Dubai Basketball hold off Bayern Munich with last-minute winner

Dubai Basketball beat Bayern Munich 89-88 at Coca-Cola Arean on Friday. (Supplied)
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Updated 13 December 2025
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Dubai Basketball hold off Bayern Munich with last-minute winner

  • 89-88 victory continues Dubai’s strong home performances in EuroLeague

 

DUBAI: Dubai Basketball continued their impressive home run in the EuroLeague with a dramatic 89-88 win over Bayern Munich in round 15, securing another victory built on late-game execution. It was the team’s sixth straight league win at the Coca-Cola Arena.

For most of the night, Dubai were forced to chase the game, struggling to find rhythm from the perimeter in the early stages and dealing with long stretches where the offense stalled.

Even when the deficit grew to 12 points in the fourth quarter, Dubai maintained composure, relying on depth and persistence to stay within striking distance.

The turning point came in the final minutes, when Dubai finally unlocked their outside shooting. American guard McKinley Wright and Awudu Abass fueled a late surge from beyond the arc, rapidly cutting into the gap and shifting the momentum with support from a charged 5,000-strong crowd.

Although the visitors briefly reclaimed control entering the last minute, the home team refused to let the game slip away.

“This was a very important victory, where we refused to surrender (at any point),” Dubai’s head coach Jurica Golemac said after the game.

“I think everybody in the arena thought that we could not win this game, but we found guys who were really fighting, who were giving everything for each other and for the club. In the end, this effort rewarded us,” he added.

Wright led Dubai’s scoring with 22 points and seven assists, delivering at critical moments.

Abass added 15 points and seven rebounds while Filip Petrušev and Mfiondu Kabengele each contributed 12. Justin Anderson and Kosta Kondić both finished with 11, rounding out a balanced team performance that highlighted Dubai’s unwavering determination.

 


Two own goals save Arsenal blushes against Wolves

Updated 14 December 2025
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Two own goals save Arsenal blushes against Wolves

LONDON: Arsenal avoided a major embarrassment against Premier League bottom club Wolves on Saturday, benefiting from two own goals — one in stoppage time — to win 2-1 and move five points clear of Manchester City.
Manager Mikel Arteta admitted that his team had struggled to create clear chances and that the win should have been much more comfortable.
But he said that the manner of the victory would give the team a major boost.
“That gives you belief that regardless of how the game goes, you can always find a solution to win it,” he told TNT Sports.
“But now we’re going to have a clean week. We need to start to train certain aspects slowly, because if you don’t train them, you start to deteriorate a little bit.”
Arteta’s men were blunt in the first half, failing to muster a single shot on target as Gabriel Martinelli wasted a clutch of chances.
The Arsenal boss made three changes shortly before the hour mark, bringing on Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino for Martinelli, Eberechi Eze and Martin Zubimendi.
The Gunners mounted wave after wave of attacks, and Declan Rice’s shot midway through the second half — their first on target — was well saved by Sam Johnstone.
But in the 70th minute the sheer weight of pressure told to the enormous relief of an impatient and nervy Emirates crowd.
Johnstone flicked Bukayo Saka’s corner onto a post as he scrambled to reach the ball but it rebounded back onto his arm and into the net for an own goal.
Gabriel Jesus came on for Viktor Gyokores for his first home match after 11 months out injured.
Astonishingly, Wolves pulled level in the 90th minute, when Mateus Mane’s flat cross was headed in by Nigerian striker Tolu Arokodare.
But just as the Arsenal fans contemplated a damaging draw, the Gunners benefited from a second own goal.
Saka delivered a perfect cross which Jesus attacked but the ball was diverted into his own net by Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera.
Winless Wolves, with a ninth league defeat in a row, have mustered just two points from their 16 games so far and are on course for the worst season in Premier League history.
Pep Guardiola’s City travel to in-form Crystal Palace on Sunday seeking to close the gap to Arsenal, who have not won the Premier League since 2004.