England produced one of the best Test wins in their history in Hyderabad, coming from behind to stun India with a 28-run victory in the series opener.
Here, PA looks at some of the key takeaways from four unforgettable days.
Never write off the Bazball brigade
Since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum brought their ambitious philosophy to an underperforming dressing room, they have rewritten the rules of engagement in cricket’s oldest format. Even so, many thought India’s 190-run first-innings lead was simply too much to overcome. This England side do not allow themselves to be weighed down by precedent or pressure, though. They won’t succeed every time but for Stokes’ men there is no such thing as mission impossible.
Pope’s promise fulfilled
Ollie Pope has been talked about as a star in the making for years, but his game-changing 196 looked and felt like an innings that finally propelled him to the next level. Prior to the regime change that brought Stokes to power, he was on the verge of becoming a wasted talent but his numbers are trending in a formidable direction. In 23 Tests before the summer of ’22, he averaged 28.66 and had just one century to his name – in 16 Tests since, he averages 46.46 with four hundreds.
All-conquering India can be knocked off course
India have established an enviable reputation on home soil since they were last beaten by a touring team, Sir Alastair Cook’s England 2012 side. But there were chinks in their armour in Hyderabad. In the second innings of the match, their elite spin attack seemed spooked by the inventiveness of the strokeplay, with the steady supply of sweeps, reverse sweeps and ramps upsetting their usual rhythm. When it came to chasing down 231, they then found themselves unusually passive, with too many batters clinging on for dear life rather than building momentum. For the first time in a decade, they look vulnerable under fire.
Selectors justified in going Hartley over head
Eyebrows were raised when Lancashire Tom Hartley got the nod for this tour with a modest first-class record doing little to push his case. There were other left-arm spinners with superior stats, most obviously Hampshire’s experienced Liam Dawson who had just come off the back of an excellent county season. But England, led by director of cricket Rob Key, fancied that Hartley’s specific characteristics of height, air speed and trajectory would flourish on Indian pitches. After a tough baptism, he proved them right in glorious fashion with seven for 62 in second innings.
King Kohli leaves a vacuum
There is no bigger name in world cricket than Virat Kohli and his withdrawal from the first two Tests for personal reasons weakened the home side. Kohli’s absence from the middle order diminished India’s potency, with Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer unable to cover for him. But his aura and spiky personality were missed too. It is hard to imagine India being so quiet and passive in the field as England racked up 420 and he would surely have played more aggressively in the subsequent chase. Should he feel able to make a belated entrance in the series, it could prove a huge moment.
What the papers say
A game of managerial musical chairs is underway as big vacancies open up at the end of the season. Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta is on Barcelona’s three-man shortlist to replace Xavi, according to The Sun via Spanish reporter Gerard Romero, alongside departing Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Germany boss Julian Nagelsman.
Liverpool defender Nat Phillips is attracting attention from Championship clubs. Cardiff, Blackburn and Leeds are all interested in the 26-year-old, according to the Daily Mail.
West Ham are still hopeful of securing a January deal with FC Nordsjaelland for Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Osman, according to The Sun. The Hammers have had one £15million bid rejected by the Danish club.
Bruno Guimares’ stay at Newcastle could be entering its final few months. The Daily Mirror reports Paris St. Germain are confident of signing the Brazil midfielder, 26.
Social media round-upPlayers to watch
Jean-Philippe Mateta: Bayern Leverkusen are weighing up a move for Crystal Palace’s French striker, 26, according to The Sun.
Daiki Hashioka: Luton are discussing a deal for the Japan full-back, 24, with Belgian club Sint-Truiden, reports The Daily Telegraph.
Jannik Sinner became tennis’ newest grand slam champion at the Australian Open while Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended her title.
The year’s first grand slam brought plenty of long matches and late nights and set the tone for an intriguing season to come.
Here, the PA news agency picks out five things we learned at Melbourne Park.
Changing of the guard
The shifting sands of the sport have moved extremely slowly over the last decade, but there is no doubt change is here – and more is on the way. No one will be writing off Novak Djokovic after one off-colour tournament – he still reached the semi-finals despite being nowhere near his best – but power is moving towards the youngest generation, led by Carlos Alcaraz and now Sinner. Rafael Nadal’s comeback adds extra intrigue heading towards the French Open.
Sabalenka setting the standard
Iga Swiatek remains world number one but not by much and, based on the last five slams, Sabalenka can lay claim to be the best across all surfaces. While Swiatek will be favoured to sweep all before her on clay again, she has work to do to prove she can be a consistent force on hard courts and grass. Sabalenka was awesome in Melbourne, never dropping a set and maintaining a sense of emotional calm that the rest of the locker room would have observed with some trepidation.
New Norrie
Cameron Norrie has been Britain’s Mr Dependable over the last three years, using his physical and mental prowess to battle his way into the top 10. But in Melbourne the 28-year-old showed a whole new attacking side to his game that was a joy to watch. Norrie pulled off the best slam victory of his career over Casper Ruud in the third round and pushed Alexander Zverev all the way to a deciding tie-break before bowing out. If he continues on the same path, he can put himself right in the mix at the biggest tournaments.
Raducanu back on track
Emma Raducanu may only have made the second round of her comeback slam before a tight loss to Wang Yafan but the signs were very encouraging. The 21-year-old played with conviction, looked good physically barring an unfortunate stomach bug and, most encouragingly, appeared happy and excited to be back on tour. It will take Raducanu time to find her level but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, especially if she sticks with new coach Nick Cavaday for a sustained period.
Late night addiction
Tournament director Craig Tiley’s claim that extending the event to 15 days would somehow fix the problem of matches going late into the night was always farcical, and so it proved. Even only having two matches in the day session did not guarantee the night session began on time, and Daniil Medvedev’s second-round clash with Emil Ruusuvuori did not finish until 3.39am. Until tennis accepts that matches are becoming ever longer and schedules accordingly, nothing will change.
Jannik Sinner became tennis’ newest grand slam champion at the Australian Open while Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended her title.
The year’s first grand slam brought plenty of long matches and late nights and set the tone for an intriguing season to come.
Here, the PA news agency picks out five things we learned at Melbourne Park.
Changing of the guard
The shifting sands of the sport have moved extremely slowly over the last decade, but there is no doubt change is here – and more is on the way. No one will be writing off Novak Djokovic after one off-colour tournament – he still reached the semi-finals despite being nowhere near his best – but power is moving towards the youngest generation, led by Carlos Alcaraz and now Sinner. Rafael Nadal’s comeback adds extra intrigue heading towards the French Open.
Sabalenka setting the standard
Iga Swiatek remains world number one but not by much and, based on the last five slams, Sabalenka can lay claim to be the best across all surfaces. While Swiatek will be favoured to sweep all before her on clay again, she has work to do to prove she can be a consistent force on hard courts and grass. Sabalenka was awesome in Melbourne, never dropping a set and maintaining a sense of emotional calm that the rest of the locker room would have observed with some trepidation.
New Norrie
Cameron Norrie has been Britain’s Mr Dependable over the last three years, using his physical and mental prowess to battle his way into the top 10. But in Melbourne the 28-year-old showed a whole new attacking side to his game that was a joy to watch. Norrie pulled off the best slam victory of his career over Casper Ruud in the third round and pushed Alexander Zverev all the way to a deciding tie-break before bowing out. If he continues on the same path, he can put himself right in the mix at the biggest tournaments.
Raducanu back on track
Emma Raducanu may only have made the second round of her comeback slam before a tight loss to Wang Yafan but the signs were very encouraging. The 21-year-old played with conviction, looked good physically barring an unfortunate stomach bug and, most encouragingly, appeared happy and excited to be back on tour. It will take Raducanu time to find her level but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, especially if she sticks with new coach Nick Cavaday for a sustained period.
Late night addiction
Tournament director Craig Tiley’s claim that extending the event to 15 days would somehow fix the problem of matches going late into the night was always farcical, and so it proved. Even only having two matches in the day session did not guarantee the night session began on time, and Daniil Medvedev’s second-round clash with Emil Ruusuvuori did not finish until 3.39am. Until tennis accepts that matches are becoming ever longer and schedules accordingly, nothing will change.
“Special” Jannik Sinner is ready to lead tennis’ youth revolution alongside Carlos Alcaraz, according to his coach Darren Cahill.
Sinner’s comeback victory against Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final gave him a first grand slam title and appears a sign of things to come.
The 22-year-old has followed in the wake of Carlos Alcaraz, who is two years younger, and between them they have now won three of the last six slams, with Novak Djokovic winning the rest.
The Serbian will be 37 in May and, while writing him off would be extremely premature, there is no doubt the hierarchy is changing.
Cahill said: “I think this sport at the moment has a few superstars. I think Carlos is very similar to Jannik in both the way they play with the excitement level they bring to the game, and their personalities and their likability.
“Both guys are incredibly alike off the court. They both like each other. They have a friendly rivalry. They both light it up when they play each other. I don’t think any of their matches have ever been boring.
“I think we have some really good personalities in the game at the moment, and it’s important they keep winning. It’s important they do what Jannik was able to do, and that’s to show a side of this young generation that are going to fight until the very end.”
He continued: “They really want to make a name for themselves, and Jannik did that. Carlos has done that already a couple of times, the match he played at Wimbledon to beat Novak was just a special performance.
“Our job now is just to make sure that we keep him pumped up. It’s a long year, and it’s important to enjoy the moment, but when we get back onto the tennis court, we will try to keep him in that good mindset and try to keep him winning.”
Alcaraz became a slam champion as a teenager in New York before stunning Djokovic in five sets at Wimbledon last summer.
Sinner’s path has been more gradual and Cahill, who previously worked with the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and Simona Halep, has no doubt Alcaraz’s success has inspired his man.
“Hell, yeah, absolutely,” he said with a smile. “There’s no question seeing the young players come through and having success drives each and every one of them. Not just Jannik. They all desire it.
“Carlos has trailblazed for a lot of young players. We’re thankful for that. He’s a delight to watch play, and a delight to watch him on court. We aspire to be as good as him and hopefully one day be better than him but, at the moment we’re chasing Carlos, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Sinner, who hails from the north of Italy and was a champion skier as a child, split from long-term coach Riccardo Piatti in the summer of 2022 and hired renowned Australian Cahill and countryman Simone Vagnozzi.
The combination is certainly working, and Cahill added: “We believe in Jannik, we always have. He’s a special young kid. Even the way he hits the ball, it just sounds special.
“When you hit the ball the way he does, when you want to improve the way he does, when you move the way he does, he’s going to have success at some point.
“Our job as coaches is to try to fast track that as quickly as possible and get him to where he wants to go quickly so he can have a long window at the top of the game.
“He’s been doing well. He’s absorbing everything and trying new things on the court, and he just wants to get better. I’m sure after this sinks in he won’t settle. He’ll never settle.”
Sinner is popular with his peers, who have long known the explosive power contained in his wiry frame.
Speaking on Eurosport, Australian star Nick Kyrgios said: “Jannik is an incredibly nice guy in the locker room. You always see him super professional, but he’s like a sponge.
“Ever since he came on tour that first match he played against Steve Johnson in Rome, the locker room was watching and thinking, ‘Who is this skinny guy who has the crowd in the palm of his hand?’. We could already see the ball-striking.
“This is going to be such a big leapfrog to him, I think we’re going to see him win plenty more slams in the next couple of years. Now he’s got this one, he’s going to be unstoppable.”
Former Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic announced his retirement from football on this day in 2016.
He arrived at Old Trafford in the 2005/06 season from Spartak Moscow and became a stalwart at the heart of the United defence alongside Rio Ferdinand.
Vidic’s time with the club saw him win the Champions League in 2008 along with five Premier League titles.
He then moved to Inter Milan in 2014 and played 28 times for the club, with hernia and back injuries affecting the later stages of his career.
Vidic represented Serbia on the international stage and made 56 appearances for his country.
“The time has come for me to hang up my boots,” he told the United website.
“The injuries I have had in the last few years have taken their toll.
“I would like to thank all the players I have played with, all the managers and staff I have worked with, and say a big ‘thank you’ to the fans for their support over the years.”
Brayden Schenn's goal 1:04 into overtime lifted the St. Louis Blues to a season-high fifth consecutive win, a 4-3 victory over the still-struggling Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.
Jordan Kyrou had a goal and two assists and Joel Hofer made 30 saves as the Blues won their fourth straight game by a 4-3 score. Pavel Buchnevich added a goal before setting up Schenn's game-winner by intercepting a pass from Los Angeles' Phillip Danault.
Danault, Adrian Kempe and Jaret Anderson-Dolan all had goals in the Kings' fourth consecutive loss. Los Angeles is now 2-8-6 since Dec. 28.
St. Louis trailed 2-1 before Buchnevich scored on a power play 6:34 into the second period. The goal came 55 seconds after Anderson-Dolan knocked in a feed from Trevor Lewis for a short-handed goal that briefly put the Kings ahead.
Kyrou's goal with 7:53 left in the second gave the Blues a 3-2 edge, but Danault tied it later in the period by ripping a shot past Hofer.
Kempe's 17th goal of the season opened the scoring 4:06 in before Nick Leddy drew the Blues even with 7:09 left in the first period.
David Rittich finished with 28 saves for Los Angeles.
Eberle's two goals help Kraken hold off Blue Jackets
Jordan Eberle recorded two goals and an assist and the Seattle Kraken held off a late comeback effort from the Columbus Blue Jackets to earn a 4-2 win.
Joey Daccord had 30 saves and Brandon Tanev tacked on an empty-net goal in the final seconds as the Kraken improved to 2-0-1 over a three-game stretch that followed a four-game streak of regulation losses.
All of Eberle's points came during a dominant first period that staked Seattle to a 3-0 lead. The veteran forward's two goals both came on the power play, and he set up Jared McCann with just under four minutes left in the period for the Kraken's second goal.
After managing just 14 shots on Daccord over the first two periods, Columbus sprung to life with 18 in the third as Yegor Chinakhov produced both Blue Jackets goals. The second, which came on a breakaway off a Seattle turnover, cut the lead to 3-2 with 4:02 remaining.
Daccord made four saves in the final 3:45, however, before Tanev scored with 13 seconds left to seal the victory.
Daniil Tarasov stopped 22 of 25 shots for Columbus, which has now lost seven of its last nine games (2-5-2).
Jalen Duren scored 22 points and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons ended the Oklahoma City Thunder's five-game winning streak with a surprising 120-104 victory on Sunday.
Duren finished 9 of 13 from the field and added six assists to lead Detroit, which owns the NBA's worst record, to just its sixth win of the season. Jaden Ivey compiled 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a game the Pistons held out leading scorer Cade Cunningham for injury management reasons.
The Thunder entered the contest with a half-game lead over Minnesota for first place in the Western Conference, but went just 4 of 14 from 3-point range in the second half while shooting 39.1 per cent overall over the final two quarters.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced Oklahoma City with 31 points, while Jalen Williams had 20 in the loss.
The Pistons never trailed after outscoring the Thunder 17-8 to close out the first half, turning a 53-53 tie into a 70-61 lead at the break.
Detroit stretched the margin to 14 points early in the third quarter, but Gilgeous-Alexander had six points during a 12-4 run that cut Oklahoma City's deficit to 87-84 with under 4 1/2 minutes left in the period.
That was as close as the Thunder got, however, as the Pistons countered with a 13-2 spurt to take a 100-86 lead into the fourth quarter.
Magic rally past Suns despite Booker's 44 points
Paolo Banchero scored 26 points and the Orlando Magic dominated the fourth quarter to overcome another prolific scoring performance from Phoenix's Devin Booker and rally for a 113-98 win over the Suns.
Booker finished with 44 points two nights after dropping a season-high 62 on the Pacers in Saturday's loss at Indiana, but he and the Suns' shooting went cold down the stretch as they failed to hold on to a 10-point third-quarter lead.
After Kevin Durant's jumper put Phoenix up 92-89 with 10:10 remaining, the Suns went more than eight minutes without a field goal as the Magic took the game over with a 21-2 run. Phoenix missed 11 straight shot attempts and committed five turnovers before Keita Bates-Diop's layup with 1:56 left ended the drought.
The Suns went 5 of 18 from the field while being outscored by a 31-13 margin in the fourth quarter, and their four made 3-pointers in 14 attempts was a season low.
Booker had 42 points through three quarters but managed just two made free throws in the final period, while Durant was held to 15 points after entering the contest averaging 28.8 per game for the season.
Moritz Wagner had nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and added 12 rebounds as the Magic ended a two-game losing streak and earned just their third win in their last 10 games.
Bey's late dunk puts Hawks over slumping Raptors
Saddiq Bey capped a 26-point night with a putback dunk with 1.3 seconds left that lifted the Atlanta Hawks to a thrilling 126-125 victory over the slumping Toronto Raptors.
Bey dunked home the rebound of teammate Trae Young's missed shot to put Atlanta ahead for good during a frantic final sequence that saw three lead changes in the final 30 seconds.
Toronto had taken a 125-124 edge after Gradey Dick stole Young's errant pass and fed Scottie Barnes for a breakaway dunk with 7.4 seconds remaining.
Bey added a season-high 13 rebounds and was one of four Atlanta starters to record double-doubles as the Hawks halted a four-game losing streak. Young finished with 30 points and 12 assists, Clint Capela had 19 points and 14 rebounds and Jalen Johnson recorded 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Barnes had 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to help the Raptors battle back after trailing 115-108 with under 5 1/2 minutes left, but Toronto was ultimately dealt a fifth straight loss and ninth in 10 games.
Jordan Nwora scored a season-high 24 points off the bench to go along with nine rebounds and six assists for the Raptors, who were playing without three key players as forward RJ Barrett, guard Immanuel Quickley and centre Jakob Poeltl all sat out with injuries.
The San Francisco 49ers overturned a 17-point half-time deficit to book a Super Bowl clash with the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 49ers scored 27 unanswered points as they beat the Detroit Lions 34-31 in the NFC Championship game to book a trip to Las Vegas.
It is their second Super Bowl appearance in five seasons having lost to the Chiefs four years ago.
Victory – and the chance to win a Super Bowl for the first time in 29 years – looked a long way off when Jameson Williams ended the opening drive with a 42-yard touchdown run and David Montgomery went in from close range to give the Lions a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Christian McCaffrey cut the gap from two yards early in the second quarter, but Jahmyr Gibbs ran in from 15 yards and Michael Badgley added a field goal to stretch the Lions’ cushion.
The game swung after the interval as the 49ers scored 17 points in eight minutes.
Jake Moody landed a field goal before Brandon Aiyuk caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy – after the pair had connected on a 51-yard throw via the face mask of the Lions’ Kindle Vildor – and McCaffrey went in again to level the scores.
Moody kicked them ahead for the first time before Elijah Mitchell’s three-yard run stretched the advantage, Williams’ late score leaving the Lions too little time to create another chance and ruing two failed fourth down attempts in kickable range.
“We played as bad of a first half as we could,” coach Kyle Shanahan told Fox. “It’s been a long year to get to this point and we got it done today.
“It was hard at the beginning, but the character we have in our team, the type of guys we have, we can’t wait to get to Vegas, man.”
The Chiefs will defend their Super Bowl title after beating the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC Championship game.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed his first 11 pass attempts and threw for 241 yards and a touchdown, but it was the Chiefs defence which was largely responsible for securing a fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years.
The Ravens were restricted to just 10 points on home soil and quarterback Lamar Jackson was intercepted in the end zone in the fourth quarter as he attempted to round off what would have been a 99-yard drive.
Mahomes told CBS: “God put a lot of adversity in our way this year and we accepted the challenge and we’re better for it.
“It’s been a heck of a year, we’re not done yet, but this is the way to get there.”
The Chiefs had reached the AFC Championship game for a sixth straight season, but did so by winning on the road for the first time with victory at the Buffalo Bills last week.
“We’ve been underdogs for the last few games but we never feel like underdogs,” Mahomes added.
“We’ve got a lot of guys in this team that know how to win and when the play-offs came around I knew we were going to make it happen.
“Now we’re in the Super Bowl and the job’s not done. We’ve got to go out there to Vegas and play a great team and see if we can get the Super Bowl.”
Kansas City, who will bid to become the NFL’s first back-to-back champions since the New England Patriots in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, signalled their attacking intent from the off against the Ravens, refusing to punt on fourth and two on their opening drive.
That allowed Mahomes to keep the drive alive with a 13-yard completion to Travis Kelce – who was watched from the stands once more by girlfriend Taylor Swift – and the same pair combined on a 19-yard touchdown throw to give the Chiefs an early 7-0 lead.
The Ravens responded in kind as Jackson ran for 21 yards on fourth and one from his own 34 and three plays later Jackson hit Zay Flowers from 30 yards to level the scores, only for the Chiefs to compile a 16-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a two-yard touchdown run from Isiah Pacheco.
A frenetic start also included Jackson recording a 13-yard completion to himself after reacting quickest to catch his own pass after it was tipped at the line of scrimmage, but the only other score in the first half – a 52-yard field goal from Harrison Butker – gave the Chiefs a 17-7 lead.
The contest was arguably decided on two key plays at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, with Flowers squandering the momentum of a 54-yard reception by taunting cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and incurring a 15-yard penalty.
Sneed had the last laugh in the first play of the fourth quarter, punching the ball loose as Flowers dived for the end zone, and when Deon Bush intercepted Jackson on the Ravens’ next drive, the game was effectively over.
The Kansas City Chiefs will defend their Super Bowl title in Las Vegas after beating the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC Championship game.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed his first 11 pass attempts and threw for 241 yards and a touchdown, but it was the Chiefs defence which was largely responsible for securing a fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years.
The Ravens were restricted to just 10 points on home soil and quarterback Lamar Jackson was intercepted in the end zone in the fourth quarter as he attempted to round off what would have been a 99-yard drive.
Mahomes told CBS: “God put a lot of adversity in our way this year and we accepted the challenge and we’re better for it.
“It’s been a heck of a year, we’re not done yet, but this is the way to get there.”
The Chiefs had reached the AFC Championship game for a sixth straight season, but did so by winning on the road for the first time with victory at the Buffalo Bills last week.
“We’ve been underdogs for the last few games but we never feel like underdogs,” Mahomes added.
“We’ve got a lot of guys in this team that know how to win and when the play-offs came around I knew we were going to make it happen.
“Now we’re in the Super Bowl and the job’s not done. We’ve got to go out there to Vegas and play a great team and see if we can get the Super Bowl.”
Kansas City, who will bid to become the NFL’s first back-to-back champions since the New England Patriots in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, signalled their attacking intent from the off against the Ravens, refusing to punt on fourth and two on their opening drive.
That allowed Mahomes to keep the drive alive with a 13-yard completion to Travis Kelce – who was watched from the stands once more by girlfriend Taylor Swift – and the same pair combined on a 19-yard touchdown throw to give the Chiefs an early 7-0 lead.
The Ravens responded in kind as Jackson ran for 21 yards on fourth and one from his own 34 and three plays later Jackson hit Zay Flowers from 30 yards to level the scores, only for the Chiefs to compile a 16-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a two-yard touchdown run from Isiah Pacheco.
A frenetic start also included Jackson recording a 13-yard completion to himself after reacting quickest to catch his own pass after it was tipped at the line of scrimmage, but the only other score in the first half – a 52-yard field goal from Harrison Butker – gave the Chiefs a 17-7 lead.
The contest was arguably decided on two key plays at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, with Flowers squandering the momentum of a 54-yard reception by taunting cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and incurring a 15-yard penalty.
Sneed had the last laugh in the first play of the fourth quarter, punching the ball loose as Flowers dived for the end zone, and when Deon Bush intercepted Jackson on the Ravens’ next drive, the game was effectively over.
Egypt suffered more Africa Cup of Nations shoot-out heartache as goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi scored the winning penalty to send DR Congo through to the quarter-finals.
All four of the Pharaohs’ knockout games in the 2021 tournament required additional time, culminating in a spot-kick defeat to Senegal in the final.
And, after a 1-1 draw following extra-time, they went the same way in San Pedro with an 8-7 loss on penalties.
Mostafa Mohamed continued to step up in the absence of the injured Mohamed Salah with his fourth goal in as many matches from the spot, cancelling out Meschack Elia’s opener, with Egypt hanging on in extra time following Mohamed Hamdy’s 97th-minute red card.
Mohamed missed from 12 yards the second time around and keeper Mohamed Abou Gabal also fluffed his lines, leaving opposite number Mpasi to hold his nerve and set up a last-eight clash with Guinea.
Elia was a threat from the off and wasted a promising opportunity inside two minutes, racing behind Egypt’s high defensive line before firing over.
Egypt soon settled and former West Brom defender Ahmed Hegazi should have done better when heading over Marwan Attia’s cross unmarked from six yards in the eighth minute.
Rui Vitoria’s side dominated possession without creating any more chances and they were punished in the 37th minute.
The warning signs were there as Theo Bongonda failed to keep a shot down from 15 yards and an excellent sliding challenge from Hamdi Fathi prevented Elia from firing at goal after Brentford striker Yoane Wissa picked out the Young Boys forward with a fine pass.
Elia would not be denied soon after, heading in on the goal line after Wissa’s cross was deflected beyond Abou Gabal as Egypt switched off from former West Ham left-back Arthur Masuaku’s throw-in.
But the Leopards were only ahead for eight minutes as VAR intervened to award a penalty for Dylan Batubinsika’s elbow on Hegazi, with Mohamed firing the spot-kick into the top corner.
Elia almost turned provider seven minutes after half-time, finding space on the right and providing a cross that Cedric Bakambu stabbed into the side-netting.
DR Congo defender Chancel Mbemba headed over from a corner before Egypt finally found their spark again with Ahmed Sayed Zizo and Attia forcing Mpasi into saves.
They looked more likely to find a winner, but could not create anything of note late on and were then put on the backfoot by Hamdy’s sending-off for two yellow cards, the second for a lunging tackle.
Masuaku blazed a free-kick over the bar and Samuel Moutoussamy fired wide from distance ahead of a dramatic shoot-out that ended with both goalkeepers stepping up.
Inter Milan’s fine season continued as they moved back to the Serie A summit after in-form Lautaro Martinez hit the only goal of the game to down Fiorentina.
It was a 22nd goal of the campaign for Martinez, who raced to the near-post to head home Kristjan Aslani’s 14th-minute corner.
Nico Gonzalez saw a second-half penalty saved as Inter secured the three points with a 1-0 win that extends their unbeaten run to 15 games.
Simone Inzaghi’s side have now 17 of their 21 Serie A games this season – equalling their previous record at this stage, set in 2006/07 under Roberto Mancini as they went on to win the league by 22 points.
Carlos Augusto thought he had given the visitors the lead with a close-range finish but was denied by brilliant defending by Davide Faraoni.
But Martinez would turn home the resulting corner, glancing a near-post header in after he had easily slipped the attention of his marker.
The Argentina World Cup winner had proved to be the match-winner last time out – his injury-time effort sealing a 1-0 win over Napoli in the Italian Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia.
Marcus Thuram could not sort his feet out when played through on goal as Inter looked to build on their lead before Yann Sommer made a fine stop to prevent Giacomo Bonaventura levelling for the home side.
Inter thought they had doubled their but had a goal ruled out for offside as Marko Arnautovic turned home from a Henrikh Mkhitaryan pass, only for the flag to go up against the Armenia international.
Fiorentina were handed a lifeline when they were awarded a controversial penalty following a lengthy VAR check for a foul against Sommer.
The Switzerland goalkeeper had punched away a cross but caught M’Bala Nzola in the face with his fist and the video assistant referee flagged the incident to the onfield official.
A spot-kick was duly awarded but Sommer would make amends as Gonzalez – on as a substitute as he returned from injury – hit a tame spot-kick that was easily saved.
It proved to be the best chance the hosts would have in attempting to rescue a result, while Inter moved back above Juventus to the summit.
Juve visit the San Siro next Sunday with just one point separating the two sides at the top of Serie A – the pair having drawn 1-1 in Turin earlier this season.
Maidstone forward Lamar Reynolds has credited the gruelling fitness sessions of manager George Elokobi for their sensational run to the last 16 of the FA Cup.
The National League South club etched their name into FA Cup folklore on Saturday with a remarkable 2-1 victory over Ipswich, who were 98 places above the visitors before kick-off at Portman Road.
It was Maidstone’s seventh tie of the competition and their reward is a trip to Sheffield Wednesday or Coventry for a place in the quarter-finals.
After beating Barrow, Stevenage and now Sky Bet Championship promotion hopefuls Ipswich, Reynolds paid tribute to ex-Wolves defender Elokobi.
“Who would have thought it? But like the gaffer said, you’ve got to believe and we believed,” Reynolds insisted.
“We probably had not much possession but took our chances, got the victory in the end and the 12th man on the side gave us the second wind and the third wind to get us over the line.
“Our gaffer, you all know his background and he is very tough, especially his training routines.
“He always wants us to be the fittest because if you’re fitter than the opposition, you probably have more chance of winning the game.
“With the programmes he has put into us from when he played, it has really helped us gain that edge. We stuck around them. I wouldn’t say we’re as fit as them but we kept up with them and got the win.”
Elokobi insisted he always believed Maidstone could cause an upset in front of their 4,472 travelling fans and drummed that into the squad.
Sixth-tier Stones also ditched training on their artificial surface at Gallagher Stadium to prepare for the Ipswich clash on grass, with Elokobi going as far as to get them to train on the same size pitch as at Portman Road.
“He exaggerated on believing in each other and knowing we’re all capable of winning the game if we stick to the script we’ve planned,” Reynolds added.
“We had done analysis and he kept nagging on believing – when you believe in yourself, stuff like this happens.”
Maidstone players gathered again on Sunday to watch the fifth-round draw but Reynolds spent his morning back at his day job driving autistic children to events for Links Support Solution in Gants Hill.
Reynolds admitted: “It is amazing and I think a lot of them would have watched.
“If I have a game on a Tuesday, I will do that during the morning and head off to a game.
“On a Wednesday we (Maidstone) have a day off so I’ll go in for the morning and Sundays I do events with them. I am pretty much the driver!
“I take them to wrestling or a basketball match, just events because they are local young lads who want to enjoy themselves.”
After scoring his first goal for the club with a delightful chip in Saturday’s victory, the Jamaican-born attacker is eager to keep putting Maidstone on the map.
“I’d wait another 10 seasons for that same scenario again. It felt special,” Reynolds said.
“This can put us on the map, it shows Maidstone is a huge club with a massive background. Now it is time to push on and hopefully the name gets bigger and bigger.
“You just have to believe and now you have to believe it because it has happened!
“We’re in the round of 16 and who would have thought that? It is ridiculous. When you say it out loud it is ridiculous, but what an achievement.”
Kylian Mbappe drew a blank for the first time in seven games as Paris St Germain squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Brest.
Goals from Marco Asensio and Randal Kolo Muani had given the home side a 2-0 half-time lead and put them seemingly on course to restore their eight-point cushion at the top of Ligue 1 following Nice’s victory over Metz on Saturday.
However, Luis Enrique’s side started the second half sluggishly and were deservedly punished when Mahdi Camara pulled one back on 55 minutes before substitute Mathias Pereira Lage equalised with a sublime flick.
PSG’s miserable evening was compounded in stoppage-time when the previously impressive Bradley Barcola was sent off for two bookable offences in quick succession.
Brest arrived at the Parc des Princes having won six of their last seven league games but it was PSG who started better, Vitinha flashing a shot high and wide in the fourth minute before Barcola set up Mbappe for a low shot which was saved by the legs of goalkeeper Marco Bizot.
At the other end, Jeremy Le Douaron headed narrowly wide from Kenny Lala’s cross, although Gianluigi Donnarumma probably had it covered at his right-hand post.
Chances remained at a premium until the deadlock was broken in the 38th minute, the influential Barcola playing a delightful chip into the path of Asensio, who struck a left-foot volley into the ground and just inside the far post.
Vitinha was inches away from doubling the lead with a curling shot from just inside the area after a one-two with Warren Zaire-Emery, but moments later it was 2-0 when Muani stabbed home from two yards after Asensio’s shot had been palmed away by Bizot.
Whatever Brest manager Eric Roy said at half-time had the desired effect and his side flew out of the blocks, Pierre Lees-Melou and Hugo Magnetti drawing saves from Donnarumma before Camara’s shot deflected off Danilo and into the net.
Lala then forced Donnarumma into another good stop at his near post before Martin Satriano picked out Pereira Lage in the area, the 27-year-old showing great determination to sprint across the box before cheekily flicking home the equaliser from close range.
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