LEICESTER, United Kingdom: Arsenal ignored their injury woes to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points as Mikel Merino came off the bench to clinch a 2-0 win against Leicester on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta’s side were in danger of wasting a chance to put pressure on Liverpool in the title race as they labored to make the breakthrough at the King Power Stadium.
But, with his attacking options limited by a host of injuries, Arteta sent on Spain midfielder Merino to act as a makeshift striker in the closing stages.
It proved an inspired move as Merino netted twice in the last nine minutes to extend Arsenal’s unbeaten run in the league to 15 games.
“We knew it was going to be tough. The first 20 minutes, we were too sloppy. We didn’t have a real threat and we weren’t playing with enough urgency,” Arteta said.
“We were much sharper in the second half. Mikel could give us something. He has a sense of danger and great timing in the box.
“We were on the verge of a different level of anxiety. But we were composed, scored two brilliant goals and could have scored one or two more.”
Having lost 2-0 at Newcastle in the League Cup semifinal second leg before an extended break due to their early FA Cup exit, the Gunners returned to action with a vital victory that keeps them hot on the heels of Liverpool.
Liverpool, who stumbled with a draw at Everton in their game in hand on Wednesday, can increase their lead back to seven points if they beat lowly Wolves at Anfield on Sunday.
“Let’s go day by day and take a lot of positives from the second half, but also know the first half wasn’t good enough to win games,” Arteta said.
With Kai Havertz ruled out for the season after suffering a hamstring injury while blocking a shot during Arsenal’s recent training trip to Dubai, Arteta was left with a threadbare attack.
Havertz’s injury blow came just weeks after Arsenal failed to sign Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins during the January transfer window.
Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were already sidelined, so Arteta was forced to use Belgian winger Leandro Trossard as his central striker.
Underling the paucity of Arteta’s forward options, 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri and the out-of-form Raheem Sterling filled in on the flanks either side of Trossard.
Fortunately for Arteta, third-bottom Leicester were ideal opponents for his weakened team.
Underlying the gloom around Leicester’s relegation battle, fans staging a vocal protest against the club’s Thai owners and Foxes director of football Jon Rudkin after 14 minutes.
With the protest songs still ringing around the King Power Stadium, Declan Rice headed wastefully wide when Nwaneri’s cross teed up Arsenal’s first sight of goal.
Wilfred Ndidi was close to breaking the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when his header skidded off the rain-soaked surface and flashed just wide of the far post.
Nwaneri was one of Arsenal’s few bright sparks on a murky day in the East Midlands.
The teenager surged onto Martin Odegaard’s pass and curled just wide from 20 yards in a rare Arsenal threat.
Nwaneri was a constant menace, unloading a stinging strike that Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen tipped onto the post.
Leicester couldn’t stem the tide as Arteta’s gamble paid off in the 81st minute.
Nwaneri swung a pin-point cross into the Leicester area and Merino found space to thump his header past Hermansen from six yards.
Merino celebrated by dancing a jig around the corner flag, but he wasn’t finished yet.
Seven minutes later, Trossard whipped a cross into the six-yard box and Merino’s well-timed run eluded the Leicester defense as he slotted home to keep Arsenal firmly in the title chase.
Super-sub Merino strikes late as Arsenal sink Leicester
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Super-sub Merino strikes late as Arsenal sink Leicester
- With his attacking options limited by a host of injuries, Arteta sent on Spain midfielder Merino to act as a makeshift striker in the closing stages
- It proved an inspired move as Merino netted twice in the last nine minutes to extend Arsenal’s unbeaten run in the league to 15 games
Max Verstappen wins the Japanese Grand Prix for his first victory of the Formula 1 season
- The four-time defending Formula 1 champion, Verstappen started from pole position after setting a course-record time in qualifying
- Norris placed second and Piastri was third
SUZUKA: Max Verstappen of Red Bull won Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix and broke a “mini-slump” of only two wins in his previous 16 races.
It was his 64th career win. It was the Dutchman’s fourth straight victory on the Suzuka circuit in central Japan and breaks the momentum of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who won the season’s first two races in Melbourne, Australia, and Shanghai, China.
The four-time defending Formula 1 champion, Verstappen started from pole position after setting a course-record time in qualifying, which he called “insane.” Norris placed second and Piastri was third. The track was dry despite rain earlier in the day
Football-Coach hails Valencia’s resilience after first win at Real Madrid since 2008
- Hugo Duro netted the winner in added time as Valencia moved seven points clear of the relegation zone with their shock 2-1 victory
Valencia coach Carlos Corberan said his side had shown terrific mental strength in securing their first win at Real Madrid since 2008 on Saturday.
Hugo Duro netted the winner in added time as Valencia moved seven points clear of the relegation zone with their shock 2-1 victory.
Corberan praised his players for not letting their heads drop after Vinicius Junior equalized for the hosts five minutes after the break, canceling out Valencia’s first-half lead from Mouctar Diakhaby’s goal.
“They competed with the necessary personality and mental strength to overcome any setback,” Corberan told reporters.
“In football, you can’t separate the emotional from the tactical. It’s impossible.
“Faced with a setback like Real Madrid’s goal, at a place where they’ve made comebacks before, having the mental strength to pick ourselves up, not let our heads drop and keep believing has been extremely important.”
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford )
Briton Hudson-Smith crowned Grand Slam’s first champion, Bednarek dominates
- The start-up’s super-sized purses have lured some of the sport’s top competitors, including 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas and 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
- Ethiopia’s world silver medalist Diribe Welteji surged through the final turn of the 1,500m to win in 4:04.51 and clinch the women’s short distance group
KINGSTON: Briton Matthew Hudson-Smith was crowned Grand Slam Track’s first-ever Grand Slam champion in the men’s long sprints group on Saturday, as he won the 200 meters on day two of the novel circuit’s debut meet in Kingston, Jamaica.
Hudson-Smith was second in the standings after Friday’s 400m and he won the group outright with a total of 20 points after reeling in the field in the back half of the shorter distance on Saturday, crossing the line in 20.77 seconds.
“Great to get the first one, I’m really excited and grateful,” the Paris 400m silver medalist said in televised remarks, as he leaves Kingston $100,000 (77,579.52 pounds) richer.
“I’m getting to the end of my career so it’s time to start saving,” the 30-year-old said.
American Kenny Bednarek, a twice Olympic champion, built up an enormous lead around the turn and stumbled through the tape to win the 200m in 20.07, three-tenths of a second ahead of Briton Zharnel Hughes, and clinch the men’s short sprints slam.
He won Friday’s 100m as well, for a point total of 24.
The new circuit fronted by retired American sprinter Michael Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, off its first of four meets this week with an aim of making Grand Slam Track the “Formula One of athlete racing.”
Athletes in 12 groups — men’s and women’s short sprints, long sprints, short hurdles, long hurdles, short distance and long distance — compete over two races per meet with the point totals from those runs determining the champion of each group.
The start-up’s super-sized purses have lured some of the sport’s top competitors, including 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas and 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who each notched wins on the meet’s opening day.
The trickier task, so far, has been filling the stands at Kingston’s National Stadium, as empty seats were abundant on Saturday after online critics slammed Friday’s even more sparsely attended opening night.
Thomas finished first in Friday’s 200m and was crowned the slam champion for the women’s longer sprints after finishing second in the 400m on Saturday in 49.14 behind Bahrain’s Olympic silver medalist Salwa Eid Naser (48.67), for 20 points total.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been more tired in my life,” said Thomas, who nearly let the second-place spot slip through her fingers in the final meters under threat from the Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino (49.35).
“I heard them on the home stretch — ‘$100,000 on the line’ — and so it really motivated me.”
Ethiopia’s world silver medalist Diribe Welteji surged through the final turn of the 1,500m to win in 4:04.51 and clinch the women’s short distance group, after notching a second-place finish in Friday’s 800m race.
Kenya’s 800m Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi provided one of the more entertaining finishes of the night as he held off all three of the men’s 1,500m Paris podium finishers down the final straight in the metric mile in 3:35.18.
Americans Yared Nuguse (3:35.36) and Cole Hocker (3:35.52) will hope to make up ground when they compete in Sunday’s 800m.
The Kingston Grand Slam Track meet ends on Sunday.
Barcelona held by Betis, miss chance to extend league lead
- The draw moves Hansi Flick’s Barca on to 67 points, four ahead of rivals Real Madrid who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home by Valencia earlier on Saturday
- Gavi: If we won we would be higher up the table, but in the end it’s football
BARCELONA: Barcelona spurned the chance to extend their lead at the top of the LaLiga standings when they were held at home 1-1 by Real Betis on Saturday, with visiting defender Natan canceling out Gavi’s early opener.
The draw moves Hansi Flick’s Barca on to 67 points, four ahead of rivals Real Madrid who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home by Valencia earlier on Saturday, while Betis climbed to fifth on 48 points.
The hosts had been given further motivation by Real’s shocking loss and had a great start when Gavi opened the scoring from close range, brilliantly assisted by Ferran Torres in a great team play seven minutes after kickoff.
However, Natan headed the equalizer from a corner in the 17th minute and though they dominated, Barca could not find a way past 38-year-old goalkeeper Adrian who made a string of saves later on to frustrate the hosts.
Adrian’s brilliant performance started even before Barca opened the scoring, when he palmed away Pedri’s strike from inside the box, but there was nothing he could do to keep Gavi from scoring moments later.
Barca kept up the pressure after taking the lead but Betis equalized from a Giovanni lo Celso corner which Natan jumped higher than defender Ronald Araujo to meet and head into the back of the net.
Adrian came to the rescue again as he made a stunning one-handed save from a Lamine Yamal curling strike from inside the box in the 38th minute.
Coach Hansi Flick subbed on Raphinha in the second half and Barca came back even stronger, dominating more than 75 percent of possession but wasting too many chances.
The Brazilian forward was a constant menace and missed with a curling strike from the edge of the box, with Adrian making two great efforts to deny a Jules Kounde strike in the 55th minute and a Fermin Lopez shot in the 85th.
“If we won we would be higher up the table, but in the end it’s football,” Gavi told Movistar Plus.
“We’re bitter about the result, because we couldn’t take advantage of the chances we had throughout the match, but we have to accept it and move on.”
Trinity Rodman scores early in return from 8-month injury absence, and US women beat Brazil 2-0
- Played before a lively crowd of 32,303, this game was billed as the first professional women’s sporting event at SoFi Stadium, the nearly 5-year-old home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams
- The Americans had been 15-0-2 since Hayes took over in June 2024
INGLEWOOD, California: Trinity Rodman drilled her shot into the bottom corner of Brazil’s net and promptly got mobbed by her teammates. She broke away from the goal celebration and grabbed her lower back, pretending to seize up with pain — only to stand up tall and laugh while flipping her pink hair over both shoulders.
After eight months of recovery from back woes, Rodman is feeling close to her old self again. The US women’s national team also showed signs of their top form while coolly handling another world power.
Rodman scored in the fifth minute of her return from a lengthy injury absence, and the Americans beat Brazil 2-0 Saturday in a friendly rematch of the Paris Olympics gold-medal match.
Rodman, the 22-year-old star and Orange County native, delivered her 11th goal for the US by finishing off a brilliant run by Alyssa Thompson. Rodman hadn’t played for the US since the Olympic final due to persistent back problems — hence her cheeky celebration.
“The medical staff was freaking out, but I felt like I had to do it,” Rodman said with a grin. “It felt so good to be in this atmosphere again, to be with the team. The stadium was crazy.”
Phallon Tullis-Joyce made six saves while keeping a clean sheet in the 28-year-old goalkeeper’s US debut. Captain Lindsey Heaps also scored a second-half penalty goal in the first of two California friendlies in four days against Brazil, who lost 2-1 in Paris as the US secured its fifth Olympic gold medal.
“I think it shows where this group is going,” Heaps said. “Our group is just getting better and better, and there’s not massive gaps between players. These young guns coming in ... it’s such a cool thing for us to see.”
Played before a lively crowd of 32,303, this game was billed as the first professional women’s sporting event at SoFi Stadium, the nearly 5-year-old home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.
The teams meet again Tuesday night in San Jose, California.
In their most recent outing in late February, the US women took their first defeat of coach Emma Hayes’ tenure, falling 2-1 to Japan in San Diego in the final of the SheBelieves Cup. The Americans had been 15-0-2 since Hayes took over in June 2024.
Back at it in SoFi, the Americans struck early — and with style.
Studio City native Thompson got a midfield touch and made an impressive run through Brazil’s formation, sending one defender to the grass in confusion before pushing a perfect pass to Rodman for her cool finish.
Rodman’s celebration was a treat as well — for most observers, anyway.
“Except I didn’t think she was pretending,” Hayes said with a grimace. “I will have a word with her, because that was like a ‘cry wolf’ moment. I turned to the physios and said, ‘Her back’s hurting,’ instantly. And then I realized she was tricking us.”
Later in the first half, Rodman appeared to be dealing with actual pain, which she blamed on a charley horse from getting kneed by an opponent. She still played 16 minutes into the second half before coming off.
The US was awarded a penalty when substitute Lily Johannes was tripped in the box. Heaps hammered it home for her 37th goal.
The depleted US defense had several rough moments in front of goal. The Seleção carried significant stretches of play and forced Tullis-Joyce to work hard, but the Long Island native who plays for Manchester United handled every chance capably.
Tullis-Joyce is competing for the first-string job after the retirement of Alyssa Naeher. Her parents and brother attended the match, but they didn’t know she would start until the lineup was announced an hour before kickoff.
“I love a clean sheet,” Tullis-Joyce said. “Happy for my teammates as well. That back line, they really gritted it out. Everybody was putting their body on the line. Credit to Brazil.”
The Americans will be without starting center backs Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson for the near future. They were replaced by Emily Sonnett and Tara McKeown, who only broke into the US lineup earlier this year.
Two weeks after the Mexico men’s team won the CONCACAF Nations Cup at SoFi, this friendly match was another early chapter in a series of upcoming soccer events in the Los Angeles area, including the 2026 men’s World Cup, the Los Angeles Olympics tournament and probably the Women’s World Cup in 2031.
