Sports
Manchester City close gap on Arsenal with win at Chelsea
Manchester City closed the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to five points with victory over injury-ravaged Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The reigning champions struggled in the first half before two of manager Pep Guardiola’s substitutes combined to break the deadlock after 63 minutes, Riyad Mahrez turning in Jack Grealish’s low cross at the far post.
Chelsea enjoyed the better of the first half despite adding both former City forward Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic to a lengthening injury list, substitute Carney Chukwuemeka hitting the post from the edge of the area.Graham Potter will justifiably point to Chelsea’s ill-luck with absentees but the bottom line is this defeat leaves them in the unaccustomed position of 10th, 10 points off the Champions League places.
City, meanwhile, will be happy to get three points despite being nowhere near their best and on a rare night when scoring machine Erling Haaland failed to hit the target. City were nowhere near their best but the celebrations at the final whistle were a sign that this was the sort of fighting win that is the trademark of champions.Guardiola’s side struggled in the first half with three in central defence but the manager reverted to four in the second half in what was an ominous show of strength from his substitutes’ bench.And it worked to settle this tight encounter as Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga failed to cut out Grealish’s cross and Mahrez got in ahead of Marc Cucurella to make the decisive contribution.
John Stones was singled out for special acclaim by City’s travelling fans at the final whistle and rightly so after another outstanding performance, the highlight coming with a superbly-timed tackle on Pulisic in the six-yard box with the game in the balance.City will have better days and nights than this but the main objective here against a tough opponent was a win that would make up for the disappointing home draw against Everton, and this was very much mission accomplished.
Chelsea’s fans applauded their players off at the final whistle despite this damaging defeat, putting aside their disappointment as they understood the current situation facing manager Potter. This is a club in transition under new owner Todd Boehly, with the Chelsea hierarchy operating a somewhat scattergun transfer policy, and a newly-arrived manager in Potter attempting to put his stamp on this team.
Chelsea currently look way off being contenders for a place in the Champions League, surely a minimum requirement given their outlay and ambition on a day when they confirmed another arrival in £35m defender Benoit Badiashile from Monaco.They never lacked heart or effort but were struggling from the moments they lost Sterling and Pulisic to injury, eating further into Potter’s squad.
Potter’s plight was illustrated when he sent on 19-year-old Chukwuemeka for Pulisic and he was joined by young trio Conor Gallagher, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson as they tried to rescue the game after City took the lead.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the early substitute for Sterling but suffered the ignominy of being substituted late on. He could have no complaints after a poor performance in which he looked a thoroughly spent force.This was more disappointment for Chelsea, who now face an uphill struggle to get anywhere near the clubs they would regard as their traditional Premier League rivals.
(BBC Sports)
When my good friend Nimal Welgama requested me to pen a few lines about Sir Gary Sobers as I had the privilege of playing for Sri Lanka against the mighty West Indies as they were known then, I was wondering whether I can do justice to this awesome cricketing all rounder.
In this particular game Sir Gary fell short of scoring his usual hundred. Sir Gary had a flair for unique stylishness which no other cricketer matched and it came naturally to him. He wore his shirt open all the way down to the navel perhaps to keep himself cool from the hot weather one encounters when playing cricket.He walked into bat leaning forward slightly with a gait that that had confidence written all over it.I had the good fortune of viewing on a video clip of an innings of 230 plus he made in a Match against Australia against a formidable attack headed by fearsome Dennis Lillee where he tore the the bowling to shreds.This innings was described by probably the greatest batters of all time Sir Donald Bradman as the best innings he has witnessed live.A tribute difficult to ignore. I wish to conclude by saying that Sir Garfield Sobers was an all rounder of exceptional ability which void will be hard to fill.
by Anura Tennekoon ✍️
Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute to lift Spain to their second World Cup title with a 1-0 win im extra time over 10-man Argentina in the final.
Torres’s deserved winner on Sunday came 16 years and eight days after Andres Iniesta also scored in extra time to lift the Spaniards to their first World Championship with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands.
It came on La Roja’s 20th shot in the contest against defending champions Argentina that failed to manage any to that point and struggled to wrest possession away from their superior Iberian opponents.
That was true at even strength and became more difficult when La Albiceleste’s numbers were reduced when Enzo Fernandez’s late challenge on Pau Cubarsi left referee Slavko Vincic no choice but to produce a second caution just before the end of normal time.
Spain remain the only nation ever to win a European Championship and World Cup in successive tournaments, having now done so a second time. They are also the first World Cup champions ever to concede only once across an entire tournament.
Lionel Messi’s Argentina failed to earn a title for the first time in three major tournaments, having also captured the 2021 and 2024 Copa Americas either side of their 2022 World Cup triumph.
The 39-year-old eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi finished the competition with eight goals and four assists, but had little time on the ball in the final until Spain finally took the lead. And he never seriously looked like he would lift his side to another great moment as he has so many times in the last two World Cup cycles.
Emi Martinez made 11 saves for La Albiceleste, who fell short in their bid to be the first consecutive World Cup champions since Brazil won the 1958 and 1962 titles.
What had felt so difficult for the first 105 minutes suddenly looked easy after 37 seconds of play in the second period of extra time.
Pedro Porro curled in an out-swinging cross from the left to the back post, Nico Williams won the header and nodded it back into space, and Torres hammered a half-volley at last past the flailing Martinez.
It was his only goal of the tournament, making him the seventh player to score during a tournament in which his side never trailed.
Asked about his goal, Torres said after the game: “Honestly, I didn’t think too much. I just saw the ball coming to me, and I just shot with the power of all the Spanish people.”
The win made Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, at 65, the oldest coach ever to lead a team to the World Cup title
“We are world champions,” de la Fuente said. “It was together we reached this stage.”
There was some pushing and shoving after the final whistle, which was quickly cleaned up, and Spain commenced their celebration as most Argentina players sat on the turf in disbelief.
Cooler heads prevailed, and Spain’s players lined up minutes later to form an honour guard of sorts for Argentina’s squad to walk through on their way to the stage for the runner-up medals.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni admitted that Spain were the better team.
“They were the better side – that’s the truth – but I’ll cherish the memory of them [his side], of what they achieved, and of the value of making it this far,” Scaloni said.
“We have to place immense value on this, because it takes so much effort.”
(Aljazeera)
HONOUR MCA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2026
Sampath Bank powered by a 53 ball 79 by Adithya Siriwardena and excellent bowling performance led by Chamath Dilsara, Dulaj Ashen and Hansaja Bandara registered their third win in the MCA Champions league cricket tournament sponsored by HONOUR mobile phones by crushing MAS Intimates by 131 runs at the Colts Cricket Club Ground on Saturday.
Batting first Sampath Bank powered by Adithya’a 79 and notable scores from Chamara Dilsara [34], HansajaBandara [42] and 20 plus scores from Gajitha Kotuwegoda ,Abhishek Anandakumara and Dumindu Sewmina posted 284/8 in their allocation of 50 overs after which the bowlers led by Chamath Dilsara restricted MAS Intimates to 153.
Scores:
Sampath Bank
284/8 in 50 overs (Hansaja Bandara 41, Adithya Siriwardena 79; Ruvin Senevirathne 2-41)
MAS Intimates
153/10 in 36.1 overs (Maheesha Sithum 39; Dulaj Ashen 2-13, Chamath Dilsara 3-21, Hansaja Bandara 2-15)
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