Category News

European Challenge Cup

Ospreys (14) 26

Tries Walsh 3 and Moriarty Cons: Watkin, Lloyd 2,

Montpellier (21) 31

After falling short of the Challenge Cup knockout stages against Montpellier in Bridgend, the Ospreys will face an away tie in April’s Challenge Cup knockout stages.

Before Mark Jones’ men came storming back, the French side took a 21-7 lead with two tries scored by flanker Alex Masibaka and wing Jules Ducros.

As the hosts led, Lewis Lloyd scored a double, and Owen Watkin’s center and Ross Moriarty’s replacement, respectively, added tries.

The win for Montpellier was secured by a try from Wilfrid Hounkpatin, four conversions from Stuart Hogg, and a late penalty from Leo Coly.

Depending on the Italian side’s performance at Lyon on Sunday, the Welsh region will now face either Benetton or Ulster away in the last 16.

Making 13 personnel adjustments from the side that lost to Zebre, 23-19, was a gamble made by Ospreys head coach Jones.

Only lock James Fender and Jack Walsh, who switched from full-back to fly-half and anchored the side, managed to survive in the first team.

Dewi Lake, a captain for Wales, has a minor shoulder injury, so she couldn’t be accommodated.

Adam Beard, a lock for Wales who left for Montpellier last season, was sidelined with a shoulder injury, but Hogg, a full-back for Scotland and the British Irish Lions, made a fly-half substitution.

Hogg’s conversion of Masibaka’s opening try put this tradition on hold when he put it to rest after being booed every time he touched the ball.

Following a neat short pass from fellow center Phil Cokanasiga, Ospreys scored a well-worked try for Watkin.

Ducros crossed after taking advantage of a loose tap back from Ospreys wing Ryan Conbeer after Montpellier lost Australia number eight Langi Gleeson to a serious knee injury.

Walsh’s wild pass was intercepted by Masibaka for his second score, and Ospreys gave Montpellier another gift.

Marco de Wit, the debutant of South Africa, was replaced by Moriarty.

The Wales forward’s first action was to convert from Walsh’s level-setting conversion to help the Ospreys pack drive over Lloyd for his second score.

As Ospreys for the first time led, Moriarty’s influence lasted until he completed a flowing move for the bonus-point try.

Hogg restored the lead with his fourth conversion, but that advantage vanished when Hounkpatin’s replacement prop dived over.

Replacements: Hopkins, Moriarty, Morse, C Jones, Hire, L Jones, Moriarty, Morse, Hardy, and Daniel.

Montpellier: Taofifenua, Ducros, Darmon, Cadot, Rates, Hogg, Bernadet, Welsch, Uelese (capt), Tolofua, Tauleigne, Uhila, Becognee, Masibaka, Gleeson,

Replacements: Tangata, Coly, Hounkpatin, DuGuid, Shand, and Erdocio.

Federico Vedovelli (Ita) as the referee

Assistants: Luca Bisetto (Ita), and Franco Rosella (Ita).

Arsenal were nine points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table after losing 2-0 at Old Trafford, but Mikel Arteta’s side were frustrated for the second straight league game.

For the first time in 14 years, Arsenal have drawn 0-0 with Liverpool last week, following their first two games of the 2012-13 season against Sunderland and Stoke City.

Noni Madueke, a winger, acknowledged it felt like a “missed opportunity,” while Arteta pointed to his side and created “four big chances” without Forest ever getting a single shot on target.

The biggest disappointment for Arteta was not given a second-half penalty for a handball by Forest defender Ola Aina.

With only about ten minutes left in the match, the Aina handball incident occurred.

The Forest right-back was pushed by his own team-mate Elliot Anderson and challenged by Gabriel Jesus to control a bouncing ball in his own penalty area.

As the defender attempted to turn, the ball hit Aina’s shoulder, which caused Arteta and Arsenal to vehemently request a spot-kick, but it was unsuccessful.

The Premier League Match Center on X stated: “The referee’s call to no penalties for Arsenal was reviewed and confirmed by VAR, who determined that Aina’s shoulder was first when the ball was played off of his arm first, which was also in a natural position.”

Unsurprisingly, Forest boss Sean Dyche disagreed despite Arteta’s steadfast claim that his team had been denied a “clear penalty.”

“We have to leave it,” I believe if these start to be given. That seems absurd to me. We must be cautious with those, Dyche said.

If you’re going to play football, you might as well cancel it. The regulations must be cautious. You are aware of what they ought to examine. people pretending to be hurt. That’s new diving, exactly.

The officials believed to have made the right decision, according to retired Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann, who asserted that the arm is “close to the body and is in a justifiable position.”

In the Premier League, handball received only nine penalties last season. With 34 awarded in Serie A and 37 in Ligue 1, that was a major outlier in comparison to other European leagues.

Although there has been a change to this term, the English top flight still has 15 handball spot kicks per 15 games, which is the lowest among the top five leagues.

In the Premier League, six have been given through the video assistant referee (VAR). The arm would always be far away from the body, or the ball would always be moving clearly and purposefully.

And it is deliberate handball, not to mention Aina, the Forest defender’s only penalty claim.

Aina’s arm was in a restraining position for his movement when the ball fell off his shoulder. You can’t say that hitting the ball would constitute a handball offense.

Due to the fact that it occurred behind bodies on the goalline, the referee, Michael Oliver, had no chance to notice it. That leaves the sole arbitrator, Darren England, in charge of deciding whether or not toimpose a penalty might be seen as a serious mistake.

The significance of Anderson’s role Could you say that Aina deliberately handled the ball while making a move? Or did his teammate bump into him as a result?

Of course, there are arguments on both sides. A defender is also taken into account if they have been challenged by an attacker. If it didn’t apply to team-mates, it would be absurd.

It is reasonable to assume that Anderson’s subsequent movement resulted from this rather than a deliberate action given that he collided with Aina before his arm moved to the ball.

You must locate that motivational moment somewhere. According to Keown, “you have to do something special to become champions.”

There are three points Arsenal could improve with more clinical goalkeeping, because they are creating opportunities, not in doubt.

With joint-top scorers Viktor Gyokeres and Leandro Trossard only scoring five goals in the league, the lack of a regular goal score has raised eyebrows at Arsenal in recent weeks.

“We could have been better,” Arteta said, but this is happening across the league for all of the teams.

The League One side signed the 42-year-old on a three-year deal in May, marking his first managerial position since joining Ipswich Town after three years on the coaching staff.

The club overhauled the squad over the summer and made a strong start, winning five of their first seven league games, in an effort to return to the Championship at the second attempt.

Since then, they have struggled to maintain consistency, falling to sixth place in the standings on Saturday.

We were clear about our goals, how we wanted them to be achieved, and the type of team on the pitch we wanted to enjoy alongside our supporters, according to Huddersfield owner Kevin Nagle, who returned with renewed optimism and hope after actively refining our first team over the summer.

With only a half of the season remaining, we have no other choice but to make a change to get the side back on track because sadly none of those goals are being met in our current form.

Huddersfield are the seventh League One team to have a new manager this year.

With Grant’s dismissal, Carlos Corberan will be the last Terriers manager to lead the team for the entire season.

Seven managers have left West Yorkshire since the Spaniard’s departure.

After spending three years on Kieran McKenna’s coaching staff at Ipswich, Grant returned to Huddersfield in the summer.

A squad that finished 10th last season had been transformed by the former Derby, Burnley, Sheffield Wednesday, and Stoke goalkeeper.

Alfie May, the Birmingham striker, and Jack Whatmough, Ryan Ledson, and Lynden Gooch, the Championship’s veterans, were also signed for more than £1 million.

The club was backed as pre-season favorites for promotion by American owner Nagle after that recruitment drive and their ambitions, which led to a 3-0 home victory over the team’s beaten play-off finalists last year.

They were third on their September 13th visit to local rivals Bradford City, but they fell to Valley Parade with a 3-1 defeat, and they haven’t moved that far in the rankings since.

Despite having played more than one game the entire season, they are now 16 points behind leaders Cardiff. They spent the majority of the season in or just outside the top six.

In addition to the proposed European basketball league, NBA commissioner Adam Silver claims he wants to “tap into” European football culture.

Although BBC Sport is aware that neither of Manchester City nor Manchester United would have a team should the endeavor develop, Silver claims to have spoken with both.

The goal is to establish a permanent league on the continent as soon as the 2027-28 season, which is currently NBA Europe.

With a team from both London and Manchester expected to participate, there might be up to 16 teams from across the continent.

The league is anticipated to include both current basketball teams and football clubs with new franchises and those that do not currently have any associated basketball teams.

Silver told BBC Sport, “We’re having conversations with everyone, and it’s a big part of why this process has been going on for so long.”

“We wanted to make sure we covered everyone when I started speaking in public about the Paris Olympics.” We’ve spoken with all parties who are interested, and we’ve covered all opportunities and concerns.

Silver also confirmed that he has spoken with Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris St-Germain as a way to combine the best of both established and new European clubs.

However, according to reports, Real and Barcelona, the current EuroLeague, has concerns about the new competition, and has threatened legal action against the NBA if clubs violate existing agreements.

However, Silver believes that the already substantial support of football clubs could have a significant impact on the expansion of the game across Europe, speaking before the NBA’s first regular season game on Sunday.

He said, “I want to be wary of] those traditions.

Because of how special, unique, and long-held that culture is, I don’t want to make up anyone who might be a part of this new league into thinking they can be easily transferred.

We also desire the advantages of that incredible wisdom and understanding gained over the course of decades of operation.

“As an American, I observe that there is religious fervor in the local football clubs, and we could only be so fortunate to do that. This is more focused on one area. That represents opportunity, in my opinion.