LONDON: Manchester City slumped to a scarcely credible eighth defeat in 11 games on Sunday — this time against Manchester United — leaving Pep Guardiola flummoxed but handing Ruben Amorim a huge boost.
With the spotlight off them, Chelsea moved just two points behind long-time Premier League leaders Liverpool, with a 2-1 win against Brentford.
Wolves sacked Gary O’Neil after a fourth straight defeat while Southampton axed Russell Martin following a 5-0 hammering by Tottenham.
AFP Sport looks at three talking points from the Premier League weekend.
It is difficult to argue that City are now experiencing a full-blown crisis.
Guardiola signed a new two-year contract last month at a point when City had lost four in a row, saying he did not feel he could leave the club at a difficult time.
Now he is facing questions as to how — and when — he can stop the rot after a painful 2-1 defeat to United, who had won just one of their first four league games under Amorim.
Guardiola provided a harsh self-assessment after the defeat, which came courtesy of a Bruno Fernandes penalty in the 88th minute and an Amad Diallo winner two minutes later.
“I’m the manager and I’m not good enough, simple as that,” he said.
Midfielder Bernardo Silva was even harsher, comparing City’s collapse in the final minutes to an under-15s team.
City have matches coming up that look winnable on paper — against Aston Villa, Everton and Leicester — but with every defeat the scale of Guardiola’s task looks more daunting.
Earlier this month Liverpool had a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League — now it is down to just two.
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea have won their past five games to close the gap on the Reds, who still have a match in hand.
Liverpool showed impressive strength of character to twice come from behind for a 2-2 draw against Fulham on Saturday despite playing the bulk of the game with 10 men.
But their momentum has slowed, with the Fulham result following a 3-3 draw last week against Newcastle.
Free-scoring Chelsea have taken full advantage, climbing above London rivals Arsenal, runners-up in the past two campaigns, to stake their claim as Liverpool’s main challengers.
The Blues finished last season strongly under former manager Mauricio Pochettino but few expected Maresca to master his brief so quickly.
The Chelsea boss is eager to say they are not in the title race but the table suggests otherwise.
Gary O’Neil and Russell Martin paid the price for their clubs’ Premier League struggles.
Martin’s sacking was announced shortly after a sobering defeat to Spurs, who scored all five goals at St. Mary’s in the first half on Sunday.
Wolves suffered a damaging 2-1 loss to relegation rivals Ipswich at Molineux on Saturday, after which O’Neil said he was struggling to help his team cope with the “real basic stuff.”
Wolves, second from bottom of the table, are five points from safety.
But their plight is not as perilous as that of Southampton, who are staring at an immediate return to the Championship.
Martin departs having taken just five points from 16 games, leaving Southampton nine points adrift of safety.
Three talking points from the Premier League
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Three talking points from the Premier League
- Wolves sacked Gary O’Neil after a fourth straight defeat
Lebanese sensation Hady Habib’s historic journey comes to an end at Australian Open
- The 26-year-old Houston-born player lost to Frenchman Ugo Humbert in three straight sets (3-6, 4-6, 4-6)
- A large crowd from the Lebanese community in Australia were present to cheer on Habib
BEIRUT: The journey of Lebanon’s tennis sensation Hady Habib, who on Sunday became the first Lebanese to ever win a Grand Slam match, ended at the Australian Open after he lost to France’s Ugo Humbert on Wednesday.
In front of a large Lebanese audience in Melbourne that enthusiastically supported Habib, the 26-year-old Houston-born player ended what has been portrayed as a historic journey in the Australian Open tournament after losing three straight sets (3-6, 4-6, 4-6) in the second round.
On Sunday, Habib, who is 216th in the ATP singles ranking, made history after defeating in the first round 22-year-old Chinese player Bu Yunchaokete, ranked 65th in the world, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (6) to reach the second round, becoming the first Lebanese to win a Grand Slam main draw singles match in the Open Era.
A large crowd from the Lebanese community in Australia were present to cheer on Habib as he challenged an elite player, Humbert, ranked 14th in the world. The clear and obvious difference in experience eventually leaned in favor of the Frenchman.
Habib became the first Lebanese to qualify for one of the four major tennis tournaments, after achieving three consecutive victories in the preliminary rounds by defeating American Patrick Kipson (6-4, 7-6), Taiwan’s Chun-Hsin Tseng (6-4, 7-6) and Frenchman Clement Chedekh (6-4, 3-6, 7-6).
Habib represented Lebanon in the Olympic Games, and lost at Roland Garros to Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz in the first round. He also lost the doubles match with Benjamin Hassan to the Australian duo Matthew Ebden and John Peers.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” he told Arab News earlier this week after his first-round triumph.
“I’m so grateful for their support. I think the Lebanese community, I sort of brought everyone together, and it was really special to win in front of them. Every time I’m playing, there’s a larger and larger crowd. So, yeah, it’s just been amazing,” the 26-year-old said.
BBC’s Match of the Day unveils new hosts to replace Lineker
- Kelly Cates, Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman will share presenting duties on the iconic show
- Cates, Dalglish’s 49-year-old daughter, is part of Sky Sports’ presenting team and will continue in that job alongside her new Match of the Day role
LONDON: Match of the Day, the BBC’s flagship Premier League highlights program, has unveiled three new hosts to replace Gary Lineker, including the daughter of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish.
Kelly Cates, Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman will share presenting duties on the iconic show, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, when current host Lineker steps down at the end of this season.
Cates, Dalglish’s 49-year-old daughter, is part of Sky Sports’ presenting team and will continue in that job alongside her new Match of the Day role.
“Once I sit in that chair and the theme music starts, I just know that’s going to be a really incredible moment,” she said.
“I’ve worked with a lot of the pundits before and they’re all fantastic, so I’m just looking forward to getting started.”
Former Tottenham, Barcelona and England striker Lineker is the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, earning £1.35 million ($1.65 million) a year, and has been the face of Match of the Day for 26 years.
Lineker, 64, will remain on the BBC’s coverage of the FA Cup next season and is also set to present shows during the 2026 World Cup.
In August 2016, Lineker made good on a promise to present Match of the Day in his underpants after his boyhood club Leicester won the Premier League.
But he was briefly taken off air by bosses in Match 2023 after comparing the language used to launch a British government asylum policy to the rhetoric of Nazi-era Germany on social media.
In solidarity with Lineker, a number of fellow presenters and pundits including Alan Shearer and Ian Wright refused to appear on the program.
An episode was reduced to 20 minutes and aired without its host, pundits and commentary before Lineker was reinstated just over a week later.
“Gary has done a phenomenal job at Match of the Day for the last 26 years, he’ll be missed greatly and we all still get to enjoy him on our screens across some of football’s greatest tournaments,” the BBC’s director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski said.
Match of the Day, which was first broadcast in 1964, averages around four million viewers each week during the Premier League season.
For decades, the show with the memorable theme tune was a Saturday night institution, but audiences have dropped significantly from its peak in the 1970s and 1980s.
Benn and Eubank Jr boxing bout set to finally take place in London in April
- Bout has been promoted as a ‘second generation’ contest that saw the rivals’ fathers, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr, battle it out in two ferocious contests in the early 1990s
- Benn will reportedly have to move up from welterweight to fight Eubank Jr, who has a professional record of 34 wins and three defeats
LONDON: The long-awaited grudge match between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr is set to finally take place in London in April after a delay of several years, it was announced Wednesday.
What should have been an initial bout between the two British boxers in October 2022 was called off when Benn failed a voluntary drug test in fight week.
Benn’s two-year battle to clear his name saw his suspension lifted in November.
The 28-year-old took to Instagram on Wednesday to share photos of himself signing a contract with promoter Eddie Hearn and Saudi official Turki Alalshikh, along with the words: “Your Fate has been sealed! @chriseubankjr.”
Eubank Jr, 35, responded by posting the picture on his Instagram feed, with the message: “@conorbennofficial just signed his own death sentence.”
Benn will reportedly have to move up from welterweight to fight Eubank Jr, who has a professional record of 34 wins and three defeats, in what was previously billed as a “catchweight” fight.
Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority, posted on X: “Eubank Jr vs Benn done in April, London, by the name of (Fatal Fury City of the Wolves). Soon I will announce the day and the location.”
The bout has been promoted as a ‘second generation’ contest that saw the rivals’ fathers, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr, battle it out in two ferocious contests in the early 1990s.
Pakistan Super League star Vince to move to Dubai after attacks on family home
- James Vince saw his family home near Hampshire’s headquarters attacked twice last year
- He has been retained by Karachi Kings franchise for this season’s T20 Pakistan Super League
LONDON: World Cup winner James Vince is to stand down as captain of Hampshire after a decade in charge and move to Dubai following attacks on his family home, the English cricket county announced Wednesday.
Although he will miss the 2025 English domestic first-class County Championship or red-ball season, Vince will continue to play white-ball (limited-overs) cricket and skipper Hampshire in the T20 Blast.
The 33-year-old batsman, a member of the England squad that won the 2019 50-over World Cup on home soil, saw his family home near Hampshire’s headquarters attacked twice last year.
Vince, who said the incidents left his young family fearing for their safety, told Britain’s Daily Telegraph in July he believed the attacks were a case of mistaken identity.
“James Vince has signed a revision to the final year of his contract which fulfils his obligation to play for Hampshire Hawks in the 2025 Vitality Blast campaign and confirms that he is not planning to play red-ball cricket this year,” said a Hampshire statement.
“After 10 consecutive years as club captain, Vince will also step down from this position but will remain as team captain of Hampshire Hawks.
“In 2024, Vince endured a challenging year on a personal level, following several attacks on his family home. As a result, the family have taken the decision to move to Dubai.”
Vince added he needed to “understand what is best for my family, and combine that with the stage of my career I am at.”
He made his Hampshire debut in 2009 aged 18 and has scored over 22,000 runs for the county. Vince is the Blast’s all-time leading run scorer and has played in Hampshire’s three title-winning T20 teams, while representing England 55 times across all formats.
Vince has also been retained by the Karachi Kings for this season’s T20 Pakistan Super League on a contract worth a reported £100,000 ($122,000).
The PSL has made a one-off move from its usual February-March slot to take place between April 8 and May 19, the same time as the first half of the County Championship.
English cricket chiefs have introduced rules preventing England-contracted players or red-ball county players from appearing in overseas leagues such as the PSL that take place during the English season, with the exception of the Indian Premier League, cricket’s wealthiest T20 franchise tournament.
But the policy appears to have helped persuade Vince, who won the last of his 13 Test caps in 2018, to abandon English first-class cricket, at least temporarily, rather than reject a lucrative PSL deal.
Dakar Rally comes down to a duel in the sand between Lategan and Al-Rajhi
- The South African Lategan leads his Saudi rival by 2 1/2 minutes going into the 11th and penultimate stage in the Empty Quarter dunes
- Friday’s last stage is a ceremonial drive to the finish in Shubaytah
SHUBAYTAH: Henk Lategan and Yazeed Al-Rajhi will duel in the Saudi sand for their first Dakar Rally title after swapping the lead for a second straight day Wednesday.
The South African Lategan leads his Saudi rival by 2 1/2 minutes going into the 11th and penultimate stage in the Empty Quarter dunes. Friday’s last stage is a ceremonial drive to the finish in Shubaytah.
Al-Rajhi led by seven minutes before the 10th stage, a tricky 120-kilometer loop south of Shubaytah on Wednesday. But he got stuck and relinquished the overall lead back to Lategan.
“We got stuck because we were taking it easy,” Al-Rajhi said. “Everything is going good, that’s the most important (thing). I have a good position, I hope.”
Lategan also took it easy but without finding any trouble, and was 10th on the stage, making up minutes on all of his nearest pursuers.
“It wasn’t the plan to go quickly today,” Lategan said.
On Thursday, he will start 10th and Al-Rajhi 27th and they can push harder by taking advantage of the tracks of those in front.
’Most disappointing day of my life’
Third-placed Mattias Ekström fell two minutes further back to 27 minutes, and five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah lost five minutes to drop back to 30.
Al-Attiyah, the only former champion with an outside title shot, got lost about nine kilometers in.
“I’m very disappointed, but what can you do?” Al-Attiyah said. “We had a good pace but we lost a lot of time. This is the most disappointing day of my life.”
Spain’s Nani Roma, one of only three men to win the Dakar in a car (2014) and motorbike (2004), won his first stage in nine years by 18 seconds from Lucas Moraes of Brazil. Brian Baragwanath of South Africa was third.
Sanders on the brink
Australian rider Daniel Sanders was on the brink of his first Dakar title in a motorbike race he’s dominated from stage one.
Sanders was fourth on the 116-kilometer stage but ahead of his nearest rivals, extending his overall lead by about two minutes against Spain’s Tosha Schareina and France’s Adrien van Beveren.
The advantage over Schareina was 16 1/2 minutes, the biggest in the race so far.
“It’s pretty much survival tomorrow and just getting through,” Sanders said. “I think we’ll be all right. I felt really good in the navigation and I was opening a little bit and then, yeah, it felt nice. So yeah, ready for tomorrow.”
Portugal’s Rui Gonçalves won his maiden stage in his fifth Dakar by nearly four minutes from Slovakia’s Stefan Svitko. American Skyler Howes was third.
