Nico O’Reilly’s fearless quality exposes collapsing Arsenal’s title credentials | Barney Ronay

Deep lying creator is an excellent Manchester City story and confirmed why he is England’s best left-back

It’s not over, not over, not over yet. Although, let’s be honest, it kind of is over. Isn’t it, don’t you think, at the end of a day when Manchester City and Arsenal dished up the one thing nobody was expecting at the Etihad Stadium, a thrillingly open game of attacking football?

There were three images at the final whistle that seemed to capture the essence of City’s 2-1 win here, and not just in terms of the game, but the balance of energy, feeling, vibes.

Published: April 19, 2026, 8:11 pm

‘This feeling sucks’: $381m Mets, with second-highest payroll in MLB, lose 11th game in a row

• New York had 1-0 lead in ninth before losing 2-1

• Mets swept for a third series in a row

The New York Mets are finding that money doesn’t necessarily bring happiness. The second-most expensive team in MLB – with a payroll of $381m – lost their 11th game in a row on Sunday as they were swept for a third straight series, this time by the Chicago Cubs.

“Eleven losses, that’s a lot, whether it’s in April or at any point in the season,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to find a way.”

Published: April 19, 2026, 9:44 pm

Raducanu withdraws from Madrid Open as illness absence nears two months

• British player has been out of action since early March

• Rybakina wins her second Porsche at Stuttgart Open

Emma Raducanu will extend her absence from the WTA Tour because of a viral illness to two months after she withdrew from the coming week’s Madrid Open.

Raducanu has not competed since a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Amanda Anisimova in the second round of the Indian Wells Open on 8 March. She briefly trained on-site at the Miami Open just over a week later before citing lingering symptoms from an earlier viral illness as the reason for her withdrawal. Raducanu had been affected by a viral illness during the Middle East swing in February, which she said had contributed to her poor performances on the court.

Published: April 19, 2026, 2:31 pm

‘Last year is over’: Oklahoma City launch title defense as NBA’s parity era faces test

The league hasn’t had a repeat champion since the 2017-18 Warriors. The level-headed, consistent Thunder may be the ones to change that

The NBA has not seen a reigning champion take its title defense as far as the conference finals, let alone hoist a second consecutive Larry O’Brien trophy, since the Golden State Warriors were cut off at the ankle and calf by the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 Finals. That’s seven straight seasons in which parity has ruled supreme, for better or for worse, and dynastic runs seem fated to be a thing of the past.

Not if one team in America’s heartland has anything to say about it. The Oklahoma City Thunder embark on these 2026 playoffs in search of historic greatness, trends be damned. And less than two weeks before the first game of the postseason tips off, you’d be hard pressed to find substantive evidence to believe their goal won’t be achieved.

Published: April 19, 2026, 10:00 am

Humanoid robots show rapid advances as they race past humans in Beijing half marathon

• Winning robot runs faster time than Jacob Kiplimo’s world record

• More than 100 robots run in parallel tracks to avoid collisions with humans

They can already carry the shopping, cook and clean. Now they can run and win half marathons.

In perhaps the most unusual spectacle ever seen at the end of the 13.1-mile (21.1km) race, robots flew over the finish line ahead of the humans for the first time in Beijing on Sunday. And there wasn’t a bead of sweat in sight.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:14 pm

Virgil van Dijk earns late Liverpool win in first derby at Everton’s new home

A new £800m setting for the Merseyside derby contained an old and familiar script. Everton came to christen Hill Dickinson Stadium’s derby debut in style but were devastated by the latest Liverpool show of all, as Virgil van Dijk’s 100th-minute header brought victory, relief for Arne Slot and Champions League qualification a little closer. It was some response to a trying week for the Premier League champions.

The old guard led the way for Liverpool once more with Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah on the scoresheet, either side of a Beto equaliser, and the visitors refusing to settle for the point that both teams merited. Liverpool tried to exploit Everton’s vulnerability at set pieces all afternoon, mostly without success, but in the 10th of 11 minutes added on it finally paid off. Van Dijk held off James Tarkowski to convert Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner at close range, and Slot’s prospects of leading Liverpool into next season’s Champions League soared.

Published: April 19, 2026, 3:24 pm

Bengals land Dexter Lawrence from Giants for No 10 pick in draft-week splash

• Lawrence dealt in blockbuster draft-week trade

• Giants now hold the fifth and 10th picks overall

• Trade follows tackle’s push for a new contract

The Cincinnati Bengals acquired three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants for the 10th overall pick in next week’s NFL draft, two people with knowledge of the trade told the Associated Press on Saturday night.

Both people spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is pending a physical.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:10 am

European football: Bayern Munich win 35th league title by surging past Stuttgart

• Bayern bounce back from early concession to win 4-2

• PSG’s title hopes hit after 2-1 home defeat by Lyon

Bayern Munich secured their 35th German league title by beating Stuttgart 4-2 to open up an unassailable lead with four games to play. Sunday’s result sent Bayern 15 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

The Bavarian side, who face Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup semi-final next week before taking on Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on 28 April, were a goal down before scoring four times to quickly turn the game around.

Published: April 19, 2026, 9:36 pm

Guardiola calls for focus in title run-in after Haaland cuts down Arsenal

• Manchester City three points behind leaders after 2-1 win

• ‘Don’t lose focus, we have some long weeks left’

Pep Guardiola urged Manchester City not “to lose focus” after Sunday’s 2-1 win over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium struck a significant blow for his team in the title race.

The victory moves City to three points below Arsenal, with Guardiola’s team having six games left, one more than Mikel Arteta’s. The manager said: “It gives us hope, I said to the guys: ‘Enjoy the moment but don’t lose focus right now as we have three or four long weeks left.’

Published: April 19, 2026, 7:50 pm

‘Big, big compliment’: Arne Slot hails Liverpool’s mentality in win at Everton

• Liverpool win derby in 100th minute after difficult run

• ‘Five games in 15 days with mainly the same players’

Arne Slot claimed Liverpool provided the perfect answer to questions over their mentality and character as Virgil van Dijk’s 100th-minute header clinched victory in the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Liverpool opened up a seven-point gap to sixth-placed Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification with their captain’s dramatic intervention against Everton, who were left to rue another late blow by their local rivals. David Moyes described the outcome as “cruel” and claimed Everton should have had a penalty for a push by Curtis Jones on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Published: April 19, 2026, 5:28 pm

Gibbs-White hat-trick sinks Burnley and moves Forest closer towards safety

There was a moment early in the second half when Morgan Gibbs-White, asked to move left from his favoured No 10 position as Nottingham Forest reshaped at half-time in a bid to get back into a game Burnley were winning, mistimed his swivelled shot so badly, with a clear sight of goal, that the ball looped harmlessly behind, like a balloon at a child’s party.

“You’re going down with the Burnley,” sang the travelling fans gleefully in the Bridgford Stand, as they treasured the rare lead Zian Flemming had given them in first-half stoppage time.

Published: April 19, 2026, 3:36 pm

Aston Villa’s Tammy Abraham grabs dramatic victory after Sunderland rally

The finish was chaotic, brilliant, exhausting but, when the dust settles, this perhaps was the afternoon when Aston Villa made a decisive spurt for the finish line to claim Champions League qualification. As Tammy Abraham touched in the winner three minutes into injury-time, Unai Emery ran on to the pitch in celebration. Yet just a minute earlier Habib Diarra had been set clean through with a chance of his own to win it. Emi Martínez, though, stretched up to save his dink, and the road was cleared for the Villa winner.

“We need strikers and goalkeepers,” said Emery. “It was the match – three points for them and no three points for us.”

Published: April 19, 2026, 3:22 pm

Spurs condemn ‘vile, dehumanising racism’ aimed at Kevin Danso online

• Club taking ‘immediate action’ over social media posts

• Danso was at fault for Brighton’s late equaliser in draw

Tottenham have condemned the “vile, dehumanising racism” aimed at the defender Kevin Danso after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Brighton. Danso was at fault for Georginio Rutter’s stoppage-time equaliser which left Spurs languishing in the relegation zone. The club say they have reported to the police racist abuse towards the Austria centre-back on social media.

“Since yesterday’s fixture against Brighton, which took place during the Premier League’s No Room For Racism weekend, Kevin Danso has been, and continues to be, subject to significant and abhorrent racist abuse on social media,” Spurs said in a club statement.

Published: April 19, 2026, 12:06 pm

Celtic hit St Mirren for six in extra-time blitz to reach Scottish Cup final

Martin O’Neill will face his former captain Neil Lennon in the Scottish Cup final after Celtic booked their spot in the showpiece against Dunfermline with an eventful 6-2 extra-time win over St Mirren.

A horror mistake by Saints’ stand-in goalkeeper Ryan Mullen saw Daizen Maeda give the Hoops a first-minute lead at Hampden and to add to their woes the errant No 2 picked up an injury and had to be replaced after just 14 minutes by the 17-year-old debutant Grant Tamosevicius.

Published: April 19, 2026, 3:55 pm

Ipswich rally to hold Middlesbrough via Jack Clarke’s controversial penalty

Jack Clarke fired home an 87th-minute penalty to save a point for Ipswich in a pulsating 2-2 draw with their promotion rivals. Jarred Gillett awarded the spot-kick when he adjudged Adilson Malanda had tugged the substitute George Hirst in the box.

Middlesbrough, who are on a seven-match winless run, went ahead through David Strelec only for Kasey McAteer to equalise five minutes later. The visitors regained the lead through Tommy Conway but Clarke’s spot-kick meant a point apiece.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:20 pm

Fitzpatrick hits ‘out of this world’ shot to defeat Scheffler in RBC Heritage playoff

• English player wins at first playoff hole with birdie

• Fitzpatrick claims second PGA Tour victory of year

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick beat the world No 1, Scottie Scheffler, in a playoff to win the RBC Heritage for the second time.

Fitzpatrick took a three-shot into the final round at Hilton Head and still held that advantage standing on the 15th tee. But playing partner Scheffler produced birdies at 15 and 16 and Fitzpatrick’s duffed chip on 18 cost him a bogey, sending him into a playoff that he looked second favourite to win.

Published: April 19, 2026, 11:05 pm

‘Drinks and a burger’ fuel Mark Allen’s Crucible comeback win over Zhang

• Allen rallies from 5-3 down to win 10-6 in first round

• Hawkins, Williams and Xiao Guodong also advance

Mark Allen revealed how “bad food” and a few drinks fuelled his surge into the second round of the World Snooker Championship after he swallowed up a two-frame overnight deficit to crush Zhang Anda 10-6 at the Crucible.

The 40-year-old was so disillusioned with his display on Saturday, when he failed to rustle up a break over 50, that he set about drowning his sorrows in Sheffield. Allen then returned on Sunday to rifle three centuries in a six-frame streak and advance to the second round.

Published: April 19, 2026, 10:30 pm

James Rew shines with the bat as Somerset set up Hampshire chase – as it happened

James Rew is on 58 with Somerset needing 148 more runs to win with Hampshire requiring seven wickets

Matt Critchley is gone now, carving loosely to backward point and Essex are digging themselves into a bit of a hole at Edgbaston. They’ve lost four wickets this morning and are still 34 runs adrift, from nowhere Warwickshire look like they could event take a small first innings lead into their second innings.

Leach is looking dangerous at the Utilita, probing away and getting some spit and drift. I wonder if we’ll see him in England whites again?

Published: April 19, 2026, 6:44 pm

Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal: Premier League – as it happened

Erling Haaland settled a pulsating clash at the Etihad to leave Arsenal ruing a series of near misses

When Pep Guardiola was preparing for the challenge of taking on Jürgen Klopp’s peak Liverpool team at Anfield in February 2021, training that week at Manchester City was a little different, according to Oleksandr Zinchenko. Guardiola’s instructions seemed counterintuitive. “Guys, let’s start from the goal-kick, I want you to make at least three or four touches on the ball,” the manager told them. “Most of the teams come to Anfield and shit themselves. They want to play one touch, two touch. ‘Oh, don’t give me the ball! Oh you take it!’ But you have to play with big balls at Anfield! Big balls! ‘Give me the ball!’ Demand it! If you need to dribble past two or three players, do it. But play football. I want you to play football.”

Zinchenko recalls that Guardiola made the same speech before they walked out at Anfield. “Teams coming here are scared. They play one or two touches, and that’s what Liverpool like, because they get the ball back so quickly. I want you to be brave. Play your football!” as Zinchenko puts it in his autobiography, Believe. Admittedly that game came in the midst of City’s record-breaking 21-game winning run that season but was also Guardiola’s first win at Anfield, so not dissimilar to the title showdown at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday with Arsenal.

Aston Villa 4-3 Sunderland

Everton 1-2 Liverpool

Nottingham Forest 4-1 Burnley

Published: April 19, 2026, 6:07 pm

Noah Caluori repeats five-try display as Saracens demolish sorry Sale 85-19

• Hosts concede 13 tries as season of regression continues

• McCall: ‘One of the better wing performances I’ve seen’

There was a time when Sale were largely unbeatable at home, their uninviting base on the outskirts of Salford inhospitable to visitors and a fortress to Alex Sanderson’s players. Not any longer.

Not for the first time this season, Sale were reduced to Mancunian rubble in front of their own supporters as they slipped to a record Prem defeat while Saracens romped to a record victory in the competition. Sanderson is a passionate, engaging rugby man but scrutiny will now increase on a tenure stretching over five years in which Sale’s ambitious owners have spent big without reward.

Published: April 19, 2026, 5:56 pm

Celtic 6-2 St Mirren, Nottingham Forest 4-1 Burnley, Aston Villa 4-3 Sunderland – clockwatch as it happened

Villa took a big step towards the Champions League and Forest towards safety as Celtic ran in a flurry at Hampden

OK, so it was all building to this, then. The slow‑burn plotlines. The room‑temperature action sequences. The winter afternoons on the sofa watching men wrestle unhappily, staring out of the window as the frigid wind tousles the clouds, wondering about the death of all things, and also why referees not only have to speak now but speak in the same awkward Yorkshire bingo‑caller voice.

Published: April 19, 2026, 3:43 pm

Everton 1-2 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened

Virgil van Dijk’s added-time winner gave Liverpool a crucial victory in the first derby at Everton’s new home

Otherwise, Florian Wirtz is again given a chance to assert and establish – the numbers and profiles behind him, more defensively minded, offer him yet some ballast, but does he have the necessary speed of thought and play, along with the required combativeness, to make a difference?

The problem he has is that he replaced two full-backs who were better in attack than defence, with … two full-backs who are better in attack than defence. Essentially, he doesn’t have a combination that works, so has prioritised solidity and experience here, the new lads excluded. That means Dominic Szoboszlai again plays at the back, which means Liverpool must do without their best midfielder in the centre of the pitch; I guess the plan might be for him to invert, but otherwise Slot will hope that the ball-carrying and tenacity of Curtis Jones compensate.

Published: April 19, 2026, 3:26 pm