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Manager to speak to club hierarchy before announcing decisionGuardiola: ‘The first person I have to talk to is my chairman’ Pep Guardiola refused to publicly comment on the expectation that his 10-year reign at Manchester City will come to an end despite reports in the Guardian that he has already informed his players.“I could say I have one year of contract – the conversation we have had for many years,” he said. A 1-1 draw at Bournemouth meant City could not prevent Arsenal becoming Premier League champions. Guardiola repeated the deflection he has used throughout this season. “Always from my experience, when you [media] announce whatever you announce during a competition, it is a bad, bad result.” Continue reading...

Trusting a rookie coach to rebuild the club in late 2019 was a big call but after three runners-up finishes the Spaniard has delivered a long-awaited titleThey say good things come to those who wait, and for Arsenal supporters it has felt like an eternity. Since their unforgettable 2003-04 season when Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles went the top-flight campaign unbeaten, their team had spent an incredible 984 days at the top of the table without being champions. Until now.After all the disappointments of the late Wenger era and finishing as runners-up in the past three seasons, that unwanted statistic can finally be put to bed after a campaign in which Mikel Arteta’s side have shown they are capable of holding their nerve. There have been many doubters along the way, not least during a disastrous April during which Arsenal lost twice to their chief rivals, Manchester City, in a run of four consecutive domestic defeats in three competitions. But it is a triumph that rewards the faith shown by the hierarchy towards a rookie manager who arrived a week before Christmas in 2019 on a mission to restore them to former glories. Continue reading...

Club admit breaches but are confident over appealBoro reinstated to take on Hull in Saturday’s finalSouthampton could face a legal claim from their players for loss of earnings after the club were expelled from the Championship playoff final for spying on training sessions staged by Middlesbrough and two other second-tier rivals.The squad have been discussing their options after Boro, semi-final losers to Tonda Eckert’s side, were reinstated to Saturday’s Wembley showpiece against Hull City. It is understood there is widespread fury in Southampton’s dressing room, presenting Eckert and the board with another headache after a fraught period. Continue reading...

Tottenham’s woes in this corner of London are well-documented and long-established. When they made this latest trip to Stamford Bridge, the statistics showed they had won just once since 1990 – a sequence of 40 matches in all competitions.Never mind. They needed only a point to effectively ensure their Premier League survival, to send West Ham down and draw a veil over this most wretched of seasons. It was a night when the hope pulsed until the last. Chelsea led through goals from the outstanding Enzo Fernández and Andrey Santos and yet Spurs rallied in the closing stages, refusing to accept it was their destiny to prolong the agony into the final round of matches. Continue reading...

Arsenal win title for the first time since 2004Players celebrate together at training groundReaction after Gunners crowned championsArsenal are Premier League champions for the first time since Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles in 2004 after Manchester City drew 1-1 at Bournemouth.Arsenal’s squad and staff, including Mikel Arteta, gathered at the training ground in Hertfordshire to watch the game, with Declan Rice posting a picture on Instagram within minutes of the full-time whistle of him with Kai Havertz, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly and William Saliba. “I told you all .. it’s done,” wrote the England midfielder in reference to his “It’s not done” battlecry after Arsenal lost to City last month. Continue reading...

King distinguished herself as a tennis champ at Cal State Los Angeles, winning Wimbledon doubles while enrolledSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email When Billie Jean King left college in 1964, she had a purpose. Within a few years, she had become the top-ranked tennis professional in the world. Over a trailblazing career, she won 39 championships, a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Congressional Gold Medal – all while pushing publicly for gender and pay equality.Last year, she finally returned to finish the degree in history she started more than six decades ago. On Monday, she graduated at 82 years old. Continue reading...

John McGinn will lead out team in final against Freiburg seven years after helping them win promotion with club chasing a first major European trophy since 1982As Aston Villa arrived at Besiktas Park on the banks of the Bosphorus, for one last training session before the real thing, it was impossible not to consider the journey to the Europa League final. John McGinn, who will lead Villa out as captain in Istanbul, was in the side promoted from the Championship via the playoff final seven years ago. Tyrone Mings also started that day at Wembley and across the course of the following 12 months Villa built a spine that will be central to their hopes of winning their first major European trophy since 1982.It is why McGinn’s mind goes back to a 3-0 league defeat at Wigan and a midweek trip to Rotherham in the season they clinched promotion, averting a likely financial disaster. Tammy Abraham, then on loan from Chelsea, also began the playoff final victory over Derby. “If we lose that match, are Aston Villa here at the minute?” McGinn says. “Probably not. For us, tomorrow night, it will be nice to see the supporters who were there at Rotherham away, Wigan away, nights like that on a Tuesday evening when it’s very easy to stay at home. They deserve it just as much as the players do and hopefully we can give them something to remember.” Continue reading...

‘I’ll make decisions when time comes,’ says head coachChessum expected to lead side in at least one July TestEngland’s head coach, Steve Borthwick, has confirmed he may rest some senior players including his captain, Maro Itoje, for all or part of his squad’s summer Nations Championship games. A final decision will not be taken until next month but, barring an injury crisis, it seems probable England will be under fresh leadership on the field for at least one of their July Tests.Rather than a traditional tour to a single country, the new tournament will require Borthwick and his squad to play internationals on three different continents on successive weekends, starting against South Africa in Johannesburg on 4 July and finishing in Santiago del Estero in Argentina on 18 July. Continue reading...

Vingegaard cuts gap on overall leader Eulálio to 27secGanna wins stage 10 in 45min 53secFilippo Ganna sailed to an easy victory in stage 10’s individual time trial at the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday,. The pre-race favourite, Jonas Vingegaard, failed in his bid to take the overall lead as Afonso Eulálio battled hard to keep the pink jersey.No one could come close to Ganna, a time trial specialist who completed the flat, 42km (26-mile) route along the Tuscan coast from Viareggio to Massa in 45min 53sec. Ganna had little to worry about while waiting for confirmation of his eighth Giro stage win – seven of those have come in time trials. Continue reading...

Player was actually NFL offensive player of the yearReceiver made a total of three tackles last seasonJaxon Smith-Njigba has built a justified reputation as one of the most electrifying receivers in the NFL. So it was understandable that the Seahawks star was surprised when he received a trophy for the league’s defensive player of the year.Smith-Njigba actually won the NFL’s offensive player of the year after setting franchise records with 119 receptions and 1,793 receiving yards last season. But when he received his trophy the engraving read “Defensive Player of TheYear”. Continue reading...