Notes from a day in baseball: • 1. Gonna Fly Now. With both the Dodgers and Padres bumping each other on the rail, the Phillies saw their opening on the outside and made their move. (Did that make any sense? We haven't been to a horse race in a long time). Brett Myers threw a complete game — his first in more than year — and Chase Utley was at his Utleyest, and Philadelphia took a 6-2 win over Chicago on Wednesday. With the Dodgers losing to Pittsburgh 6-4, the Phillies moved into a tie with LA for the NL wild-card lead. San Diego also lost, 8-2 to the Diamondbacks despite the pitching stylings of David Wells, but the Padres stayed in first in the NL West by a half game over LA. Got all that? Utley hit a two-run homer, by the way. • 2. He's Got Game. We know we've been neglecting the Athletics of late; they're winning their division handily, after all. So let us talk now of Milton Bradley and Frank Thomas, and raise our mugs and drink heartily to the good times. Bradley homered and singled home the tying run, and Thomas doubled in the winning run in the seventh, as the A's beat the Indians 4-3. Cheers. • 3. Freakin' Marlins! Dontrelle Willis hit two home runs, had a run-scoring single and pitched eight-plus innings in Florida's 6-3 win over the Mets. The Marlins are four games behind of the first-place Dodgers and Phillies in the NL wild-card race, with (produces out calculator; begins typing furiously) 10 games remaining. • 4. The Night Chicago Died. As the Tigers cling doggedly to their slim lead in the AL Central, we nonetheless refuse to abandon the mattress we're holding beneath them at the bottom of the ravine. After a 6-2 win over the White Sox (please play "Taps" here), Detroit remains a half-game ahead of the Twins. The White Sox are six games back in the Central, 5 1/2 in the wild-card race. • 5. Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover. David Ortiz hit is 50th home run, but Boston lost 8-2 to the Twins and Boof Bonser, who won his third straight decision. It's officially all over for the Red Sox in the AL East, as you no doubt are aware. As Matt Damon said in a noteable movie set in Boston, how do you like them apples? (We've never quite understood what was so clever about that line, by the way.)
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Lionel Messi s goal and his celebration in honour of Diego Maradona were great in every sense , according to Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman.
Messi scored in fine style to cap a 4-0 victory over Osasuna at Camp Nou on Sunday, a game that was preceded by a tribute to former Barca star Maradona, who died on Wednesday.
Having found the net, Messi removed his Barca shirt to reveal a Newell s Old Boys jersey bearing Maradona s famous number 10. The 1986 World Cup winner spent a season at the club, where Messi was later a youth player, towards the end of his career.
Koeman was impressed both with his captain s finish and with the way he chose to pay his respects to his Argentine compatriot.
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Prediction: PSG win
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The hectic nature of European football this season means that we are once again gearing up for another week of UEFA Champions League action. We re half way through the group stage now and while many groups already seem to have a clear direction in terms of who will qualify, the same cannot be said for Group H. Today, we re going to preview the impending clash between two sides that are separated by one place and just three points Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.
Manchester United
A handful of hard-fought wins seem to have eased the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for the time being but as we look ahead to an absolutely stacked month of football for the Red Devils, there s no time to celebrate. If …
Nottingham Forest have sacked Mark Warburton less than 24 hours after their 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at the City Ground
Forest have endured a miserable recent run, winning just one of their last seven league matches to leave them in 14th position in the Championship, 10 points off the play-off places and nine clear of the bottom three.
Saturday s loss at the hands of Sunderland proved the final straw for the Forest hierarchy, Aiden McGeady scoring the only goal to give Chris Coleman s side a rare away win.
Warburton – who took charge in March and kept Forest in the Championship on goal difference last season – is followed out of the door by assistant David Weir and sporting director Frank McParland.
can confirm that the contracts of Mark Warburton…
Jurgen Klopp had no doubts over the quality of his Liverpool squad, but was delighted the Reds lesser lights shined bright in the Merseyside derby.
Liverpool stormed to 5-2 victory over lowly Everton at Anfield on Wednesday, with Klopp bringing up his 100th Premier League win in the process.
It also marked a new club record, as Liverpool extended their unbeaten run in the top flight to 32 matches, since they were defeated by Manchester City in January.
Divock Origi scored twice to take his tally of derby goals to five, while Xherdan Shaqiri capped his first start of the season with a goal regulars Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum completing the rout.
I speak a lot about the quality of the squad so I have to show it from time to time, but then the boys …
Southampton heaped more misery on crisis club Aston Villa with a 4-2 Premier League victory at Villa Park, condemning the already-relegated side to a club record sixth straight loss at home.
Shane Long hit the bar in the second minute but made amends soon after with the opening goal, heading in a glorious left-wing Ryan Bertrand cross.
Southampton continued to press and Virgil van Dijk struck the post as paper aeroplanes rained down from the home stands in protest, before Long had a goal rightly ruled out for offside.
Long then teed up Dusan Tadic for Southampton s second before Ashley Westwood pulled a goal back for the hosts just before half-time to provide some hope.
But Tadic scored again from Long s assist and after Westwood s second had reduced …
Brazilian attacker Nene de Carvalho has revealed that he expects to leave Al Gharafa in the winter transfer window.
The 33-year-old left Paris Saint-Germain to sign for the Qatari side in January 2013 and he has since largely impressed at his new club.
Nene proved his goalscoring prowess by notching 20 goals in 43 league outings, but it appears he is no longer happy at Al Gharafa.
Having been heavily linked with a return to French Ligue 1, the veteran footballer has revealed that he will either move back to Europe or head over to his native Brazil.
“I will probably go back to Europe, or perhaps to Brazil, but there is nothing concrete yet,” Nene said while appearing at a charity event in his hometown of Jundiai.
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Germany s veteran goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is handing in his international gloves after 10 years service, the German football federation (DFB) said on Friday.
The 38-year-old Lehmann was the oldest player at Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria when Germany lost to Spain in the June 29 final.
The keeper, who quit Arsenal at the end of last season to join Stuttgart, decided to step down after a discussion with Germany s national coach Joachim Low and goalkeeping coach Andreas Kopke.
Lehmann explained he wanted to give a chance for another keeper to prove himself in time for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
I was not able to guarantee to the national coach that I would still be playing football at the end of the coming season during which I am under …
Stuttgart, bidding to dislodge last season s Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich, got their campaign off to a solid start Sunday in winning 3-1 away at promoted Borussia Moenchengladbach.
With Bayern held to a 2-2 home draw the previous day by old rivals Hamburg the stage was set for Armin Veh s side to take advantage and his side impressed in securing full points with goals from Thomas Hitzlsperger, Ciprian Marica and Mario Gomez, all before half-time.
A Rob Friend consolation on the hour mark was of little cheer to Borussia fans, their club having struggled in recent years to revisit the halcyon days of the 1970s.
Veh was delighted by the start to the campaign.
We saw really good football out there today, not least as Gladbach also played in an attack…
Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius has recently stated that he is hoping to be the Reds number one long-term. The Germany international arrived in the summer of 2016 from one of Jurgen Klopp’s former clubs Mainz.
However, Klopp has rotated Karius with Belgian international Simon Mignolet for the last season and a half. However, Liverpool boss Klopp has now stated that his compatriot is number one and Karius has now played four straight games in the Premier League.
Talking about the future, Karius told : I just want to present myself well and then I ll have the chance to play at this club for the next season as well. That s the challenge facing me personally,
I also want to help this team achieve as much as we can. As well as the top four, we still have the Ch…
Competition: FA Cup
Market: Chelsea to beat Hull
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The FA Cup returns for yet another massive round of games as the competition will surely only bring more thrills, spills and goals. England s most famous knock-out competition is no stranger to shocking results, and with this in mind, Hull will be looking to secure a famous result as they travel to play Chelsea on Friday.
Chelsea hvae been in fairly good form this season but they are in need of a run of wins that would see them consolidate their position in the Premier League, while it would also see them progress in the FA Cup and Champions League. After 27 league games they have won 16, drawn five and lost six, while they have scored 49 goals and conceded 23 times. In their last five games…