Trevor Steven: My manager and players of the year from a vintage Premier League season May 13, 2019 Manchester City are champions again but they will never win a tougher Premier League title than this year’s. They and Liverpool have played at such a high level for the duration of the top-flight campaign that I can’t imagine we’ll see anything like it again for a long while. That is reflected in my choices [...]
Tottenham 2-2 Everton: Mauricio Pochettino aiming to make history after securing fourth place in the Premier League May 12, 2019 These are heady days for Mauricio Pochettino. After a dismal run of seven defeats in 11 Premier League games threatened to derail all Tottenham’s good work in the first half of the season, one game in midweek changed everything. Lucas Moura’s hat-trick in Amsterdam on Wednesday turned the normally reserved Argentinian into an overwhelmed, passionate [...]
In the world’s strongest league, Manchester City prove they are the best of the best May 12, 2019 The midweek may have belonged to Liverpool and Tottenham, but the season is Manchester City’s. Pep Guardiola’s team on Sunday issued a timely reminder to the Premier League that they remain the best in the land, becoming the first to retain the trophy since 2009 with a 4-1 final-day win at Brighton. And at the close [...]
McIlroy tops list of the UK’s top 20 richest young sports stars May 11, 2019 Golfer Rory McIlroy is the UK’s richest young sports star, it was revealed today as the Northern Irishman topped a list otherwise dominated by footballers. McIlroy’s wealth hit £138m in 2019, the Sunday Times Rich List revealed, putting him ahead of second-placed Gareth Bale on £94m. Read more: Sam Torrance: McIlroy is at ease and [...]
A German Life at Bridge Theatre review: Maggie Smith shines in this examination of Nazi fervour May 10, 2019 “Everything that is beautiful is also tainted, and whatever’s horrible also has its bright side. Nothing is black and white.” These words, at first glance a truism, become morbidly fascinating when spoken by Brunhilde Pomsel, the wizened former stenographer to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and subject of the award-winning documentary A German Life. Maggie [...]
Three Sisters at the Almeida: This most Chekhovian of Chekhov’s plays flatters to deceive May 10, 2019 After last year’s superlative Summer and Smoke, the pairing of director Rebecca Frecknall and young star Patsy Ferran is an irresistible proposition. This time they combine to drag Chekhov’s fin de siècle play Three Sisters into an unspecified time and space somewhere between pre-revolution Russia and present-day King’s Road. But despite another fitful, engaging performance [...]
Full English: Chelsea’s penalty shoot-out win and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hat-trick ensure European final clean sweep May 9, 2019 Rumours of English football’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. It may have taken a nervy penalty shoot-out at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea edged past Eintracht Frankfurt tonight after a 1-1 draw to ensure an all-London Europa League final against Arsenal in Baku on 29 May. Never before have both major European finals been populated by [...]
One more miracle? Manchester City and Liverpool’s Premier League title race approaches its last hurdle May 9, 2019 Before the dramatic events of this week unfolded, most observers, whether impartial or otherwise, would have agreed that the Premier League title race was likely a foregone conclusion. But we now live in a post-Vincent Kompany 30-yard screamer, post-Champions League semi-final comeback mayhem world which has made a mockery of such assumptions. Anything is possible [...]
Ollie Phillips: Johnny Sexton’s battle with Owen Farrell will decide heavyweight Champions Cup final May 9, 2019 The Champions Cup final is all set to be a momentous clash, with Europe’s two outstanding sides going head to head in an almost impossible-to-call showdown ob Saturday. It’s a most fitting decider. Defending champions Leinster are going for an unprecedented fifth title, while Saracens are aiming for a third in four years. Read more: [...]
Maro means business: Itoje on Saracens’ European Cup final, England captaincy, his new clothing range and his NBA role models May 9, 2019 There will only be one thing on Maro Itoje’s mind when Saracens take on Leinster this Saturday: claiming a third Champions Cup title and regaining the club’s status as the best in Europe. It is an encounter that will see the England forward line up opposite James Ryan in what is sure to be a [...]