List of All Articles with Tag 'sports'

Gabbie Hughes scored twice and the United States women’s national hockey team improved to 2-0 in its Rivalry Series with a 5-2 win over Canada

Ben Bryant returned after missing four games due to injury and led touchdown drives on each of Northwestern’s first three series against his former coach to help the Wildcats defeat Wisconsin 24-10 on Saturday

The Denver Broncos will face former captain and Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller for the first time Monday night when they play the Buffalo Bills

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Tristen Newton scored 22 points to lead No. 6 UConn to a 107-67 rout of Stonehill College on Saturday.

Girona has fought back for a 2-1 victory at Rayo Vallecano to keep its surprising lead of the Spanish league

The use of technology in football has been on the increase over the past few years but none seems to create as much heated debate and questioning as that of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). By and large, it is felt that minor and visible calls are improved across the course of the season with on-pitch referees getting extra help. However, there have been several high-profile incidents of late that have led to clubs, or personnel within them, complaining about the eventual decision or decision-making process, with the most recent coming in the Champions League. Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag felt aggrieved that a number of calls went against them in their 4-3 defeat to FC Copenhagen, including a decision to send off Marcus Rashford for serious foul play. Here’s everything on VAR you need to know, including the latest causes for complaint against it. What has gone wrong? Most recently, Man United complained about Rashford’s red card, given out for stepping across and onto the foot and shin of an opponent in a Champions League encounter. Ten Hag insisted his side had seen three “very debatable” penalties go against them in four games and called his forward’s sending off “very harsh”. In domestic football, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta complained over “unacceptable” errors from on-pitch and VAR officials as his team lost to Newcastle, while Wolves boss Gary O’Neil labelled a penalty decision given against his team and upheld by VAR as “scandalous” - also against Newcastle. Ange Postecoglou suggested recently that clubs have to shoulder part of the blame for long stoppages for VAR, saying: “Some of it is self inflicted because if we come out every week complaining about decisions that is what will happen, every decision gets forensically checked and we will be sitting around for a long time in every game trying to figure out what is going on.” However, it must be noted that the vast majority of these are subjective opinions and where Arteta sees fault, another manager, supporter or, indeed, official may see justification in decision. One incident which was not subjective, but instead a quite clear mistake, came with Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool against Tottenham being ruled out for offside and then allowed to stay disallowed, despite the VAR officials running their processes and showing the forward was onside. The “significant human error” came as a result of the official, Darren England, appearing to forget that offside rather than a goal had been awarded in the first place. To another extreme, Millie Bright criticised the fact there was no VAR in the first edition of the Women’s Nations League, after a clearly offside goal was allowed to stand against England which would have been simple to rule out. Further clear VAR errors which PGMOL have had to apologise for include no penalty being awarded to Wolves against Man United after Andre Onana clattered Sasa Kalajdzic, a Brentford goal against Arsenal not being checked properly with no offside lines drawn and a West Ham late equaliser being ruled out for a foul, where none was apparent. What has gone right? In truth, a lot. It’s overlooked when three or four calls are spot-on, when one causes serious complaint or at least is a subjective call which a majority seem to disagree with. As an example, in the incident-packed Tottenham vs Chelsea fixture, several goals were correctly ruled out for offside through use - or checking - of VAR and the penalty awarded which saw Cristian Romero sent off was also a result of VAR intervention. Generally speaking, these calls that are widely accepted as correct do not get highlighted, partially because the technology exists for that very reason: it’s expected to help officials make the right calls with a second look. That doesn’t mean they don’t occur, though. The Premier League reported that 82 per cent of decisions were correct in the season before VAR was introduced, rising to 94 per cent being correct in 2019/20. What is the process for VAR checks? From the Premier League website: VAR will be used only for “clear and obvious errors” or “serious missed incidents” in four match-changing situations: goals; penalty decisions; direct red-card incidents; and mistaken identity. When any of those match situations occur or potentially occur, VAR is constantly rewatching and monitoring match footage from the hub at Stockley Park. If there is a decision to be made, the VAR or Assistant VAR (AVAR) will relay to the referee that play should be halted while checks are made, before recommending either an overturn, a pitchside check of the monitor for the ref or a continuation of play with the on-pitch original decision. The video officials have until the ball goes dead to inform the referee that a check is underway if play is already ongoing. The referee can then either check the monitor or accept the VAR recommendation. Upon reviewing the pitchside monitor, they may then stick with their own initial assessment or overturn the original, before communicating their new decision to the crowd. What have PGMOL said? The refereeing chief of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, Howard Webb, took over the role last year to improve the standard of officiating in the English game and to help oversee a smoother use of technology. PGMOL confirmed to the League Managers’ Association “they are actively looking at how best to incorporate VARs into match-day refereeing teams, to ensure the dynamic between on-field referee and VAR is conducive to producing positive outcomes.” After the Diaz incident, the organisation “acknowledge[d] a significant human error occurred” and brought in additional processes to ensure no repeat happened. They also released the audio of that incident, an “unusual step” according to Webb, “to show everybody what was very quickly pretty apparent to us, a human error and loss of concentration.” Webb has suggested the pool of VAR-specific officials will be increased but Lee Mason presents a cautionary tale. The former referee was appointed a full-time VAR for 2022/23, but departed the role last season after the aforementioned error over Brentford’s goal against Arsenal. Mason, who had already been stood down from the officiating list that campaign previously for wrongly disallowing a Newcastle goal, was labelled a “serial offender” by ex-PGMOL boss Keith Hackett - however, at the start of the current campaign, Mason was re-hired as a referees’ coach for the lower leagues. It is not thought he has ongoing work with VAR but that has not been confirmed by PGMOL, nor why his credentials are suited to guiding less-experienced officials despite having been removed from his post already. Read More What is VAR, how does it work and what are the biggest problems? Mikel Arteta: ‘I’m completely with referees’ Mauricio Pochettino learned lessons from famous battle to mature as manager Unai Emery acknowledges good fortune opened the door for Villa’s victory ‘Great result’ cheers David Moyes as West Ham have another good European night Liverpool angered by VAR as Jarell Quansah goal ruled out in Europa League defeat

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar struggled during the ninth-ranked Nittany Lions' 24-15 loss to No. 2 Michigan

Jiri Prochazka will bid to regain the UFC light-heavyweight title tonight, taking on ex-middleweight champion Alex Pereira for the vacant belt. Prochazka, the UFC’s first-ever Czech champion, was forced to vacate the title due to injury in 2022, and he will challenge for the gold again at UFC 295, headlining against Brazilian Pereira. The pair were due to clash in the co-main event at Madison Square Garden, but Jon Jones’s heavyweight title defence against Stipe Miocic was cancelled when Jones suffered an injury in October. As a result, the original co-main event was elevated, while the new co-main event sees Britain’s Tom Aspinall fight Russia’s Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight belt. The winner of that bout should be in line to challenge Jones in 2024 – possibly leaving former champ Miocic out in the cold. Here’s all you need to know. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. When is UFC 295? The event is set to take place on Saturday 11 November at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The early prelims are due to begin at 11pm GMT (4pm PT, 6pm CT, 7pm ET), with the regular prelims following at 1am GMT on Sunday 12 November (6pm PT, 8pm CT, 9pm ET on Saturday). The main card is then scheduled for 3am GMT on Sunday (8pm PT, 10pm CT, 11pm ET on Saturday). How can I watch it? The card will air live on TNT Sports in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights. In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider. Odds Prochazka – 11/10; Pereira – 13/20 Pavlovich – 10/11; Aspinall – 10/11 Via Betway. Get all the latest UFC betting sites’ offers Full card (subject to change) Main card Jiri Prochazka vs Alex Pereira (vacant light-heavyweight title) Sergei Pavlovich vs Tom Aspinall (interim heavyweight title) Jessica Andrade vs Mackenzie Dern (women’s strawweight) Matt Frevola vs Benoit Saint-Denis (lightweight) Diego Lopes vs Pat Sabatini (featherweight) Prelims Steve Erceg vs Alessandro Costa (flyweight) Tabatha Ricci vs Loopy Godinez (women’s strawweight) Mateusz Rebecki vs Nurullo Aliev (lightweight) Nadim Sadykhov vs Viacheslav Borschchev (lightweight) Early prelims Jared Gordon vs Mark Madsen (lightweight) John Castaneda vs Kyung Ho Kang (bantamweight) Joshua Van vs Kevin Borjas (flyweight) Dennis Buzukja vs Jamall Emmers (featherweight) Read More How to watch UFC 295 online and on TV tonight UFC 295 card in full with two titles on the line Tom Aspinall admits he’s ‘scared’ ahead of UFC title fight Tom Aspinall makes UFC 295 vow ahead of Sergei Pavlovich fight Dana White responds to Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey UFC 300 rumours UFC announces three major title fights will kick off 2024

Spencer Rattler threw for three touchdowns as South Carolina won its 15th straight over Vanderbilt 47-6 on Saturday

Trey Alexander scored 21 points and Baylor Scheierman added 17 to lead eighth-ranked Creighton in an 89-60 victory over North Dakota State

Kaidon Salter threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more, all in the first half, as No. 25 Liberty kept its perfect record intact with a 38-10 victory over Old Dominion on Saturday

John Paddock threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams in overtime to give Illinois a 48-45 win Saturday over Indiana in a Big Ten game