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The forward's red card proved Enzo Maresca's side's undoing as a slow start on Tyneside dealt them a big blow

Nicolas Jackson's red card dealt Chelsea's Champions League qualification hopes a sizeable setback as they fell to a 2-0 loss at high-flying Newcastle on Sunday.

The Blues suffered the worst possible start when Romeo Lavia was caught dilly-dallying on the ball and, moments later, Sandro Tonali swept in Jacob Murphy's low cross in the second minute.

The away side could not handle Newcastle's pace, power, and directness, and to make matters worse, Jackson was sent off for recklessly elbowing Sven Botman in the head 10 minutes before half-time.

Chelsea were much-improved in the second half following the introduction of Reece James, and had it not been for the quick reflexes of Nick Pope, Marc Cucurella's low drive would have levelled proceedings. Bruno Guimaraes, meanwhile, perhaps should have put the game to bed when fed into the six-yard box, but his wild strike flew high over the bar.

The 10 men of Chelsea made a real fist of it as the home crowd grew increasingly anxious, and Pope was once again called into action as he made a smart stop to deny Enzo Fernandez. But not long after James headed just over the bar, Guimaraes' deflected effort from 20 yards looped over Robert Sanchez to seal a crucial home victory.

GOAL rates Chelsea's players from St James' Park…

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  Goalkeeper & Defence

  Robert Sanchez (6/10):

  Fired off a couple of unhelpful passes to his team-mates when under pressure, but other than that was competent enough. Not much he could do for either goal.

  Moises Caicedo (7/10):

  Had his hands full with the pacey and lively Gordon, but pulled off some expertly timed tackles at right-back.

  Trevoh Chalobah (7/10):

  Much like team-mate Colwill, very little got by the centre-back. The decision to send him out on loan at the start of the season seems all the more baffling.

  Levi Colwill (8/10):

  Barely put a foot wrong. The defender made some crucial tackles and interceptions that helped steady his side's leaky ship.

  Marc Cucurella (6/10):

  The Spaniard was a fairly calm and composed figure, particularly as the game wore on. Did fairly well against the in-form Murphy.

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  Midfield

  Romeo Lavia (4/10):

  Tried to be too cute on the ball early on and was caught in possession; seconds later it was 1-0 to Newcastle. Did not offer enough bite and quality in midfield.

  Enzo Fernandez (6/10):

  Kept on plugging away and fashioned a couple of good chances, but couldn't pull his team back into the contest.

  Cole Palmer (6/10):

  Tried hard to find weak points in Newcastle's defensive armour but for all his probing, the England star couldn't quite unlock the home side's backline.

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  Attack

  Pedro Neto (6/10):

  The fleet-of-foot wideman gave Newcastle's defence something to think about, but maybe wasn't enough end product.

  Nicolas Jackson (2/10):

  Completely lost his head with a brainless swinging arm to the head of Botman. The striker is now out for the rest of the Premier League season. Utter stupidity.

  Noni Madueke (5/10):

  Didn't get many chances to shine, but when he was on the ball the winger did not do a great deal with it and was understandably withdrawn at the break.

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  Subs & Manager

  Reece James (6/10):

  The 25-year-old was a key part of Chelsea's second-half revival.

  Jadon Sancho (5/10):

  Offered little when he came on, other than some poor crosses and some stepovers.

  Malo Gusto (5/10):

  The right-back was brought on to provide a bit more go-ahead but his main contribution was for Newcastle's deflected second goal.

  Enzo Maresca (6/10):

  His side were harried, pressed, and hassled from the get-go as Howe's team won the tactical battle in the first half. However, the call to bring on James worked well after the interval, though the Blues didn't create enough openings on the whole.

Jack Wilshere has been ruled out of the running to be the next Norwich manager despite his brief spell as interim boss.

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• Wilshere in charge of Norwich's last two matches
• Canaries earned four points to finish 13th
• Ex-midfielder will not be given permanent job

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The former Arsenal and England midfielder took charge of the Canaries for the last two games of the season after Johannes Hoff Thorup was sacked. Wilshere guided Norwich to a 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough and a 4-2 win against Cardiff as they ended the season in 13th place in the Championship.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Wilshere, who joined Norwich as a first-team coach from Arsenal in October last year, has been informed that will not be considered as an option for the permanent job, as sporting director Ben Knapper says it is not the right time for such a move.

• WHAT KNAPPER SAID

  "Jack is a fantastic person, he and I have a big history together," he told . "He's a great coach and will be a fantastic head coach, but that's not going to be here at this particular moment in time. Naturally he's disappointed. He's super-ambitious, and he should be, but for where we are right now and the context, we're focussing externally.
  The emotional part, the romantic part of me would love to make that decision but my job is to not get wrapped up in emotion and to make cool, objective decisions."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR NORWICH?

  Norwich are aiming to mount a serious challenge for promotion back to the Premier League next season and will be eager to make the right call with their next appointment.

  "It's not something we expect to wrap up in a week or two but we don't want this to drag. We absolutely will have a head coach in place long before pre-season starts," the director continued. He added: "We consider the performance of the team, the performance and individual development of our players, and then of course results, all of those things were trending in the wrong direction. When that's the case we need to take action because we've got big ambitions and big targets here and ultimately we need to move towards delivering those."

Contact has been made with Manchester United as West Ham chiefs eye up a late January move, with co-chair David Sullivan and manager Graham Potter tipped to oversee a busy end to the window in east London.

West Ham target last-gasp January deals in multiple positions

The Hammers are in active pursuit of a new striker, following long-term injuries to Niclas Füllkrug and Michail Antonio, but a fresh centre-forward option isn’t their only potential incoming before the deadline.

West Ham make late January contact to sign ex-Liverpool star on loan

The Irons are chasing late signings.

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By
Emilio Galantini

Jan 30, 2025

West Ham had a bid rejected for PSV Eindhoven star Ricardo Pepi (Fabrizio Romano), and could yet go back in with an improved winter bid (Rik Elfrink). The USA international, who’s bagged 18 goals already in all competitions this season, would be a stellar capture for Potter – but if they fail with another approach, it is widely believed that Brighton starlet Evan Ferguson is another primary target.

“The news has emerged last night that Ferguson’s move to Bayer Leverkusen may have fallen through due to Al Nassr choosing to sign Jhon Duran over their forward Victor Boniface,” said club insider ExWHUemployee on Thursday.

“If the club get this confirmed and are confident that his injuries are not long-term, then further negotiations with the hope of completing before Monday’s deadline will occur.

“West Ham are prepared to include an option or obligation to buy in the loan deal to try and get the deal over the line. Talks are continuing with Ferguson, they are going positively as the club tries to work towards a deal.”

Ferguson’s possible move to the London Stadium is looking well and truly on, as Sullivan seeks to back Potter with a centre-forward who can fill in for both Fullkrug and Antonio.

However, it is also believed that West Ham are targeting another centre-back before the deadline, with Brighton’s Adam Webster among West Ham’s defender targets for this window.

Now, the 30-year-old has been joined by United’s Victor Lindelof.

West Ham contact Man United over signing Victor Lindelof

According to journalist Graeme Bailey, writing for United in Focus, West Ham have contacted United over signing Lindelof in January – with the £120,000-per-week Swede out of contract this summer and potentially available for a cut-price fee.

The 70-cap international appears out of Ruben Amorim’s long-term plans, motivating the Irons to test United’s resolve with an enquiry and gauge whether a mid-season deal for Lindelof is possible.

However, Bailey reports that the former Benfica star has no interest in joining West Ham, and has made that clear to his representatives.

Given Lindelof’s torrid injury record lately, not to mention the fact he’s now entered the twilight phase of his career, you could make a case that this is arguably for the best – and there could be better options out there for Potter.

The rest of the team is in Kolkata, and Shakib will rejoin them on October 27 ahead of their next game

Mohammad Isam25-Oct-2023Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s captain at the World Cup, has travelled to Dhaka to train with his mentor Nazmul Abedeen Faheem even as the rest of the team arrived in Kolkata ahead of their matches in the city against Netherlands on October 28 and Pakistan on October 31.Shakib arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon, a day after Bangladesh’s 149-run loss to South Africa in Mumbai, and went straight to the Shere Bangla National Stadium to work with Abedeen. The session lasted three hours with Shakib mainly taking throwdowns in the nets.”He arrived today. We will be training for three days,” Faheem told ESPNcricinfo. “Today, tomorrow and day after, and then he will return to Kolkata. We worked on his batting today.”Related

• A Mumbai mauling for the Tigers

• Dear World Cup, please be more exciting, please?

Shakib has struggled with the bat at the World Cup, scoring just 56 runs in four innings. He has taken six wickets too. All this, as Bangladesh have lost four out of their five games so far and sit at the bottom of the points table.”Shakib probably feels comfortable working this way,” Faheem said. “I am not sure what we are going to do next – I will take each session as he wants.”As such, the Bangladesh team has its roster of coaches travelling during the World Cup. Khaled Mahmud is the team director, there’s head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, technical advisor S Sriram, and Nic Pothas, Rangana Herath, Allan Donald, Shane McDermott and Faisal Hossain all in various roles.Leaving a World Cup campaign to go train with a personal coach in another (home, in this case) country is uncommon. Temba Bavuma, South Africa’s captain, had earlier left the team during the World Cup warm-up games to go back home and then rejoined the team, but that was because of “a personal situation,” as head coach Rob Walter put it.Shakib had previously left the 2019 IPL when his team Sunrisers Hyderabad left him out of the XI for four weeks. He hopped back to Dhaka to train with prominent local coach Mohammad Salahuddin. On that occasion, he chose to focus on the upcoming ODI World Cup in England and Wales, where he scored 606 runs took nine wickets.Shakib is scheduled to return to Kolkata on October 27, a day before the Netherlands game.

Fans have slammed Cristiano Ronaldo after Al-Nassr were dumped out of the AFC Champions League by Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale.

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• Nassr lost 3-2
• Ronaldo still yet to win a trophy in Saudi Arabia
• Wait goes on for Portuguese superstar

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Al-Nassr lost 3-2 to Kawasaki in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League, meaning Ronaldo's wait for a trophy in Saudi Arabia goes on. Sadio Mane and Ayman Yahya scored his side's goals but they were to no avail, and fans have taken aim at the Portugal superstar.

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  WHAT THE FANS ARE SAYING

  @AliHassanHQ said: "At this stage, Speed is better than Ronaldo at both football and YouTube."

  @IamHBozz said: "Washed man. Scammed Al-Nassr of £200m every year."

  @Abrampah_ added: "Always ghosting when it’s time to save the club but statpad unnecessary goals."

  @Unknownyearning said: "When will this glitch be over for Ronaldo and Messi and they leave their current teams and come again for European football and end things like in Europe like a perfect ending to their stories…when they'll be over this craziness.."

  @Aceeeeeeed added: "This fraud should retire."

  @Bewhatyoubejr concluded: "They need to terminate Ronaldo's contract in order to win trophies."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Ronaldo had scored eight goals in eight games in the AFC Champions League this season but his blank in the single-legged semi-final has cost his side dearly. Despite netting 91 goals in 102 games for the club, his wait for a winner's medal goes on.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Nassr play Al-Ittihad on Wednesday. Ronaldo's side are eight points behind the league leaders.

Victory over promoted Worcestershire ensures hosts avoid last-placed finish

ECB Reporters Network29-Sep-2023Shan Masood’s brilliant 123 gave Yorkshire a happy ending to another difficult season as they chased a final-day target of 360 to beat promoted Worcestershire at Headingley and avoid finishing bottom of the LV= Insurance County Championship for only the second time in their history.Yorkshire’s fourth-highest ever successful run chase was achieved with comfort, by six wickets with three overs of the allotted 70 remaining.With the game meandering ahead of day four, both sides opted to contrive a finish, with Yorkshire risking the draw which would lift them off the bottom of Division Two. As it was, they were able to achieve that by going for broke as captain Masood hit 15 fours in 131 balls.Worcestershire advanced their second innings – they started it with a lead of 127 late on day three – from 18 for 2 to 262 for 2 declared inside the first 70 minutes of play. Jake Libby benefited against declaration bowling with 109 not out, while Jack Haynes finished unbeaten on 113.James Wharton was one of those bowlers, but he later helped Masood steer the run chase with three sixes in a fine career-best 89. The third-wicket pair shared 164 either side of tea. Jonny Tattersall later hit the winning runs to finish 44 not out.This was just a minor blot on Worcestershire’s copybook having earned promotion on day two, and they should be applauded for their willingness to partake in invention.Yorkshire lost opener Fin Bean sharply caught and bowled by Dillon Pennington for 11 just before lunch as the score slipped to 22 for 1 in the 10th over.Pennington, playing his last game for the Pears before moving to Nottinghamshire, prevented 21-year-old Bean from reaching 1,000 Championship runs in an impressive breakthrough year. He fell only 17 runs short. The consolation for the left-hander was that he was awarded the Yorkshire Members’ Player of the Year award at lunch.Adam Lyth did, however, reach the milestone which Bean missed out on. He needed 32 at the start of this innings to reach 1,000 for the fourth time in his career. And his 51 off 62 balls gave Yorkshire a platform. He shared 88 either side of lunch with second-wicket partner Masood, only to fall caught at midwicket off a miscue against left-arm spinner Josh Baker.Captain Masood batted in dreamy fashion, driving and working particularly well in excellent batting conditions. He reached his fifty off 57 balls before tea – Yorkshire were 175 for 2 after 39 overs, needing 185 more – and his second hundred for the county off 107 balls afterwards.Yorkshire cruised through the final session. At 237 for 2, they took the target to 123 from the final 20 overs. By that time, Wharton had reached his fifty off 71 balls.Baker bowled Wharton and had Masood caught at deep midwicket in quick succession, leaving the score 279 for 4 – 81 needed inside 14 overs.But George Hill and Tattersall maintained the intent and shared an unbroken 84 for the fifth wicket. Hill contributed 38 of them, with both scoring at better than a run-a-ball.This finish was engineered following an hour of forgettable cricket. Worcestershire resumed on 18 for 2, a lead of 145. Yorkshire bowled properly for the opening 20 minutes through Matt Milnes and Ben Coad, but with no breakthrough they turned to declaration bowling from Bean and Wharton. They shared 19.1 overs, conceding more than 100 runs apiece.Libby and Haynes, the latter in his final appearance for Worcestershire ahead of a move to Notts alongside Pennington, were the beneficiaries of an open-goal chance to boost their averages. They both reached centuries as a total of 214 runs were scored in 23.1 overs.”People don’t come to watch draws, so it’s nice to set up a result,” said Bean as he accepted his Player of the Year award at lunch.For Yorkshire, things worked out well as they avoided a bottom-placed finished for the first time since 1983 and gave an early indication they will be promotion favourites next summer with no points penalty.

Jude Bellingham is being urged to undergo surgery this summer, with the Real Madrid superstar still clearly struggling with a shoulder problem.

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• Issues first surfaced at Dortmund
• Suffered dislocation in 2023
• Decided against going under the knife

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The England international first suffered issues with that part of his body during a three-year stint in Germany with Borussia Dortmund. He would often take to the field wearing shoulder supports.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Bellingham then dislocated his left shoulder during an outing for Real against Raya Vallecano in November 2023. He was forced to miss fixtures for club and country as a result of that injury setback.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  The expectation was that the 21-year-old would go under the knife, but an operation never happened. Bellingham is still nursing a familiar ailment, though, with the Three Lions midfielder seen getting heavy strapping before stepping off the bench for Real against Getafe.

• TELL ME MORE

  It took a member of the Blancos’ medical staff over a minute to ready Bellingham for action. He has previously said of nursing a shoulder complaint: “It’s OK. I’m still in the sling, which is a little uncomfortable, but the overall feeling is pretty good.”

Bermuda kept themselves in the chase, but two collapses at different times washed away their hopes

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2023Canada 132 for 4 (Dhaliwal 45, Kirton 26, Sabir 2-34) beat Bermuda 93 (Fray 30, Leverock 23, Sana 3-4, Gordon 3-6, Dutta 2-16) by 39 runsCanada have booked a place in the T20 World Cup for the first time after beating Bermuda by 39 runs in the final game of the Americas Region qualifier to secure a spot in the 2024 edition.It was a straight shootout between Canada and Bermuda to determine who made it to the T20 World Cup co-hosted by USA and West Indies next year. Batting first in the rain-reduced 18-overs-a-side contest, Canada posted 132 for 4 with Navneet Dhaliwal leading the way with 45 off 38.Canada lost opener and their highest run-scorer of the tournament Aaron Johnson in the fifth over but Dhaliwal held one end up. He added a 39-run third-wicket stand with Harsh Thaker before both batters fell off successive deliveries.While Derrick Brangman sent back Thaker off the final ball of the 15th over, Dhaliwal fell first ball of the next to give Bermuda an opening. But Nicholas Kirton slammed 26 off 10 balls, which included two sixes and two fours to give Canada a strong finish. They smashed 37 in the final three overs including 20 off the final to reach 132 for 4.In reply, Thaker had opener Tre Manders caught in his first over, but Kamau Leverock and Terryn Fray kept the chase on track. They added 50 for the second wicket off 44 balls before a collapse washed away Bermuda’s hopes.From 52 for 1, Bermuda slipped to 63 for 4 in the space of 11 balls with Nikhil Dutta picking two key wickets. Allan Douglas kept Bermuda’s hopes alive, but once he fell for a 13-ball 22, another collapse ensued which saw them lose their last six wickets for just eight runs in 3.3 overs.Kaleem Sana, turned out to be the pick of the bowlers as Bermuda were bowled out for 93 in 16.5 overs. Sana was named Player of the Match for his figures of 3.5-1-4-3.