Lutalo Muhammad interview: Team GB taekwondo star set on Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020 after his Rio 2016 heartbreak March 10, 2020 Few pieces of broadcast footage distil sport’s capacity for heartbreak better than the interview given by British athlete Lutalo Muhammad immediately after his desperately cruel defeat in the men’s taekwondo final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Grimacing, whimpering and seemingly unable to process what has just unfolded, Muhammad sobs: “I was a half-second away [...]
Liverpool’s season is at a pivotal point but return of Jordan Henderson can tip balance in their favour against Atletico Madrid March 10, 2020 I never thought I’d be writing this but Jordan Henderson has been a huge loss to Liverpool during his recent spell on the sidelines and it’s a major boost that he’s fit to face Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night. Henderson hasn’t just been missed for his play. He is the glue in this team, the [...]
RB Leipzig v Tottenham: Jose Mourinho is risking a repeat of palpable discord through his treatment of Spurs’ thin squad March 9, 2020 Statements from football clubs don’t tend to offer much more than the essential information they wish to convey, but on 17 December 2015 Chelsea’s technical director Michael Emenalo provided an exception to the rule. Chelsea, Emenalo said on the club website, were “in trouble” and “it was time to act”. Jose Mourinho, for the second [...]
Tyrrell Hatton should realise he is a world beater and give himself a break. Maybe his win at Bay Hill will do it March 9, 2020 Tyrrell Hatton first made a big impression on me when he won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, his maiden European Tour title, at St Andrews in 2016. Over the last six holes, under severe pressure, the 24-year-old Englishman was magnificent. I expected him to quickly to become a regular presence in the winner’s circle. He [...]
Coronavirus: Ireland’s Six Nations clash with France postponed March 9, 2020 Ireland’s upcoming Six Nations rugby game against France has been postponed, the French sports minister has confirmed. Roxana Marcineanu today said the final round clash, which was due to take place in Paris this weekend, has been pushed back indefinitely amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak. France has now recorded more than 1,000 confirmed cases [...]
Manchester United 2, Manchester City 0: Hungry Reds punish Ederson errors March 8, 2020 All but mathematically unable to catch Liverpool and with little prospect of being pipped by a stuttering Leicester, Premier League games must currently feel like curiously pointless tasks for Manchester City. Win, lose or draw, City are highly likely to come second in the table and are almost certain to finish in the top four, [...]
Chelsea 4-0 Everton: Giroud and Gilmour lead Lampard to dominant win on a perfect day for the hosts March 8, 2020 This season Stamford Bridge has been nothing like a fortress. West Ham, Bournemouth, Southampton and Manchester United have all taken three points on visits to SW6. Before this one-sided, free-flowing 4-0 hammering of a hapless Everton on Sunday Chelsea had scored just 18 of their 47 Premier League goals at home – the lowest percentage [...]
Among the Trees at the Hayward Gallery: The life of trees viewed through the lens of the anthropocene March 6, 2020 The first recorded use of the term “tree hugger” came in 1730, when a Hindu sect called the Bishnoi tried to stop the maharajah of Jodhpur from chopping down an ancient forest for materials to build his new palace. They died in their hundreds, clinging to branches as the army cut down first the Bishnois [...]
Aubrey Beardsley at Tate Britain review: Delight in these sinister, bawdy drawings that railed against Victorian prudishness March 6, 2020 “I am nothing if I am not grotesque,” Victorian illustrator Aubrey Beardsley once said when asked to explain his art. It’s a fitting summary for the new exhibition of his work at Tate Britain, which takes the viewer on a tour of life’s darker and more sinister corners. Wandering its 15 rooms, you are shunted [...]
I Think We Are Alone at Theatre Royal Stratford East review: Kathy Burke’s influence looms large on heartfelt black comedy March 6, 2020 “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” It’s a quotation from Scots poet Ian McLaren, now being misattributed to Plato on Instagram feeds everywhere. It’s also the message I Think We Are Alone, the black comedy being toured by physical theatre troupe Frantic Assembly to mark its 25th anniversary, wants to [...]