List of All Articles with Tag 'sport'

The St. Louis Cardinals placed left-handed pitcher Steven Matz on the 15-day injured list with a left lat strain on Monday

For Manchester United, the bare minimum was to make a better start to this season than last and the bare minimum was what they delivered. The least convincing of 1-0 wins required a goal from centre-back Raphael Varane when their midfielders and forwards rarely looked like scoring and when United often looked like conceding. They were spared by Wolves’ toothlessness as they scraped their way past a team widely tipped for relegation and whose manager had walked out last week. Even that is an improvement on 12 months ago, when Erik ten Hag’s reign began with a home defeat to Brighton and a 4-0 thrashing at Brentford, but this was a different kind of false start to a campaign. Even the clean sheet for the debutant Andre Onana was partly an indictment, of both his defence and the officials. The £43m goalkeeper somehow avoided conceding an injury-time penalty for clattering into the substitute Sasa Kalajdzic. He had already made two smart saves in as many minutes from another replacement, Fabio Silva. The problem was that he needed to. In a match where Wolves had 23 shots, six on target and an expected goals total of 2.23, all significantly more than their hosts’ tallies, perhaps the deceptive statistic was the scoreline. It flattered United. The more coherent gameplan came from Gary O’Neil, the manager getting to know his players, not Ten Hag, the one who has spent the best part of £400m assembling them. The side with the energy and the ideas were the one who were supposed to be in disarray, Wolves. If the players Julen Lopetegui left behind suggested his complaints that they needed new signings were overblown, they showed a solitary, but familiar, flaw at Old Trafford: they lacked a goalscorer. With one, they would surely have won. The division’s lowest scorers last season assembled a compilation of misses. United, the lowest scorers in the top six, discovered defenders were their best form of attack. After Bruno Fernandes dinked a pass forward, Aaron Wan-Bissaka lobbed a cross and Varane headed in. The presence of each in the box was a sign desperation was starting to take hold. As United had barely created anything of note since Jose Sa saved Marcus Rashford’s 11th-minute shot, their intervention assumed particular importance. Fernandes grew in influence in the latter stages but too many of the other attack-minded personnel were underwhelming. Mason Mount had been substituted at 0-0 and his was not a debut to savour. Alejandro Garnacho earned a starting spot with his performances in pre-season but, when it mattered, offered reminders he sparkled last season when brought off the bench, not when beginning games. One lob aside, Antony did not impress, even though his opponent, Rayan Ait-Nouri, is a left-back with defensive deficiencies. With injury denying Rasmus Hojlund a debut, Rashford led the line, threatening intermittently but often starved of service, in a performance to indicate why he is actually better coming from the left. Meanwhile, Lisandro Martinez was booked for needlessly chopping down Pedro Neto and hauled off at half-time before he could be sent off. That Victor Lindelof replaced him was another slight to Harry Maguire, whose last taste of Old Trafford may be as an unused substitute. But United were less than the sum of their parts. If the statement results this weekend, in different ways, came from Manchester City and Newcastle, they can at least take solace in the fact they are not playing catch-up from the opening weekend. Wolves, meanwhile, may have the bittersweet distinction of producing the best performance among the teams who remain pointless. This was supposed to be an ideal time to play them after a summer of strife. They had done a fine impression of a club in chaos off the pitch, but not on it. O’Neil’s first game came five days after he was parachuted in, six after Lopetegui finally talked his way into unemployment, but the former Bournemouth manager seems a skilled troubleshooter. There was continuity on the pitch, however: all 11 starters were at Molineux last season and the sole newcomer, substitute Matt Doherty, is also a Wolves old boy. A team with technical excellence and considerable physicality missed only the finishing touch. Otherwise, they counterattacked well. Pablo Sarabia shot just wide after Matheus Cunha galloped 50 yards to lead a break. A barnstorming run, followed by an effort Onana saved, was another illustration of what the £44m man can bring Wolves; the problem is that, so far, he has not delivered goals. He drove a shot past the far post. He clipped the upright from four yards, following a delightful flick from Neto. He took his return since the start of last season to two goals in 38 games. Ridiculously, Wolves did not start with any player who scored more than two league goals last year. None opened their account for the season and United could be grateful for their impotence. Read More Gary O’Neil claims referees’ boss told him Wolves should have had penalty O’Neil derides decision to not award Wolves penalty at Man Utd ‘VAR is pathetic’: Stelling and the best reactions to Onana penalty incident Raphael Varane header earns Manchester United opening victory over Wolves Man United vs Wolves LIVE: Premier League result and reaction How Sandro Tonali and his Italian predecessors fared on Premier League debuts

Teams that stay in the Williamsport complex for the Little League World Series will continue to sleep in single beds in the wake of last year’s incident where a boy seriously injured his head when he fell out of his top bunk

Rookie running back Eric Gray is being given an opportunity at being the returner for the New York Giants

Manchester United earned a victory at Old Trafford as they hosted Wolves for their opening Premier League match of the season. Raphael Varane headed the hosts ahead in the second half to earn Erik ten Hag’s men all three points but things could have been very different if a VAR decision had gone against the hosts. Wolves, who were the more dominant side on the night, had a penalty shout late in stoppage time. Pedro Neto swung a cross in from the right wing and targeted the back post. Manchester United’s goalkeeper, Andre Onana, came off his line to claim the ball but arrived late. He missed it and cleaned out Wolves substitute Sasa Kalajdzic in the process with the pair clashing heads as Kalajdzic crumpled to the deck. Referee Simon Hooper initially played on as VAR looked at the incident. As the replays were shown it looked increasingly likely that the United goalkeeper may have given away a penalty but the decision went his way much to the befuddlement of many on social media. BBC pundit and former England star Gary Lineker tweeted: “United got away with one there. If the referee had given it they certainly wouldn’t have overruled the decision.” Jeff Stelling, the recently departed presenter of Sky’s Gillette Soccer Saturday, was less composed and labelled the VAR decision “pathetic” saying: “Remind me if I have said this before but VAR. pathetic. How can that not be a Wolves pen? Just a joke as it has been since its inception.” Other takes agreed that Onana had committed a foul with Sky’s Michelle Owen tweeting: “Contact with consequence… how is that not a penalty?! #MNF” ITV’s Mark Pougatch claiming that VAR didn’t do its job to overturn the “howler”. He said: “So VAR gets involved to give a penalty against Son at Brentford yesterday but decides to let that one go… to start the season. “VAR was introduced to eradicate the howler. Personally didn’t think the Brentford penalty was in that category. But THAT was a howler. I know nothing. #MUNWOL” Over on Sky Sports, former Manchester United captain Gary Neville agreed that the penalty should have been awarded saying: “The reason I think it was a penalty was because Onana was nowhere near the ball. I think he was never getting there, he was always under it so he could’ve made a decision before he jumped.” Had the decision been overturned Wolves would have been awarded a late penalty and the chance to equalise which was what their performance deserved. Unfortunately this one went against them and Manchester United claimed the points. Read More O’Neil derides decision to not award Wolves penalty at Man Utd Raphael Varane header earns Manchester United opening victory over Wolves Onana takes centre-stage in more than one way as Man United fall flat Man United vs Wolves LIVE: Premier League result and reaction How Sandro Tonali and his Italian predecessors fared on Premier League debuts Football rumours: Manchester United weighing up approach for Amadou Onana

New Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Gary O’Neil was full of praise for his players’ performance even in defeat at Old Trafford, with Manchester United winning 1-0 desite the visitors having plenty more chances during the match. A vibrant performance saw Wolves go close a number of times before Raphael Varane netted the winner, but a late collision between debutant goalkeeper Andre Onana and the away team’s substitute striker Sasa Kalajdzic could have proven a gamechanger - but after a VAR review, no penalty was awarded. The former Cameroon international leapt for a cross but missed the ball and forcefully hit Kalajdzic in mid-air, leaving the striker on the deck, but referee Simon Hooper decided it wasn’t a foul and his team of officials opted against recommending a pitch-side second look. O’Neil was pleased with what he saw in terms of performance after just a few days’ training together, but noted his side needed to find a cutting edge. “I’m disappointed of course that we drive home with nothing. What they gave and how much they committed to the gameplan, they were incredible,” he told Sky Sports at full time. “It was a really good performance but we wanted points and we don’t get any. “We tried to overload the middle and create a little box to make a four versus three. It’s similar to what I’ve always done, it’s not me that created the performance it’s the group of players that put it in. Unfortunately we found a way to not score.” On the late penalty incident, however, he was adamant it should have gone his team’s way - which also seemed to be the prevailing opinion of most onlookers. “I thought live it was a penalty. It looked like the keeper almost took our centre-forward’s head off. Really surprised, I think it’s a foul. If you go for the ball and clatter a player that hard it has to be a foul, but I’m not overly surprised we didn’t get it,” O’Neil continued. “I thought as he jogged over he was going to the screen but in the end he’s booked me and not the goalkeeper for smashing [Kalajdzic]. “I understand it, I don’t accept it fully. For the onfield referee it’s a difficult decision, we can’t just leave it. A lot of people have said it’s a stonewall penalty but we shouldn’t talk too much about that - we’ve come to Old Trafford and had 23 shots after a tough spell. The group deserve huge credit but we don’t want credit without taking points.” Opposing manager Erik ten Hag said: “The ball was gone I don’t think Andre had any influence on the touch. VAR was on our side so we’re happy with the points.” Sky Sports’ panellists on the night were split, with Jamie Carragher suggesting he didn’t expect the ref’s decision to be overturned, while Karen Carney and Gary Neville both felt it should have been a spot-kick to Wolves. Read More Onana takes centre-stage in more than one way as Man United fall flat Curiously expensive mediocrity cost Wolves a manager and now threatens their future Julen Lopetegui quits Wolves on eve of new Premier League season

There’s one college football conference sitting out the reshuffling going on among its big-money brethren: The Ivy League will start the season with the same eight members it has had since it formed in 1956

Chelsea are negotiating a fee of £50m with add-ons for Romeo Lavia, after the midfielder signalled his intention to leave Southampton for Stamford Bridge rather than Liverpool. The Anfield club had earlier on Monday had a £60m bid accepted for the 19-year-old and, while he was interested in going north, moving to London has proved a more favourable option. There was some frustration given that it was felt Liverpool could have had a deal done last week, but Southampton absolutely refused to drop their asking price from £50m, in what has proved a seller's market. The signing will take Chelsea's expenditure to over £900m gross since the takeover in May 2022, and raised questions over how they will meet Financial Fair Play requirements. While the spending has inevitably been the subject of a lot of discussion at the top levels of clubs, just as it has been in the wider game, there has been no contact with the Premier League about it. Chelsea are likely to still have a number of outgoings in the two weeks left of the window - although that does raise the issue of clubs knowing they need to sell. The Premier League are expected to change their rules to bring them in line with Uefa's, closing a loophole that allows transfer fees to be spread over a longer-period and setting a limit at five years, but that will not affect the last year's spending. The regulations are also dependent on the year-end date for signings and which year the transactions go into. Chelsea completed the signing of Moises Caicedo for an initial £100m from Brighton earlier on Monday. Read More Chelsea end Caicedo saga by signing Brighton midfielder for initial £100m Chelsea’s £1bn spending spree still isn’t enough Chelsea and Liverpool trial football without defensive midfielders

Manchester United survived a late VAR scare as Raphael Varane’s second-half goal saw them edge past an impressive Wolves to get their Premier League campaign off to a winning start at Old Trafford. Varane headed home from close range with 14 minutes remaining to ensure an unconvincing display from Erik Ten Hag’s team ended in a 1-0 victory that was barely deserved. Indeed, it looked like Wolves might get the chance to equalise from the penalty spot at the death when goalkeeper Andre Onana appeared to clatter into Sasa Kalajdzic, but referee Simon Hooper waved away protests and VAR backed his decision. It felt harsh as few will have seen a performance like this coming from Wolves, whose plans for the season were thrown into disarray last week when boss Julen Lopetegui left just five days before kick-off, with Gary O’Neil coming in. O’Neil, who was sacked at Bournemouth after keeping them up last season, will have been thrilled at what he saw as his new side put in a slick counter-attacking display that had United on the run for the majority of the game. But it was old failings that came back to haunt them as they could not take any of their chances, with the electric Matheus Cunha hitting the post in the second half. United will know a display like this will not be good enough, but they at least got the job done to ensure they join Manchester City and Arsenal in taking maximum points in the opening weekend of the campaign. There was a small scale demonstration outside the ground before kick-off as United fans again chanted against the Glazers and the lengthy sale process of the club, which has been going on since November. However, planned protests against the possibility of Mason Greenwood being integrated back into the squad did not extend beyond the odd banner, with the forward’s fate still unknown as the club are still in a consultation phase following the conclusion of their internal investigation. The off-the-pitch issues have not clouded what was a promising pre-season for Ten Hag’s men, though they could not translate that into a cohesive performance in the opening 45 minutes. In fact, to much surprise given their build-up to the season, Wolves were the better team as they had United running scared with pace on the break, creating two excellent openings to take the lead. In the 26th minute a lightning counter attack saw Cunha surge forward and pass to Pablo Sarabia, but it was slightly behind him and the Spaniard saw his drilled effort go just wide with the aid of a deflection. Another slick move saw roles reversed six minutes later as Sarabia’s excellent pass played in Cunha, but he dragged his shot wide after bursting into the box. That acted as something of a wake-up call to United, who came to life in the final 10 minutes of the first half. There were loud shots for a penalty when Marcus Rashford headed against the arm of Nelson Semedo, but the Wolves defender managed to tuck his limb in just in the nick of time. But Wolves rediscovered their counter-attacking verve after the break and should have led in the 50th minute. Another lung-busting break from Cunha, who ran virtually the length of the pitch, saw him lay the ball off to Sarabia and it came back to him at the far post, but, slightly off balance, his shot clipped the outside of the post. The hosts were petrified of Cunha and their defence parted in alarming fashion five minutes later but saw a low shot saved by Andre Onana. Cunha was at it again in the 71st minute with another run that had United floundering and the loose ball fell to Pedro Neto, but he shot straight at Onana. There was an inevitability about what was to come as Wolves paid for their lack of cutting edge when United stole the lead in the 76th minute. Bruno Fernandes unlocked the defence to play in Aaron Wan-Bissaka and his cross from the right was headed home by Varane from close range. Wolves knocked on the door for an equaliser and Fabio Silva had a hat-trick of chances but was denied by Onana’s legs twice while Luke Shaw produced a goal-saving block to earn his side victory. The visitors thought they should have had a penalty in the sixth minute of time when Onana went walkabouts, but Hooper and VAR denied them. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live How does Moises Caicedo’s Chelsea transfer compare to previous big-money deals? Majid Haq ‘disgusted and horrified’ following racial abuse while umpiring Mings vows to bounce back as Kane settles in – Monday’s sporting social

Authorities in the Dominican Republic are investigating Tampa Bay All-Star shortstop Wander Franco for an alleged relationship with a minor, according to the office of the attorney general in his native country

Georgia begins its drive for an unprecedented college football championship three-peat as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press preseason Top 25

The budding rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic is set to be renewed in the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals next month