Luke Shaw hailed the "amazing confidence" shown by Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho to take penalties in Manchester United's FA Cup semi-final shoot-out win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
Sancho and Rashford stepped up third and fourth respectively for United at Wembley, where the game finished 0-0 after extra time, and were both successful from 12 yards as United prevailed 7-6 on penalties.
The United team-mates, along with Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, suffered racist abuse on the back of missing penalties in England's shoot-out defeat to Italy at the same venue in the Euro 2020 final.
Shaw, who was on the scoresheet in that meeting with Italy, believes his international and club colleagues deserve huge praise for stepping up and converting in the tense showdown against Brighton.
"I was next to Jadon. I said, 'Whatever happens happens, just be confident. It's part of football, things happen, these things happen’," Shaw said.
"I think maybe what was playing on their minds are the things that come with it, the racism and stuff that they experienced last time.
"For me, they showed amazing confidence to step up and because the last time they took one in a shoot-out it was here and the memories that come with that.
"But I'm really happy for both of them to put themselves forward and take really good penalties."
Versatile defender Shaw was shifted to centre-back against Brighton to cover for the absences of suspended Harry Maguire and injured pair Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane.
The 27-year-old helped keep a clean sheet and, fitness depending, is certain to start next month's first ever FA Cup final between United and fierce rivals Manchester City.
And Shaw, who has won the EFL Cup and Europa League with United, insists he will never take appearing in major finals for granted after playing his part in the Red Devils' latest run to Wembley.
"As players we can never take anything for granted," he said. "Every day with this manager you have to be 100 per cent at it in training; around the place because he sets high standards.
"If you don't meet them, you don't play no matter what the circumstances are – whether there's injuries, suspensions, it does not matter.
"So, for me, I don't take it for granted. Still, the back end of the season is the most important – that's when you win stuff, and we want to win this trophy so we have to give it everything."
Erik ten Hag expects Raphael Varane to return to fitness in time to feature in Manchester United's FA Cup final clash with cross-city rivals Manchester City.
Varane was substituted at half-time after sustaining an ankle injury during the first leg of United's Europa League quarter-final tie against Sevilla, which the Red Devils lost 5-2 on aggregate.
Varane's central defensive partner Lisandro Martinez suffered a season-ending metatarsal fracture in the same game, forcing Ten Hag to use a makeshift backline in recent matches.
With club captain Harry Maguire suspended, Luke Shaw partnered Victor Lindelof in the centre of defence as United reached a record-equalling 21st FA Cup final with Sunday's penalty shoot-out win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
United will now face treble-chasing rivals City in a Wembley Stadium final on June 3, and the Red Devils are hopeful of having Varane available.
Asked whether Varane could feature in United's second domestic cup final of the season, Ten Hag told talkSPORT: "I think so, yeah. Varane, for the cup final, he can return."
Varane has made a total of 27 starts for United this campaign, having also been sidelined with ankle and leg injuries prior to last year's World Cup.
United have fared well in Varane's absence, winning 20 of their 25 games without him in the starting lineup across all competitions (L5), compared to 16 of their 27 with the Frenchman involved from the off (D7 L4).
Nicholas Paul completed a successful weekend Sunday winning gold in the Men’s Elite Sprint at the Tissot UCI Nations Cup meet in Milton, Canada.
The 25-year-old Trinidadian, the 2022 Commonwealth Games Keirin gold medalist, out-sped Poland’s Mateusz Rudyk to take the win and 800 points on Sunday.
Australia’s Matthew Richardson finished third.
Paul and Richardson reversed positions in the Men’s Keirin on Saturday with the Australian taking gold over Maximillian Dornbach of Germany. Paul had to settle for third.
Leeds United are not putting all their eggs in one basket ahead of facing Leicester City on Tuesday, even if this is "a crucial game".
The two teams directly above the Premier League relegation zone meet at Elland Road following contrasting weekend results.
As Leicester came from behind to beat Wolves, Leeds lost again against Fulham, leaving them only a point outside the bottom three.
Leicester are still below Javi Gracia's side, though, meaning their next match presents a rare opportunity to get three points – even if Gracia is not prioritising one game over another.
"It's a very important game, a crucial game," Gracia said. "We give the value of the game, and we are really focused on it.
"There are six games left and all the remaining games are important. You never know where you can get points.
"Playing at home is the next game, and we have to be focused. Leicester come from a win, and it will be demanding for us."
Although Leicester are 17th, ahead of the drop zone only on goal difference, they have a little momentum while remaining wary of a Leeds response.
"They've had a bit of a struggle," Dean Smith said of Leeds.
"They've been on the back of heavy defeats at home, but they will see this one as a big one to try to pull away from where they are, just like us.
"We can't give them any reason to get lifted. We can't give cheap free-kicks away and cheap goals. We have to keep them quiet for as long as we can."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Leeds United – Brenden Aaronson
Aaronson finding some form would go a long way to helping Leeds' cause. He has endured a miserable barren run, going 35 shots without scoring since his first and only Premier League goal to date. Thirteen Leeds players have scored in the competition since then.
Leicester City – Harvey Barnes
Leicester are set to welcome Barnes back from injury, and that spells bad news for Leeds. The winger has scored in all five of his Premier League appearances against Leeds, with only two players in the competition's history ever netting in their first six matches against a side – Raheem Sterling and Mohamed Salah, both against Bournemouth.
MATCH PREDICTION – LEICESTER WIN
Leeds have won just one of their past eight league games against Leicester, and even that was away from home in January 2021.
Leicester have won four of those matches, although this presents a big opportunity to do a league double over Leeds for the first time since 1997-98.
There should be goals regardless, with Leeds conceding 2.6 goals per game under Gracia in the Premier League – a club high – while Leicester are the only side in Europe's top five leagues without a clean sheet since the World Cup.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Leeds United – 29.1 per cent
Leicester City – 43.9 per cent
Draw – 27.0 per cent
Bahamian swimming star Joanna Evans intends to appeal before the Court of Arbitration, a decision by the FINA Doping Panel to ban her from the sport for two years after she tested positive for Clostebol. The decision was handed down on February 15, 2023.
She will do so, she said, with the support of the Bahamas Aquatic Federation, her family, coaches, friends and community.
Clostebol is a synthetic anabolic–androgenic steroid and is the 4-chloro derivative of the natural hormone testosterone. The chlorination prevents conversion to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) while also rendering the chemical incapable of conversion to estrogen.
A multiple CAC Games gold medalist and two-time Olympian, the 25-year-old Evans claims in a recent lengthy and emotional post on Instagram that she would never knowingly use a banned substance, adding that the situation has put her in a constant state of distress.
“Anyone who knows me, knows without hesitation that I would never, ever intentionally take a banned substance,” she said.
“The results show an unfathomable low amount of the substance which absolutely could not have enhanced my performance.”
Evans said she was tested in Austin, Texas on December 3, 2021 and was “stunned” when she was informed over the phone that her sample contained a banned substance.
She explained how she believes she came to test positive saying that while attending a meet in Naples, Italy on September 11, 2021, she cut her finger on a “jagged, rusty balcony” at the hotel where she was staying.
“Concerned about infection, I walked to a nearby pharmacy and asked for an antibiotic cream,” she said.
“I was given a tube of Trofodermin, which I believed was similar to the antibiotic Neomycin. Unknown to me at the time, an ingredient of Trofodermin is the banned substance Clostebol.”
She used the cream for three days.
On her return to Austin on October 30, 2021, she slipped on a concrete pavement and sustained a substantial gash on her knee. She used the same cream she bought in Italy. She said she used the cream for five days and then once or twice a week until the end of November that year.
A distraught Evans stated that life has been difficult since she received news of her positive test.
“Since my test result, I have been unable to function. I am broken and devastated as swimming has been my life for many years,” she said while reiterating that she is not a drug cheat.
“I would never cheat and I take pride in representing my country, college, family, friends and community to the best of my ability.
“I have a history of dozens of clean tests and conduct myself with integrity in all aspects of my life. I find it incredulous that a miniscule amount of a banned substance applied unknowingly through a topical cream can have such life-altering consequences.”
As such, Evans has hired a “specialist attorney” in this field to represent me in legal proceedings to defend my integrity and the reputation of Bahamas swimming.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed both Karim Benzema and Eduardo Camavinga will miss Tuesday's LaLiga trip to Girona.
However, Ancelotti expects the pair to be available again for Saturday's home game with Almeria, before Los Blancos play the Copa del Rey final against Osasuna and their Champions League semi-final with Manchester City.
David Alaba is also anticipated to be back for the Osasuna clash on May 6, having not played in the 2-0 win against Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Ancelotti ran through the players he will have missing as his team attempts to close ground on leaders Barcelona.
"Benzema and Camavinga will miss out and [Dani] Ceballos has got accumulated cards,"he said. "Camavinga lasted the game [v Celta] but then he felt some discomfort from a knock. I think they should be available for Almeria.
"[Ferland] Mendy and Alaba won't be there either. Alaba is recovering well and I don't think he should be a problem for the Copa del Rey final."
Elaborating on Benzema's situation, Ancelotti added: "If he recovers from his knock, he'll play against Almeria.
"He's hugely important for us. He's shown a fantastic level in recent games and you keep that up by playing, not by resting. If he's fit, he wants to play and that's what we want as well."
The gap at the top of LaLiga remains 11 points with eight games to play after Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 on Sunday, and Ancelotti is keen to close that to better reflect what he believes is a true representation of how close the Clasico rivals are.
"If we're talking about the quality of the two teams, there's no way there should be 11 points between us, and that's been clear in the games we've played against each other," he said. "We're two evenly matched sides and the deficit has come about through small details. We want to cut it down."
Despite their victory against Celta, there were more concerns about the surface at the Santiago Bernabeu, which has been affected by the ongoing renovations at the famous stadium.
Marco Asensio scored and assisted in the game, but also hit a wayward shot in the second half that appeared to bobble up off the surface, and Ancelotti previously confirmed it will be replaced before they play City on May 9.
“Every team wants to play on a beautiful pitch," Ancelotti said. "We are aware of the problems we have at the Bernabeu and we won't complain.
"We're talking about something which is clear to see, our playing surface is suffering due to the ongoing works and they will fix that as soon as possible."
Carlos Alcaraz wishes to build his "own history" rather than "take over" from fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal, having won the ninth title of his career at last week's Barcelona Open.
Alcaraz defended his crown in Catalonia by racing to a 6-3 6-4 win against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday's final, claiming his third title of the 2023 season.
Like his legendary compatriot Nadal, Alcaraz won his first grand slam title at the age of 19, triumphing at the US Open last year.
His hopes of adding to that success at the upcoming French Open could be boosted by the misfortune of his rivals, with both Nadal and Novak Djokovic forced to withdraw from this week's Madrid Open as they battle injuries.
While comparisons between Alcaraz and Nadal are perhaps inevitable, the teenager is determined to do things his own way.
"As I've said on more than one occasion, I don't want to take over from anyone," he said after claiming his latest title.
"I feel lucky to have so many people supporting me, transmitting that positive energy from the first game.
"Speaking of this week, it's been two years that Rafa hasn't been there [in Barcelona]. I've been lucky! But as I've always said, I've always wanted to play against the best.
"It is a pity that we have not been able to enjoy Rafa these last two years. Let's hope he continues playing for a long time and we can enjoy his tennis, but obviously we're not here to take over from anyone, but to build our own history."
With Nadal and Djokovic absent, Alcaraz will be the top seed as he looks to add a 10th career title in Madrid, but he does not see winning in the Spanish capital as the only measure of a successful campaign.
"Not winning Madrid would not be a failure for me, it depends on the level I have shown and the matches," he said.
"All the players are very good, they can all win the title and they can beat me. For me, failure would depend on the level I show and the way I play."
West Indies ODI captain, Shai Hope ended his three-match stint with English County Championship side Yorkshire County Cricket Club with an unbeaten half century in their drawn match against Sussex on Sunday.
The 29-year-old had a fairly successful run with the Division II County Cricket side scoring 13 and 83 in a loss to Leicestershire and 38 and 53 not out in a draw against Sussex. Yorkshire’s match against Gloucestershire was abandoned.
Notwithstanding the short run, Hope said he had a good time playing league cricket.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Yorkshire family. The culture they’ve created facilitated a smooth transition into what was a quick turnaround for me to add to a relatively young team,” said the 29-year-old Hope, who is not ruling out a return to the club.
“Thank you for having me and hope to see you in the not so distant future.”
According to Yorkshire, Hope will be missed.
“Sadly we say goodbye to Shai as he heads home after his three games with us. Shai has been a legend on and off the field. Thank you Shai,” it said on Instagram.
Manchester United will "do everything" to deny Manchester City a potential treble when they face their cross-city rivals in the FA Cup final, Erik ten Hag has promised.
United reached a record-equalling 21st FA Cup final with Sunday's penalty shoot-out victory over Brighton and Hove Albion at Wembley Stadium, Solly March blazing over the crossbar as the rest of the 14 spot-kicks were converted.
The two Manchester clubs will now face off in a major cup final for the first time on June 3, after a Riyad Mahrez hat-trick guided City to a 3-0 win over Sheffield United in the last four.
With City battling Arsenal in the Premier League title race and being drawn against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, Pep Guardiola's team could yet collect three major trophies this term.
Doing so would see them match the famous achievements of United's 1998-99 side, and Ten Hag knows how much the club's fanbase would relish denying City.
"I understand, of course, the feelings from the Manchester United fans about it," the Dutchman said.
"We will do everything to give them that, to give them the second trophy, everything that I have, everything the team have, everything the staff have, we will give everything to get that done.
"We can do it, because we proved it, but it's not an easy job. It's a great team, but we'll also have a great team and great players and we can beat them.
"More than 100 per cent, you can't do, so the fans can rely on that. We will give it and we will do it against every opponent, it doesn't matter who it is.
"Of course, we want to give that against City. We want to give the fans that, sure."
Having beaten Newcastle United to lift the EFL Cup in February, United have reached both domestic cup finals in the same season for just the third time.
However, the Red Devils have never won both trophies in the same campaign, lifting the FA Cup but losing the EFL Cup showpiece game in the 1982-83 and 1993-94 seasons.
Joe Willock was compared to Ronaldinho and Luka Modric after a sparkling performance in Newcastle United's rout of Tottenham that included one of the assists of the season.
Newcastle team-mate Bruno Guimaraes has dubbed the midfielder "Willockinho", and he more than lived up to that nickname on Sunday.
Willock, who coach Eddie Howe is backing for an England call-up, produced perhaps the moment of the match in a 6-1 win, his sensational outside-of-the-boot pass sending Alexander Isak away for the fourth of five goals in the first 21 minutes.
That was Willock's fifth assist in the Premier League this season to go with three goals as one of the key men in a Newcastle team closing on Champions League qualification.
Only Kieran Trippier (five) and Guimaraes (four) created more than Willock's three chances against Spurs, and the Brazil international was suitably impressed.
Guimaraes told reporters: "Willockinho, with his new hair today... he looked like Ronaldinho and played like him, too.
"An amazing through ball for [Isak's] goal. What a pass. Only Modric can play a pass like that. It was amazing."
Newcastle climbed back up to third with the win, now six points ahead of their fifth-placed opponents and still with a game in hand.
Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion are perhaps better placed to challenge Newcastle than Tottenham, though, and Guimaraes knows the job is not yet done.
"Of course we are thinking about the Champions League, but let's take it step by step," he said.
"We can do it, of course, but there's still seven games to go. We started this way – now let's finish the season this way."
Anthony Edwards channelled his inner-Michael Jordan after admitting he "took it personally" as he made sure the Minnesota Timberwolves did not go down 4-0 to the Denver Nuggets.
Having lost the first three encounters in their Western Conference first-round playoff series, the Timberwolves had one last chance to get on the board, and needed overtime to do it.
Edwards top-scored for his team with 34 at Target Center, though the hosts almost blew it after throwing away a 12-point lead in regulation.
Minnesota were able to get the job done eventually though, winning 114-108 to take the series to Game 5 in Denver, and Edwards made his motivation clear.
"I don't ever want to say I got swept in my career," he said. "So I definitely took it personally tonight."
Despite comfortably being his team's top scorer on Sunday, Edwards was in the mood for modesty after the game, focusing more on the shots he missed.
"I played terrible if you ask me," he said. "I took three bad threes, three terrible possessions, and I damn near shot us out the game. I didn't play that good tonight."
After his team's win, Wolves coach Chris Finch wanted his team to take confidence from the victory
"I think we gotta continue to get into something," Finch said. "I think that's part of the problem is we get down [on ourselves] or we're trying to close out the game too early."
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic scored 43 points with 11 rebounds and six assists, but he and his team still have work to do to finish Minnesota off.
"The hardest thing to stomach about this game is that we were unwilling and unable to get necessary stops," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
Game 5 takes place at Ball Arena on Tuesday.
Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo would like to see Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo face off in LaLiga before both players retire.
Messi has been repeatedly linked with a return to Barcelona, with whom he spent 21 years prior to leaving for Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent in August 2021.
Ronaldo enjoyed nine trophy-laden seasons with Real Madrid, meanwhile, prior to playing for Juventus, Manchester United and now Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.
While there has been little talk of Ronaldo heading back to the Spanish top flight, Cerezo believes it would benefit the league for the two superstar forwards to return one day.
"It would seem fantastic to me if Messi returned to the league, the same as Cristiano Ronaldo," he said while attending the Barcelona Open tennis final on Sunday.
"Both are still playing and it would be fantastic if they returned."
Cerezo was speaking ahead of Atletico's 1-0 loss to Barcelona, which leaves Diego Simeone's side 16 points adrift of the leaders and five behind second-place Real Madrid.
Yannick Carrasco played a full part for Atletico, though he may find himself at Barcelona next season as the Catalan giants have the option to sign the versatile wide player.
"Yannick is a very good player, fantastic," Cerezo said when asked about Carrasco's future.
"In the world of football, there are people who want to achieve many things and don't get to, and others who don't want anything and get it. I don't know [what will happen next]."
In the classic 1994 comedy film, Jim Carrey puts on a mask that gives him special powers. In the 2023 NBA playoffs, Jaylen Brown seemingly had the same effect after removing his.
With nine minutes left in the second period, and having only scored two points, Brown emerged from a timeout without the protective mask he has worn since fracturing his cheekbone in February.
He went on to finish with 31 points as the Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks 129-121 at State Farm Arena to go 3-1 up in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
"I was talking to [Marcus] Smart when JB took his mask off and was like, 'Oh, s***. It's go time,'" Celtics guard Jayson Tatum said, who also put up 31 points. "I knew he was going to turn it up a notch."
Brown had scored just one from seven field-goal attempts prior to taking off his mask, going on to net 11 from 15 after that.
"Maybe it was all in my head, but I just needed a different look," Brown said. "As soon as I took it off, things started to turn around a little bit."
It was an astonishing turn in form from Brown, who is averaging 23.3 points per game in the playoffs so far.
"I've just started getting comfortable with it since I've been wearing it," he added about the mask. "When I first put it on, I didn't like it too much, and I had to wear it.
"I just needed something different [on Sunday]. I don't know what it was: Change my shoes, wipe my hands off, take the mask off, whatever it is I needed to do, I needed to do to help our team get a win, and that's what I was trying to do."
The Celtics can clinch the series in Game 5 when they return to TD Garden on Tuesday.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted an error from Stephen Curry that almost cost his team a win in the NBA playoffs against the Sacramento Kings had been his fault.
In the final minute with the Warriors leading by five, Curry tried calling a timeout, only to realise they did not have any left.
That led to a technical foul, with Malik Monk making the resulting free-throw before De'Aaron Fox sank a three-pointer to bring the Kings within one, though thankfully for Curry and Kerr, Golden State were able to hold on to take the game 126-125, tying the Western Conference first round series at 2-2.
"I didn't realise when we lost the challenge that we didn't have any timeouts left," Curry said, though Kerr held his hand up and admitted he had forgotten to tell his players of the fact.
"[Coach] took the blame for it, but I ain't going to lie: I thought it was the smartest play in the world," Curry added. "I looked at the bench, and everybody was shaking their head. It was an unfortunate situation."
"We took the challenge and when the challenge was unsuccessful, as we were exiting the huddle, it's on me," Kerr said. "I've got to remind the guys, we're out of timeouts and I didn't say that, and so Steph wasn't aware. That's on me for not making that clear."
An enthralling Game 4 at Chase Center on Sunday also saw Curry attempt and miss a jump shot with 12 seconds to go, when 11 seconds remained on the shot clock, allowing Sacramento one last chance, though Harrison Barnes ultimately missed a buzzer-beater.
"It's always a balance of playing the clock and trying to find the best shots. Obviously, if I make the floater... you like that position to have one more stop," Curry said. "I live with that decision."
It was still a productive night for Curry, with only Fox (38) scoring more than his 32 points, making five of 11 three-point attempts.
Game 5 takes place at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday.
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