We’ve got Fik (Fikayo Tomori), of course, who did it the other day, Rico Lewis, Marc Guehi can play across there. “He’s done that for us in a game before so it’s just making sure that everybody’s aware of their job. It changes the way maybe you build up patterns and those sorts of things, but we’re comfortable with the situation we’ve got.” Read More Declan Rice urges England to finish 2023 with a ‘bang’ in North Macedonia Jarrod Bowen adds to England withdrawals after injury in training Manchester City storm back to deny Manchester United in Old Trafford WSL derby Arsenal continue winning streak with convincing victory at Brighton Australia ‘top of the mountain’ after record sixth World Cup win ‘It’s the sweetest one’ – Nicolai Hojgaard hails DP World Tour Championship win
1970-01-01 08:00