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McKennie scores as Juve add to Man City's woes
Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie scored to lead Juventus to a 2-0 Champions League win over Manchester City on Wednesday, a major blow to the English champions' hopes of clinching a top-eight spot in the group stage of Europe's elite competition.
City, who lifted the 2023 Champions League trophy, continued a poor run of form which has brought only one victory in their last 10 games across all competitions.
"You can see that sometimes one action we miss the ball or lose a duel and you can see that we drop immediately," City midfielder Ilkay Gündogan told Amazon Prime.
"It has such a big effect on us right now. At the crucial moment right now we are doing the wrong things."
Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
Vlahovic scored by the narrowest of margins in the 53rd minute when Kenan Yildiz swung the ball in and the Serb's header from close range sneaked past City keeper Éderson and just across the line, according to the goalline technology.
City picked up the tempo in a desperate attempt to equalise and sent numbers forward, but Juve capitalised to double their lead against the run of play when McKennie hooked Timothy Weah's cross in with a sumptuous volley in the 75th minute.
Pep Guardiola's team squandered several chances, one of the best being Erling Haaland's narrow miss late in first half. Kevin De Bruyne sent a beautiful through ball to the Norwegian who got in behind the defence before trying to chip goalkeeper Michele di Gregorio who threw up his arm to block the shot.
Gündogan unleashed a blistering strike from long range that Di Gregorio stretched to just push wide.
With two games remaining in the Champions League group phase, Juventus are 14th in the table while City plummeted to 22nd, three places out of automatic elimination from the competition.
Since the start of November, City have conceded more goals (21) across all competitions than any other team in Europe's big five leagues, the worst spell in Guardiola's otherwise sparkling managerial career.
Champions League as it happened: Barcelona best Dortmund; Juventus and Arsenal dominate for wins
Welcome to another day of matchday six of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League season! Europe's premier club competition in its new format has nine matches across the continent on Wednesday, providing exciting matchups, top talent and drama.
Enjoy the play-by-play from all the games such as Borussia Dortmund host Barcelona, Juventus take on Manchester City and Arsenal face AS Monaco.
Gardner plays her part as Australia rebound after T20 World Cup disappointment
Having gone through what went wrong at the Women's T20 World Cup 2024, Australia rebounded with a series clean sweep of India as they build towards a defence of their 50-over crown next year.
"And I think that's the most exciting thing, that anyone that comes into this group is excited to be here, really wants to be here, and just striving to be better every day."
It was a welcome return to form for Gardner, who shrugged off her struggles in the WBBL with 50 off 64 balls after Australia had collapsed to 78 for 4. It was her first ODI half-century in almost 18 months and she backed up with the ball to claim career-best figures of 5 for 30.
"I felt it's one of those things... you feel really confident in the nets but then it doesn't replicate in the middle," Gardner said. "For me, I knew that I just had to spend a little bit of time out in the middle and I came in at a pretty tough time.
"I just love batting with Bells [Sutherland]. It's always really positive, just keep each other going in those moments and knowing that if we just got through that tough little phase... it would be fine. And I guess that's the messaging that I just tried to keep telling myself."
"She's a very cool, calm person. And I guess what I challenged her with was to try and think outside the box. What I tried to throw to her was just different ideas at different points to get her mind ticking over."
Australia, however, did not submit a flawless performance in Perth having endured a ragged effort in the field marked by five dropped catches. It is an area they will hope to brush up quickly ahead of the three-match ODI series in New Zealand starting on December 19.
"We want to be the best fielding team in the world and that certainly wasn't on show tonight," Gardner said. "I think there were glimpses of brilliance, but then there's just those little moments where maybe it's a lapse of concentration.
"We do train really hard on our fielding but maybe it's just training under pressure more, and try to do some different drills."
"I think this group's in a really good place at the moment. We've been really successful in 50-over cricket. So it's just kind of going on to the next progression and that's obviously looking forward to the World Cup"
Ashleigh Gardner
Australia took precautions ahead of the New Zealand tour with Voll and Sophie Molineux leaving the field after diving efforts left them feeling ginger, while the fitness of Healy will continue to be monitored.
"Healy's coming away with us, we'll see how she goes. But she's progressing well, which is really pleasing," Gardner said. "I'm sure she'll be chomping at the bit to play that first game in New Zealand.
"The group's just really excited. It's a really cool little period. We're only over there for ten days before the Christmas break. I think it's going to really spur the team on to finish off what we've done here in this series.
"I think this group's in a really good place at the moment. We've been really successful in 50-over cricket. So it's just kind of going on to the next progression and that's obviously looking forward to the World Cup."
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
Ngarava, Bennett and Musekiwa set up thrilling Zimbabwe win
Zimbabwe 145 for 6 (Bennett 49, Myers 32, Naveen 3-33, Rashid 2-26) beat Afghanistan 144 for 6 (Karim Janat 54*, Mohammad Nabi 44, Ngarava 3-28) by four wickets
With Zimbabwe chasing 145, frugal spells from Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan and a four-run 18th over from Mujeeb Ur Rahman brought the equation down from 60 off 42 balls to 21 off 12. But Naveen's final over went for ten, and Azmatullah Omarzai's changes in pace and length could not defend ten in the final over.
Musekiwa slogged a slower slot ball over cow corner and almost cleared the fence first ball of the 20th. He then rushed back for three twos, and with the scores level and the field up for the last ball, drove straight of mid-off to unleash celebrations with his partner in front of a vibrant Harare crowd.
Naveen returned for an over that didn't exactly go as expected. The wide yorker was his default plan, and five of the first eight balls resulted in wides apart from a high full toss that Sikandar Raza flayed over short third for four. When he went full and wide again, Raza went across to lash the ball down the ground before a slower ball finally dismissed the Zimbabwe captain, whose innings only lasted five legal balls.
Rashid, who wasn't as effective in his first three overs, knocked over the well-set Bennett for 49 with a slider. He then had Ryan Burl mistime a pull to deep backward square leg. But neither his nor Mujeeb's stump-to-stump bowling was enough for Afghanistan to stop Zimbabwe from getting home.
The chase began with Zimbabwe under pressure because of Naveen, who started with a maiden before cramping Tadiwanashe Marumani for room on the pull.
But Naveen dropped Bennett on 8 off Azmatullah Omarzai in the fifth over. Rashid introduced himself in the final over of the powerplay but could not keep a lid on the scoring. He erred short and wide (both off and leg-side) to Myers, who picked up two fours.
The duo consolidated but a few quiet overs took the asking rate up to nine. They picked up a boundary in each of Fareed Ahmad's first two overs and Myers deposited another Rashid long-hop over long-on in the 12th. Bennett continued the charge by smashing Omarzai for two fours before Nabi's intervention set up a rollercoaster finish.
Hazratullah Zazai, meanwhile, was off to a promising start, carving Ngarava through point in the first over and launching Bennett down the ground in the third before holing out off Blessing Muzarabani.
Nabi joined Janat with Afghanistan in trouble at 58 for 5 in the 11th over. Their start together was scratchy but was made easier by sloppy fielding from Zimbabwe. Burl's misfield at long-off turned two into three in the 12th over before Muzarabani lost sight of the ball and gave Janat the first of two boundaries in the next.
Nabi hit the gaps to get some risk-free twos before going after the returning Ngarava in the 16th over. Two boundaries took Afghanistan past 100 with four overs to go. Nabi began the death overs by taking down Gwandu for a six and three fours, the last of which came about via another fielding lapse.
Janat and Nabi added 79 off 49 before Ngarava dismissed Nabi in a seven-run 19th over. Janat, who played the anchor role, remained 54 not out off 49 balls at the end, and neither he nor Rashid could put Gwandu away for a boundary in the final over.
Ekanth is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
Anuj Rawat leads Delhi's march into the semis
Delhi 193 for 3 (Rawat 73*, Arya 44, Dhull 42) beat Uttar Pradesh 174 (Garg 54, Prince 3-36, Suyash 2-36) by 19 runs
Rawat rammed an unbeaten 73 off just 33 balls despite being on 9 from 10 at one stage. Six of his seven boundaries, and all five of his sixes, came from the 15th onwards. Delhi, who had 112 at the start of the 15th, finished with 193, before their bowlers restricted UP to 174 to book their place in the semi-final.
The fun started when Rawat deposited Vineet Panwar for a four and six each, before taking Shivam Mavi for 23 runs in the 16th over. That featured a flick to fine leg and a loft over mid-off for four each, and two carbon-copy swivel-pull sixes over fine leg. Rawat brought up his half-century off 22 balls just after whipping Bhuvneshwar Kumar for six over deep square leg. He took three more boundaries off Bhuvneshwar, before ending the innings with a six off Mavi.
Badoni didn't forget to give Rana a little send-off during UP's chase, which only seemed to gather pace towards the end of the tenth over. Garg swatted and lofted Prince Yadav for four and six. He got to his fifty in the 11th over, in which Sameer Rizvi cut Suyash Sharma for four behind point.
Next over, bowled by Simarjeet, Rizvi and Garg hit three boundaries off the first four legal balls. But Simarjeet got a return catch when Garg's attempted pull resulted in a top edge - he fell having contributed 54 out of UP's total of 104 at that stage. Rizvi scored a quick 26, but lacked long-term partners as Delhi's bowlers kept chipping away.
Bhuvneshwar, Mohsin Khan and Panwar provided some late entertainment by smashing five fours and two sixes between them. But the fact that UP needed their tailenders to do all this hitting to take them somewhat closer to Delhi's total told the story of their batting on the day.
Beaumont, Jones seal series for England after rain-reduced chase in Potschefstroom
England 153 for 4 (Beaumont 65*, Jones 49*) beat South Africa 233 for 8 (Wolvaardt 61) by six wickets - DLS
When Kapp then bowled Heather Knight with a snorter in her third over, England were floundering at 25 for 3. But Beaumont, showcasing the even temperament that still makes her such a prized asset in ODI and Test cricket, refused to be cowed by a climbing run-rate. She found key support, initially from Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who made 22 from 16 balls, and latterly Jones, and the result was effectively sealed when Kapp's final two overs were repelled with the asking rate already dipping below a run a ball.
The win handed England a 2-1 win in the ODI leg of their multi-format tour, having lost the opening match by the same six-wicket margin in Kimberley last week, and put the seal on their overall series win ahead of Sunday's Test in Bloemfontein, having already taken the T20I leg in a 3-0 whitewash.
Their task was not helped, however, by a troubling incident in the opening over, when Cross - following through after bowling her fifth ball - slumped to the turf in visible pain. She was helped from the field by the physio, with Alice Capsey bowling the final ball of her over, and was later revealed to have suffered a back spasm, which may leave her role in the Test match in some doubt.
England had already chosen to rest their fastest bowler, Lauren Filer, after her telling breakthroughs in the second ODI, which left their seam-bowling duties in the hands of Lauren Bell and Nat Sciver-Brunt. Wolvaardt took the initiative in the first ten overs, adding 50 for the first wicket with Lara Goodall, one of four changes to South Africa's line-up.
Bell, however, made the first breakthrough in the final over of the powerplay, when Goodall lofted a length ball to mid-on just moments after a firm clip for four off her pads. And not for the first time in this series, South Africa were culpable in their subsequent slide.
Anneka Bosch, another change to the line-up, grew into her role with three lusty hits down the ground before driving too loosely through the line off Capsey - on whom Heather Knight had been forced to rely in Cross's absence. One over later, South Africa's sturdy start was looking wobbly at 107 for 3, as Sophie Ecclestone skidded a flat trajectory into Wolvaardt's pad, and extracted the on-field lbw verdict despite ball-tracker confirming it was a marginal leg-sided call.
On 14, Nadine de Klerk reacted too slowly to Kapp's call for a quick single into the covers, and was beaten by Bouchier's sharp return to Jones, while Annerie Dercksen's guilty glance at the umpire arguably sealed her fate when Charlie Dean pinned her lbw for 13 - another decision that was shown to be clipping the bails.
At 156 for 5 with 18 overs to come, Kapp and Chloe Tryon had the power and poise to provide the big finish. But both batters fell for two runs in the space of nine balls - Kapp to a misjudged launch to long-on off Capsey for 19, and Tryon to a rush of blood at the end of Ecclestone's eighth over, as she gave her the charge to be stumped for 20.
Masabata Klaas then spooned a limp drive to mid-off to depart for a seven-ball duck, but England's hopes of a quick kill at 201 for 8 were thwarted by Mieke de Ridder and Nonkululeko Mlaba, who batted out the final 45 balls of the innings to eke out a handy 32-run stand. While Kapp was blowing away England's top-order, those runs looked crucial. But Beaumont and Jones had other plans.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
Malzahn: Changes to coaching led to FSU move
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Near Gus Malzahn's new office hangs a picture of Kelvin Benjamin hauling in a touchdown pass from Jameis Winston, the play that helped Florida State beat Malzahn and his Auburn Tigers in the 2013 national championship game.
It's a daily reminder of Malzahn's connection to the Seminoles.
"I've got to walk by the picture of the guy catching the ball as I go to the office every day," Malzahn said Wednesday. "That was a real special game. There were a lot of great players on the field. It went down to the very end. It was probably entertaining or a great game to watch. It was tough, obviously, to be on the losing side."
Malzahn is on the opposite side now. He resigned as UCF's head coach last month to become Mike Norvell's offensive coordinator in Tallahassee. Their link goes back even further than Malzahn's title-game loss to the Seminoles.
Malzahn, 59, said he chose to return to his coaching roots rather than remain a head coach distracted by new-age responsibilities. Malzahn walked away from $15 million guaranteed -- he was set to make $5 million in 2025 and had three years remaining on his contract with the Knights -- for a different coaching lifestyle. He signed a three-year deal with FSU that will pay him $1.5 million in 2025.
"The job description of a head college football coach has changed dramatically in the last two years with everything -- transfer portal to collectives to agents and everything that goes with that," Malzahn said. "I'm just an old-school football coach.
"I love coaching football, and head coaches, it's hard to do that a lot. So that had something to do with it. And then the opportunity and being familiar with Mike and having so much respect for this university, coached against this university in the national championship. I know what this place is capable of doing."
Malzahn has been mostly successful during a career that began at an Arkansas high school and included head coaching stops at Arkansas State, Auburn and UCF. The Knights won nine games in 2021 and '22 in the American Athletic Conference before making the jump to the Big 12, where they finished 6-7 last year and 4-8 this season.
Malzahn helped Auburn win the 2010 national title as an offensive coordinator and was a play or two away from winning another in 2013. Now he's in Tallahassee to help turn around a storied program that's fallen on hard times.
Malzahn was part of a Tulsa staff that hired Norvell as a graduate assistant in 2007. They didn't work together very long but have remained close through the years.
Malzahn is now tasked with jump-starting an offense that was among the worst in major college football this season, averaging 15.4 points and ranked 131st out of 134 schools.
"I'm a big believer you got to run the football downhill," Malzahn said. "It makes everything better as far as pass protection, better on the quarterback, everything. ... And we'll get that done."
Malzahn will replace Norvell as the team's primary playcaller.
"Our foundation on offense is from the same family," Malzahn said. "He's got his own wrinkles, and I've had my own wrinkles. But there is a lot more things that are in common. We still have the same terminology, the way we identify things like formations and player alignment, numbers.
"That's why it's a really, really easy transition. We're going to play fast. I think that's the No. 1 thing. We're going to play fast."
Sources: Belichick finalizing deal to be UNC coach
Six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick is finalizing a deal to become the new head coach at North Carolina, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
The expected hiring of Belichick, 72, will resonate as one of the most stunning and compelling moves in college football history. He worked in the NFL in some capacity from 1975 until his divorce from the New England Patriots after the 2023 season.
Belichick's father, Steve, served as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels in the 1950s.
Belichick's hiring at North Carolina, which hasn't won an ACC football title since 1980, was spearheaded by board chair John P. Preyer, who had honed in on Belichick in recent weeks. The sides met multiple times at length, including for five hours Sunday, and those talks culminated with Belichick finalizing the deal Wednesday.
For a program awash in apathy and mediocrity, this marks a distinct and compelling shift from Mack Brown, as Belichick gives the Tar Heels an unprecedented jolt of star power for 2025 and beyond.
The Patriots' six Super Bowls under Belichick is an NFL record (he won two more as an assistant coach). He enters college football with 333 NFL wins, behind only Don Shula's all-time record of 347.
North Carolina fired the 73-year-old Brown on Nov. 26 after a 6-6 season, ending his second stint at the school with a 44-33 record over six years. He coached the Tar Heels' regular-season finale, a 35-30 loss to NC State, then said it was a "great time for me to get out."
The expected hiring of the famously aloof Belichick, who joked Monday on "The Pat McAfee Show" about his news conference aura, represents a significant shift from Brown's syrupy Southern charm.
Belichick has spent his year away the sideline doing multiple media jobs while making it clear that he wanted to return to coaching. After exploring multiple NFL positions last year following his departure from New England, it was expected that Belichick would explore the NFL market again.
But sources told ESPN that a return to coaching in general had been paramount for Belichick. He spent a lot of time around his former assistant, Washington coach Jedd Fisch, and talking to friends and former assistant coaches around college football. Belichick's son, Stephen, is Washington's defensive coordinator and is expected to be involved with the North Carolina staff in some way.
Through the draft every year, Belichick has built up a reserve of college coach confidants, and he has popped up at places like Washington, Rutgers and LSU this year for college games.
Belichick also spent recent days familiarizing himself with the transfer portal and NIL, and spent a lot of time on how the organizational chart of a college system would work.
He made it clear in his interview with McAfee on Monday that he would create an incubator for NFL talent if he were a college coach.
"If I was in a college program, the college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL," Belichick said. "It would be a professional program: training, nutrition, scheme, coaching and techniques that would transfer to the NFL."
He concluded a lengthy portrait of what the program would look like by saying: "It would be an NFL program, but not at the NFL level."
Other names that had emerged in North Carolina's search included veteran NFL coach Steve Wilks, Tulane coach Jon Sumrall, Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann, Army coach Jeff Monken and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Smith indicated he would stay with the Steelers, and Tulane reached an agreement in principle with Sumrall for a contract extension.
Bronny set for G League road debut, sources say
Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Bronny James will travel with the South Bay Lakers to make his road G League debut Thursday against the Valley Suns in Tempe, Arizona, sources told ESPN.
The Lakers' No. 55 pick has played in three G League games -- all of them at home -- averaging 8.7 points on 29.4% shooting, 3.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks.
He is coming off his strongest showing with South Bay, scoring 16 points on 6-for-15 shooting with 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 22 minutes in a win over the San Diego Clippers on Saturday.
James, 20, was recently sidelined for several weeks while dealing with a bone bruise in his left heel. The organization was cautious in James' recovery, sources told ESPN, considering the heel injury was affecting the same leg that required left knee surgery when he was in high school to repair a torn meniscus.
Joey Buss, South Bay's president and CEO, told ESPN last month that James' split allegiances between the Lakers and their G League affiliate was not set in stone.
"That's going to be fluid," Buss told ESPN. "We're going to do what's best for his development. There's going to be a lot of things that we do for all the assignment players, and decisions are made based off where they are, based off the injury status, based off how many bodies they need for practice. There's a lot of variables. So nothing unique for Bronny. He's just kind of in that system."
The Lakers do not play again until Friday on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves, so James could theoretically play in Tempe on Thursday and be called back up to fly to join L.A. the day after in Minneapolis.
James' father, LeBron, missed Wednesday's practice because of personal reasons, according to coach JJ Redick.
Sources: Raptors' Barnes expected to miss weeks
Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes is expected to miss several weeks with a right ankle sprain, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
Barnes was injured in the third quarter of Monday's loss to the New York Knicks when he landed on center Karl-Anthony Towns while attempting to block his shot in front of the rim. Barnes was helped off the court by teammates before hopping on one foot to the locker room, unable to put weight on his right foot.
The Raptors announced Wednesday that imaging confirmed that Barnes had sprained his ankle and that he would be reevaluated in a week.
Barnes' injury comes as he has taken a major jump this season, averaging career highs of 20.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game. He is one of four players in the NBA averaging 20 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in 2024-25. Barnes is on pace to join Pascal Siakam in 2021-22 as the only Raptors players to average 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal in a season.
Barnes missed 11 games earlier this season because of a right orbital fracture and has worn protective glasses since returning Nov. 21. Toronto went 2-9 without him.
The 2022 NBA Rookie of the Year and a first-time All-Star last season, Barnes signed a contract extension this summer that could reach around $270 million if he meets supermax criteria.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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