Sports
Brilliant Chelsea Shatter Tottenham’s Top-Four Hopes
Chelsea delivered a hammer blow to Tottenham’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League with a 2-0 win against their spluttering London rivals on Thursday.
Trevoh Chalobah’s first goal since March 2022 put Chelsea ahead in the first half at Stamford Bridge.
The much-maligned Nicolas Jackson wrapped up the points in the closing stages with his 14th goal of a difficult first season with the Blues.
After losses to Arsenal and Newcastle, fifth-placed Tottenham’s third successive defeat leaves them seven points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.
Tottenham have four games left, while Villa have three to go, making the north Londoners rank outsiders to finish in the Premier League’s top four.
It was another painful setback for Tottenham, who have squandered the good will built by Postecoglou for much of the Australian’s first season in charge.
While Postecoglou licks his wounds, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino enjoyed a second win over his former club this season following the 4-1 success in November.
Pochettino had irritated Chelsea fans by admitting he couldn’t “hide his emotions” for the club he managed for five years and led to the 2019 Champions League final.
But he put those feelings aside to provide the result they wanted, keeping alive eighth-placed Chelsea’s hopes of qualifying for Europe and making it just one defeat in 34 home league games against Tottenham.
Postecoglou had criticised Tottenham’s sloppy performance in Sunday’s 3-2 defeat against Arsenal and responded by making five changes, with Richarlison brought in and James Maddison dropped.
But in Pochettino’s 400th match in English football, the Chelsea manager should have been celebrating a goal inside five minutes.
Jackson sprinted into the Tottenham area for a shot that went under Guglielmo Vicario but lacked the power to beat Mickey van de Ven’s clearance off the line, with Cole Palmer somehow scooping the loose ball over from close range.
Moments later, Chelsea winger Noni Madueke embarked on a dynamic run before firing just over from the edge of the area.
Four of the five goals conceded by Tottenham in their previous two games had come from set-pieces and they were punished for more woeful dead-ball marking in the 24th minute.
Conor Gallagher’s free-kick looped into the area and Chalobah was left unmarked to power a superb header over Vicario from 12 yards.
That made it 22 goals conceded from set plays in league games by Postecoglou’s creaky defence this term.
Tottenham claimed Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella had blocked Brennan Johnson from marking Chalobah, but VAR ignored their protests.
Mykhailo Mudryk’s deflected strike was held by Vicario before the Ukraine winger curled narrowly wide as Chelsea pushed for a second goal.
Undone by their set-piece frailties, Tottenham almost took advantage of Chelsea’s defensive deficiencies with a Cristian Romero header that clipped the post from Pedro Porro’s free-kick.
Postecoglou looked increasingly irate by the half-time whistle and his chastened players responded to their manager’s frustration with a more lively second-half display.
Porro’s drive from a tight angle forced Djordje Petrovic to save in Tottenham’s most threatening moment.
But Chelsea landed the knockout punch in the 72nd minute.
Palmer’s fierce free-kick cannoned down off the bar towards Jackson, who reacted quickest to head home from six yards.
AFP
Sports
Woman wins civil rape case against Conor McGregor
A woman who accused Conor McGregor of raping her has won her claim against him for damages in a civil case.
A jury found that the Irish mixed martial arts fighter assaulted Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018.
He has been ordered to pay her more than €248,000 (£206,000) in damages.
Speaking outside the court on Friday, Ms Hand said her story was “a reminder that no matter how afraid you might be to speak up, you have a voice”.
In a post on X on Friday evening, McGregor said he would appeal against the verdict and he thanked “all my support worldwide”.
“I am with my family now, focused on my future” he added.
Nikita Hand said she was “overwhelmed” by support after taking the case against McGregor
The jury at the High Court in Dublin had been deliberating for a day before returning its verdict that McGregor did assault Ms Hand.
She had also taken a case against another man, James Lawrence, 35, of Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh in Dublin.
She alleged that he assaulted her by having sex with her without her consent in the Beacon Hotel.
The jury found that he did not assault her.
‘Justice will be served’
Ms Hand told reporters said she was “overwhelmed and touched” by the support she had received.
She added: “I want to show [my daughter] Freya and every other young girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is, and that justice will be served.”
Both men had denied the claims by the 35-year-old hair colourist and said they separately had consensual sex with Ms Hand at the hotel almost six years ago.
After eight days of evidence and three days listening to closing speeches and the judge’s comments, the jury of eight women and four men spent six hours and 10 minutes deliberating before returning with its verdict.
McGregor shook his head after the jury read out that Ms Hand had won her case against him.
He was accompanied by his partner Dee Devlin, his parents, his sister and his brother-in-law.
He sat in the back row of the court, between his partner and mother Margaret.
Ms Hand cried and was hugged by her partner and supporters.
The jury had previously heard that on the day of the attack Ms Hand and her colleague Danielle Kealy went to the hotel’s penthouse suite with McGregor and Mr Lawrence after their work Christmas party.
They gave evidence of how they had been partying all night from 8 December into the morning of 9 December and had been heavily drinking and taking cocaine.
‘Placed in a chokehold’
Ms Hand, a mother-of-one, told the court how McGregor had pinned her to a bed before assaulting her.
She was left with extensive bruises and abrasions over her body, including on her hands and wrists.
There was a bloodied scratch on her breast and tenderness on her neck after she said she was placed in a “chokehold” by McGregor.
He denied causing the bruising, saying it could have happened after she “swan dived” into the bath in the hotel room.
Ms Hand was taken in an ambulance to the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin the next day where she was assessed in the sexual assault treatment unit.
A paramedic who examined Ms Hand told the court that she had not seen “someone so bruised” in a long time.
The jury had been told how Ms Hand had to leave her job as a hairdresser and has not been able to work since due to her mental health, that her relationship with her partner ended months after the incident, that she had to move out of her home in Drimnagh and that her mortgage was now in arrears.
She also said she had to stop seeing a counsellor because she could no longer afford to pay for the sessions.
The court heard that she had spent more than €4,000 (£3,326) on GP, pharmacy and psychotherapy costs.
Credit: BBC
Sports
Manchester City lose major premier league vote
The Premier League have approved changes to Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules after a crunch summit.
On Friday morning, top-flight sides gathered in London before voting in a ballot over the Premier League rules.
The competition had been forced to act after an independent panel found sections of the existing rules on associated party transactions (APTs) – deals between clubs and parties linked to their owners – to be unlawful after a legal challenge from City.
However, the champions called on clubs to vote against the amendments, accused the Premier League of rushing its consultation and raised the prospect of further legal action should they be enforced.
Yet the Premier League champions were dealt a blow after the English top-flight voted to approve the changes to ATP rules.
More shortly…
Sports
Boxing world split as 58-yr-old Tyson goes back to ring 19yrs after retirement
Nearly 40 years after his professional debut, and 19 years after retiring, 58-year-old Mike Tyson will return to the ring on Friday in a Netflix-backed bout that has stirred widespread condemnation in the boxing world.
Tyson, who dominated the heavyweight division in the late 1980s, will lace up the gloves once more to face YouTuber Jake Paul, 27, in an officially sanctioned fight at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, in Arlington, Texas.
The bout, set for eight two-minute rounds, was initially scheduled for July but was postponed in May when Tyson required medical treatment after vomiting blood on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles due to a bleeding ulcer.
The incident has fuelled criticism of Friday’s fight, with many condemning it as a macabre spectacle that poses undue risk for Tyson, who last appeared in a professional ring in 2005, ending in a technical knockout loss after quitting on his stool against Irish journeyman Kevin McBride.
‘It Shouldn’t Be Happening’
“Mike Tyson retired from boxing 20 years ago and was already worn out,” British promoter Eddie Hearn said this week.
“If anyone thinks Mike Tyson should be in a ring at this age, you either have absolutely no concern for him, or you’re being reckless. This shouldn’t be happening.” Punch
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