Author: WebDesk

Two goals in three crazy second-half minutes were the difference as Inter Milan withstood wave after wave of Bayern Munich attacks in the closing stages to hold on for a 2-2 draw at the San Siro. Their 4-3 aggregate win means they now face Barcelona in the semi final. Bayern, for whom two Englishmen – Harry Kane and Eric Dier – scored the goals, were the better team on the night, but as in Munich, Inter took their chances. Harry Kane had given the Bavarians a 52nd minute lead, with a fine angled finish through Federico Dimarco’s legs, but the…

Bukayo Saka’s low-key celebrations after scoring the decisive goal in the 65th minute said it all really. Arsenal didn’t just win at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, they did so at a canter. Their eventual 5-1 aggregate win was thoroughly deserved, and now it’s surely on a matter of time before Carlo Ancelotti’s second innings with Real Madrid ends with dismissal. Tellingly, Vinicius Junior’s 67th minute goal, after a rare error from the otherwise immaculate William Saliba, was Real’s first shot on target in the game. Talk had been of remontada [comeback] after Arsenal’s 3-0 first leg win, but it…

Before Tuesday night, Bayern Munich had gone 22 matches and four years without losing a Champions League tie at their Allianz Arena. But in the quarter final first leg, in what was a repeat of the 2010 final, it was Internazionale of Milan that prevailed 2-1, thanks to two stunning breakaway goals. Bayern bossed possession, with Michael Olise playing superbly, and Harry Kane struck the post in the first half. But all they had to show for 90 minutes of endeavour was Thomas Muller’s close-range finish on 85 minutes. Lautaro Martinez, Inter’s captain, started the scoring with a glorious outside-of-the-boot…

Two bowlers on either end of the experience spectrum set up the game, and a pair of batters who are frequently lightning rods for criticism ensured that India cruised to a four-wicket victory, with 68 balls to spare, in the first ODI against England at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. Set 249 to win after a spectacular batting collapse from England, India suffered only one big blot in the copybook with Rohit Sharma, the captain, failing yet again. Only a late clutch of wickets gave the scorecard an illusion of closeness. For all the focus being on Virat Kohli’s absence…

Erik ten Hag’s two-year reign as Manchester United manager is over after the club sacked him on Monday, October 28. Sunday’s last-gasp defeat at West Ham finally forced the ownership’s hands, with United marooned in 14th place, already seven points adrift of the fourth place that would guarantee Champions League qualification. The Dutchman won the League Cup in his first season, and the FA Cup in 2023-24, but the lack of progress in the league ended up costing him his job. Injuries haven’t been kind to United this season, but a return of just three wins and eight goals from…

In 2021, when New England Revolution set a points record for a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season, with 73 from 34 games, Inter Miami finished 32 points adrift. In fact, in their first four seasons in the competition, Miami’s best finish was sixth in the Eastern Conference in 2022, with a paltry 48 points. In 2023, when Lionel Messi’s arrival from Europe was tom-tommed across the world, they finished 14th in the 15-team Eastern Conference, with a dismal 34 points. A year on, the landscape is very different. In 2023, Messi played just six league games, though he had…

Australia’s Ariarne Titmus won the clash of the titans in the swimming pool at the Paris La Defense Arena. Titmus, the 23-year-old defending champion in the women’s 400m freestyle, led from start to finish to beat Canada’s Summer McIntosh by nearly a second. The USA’s Katie Ledecky, champion over the distance in Rio in 2016, took bronze, though she never really challenged the top two. Watched by Dawn Fraser, Australia’s legendary and controversial swimming legend — who had taken 400m freestyle silver behind Lorraine Crapp, her compatriot, in Melbourne in 1956 — Titmus pulled away in the second 50 after…

At some point, Croatian fans keeping an eye on proceedings in the Spain-Albania match being played simultaneously might have winced. Spain had started the game with 10 changes, yet those drafted in were competent enough to hold Albania at arm’s length and complete a third win in three group matches. A lovely pass from Dani Olmo was clinically finished off by Ferran Torres, who squandered another chance to add to the lead. David Raya in Spain’s goal made one outstanding save from Kristjan Asllani and a fine stop from Chelsea’ Armando Broja, but you always got the impression that the…

After convincing victories against Scotland (5-1) and Hungary (2-0), the hype around Germany’s football team was in overdrive. Switzerland, however, provided a big dose of reality in Frankfurt on Sunday night, with Germany extremely fortunate to escape with the 1-1 draw that saw them finish top of the group. In a team of highly rated youngsters like Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, possessing a wily pass master like Toni Kroos, it was the journeyman veteran Niclas Fullkrug whose goal in the second minute of injury time gave Germany a share of the points. Fullkrug’s record is quite astonishing, having scored…

Euro 2024 saw its first Video Assistant Referee (VAR) controversy on Friday night when the Netherlands were denied what looked like a perfectly good goal in their match against France. The subsequent 0-0 draw ensured that both sides should make the last 16, while Austria produced a thrilling attacking display to win 3-1 and dump Poland out of the tournament. In the early kick-off, Ukraine came from behind to claim a deserved, and emotional, 2-1 win over Slovakia. In the 69th minute in Leipzig, Memphis Depay unleashed a shot from the left of the area which Mike Maignan in the…