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A power-packed half-century from 23-year old Stephan Baard was followed up by a triple-wicket maiden from from Bernard Scholtz as Namibia outplayed Papua New Guinea by 49 runs in Malahide

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNamibia’s left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz bowled 16 dot balls in four overs•ICC/Sportsfile

A power-packed half-century from 23-year old Stephan Baard was followed up by a triple-wicket maiden from Bernard Scholtz as Namibia outplayed Papua New Guinea by 49 runs in Malahide.Often times there is nothing quite like scoreboard pressure. It’s doubly useful on a tired pitch where the slower you bowl the harder it is to hit. Before the game, Namibia had decided that if the ball was too full or too short, their batsmen would go after it. Come game day, they amassed 181 for 5 in their 20 overs. As with such big scores, one of the top order goes on to score big.Baard typified Namibia’s pre-game attack plan. When the ball was overpitched, he drove viciously through cover and mid-off. Three fours and two sixes came from that part of the ground. Then when PNG were forced to bowl flatter and shorter, he used the sweep and the pull liberally. Meanwhile, Namibia got past 60 runs in the Powerplay for a third time in the tournament and he eased to a fifty off 27 balls.He did slow down thereafter, but consequently stayed at the crease until the penultimate over to ensure the early platform amounted to a sizeable total. Baard, with 233 runs at an average of 77.66 is the top-scorer of this year’s World T20 Qualifier, so Namibia’s middle order simply had to bat around him. Sarel Burget, at No. 5, made 38 runs off 20 balls in a fourth-wicket partnership that yielded 74 runs in 42 balls.That he didn’t pick up the Man-of-the-Match award indicates the value of Scholtz’s effort with the ball. He offered no pace for the batsman and profited when they tried to make some of their own. That can be a difficult plan for a spinner to trust, considering this was slam-bang T20 cricket. But in Malahide, the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat and it was a pretty large ground too.So Scholtz kept bowling slow and broke PNG’s chase in the 13th over. Charles Amini mistimed a loft because of the lack of pace and was caught at long-on. Next ball, Scholtz slowed it up further and Mahuru Dai swept across the line straight to deep midwicket. The hat-trick ball was looped up above the eyeline as well, got loads of turn to hit new batsman John Reva on the pads, but it had pitched outside leg stump. He would finish the over trapping Reva plumb in front for the score to dip from 90 for 4 to 90 for 7. Scholtz bowled 16 dot balls in his four overs, Papua New Guinea’s priorities shifted from hunting down the runs to lasting the 20 overs.Things had looked very different at the start of the chase. Tony Ura helped ransack 68 runs in the first six overs to keep Papua New Guinea well ahead of the rate. He had five fours and a six in his 21-ball 34 and was looking especially good while driving the ball. But Namibia found a way past him through a run-out and thereafter did not find much resistance to their progress to the top of the Group A table thereafter. If they remain on top until the end of the league stage, they will claim direct qualification into the World T20 in India next year.

Steven Smith scored a timely half-century as Australia’s selectors consider their Test squad to tour India, helping New South Wales to first-innings points in their match against Western Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2013

Scorecard
Steven Smith made 72•Getty Images

Steven Smith scored a timely half-century as Australia’s selectors consider their Test squad to tour India, helping New South Wales to first-innings points in their match against Western Australia. Moises Henriques was also in form and at stumps was unbeaten on 62 alongside Steve O’Keefe on 16, and at 6 for 263, the Blues had a 21-run lead over the Warriors.On a slow pitch that most batsmen found hard work, Smith batted for more than three hours for his 72 and struck nine boundaries before he was dismissed by Jason Behrendorff. Several New South Wales batsmen made starts, including Scott Henry (39) and Peter Nevill (26), but both were removed by the debutant spinner Ashton Agar.Henriques struck six fours and one six in his innings and for much of the time was batting alongside Smith in a 72-run partnership. Earlier, the Warriors had added only 10 runs to their overnight total before losing their final wicket, which was claimed by O’Keefe, who ended up with 4 for 55.

AB de Villiers’ bright start as South Africa’s limited-overs captain has hit a speed bump and it did so in embarrassing fashion

Firdose Moonda in Kimberley21-Jan-2012AB de Villiers’ bright start as South Africa’s limited-overs captain has hit a speed bump and it did so in embarrassing fashion for a man who prides himself on professionalism, athleticism and commitment to the cause.South Africa put on a barely believable and sometimes-comical fielding display, mixing terrific catches like Alviro Petersen’s leap on the boundary to dismiss Kumar Sangakkara with horrible gaffes such as Morne Morkel’s drop of Angelo Mathews. “We weren’t great in the field today,” de Villiers said. “We created a few chances that we didn’t take.”Usually energetic and committed in the field, South Africa appeared frantic and pressured as Sri Lanka built confidently during their chase of 300. Dinesh Chandimal and Thisara Perera attacked bad balls and ran well between the wickets, although they had one mix-up that could have had either of them dismissed. de Villiers said being under that sort of pressure had tested his ability to use his bowlers, and he felt he could have done it better.”I needed to take a few chances because we needed wickets and I thought the bowlers did really well on a good pitch. But I made a few tactical errors and used the wrong bowlers at the wrong time.”The decision to keep the spinners on against a fluent Perera was one such strategic mistake. “I thought the spinner could get us one,” he said. “We tried to bounce him but the ball wouldn’t come up. It was one of those pitches where it was not very easy to take wickets. We tried slower balls. I tried every single bowler in the team.”Wickets were always going to be hard to come by on a flat pitch, and de Villiers admitted South Africa had actually lost the game with the bat. After a speedy start, they were well placed to score over 300, but had to settle for 299 for 7. They lost four wickets for 47 runs and their lower-middle order was unable to score as freely as de Villiers had against a regrouped Sri Lankan attack that bowled with discipline.de Villiers accepted full responsibility for South Africa’s slowdown towards the end of their innings. “We should have got to 330 but I got out at a very bad stage. We needed a partnership there.”de Villiers was bowled for 96 by a Perera slower ball in the 41st over with South Africa on 250 for 5. Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson and Vernon Philander are capable of big hitting but were forced to play a more watchful game. South Africa scored only 49 runs off the last 9.1 overs.”We put the lower order under huge pressure so they couldn’t play the game they would normally play,” de Villiers said. “But with the ball, they [Parnell and Philander] showed variation and skill, and then we let them down in the field.”Despite the stumble towards the end of the innings, South Africa can take heart from the pressure they created at the start and the return to form of Graeme Smith. With talk over the former captain facing the axe, Smith announced his intention to continue playing the 50-over format of the game brutally. “Hopefully he makes it happen now and maximises this,” de Villiers said. “I am expecting more runs from him in Jo’burg.”The final match of the series will be South Africa’s last home appearance of the summer before they head to New Zealand and England. de Villiers said they want end this series in as strong a position as possible. “We spoke about ruthlessness before this game but we weren’t that ruthless. We’ll have to do that better. We wanted a whitewash but we didn’t do that. We want to make it 4-1 now.”

Daniel Harris and Kieron Pollard smashed whirlwind half-centuries as South Australia overwhelmed Western Australia

The Bulletin by Andrew Fuss13-Jan-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDaniel Harris got South Australia off to a flier against Western Australia•Getty Images

The “Doctor” struck at the WACA – in more ways than one – as South Australia cruised to a 46-run win over the hapless Warriors in a KFC Big Bash match that had everything from streakers to an assistant coach taking a screamer – on the field.Man of the match Daniel ‘Doc’ Harris was the destroyer for the Redbacks, blasting 70 off just 37 balls; part of a 98-run opening stand with skipper Michael Klinger (35 off 25) that set-up a massive total of 202.The Fremantle Doctor – the name of the strong wind that comes off the ocean near the ground – also caused some destruction during the Redbacks’ innings, bringing down a large tree outside the ground, which crushed a car and landed on Foxtel’s outside broadcast van, affecting their coverage of the match for some time.In a match billed as the battle of the big-hitting West Indians, Kieron Pollard (55 off 26) came out on top, equalling the fastest 50 of the Big Bash summer and proving why he’s worth the price of admission alone. Even a broken nose to Australian one-day hopeful Callum Ferguson – courtesy of a Saj Mahmood bouncer – and a late-innings collapse, where they lost 6 wickets for 12 runs, could not stop South Australia from posting a big score.As has been the case in several Big Bash matches this year, early wickets hindered the team chasing, with Chris Gayle’s bizarre stumping – the ball deflected off Graham Manou’s stomach and back onto the stumps – deflating the Warriors’ hopes early. Pollard was again in the action in the field, this time unleashing a verbal tirade on in-form Warriors opener Shaun Marsh (24 off 22), which lasted several overs until Marsh was dismissed thanks to a gem of a catch from Klinger, diving full length to his right at cover.The Warriors middle order was left with too much to do and collapsed late; the only other highlight – a diving catch late in the innings by South Australian assistant coach Jeff Vaughan, who was forced to field because of injuries to Ferguson and Dan Christian, who strained a leg muscle.The victory moved South Australia to the top of the Big Bash table, ahead of their clash with Queensland next Thursday in Adelaide, while the Warriors are floundering at the bottom of the table, with a tough match at home to Victoria next Tuesday on the cards.

Steyn’s masterclass in Nagpur had everything, conventional swing with the new ball that got him the wickets of Murali Vijay and Sachin Tendulkar and a blistering reverse-swing whirlwind after tea that saw India lose their last six wickets for 12

S Aga08-Feb-2010
“He maintained mastery of orthodox outswing and inswing from a neutral position without telegraphing his intent. He was lithe, with a wickedly fast arm that elevated him to express status. Only in inches was he lacking – but he even turned that to his advantage with a bouncer as malicious as they come, skidding on to the batsman.” Mike Selvey could have been writing about Dale Steyn, and not Malcolm Denzil Marshall, who took his final Test wicket, Graham Gooch, when the boy from Phalaborwa was all of eight years old.Pound for pound, Marshall was probably the greatest fast bowler of all time. Doubters need only look at the tour of India in 1983, when his 33 wickets at 18.81 came against a batting core – Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri and Kapil Dev – that finished with 81 centuries between them. Steyn is no facsimile of the Bajan titan. His action is far more classical and side-on, where Marshall was more open-chested. But like his predecessor, Steyn can bowl furiously quick, and hoop the ball both ways. When he nips it back off the seam as well, he’s nigh on unplayable.The masterclass in Nagpur had everything, conventional swing with the new ball that got him the wickets of Murali Vijay and Sachin Tendulkar and a blistering reverse-swing whirlwind after tea that saw India lose their last six wickets for 12. Steyn’s figures for that passage of play were 3.4-2-3-5. At the WACA in its pace-and-bounce heyday, it would have been eye-catching. On a relatively placid Nagpur pitch, it was mindboggling.Ignore Virender Sehwag, a batting iconoclast. The other Indian batsmen faced 62 balls from Steyn, scoring 17 runs. That would suggest that he frustrated the opposition out. Far from it. Each man was worked out in a certain way. Vijay had already been troubled enough by the outswinger when Steyn summoned up the sort of incoming delivery that had detonated the stumps of Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell in the recent home series. Tendulkar had driven an outswinger for four in his previous over, but one pitched slightly shorter and a couple of inches closer to middle stump suckered him into another drive that only found the edge. It was straight out of said-the-spider-to-the-fly.Even as he finished with 7 for 51, Steyn spoke with special fondness of the Tendulkar dismissal. “That one, and Vijay just before him,” he said almost bashfully. “I worked him [Vijay] out quite nicely with two balls that went away and then bringing one back in which he left. That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen out in the middle. We’ve really planned it.”As a quick bowler, you know that if you pitch the ball up, you’ll get driven,” he said of the trap set for Tendulkar. “But when you pitch it up, you have a chance of finding the edge of the bat. I didn’t mind being hit for four down the ground or being nicked through the slips. If he’s willing to drive, there’s a chance I can get a wicket. That’s the risk you take when you pitch up.”Circumstances too played a part with the ball splitting open after 55 overs, by which time India had progressed to 212 for 4. Paul Harris and JP Duminy bowled a couple of overs with the replacement before tea, and then the fun commenced. “Corrie [van Zyl] sat us down at tea and said that the session after lunch wasn’t good enough,” said Steyn. “We didn’t get the wickets that we wanted. We had the ball changed and once it started to reverse and we got one or two lucky dismissals, it just started a roll.”He certainly isn’t the first South African quick to wreak havoc in Indian conditions. Even though he never delivered the sort of headline spell that Steyn managed on Monday, the great Allan Donald took 17 wickets at a paltry 16.11 in his four Tests in India. Lance Klusener once took eight in an innings at the Eden Gardens, but Steyn hadn’t asked for notes from either before embarking on this latest Indian adventure. “To be honest, I haven’t spoken to anyone like Allan,” he said. “But one thing that does happen in our side is that information gets passed on. When those guys leave, they pass it on to the remaining guys. Information on these wickets and how to bowl in these conditions will remain in our team. It’s up to the players in the side to actually go out there and execute the plans.”The biggest part of that plan was reverse swing, something that Steyn had stressed even in the build-up to the series. “You’re not going to get a lot of sideways movement off the wicket because there’s not a lot of grass on them,” he said with a smile. “You’ve got to rely on getting the ball to do something through the air. I said before that a ball bowled at 145k, whether it’s in Jo’burg or Nagpur, is still 145ks in the air. The plan was to hit the deck hard, with pace.”India’s extra-long tail was especially clueless against the kind of reverse swing that Waqar Younis once perfected. But just as lethal were the inswingers he bowled with the hard new ball. “It’s something I’ve been working a lot with in the nets,” he said. “I don’t want to reveal all my secrets. You work on these things and then it’s nice to see guys shoulder arms and then the ball cannons into the stumps. I got Bell like that in Johannesburg and that was where it started from. It’s a skill that you have to have in your armoury as a pace bowler.”Sehwag took 34 off the 38 balls he faced from Steyn in the first innings, but was altogether more shaky the second time. When he flailed one to slip, South Africa’s job of going one-up in the series was nearly half done. Emboldened by Steyn’s post-tea burst, Graeme Smith hadn’t gone the safety-first route and batted again. “Some of the guys wanted to know if we should go out and bat again and really take the game away from India,” said Steyn. “Or whether the bowlers had enough energy to come out there and bowl for another 25 overs. It was a quick chat and it worked out quite nicely. We wanted to pick up two to three wickets and we were able to get two.”Five years ago, Jason Gillespie produced one of the finest fast-bowling performances (9 for 80) seen on Indian soil as Australia romped to a 342-run victory at the old stadium across town. That though was a rather more helpful surface, with tufts of grass seldom seen on the subcontinent. Without that assistance, Steyn did what Marshall had done so memorably at Kanpur in the opening Test of that ’83 series, blitzing the batsmen with subtle movement at high pace. Steyn is hardly an imposing physical specimen, and it was an Indian bowler that Sunil Gavaskar recalled when asked about Marshall Law at Green Park. “He actually bowls more like Kapil, especially that outswinger. But he’s about 10k quicker.”On largely lifeless pitches, that extra hustle makes all the difference. Unless Tendulkar produces the kind of once-in-a-lifetime innings that VVS Laxman played in the Garden of Eden, India will be out of chips and on the street long before this match enters a fifth day.

The midfielder once looked destined for the top, but never made an appearance at the senior international level

It's the summer of 2014, and the New York Red Bulls are facing Arsenal in what would end up being Thierry Henry's testimonial. It wasn't known as that at the time, of course, as Henry had yet to announce he would retire at the end of that MLS season, but it had all the feelings of a goodbye game. The club he is most associated with travelled across the Atlantic to visit his new home, as fans both old and new gathered for a match that very much honored the French icon.

Henry, of course, received the loudest reception of the day as supporters on both sides applauded their hero. Arsene Wenger also received a large ovation from the New Jersey crowd. But, Henry aside, the player that received the most attention wasn't an Arsenal hero of yesteryear; it was Gedion Zelalem.

Just 17 years old at the time, Zelalem was a rising star in the Arsenal academy. He was also at the center of an international tug-of-war between Ethiopia, Germany and the United States. At Red Bull Arena that day, there were signs in the crowd pleading him to choose the U.S. men's national team, as the race was seemingly between the U.S. and Germany for a player of Zelalem's caliber.

On Saturday, the USMNT and Germany will face off in a friendly as both march towards the 2026 World Cup, and Zelalem will be on neither side. Once a highly regarded prospect at Arsenal, a legitimate German youth international and the potential savior of U.S. Soccer, Zelalem never made an international appearance for any of the three senior teams he was eligible to represent.

So what happened to Gedion Zelalem, the U.S.-eligible wonderkid and future Arsenal star that was once dubbed the next Cesc Fabregas? Well, to put it lightly, he didn't have the luck needed to reach the level many thought he would.

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  American beginnings

  Born in Berlin to Ethiopian parents, Zelalem learned the game in Germany, featuring for Hertha Berlin's academy at the youngest of levels. In 2006, at the age of nine, he arrived in the U.S. with his father following the passing of his mother in the previous year, moving to the DMV area and quickly establishing himself as a rising star in local circles.

  It was during that time he was discovered by former Arsenal full-back and then-scout Daniel Karbassiyoon, who convinced the Gunners to take a chance on the young American and offer him a trial. His stay was quickly made permanent.

  “It was surreal,” Zelalem told in 2019. “I saw the first-team players, I was starstruck. I saw Arsene Wenger, I was starstruck. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought I was living in a movie.”

  Zelalem was a Gunner, and he looked set for big things.

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  Emerging from the Arsenal ranks

  Zelalem was initially introduced into Arsenal's Under-17s, but graduated to the U21s in April 2013, despite being just 16 at the time. By that July, Zelalem was training with the first team for their preseason tour of Asia, a surprising inclusion given his lack of experience.

  It was at that time that the comparisons started. Hailed as the next Fabregas, expectations were high for the young midfielder. "He is a player with a good eye and good technique and is very agile," Wenger told in 2014. " He has the ambition to find the ball on the field. So he's the kind of player who could be of use to the United States. He's in some ways the type of player the U.S. was missing in the World Cup.

  "He is potentially an international player, for sure. But the next two or three years he will have to show he has the mental qualities to fill that potential. That's what's at stake for him now. If he grows physically, since he's slim, and continues to develop his mentality, the potential is there for him to be a top professional player."

  He continued to rise through the ranks at Arsenal, making the bench that September before an unfortunate injury delayed a potential Premier League debut. In January, though, he made his first senior appearance for the club, replacing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in an FA Cup win over Coventry City.

  That March, he signed a new contract in north London. His club future was sorted, but the rumblings were just beginning regarding his international allegiance.

• International hype

  There are few things American soccer fans enjoy than annointing the next big thing and, in a world where the U.S. now sees players playing at the very top of the world game, it's a bit harder to explain the climate that Zelalem was in back in 2014.

  American soccer fans salivated at the idea of having an Arsenal-trained star leading their midfield for years to come. Because of that, the full-court press was on from the moment Zelalem burst onto the scene.

  Germany, though, seemingly had the upper hand. Having already turned down overtures from Ethiopia, Zelalem played for Germany's youth teams multiple times from 2012-13. He had trained with the U.S. U15s at one point in 2012, but was unable to actually play for the team as he was considered a resident, but not yet a citizen.

  The option, though, opened up in 2014 when it was confirmed that his father intended to apply for U.S. citizenship, which would extend to Zelalem due to the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. In the summer of 2014, though, on that day at Red Bull Arena, Zelalem was coy.

  "At the moment I'm just trying to break into the first team of Arsenal," he said. "They're both great countries. The U.S. is on the rise. Germany is already a great country. So whichever country I choose will be a good choice."

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  Zelalem commits, stars & goes out on loan

  In December 2014, reports emerged that Zelalem had become a U.S. citizen. Soon after, Sunil Gulati, then U.S. Soccer's president, announced that the process had begun to being Zelalem into the national team.

  By 2015, Zelalem's status was confirmed, as he linked up with the U.S. U20s for the 2015 U20 World Cup despite being just 18 years old. He played in five matches that summer as the U.S. made it all the way to the quarter-finals.

  “Gedion is simply the most technical player I’ve ever had on the youth national team,” ex-U.S. U20 head coach Tab Ramos said. “Really easy on the ball, can get out of trouble. I saw someone for, at that time, he was really special and different than anyone we ever had.”

  In 2015-16, after making two total appearances for Arsenal in the years prior, Zelalem went out on loan to Rangers as the Gunners pushed for him to add more physicality to his game. The year after, he went to VVV Venlo in the Netherlands to help him mature in the attacking end. At one point, he was linked with Borussia Dortmund. Zelalem was a rising star, and the world was watching.

How to watch Wolves vs Chelsea in the Premier League on TV and online in the United States.

Wolves take on Chelsea in a Premier Leaguegame at Molineux Stadium on Saturday.

Wolves, who are just one point above the relegation zone, have failed to win a match in their last three appearances in the league. They will hope to get back to winning ways at home and climb up on the league table.

Chelsea have managed to collect only two points in their last three league games. A series of poor results prompted the management to part ways with Graham Potter and replaced him with club legend Frank Lampard as their interim manager.

GOAL brings you everything you need to know about how to watch the Premier League fixture between Wolves vs Chelsea, plus team news, recent form and more.

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  Kick-off time

  Date:	April 8, 2023
  Kick-off time:	10am ET
  Venue:	Molineux Stadium

  The game is scheduled for April 8, 2023, at Vitality Stadium. It will kick off at 10am ET in the US.

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  How to watch Wolves vs Chelsea online – TV channels & live streams

  TV channels & streaming options

  Country	TV channel	Live stream
  U.S	USA Network	NBCSports.com

  In the U.S., the match can be watched on USA Network and can be streamed on NBC Sports.com.

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  Team news & squads

  Wolves team news

  Ruben Neves and Jonny Castro are suspended for the match while Sasa Kalajdzic, Chiquinho and Hwang Hee-chan are sidelined due to injuries.

  Hugo Bueno, on the other hand, has recovered from his hamstring injury and is likely to be back in the starting lineup against Chelsea.

  Position	Players
  Goalkeepers:	Sa, Bentley, Moulden
  Defenders:	Collins, Kilman, Dawson, Toti, Ait-Nouri, Jonny, Semedo, Bueno
  Midfielders:	Lemina, B. Traore, Hodge, Nunes, Gomes, Moutinho, Podence, Sarabia
  Forwards:	Neto, Cunha, Jimenez, Hwang, A. Traore, Costa

  Chelsea team news

  Chelsea will miss the services of Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang due to injuries.

  Interim manager Frank Lampard could include Mason Mount in the Chelsea midfield alongside N'Golo Kante and Enzo Fernandez.

  Position	Players
  Goalkeepers:	Mendy, Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Slonina
  Defenders:	Chalobah, Koulibaly, Cucurella, Badiashile, Chilwell, James
  Midfielders:	Gallagher, Chukuwuemeka, Mudryk, Fernandez, Loftus-Cheek, Madueke, Ziyech, Zakaria, Kante, Kovacic, Mount
  Forwards:	Havertz, Felix, Pulisic

  Head-to-head record

  Date	Result	Competition
  8 October, 2022	Chelsea 3-0 Wolves	Premier League
  7 May, 2022	Chelsea 2-2 Wolves	Premier League
  19 December, 2021	Wolves 0-0 Chelsea	Premier League
  27 January, 2021	Chelsea 0-0 Wolves	Premier League
  15 December, 2020	Wolves 2-1 Chelsea	Premier League

  Chelsea and Wolves have won one match each in their last five meetings while three matches ended in draws.

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  Useful links

  • Wolves team page

  • Chelsea team page

  • Live soccer on TV in the U.S.

Pep Guardiola's side have been crowned Premier League champions and these are 10 key moments that helped them get there

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  Sterling strikes late to fix Pep's 'worries'

  It may seem hard to believe now but back at the start of the season Pep Guardiola admitted he was "worried" about his side's failings in front of goal. Less than 24 hours later Raheem Sterling popped up with one of the scrappiest goals of the season, in the 97th minute at Bournemouth, to spark wild celebrations in the away end as City snatched a late winner.

  After not looking overly impressive in their first two games of the season, this was a chaotic end to their third, with Sterling sent off for his celebration and Sergio Aguero intervening as police man-handled fans who had jumped onto the pitch.

  At the time, it was suggested that Sterling’s scuffed effort would be a turning point in the season, or would at least get them through until they signed Alexis Sanchez in the days that followed…

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  Sadio Mane's red card derails Liverpool

  One of the most needlessly controversial moments of the season, but one which set City on their way in the league, and seriously derailed Liverpool at the same time.

  Mane, although he didn’t mean to do it, knocked out Ederson by kicking him in the face, so his red card was justified. City were leading 1-0 at the time but the space between Nicolas Otamendi at left centre-back and Benjamin Mendy at left-back was still being exploited by the Reds – until they went down to 10 men.

  Jurgen Klopp’s side then simply folded, with City flowing through them at will. It certainly seemed that Sterling’s goal at Bournemouth had sparked them into life in front of goal, even if Alexis’ planned move had fallen through. City won this one 5-0, and then scored 19 in their next four Premier League games.

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  Mendy injury forces tactical rethink

  Benjamin Mendy was one of City’s fundamental summer signings, designed to come in and provide the kind of dynamic attacking presence down the left-hand side that was simply lacking last year; the kind of thing Kyle Walker has been doing on the right-hand side all season.

  The Frenchman looked impressive in his first few performances, particularly with his superb low crosses from the left, but he got himself in a mess trying to tackle Crystal Palace’s Andros Townsend back in September, and despite walking from the pitch, it was later confirmed that he would miss nine months with a serious knee ligament injury.

  City hadn’t signed another left-back during the summer and this was seen as one of the worst-case scenarios, especially ahead of a key game at Chelsea. Yet Guardiola found the answer and changed City’s approach.

  He converted Fabian Delph into a left-back who was comfortable slotting back into midfield when City had the ball, and tasked Leroy Sane, who had struggled for minutes at the start of the season, with providing City’s width on the left, with David Silva getting into the half spaces to provide an assist or goal.

  The plan clearly worked and Mendy's injury, as cruel as it was, has hardly hampered the Blues.

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  City prove their mettle at Chelsea

  City may have only scored the one goal at Stamford Bridge but it was arguably the most important of their season. Guardiola’s men were clearly in fine form but they went to west London only 12 months on from when things had fallen apart after a fine start to the 2016-17 season, and many were wondering if City were the real deal, or would simply suffer the same old problems. Kevin De Bruyne provided the answer.

  City dominated the champions with an impressive, confident performance, and the key moment was a precise strike from their Belgian midfielder, who had already began to show signs that he could become the pivotal player in this increasingly fine season. 

  City celebrated wildly in the dressing room and victory gave them the belief to go and implement their game plan at some of the toughest grounds in England and beyond.

MatériaMais Notícias

Mano Menezes e Alexandre Mattos não resistiram à derrota por 3 a 1 para o Flamengo, sob intenso xingamento dos torcedores no Allianz Parque. O Palmeiras decidiu pela saída do técnico e do diretor de futebol neste domingo.

A troca de comando foi uma decisão do presidente Mauricio Galiotte. A conclusão é que o trabalho deles não surtiria mais efeito depois de ficar sem vencer nas cinco últimas rodadas do Campeonato Brasileiro, caindo para a terceira colocação, a 19 pontos do Flamengo a duas partidas do fim.

Mano Menezes foi contratado em 2 de setembro para substituir Luiz Felipe Scolari. Foram 20 partidas, com 11 vitórias, cinco empates e quatro derrotas, acumulando aproveitamento de 63,3%. Tinha contrato até dezembro de 2021, mas ficou menos de três meses e deixa o clube mesmo com duas partidas ainda na temporada.

A troca de técnico volta a ocorrer depois de uma derrota para o Flamengo. Em 1 de setembro, há exatos três meses, Felipão levou 3 a 0 do clube carioca, no Maracanã, e deixou o clube depois de mais de um ano. O jogo deste domingo foi a pior derrota em cinco anos de Allianz Parque – nunca o time tinha perdido no estádio levando três gols e com mais de um de diferença.

Alexandre Mattos vem sendo o principal alvo de protestos da torcida neste segundo semestre. Estava no clube desde 2015 e também tinha contrato até dezembro de 2021. Vinha fazendo o planejamento para o ano que vem ao lado de Mano, mas não resistiu e deixa o Palmeiras por decisão de Galiotte.

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William Perkins’ unbeaten 64 and Dwayne Bravo’s 4 for 29 starred in Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel’s seven-wicket win over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at Warner Park in Basseterre

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDwayne Bravo went past 250 T20 wickets after his four-for against Patriots•Caribbean Premier League

William Perkins’ unbeaten 64 and Dwayne Bravo’s 4 for 29 powered Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel’s six-wicket win over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at Warner Park in Basseterre.Patriots elected to bat and managed 28 runs for the opening stand before legspinner Samuel Badree dismissed Evin Lewis in the fifth over. Dwayne Bravo sent back Martin Guptill just four balls later leaving the home team on 28 for 2. Red Steel kept striking through Badree and Johan Botha, as Patriots were soon reduced to 86 for 6, losing captain Marlon Samuels and Shahid Afridi off the last two balls in the 14th over. However, the Devon Thomas launched a counterattack, smashing a 23-ball 44 with one four and four sixes before Dwayne Bravo cleaned up the tail to bundle Patriots out for 146.Red Steel lost Jacques Kallis in the fifth over of the chase, but Cameron Delport and Perkins put on 70 runs for the second wicket before Afridi had Delport edge one to wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich, leaving the visitors on 100 for 2. Red Steel lost a further two wickets – those of Dwayne and Darren Bravo – but Perkins kept striking big at the other end by blazing five sixes and three fours to guide the the visitors to only their second win of the season. The victory came with seven deliveries to spare, and lifted Red Steel off the bottom of the table.