List of All Articles with Tag 't'

Ilkay Gundogan isn’t leaving it quite as late this year. Twelve months ago, his goals won Manchester City the title: a comeback-clinching 81st-minute decider against Aston Villa on the final day of the season sealed the trophy. Now City’s May has consisted of more Gundogan goals to set up another coronation. After the captain’s brace against Leeds came a still better double at Everton, a volley of improvisational brilliance and a free kick he made look enviably easy, sandwiched by an assist. His 300th City appearance ranks as one of his finest. Having not struck twice in a game since last May, he has done so in successive league matches. When the business end of the season arrives, Gundogan becomes more purposeful. It is inspirational leadership but with a velvet touch. His excellence could render Arsenal’s results irrelevant. He is keeping the Gunners at bay while the newly anointed Footballer of the Year, Erling Haaland, is instead waging war on Everton’s past. His 52nd goal of the campaign means he now needs 11 to equal Dixie Dean’s record for a top-flight English club, set almost a century ago. Although, as he only has one goal in his last three games, the equation is weighted in favour of Everton’s greatest goalscorer. In one respect, Haaland produced a performance of extreme efficiency: when, in the 39th minute, he met Gundogan’s deft cross with a towering leap and an emphatic header, it was only his third touch of the afternoon. But he had scored from 33 per cent of them. He ended up with 13 touches and one goal. In a sense, City reflected Haaland: nothing much happened for quite some time and then they were deadly. Half an hour of nothingness at the start suited Everton, with the league leaders not even registering a shot on target until the 35th minute, but The Toffees conceded three goals within a quarter of an hour either side of the break. They were preceded by a glaring miss, with Mason Holgate hoofing the ball over the bar from four yards, and Everton’s chances of a shock came and went with one wild swing of his right foot. If City had lacked a little incision at the start, it was unsurprising. Pep Guardiola had rested much of his preferred midfield with Real Madrid in mind, taking out Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and the quasi-regista John Stones. But his captain was constant and a catalyst. City’s 11th straight league win stemmed from a couple of touches of class: first with Gundogan’s knee, to control Riyad Mahrez’s cross, and then with his right boot, as he hooked in a volley in a way few others could envisage, let alone execute. The paradox of City is that they have a robotic air, as though putting training ground routines into practice on the pitch, but can sometimes rely on individual virtuosity: five days after De Bruyne’s spectacular strike in the Bernabeu came a different kind of wonder goal. And, a couple of minutes later, a far more familiar one. Haaland’s giant leap has added another dimension to the City attack and he headed in Gundogan’s cross. When the German’s free-kick flew past Jordan Pickford, the goalkeeper perhaps ought to have done better. It was, though, a throwback to past title-clinching exploits. Gundogan had only scored from one previous free-kick in the Premier League: at Brighton, in May 2019, as City finished one point ahead of Liverpool. For Everton, the quest is to end up ahead of two out of Leeds, Leicester and Nottingham Forest, and earn a 70th successive season in the top flight. Last week’s five-goal demolition of Brighton felt like a mirage even if elite opponents called for a very different approach. They began with nine outfield players in a narrow box just outside their own area and were camped behind the ball. The eventual scoreline represented one kind of improvement. At Burnley, Sean Dyche had a habit of losing 5-0 to City, usually playing 4-4-2. Here the gameplan was different: a scorer of two goals against Brighton and involved in four, Dwight McNeil was an auxiliary defender, dropping in at left-back to make five at the back. Dyche ended with a 5-4-1 shape, too, rather than risking any further damage. Which, as his record now stands at 15 defeats in 16 games against Guardiola, with no wins, five goals scored and 54 conceded, is perhaps understandable. There might have been a sixth goal when Ederson tipped Amadou Onana’s header on to the bar. Everton could question if Aymeric Laporte deserved to escape unpunished when he seemed to lash out at Yerry Mina. But they have two games now, against Wolves and Bournemouth, to ensure they evade the drop. For Gundogan, and City, the season may yet bring three trophies. Read More Arsenal won’t stop digging for Premier League title, Mikel Arteta vows Jurgen Klopp backs Liverpool to revive title rivalry with Man City next season Guardiola hails ‘incredible’ Kevin De Bruyne as his stunning goal keeps Champions League tie in balance

Kurt Busch hasn't given up hope of competing in the NASCAR Cup Series again

Newcastle defender Dan Burn had no complaints over Arsenal’s streetwise tactics after a tooth-and-nail Premier League battle at St James’ Park. The Gunners emerged from Sunday’s fiercely-contested encounter on Tyneside with a 2-0 victory on an afternoon when anything less would have all but handed the title to leaders Manchester City. In doing so, they dealt a blow to the Magpies’ Champions League qualification hopes in a game punctuated by frequent delays in play and ill-tempered confrontations which prevented the home side from establishing a rhythm, something they themselves had been accused of doing in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium in January. But, asked about Arsenal’s approach, Burn said: “Of course it’s frustrating, but that’s what they said we did at their place. We get a lot of stick for slowing the game down, which I don’t know if we intentionally do all the time. “They did that, but it’s part and parcel of football. We can’t do it and then complain when it happens to us. “A lot of teams tend to do that now when they feel the energy of the crowd, they try and stifle it a little bit. “When a team like Arsenal is coming here and doing that, it’s a compliment.” Newcastle set off with high hopes of repeating their 2-0 home win over the Gunners last season and might have been on their way in front of an expectant home crowd had Jacob Murphy’s early shot not come back off a post or had referee Chris Kavanagh not been advised to review his decision to award a penalty for handball against Jakub Kiwior. In the event, they were undone by Martin Odegaard’s first-half strike and Fabian Schar’s unfortunate own goal. Burn said: “We knew it wasn’t going to be the same as last season, where we played them off the park. They’re a lot better this year and they’ve shown that all season. “They’ve been unlucky that City have overtaken them, but they’re a very good team who caused us problems, especially at home. We’re just unfortunate we couldn’t get the win.” We’re disappointed, but we’ve got four games to go and it’s still in our hands Newcastle defender Dan Burn Manchester United’s defeat at West Ham means Newcastle remain two points clear in third place with four games remaining, although with Liverpool and Brighton making concerted bids to reel them in. Burn said: “We’re disappointed, but we’ve got four games to go and it’s still in our hands.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Lionel Messi back in training with PSG after ban for Saudi Arabia trip ‘It’s in our hands’: Erik Ten Hag not panicking over Man United’s top-four hopes Michael Flynn named new Swindon manager on two-year deal

Lukas Matsson, the founder of GoJo, who isn't even really a coder, was a late and unexpected arrival to the Roy family's quadrennial election eve tailgate party

The 76ers won Game 4 with an epic scoring performance by James Harden. But most of the postgame conversation was focused on shaky officiating.James Harden saved the 76ers again in Game 4, coming up with 42 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds and a game-winning 3-pointer from the corner with under 20 s...

The Cardinals have gotten off to their worst in 50 years. Changes must be made to right the course, but who will the team move?The Cardinals broke a frustrating eight-game losing streak Sunday that has fallen within the worst start the storied organization has had.With so much drama involvin...

MLB Power Rankings of all 30 teams based exclusively on run differential.One of the best indications of how well a team is playing is a look at their run differential. It’s not always the best predictor because teams with identical records could have vastly different run differentials. We ...

Ronald Acuña Jr. discussed what all went into his game-saving throw for the Atlanta Braves.The amount of bases Ronald Acuña Jr. takes away from the opposition never ceases to amaze us.Whether he is putting balls into seats, swiping bags, flashing the leather or showing off his ...

Follow live coverage as Fulham face Leicester in the Premier League today. Relegation-battling Leicester made two changes for the trip to Fulham. Dean Smith brought in Victor Kristiansen for Luke Thomas and Dennis Praet for Wilfred Ndidi as the Foxes looked to move three points clear of danger. Harrison Reed and Kenny Tete came back into Fulham's starting line-up as Cedric Soares and Sasa Lukic dropped to the bench. We will bring you all the action and updates from today's game in the live blog below: Read More Premier League top-four race: Remaining fixtures and how each club can qualify for the Champions League Six clubs, only three survive: Who can escape the great Premier League relegation fight?

Another missed call in a big moment.

There will be lots of alterations to the Green Bay Packers offense in 2023. A few of the team's players would like to make sure there's one less change.The times have certainly changed in “Titletown.” For the first time since 2004, quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not an employ...

The Green Bay Packers reportedly took less than they expected from the New York Jets in exchange for quarterback Aaron Rodgers.It's tough to blame Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst, as he was in between a rock and a hard place while trying to trade away a franchise-altering talent....