List of All Articles with Tag 'sports'

Key Italy backs Tommaso Allan, Paolo Garbisi and Ange Capuozzo have been rearranged again for the Rugby World Cup match against New Zealand on Friday in Lyon

Pep Guardiola confirmed one starter and it was the player who never starts. When Rodri, in a moment that felt out of character, tried to throttle Morgan Gibbs-White, the main beneficiaries were not Nottingham Forest, who lost at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday anyway, but Kalvin Phillips. For much of his time at Manchester City, the supposed Yorkshire Pirlo has been the Yorkshire Sergio Gomez, belatedly brought on when victory has long been secured. Yet it has been worse: Gomez was hired as a largely unknown left-back, Phillips as one of the players of Euro 2020, a footballer transformed by Guardiola’s managerial hero Marcelo Bielsa. Yet when a defensive midfielder secured City the Champions League, it was Rodri, not Phillips. When a defensive midfielder was named the competition’s player of the season, it was Rodri, not Phillips. With the Spaniard now suspended, the Englishman is guaranteed that rarest of things – an appearance in the initial XI – at Newcastle on Wednesday evening. It will be just the fifth match he will begin for City: Rodri has started 61 in that time. He had only played eight minutes of football for City this season; after Rodri’s red card, he got 39 on Saturday. There could be 90 on Wednesday. If, for Phillips, it is a belated chance to kickstart his City career: perhaps a brief one, too, as Mateo Kovacic is on the comeback trail, should feature for some of the match at St James’ Park and, if Guardiola does not trust the Englishman, might take on the holding midfield duties at Wolves and Arsenal. But perhaps a chance in the Carabao Cup is a reward for Phillips’ obstinacy. He had the chance to leave in the summer, to admit defeat when West Ham came calling as they looked for a replacement for Declan Rice. City might have been willing sellers. Phillips was unwilling to go. “He decided to stay,” Guardiola said. “The club spoke with him. He doesn’t have much minutes, but he said: ‘No, I want to stay.” It is okay, it is perfect, he is a lovely person.” Being a likeable figure does not necessarily make him Guardiola’s idea of a central midfielder. The City manager said that “of course” it meant a lot that Phillips was willing to stay and fight for his place. That position, however, tends to elude him. The reality is that both of his league starts in their colours came after they had already won last season’s title. Since he joined City have lost two of the four games he has started and only five of the 66 he has not. He began last season’s Carabao Cup tie at Southampton. That scarcely counted in his favour. “It was the worst game I played as manager of Man City by far, so I didn’t recognise anything about that,” Guardiola said. It formed part of an awkward start for Phillips. He had shoulder surgery before the World Cup and was omitted after it when Guardiola deemed him unfit. If Bielsa’s idiosyncratic tactics, with man-marking all over the pitch, meant Phillips was reinvented from a decent Championship box-to-box midfielder to a seemingly world-class holding player, perhaps he has had to be deprogrammed from the Argentinian’s unique gameplan. Certainly Guardiola accepted he has got less from Phillips than the former Leeds manager. “Marcelo gave Kalvin the best of Kalvin in his career,” he said. “I’d love to have done with Kalvin what Marcelo has done to him. It is what it is. We have our own specific way to play. He sometimes struggles in a few things while the previous one was perfect. But he is open-minded and always wants to learn.” Rodri may be the ideal tutor, the player who has perfected the role in front of the back four for Guardiola, who occupied it himself for Johan Cruyff at Barcelona. “Rodri has been missed and his consistency is really important, he knows everything in the game,” Guardiola said. “Of course being outside, sitting [on the bench], seeing players in training sessions and what we are looking for in the training sessions and the meetings helps a lot. But every player has his own specifics. We bring Kalvin here for his quality. There are no twins in football. Everyone has their own personality. He has to be Kalvin Phillips.” Being Kalvin Phillips must have been a strange experience in the last 14 months. He has become one of football’s most decorated substitutes, winning everything, but with a watching brief. The two best performances of his time at City have come for England: in March’s away win in Italy and this month’s victory over Scotland in Glasgow. He has been the £45m afterthought, the player Guardiola usually only turns to long after the outcome is decided. And now, perhaps for one night only, perhaps for the crucial clash at Arsenal, the Yorkshire Pirlo has to prove he can be the Yorkshire Rodri. Read More Manchester City hit by travel headache ahead of hectic fortnight Kalvin Phillips to start in Manchester City’s Carabao Cup clash at Newcastle Pep Guardiola jokes he could play for much-changed Man City in Newcastle cup tie

There was an unexpected moment of anxiousness for Seattle starting pitcher George Kirby and the Mariners in the sixth inning of their 6-2 win over the Houston Astros after a foul ball hit into the stands behind the third base dugout was thrown back by a fan and grazed the pitcher

George Kirby escaped an early bases loaded jam to throw six shutout innings, Seattle took advantage of three Houston errors, and the Mariners snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-2 win over the Astros

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers clinched the National League Central title for the third time in six seasons despite a 4-1 loss to the last-place St. Louis, with the help of a come-from-behind win by the Atlanta Braves.

There is Shohei Ohtani, and then there is the rest of baseball’s soon-to-be free agents

After saying it “hurt like hell” to just miss out on winning her third MVP, A’ja Wilson responded on Tuesday night with 30 points and 11 rebounds to help lift the Las Vegas Aces to a 91-84 victory over the Dallas Wings and 2-0 series lead in the WNBA semifinals

Brandon Drury had three hits, including a home run, Reid Detmers threw seven solid innings for only his second win since the All-Star break and the Los Angeles Angels rolled to a 9-3 victory over Texas on Tuesday night preventing the Rangers from getting another step closer to wrapping up their first playoff appearance since 2016

Seth Lugo allowed three hits and came within an out of his first career complete game, Juan Soto homered twice and the San Diego Padres stayed alive in the NL wild-card race, beating the San Francisco Giants 4-0 on Tuesday night

Christian Walker homered twice and drove in six runs and the Arizona Diamondbacks added to their wild-card push with a 15-4 victory over the lowly Chicago White Sox

Sean Murphy reached on a two-run fielding error by right fielder Seiya Suzuki in the eighth inning and the major league-leading Atlanta Braves overcame a six-run deficit to beat the Chicago Cubs 7-6

Sabrina Ionescu scored 21 points and Betnijah Laney added 20 to help the New York Liberty beat the Connecticut Sun 84-77, evening the best-of-five series at 1-1