Premier League: Chelsea new boys show their quality August 18, 2014 BURNLEY 1 CHELSEA 3 CHELSEA boss Jose Mourinho is confident new recruits Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas will prove the missing pieces of his jigsaw as the title favourites lived up to their billing by cruising to victory over top-flight new boys Burnley at Turf Moor last night. Both debutants played a starring role with [...]
Premier League fine Palace over team info leak August 18, 2014 CRYSTAL PALACE’S turbulent start to the new season continued yesterday after the club were fined by the Premier League following the leaking of team information prior to the vital relegation battle with Cardiff City in April. Top-flight chiefs upheld a complaint from the Welsh club, who argued Palace officials were in possession of their line-up [...]
Prestige not finances important for Wenger August 18, 2014 CHAMPIONS League qualification may be worth around £35m per season to Arsenal, but boss Arsene Wenger insists a financial windfall will not be on his mind when the Gunners face Besiktas in tonight’s group stage play-off. Wenger says the result of the two-legged tie, which concludes in London next week, will not affect his plans [...]
Golf Comment: Heat is on as Ryder Cup deadline looms August 18, 2014 THE RYDER Cup is less than six weeks away and, more importantly for a handful of European players, there are just two more weeks of competition in which to secure guaranteed qualification. At least two of the nine automatic places, based on European and world points lists, are still up for grabs and there could [...]
Door still open on World Cup places, says England selector August 18, 2014 ENGLAND cricket chiefs insist the door remains wide open for players to stake a claim for a place in their World Cup plans after the squad for the one-day international series and T20 clash against India was announced yesterday. Nottinghamshire batsman Alex Hales, who averages 37.85 from 32 Twenty20 appearances but is yet to play [...]
Nadal pulls out of US Open after failing to shake off wrist injury August 18, 2014 REIGNING US Open champion Rafael Nadal has his sights firmly fixed on a successful return to the court after failing to recover from a hand injury and announcing his withdrawal from Flushing Meadows, which gets underway on Monday. The world No2 had hoped to defend his title despite missing the two hard-court warm-up tournaments in [...]
Just how bad were India against England? India’s worst test cricket defeats in numbers August 18, 2014 Just how bad were India yesterday? Thousands of disappointed cricket fans with tickets to the fourth day that never was have had to rapidly conjure an idea better than work to fill their day today, as the final test between England and India ended early thanks to one of the worst capitulations in Indian [...]
Cook revels in revival as England thrash Indians August 17, 2014 SKIPPER Alastair Cook issued a public message of thanks to his team-mates for their backing during some dark days after England annihilated India in the fifth Test at the Oval yesterday to wrap up a commanding 3-1 series victory. India slumped to 94 all out, the tourists’ second successive loss inside three days, as England [...]
Women beat Canada to lift the World Cup August 17, 2014 EUPHORIC captain Katy McLean paid tribute to past players who had narrowly missed out on lifting the trophy after England finally landed the Women’s Rugby World Cup with an efficient 21-9 win over Canada in Paris yesterday. England had lost three successive finals but were leading by five points inside the final 10 minutes as [...]