DUBLIN: England interim manager Lee Carsley enjoyed a dream debut as goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish silenced their Ireland tormentors and inspired a 2-0 win in Saturday’s Nations League opener in Dublin.
Rice and Grealish, who both snubbed Ireland to represent England, scored in the first half of Carsley’s maiden game in charge following Gareth Southgate’s exit.
Southgate quit after England’s heartbreaking Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain in July.
Carsley, who guided England Under-21s to European Championship glory last year, has stepped up on a temporary basis while the Football Association seek a permanent successor to Southgate.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and former Chelsea manager Graham Potter are said to be among the leading contenders.
But Carsley’s hopes of landing the job himself were boosted by England’s confident display in the Nations League Group B2 victory at the Aviva Stadium.
It was a bold statement of intent from the 50-year-old, whose adventurous England were a far cry from the staid unit that twice finished as Euro runners-up under Southgate despite rarely playing to their potential.
England’s first win in Dublin since 1964 has to be placed in context given the poverty of opposition provided by Ireland
Ireland’s new manager Heimir Hallgrimsson is a qualified dentist and he may find the job of rebuilding his struggling team proves more painful than root canal treatment.
Carsley stuck by his controversial decision not to sing ‘God save the King’ before kick-off, a move that antagonized the more patriotic sections of England’s fanbase.
Birmingham-born Carsley has Irish grandparents, which allowed him to win 40 Ireland caps during his playing career, but he said on Friday that he has never sung a national anthem because he prefers to focus on the match ahead.
If Carsley, whose next game comes against Finland at Wembley on Tuesday, continues to mastermind this kind of eye-catching performance, the debate over his anthem stance will quickly be forgotten.
This was only England’s second trip to Dublin in 29 years after a 1995 friendly between the teams was abandoned when visiting fans rioted at Lansdowne Road.
Promoting “a new era of friendship” between countries with a tortured political past, Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer swapped football shirts ahead of the match.
There was still a hostile reception for Rice and Grealish, who were jeered by the 50,000 crowd for changing their allegiance to England despite representing Ireland at senior and Under-21 levels respectively earlier in their careers.
Neither was bothered by the taunts as Rice starred and Grealish, omitted from the Euro squad, seized the chance to shine as England’s number 10 in the absence of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden.
Carsley’s nerves were exposed when he mistakenly sat on the Ireland bench before kick-off, but England eased their novice manager’s anxiety in the 11th minute.
Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon, who got just one minute of playing time at the Euros, accelerated onto Trent Alexander-Arnold’s raking pass for a shot that was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Gordon worked the rebound back to Harry Kane and his strike deflected to Rice, who planted a fine finish into the top corner from 12 yards.
Rice took the diplomatic approach as he refused to celebrate the goal, instead opting for a placatory gesture that suggested he wanted to bury the hatchet over his England switch.
Playing with far more freedom and imagination than they could muster under Southgate, England struck again in the 26th minute.
After Alexander-Arnold and Kobbie Mainoo exchanged passes, Grealish capped a flowing move, meeting Rice’s cutback with a fine finish into the bottom corner from 10 yards.
There was no hiding Grealish’s delight as he celebrated in front of England’s supporters and put his fingers in his ears to suggest he wasn’t bothered by the Irish abuse.
England had to knuckle down more in the second half as Ireland found some momentum, but they were never in danger of blowing the lead as Carsley’s audition got off to the perfect start.
Carsley makes flying start as England interim boss in win over Ireland
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Carsley makes flying start as England interim boss in win over Ireland
- Rice and Grealish, who both snubbed Ireland to represent England, scored in the first half of Carsley’s maiden game in charge following Gareth Southgate’s exit
- Carsley has stepped up on a temporary basis while the Football Association seek a permanent successor to Southgate
Pakistan, Bangladesh win Women’s T20 World Cup openers in Sharjah
- Pakistan, who have never made it out of the group stages in eight previous attempts, defeated Sri Lanka by 31 runs
- Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty described ending her team’s long wait for a World Cup win as ‘very emotional’
SHARJAH: Bangladesh ended a 10-year wait to win a Women’s T20 World Cup match on Thursday as Pakistan warmed up for a mouthwatering clash with India by defeating Asian champions Sri Lanka.
On the opening day of the 2024 tournament, Bangladesh secured a 16-run win over Scotland after posting what appeared to be a flimsy 119-7 in their 20 overs.
Their bowling attack, however, tied the Scots down and restricted them to 103-7.
Later, Pakistan, who have never made it out of the group stages in eight previous attempts, beat Sri Lanka by 31 runs.
Pakistan made 116 in their 20 overs before restricting Sri Lanka to 85-9.
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty described ending her team’s long wait for a World Cup win as “very emotional” and suggested it would create “momentum” for the women’s game at home.
“I would say that a win after 10 years, we all are very emotional because we have been waiting for this victory for a long time,” said Joty who was playing in her 100th T20I.
“No matter how good the cricket we play, if it doesn’t translate into victory, it means nothing. And I would say for women’s cricket, after a long time, I feel like we have done something.
“We have always said about Bangladesh that we have to create momentum and then we will move forward with that momentum.
“Now it seems like we are going to dream of doing something bigger. Similarly, the fans and family who support us in Bangladesh are dreaming that we can do something better than that.”
The momentum for women’s cricket in Bangladesh would have had a far bigger boost had they been staging the event as planned.
Instead, weeks of widespread political unrest in Bangladesh, which eventually led to the installation of an interim government, saw the tournament switched to the United Arab Emirates, with Bangladesh remaining as nominal hosts.
“Initially it was very heartbreaking because we always bear in mind that we are going to play in front of our home crowd,” said Joty.
“But still, the people who came here today, it was brilliant.”
After winning the toss and batting first, Sobhana Mostary top-scored with 36 for Bangladesh.
Their bowlers then strangled newcomers Scotland in spite of Sarah Bryce’s 49 not out from 52 balls.
Ritu Moni was named player of the match for her spell of 2-15 from four overs.
Pakistan staged a determined fightback to beat Sri Lanka by 31 runs with left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal claiming three wickets.
Nashra Sandhu, Omaima Sohail and player of the match Fatima Sana all took two each for Pakistan against Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka.
Pakistan needed a crucial lower-order knock from their captain Sana to post a competitive total, having slumped to 84-8 after winning the toss and choosing to bat.
“We won the toss and we wanted a lot of runs but we didn’t get. We still achieved the target in the game,” said Sana.
For Sri Lanka, Nilakshika Silva top-scored with 22 after Pakistan had lost opening bowler Diana Baig to a calf strain after just one ball.
On Friday, India take on New Zealand while South Africa face West Indies with both games taking place in Dubai.
India and Pakistan will face off on Sunday.
Maguire salvages draw for Man United at Porto after Fernandes sent off again in Europa League
- Maguire headed home a corner in the first minute of injury time to salvage a point for United, who now have two draws in the league phase and failed to win any of their last four games in all competitions
- A youthful Tottenham side maintained a perfect record with a 2-1 victory away at Ferencvaros , while Lazio also made it two wins out of two by routing Nice 4-1 at home
Manchester United narrowly avoided another embarrassing defeat as substitute Harry Maguire headed in an injury-time equalizer to salvage a 3-3 draw against Porto in the Europa League on Thursday after Erik ten Hag’s team had given up an early 2-0 lead and seen Bruno Fernandes sent off for a second straight game.
Fernandes was shown a second booking in the 81st minute for a high boot that caught defender Nehuen Perez as he tried to connect with a cross into the box.
“We started the game very good, we dominated, we scored two good goals but then we lost control,” Ten Hag said. “The middle part was no good and then we finished very good. ... We got the equalizer so it is good for the spirit.”
Fernandes had been shown a straight red in a 3-0 loss to Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday that upped the pressure on Ten Hag. And the Dutch manager seemed to be in more trouble when United gave up an early 2-0 lead to trail 3-2 when Pepe produced a cross from the right for his fellow forward Samu to fire his second and goal high into the net five minutes into the second half.
But Maguire headed home a corner in the first minute of injury time to salvage a point for United, who now have two draws in the league phase and failed to win any of their last four games in all competitions.
United couldn’t have asked for a better start in Portugal, though. Christian Eriksen teed up Marcus Rashford, who showed great footwork to burst into the area before beating goalkeeper Diogo Costa with a low strike into the bottom left-hand corner of the net in the seventh minute.
Eriksen was involved in the second 13 minutes later, too, as he started the move in the middle before finding Rashford to set up Rasmus Hojlund, who unleased a powerful blast inside the near post for his first goal of the season.
But Porto came right back as Pepe and Samu headed in goals within seven minutes of each other to level the score before the break.
Earlier, a youthful Tottenham side maintained a perfect record with a 2-1 victory away at Ferencvaros , while Lazio also made it two wins out of two by routing Nice 4-1 at home.
Pape Sarr gave Tottenham the lead midway through the first half when he reacted quickly to a loose ball in the area and slotted it into the net with a right-foot shot for his second goal in two games in the second-tier European competition.
Brennan Johnson came on as substitute in the second half and scored the second four minutes from time with a left-footed strike off the far post. It was the fifth goal in five games in all competitions for the Wales international.
Parnabas Varga pulled one back for Ferencvaros in the final minute.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou made seven changes to the team that beat United at Old Trafford. Four teenagers started for Spurs, with the 19-year-old Will Lankshear making his senior debut and 17-year-old teammate Mikey Moore making his first start.
In torrential rain at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Taty Castellano scored twice for Lazio, first making it 2-0 in the first half by lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Marcin Bulka in a one-on-one situation and then makin it 3-1 in the second half with a shot into the roof of the net.
Lyon also have two wins after beating Rangers 4-1 in Glasgow, with forward Alexandre Lacazette and Malick Fofana scoring two goals apiece.
Dutch side Twente that upset Manchester United 1-1 at Old Trafford last week, held also Jose Mourinho‘s Fenerbahce 1-1 at home.
Captain Michael Baidoo scored from the spot and Swedish club Elfsborg upset Roma 1-0. New Roma coach Ivan Juric remains with a win in the competition.
Substitute Tomas Chory headed in a second-half equalizer for Slavia to hold Ajax to a 1-1 draw in Prague. Ajax went ahead after Branco van den Boomen sent Slavia goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot in the 18th. The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 75th after defender Youri Baas received his second yellow card.
Anderlecht came from a goal down to beat Real Sociedad 2-1 away, with Theo Leoni scoring the winner late in the first half.
Ayoub El Kaabi scored two and Santiago Hezze added another one for last year’s Conference League winner Olympiacos to beat visiting Braga 3-0.
Hoffenheim, who are struggling in the Bundesliga, recorded a 2-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv.
Eintracht Frankfurt, the 2022 Europa League winners, scored two first half goal within three minutes on the way to a 3-1 away victory at Besiktas.
Conference League
Chelsea made a winning debut in the third-tier Conference League as Renato Veiga, Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall all scored in a 4-2 win over Belgium’s Gent at Stamford Bridge.
Fiorentina, which reached the final in the last two seasons, beat Welsh side New Saints 2-0.
In a couple of high-scoring games, Cercle Brugge routed St. Gallen 6-2 after a hat trick from Kevin Denkey, and Omonoia beat Vikingur Reykjavík 4-0 at home in Cyprus.
Legia Warsaw edged Real Betis 1-0.
Scottish side Hearts traveled a long way to Sumgayit, Azerbaijan, to take home a 2-1 victory over Belarusian champion Dinamo Minsk.
UEFA banned Russian clubs from all its events over the country’s invasion of Ukraine but has allowed Belarusian teams to keep playing despite the country’s support of Russia, as long as the games are hosted outside of Belarus without a crowd.
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark a near-unanimous choice as WNBA’s Rookie of the Year
- Panel of sportswriters and sportscasters gave Clark 66 of 67 votes in balloting released Thursday. Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese received the other
- Clark led the league with 122 3-pointers, averaged 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals, and set a league single-season record with 337 assists and set rookie records of 769 points
NEW YORK: Caitlin Clark has been named the WNBA Rookie of the Year in a near-unanimous vote, giving the Indiana Fever back-to-back winners after Aliyah Boston won the honor last season.
A national panel of sportswriters and sportscasters gave Clark 66 of 67 votes in balloting released Thursday. Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese received the other.
“I am incredibly honored to be named Rookie of the Year, but more than that, I am grateful to everyone that supported me throughout this past season — my family and friends, my teammates, the Fever organization and everyone that cheered us on all season. I am so proud of what we accomplished and so excited for what the future holds,” Clark said in a statement.
Clark, the No. 1 overall pick from Iowa, averaged 19.2 points and a league-best 8.4 assists per game while helping the WNBA set attendance records and garner mainstream attention. She struggled a bit early in the season, but found her groove and was an All-Star starter. The unanimous AP Rookie of the Year led the Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and a 20-20 record after a 1-8 start.
“I’m a tough grader. I feel like I had a solid year,” Clark said after the Fever were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. “For me, the fun part is like I feel like I’m just scratching the surface and I’m the one that’s nit picking every single thing I do. I know I want to help this franchise. ... I know there’s a lot of room for me to continue to improve so that’s what excites me the most. I feel like I continue to get a lot better.”
Clark was not chosen for the US Olympic team — a decision that disappointed her legions of fans — but she showed in the weeks afterward that she might have been helpful. The Fever guard averaged 24.7 points and 9.3 assists in her first 10 games after the Olympic break and led Indiana to an 8-2 record.
Clark was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for August, was Player of the Week three times and Rookie of the Month four times. She recorded the first two triple-doubles by a rookie in WNBA history, set a league single-game record with 19 assists and became the first rookie to have at least 30 points and 10 assists in a game.
Clark led the league with 122 3-pointers, was second with 90.6 percent accuracy from the free-throw line and averaged 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals. She set a league single-season record with 337 assists and set rookie records of 769 points and 122 three-pointers made.
Reese averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds for the Sky.
Off the court, Clark, Reese and their fellow rookies were a ratings and attendance boon for the WNBA. Six different league television partners set viewership records this year for its highest viewed WNBA game. All of those games included the Fever.
Indiana led the league in attendance both at home and on the road. The Fever averaged 17,036 at home and more than 15,000 on the road. Four teams moved home games to bigger arenas when Indiana came to town to accommodate more fans.
Despite Indiana’s blowout loss to Connecticut in Game 1, fans tuned in as the game averaged 1.8 million viewers, according to ESPN, making it the WNBA’s most watched playoff game since the 2000 Finals. It was the most watched playoff game on ESPN ever despite going up against the NFL.
Gauff rallies against qualifier to reach China Open semis against Badosa
- Gauff will next play Paula Badosa of Spain, who ended local wild card Zhang Shuai’s unexpected run at the title
- Italy’s Matteo Berrettini bounced back his Japan Open disappointment last week by squeezing past Christopher O’Connell 7-6, (9) 7-6 (6) in the Shanghai first round
BEIJING: Sixth-ranked Coco Gauff again made a slow start and had to rally to beat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to make the China Open semifinals on Thursday for a second straight year.
Gauff will next play Paula Badosa of Spain, who ended local wild card Zhang Shuai’s unexpected run at the title.
The No. 115-ranked Yuliia Starodubtseva — who will crack the top 100 for the first time on Monday — had not lost a set in her three matches this week and quickly took the lead, making 10 winners and holding Gauff to zero in an error-strewn first set for the American.
Gauff also lost the first set against Naomi Osaka in the previous round before Osaka retired because of a lower back injury.
Starodubtseva last month became the first woman in the Open era to qualify for all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year, and former US Open champion Gauff found a response against her.
Gauff saved two break points in her opening service game of the second set. A service break propelled her ahead 3-1. After another narrow escape on her next service game, Gauff lost only three more games for the rest of the quarterfinal.
“I can’t control how I play or how she plays, but I can just try to control my mindset and commit to the process,” Gauff said.
Zhang’s drought-busting week came to a shuddering halt as Badosa continued her own resurgence in a 6-1, 7-6 (4) victory in their quarterfinal.
The Spaniard has won 28 of her last 35 matches dating to May and made the semifinals of three of her past five tournaments. There was also a run to the US Open quarterfinals last month.
But the story of the week has been the 35-year-old Zhang, who entered the China Open on a 24-match losing streak — the second longest in the Open era — and ranked No. 595. She didn’t drop a set in four previous matches this week.
The Chinese wild card had no answer, though, to Badosa’s fast start as the Spaniard made three service breaks to comfortably claim the opening set.
It was much closer in the second set as Badosa found herself down 3-1. She rallied and edged Zhang in the tiebreak.
Shanghai Masters
Italy’s Matteo Berrettini bounced back from the disappointment of an injury ending his Japan Open last week by squeezing past Christopher O’Connell 7-6, (9) 7-6 (6) in the Shanghai first round.
The Italian, who retired with an abdominal injury in the second round in Tokyo last Friday, had his fitness given a stern examination by the Australian in a lung-busting match lasting two hours, 13 minutes.
Next up for the former Wimbledon finalist is No. 14-ranked Holger Rune.
Other first-round winners included Marcos Giron, David Goffin, Jaume Munar, Zhou Yi, Jakub Mensik and Miomir Kecmanovic.
The 32 seeded players received a first-round bye, including top-ranked Jannik Sinner and second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who won the China Open against the Italian on Wednesday. Sinner starts against Taro Daniel of Japan, and Alcaraz faces Shang Juncheng of China.
Judge me at the end of the season, says under-fire Man Utd boss Ten Hag
PORTO, Portugal: Erik ten Hag pleaded to be given until the end of the season as Manchester United boss after needing a late Harry Maguire equalizer to salvage a 3-3 draw at Porto in the Europa League on Thursday.
Ten Hag was under major pressure before the trip to Portugal after just two wins from United’s first six Premier League fixtures of the season left them languishing in 13th place in the table.
The Red Devils have also drawn their opening two Europa League games to sit 21st in the 36-team table.
“We will get there, don’t judge us in this moment,” said Ten Hag.
“Judge us in the end of the season. We will improve, we have two seasons where we achieved finals. Just wait, we will develop and progress this team.”
Ten Hag has fiercely defended his record after winning the League Cup and FA Cup in his first two seasons in charge at Old Trafford — ending United’s six-year trophy drought in the process.
A shock victory over Manchester City in last season’s FA Cup final was widely credited with saving his job despite finishing eighth in the Premier League.
But the United hierarchy could be forced to act in the upcoming international break after they travel to face Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.
Ten Hag could not have asked for a better start in Porto as goals from Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund put United 2-0 up inside 20 minutes
However, the English giants have failed to win any of their last four away European games despite scoring three times in each of them.
Last season they crashed out of the Champions League at the group stages after losing 4-3 at Bayern Munich and FC Copenhagen plus a 3-3 draw at Galatasaray.
Another six-goal thriller took place at the Estadio do Dragao as Pepe and Samu Omorodion brought Porto level before half-time.
Omorodion smashed the home side in front early in the second half before United captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off for the second consecutive game.
But Maguire’s header from a corner at least salvaged a point for Ten Hag.
“When you get 2-0 away from home you have to be a little bit more solid and there were far too many gaps,” said Maguire.
“Too many crosses were coming into the box for sure and they ultimately punished us for it.”
The England international has lost his regular starting spot in the side to Matthijs de Ligt, who previously worked under Ten Hag at Ajax.
Maguire said the pressure his manager was facing is what comes with the “privilege” of being in the spotlight at one of the world’s biggest clubs.
“I’ve played for this club for six years, I know how it works. When you go on a bad spell players come under pressure and also the manager does,” added Maguire.
“He’s experienced enough and been at this club long enough so I’m sure he knows how to deal with it. It’s part of the privilege you have playing for this club.”
