Sport

Tottenham v Liverpool: Premier League – live
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

Premier League updates from the 4.30pm GMT kick-off Get in touch! You can email Rob with your thoughts hereEverton 0-0 ChelseaFulham 0-0 SouthamptonLeicester 0-3 WolvesManchester United 0-3 BournemouthThis is the updated league table. Continue reading...

Semenyo seals stunning Bournemouth win to add to Manchester United misery
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

After mid-morning wind and rain that might have caused Noah a problem, the skies cleared and Bournemouth took apart a Manchester United as amateurish as any of the iterations of the past decade or so.Ruben Amorim’s men could not defend, retain the ball, or finish. So in these three fundamentals they failed, to leave their head coach appearing hapless and isolated. Continue reading...

Usyk stakes claim as best man in boxing after making Fury eat his words | Donald McRae
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

Boxing is full of unsavoury people but it also produces extraordinary men. The Ukrainian champion is one of themAs Oleksandr Usyk walked towards us just after three in the morning, resplendent in his purple tracksuit while carrying Eeyore under his arm, his promoter let slip a gentle cry: “Here he comes, the best man in boxing …”Alex Krassyuk is not a traditional boxing promoter, being a much more understated man than most of his contemporaries in this riotous old business. But his pride was understandable in the immediate aftermath of Usyk’s decisive second successive defeat of Tyson Fury. Continue reading...

Nicolas Jackson denied as Chelsea held to goalless draw against Everton
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

The Friedkin Group’s era at Everton started as Farhad Moshiri’s tenure ended, with a goalless draw against a London club with designs on the top of the Premier League, and a strengthening of Sean Dyche’s case for the stabilisation job that the new owners require. Chelsea missed the chance to go top of the Premier League as their eight-match winning run in all competitions came to a halt at Goodison Park.Enzo Maresca’s insistence that Chelsea lack the experience and pedigree for a sustained title challenge was given credence as his players toiled against a resolute Everton defence. Dyche’s side had the clearer opportunities and, despite failing to take any, departed the more satisfied team at the end of a momentous few days for the club. Continue reading...

Vítor Pereira’s Wolves reign gets off to flying start against brittle Leicester
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

It took less than 45 minutes of his Wolves tenure for the supporters to sing Vítor Pereira’s name as he witnessed his new side thrash Leicester. The Portuguese will, however, want to take note of his opposite number, Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has gone from triumph in his first game in charge to being booed off in fewer than three weeks.The atmosphere at Wolves has been dark in recent weeks. Mario Lemina lost the captaincy after an altercation with West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, Matheus Cunha was charged by the Football Association for taking out his anger last weekend on spectacles belonging to a member of Ipswich staff and Gary O’Neil paid for only securing nine points from 16 games with his job but that was forgotten at the King Power Stadium. Continue reading...

Ivan Juric watches on as solid Southampton claim point at Fulham
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

It turns out it wasn’t so hard after all. Southampton stopped giving the ball away in their own half, adopted an approach rooted in expediency and kept their second clean sheet of the campaign. Salvation remains a long way distant but a point, only the second they have taken away from home, means there is at least something to build on in the post-Russell Martin era.Southampton’s new coach Ivan Juric, who signed an 18-month contract on Friday, was in the stand at Craven Cottage, peering through the bitter rain driving down the Thames as Simon Rusk conducted affairs from the dugout. What he oversaw was 90 minutes of very little, which from a Southampton point of view must have come as a welcome change. Even the arrival, for his league debut, of the Fulham winger Martial Godo, for which everybody has been waiting, failed to bring anything approaching resolution. Continue reading...

Joe Root returns to England’s ODI squad but Ben Stokes not selected
Posted on Sunday December 22, 2024

In-form Root to play ODIs for first time since late 2023Stokes not considered after hamstring injuryJoe Root has been recalled to the England ODI side for the first time since the Jos Buttler-captained team put up an underwhelming ODI World Cup defence in November 2023.England’s white-ball squads will depart for the sub-continent on 17 January under the new coach and captain combination of Brendon McCullum and Buttler. The tour includes three ODIs and five IT20s against the white-ball juggernaut of India followed by the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 hosted by Pakistan in February and March. Continue reading...

Luke Littler nears darting perfection in spectacular opening win at PDC worlds
Posted on Saturday December 21, 2024

Teenager into third round after 3-1 win over Ryan MeikleLittler just misses nine-dart finish in fourth setA tearful Luke Littler came within millimetres of opening his quest for a maiden World Championship crown with a nine-dart finish as he beat Ryan Meikle in record-breaking fashion.The teenage sensation was back on the Alexandra Palace stage 12 months on from his remarkable debut run to the final and showed everyone why he is the favourite to win the title. Continue reading...