Sports & Casinos UK

The Arizona State Sun Devils cantered to victory in the first ever Union Jack Classic in front of a noisy crowd – despite thousands of empty seatsYou sensed that Britain’s first US college football game in nearly 40 years was going to be a very different experience when Wembley Way began to reverberate to the sound of steel, muscle and a few whoops long before kick-off.The noise came from the Arizona State Sun Devils’ marching band, who were so energetic their horns and trombones swished from left to right like air raid lights hunting a target as they played. Continue reading...

Roma lead 2-0 after Manu Koné’s first-half doubleStrasbourg fans abuse Rosenior; Salah hits hat-trickLautaro Martínez rode to Inter’s rescue as the Serie A champions fought back from 2-0 down to force a 2-2 draw at Roma, in a meeting of what had been the last two sides with 100% records.Manu Koné’s double had given Roma a 2-0 lead at half-time but for the second time in a week Cristian Chivu’s side, inspired by Martínez, showed mettle as the champions fought back from such a deficit. Continue reading...

The storied Long Island racetrack, rebuilt with a $455m state loan, is smaller, sleeker and designed for a changing audience. Can it create the public needed to sustain it?Henry Miller stood on the trackside apron of the new Belmont Park on Friday trying to decide what he thought of the place.“It has to grow on me,” said Miller, a 59-year-old retired sanitation worker from Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood who has been coming to New York racetracks for 47 years. “For me, it’s too much concrete. I don’t think it’s as friendly as the old Belmont.” Continue reading...

It is apt that the most perplexing football country will now be guided by the most enigmatic of leadersEven in his playing days, Zinedine Zidane seemed unknowable. As a manager, the sense of distance has only grown. He won three Champions Leagues with Real Madrid without ever giving a sense of what his idea of football looked like.France are perhaps the most perplexing football country: a squad that teems with such talent that a B team would be serious contenders at a World Cup, that reached three major finals under Didier Deschamps with a sense of unfulfilment, a team that progressed but rarely entranced, or at least didn’t until this summer’s World Cup, when they attacked with gusto and ended up overrun in midfield by Spain. Continue reading...

Arsenal were mightily relieved as a 95th-minute Smilla Holmberg volley rescued a point at home to a much-improved Manchester United side, but the draw will not be enough to eradicate concerns about how far behind the leaders Manchester City Renée Slegers’ team are slipping already and how frequently they seem to struggle to break down a low block.A defiant Manchester United stunned the north Londoners as Eva Olid’s side claimed the first point of her tenure with a performance that defied all of the pre-match scripts, but it was very nearly a victory, had it not been for Holmberg’s last-gasp back-post finish from Leah Williamson’s deep, diagonal ball into the box, which finally broke the visitors’ stubborn resistance. Continue reading...

No, but seriously. Maybe Frank Lampard and Coventry can achieve Premier League survival. The club’s first top-division win since April 2001 was celebrated rapturously, victory an object lesson in unsettling opponents for whom confidence can waver. Jay Dasilva’s excellent goal was built on the foundations laid by a battling defensive performance that must be replicated on a weekly basis. Coventry, dogged throughout, blunted Nottingham Forest’s creativity, though could thank a late video assistant referee call that enraged the City Ground crowd.Lampard declared, with his broadest grin: “I feel great, I feel amazing.” Next, as is his way, back to serious business. “The reality in football is you have to fight for it, you have to work for it, you have to have organisation.” Continue reading...

Supporters’ club says billionaire should stand down after ‘completely unacceptable’ comments on the UK and empireManchester United’s Muslim supporters’ Club (MUMSC) has called for the Premier League side’s co-owner to step down after he made “completely unacceptable” comments during a BBC interview.Sir Jim Ratcliffe described the UK as being a country “on the slide” from the days when it had “the greatest empire in the world”. Continue reading...

Tottenham lose 3-2 at home with two late goals‘We can’t lose the game in this way,’ says managerRoberto De Zerbi tore into his failing Tottenham team after their 3-2 defeat by Aston Villa, saying “we can’t lose the game in this way”. The Italian headed straight down the tunnel at full time, but was once again forced to endure boos as Tottenham went into the three-week international break without a Premier League victory to their name and just two points on the board.De Zerbi criticised his team’s mentality, but also the physical condition of his players, and said the substitute Mohammed Kudus had disrupted the balance of his team. Continue reading...

WXV: England 26-26 CanadaCanadians end home side’s run of 39 successive winsStill unbeaten, yes, but for England this was anything but business as usual. The Red Roses remain undefeated in 40 Tests, but, for once, there were no victory speeches afterwards. For the first time since 2022 they have failed to win an international fixture, bringing to an end one of the purest winning sequences in world sport.A wonderfully committed Canada fully deserved a share of the spoils and, in some ways, were unfortunate not to depart with more. The outcome was still up for grabs deep into the final quarter and England were indebted to two first-half tries from their Exeter wing Claudia Moloney-MacDonald. Continue reading...

A one-handed six from Jos Buttler sealed the deal and a delighted Harry Brook said yes, it absolutely did feel like he was in charge of the new No 1 T20 side in the world.“Everything is running so smoothy, especially in the field,” the captain said after England’s eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka. “Lads are taking it upon themselves to make sure they’re in the right spots, buying into everything we’re talking about in the outfield especially, putting 100% in and that is all you can ever ask for.” Continue reading...