List of All Articles with Tag 'sports'

Trevor Larnach hit a three-run homer, Joey Gallo homered for the second straight game and Louie Varland pitched 6 1/3 solid innings for the Minnesota Twins in a 16-3 win against the Chicago Cubs

It is the 36th game of their Premier League season and Liverpool, on a late charge towards the Champions League places, are away in the Midlands. Needing victory, they are drawing as the game enters the 95th minute. And then goalkeeper turns goalscorer. West Bromwich Albion suffered the indignity of conceding to Alisson in 2021. History is unlikely to repeat itself at Leicester on Monday, even if it falls on the eve of the second anniversary of the only goal ever scored by a Liverpool goalkeeper. But, once again, they are aiming for the improbable, encouraged by their memories. “A lot of times when I look on Twitter for news, that goal appears in my timeline,” Alisson said. “This week I watched it already. It’s good, it made me feel good. It makes me think how crazy it is that I scored a goal. It was kind of a sign for us that something special was coming. Because I can be 100 times in the box, I don’t know if I will score again. I know now I can head a ball in a good way, but hopefully we are not going to need it again. I think this season we are having special moments, [Diogo] Jota’s goal is a really special one against Tottenham; last minute as well.” Finish in the top four and Alisson may go down as the architect of another great escape, albeit in more conventional fashion. He has been overworked and outstanding. He entered the weekend with fifth most saves in the division and having prevented the most goals, according to goalkeeping statistics relating to the quality of opportunities. “Sometimes the goalie performances comes when the team is not playing so good and conceding more chances,” he reflected. That has been the case this season; he is the frontrunner to be named Liverpool’s player of the year. He already has one memento; he was presented with a shirt with ‘100’ on the back by Jurgen Klopp, marking his century of Liverpool clean sheets. “The goal is special but the clean sheets are better,” Alisson said. There are, he hopes, many more to come. “One hundred is a lot for me now but in comparison to the great goalies in Liverpool’s history it is not even 50 per cent of what they achieved. They got over 200 clean sheets.” He is the seventh goalkeeper to register 100 for Liverpool, but it may be a table even he cannot top. Not when Ray Clemence recorded 323 shutouts and Bruce Grobbelaar a further 267; it helped that Anfield greats made 665 and 628 appearances respectively. “I don’t know if I can play as many matches as them,” said Alisson, currently on 229. “I think Ray had over 600 matches for Liverpool, but I’m already looking forward to the next 50 or 100 clean sheets, and for the next one in the next match we have. It would be special to be alongside them or to beat them, I admire a lot what the great goalies did, but I’m writing my own story here at Liverpool.” That story is nowhere near its final chapter. Alisson is still only 30 and with a deal until 2027. His commitment stems from much more than a contract, however. Alisson’s father, Jose Agostinho Becker, drowned in 2021. Lockdown restrictions meant he was unable to return to Brazil. His Anfield family instead offered support. “I never imagined to go through a moment like that in my life,” he recalled, a tear in the eye. “Nobody thinks about losing their Dad or Mum suddenly but so many people at that moment were losing loved ones in Covid times and I think the world was in a place where everybody was ready to show love for people. Not only at Liverpool, though the boys here at the club were amazing: I think they felt my pain together. “I took three days at home after my dad passed away and I was looking forward to coming back here, to this place, because I felt already the love. Not only here but from the football world, I was really touched. I received so many letters from managers, from clubs that I never imagined I would receive.” A couple of months later, Alisson emerged in the West Brom box to score a goal that led Liverpool on a path that ended in the 2022 Champions League final, that almost brought a quadruple. Now, once again, there is the hope a difficult campaign can end on a high. “We are having similar challenges,” he said. And if there is unlikely to be a similar solution, another Alisson header, his shutouts offer the prospect of further success. “Keeping clean sheets keeps you closer to victories,” he said. So, too, does his bond with Liverpool. “When I signed a long-term deal at this club, I thought a lot at this moment that everybody was there for me and I have this feeling that I want to be here for the club as well,” he said. “To keep making history, keep this atmosphere that we have as a family.” Read More Jurgen Klopp backs Liverpool to revive title rivalry with Man City next season No identity, no intensity: How Southampton were relegated from the Premier League Erik ten Hag finally within sight of matching a past Manchester United great... no, not that one

Christian Yelich homered in the first inning and scored on a bizarre play as part of Milwaukee’s seven-run outburst in the third as the Brewers defeated the Kansas City Royals 9-6

Yainer Diaz hit his first major league home run to back rookie Hunter Brown and help the Houston Astros beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3 for their fourth win in five games

Barcelona has won its first Spanish league title after the departure of Lionel Messi with a 4-2 victory against Espanyol

Manchester City is one win away from a third successive Premier League title and a fifth in six seasons under Pep Guardiola

Mitch Keller struck out a career-high 13 in seven innings and the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates won for only the second time in 13 games, 4-0 over the Baltimore Orioles

The mother of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has died

Center fielder Alex Call made a pair of outstanding defensive plays in the ninth inning, preserving the Washington Nationals’ 3-2 win and dealing the slumping New York Mets their 14th loss in 20 games

Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman said Sunday he had no timetable for a return to the track after fracturing a vertebra in his back in a sprint-car accident last month

Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes are close to being extinguished after losing 3-0 to Brighton

As Roberto De Zerbi blew mocking kisses at someone in the crowd, with them goes the 2022-23 Premier League. Manchester City are now just one win from a third successive title but that is almost immaterial because Arsenal have lost all will, as well as this potentially decisive game. A supposedly tight title race could well end next weekend with more than two games to play. It is almost extra cruel on Arsenal that one of those remaining games for City is against this Brighton. On the evidence of this impressive 3-0 victory in north London, to go with almost the entire season, De Zerbi’s side could have offered a real challenge. European football is within their grasp. Brighton’s own 5-1 defeat to Everton on Monday now feels almost as illusory as the idea there was ever a title race at all. City have just powered on through, against a relatively callow side. That is not necessarily to criticise Arsenal given that is what happens to young teams in such situations for the first time - you only have to look at Tottenham Hotspur in 2015-16 - but this was one of those games where the fight had gone, where they had no more to give. The submissive nature of the last two goals summed it up. Aaron Ramsdale has done as much as anyone to keep Arsenal in it for this long, but he will want to forget this day quickly. Brighton themselves so quickly got over that collapse against Everton. This win was all the more impressive for that, as they had all the fight of a manager who so abrasively celebrated every goal. For the last two, he was running down the line and leaping onto the pitch. How Arsenal could have done with such energy by then. Brighton had done a number on them. It was still hard not to think another match involving Everton influenced this more. City’s earlier 3-0 win at Goodison Park felt like it sapped this of all intensity. There was just that sense it was the last chance for a slip, and the ease of the champions’ win seemed to sap this occasion of its energy - at least from Arsenal’s perspective. Even in a better first half for Mikel Arteta’s side, it had the feel of an end-of-season dead rubber more than one from a title run-in, at least off the pitch. That will gradually affect what happens on it, even if Arteta will of course have been sure to make his players stay focused on the job at hand. The awareness of the state of play will always have that subconscious effect. There’s also the fact this was never going to be an easy game. There was no way De Zerbi was going to let Brighton be as porous as they were against Everton, a match that now looks even more like it was the most unlikely of the season. There was a response here, and real bite. There was edge to a lot of the challenges throughout the game. Brighton might fairly say that Gabriel Martinelli started it with what would generously be described as a leap into Kaoru Mitoma, but that spell ended with the Brazilian going off after a raw tackle from Moises Caicedo. Leandro Trossard came on for Martinelli and did clip the bar with an opportunity he might have scored from, as Arsenal still had the better of the first half, but it was lacking that conviction that has defined most of their season. It would be unfair on both sides to say it was going through the motions, but it was going to take so much more to move the dial here. Brighton were standing up strong, and causing problems on the break. Mitoma did superbly to set up Julio Enciso, but a defensive touch just took it away from the Paraguayan. It was nevertheless a warning Arsenal didn’t heed. With the second half so much flatter from Arteta’s side, Brighton sensed opportunity. Mitoma began to run at Ben White and frequently got past him. Arsenal were getting overrun in midfield. Pace-setting Jorginho had to be brought off for Thomas Partey. Pace was precisely the problem. Brighton were now playing with so much more of it. They eventually got around Arsenal on the flank, and the ball was clipped in for Enciso to finish. It didn’t help that Jakub Kiwior went down with an injury as it happened, but that was almost symbolic of the second half. Arsenal were down. Brighton were on it, sharper to everything. Ramsdale played one short back pass out, and Pascal Gross was straight on it, setting up Deniz Undav for a sumptuous lift to seal it. Worse was still to come. Ramsdale was soft on one save, Purvis Estupinan had the hard edge to turn a torrid afternoon for Arsenal into a chastening evening. It shouldn’t define their season. It has, however, decided it. Read More Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal focus to be on title charge instead of player futures Man City being driven to title by man of the moment – and it’s not Erling Haaland Brighton win puts Manchester City on title brink – 5 things from Premier League Servette fan plays key role in Gael Clichy’s stunning long-distance strike Arsenal won’t stop digging for Premier League title, Mikel Arteta vows