PREMIER LEAGUE
Haaland declared fit
Erling Haaland has been declared fit for Manchester City’s game against AFC Bournemouth today. The Norway striker was hurt when colliding with the goalpost late on in City’s 1-0 loss to Aston Villa last week and was not in the squad for the midweek game against Swansea City AFC. However, City manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that Haaland was ready to play against Bournemouth at the Etihad. Influential midfielder Rodri is also in contention to play following a hamstring injury. “I think he’ll be ready to help, I don’t know if from the beginning, but hopefully he can be with us,” Guardiola said about Rodri. “He’s been out a few times and we know how important he is for us.”
Photo: AFP
PREMIER LEAGUE
Holiday to have 1 game
The league on Friday said in a statement that this season would have just one match on Dec. 26, the Boxing Day holiday in the UK, breaking from the tradition of a full slate of festive fixtures that fans have long enjoyed. Manchester United are to host Newcastle United in the lone game, for the fewest top-flight fixtures in 43 years on Boxing Day, which falls on a Friday this year. The league cited mounting scheduling pressures linked to the expansion of European club competitions as the key reason for the change. “There are now several challenges to Premier League fixture scheduling rooted in the expansion of European club competitions — which led to a revision of our domestic calendar ahead of last season, including changes to the FA Cup,” it said. “With fewer weekends available, fixture planning has become increasingly constrained,” it added.
BUNDESLIGA
Dortmund beat Augsburg
Borussia Dortmund on Friday battled past strugglers Augsburg 1-0 courtesy of forward Serhou Guirassy’s first-half strike, to climb back into second place in the German top-flight league. It was Dortmund’s fourth win in a row across all competitions, lifting them to second place in the league, four points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who were to play later in the weekend. Augsburg, who have now lost six of their nine league games this season, are anchored in 15th place on seven points.
A-LEAGUE
Pearson sets youth record
Sydney defender Willa Pearson yesterday became the youngest player to appear in an A-League women’s or men’s match after making her debut in Sydney’s 2-2 draw with Melbourne City at Leichhardt Oval. At 14 years, 312 days, Pearson eclipsed the previous record set by the Western Sydney Wanderers’ Ischia Brooking, who debuted aged 14 years, 347 days in 2023, and also moved ahead of Matildas captain Sam Kerr, who debuted at the age of 15 in 2008. Kerr held the record for nearly 15 years after making her A-League Women debut for the Perth Glory aged 15 years, 45 days, until Talia Younis broke it in 2023 when she debuted for the Wanderers aged 14 years, 361 days. Pearson, born on Dec. 24, 2010, joined five-time champions Sydney earlier this year. Underscoring the generational span of the competition, her debut came opposite Melissa Barbieri, the league’s oldest player. “I’m knackered [tired] at the moment, but thank you to everybody who believed in me, who gave me the opportunity and I’m so thankful we got a point,” Pearson said.
Home runs are greeted with a celebratory shot of espresso and the donning of an Armani jacket. Victories are marked with bottles of red wine while the soaring voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli echoes through the locker room. Welcome to baseball, Italian-style. Written off as 80-1 underdogs before the World Baseball Classic started, Italy’s fairytale tournament has carried them all the way to today’s (Taipei time) semi-finals in Miami against Venezuela. On Saturday, Italy — who scored a stunning upset of a star-studded US lineup during the pool phase — kept their unbeaten campaign alive with a nail-biting 8-6
Jannik Sinner on Sunday beat Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells final 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4), winning seven straight points to rally from a 4-0 deficit in the second-set tiebreak and claim the title without dropping a single set. The No. 2-ranked Italian beat Medvedev for the ninth time in their last 10 matches to claim his first title at the California desert tournament. Medvedev handed top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz his first loss of the year in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open. Sinner congratulated fellow Italian Kimi Antonelli, who won Formula One’s Chinese Grand Prix earlier on Sunday. “It
Luka Doncic on Monday scored 36 points as the in-form Los Angeles Lakers powered to their sixth straight victory with a 100-92 defeat of the Houston Rockets. A crucial showdown between the third and fourth-ranked NBA Western Conference teams ended with the Lakers pulling away in the final minute of the fourth quarter to claim an impressive win on the road. The victory gives the Lakers (43-25) a valuable cushion over the Rockets (41-26) as they jostle for post-season positions in the West. Doncic was once again instrumental in dragging the Lakers over the line while a hard-nosed defensive effort
THRILLING GAME: The loaded US roster featuring Paul Skenes, Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge reached their third straight WBC final game, after 2017 and 2023 Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony on Sunday homered, and the US limited the Dominican Republic’s electric offense to win a thrilling semi-final 2-1 and move one win from capturing their second World Baseball Classic (WBC) championship. The loaded US roster led by NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and featuring stars Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge reached their third straight WBC title game after winning in 2017 and falling to Shohei Ohtani and Japan in 2023. The US are to face the winner of this morning’s (Taiwan time) semi-final between Italy and Venezuela a day later. The Dominicans reached
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