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The dejection was palpable. Emi Buendia’s arcing strike following a goalmouth scramble condemned Arsenal to only their second defeat of the season. It was the last kick of the highly charged contest against Aston Villa.

Perhaps the most frustrating part is that the Gunners’ lead at the top of the Premier League has now been slashed to just two points after Manchester City thumped Sunderland. For their part, Villa are now emerging as bona fide contenders, third in the standings and with 30 points, three fewer than Arsenal’s 33.

Mikel Arteta has done incredible things in north London over the past five years, but this is the season that Arsenal must crown their revival with a gold medal, having finished runners-up in the top flight for three successive seasons.

And, sadly, the manager got it wrong against the shrewd Unai Emery.

Why Arteta got it wrong vs Aston Villa

Credit where credit’s due, Arteta made a few changes at half-time, his side one goal down, and was rewarded for his alteration when Leandro Trossard converted following an initial strike from Bukayo Saka before the hour mark. 1-1.

But the Emirates side would ultimately come away with nothing, and Arteta will be irked by his own decision-making, having opted to play Eberechi Eze out wide and withdraw the playmaker instead of skipper Martin Odegaard, despite the England international having played some knockout stuff from a central berth in recent weeks. He was, after all, named the club’s Player of the Month for November.

Eze, however, did flatter to deceive, at fault for Matty Cash’s opening goal, and the Spanish manager will feel he was somewhat handicapped due to injuries to key defensive personnel, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Cristhian Mosquera all missing out.

Viktor Gyokeres entered the fray at the interval, and though the Swedish striker toiled away, he might have enjoyed a greater impact had he been unleashed from the outset, but Arteta opted to go down a different road.

Arteta must axe 5/10 Arsenal star

Arsenal have been immense this season, a force to be reckoned with. That said, they still need to be more incisive in the danger area, and for all his strengths and clutch ability in the box, Mikel Merino is not the solution at number nine.

Merino has posted five goals and three assists across 21 matches in all competitions this term. He has split his time between the final third and the middle of the park, and seven of those eight contributions have come as a makeshift striker.

It’s remarkable, but it’s not going to work all the time, and this was painfully clear at Villa Park, whose defenders negated his threat. Gyokeres was largely ineffective after the break, having replaced the seven-pass Spaniard at half-time.

Neither impressed, but football.london did award Gyokeres a 6/10 match rating, drawing attention to his energy and the off-the-ball work that evades statistical representation. Merino, conversely, was branded with a 5/10 score, having fumbled a chance with Saka earlier on.

Minutes played

45′

45′

Goals

0

0

Assists

0

0

Touches

17

11

Shots (on target)

0 (0)

0 (0)

Accurate passes

7/11 (64%)

4/7 (57%)

Chances created

0

0

Dribbles

0/1

0/0

Ball recoveries

3

1

Tackles won

0/0

0/0

Duels won

1/5

0/0

Assessing which of Arsenal’s centre-forwards did better on the evening is akin to splitting hairs. The fact of the matter is that neither received enough service, and this is an issue that Arteta has to overcome, especially with Eze, Odegaard and Saka all on the field at different stages.

Though it’s perhaps telling that Gunners goalkeeper David Raya took more touches of the ball than the pair of them, and given that Arsenal enjoyed 58% of the possession before the break (compared to 49% across the second half), Merino should have had more of an influence.

Gyokeres was signed for a big fee during the off-season to provide the north London side with a solution up top, and it’s surely crucial that he is afforded more starting action going forward, having started from the bench on three successive occasions since returning from the muscle injury that ruled him out for a few weeks in November.

The 27-year-old does need to up his game to the next level, because one thing’s for certain: If Arteta has to persist with Merino at number nine throughout the duration of the campaign, getting his hands on that elusive Premier League title will prove a tall order indeed.

Sterling 2.0: Berta flop already looks like he'll never make it at Arsenal

It is not looking good for the Arsenal star so far this season.

ByJack Salveson Holmes 6 days ago

MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo recebe o Fluminense nesta segunda-feira (13), pela sexta rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro, em duelo que pode marcar a estreia do meio-campista Lucas Moura sob o comando do técnico Luis Zubeldía.

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As melhores e mais variadas ofertas para o Brasileirão estão no Lance! Betting! Abra já a sua conta!

O jogador está sem atuar desde o dia 4 de abril, quando lesionou a coxa esquerda contra o Talleres, na Argentina, pela estreia do Tricolor na Libertadores. No período, ele foi ausência em nove partidas e viu a diretoria do clube modificar o treinador da equipe, com a demissão de Thiago Carpini e a chegada de Zubeldía.

Lucas retornou às atividades com o restante do elenco na última semana. No entanto, o clube não divulgou imagens do atleta no treinamento de domingo (12), que encerrou a preparação do time para o duelo, e o camisa 7 segue como dúvida.

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Caso o meia não esteja à disposição contra o Fluminense, a tendência é que ele retorne no meio de semana, contra o Barcelona de Guayaquil, pela quinta rodada da fase de grupos da Libertadores.

Portanto, a provável escalação do São Paulo para a partida tem: Rafael, Igor Vinicius, Arboleda, Alan Franco e Patryck; Alisson, Bobadilla e Galoppo (Lucas); Ferreira, Luciano e André Silva.

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Contra o Fluminense, o Tricolor Paulista busca vencer sua primeira partida em casa na atual edição do Brasileirão. Até o momento, a equipe acumula um empate, contra o Palmeiras, e uma derrota, para o Fortaleza. A bola rola a partir das 20h (de Brasília), no Morumbis.

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escalaçãoFutebol NacionalLucas MouraSão Paulo

We’ve heard it said that the ICC has been reduced to an event management firm, but is it even that now?

Osman Samiuddin20-Dec-2024First of all, a round of applause for cricket for finally ending what seemed at first to be the saga with no end but which quickly became the saga that if nobody cared much about it, might just go away. Second of all, everyone involved can claim a win. The PCB has its equitable and just agreement, the sense that it is being treated as an equal with the biggest board in the game. The BCCI is not going to play in Pakistan, which is what it has wanted from the off. The ICC has a tournament, and all members their ensuing revenues from it. We all get our tournament and perhaps, somewhere down the line, a triangular or quadrangular series involving both India and Pakistan.Third – and realest – of all, though, better make that a really slow handclap for cricket. If anyone thinks the outcome of this entire sorry drama is a win – least of all for cricket – then it is not the game’s interests they have at heart, no matter how much they tell us otherwise.Consider the ICC. Their perfunctory statement on the resolution is, by one count, six paragraphs long. By another, less generous, count, it is actually six sentences long, two of which spell out the decision and two being space fillers about a schedule that will come soon and about how many teams will take part. That’s it. Six sentences, with no explanation or context as to why there is a statement in the first place. Why do we need a hybrid model, ICC, when the tournament was awarded three years ago to Pakistan as the sole hosts? And how come this arrangement will last until at least 2027?Related

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Hybrid model agreed for Champions Trophy and ICC events from 2024-27

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PCB chief on Champions Trophy: 'I still have positive expectations'

Remarkably, it is the only statement the ICC has made since November 9, when the BCCI first informed the ICC that India were not going to travel to Pakistan. Not a single statement about the uncertainty around one of their premier events, a tournament essentially held hostage by two of their biggest members who together form their events’ biggest rivalry. There’s Stockholm Syndrome and then there’s this.It used to be said, a little disparagingly in the years after Malcolm Speed was forced out as CEO, that the ICC had become a mere event management company and was no longer a global governing body. What, then, might it be left as these days, given its lack of management of the 2023 World Cup and then the fallout from the T20 World Cup this year? An event management company that is no longer managing events at all, or at least not managing them very well?If you conclude that this is down to a complete absence of leadership, or the total subjugation of the ICC to the game’s strongest constituents, then you would not be entirely wrong. But I think a more illuminating insight can be drawn from Greg Barclay’s recent interview with the , in which the outgoing chair deploys a curiously detached gaze on the game, as if he were a fond – but mere – observer, with no real skin in it. The game’s a mess, isn’t it? Lost a bit of perspective, hasn’t it? Sure hope Jay Shah uses India to grow the game and not put it under the yoke of India. Gee, somebody should really do something about all this. Er, who’s going to tell him, guys?And so, in this reflection, the ICC has stood aside and shrugged, watching the game not grow but grow more unruly, pulled here, pushed there, stretched out so that it loses all shape and meaning. Yep, it’s a mess, fellas. Yep, there’s challenges. If only somebody would do something about it.

It used to be said the ICC had become a mere event management company. What, then, might it be left as these days, given its lack of management of the 2023 World Cup and the fallout from the T20 World Cup this year? An event management company that is no longer managing events at all, or at least not managing them very well?

If there’s a smidgen of sympathy here, it’s because the ICC has been wedged in between in this anti-romance between the BCCI and PCB. Nothing brings out the worst in either board than having to deal with the other. And this time the charade that the wrangling is anything other than a proxy for their governments to point-score has been especially risible.Mohsin Naqvi has repeatedly argued that politics and sport should not be mixed. At the best of times this is a reductive line. For Naqvi, concurrently, the incumbent PCB chair and Pakistan’s interior minister (and an especially influential one) it’s a supremely disingenuous line to push. To the extent that it feels like it’s pure trolling.In India, meanwhile, cricket is to politics as smoke is to mirrors, which, given the BCCI secretary had a direct line to the sitting home minister, was something. The BCCI said it was the government not allowing the team to travel. The government didn’t say anything. Until one day, in response to a question, the ministry of external affairs referred to a BCCI statement on the decision. The BCCI, said the spokesperson, had cited security concerns in Pakistan and so was unlikely to send the team there.Umm, what now?The BCCI had made no statement at all, then or now; had, in fact, made clear the decision was in their hands: Rajiv Shukla, the forever BCCI grandee, once said to the media the decision was not the board’s. That was half the problem, that the PCB wanted to know from the BCCI (and not the ICC) why it wasn’t going to send its team, and what the Indian government had said. And security concerns? A security plan had been presented and no objections raised at an ICC meeting in October. None of the eight Full Members who have travelled to Pakistan since 2019 have raised any issues, nor the teams who are actually in the Champions Trophy.And in the middle of this impasse, Jay Shah ascended (or should that be was demoted?) to the ICC chair. One day he was fighting for the BCCI’s interests. The next, a switch was flicked and he was meant to be fighting for the ICC’s interests. It’s quite the to-do list to have left on the last day of your old job to pick up on the first day of your new job. It was entirely fitting. This is, after all, a members’ body in which members routinely do things that undermine the members’ body, and then, as members of said members’ body, bemoan those undermining actions.Still, at least everyone won. Only, if this is what cricket winning feels like, may we never find out how cricket losing feels.

Clinical home performance sees Fire succumb to their heaviest defeat of the women’s competition

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay 07-Aug-2025

Northern Superchargers 141 for 4 (Armitage 34*, Wareham 29*, Mathews 2-18) beat Welsh Fire 94 (Beaumont 36, Wareham 2-14) by 47 runsNorthern Superchargers got their campaign in The Hundred off to the perfect start with a comprehensive win over Welsh Fire at Headingley.Under the new leadership of former England Women’s Head Coach Lisa Keightley, Superchargers batted first and made 141 for 4. In reply, Tammy Beaumont’s Welsh Fire were bowled out for just 94, much to the delight of the 7,208 Superchargers fans in attendance.The team in purple have kept all three of their Australian overseas stars, and there were runs for both Annabel Sutherland (28) and Georgia Wareham (29*), but it was captain Hollie Armitage who top-scored, with an unbeaten 34.Welsh Fire have enjoyed two successful seasons in The Hundred, with visits to The Eliminator and The Final to their name across the last two years, and much of their success has been down to their batting – but when Sophia Dunkley and Hayley Matthews found themselves back in the pavilion with the score still in single figures, they faced an uphill task.Beaumont and Georgia Elwiss tried to undo the damage but the home side possess a balanced attack and they utilised it well, chipping away throughout Fire’s reply to maintain control at all times. It was in the end an easy win, spinners Linsey Smith and Wareham snaffling two wickets apiece, with a couple also for Grace Ballinger.Welsh Fire will have the opportunity to turn it around very quickly, hosting their first game in Cardiff on Saturday. For Superchargers it’s a visit to Trent Rockets on Sunday, where they’ll look to go two from two.Meerkat Match Hero Wareham said: “It felt like a really good hit out for the girls, it felt like we were really clinical in all facets which showed up on the scoreboard for us.”I think [when batting with Hollie Armitage] it was just about being really calm at the time, and knowing that there were actually quite a few balls left. It’s always pretty calm out there with Hollie, she keeps things pretty level. As a team we’re talking about taking the game on, and being brave through different phases of the game, which I think all the batters did really well today.”With the ball, we wanted to keep the stumps in play as much as we possibly could. The change of pace worked really well for Welsh Fire so we took that into play for us, as well, and as it showed we hit the stumps as often as we could.”

Manchester United legend David Beckham admitted he has achieved a long-term goal as his Inter Miami side won the MLS Cup for the first time. A Lionel Messi-inspired Miami earned a hard-fought 3-1 win over Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday at Chase Stadium to secure their biggest ever trophy. As the dust began to settle on their achievement, co-owner Beckham revelled in the club's triumph.

• Messi inspires MLS Cup win

  Miami had an ideal start to their final game of the season when Edier Ocampo scored an own goal in the eighth minute but the Canadian outfit grew into the game and got their reward on the hour mark through Ali Ahmed's scuffed shot. Rodrigo de Paul tucked in Messi's cross 11 minutes later before the Argentine great set up Tadeo Allende deep into stoppage time to seal the victory. The match was also the last that Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets will play for the club, prompting Beckham – who could not contain his excitement – to pay tribute to the two retiring veterans.

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• Beckham realises dream

  After the win, former Real Madrid player Beckham wrote that he was "so proud" of everyone who helped the club achieve this goal and also thanked the former Barcelona stars for securing them a perfect send-off.

  He wrote on Instagram: "WOW… MLS Cup Champions 2025. Ever since I won this trophy as a player, I’ve always wanted to win it as an owner. I am so proud of everybody at this incredible club… the players, the staff, the fans… thank you for your unwavering commitment and support as we realise this dream together. The perfect way to say goodbye to this stadium, and to send off Sergio and Jordi the way they deserve… VAMOS @intermiamicf #FreedomToDream."

• 'One of my greatest moments'

  Beckham won the Champions League with United and a host of domestic trophies under Sir Alex Ferguson. He played for Madrid, AC Milan, PSG and more, but Miami's victory this weekend was a crowning achievement for the 50-year-old.

  "It has to be one of the greatest moments in my career to have won it as a player and now to have won it as an owner," former LA Galaxy player Beckham told The Athletic. "I don’t think that’s been done before, so that’s a nice thing to do first.

  "One of the things was obviously me going to L.A., but then the next one was me owning the team and my promise to America and to the MLS was to bring the best player, and we brought the best player and now we’ve had success tonight. Tonight is just one of those nights that I’ll never forget."

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  Messi revels in victory

  Messi left Paris Saint-Germain for Miami in the summer of 2023, and after delivering them their first-ever trophy with their Leagues Cup success that year, the 38-year-old has secured them the MLS Cup, too. The Argentina international was thrilled at their cup success, saying this was an effort long in the making.

  "Three years ago, I decided to come to MLS, and today we are MLS champions," he said. "We reached the semifinals of the [CONCACAF] Champions Cup. Last year, we went out early in the league and were eliminated in the first round. This year, winning the MLS was one of our main objectives. The team made a huge effort – it was a very long year, with many matches – and we were up to the task all season. This is the moment I had been waiting for, and that we, as a team, were waiting for. It’s very beautiful for all of us. They deserved it."

The start of this season couldn’t have gone much better for Tottenham Hotspur, with convincing wins over Burnley and Manchester City.

However, in the months since, things have really gone off the rails for Thomas Frank and his side.

They currently sit 16th in the Champions League and, following their dismal defeat at the hands of Fulham on Saturday night, 11th in the Premier League.

Frank looked bereft of ideas against the West Londoners, and his team appeared all at sea, including one player who could be in danger of becoming their new Serge Aurier.

Spurs' worst players against Fulham

Aside from maybe Micky Van de Ven for his goalsaving tackle and Randal Kolo Muani for his general play, there were dismal displays across the entire Spurs starting lineup.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

The player who has received the most stick during and after the game is undoubtedly Guglielmo Vicario.

The Italian goalkeeper was the main culprit for the visitors’ second goal, with him rushing out to intercept a long ball, kicking it into danger and then being way out of the penalty area when Harry Wilson curled the ball into the net.

Such a costly blunder, and the fact that the team were 2-0 down in just the sixth minute, led to sections of the home support booing the former Emploi man at every touch.

While not responsible for conceding a goal, Richarlison was another Lilywhites ace who was practically useless on the night.

In his 60 minutes of action, he offered no threat at all, producing an expected goals figure of 0.00 and completing just six of his nine passes.

Moreover, while he took 21 touches, he ended up losing possession nine times, which helps to justify the 3/10 match rating he received from the Standard’s Matt Verri.

It was also a poor showing for Kevin Danso, who was second best to Raul Jimenez throughout the game, and it was his headed clearance that led to the opening goal.

Unfortunately for Frank and the fans, another starter put in a horror display against the Cottagers and could end up becoming the Spurs’ next Aurier if he’s not careful.

Spurs' new Serge Aurier

It was clear that Aurier was a talented player during his stint with Spurs, but what was also clear was that he was error-prone and became something of a scapegoat.

After all, he got sent off on his Premier League debut, and it was his foul that led to Manchester City’s winning free-kick in the 2021 League Cup final.

After that mistake, Jamie Carragher described him as “one of the biggest liabilities in Premier League football.”

The Ivorian left the club that summer, and unfortunately, it feels like Pedro Porro could be becoming the new version of him.

Now, to be clear, the Spanish full-back, originally signed on loan by Antonio Conte, is a hugely talented footballer and someone who is capable of delivering a brilliant cross at times.

However, he has become a growing concern for North Londoners over the last season or so, both offensively and defensively, with the game against Fulham a perfect example.

In his 94 minutes on the pitch, he lost 100% of his aerial duels, lost five of eight ground duels, was dribbled past three times, was accurate in just three of 16 crosses, failed in 100% of his dribbles and completed only 62% of his long balls.

In short, it was a poor attacking display and a truly horrendous defensive one, which more than justifies Verri’s match rating of 4/10 and description of him looking a ‘nervous wreck at the back.’

As if that wasn’t enough, he then proceeded to throw his shirt to the floor and storm off the pitch when the full-time whistle went, in what journalist Mitch Fretton described as “absolute embarrassment.”

It’s this combination of yet another poor performance and the petulance afterward that makes it hard not to think of the former Ivorian international.

Ultimately, Porro is still a talented player and could turn things around, but it’s been some time since fans have seen him at his best, and that display against Fulham was more than worrying.

New Soldado: Frank must bin Spurs flop who had fewer touches than Vicario

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank must drop this flop who is becoming the new Roberto Soldado.

By
Dan Emery

Nov 30, 2025

For five innings, Shohei Ohtani perplexed the Phillies. The Dodgers two-way superstar, in an eventual 9-6 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday, struck out five batters and walked one over five no-hit innings, utilizing 68 pitches to do so. So when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts approached Ohtani, as he told reporters after the game, and asked him how he was feeling, Ohtani replied, "I feel ok."

But Roberts opted to remove him from the game and turn a 4-0 lead over to the Dodgers bullpen, which promptly blew the lead. Despite the less-than-desirable outcome, the Dodgers skipper made it clear that the decision to remove Ohtani was one he had made in lockstep with the Dodgers' plan for the three-time MVP, who is pitching in his first season since 2023 after recovering from shoulder surgery in September of 2023.

"We’ve been very steadfast in every situation as far as inning for his usage—from one inning to two to three to four to five. We haven’t deviated from that," Roberts said. "So I was trying to get his pulse for going forward, where he’s at, continuing to go to the sixth inning…

"…I’m not gonna have a plan for five innings, and then he pitches well and say, ‘Hey, now you’re gonna go for six innings.’ He’s too important," Roberts continued. "And if something does happen, then that’s on me for changing it. We haven’t done that all year, so I’m not gonna do that right now."

Since Ohtani's return to the mound on June 16, the Dodgers have gradually increased his workload. Tuesday's game marked just the second time he's pitched five innings this season, and his high mark in terms of pitches is 87, a number he reached during an August 27 win over the Reds.

So while it's easy to second-guess Roberts's decision after the fact—especially given that Ohtani was working on an increasingly-rare no-hitter—it makes sense given Ohtani's typical workload this season, as well as the fact that the Dodgers are postseason-bound and will need Ohtani's talents on the mound to defend the club's 2024 World Series win.

Ohtani will next take the mound on Sept. 23 against the Diamondbacks.

Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen lashed out at being constantly asked about his fitness as the Denmark international claimed that he has been fit all season. After spending the majority of the 2024-25 campaign on the sidelines due to serious concerns, Christensen has managed to accumulate just 342 minutes on the in the 10 matches he has played for the Catalan giants this season.

Christensen's injury crisis

Until the 2024-25 season, Christensen was a key member of the Barcelona starting lineup, however, an Achilles tendon injury and muscle issues forced him to remain sidelined for the majority of the last campaign.  In the current campaign, the Danish defender has fallen down the pecking order behind Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsi and Ronald Araujo under Hansi Flick. He was ruled out for four games due to gastroenteritis but has otherwise been available for the Spanish champions.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportChristensen frustrated with fitness queries

Speaking to reporters, the 29-year-old said: "Before last season, there were hardly any questions about my fitness. But since then, there have been many. Now I'm back in competition, without getting injured. In fact, apart from illnesses I've been fit all season. So it's annoying, but I have to accept it. I'll keep my head held high and play, as I always have, except when I've been sick."

He further claimed that he constantly keeps track of whatever is said about him in the media, as the centre-back added: "I think it's more difficult if you're a player and you follow a lot of news. But since I don't use social media and I almost never read the news in Denmark, luckily I don't see them. So for me it's not that difficult. But I imagine it must be incredibly stimulating and at the same time totally exhausting. Luckily, I don't mind staying out of it."

Ex-Chelsea defender wants new Barcelona deal

Speaking to earlier this month, Christensen admitted that Barcelona had not yet approached him about an extension, as he said: "No, not really. I don't think so. I think we're in a good situation, and there's not really anything that can change anything I do in my everyday life. Of course, you want to have it in place and know what's happening. But it's not something that changes our mood during the days, or something we talk about 

"Of course, we have desires, we all do, but it's not something I think about in my everyday life. I try to do what I can do on the pitch, and hopefully that's enough for me to stay there." Christensen also admitted that his agent will remain involved over future decisions. If there is something that needs to be done, he will, of course, do it. Of course, I would like to know what is happening, but I would rather focus on what I can do, and that is to do what I can do."

He added: "Oh, no, I have no idea. Not yet. I'm just choosing to focus on being part of the team and playing as much as I possibly can. Hopefully that's how it ends up, but I'll have to take it as it comes, right now. Not at all. No plan B."

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Getty Images SportWill Barcelona offer a new deal to Christensen?

As of now, there has been no indication that the Spanish champions would offer Christensen a new contract and with his limited role in the current campaign, it is possible that Barcelona could let him leave for free at the end of the season. Last month, Barca sporting director Deco had told : "We’re taking Andreas step by step. He had a spectacular first year. Then injuries have affected him quite a bit. We’ll see how he does this season and we’ll talk. He’s a great player. We don’t have to renew all the players in October either."

Flick's men will be back in action after the international break on November 22 when they take on Athletic Club in a La Liga fixture at home. 

MatériaMais Notícias

Histórico. Ao balançar a rede pela segunda vez contra o Nova Iguaçu, Pedro marcou o gol de número 13 mil do Flamengo. O Rubro-Negro venceu a Laranja da Baixada por 3 a 0 no primeiro jogo da final do Carioca.

continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasFora de CampoInternautas criticam transmissão de Nova Iguaçu x Flamengo na Band: ‘Som muito atrasado’Fora de Campo30/03/2024FlamengoWeb vai à loucura com gol de Pedro pelo Flamengo: ‘Nove bolado’Flamengo30/03/2024FlamengoMarcos Braz confirma data que Carlinhos se apresenta ao FlamengoFlamengo30/03/2024

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O gol 13 mil do Flamengo foi anulado e, posteriormente, marcado por Pedro. No primeiro tempo, o atacante ampliou o placar, mas o lance foi invalidado.

Coincidentemente, o gol 12 mil também aconteceu de forma peculiar. Leandro Damião acertou uma bicicleta em grande estilo. No entanto, a arbitragem marcou uma penalidade para o Flamengo antes do atacante balançar a rede.

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Na cobrança, Leandro Damião converteu e fez o gol 12 mil do Flamengo.

Com o segundo gol na partida contra o Nova Iguaçu, Pedro também se isola na artilharia do Campeonato Carioca com 11 gols. Atrás do camisa 9 do Flamengo está apenas Carlinhos, futuro companheiro de clube.

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FlamengoPedro Guilherme

Since the start of his career, he has had to put his game together brick by brick, improving at every step

Andrew Fidel Fernando17-Sep-2025Pathum Nissanka remembers being around cricket from his earliest years. “I’ve been playing since I was in year one or year two,” he says, the game as present and natural a feature of his life as the brooding Kalu Ganga (black river), which meets the Indian Ocean in his home town of Kalutara.He had had this cricket-soaked childhood because his father, Sunil Silva, was then a groundsman at the biggest club in town. “It was my who inspired that love in me,” Nissanka says. “He taught me how to hold a bat. He was my first coach.” His mother, Geethika, used to sell flowers outside Kalutara’s famous Buddhist temple; theirs was not a family of great means. But what they did have was this burning desire to make their talented son a cricketer.In addition to the early trainings and sweltering afternoons that form the bedrock of a burgeoning cricketing life, Nissanka was forever facing throwdowns from his father at home or at the club ground. It was there, or so the story goes, that a serious work ethic developed. It is this tirelessness that has set him apart.Related

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Nissanka 2.0 launches in Galle with 187 new features

Nissanka helps Sri Lanka edge sloppy Hong Kong in a thriller

Although he was precocious, Nissanka’s rise through Sri Lanka’s system was gradual. He started at as good a cricketing school as the city could offer, Kalutara Vidyalaya, which produced TM Dilshan. But its First XI still played in a Division II competition that was holding back Nissanka’s development. Eventually he was scouted by Isipathana College and moved there – a fancy-ish Colombo institution but one better known for its rugby. When he graduated to senior domestic cricket, he spent a couple of seasons at Badureliya Sports Club before moving to the better-resourced Nondescripts Cricket Club.At no rung on this ladder did Nissanka attract big hype. Few whispers were heard about his being Sri Lanka’s next great batter. No social-media campaigns of note aimed to propel him into the national side. No selectors backed his promise and carried him into a national squad on a palanquin, as they had done others. Nissanka was required to put his game together stage by stage, often adding attacking elements to what he says was always a robust defensive technique.Before he made his debut for Sri Lanka in 2021, Nissanka strung together two first-class seasons in which he averaged around 90, raising his overall first-class average to an outstanding 67.54. On that maiden 2021 tour of West Indies, he became the first Sri Lankan batter in 20 years to make a hundred on Test debut. In that innings he was scoreless in his first 20 balls, and on 18 off his first 70.

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Nearly three quarters of the way through 2025, it is possible we are seeing the rise of Sri Lanka’s first space-age, three-format batter. No other specialist batter who came up in the T20 age has quite made it across formats. Nissanka opens the batting in all three. Since 2024, he has put up serious numbers.In Tests he averages 51.20 in that period. No opener in the world with 400 runs in that stretch averages as much. In ODIs he averages 48.47 with a strike rate of 98. In T20Is, he’s hit 970 runs at a strike rate of 142.Among other things, Nissanka has refurbished his game square of the wicket on both sides•Zimbabwe CricketIt has become clear through this period that Nissanka has spent his four years in international cricket developing and honing fresh skills. It is his attacking game he has expanded the most. It took being dropped from ODIs for six months, at the back end of 2021, for him to realise what the next stage of his development needed to be.”After my first nine one-dayers, my average was down at nine-something [9.55],” Nissanka says. “I knew then that I needed to do more than that for the team, and had to find ways to improve. So I started training more than usual. I trained pretty much every day, and batted three or four times a day.”Having done the hard work of breaking through to the next level so many times, Nissanka knew the drill. The first step was to identify what his game lacked. For the first time, he had access to Sri Lanka Cricket’s coaching and analysis resources.”I looked at what my weak points were, and which areas I wasn’t getting many runs in. I analysed all that, and had some idea of how to change my game so I could put the ball in those areas.”My back-foot punch wasn’t in a good place previously. I would play it, but I didn’t get many runs from it. My slash also needed to improve. When you’re up against the new ball and it’s swinging, you need to have these shots to score off. I worked really hard on those shots, and practised them constantly.”The data shows significant improvement. Where until the end of 2022, Nissanka struck at only 105 in the sectors immediately adjacent to point on either side in T20Is, since the start of 2024 (we’re excluding 2023, as the main transition year), he has struck at 132 through that region.There was also general power-hitting work, and strength-building in the gym. Where until the end of 2022 he used to hit a six once every 37 balls, he has cleared the rope once every 25.29 balls, since 2024. The fours have also come at a substantially faster clip – he hits one once every 6.1 balls since 2024, when until the end of 2022, he’d hit one every 9.97 deliveries.