Former FA Cup winners Danny Murphy and Micah Richards praise the work Unai Emery is doing at Aston Villa and analyse the tactics behind Villa’s first goal in their 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur in their FA Cup third round tie.
Three horses have died after sustaining injuries in separate incidents during Kempton Park’s Lanzarote Hurdle card.
Grade One winning Kalif Du Berlais, who was part-owned by former Manchester United manger Sir Alex Ferguson, fell and unseated jockey Harry Cobden in the final stages of the four-runner Silviniaco Conti Chase.
The six-year-old sustained a broken shoulder and could not be treated by the veterinary team, with trainer Paul Nicholls describing the loss as “a big kick in the teeth” and a “sad day”.
Also on Saturday, Wertpol suffered a fatal fall in the juvenile hurdle, while Peso pulled up with an injury in the Shaker Handicap Chase.
A spokesperson for Kempton Park said: “All of us at Kempton Park care deeply about the welfare of all racehorses, as do the thousands of racing staff who provide them with world-class levels of care at home every day.
“Our heartfelt condolences are with the connections of all three horses.”
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) said it will analyse each incident in detail through its fatality review process.
“At this stage there does not appear to be any common factor that can be attributed to these incidents, with each of the injuries different in nature and sustained in unique circumstances,” it added.
Briton Nicholls said Kalif Du Berlais had been “travelling beautifully” at Kempton and they had “a lot of faith” the horse could go far.
“He’s won a Grade One and had a big future, there is no doubt about that, but we’re not going to know how big, sadly,” he said.
Harry Derham, who was riding Wertpol, wrote on X it had been “an utterly miserable day” and said the three-year-old “was a bright talent who was fresh and happy doing his work every day, often playing around and expressing himself”.
He added: “Racing can at times be a painful sport and today has been a tough day for a number of connections. A day to forget.”
Investec Champions Cup Pool 1
Sale (7) 26
Tries: Ma’asi-White, Rodd, O’Flaherty 2 Cons: Ford 3
Sharks (3) 10
A much-improved second-half performance helped Sale beat South African side the Sharks and confirmed their passage to the Investec Champions Cup last 16.
Siya Masuku’s penalty put the visitors ahead before Sale centre Rekeiti Ma’asi-White scored the only try of an error-strewn opening period to give the hosts a slender half-time advantage.
England prop Bevan Rodd burrowed over on 49 minutes and Tom O’Flaherty crossed soon after to put Sale 19-3 up, before Sharks flanker Manu Tshituka scored a wonderful individual try to reduce the arrears.
After falling behind to Masuku’s penalty Sale responded quickly and their building pressure told when Ma’asi-White collected a short pass before crossing the whitewash.
Sharks, without the majority of their South Africa internationals including captain Siya Kolisi, were enjoying plenty of possession and providing an attacking threat, but after several phases of probing the Sale defence around the 20-minute mark they opted to kick in behind and lost possession.
Sale debutant Obi Ene looked sharp on the wing but his side were struggling to build momentum with handling errors allowing the Sharks to counter regularly and on one such foray forward blind-side flanker Tino Mavesere came close to scoring but dropped the ball in contact five metres short of the tryline.
The hosts escaped again shortly before the break when full-back Hakeem Kunene broke clear only for Sale winger O’Flaherty to come back with a vital covering tackle.
Sharks fly-half Masuku tried his luck with a penalty from his own half early in the second period, and although it had the length he sent the kick wide of the posts.
It took Sale until the 49th minute to get their second try as a catch and drive from a five-metre line-out allowed Rodd to score.
George Ford’s superb kick to the corner then set up Sale’s third soon after. With the line-out ball secured, Ene spun it wide to fellow wing O’Flaherty who ran in unopposed.
Just as Sale looked like they were well on top, Sharks flanker Tshituka scored an excellent try, picking the ball from the base of a ruck and beating Ford all ends up before racing away to the line.
Sale: Carpenter; Ene, Du Preez, Ma’asi-White, O’Flaherty; Ford, Warr; Rodd, Jibulu, Harper, Bamber, Van Rhyn (capt), Vermeulen, Dugdale, T Curry.
Replacements: Caine, McIntyre, John, Burrow, Andrews, Hanson, Louw, Wehr.
Sharks: Kunene; Penxe, Venter, Julius, Malan; Masuku, Braude; Mazibuko, Swart, Koch, Rahl, Van Heerden, Mavesere, Tshituka, Hatton (capt).
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wal)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wal) and Ben Connor (Wal)
Newcastle United and Bournemouth play out a six goal draw, after a Harvey Barnes goal in the 118th minute is cancelled out by Marcus Tavernier’s equaliser just minutes later, with Newcastle ultimately progressing on penalties.
MATCH REPORT: Newcastle United 3-3 Bournemouth (Newcastle win 7-6 on penalties)
Former Premier League goalkeeper Shay Given has “unreservedly” apologised for describing Wilfried Nancy’s short time as Celtic manager as an “absolute Holocaust” live on BBC show Final Score.
Given, 49, was asked to give his thoughts on Nancy’s sacking after just 33 days and eight games in charge of the Scottish champions.
The ex-Republic of Ireland international said the tenure “was terrible from start to finish”, before using insensitive language to describe 48-year-old Nancy’s first week in the role.
He added: “We all have areas of ignorance in our knowledge, and I hope to use this as an opportunity to become better educated going forward.
“I am genuinely mortified and apologise unreservedly to everyone offended, and will be donating my fee from today’s show to the Holocaust Educational Trust.”
Final Score presenter Jason Mohammad apologised later in the show for the “inappropriate language” used.
Frenchman Nancy was sacked last week following Celtic’s 3-1 defeat by Rangers – his sixth loss as manager in just eight games.
His 33-day stint as Celtic boss was the shortest reign in the club’s history.
Investec Champions Cup Pool 3
Leinster (12) 25
Tries: Kenny 2, Van der Flier, Henshaw Con: Prendergast Pen: Byrne
La Rochelle (7) 24
Harry Byrne scored a match-winning penalty with the last kick of the game as Leinster moved closer to securing a home last-16 game in the Investec Champions Cup with a nail-biting victory over rivals La Rochelle at Aviva Stadium.
At the end of a ding-dong latest edition of one of Europe’s most compelling rivalries, replacement fly-half Byrne nailed his kick in the 83rd minute to put Leinster five points clear of the Stormers at the top of pool 3.
With three wins from three, the four-time champions are guaranteed to be in the top two when they travel to Bayonne in the final round of pool fixtures next week.
But Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle – who beat Leinster in the 2022 and 2023 finals – are in danger of missing out on a knockout place after failing to bounce back from last month’s defeat by the Stormers.
O’Gara will lament a slow start by his side as Leinster raced into a 12-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes with two tries by European debutant Joshua Kenny.
However, after Georgian winger Davit Niniashvili’s score narrowed the deficit before half-time, La Rochelle moved 17-12 clear when Nolann Le Garrec’s penalty was followed by Ihaia West’s converted try.
In an absorbing conclusion, Josh van der Flier and Robbie Henshaw crossed to push Leinster 22-17 and seal the bonus point, but the visitors looked to have snatched a dramatic win when West scored his second.
While it was a painful defeat for La Rochelle, the victory extended Leinster’s winning sequence to eight in all competitions since their United Rugby Championship loss to Munster at Croke Park in October.
Leo Cullen’s side came into the game beset by front-row injury troubles, with Tadhg Furlong, Andrew Porter, Rabah Slimani and Jack Boyle all missing.
However, they still produced a blistering start as Kenny finished two sweeping moves in the corner with Ireland head coach Andy Farrell watching in the stands.
But the hosts struggled to maintain momentum as Tommy O’Brien was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on during a promising La Rochelle attack.
Having been made to wait, Niniashvili struck for the Top 14 outfit in the 28th minute, with Leinster’s woes deepened when Joe McCarthy was sin-binned before half-time.
While Leinster – who lost Ireland internationals Ciaran Frawley and Paddy McCarthy to injuries – held La Rochelle scoreless with Joe McCarthy off the field, Le Garrec slotted a penalty over and converted West’s try to give La Rochelle a 17-12 lead.
La Rochelle were guilty of spurning try-scoring opportunities, however, and they were made to pay when Van der Flier and Henshaw both crossed in the right corner in the space of four minutes to move Leinster clear.
However, with Prendergast and Byrne both having missed conversion attempts, La Rochelle edged ahead when Le Garrec coolly added the extras to out-half West’s second score, leaving Leinster on the brink of a first pool defeat since 2018.
Leinster: Frawley; O’Brien, Ioane, Henshaw, Kenny; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; P McCarthy, Sheehan, Clarkson, J McCarthy, Ryan; Conan, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).
Replacements: Kelleher, Cahir, Sparrow, Mangan, Deegan, McGrath, Byrne, Osborne.
Sin-bin: O’Brien (13), J McCarthy (37)
La Rochelle: Leyds; Nowell, Favre, Daunivucu, Niniashvili; West, Le Garrec; Wardi, Latu, Atonio, Kante-Samba, Skelton, Jegou, Botia, Alldritt (capt).
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant referees: Adam Leal (RFU) & John Meredith (RFU)