LONDON: Brendan Rodgers saluted "world class" Jamie Vardy after he sealed Leicester's late 1-0 win as spluttering Arsenal crashed to a third defeat in their last four Premier League games on Sunday.
Vardy was only fit enough for the bench after a calf injury, but Rodgers sent the striker on with 30 minutes left. Vardy responded with his sixth goal of the season.
The 33-year-old has made a habit of tormenting Arsenal and has now scored 11 goals in 12 Premier League games against them.
"Our plan was always to bring Jamie Vardy into the game and he can stretch it. That is why he is a big player," Rodgers said after Leicester's first win at Arsenal since 1973.
"He makes the big contributions in the big games. That shows you the level he is at and he is a world class player. I'm lucky to have him."
Leicester climbed to fourth after ending a run of two successive league defeats.
"We deserved it, we played against a really good side and have players who can run in behind," Rodgers said.
"To keep a clean sheet and play with the quality and calmness was good."
Arsenal are languishing in 10th after a second consecutive league loss following their 1-0 defeat at Manchester City last weekend.
As well as the disallowed goal, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was disappointed by his team's lack of cutting edge.
"I'm really disappointed, we had it in our hands in the first half and I don't know how the hell Lacazette's goal was disallowed," Arteta said.
"They caught us with space at the back and in that moment we lost the game.
"It is difficult to create spaces with 10 men behind the ball, but we should have finished the game better. When it comes to those moments you can't give away chances at the back.
"We still had some moments after the goal but gave away too many free kicks. It's not an easy thing to do but we have to improve."
The principle problem is a sudden dip in form for captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabon forward is without a goal in his last five league games -- his worst drought since 2014, although he did net against Rapid Vienna in the Europa League on Thursday.
Aubameyang has scored just once in the league this season, hardly the kind of form Arteta would have hoped for after handing the striker a lucrative new contract in September.
Arsenal's ability to challenge for a top four place rests on Aubameyang leading the charge. So far this term he has been a flop.
Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno was at fault for the goal his side conceded in Vienna and the German nearly gifted Leicester the lead inside the first two minutes.
Leno came dashing way off his line but his attempted clearance went straight to James Maddison. The midfielder's 40-yard effort floated just wide.
Alexandre Lacazette headed in from an Arsenal corner moments later, but the goal was disallowed for offside against Granit Xhaka.
Arsenal were on top and Bukayo Saka's strike forced a good save from Kasper Schmeichel before Aubameyang headed over from Kieran Tierney's cross.
Lacazette should have done better with a good chance from another Tierney cross before Saka shot into the side-netting.
Arsenal suffered a blow when David Luiz limped off early in the second half.
Arteta sent on Nicolas Pepe midway through the half in a bid to perk Arsenal up.
Bellerin brought a good save from Schmeichel when he met Aubameyang's cross with a powerful volley.
But Arsenal were hit with a sucker punch in the 80th minute.
Youri Tielemans' ball over the top for Cengiz Under was perfectly weighted and the Turk squared across goal for Vardy to head into the empty net.
'World class' Vardy rocks Arsenal as Leicester go fourth
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'World class' Vardy rocks Arsenal as Leicester go fourth
- Vardy was only fit enough for the bench after a calf injury, but Rodgers sent the striker on with 30 minutes left
Jake Paul beats 58-year-old Mike Tyson as hits failed to match the hype
- Downdetector reported that the outage primarily impacted users in major metropolitan areas, including New York, Seattle and Los Angeles
ARLINGTON, Texas: Jake Paul won a unanimous decision over Mike Tyson as the hits didn’t match the hype in a fight between a young YouTuber-turned-boxer and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Friday night.
All the hate from the pre-fight buildup was gone, with Paul even stopping to pay homage with a bow to Tyson before the final bell sounded at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
The fight wasn’t close on the judge’s cards, with one giving Paul an 80-72 edge and the other two calling it 79-73.
Tyson came after Paul immediately after the opening bell and landed a couple of quick punches but didn’t try much else the rest of the way.
Even fewer rounds and shorter rounds couldn’t do much to generate action for a 58-year-old in his first sanctioned pro fight in almost 20 years, facing a boxing neophyte with hopes of fighting for championships somewhere in the future.
Paul was more aggressive after the quickly burst from Tyson in the opening seconds, but the punching wasn’t very efficient. There were quite a few wild swings and misses.
Tyson mostly sat back and waited for Paul to come to him, with a few exceptions. It was quite the contract the co-main event, another slugfest in which Katie Taylor kept her undisputed super lightweight championship with a decision over Amanda Serrano.
It was the first sanctioned fight since 2005 for Tyson. Paul started fighting a little more than four years ago.
The fight was originally scheduled for July 20 but had to be postponed when Tyson was treated for a stomach ulcer after falling ill on a flight.
Kosovo players walk off in Romania game after ‘Serbia’ chants
Bucharest: A Nations League game between Romania and Kosovo in Bucharest was suspended on Friday in injury time after fans in the crowd shouted “Serbia!.”
The Kosovo players left the pitch after the chants, leading to the game to be paused with the score 0-0.
Animosity between Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s.
Kosovo and Serbia do not play each other in UEFA and FIFA tournaments.
Football’s world governing body opened disciplinary proceedings against Serbia during the 2022 World Cup after the team hung a flag in their changing room depicting Kosovo as part of Serbia.
Kosovo joined FIFA and European confederation UEFA in 2016.
When Romania played in Pristina, they beat Kosovo 3-0.
Ronaldo shines as Portugal rout Poland to reach Nations League last-eight
PORTO, Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Portugal staged a second-half supershow to crush Poland 5-1 and reach the Nations League quarter-finals on Friday.
Portugal join France, Germany, Italy and Spain in the last-eight while Poland’s hopes of going through from Group A1 were ended.
Having struggled to plant a shot on target in the first half, Portugal stepped on the accelerator after the break.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock in Porto just before the hour mark after starting and finishing the move.
The AC Milan striker raced away and passed to Nuno Mendes whose cross from the left was headed powerfully past Marcin Bulka in the Portugal goal.
Thirteen minutes later, skipper Ronaldo got his name on the scoresheet, converting a penalty after Jakub Kiwior was penalized for a handball in the area.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes made it 3-0 in the 80th minute, scoring after a clever run by Vitinha.
Pedro Neto added the fourth three minutes later after Ronaldo’s fine pass which left the Polish defense stranded.
As Polish spirits sank, Ronaldo added his second and Portugal’s fifth in the 87th minute with a spectacular overhead kick before Dominik Marczuk tucked away a consolation goal for the visitors.
Poland had enjoyed the better chances before falling behind but their potency in front of goal was blunted by the absence of record goal-scorer Robert Lewandowski who was sidelined with a back injury.
Moments before Leao’s goal, Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa pulled off a fine save to deny Marczuk having also been alert to deny Nicola Zalewski in the first half.
Portugal’s best chance in the first 45 minutes had fallen to Ronaldo who fired a close-range effort over the bar from close range.
Japanese football player Kazuyoshi Miura says he will play next season at age 58
- Miura will turn 58 in February
- He intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka
TOKYO: Japanese football player Kazuyoshi Miura is several generations older than his teammates. His contemporaries retired decades ago. Lionel Messi is 37, and Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 — mere youngsters compared to Miura.
Miura will turn 58 in February, and the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported this week that he intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka. It will be his 40th season playing in professional football.
Miura is widely listed as the oldest active professional football player.
Miura scored 55 goals in 89 appearances and was a star with Japan’s national team in the 1990s.
He has played professionally in Brazil, Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal. He made his debut in 1986 with Brazilian club Santos, a side made famous by Brazilian star Pele.
Japan beat Indonesia 4-0 to extend group lead in Asian World Cup qualifying
- Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round.
- Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have 6 points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with 3
JAKARTA: Japan defeated Indonesia 4-0 on Friday to move seven points clear at the top of Group C in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Two goals in each half mean the Samurai Blue stays on course for an eighth successive World Cup appearance.
After a bright start from the home team, the 78,000 fans at a sold-out Gelora Bung Karno Stadium were silenced after 35 minutes as Daichi Kamada broke down the left and sent a cross which defender Justin Hubner put into his own net from close range.
Takumi Minamino then scored from inside the area off Kaoru Mitoma’s pass to extend the lead five minutes before the break.
Hidemasa Motira took advantage of an errant pass from Indonesia’s goalkeeper to make it 3-0 early in the second half and Yukinari Sugawara rounded out the scoring in the 69th minute.
Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round. Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have six points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with three.
The top two from each of the three groups will be guaranteed a place at the World Cup, with the third- and fourth-place teams progressing to the next stage.
