Trevor Steven: It’s time for Mohamed Salah and Liverpool to show they are winners March 12, 2019 For a few minutes of Liverpool’s Premier League win over Burnley on Sunday I kept my eyes trained solely on Mohamed Salah. In that brief spell he must have lost the ball four or five times. In the previous game at Everton, Salah wasted a couple of one-one-one chances against Jordan Pickford in which he [...]
How Raheem Sterling became Pep Guardiola’s go-to guy and Manchester City’s most prolific attacker March 11, 2019 Raheem Sterling is still just 24 years old, but the fact that he made his debut seven years ago and has won 47 caps for England means his relative youth is obscured. The Manchester City forward has been performing at the top level and with such consistency for so long that his influence has been [...]
Monica Seles: “I really don’t care about my legacy. I care about the present and being a good person.” March 11, 2019 “I really don’t reflect. I kind of stay in the moment,” says Monica Seles. It seems a remarkable sentiment for someone with such a glorious career to look back on, but then the past is a complicated place for the 45-year-old Tennis Hall of Famer. Even in sport’s vivid canon, few stories can touch that [...]
Sam Torrance: Sublime Francesco Molinari is at the top of his game and can win the Masters March 11, 2019 Spectacular finishes seem to be part of the fabric of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and this year it was Francesco Molinari’s turn to take the title at Bay Hill with a sublime performance. Just as Rory McIlroy had 12 months earlier, Open champion Molinari carded a magnificent final round of 64 on Sunday at this [...]
New kids on the grid: Lando Norris and George Russell set for Formula One debuts in Melbourne opener March 11, 2019 It was 12 years ago when a young, hungry driver bursting with talent took his first seat in Formula One. His name was Lewis Hamilton. This season, as he goes in search of a sixth World Championship, there are two new British drivers – inspired by Hamilton’s generation – ready to make their own mark [...]
Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United: Unai Emery out-thinks Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to deliver deserved victory March 10, 2019 Something had to give. Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Manchester United had won all nine of their away games; Arsenal were unbeaten in 14 Premier League matches at home and had won eight in a row at Emirates Stadium. In the event it was the Gunners’ streak which continued as Granit Xhaka’s swerving shot and Pierre-Emerick [...]
Strike partnerships: Is the Premier League entering a new era of famous front twos? March 10, 2019 Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke; Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright; Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton – aka the SAS. Some of the Premier League’s best teams have been propelled by brilliant strike partnerships. As those names indicate, however, the heyday of the front two came in the mid to late 1990s. Recent years have instead [...]
England’s heavy hitters keep Six Nations hope alive ahead of finale against Scotland March 10, 2019 The tactics England intended to use against Italy on Saturday were clear from the starting XV, as Eddie Jones selected the heaviest backline in the team’s history. Manu Tuilagi and Joe Cokanasiga used their brute strength as the hosts brushed off defeat by Wales in the last match and out-muscled Italy to claim a resounding [...]
Ollie Phillips: England will go route one and try a new tactic against Italy with Joe Cokanasiga and Ben Te’o back March 7, 2019 Italy head coach Conor O’Shea would have always been expecting a tough challenge at Twickenham on Saturday, but England’s line-up means they’re in for a torrid time. The Italians’ game is based on heart and physicality and I think that’s part of the reason why Eddie Jones has made five changes to his starting XV. [...]
Captain Marvel review: Brie Larson is a revelation in this middling Marvel romp March 7, 2019 It seems almost unbelievable that it’s taken Marvel 20 movies to feature a female lead, especially when Brie Larson makes it all look so effortless. Alongside a digitally de-aged Samuel L Jackson, she brings verve and charisma to what could easily have been a forgettable entry into the Marvel canon. It’s a strange film, showing [...]