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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the newest team to throw their hat in the Juan Soto sweepstakes.

Soto, the crown jewel of the MLB offseason, already met with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets. Soto's Yankees, who he helped lift to a World Series appearance last season, were thought to be next on his schedule with speculation that both parties met on Monday, Nov. 18.

Mark Feinsand reported that the Dodgers would meet with Soto this week, as early as Tuesday, Nov. 19. ESPN's Alden González then confirmed Soto and the Dodgers were set to meet on Tuesday.

Feinsand mentioned that Soto is expected to command a deal north of $500 million and possibly even higher than $600 million depending on the contract's length.

The large elephant in the room is Shohei Ohtani's 10-year, $700 million deal that the Dodgers executed last offseason. Ohtani's contract deferred $680 million in salary for a decade. He'll make $2 million per year through 2034 and then $68 million each year in the following 10 years. That's a large chunk of change.

L.A. won the World Series over Soto and the Yankees, now they look to reload with the biggest fish on the market yet again.

Although Soto landing with the Dodgers is a wild outcome, there's some free agents you just have to go for when they're available. Soto is a player you have to court, especially if you're the Dodgers with a star-studded, competitive roster and enticing free-agent market.

It was a gruelling test of patience for England but India eventually fell short of their target by 23 runs

Alagappan Muthu14-Jul-2025

Oh, the agony! Mohammed Siraj watches as the ball trickles onto dislodge his leg bail•Getty Images

Six years ago, Ben Stokes raised his hands in apology. Now he was clenching his fists in triumph. On the anniversary of the day when he made England world champions, he found them a route to victory again. It felt like he couldn’t rest without it.He bowled seven overs with the second new ball on Saturday, and the coach Brendon McCullum dispatched a member of his staff down to the boundary line to remind him that he is still flesh and bone. On Monday, nobody dared to interfere. Stokes pushed through a 9.2-over spell, came back to deliver a 10-over spell and was essentially such a lord and master of proceedings that a member of the opposition felt the need to ask his permission for a bathroom break.Ravindra Jadeja was the one who needed to sprint off. Apparently, nature doesn’t care if you’re the only thing standing between your team and defeat. It comes calling. Just as a whole line-up of Englishmen did, looking for his wicket, or even just a mistake. But nothing was forthcoming. India’s allrounder was every bit as heroic as his red-haired, red-faced, red-hot counterpart, scoring a fourth successive half-century and shepherding the tail towards something legendary. Only it wasn’t to be.Related

Stats – England clinch the narrowest Lord's win

India ponder the what-ifs after Lord's heartbreak

Jadeja, and the curse of being so good

Sledging, swearing, send-offs – Lord's needling promises explosive series ahead

Ben Stokes on final-day bowling efforts: 'Nothing was stopping me'

In the fifth over after tea, a man with a broken finger got the ball to spin off the middle of the No. 11’s bat and onto the stumps. Lord’s. On July 14. It is not a place for the faint-hearted. Mohammed Siraj did not belong on his feet. Sorrow engulfing him. Shoaib Bashir invaded the sky. Joy propelling him. He had just sealed the closest Test-match victory this old place has ever seen.India woke up in London looking for 135 runs. Instead, they ran into 21.5 overs of hell in the morning session. They had dished it out four years ago. England felt compelled to return the favour. And they didn’t need to look as far back as the 2021 game to rouse themselves. There’s been plenty of needle over the past three days, starting with Shubman Gill’s irate response to their delay tactics and peaking with Siraj’s send-off to Ben Duckett.Even the totally chill Jofra Archer couldn’t help but get in Rishabh Pant’s face after knocking back his off stump. It was the third over of the day. He had just been smashed back down the ground, one-handed, and it rubbed him just enough the wrong way that he began to pump his legs harder as he ran in. That extra effort meant the ball bit into the pitch that little bit extra and breezed past the outside edge to make friends with off stump, which couldn’t help but do cartwheels.2:32

Stokes: I was going to decide when I stop bowling

Archer usually celebrates the wickets that mean something to him by running off into the distance. The one he took in his first over of this, his first Test in four years, would have had him leaping into the crowd if not for Bashir’s intervention. Here, he was starting to do so but quickly changed direction and ran up towards the retreating batter to fire off a few words.Stokes had demanded this. He wanted noise. He wanted belief. He wanted energy. He wanted India to feel trapped behind enemy lines. “Bang, bang,” he’d said just a few minutes before the Pant dismissal and turned it into prophecy when he got rid of KL Rahul 18 balls later. He was on the floor appealing for lbw, every bit of him straining to convince umpire Sharfuddoula to lift the finger. He didn’t. Immediately, he poured all of himself into figuring out a reason to review. Really there was only one thing he needed to know. Was height an issue? No, said Joe Root from the slips. He’d seen Rahul was well back in his crease.The review confirmed Stokes’ instincts. The ball was good. The movement down the slope was devilish. The impact was pad first. And HawkEye revealed three reds. Stokes pumped his fists. Many of the 24,281 people at the ground roared with him. Ten of them were right there beside him. His team-mates, who have seen him do impossible things and who believe they can do similar just because he says they can. That was the picture of this Test match. Stokes at the centre surrounded by the rest of England.3:47

Gill: Pant’s run-out was the turning point in the Test

India lost three wickets for 11 runs in four overs. Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy were thrown into the fire and for a while they coped. The ball got soft. The runs came at a trickle. Efforts to rouse the crowd landed on the wrong set of ears as chants of “Indiaaaaaa! Indiaaa!” rang out. The eighth-wicket pair stitched a partnership of 30 runs in 89 balls and through it they resisted not just good bowling but their own base impulses.”Not in the IPL,” Harry Brook chirped at Reddy. “Jaddu’s got to score them all.” Stokes tried to engage him too, adding to his own workloads during that marathon spell by extending his follow through, but the India allrounder just calmly shook his head. “Not saying anything.” It felt like the partnership had survived its biggest test and safety in the form of the lunch break was almost at hand.That’s when Chris Woakes arrived and turned the game on its head. Although his pace had dropped, and England looked elsewhere when the day started, now they were grateful to their wizard for securing a crucial edge through to the keeper. Reddy, so solid when the ball was close to his body, flirting with a wider line and throwing his head back when the mistake led to his undoing. England walked off the field to resounding cheers.1:24

Manjrekar looks back at the moments which cost India the Lord’s Test

Jadeja didn’t lift up the anchor even though he only had the bowlers for company and was nearly made to regret it. He was given out lbw to Woakes in the 48th over, with India still 68 runs away. But though the on-field umpire had thumbs-upped the appeal, DRS had other ideas. Jadeja realised how close he had gotten to disaster and sent the next ball soaring into the stands behind midwicket. That, apparently, was nothing more than a little venting of the nerves. There would be no more boundaries for 11 overs as Jasprit Bumrah showed great resilience and Jadeja, trust in his plan. They were going to do it in singles, particularly off the fourth ball of every over. India’s ninth-wicket partnership held England off for 131 deliveries – 53 of those faced with no trouble by Bumrah but the 54th became a problem.Stokes again, in the sixth over of another Iron Man spell, went short. He had refrained from doing so previously because the pitch had gone to sleep and digging it in didn’t seem to make sense. Now he was desperate enough to ignore the signs and just have a bit of faith. Bumrah invited the plan when he tried to hook a couple and missed, at which point Jadeja at the other end shook his head so disapprovingly, normal people would have just burst into tears. All this effort and you had to go and do that?Bumrah didn’t learn his lesson, though. He still went hooking and a top edge settled England’s nerves and left India on the brink.Stokes closed out the over and finally allowed his aura to fade and show some signs of exhaustion. He straight up forgot to pick up his cap from the umpire. He still continued to bowl though. He was still embedded in the fight, exhorting Archer to attack the ball at long-on, cheering Jamie Smith when he prevented a slower ball from sneaking past him, surging towards Ollie Pope when he thought he’d taken the match-winning catch at short leg, slipping under the lid at bat-pad. When what he had worked for finally happened, he just watched the rest of his team take off. He was too tired to join them. So they all came to him instead.

Everton’s 2024/25 campaign has begun with more firepower than fans have been used to in recent years.

After seasons of scraping survival, the Toffees finally look to have rediscovered some swagger in the final third.

Their summer recruitment was targeted and bold, bringing in attacking reinforcements that have re-energised David Moyes’ side.

However, the season opener ended in disappointment with a narrow 1-0 defeat away at a hostile Elland Road against Leeds United.

But rather than spiral, Everton bounced back in style. They started life at the Hill Dickinson Stadium with a 2-0 victory over Brighton, showcasing a fluid front line.

A 3-2 away win at Molineux underlined their growing confidence, even if defensive gaps remain.

Draws against Aston Villa and a spirited Merseyside derby defeat to Liverpool followed, leaving the Toffees in 10th place and comfortably clear of early relegation chatter.

The underlying metrics point to a promising attacking direction.

Everton have generated 7.1 expected goals (xG) so far, the seventh-most in the league – ahead of Liverpool, who sit on 7.0.

For a club that in recent years ranked near the bottom in attacking output, this marks a dramatic shift.

Much of that change has been inspired by a rejuvenated front four, headlined by Jack Grealish alongside Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Iliman Ndiaye and Beto.

Grealish at the heart of it all for Everton

Grealish’s arrival at Everton raised eyebrows in the summer.

Once a £100m man at Manchester City, his stock had fallen dramatically after two injury-hit seasons that restricted him to just 721 minutes of league action last term.

Now 30, with a market value hovering around €28m (£25m), as per Transfermarkt, Grealish was seen as a gamble – albeit one with huge upside potential. So far, he has delivered.

Across the opening five games, Grealish has registered four assists in 377 minutes of football, immediately placing himself at the core of Moyes’ side.

His ability to glide past defenders and draw fouls has given Everton a new dimension, one that unsettles even the most organised back lines.

For Grealish personally, this spell at Everton represents a crossroads.

England manager Thomas Tuchel has already made it clear that consistent minutes are essential if Grealish is to earn his way back into the international fold.

Left out of the most recent Three Lions squad, he must prove himself week in, week out.

If his body holds up, Everton may have found themselves a creative force capable of driving them towards a top-half finish, far removed from the relegation battles of recent memory.

As promising as Grealish’s revival is, however, Evertonians may be forgiven for wondering what might have been with Ademola Lookman.

How Lookman compares to Grealish

Signed from Charlton in 2017 as one of the most exciting English prospects, Lookman struggled for opportunities at Goodison Park.

He made just 48 appearances, scoring two goals, before being sold to RB Leipzig in 2019.

Since then, his trajectory has skyrocketed. Now 27 and valued at around €60m (£55m), Lookman has flourished at Atalanta in Serie A.

His defining moment came when he scored a sensational hat-trick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen, ending Xabi Alonso’s hopes of an unbeaten treble.

That performance propelled him into global recognition, having even attended the Ballon d’Or ceremony in 2024 as a nominee, a remarkable achievement for a player once deemed surplus to requirements on Merseyside.

Stylistically, Lookman has blossomed into a dynamic forward in the mould of Mohamed Salah or Alexander Isak.

His 2024/25 numbers highlight his evolution into an elite attacker: 20 goal involvements, 5.68 progressive carries per 90 and 5.41 shot-creating actions per 90 underline his ability to influence games at the very highest level.

Matches Played

31

Goals

15

Assists

5

Progressive Carries

142

Progressive Passes

73

The BBC’s John Bennett has gone as far as to describe him as “world-class” – praise unthinkable during his Everton days.

For Everton, Lookman is a painful reminder of their past failings in player development.

They once had a potential Ballon d’Or nominee in their ranks, but failed to provide the pathway or patience he required.

While Grealish offers present inspiration, Lookman embodies the “what if?” that continues to haunt supporters who dream of what could have been had the club harnessed his talent.

Silva sold "world-class" Everton star, now he's worth more than Grealish

Everton must rue letting this top star go, who is now worth more than new Toffees ace Jack Grealish.

ByKelan Sarson Sep 2, 2025

Yet another day and yet another disappointing draw for Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.

On Sunday afternoon, Russell Martin’s Gers failed to leave their away clash with all three points, taking the lead on the cusp of half-time through Bojan Miovski, only for Henry Cartwright’s long-range strike to pinch a deserved point for lowly Falkirk.

This means the Ibrox side have still won only one of seven Premiership fixtures, this coming at Livingston last Sunday, drawing five, including a quartet of 1-1s, thereby leaving them 8th, a whopping 11 points adrift league leaders Hearts.

Amazingly, Rangers are now without a clean sheet in 23 away games across all competitions, breaking the unwanted club record set in 1897.

Thus, ahead of an international break, the spotlight will once again be pointed in Martin’s direction, but could he save his job by dropping a player labelled “one of the worst players to ever play” for the club?

Joe Rothwell: Yet to make much of an impression

The surprise team news ahead of Sunday’s clash with Falkirk was the return to midfield of Joe Rothwell, having begun the last six matches among the substitutes.

Well, his return didn’t last too long, hooked after 70 minutes, replaced by Mohamed Diomandé, having made little discernible impact on the game.

The Englishman touched the ball only 32 times, that’s five fewer than goalkeeper Jack Butland, while losing possession on five occasions, neither of which is ideal for a player at the base of midfield, supposedly there to control the tempo and dictate play.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

However, he was not the summer signing who caught the eye for the wrong reasons most in Falkirk.

Rangers forward was as bad as Rothwell

When Mikey Moore arrived at Rangers in the summer on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, he did so with sky-high expectations.

The 18-year-old is incredibly highly rated by Spurs supporters, with David Hytner of the Guardian outlining his ‘many qualities’, including dribbling and finishing, labelling him a ‘rare talent’ who is ready to make a massive impact on the Tottenham first team.

By scoring against Elfsborg in a Europa League tie back in January, Moore became Spurs’ youngest scorer in a European competition, breaking Jimmy Greaves’ record that had stood since 1957.

Well, so far, Rangers supporters have seen none of this.

To date, in ten appearances for the Gers, Moore is yet to score a goal, while his only assist came against third-tier Alloa Athletic in a League Cup clash in August and, as you can see, scorer Nedim Bajrami did do most of the work!

Having been on the bench against Sturm Graz on Thursday, Moore did come into the starting lineup on Sunday, but was replaced by Oliver Antman on the hour mark, and his statistics make for grim reading.

Attempted dribbles

4

5th

Successful dribbles

2

6th

Accurate passes

13

18th

Shots on target

Zero

7th

Shots off target

Zero

12th

Key passes

Zero

11th

Crosses

2

11th

Duels contested

8

18th

Duels won

4

19th

Touches

36

16th

As the table documents, Moore registered zero shots and zero key passes, ranked lowly for passing, chance creation, duels and touches too, being generally anonymous throughout.

This led to the teenager being described as “one of the worst players to ever play for” the club by one Gers content creator on X, representative of the general sentiment from those in Govan.

Thus, when Martin is leaving out Oliver Antman, who has shown flashes of brilliance at times since arriving from Go Ahead Eagles, fans are very much not on board with Moore’s inclusion.

If he remains in charge for the visit of Dundee United in a fortnight, then perhaps leaving the Spurs loanee on the bench may be the way to go.

"To be honest" – Miovski explains why Rangers have better players than people realise

The Gers are still seeking their first away clean sheet of the season.

ByBen Goodwin Oct 4, 2025

KKR’s batters built steam gradually to post a challenging 200 for 6 before Arora led a new-ball effort that demolished SRH’s top three in 13 balls

Vishal Dikshit03-Apr-20252:53

Boucher: Arora’s length and swing caused trouble

While Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) regained the dazzling batting form they had lost somewhere on their trip to Mumbai, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting continued to be lackluster as they slumped to their third loss in a row after starting IPL 2025 with a mammoth 286. Four days after being skittled for 116 by Mumbai Indians, KKR posted a stiff 200 for 6, led by a 29-ball 60 from vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer and an unbeaten 17-ball 32 from Rinku Singh. Venkatesh and Rinku enabled KKR to finish with a bang – they scored 78 runs in their last five overs – after Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi set things up with a third-wicket stand of 81.SRH were punished for being sloppy in the field more than a few times, and managed just 120 in reply after the KKR quicks took their mighty top three down in just 13 balls. Last year’s runners-up slumped to the bottom of the table while the defending champions jumped five places from last to fifth.Related

Venkatesh: 'Aggression does not mean tonking every ball for a six'

The Arorana stumbling block in Travishek's rumbling road

Live Blog – KKR bowlers thwart SRH's hard-hitters again

KKR vs SRH: Kamindu Mendis bowls with both hands in the same over

Travis Head fell cheaply for the second time in a row against Vaibhav Arora, as in the IPL final last year, while Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan managed just 2 each. The eight runs scored by SRH’s top three was their second-worst start in the IPL. In last year’s final, their top three – though Kishan wasn’t part of it – had managed just 11.SRH barely recovered from 9 for 3 and slipped to 66 for 5 and eventually suffered their biggest defeat by a runs margin in the IPL.Travishan flop in big chaseThere was no venom in the pitch, no unplayable bounce or movement either, but the SRH top order had no answers for the KKR pace attack, even though Mitchell Starc is no longer part of it. Head skied the second ball to mid-off, Abhishek edged a slower one from Harshit Rana in the second over to slip, and Kishan smashed one to cover where Rahane pouched a sharp catch on the tumble to delight the home fans. Nine for 3 could have become 9 for 4 had Andre Russell held on to an on-drive from Kamindu Mendis at mid-on and made it a double-wicket maiden for Arora. Russell, however, redeemed himself when he got the next wicket as soon as the powerplay ended, having Nitish Reddy caught at long-on. Arora picked up his third eventually, getting the big scalp of Henrich Klaasen for 33 when he returned for his second spell.1:10

Do SRH need to rethink their batting approach?

In between, Reddy showed glimpses of his ball-striking talent, Mendis heaved a couple of sixes on the leg side off Russell, and Klaasen tried to take the game deep even as the asking rate climbed past 15 an over. Rahane stifled SRH with five overs in a row from Sunil Narine and Varun Chakarvarthy, from the eighth to the 12th, which went for just 33 and brought two more wickets, before Arora removed Klaasen and Varun nearly scalped a hat-trick in the 16th over. SRH were eventually bowled out for 120, again raising question marks over their batting approach.Narine, de Kock fall cheaply againEven though the Eden pitch didn’t have the spice that was offered by the Wankhede’s in KKR’s last game, they lost their openers cheaply again. Narine fell to another yorker, edging one behind this time, for 7, and Quinton de Kock pulled a short ball to deep square leg for 1 off 6 as KKR crawled their way to 17 for 2 after three overs. They got a lift thanks to the Mumbai duo of Rahane and Raghuvanshi, who between them struck four sixes in 14 balls to help KKR end the powerplay on 53 for 2. Rahane smashed three of them, even before hitting his first four, peppering the leg-side boundary with two pulls and a majestic flick behind square.Venkatesh Iyer crashed 60 off 29 balls•BCCI

Ansari pulls things backCummins brought on spin as soon as the field spread out and rookie legspinner Zeeshan Ansari rewarded his captain by stifling the set batters with turn, flight and different lengths to concede just 25 runs in three overs on the trot while the quicks continued to leak boundaries from the other end. Ansari conceded just one boundary off his first 14 deliveries, that too off a misfield from Reddy, before Raghuvanshi carted him for a six and four when he erred too full. Ansari, however, fought back with Rahane’s wicket for 38.Venkatesh, Rinku power KKR to 200SRH could have had two in two had Reddy not put down Raghuvanshi at the rope on 43. Raghuvanshi made them pay with a cover drive for four later in the over and brought up his second IPL fifty in the next. His luck finally ran out against the ambidextrous Sri Lanka spinner Kamindu Mendis, and when Harshal Patel held onto an excellent catch that he dived for after running in from deep point.KKR were going at just over eight an over after 13 overs, with two new batters in the middle. Harshal and Simranjeet Singh slowed them down further by taking the pace off the ball, but the trick didn’t work for too long. Rinku and Venkatesh took off once they got their eyes in and powered KKR to their first 200 total of this campaign. Rinku started the carnage with three consecutive fours off Harshal in the 17th while Venkatesh reeled off two in the next over, which Rinku finished with a towering six over long-on. Venkatesh then turned his purr into a roar in the penultimate over. Even though Cummins tried his cutter, a slower bouncer and a yorker among other things, Venkatesh went 4, 6, 4, 4 and brought up a 25-ball fifty before blasting Harshal for a six and a four at the start of the final over. He holed out next ball, and Harshal conceded just three off the last three, but the damage had already been done.

MatériaMais Notícias

O técnico Bruno Lage ainda não estreou na beira de campo pelo Botafogo, mas deixou os alvinegros mais supersticiosos bastante otimistas em relação a um bom desempenho da equipe sob o comando do português. Seu trabalho tem um aspecto em comum com a conquista do título do Brasileirão de 1995.

Apresentado na última quarta-feira (12 de julho) no Nilton Santos, o novo comandante guarda uma semelhança justamente com a chegada de Paulo Autuori ao clube.

Em 12 de julho de 1995, Autuori foi oficializado como técnico botafoguense. Ele veio para substituir Jair Pereira, que não ajudou o Alvinegro a engrenar no Carioca e, no segundo semestre, aceitou uma proposta para comandar o Vasco no Brasileirão.

Na época, Autuori era prestigiado por seus trabalhos no futebol português, à frente de Marítimo, Nacional e Vitória de Guimarães. O treinador teve tempo para fortalecer a equipe de olho na competição, que tinha formato diferente: com dois turnos e posterior semifinal e final.

Passados 28 anos, Lage desembarca no Glorioso em meio à campanha de pontos corridos. Por isso, projeta dar continuidade ao trabalho iniciado por Luís Castro.

– O que adianta é que a equipe vença o jogo hoje. E depois sábado, depois o jogo seguinte. O que adianta é trabalho. Tentaremos deixar os jogadores o mais confortáveis possíveis.

O objetivo é repetir o feito que Autuori conseguiu fazer com que o Botafogo alcançasse.

– Os desafios são diários, mas independentemente de quem possa retirar os méritos é o Botafogo. O primeiro é ser campeão – afirmou Lage.

The Premier League have explained why Nathan Collins was not given his marching orders by referee Craig Pawson in Brentford's 3-1 victory over Manchester United. The Irish defender looked set to be shown a red card when he hauled down Bryan Mbeumo in the penalty area and denied what appeared to be an obvious goalscoring opportunity. However, the Premier League have explained why it was not a red card.

• Collins brings down Mbeumo in the box

  After 71 minutes, and with United having already pulled back one goal in their quest to overhaul a two-goal deficit, Matheus Cunha slipped Mbeumo through and beyond the Bees' defence. The Cameroonian forward looked set to get onto the end of the ball and fire a shot on goal, but Collins grabbed his opponent and prevented him from reaching the ball. On first viewing, Collins seemed to have denied Mbeumo an obvious goalscoring opportunity, but was only handed a yellow card by the referee and the decision confirmed by VAR.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  The Premier League offer an explanation

  The Premier League offered a justification of the decision on X, posting: "The referee’s call of penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Collins deemed to pulled Mbeumo back. VAR also checked the referee’s call of yellow card to Collins – and deemed that Mbeumo wasn’t in control of the ball."

  United fans may not be too satisfied with the explanation and debate over whether Pawson and the VAR team made the right decision will no doubt continue in the coming days. Mbeumo did not have control of the ball when he was brought down in the penalty area, but he had seemed likely to reach the ball and fire an effort on goal. The double-jeopardy rule, which states a defender making a genuine attempt to play the ball while fouling an opponent cannot be also given a red card, also does not protect Collins in this situation, given his only intention was to impede the onrushing attacker. The Irish defender can count himself fortunate that the Premier League officials deemed Mbeumo too far from the ball to truly have an obvious goal scoring opportunity.

• Fernandes falters, Bees buzz

  The Red Devils were two goals down after just 20 minutes in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off, with Igor Thiago taking advantage of United's leaky defence to fire them ahead. Benjamin Sesko then added his first goal in a United shirt after 26 minutes to give the away side a glimmer of hope that they would get back into the game. Amorim's side continued to push for a leveller and when Mbeumo was brought down, they would have expected to equalise and have enough time to push for a winner. Yet, that would soon prove not to be the case.

  The time between the foul and Bruno Fernandes' eventual spot-kick lasted five minutes, with stoppages for VAR checks and Brentford substitutions slowing the game down. United, already feeling aggrieved that they were still up against 11 players, had their frustrations compounded when their skipper's weak penalty was saved by a sprawling Caoimhin Kelleher. The penalty miss added to the dismay at Collins' yellow card, for the foul on Mbeumo ultimately went unpunished by the Red Devils. The Bees were able to see off further United attacks and even added a third, game-sealing goal through Mathias Jensen in the dying moments of the game.

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  United slip to 12th and remain short of ideas

  The win for Brentford meant the Bees leapfrogged Amorim's side into 11th spot at the Red Devils' expense. United's tumultuous start to the Premier League season continues and their hunt to earn back-to-back wins in the league for the first time under their Portuguese coach. In fact, United have failed to win consecutive games in the Premier League since the start of the last season when they beat Fulham on the first game of the season, following a victory against Brighton in the final fixture of the 2023/24 campaign.

  The upcoming fixture list does not get any easier for United either with a home game against high-flying Sunderland followed by a trip to league leaders Liverpool. The Red Devils have not beaten the Reds at Anfield since 2016 and have endured their fair share of thrashings in that time, usually at the ruthless hands of Mohamed Salah. Before Amorim can even think about taking on Arne Slot's side though, there is no guarantee they will bounce back against the Black Cats next week, who are above them in the league with a game in hand.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi starred with a second successive half-century as India stormed into the Under-19 Asia Cup final with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Friday.The 13-year-old, who became the youngest cricketer ever to be bought at an IPL auction last month, smashed five sixes and six fours for his 36-ball 67 as India chased down a target of 174 with as many as 170 balls to spare.India will face Bangladesh in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.Related

• Bihar's Suryavanshi becomes youngest IPL player at just 13

Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by seven wickets, completing a chase of 117 in 22.1 overs in the first semi-final in Dubai.Opting to bat, Sri Lanka could only manage 173 in 46.2 overs despite a valiant effort from Lakvin Abeysinghe (69 off 110) and Sharujan Shanmuganathan (42 off 78).Their innings struggled to gain momentum but Indian bowlers were in full control with Chetan Sharma (3 for 34), Kiran Chormale (2 for 32), and Ayush Mhatre (2 for 37) wreaking havoc in the middle overs.Ayush Mhatre’s 34 off 28 laid a solid foundation for the chase as he put on a stand of 91 with Suryavanshi for the opening wicket.The young left-hander from Bihar troubled the Sri Lankan bowlers from the beginning as he started with consecutive sixes and a boundary off Sigera, who ended up giving away 31 runs in his opening over.Mhatre too played his strokes at the other end as the duo raced to 87 for no loss in eight overs before Vihas Thewmika gave Sri Lanka their first breakthrough by removing the batter.But Suryavanshi kept the run rate ticking despite losing his opening partner, forging another crucial association with C Andre Siddharth (22).He didn’t stop there, taking the attack to the bowlers with his aggressive strokes, including scoring two sixes off Aayan Khan. Captain Mohamed Amaan (25 not out) and KP Karthikeya (11 not out) then completed the chase.

Still looking to spend big this summer, Everton have now reportedly made contact to sign a Champions League-winning star for David Moyes.

Everton announce Aznou arrival

Resuming their summer business for the first time since welcoming Mark Travers from Bournemouth, Everton officially announced the arrival of young left-back Adam Aznou earlier this week. The former Bayern Munich gem has arrived in a deal reportedly worth around €12m (£10m) with add-ons included and represents an impressive coup by all involved at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Speaking for the first time since putting pen to paper, the 19-year-old told Everton’s official website: “I’m so happy to be here. I’m so proud to be part of this team.

“The project they gave me is really good. The Premier League is the best league in the world so I’m really excited to start. The stadium is really nice. It gives you a good feeling and it’s good for our fans to support us. It’s perfect for us. I just have to say I’m really thankful to be here. I’m really proud so I will give everything in every training session and every game.

“[Moyes] talked with me, he spoke with me about the team and how he wants me. So I decided directly when I spoke with him. I decided really quickly because of the words he gave me. He gave me confidence, so I decided to sign.”

Even after the Bayern Munich youngster, however, Everton are not done there on the transfer front. The Friedkin Group still have money to spend and have reportedly set their sights on welcoming their most impressive addition yet as a result.

Everton hold concrete talks to sign Grealish

As reported by AreaNapoli and relayed by Sport Witness, Everton have now made a serious first approach to sign Jack Grealish from Manchester City this summer after identifying the Champions League winner as a key target.

The England international has looked destined to leave Manchester City for at least a year now and it became clearer than ever that his future lies elsewhere when Pep Guardiola left him out of his Club World Cup squad earlier this summer.

Their new Gordon: Everton set to hold talks over signing big-money PL star

Everton eye sensational transfer for Manchester City’s treble-winning winger

ByWill Miller Jul 30, 2025

City’s trash could quickly become one of Everton’s most prized assets, however. At his best, Grealish played a pivotal part in City’s historic treble win in the 2022/23 campaign and remains a talented serial winner despite recent struggles at the Etihad.

On top of that experience, the £16m-a-year star, who is represented by the same agent as Jordan Pickford, is also a player who starred at international level under Gareth Southgate.

The former England boss told reporters in 2020 after defeat against Belgium: “I thought Jack Grealish had an absolutely outstanding game. Losing Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford, we lose a lot of speed. But I can’t fault the attacking play until the last chance.

“I saw what I knew I would see from Jack, someone with the bravery to play. He took the ball in tight areas, his technique was good, we knew he would buy a lot of free-kicks.”

No one apart from Imam-ul-Haq showed fight in the 337-run chase as Lions went down by 133 runs

Danyal Rasool14-Sep-2024Babar Azam top-scored with 76 to help Stallions thump Shaheen Shah Afridi’s Lions by 133 runs in the second match of the Champions Cup in Faisalabad. Half-centuries from four batters, including Tayyab Tahir, captain Mohammad Haris and Hussain Talat, helped Stallions amass 336 for 5 in their 50 overs.It was a team effort with the ball, too, with all six Stallions bowlers among the wickets. Haris Rauf picked up three wickets before Mohammad Ali’s 2 for 18 set the tone up top for a dominant Stallions performance as Lions failed to get stuck into the chase. Imam-ul-Haq offered the only real resistance, and though his 78 was the highest score of the match, none of his team-mates managed even 30.Stallions got off to a slow but steady start after their captain Haris elected to bat. Shan Masood and Babar struck up a 39-run partnership to pick up the pace before left-arm wristspinner Faisal Akram cleaned up Masood. Babar, who trudged through the first half of his innings, soon found his rhythm, guiding his side through the middle overs alongside Tahir, whose breezy 74 came off just 72 balls. It set the stage for blistering cameos from Haris and Talat towards the end, with 118 runs coming off the final ten overs.Ali, who had an inconsistent Test series against Bangladesh, struck in the first over of the chase to remove wicketkeeper-batter Sajjad Ali. He followed it up by getting rid of Abdullah Shafique in the fifth over. Lions kept losing wickets at regular intervals but Imam fought a lone hand. The asking rate, though, was always rising, and the game was over as a contest by the time Jahandad Khan trapped him in front.Shaheen, who had an indifferent day with the ball, managed a late flurry with the bat to get his side over 200 before Rauf returned to dismiss him and Sirajuddin, rubber-stamping a routine victory.