LONDON: Mauricio Pochettino admitted his emotions got the better of him after Tottenham’s Premier League title challenge suffered a crushing blow in a controversial 2-1 defeat against Burnley on Saturday.
A win at Turf Moor would have put Pochettino’s side within two points of joint-leaders Manchester City and Liverpool. But they squandered the chance to stay in the title race with a sloppy display that saw Chris Wood put Burnley ahead after half-time.
There was controversy about Wood’s goal as it came from a corner that Tottenham felt should not have been given.
But Pochettino’s men had a break of their own when Kane, back after missing seven games with an ankle injury, capitalized on a throw-in that was taken in the wrong place.
At that stage, Tottenham looked poised to push on for a fifth successive league victory.
However, they paid the price for sloppy defending as Barnes struck with seven minutes left to extend Burnley’s unbeaten league run to eight matches.
Pochettino was fuming at full-time, confronting referee Mike Dean and his assistants on the pitch in a lengthy rant that showed his frustration at both Burnley’s first goal and Tottenham’s missed opportunity.
Footage seemed to show Pochettino and his assistant Jesus Perez reacting to something said to him by Dean and the Argentine reportedly carried on his finger-pointing protest in the tunnel.
But Pochettino refused to elaborate on the row, instead admitting his out of character complaints were sparked by the tension of the title race.
“It was nothing. What happened on the pitch happened on the pitch. There is nothing to say. We don’t deserve the defeat but that’s football,” he said.
“I believe before the game that if you want to be a contender you need three points. The emotions, sometimes we find answers and excuses to try to justify the defeat.
“It’s not normal how I behave. Maybe it’s because I knew before the game and after the game that it is going to be difficult to be a contender without three points.”
Dean could be seen mouth “go away” as Pochettino stood inches from his face in an incident that is certain to be included in the referee’s report and may earn the Tottenham boss a touchline ban.
“It is a situation that everyone on the touchline will complain, complain and complain. Sometimes we see things differently and try to back our player,” Pochettino added.
“I will accept everything that happens (with a potential punishment). Hopefully it is not going further.”
It was a bitter blow for third placed Tottenham, who will be eight points off top spot if second placed Liverpool, currently level on points with City, win at Manchester United on Sunday.
“Obviously it is a big disappointment. Today was a good opportunity for us and we missed it. It was a tough game. We expected a battle,” Spurs captain Hugo Lloris said.
“We conceded the first goal and it makes things harder. Especially when you concede a corner that didn’t exist. It is part of the game.”
Burnley goalscorer Ashley Barnes was delighted to have got the three points, however, saying: “I thought we had it then we gave them a sloppy goal from a throw-in. We needed to be alive and we switched off but for us to keep going and get the result was massive.
“They are top-quality players so we just had to concentrate on ourselves. We made it hard for them and that was what the gameplan was.
“We are getting back to ourselves now. We need to keep being resilient and compact. That’s what we did.”
The win saw the Clarets notch up an eighth game in a row unbeaten, and it marked Burnley’s best top-flight run since 1966. It was also a victory that pleased boss Sean Dyche.
“It was a thorough performance and a good win. We know there’s a lot of work to be done but they’re certainly putting in the work.
“We’re not a side who can slick it around like Man City but we have very good players. We waned to get in behind them. I thought our front two were outstanding.”
Mauricio Pochettino left fuming with referee decisions as Spurs title bid dented by Burnley
Mauricio Pochettino left fuming with referee decisions as Spurs title bid dented by Burnley
Brown shines as Celtics take 2-0 lead over Pacers, Haliburton hurt
- Brown tied a career playoff high to help the top-seeded Celtics break their Game-2 jinx
- The Pacers have excelled at home, but now have concerns over All-Star point guard Haliburton
LOS ANGELES: Jaylen Brown scored 40 points to propel Boston to a 126-110 victory over Indiana and a 2-0 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals over a Pacers team rocked by an injury to Tyrese Haliburton.
Brown tied a career playoff high to help the top-seeded Celtics break their Game-2 jinx.
Winners of a league-best 64 regular-season games, Boston had dropped the second game before prevailing in each of the first two rounds.
But they head to Indianapolis for Game 3 on Saturday in control of the best-of-seven series.
The Pacers have excelled at home, but now have concerns over All-Star point guard Haliburton, who departed late in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury and didn’t return.
Brown, who sank a three-pointer to force overtime as the Celtics held off the Pacers in a game-one thriller, scored 10 points in a 20-0 Celtics run that saw Boston take the lead for good in the second quarter.
“It’s the playoffs, man,” Brown said. “Whatever it takes to get a ‘W’ — on defense, on offense — that’s what I’m going to do.”
“He has it going,” Jrue Holiday said of his teammate.
“Great player, great leader, but wants to win and takes things into his own hands. Having a guy like that on my side, I love it. I’ll ride for him.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said that even though the box score reflected just two assists for Brown, he did a good job of keeping his teammates involved on offense.
“He made the right play — that’s the most important thing,” Mazzulla said.
Indiana emerged from a tight first quarter that featured 10 lead changes with a 27-25 advantage.
But Holiday’s three-pointer in the final minute of the opening period launched Boston’s scoring binge and they were up 42-27 midway through the second.
The Celtics pushed the lead to 16 before the Pacers hit back. Pascal Siakam came up with four big buckets, including a dunk that cut the deficit to 56-51 at halftime.
Siakam struck again early in the third, and his three-pointer pulled Indiana within two.
But Boston pulled away again, their 16-5 scoring run swelling the lead to 13 going into the fourth quarter, when the Pacers wouldn’t get within double digits.
Jayson Tatum shook off a slow start to score 23 points. Derrick White also scored 23 and Holiday scored 15 points with 10 assists for Boston.
Siakam led Indiana’s scoring with 28 points. Haliburton had 10 points and eight assists before departing.
“I think they played a little better for more stretches than we did,” said Siakam, a title winner with Toronto who was acquired from the Raptors in January.
“They had a lot of good runs. We were getting there close but just not quite there.”
Siakam noted the Celtics’ edge in rebounding and second-chance points. The Pacers also produced 16 turnovers.
“They just played better,” Siakam said. “We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and move on and think about the next game.”
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton, who had left hamstring trouble during the season, had already had treatment on his leg at halftime.
He also had tests after taking a blow to the chest battling with Brown for a rebound.
“We’ll know more tomorrow and probably even more Saturday,” Carlisle said.
Djokovic cruises into Geneva Open semifinals
- Djokovic saw off a first set challenge from Tallon Griekspoor to win 7-5, 6-1 in 77 minutes at the Parc des Eaux-Vives
- Djokovic will face Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in Friday’s semifinals
GENEVA: Novak Djokovic on Thursday booked his spot in the Geneva Open tennis tournament semifinals, putting the world No. 1 within two matches of his first trophy of 2024, days before his French Open title defense begins.
Djokovic saw off a first set challenge from Tallon Griekspoor to win 7-5, 6-1 in 77 minutes at the Parc des Eaux-Vives.
Griekspoor, the world No. 27, was the sixth seed at the 28-man Geneva tournament, which serves as a warm-up before next week’s second Grand Slam of the season in Paris.
The Dutchman had three set points against Djokovic in the first set.
“It was a great win. I thought the first set could have gone his way easily because I think he was a better player for most of the first set,” Djokovic said afterwards.
“We could have been having a completely different direction of the match if he converted those set points.
“I was lucky to find some really good serves, and from that moment onwards I really, really played some good, solid tennis.”
It was a bridge too far for Griekspoor, who earlier Thursday finished off his second-round match with Denis Shapovalov, beating the Canadian 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
The match had been called off for the night in the second set on Wednesday due to rain.
Djokovic, who turned 37 on Wednesday, took a wild card to play in Geneva in a bid to rescue an alarming dip in form ahead of Roland-Garros next week.
Djokovic will face Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in Friday’s semifinals.
The pair have only met once before, with Djokovic winning their contest in Dubai last year.
Machac, the world No. 44, will be appearing in his first semifinal on the ATP tour.
He saw off 19-year-old Alex Michelsen of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) in their quarter-final on the Geneva clay.
Friday’s second semifinal will see Norwegian second seed Casper Ruud face Italy’s in-form Flavio Cobolli.
Ruud, the world number seven, was the runner-up in the last two French Open finals, including a defeat to Djokovic last year.
Ruud, at home on the Geneva clay having won the title in 2021 and 2022, beat Argentinian fifth seed Sebastian Baez in a roller-coaster match, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in a two-hour quarterfinal on Thursday.
“It was a tough match against Sebastian. He’s a great player, a great fighter and it was always going to be difficult against him,” Ruud said.
“It was a very close match in the end, back and forth, back and forth. But I’m very happy to be through, back in the semifinals here in Geneva, it’s a great feeling.”
Italian Cobolli, on a career-high ranking of 56, saw off Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 6-4 in the last eight, having knocked out US fourth seed Ben Shelton in the second round.
Saudi squad announced for upcoming World Cup qualifier against Pakistan, Jordan
- The Green Falcons will play Pakistan on June 6 in Islamabad and host Jordan on June 11 in Riyadh
- A preparation camp will be held in Riyadh next Thursday, except for Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr players
RIYADH: Saudi national team boss Roberto Mancini announced the 31-player list in preparation for the fifth and sixth games of the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
The Green Falcons will play Pakistan on June 6 in Islamabad and host Jordan on June 11 in Riyadh.
A preparation camp will be held in Riyadh next Thursday, except for Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr players, who will join their teammates on June 2, after the King’s Cup final between the two Riyadh giants.
Saudi National Team Squad for World Cup & Asian Cup Qualifiers
Goalkeepers: Mohammed Al-Owais, Ahmed Al-Kassar, Raghed Najjar, Mohammed Al-Yami, and Mohammed Al-Absi.
Defenders: Mutib Al-Harbi, Hassan Kadesh, Ali Al-Bulaihi, Aoun Al-Saluli, Ali Lagami, Hassan Al-Tumbakti, Saud Abdulhamid, and Mohammed Al-Buraik.
Midfielders: Mukhtar Ali, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Musab Al-Juwair, Mohammed Kanno, Rayan Hamed, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Faisal Al-Ghamdi, and Abbas Al-Hassan.
Attackers: Salem Al-Dawsari, Sami Al-Najai, Ayman Yahya, Marwan Al-Sahafi, Abdulrahman Gharib, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, Abdullah Radif, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, and Firas Al-Burikan.
Al-Nassr’s Sultan Al-Ghannam returns to the squad after he and five other Saudi internationals were hit with punishments for disciplinary violations before the AFC Asian Cup held in Qatar.
The wing-back took to X and said he was happy to return to the squad.
“Representing the national team is an unparalleled honor. I thank those in charge of the team, including the administrative and technical bodies, and I hope that I, along with the rest of my teammates, will provide a level that is worthy of the reputation of Saudi football,” he added.
Yokohama take a 2-1 lead into the 2nd leg of the Asian Champions League final against Al-Ain
- If the Japanese team win they will participate in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup where they could face their English stablemate as the English team qualified for the tournament
- Despite the first-leg lead from the opener in Japan, getting past Al-Ain won’t be easy. The 2003 Asian champions also reached the final in 2005 and 2016
DUBAI: There will be celebrations in the UAE on Saturday regardless of whether Yokohama F. Marinos can protect their 2-1 lead in the second leg of the Asian Champions League final or Al-Ain come back to take the title.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayad is not only president of UAE but has been club president of Al-Ain, based near the country’s border with Oman, since 1979.
His vice president Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed is the owner of Manchester City, the founding member of the City Football Group, a worldwide stable of 13 clubs which became a minority shareholder in Yokohama in 2014.
If the Japanese team win they will participate in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup where they could face their English stablemate as the English team qualified for the tournament, which will be expanded from seven to 32 teams, after becoming European champions in 2023.
Despite the first-leg lead from the opener in Japan, getting past Al-Ain won’t be easy. The 2003 Asian champions also reached the final in 2005 and 2016. The second loss is still fresh in the memory and serves as motivation.
“That’s why everybody wants this trophy so bad,” Al-Ain defender Khalid Al Hashemi said on the Asian Football Confederation’s official website. “I hope from the bottom of my heart that we can give happiness to everybody in our country.”
Al-Ain, coached by former Argentina striker Hernan Crespo, took an early lead through Mohammed Al-Baloushi at the Nissan Stadium on May 11 only for two late goals from Asahi Uenaka and Kota Watanabe to give Yokohama a slender advantage.
“We lost against great opponents who played very well but we did have chances which we didn’t put away,” Crespo said. “We have another opportunity at home and I hope it will be different,” said the ex-Milan, Inter and Chelsea forward.
“What we need is a little bit more quality in front to be dangerous. We had some chances, but it wasn’t enough and that is credit to Yokohama as they didn’t give us much space.”
Neither finalist has been able to transfer strong Asian form into domestic results. Al-Ain are in third in the league, 16 points behind leader Al-Wasl. Yokohama have won the J-League five times but currently sit 13th in the standings. The Japanese team have never been in the Champions League final.
Harry Kewell has been in charge since December and the former Leeds and Liverpool winger is close to achieving something that neither of his Australian predecessors Ange Postecoglou and Kevin Muscat managed at Yokohama.
“I’ve never been afraid of a challenge and I’m going to make sure my team’s not afraid of this challenge,” Kewell said. “It’s going to be tough . . . nothing’s given for free, you have to pay for it, you have to work for it. We have to suffer if we want to pick up this title.”
Beaten Leverkusen hope to ‘find themselves’ in German Cup final
- A loss will recall the club’s infamous ‘Neverkusen’ season in 2002, when they somehow emerged empty-handed
- Leverkusen were without a trophy despite being five points clear in the league with three games remaining, while also qualifying for the German Cup and Champions League finals
BERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen face second-division Kaiserslautern in Saturday’s German Cup final licking their wounds after a first loss in almost a year.
Xabi Alonso’s side were thoroughly outclassed in a 3-0 loss to Atalanta in the Europa League final on Wednesday, their first defeat in any competition since May 2023 — a run of 51 games.
Energetic and dynamic this season with a taste for late goals, Leverkusen looked a shadow of the team which thundered past Bayern Munich to win their first ever Bundesliga title this season.
In a year when Alonso pledged to stick around with the club despite reported interest from Liverpool and Bayern, Leverkusen looked on track for a remarkable three trophies.
Now they need to rebound to stop their underdog opponents, who flirted with relegation to the third division for much of the campaign, spoiling what has been an incredible season.
A loss will recall the club’s infamous ‘Neverkusen’ season in 2002, when they somehow emerged empty-handed despite being five points clear in the league with three games remaining, while also qualifying for the German Cup and Champions League finals.
Leverkusen’s unbeaten run, which broke a 59-year-old record set by Portuguese giants Benfica in 1965, was bound to end sometime but it was the manner in which the club capitulated which will concern Alonso the most.
The Germans were outmuscled by a determined Atalanta, with the reliable Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka, so important this season, having off nights.
Winger Jonas Hofmann summed up the club’s struggles on Wednesday night, lamenting “many mistakes, individual mistakes, bad passes and simple technical errors,” saying the performance was “not Bayer-like.”
“We weren’t confident in the buildup,” Hofmann said, explaining Leverkusen had given Atalanta the feeling “they could stand up to us and win the title.”
For a side which has made a habit of scoring late goals — they have scored 15 times after the 90-minute mark this season — Leverkusen were not able to turn the tide.
Alonso was self-critical after the match, saying “we weren’t at our best, including me” and explained the system he chose “did not work,” urging his side to “transform our pain into positive energy.”
Despite the disappointment, beating Kaiserslautern would make Leverkusen just the sixth side in German football history to do the double — an incredible achievement for a team which had two major trophies to their name before this season started.
Xhaka told reporters on Wednesday the result was “not easy” but “we will not let it destroy us.”
“If we don’t win the triple, then we will win the double.”
Center-back Jonathan Tah, captain on Wednesday night, said “the show must go on.”
“We’ve got a very important game ahead of us — we can’t afford to talk ourselves down too much.”
Their opponents may now face a wounded Leverkusen hoping to make amends, but also understand Alonso’s side are vulnerable after Wednesday’s surprise loss.
Despite their run to the final, Kaiserslautern only played one top-division side in the Cup — beating Cologne, who were relegated to the second division at the end of the season.
Kaiserslautern striker Ragnar Ache told AFP he had been cheering for Leverkusen in Wednesday’s final in the hope Alonso’s side “would maybe party a little bit” into the night.
Ache however said Leverkusen “have a very big squad with high quality players — and they’re used to it.”
“It’s still not going to be easy for us. We have to look at ourselves and what we are going to do.”
