Pretenders Liverpool miss chance to put pressure on champions Manchester City October 7, 2018 On an afternoon of few chances at Anfield, Riyad Mahrez was guilty of the most conspicuous miss, blazing a late penalty high into the stands when a winning goal and all three points beckoned for Manchester City. But in a few months’ time, when the battle for Premier League supremacy between two of the three [...]
Manchester United v Newcastle: Old foes Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez have chance to twist the knife October 4, 2018 Perhaps, after the final whistle has blown at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez will gather in the Manchester United manager’s office and share a bottle of vintage claret, as Sir Alex Ferguson was fond of doing, and reminisce about the good old days. Or perhaps not, given their long-running and [...]
Ryder Cup: Europe thwart American comeback as Francesco Molinari and Sergio Garcia make history September 30, 2018 The talk had been of the United States needing their own Miracle of Medinah to retain the Ryder Cup. In the end it was more a case of Frazzled in France, Vanquished in Versailles, Pulverised in Paris. For a spell on Sunday the holders threatened to mount a comeback to rival Europe’s heroics of 2012, [...]
The Ryder Cup rookie factor: Does it matter how many debutants are on your team? September 27, 2018 If the number of rookies in his team has caused Thomas Bjorn any sleepless nights in the lead-up to Friday's first day of the Ryder Cup then Europe’s captain did his best to hide it earlier this week. The hosts will have five debutants in their ranks at Le Golf National – Tommy Fleetwood, [...]
How the Ryder Cup became one of sport’s biggest events – and why it might be about to become even bigger September 26, 2018 The Ryder Cup has come an awful long way since British garden seed entrepreneur and golf enthusiast Samuel Ryder spawned the competition as we now know it during the mid-1920s. More than 50,000 spectators per day are expected to pay an average of £115 to attend the contest at Le Golf National, near Paris, [...]
Arsenal make it five wins in a row with victory over Everton, but Unai Emery’s Gunners remain an enigma September 23, 2018 Unai Emery isn’t the easiest Premier League manager to understand and his Arsenal team are also likely to prompt outbreaks of head-scratching. To give the Spaniard his due, Emery’s English is vastly improved since his arrival in May and he now seems able to express himself with clarity and fluency. His team, on the [...]
Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend: Chelsea stumble, Palace home woes, Klopp in denial, Spurs scrape win, Burnley off the mark September 23, 2018 1. Chelsea stumble at last Chelsea’s perfect start to life under Maurizio Sarri was always going to be tested once they started their Europa League campaign and so it proved on Sunday at West Ham. Less than 72 hours after their win over PAOK in Greece, the Blues – featuring six of the same [...]
Manchester City’s loss to Lyon exposed some nagging problems and should be a wake-up call September 20, 2018 The 2018-19 season has long been earmarked as Manchester City’s big push for the Champions League. Pep Guardiola has had two years and three summer transfer windows to mould a squad capable of toppling the continent’s heavyweights and the manner of last term’s runaway Premier League triumph pointed to a team ready to challenge on [...]
Manchester City’s loss to Lyon exposed some nagging problems and should be a wake-up call September 20, 2018 The 2018-19 season has long been earmarked as Manchester City’s big push for the Champions League. Pep Guardiola has had two years and three summer transfer windows to mould a squad capable of toppling the continent’s heavyweights and the manner of last term’s runaway Premier League triumph pointed to a team ready to challenge on [...]
Tiger Woods v Phil Mickelson: Is the $9m match good for golf or a tacky sideshow? September 16, 2018 Over the next few weeks the attention of golf fans will be increasingly drawn to a genteel corner of France nestled by the Palace of Versailles, where Europe and the United States will resume hostilities in the finest traditions of the Ryder Cup. Once that’s over, however, an altogether gaudier spectacle will be competing for [...]