Lincoln progressed to the second round of the Carabao Cup with a comfortable 2-0 win at Notts County, who finished with 10 men.

The Imps took the lead in the 23rd minute when Danny Mandroiu’s corner was flicked on by Paudie O’Connor, and defender Sean Roughan was on hand to steer the ball in from close range.

Mark Kennedy’s side continued to dominate proceedings and almost doubled their lead shortly after following miscommunication in the County defence, which allowed Mandroiu to shoot from distance, but his effort sailed over.

Hopes of a comeback from the Magpies in the second half lasted only three minutes. Mandroiu intercepted Richard Brindley’s pass, and after his initial effort was blocked, the ball fell kindly into the path of Lasse Sorensen who slotted home in front of the travelling fans.

Mandroiu continued to dictate the play and almost got himself on the scoresheet, smashing the post with a fierce effort.

In the 56th minute, it went from bad to worse for Luke Williams’ side, who had been beaten 5-1 in their Sky Bet League Two opener at Sutton on Saturday.

Defender Aden Baldwin received a second yellow card for pulling back Tyler Walker just inside his own half as Lincoln went on to close out the match against 10 men.

Kusini Yengi made it three goals in four days as he guided Portsmouth to a comeback 3-1 win against Forest Green in the Carabao Cup’s first round.

His brace, coupled with a Zak Swanson strike, saw Pompey overcome their Sky Bet League Two opponents at The Bolt New Lawn.

Tyrese Omotoye scored his first goal for Forest Green to open his account for Rovers.

Rovers stopper Jamie Searle had to react quickly to repel Yengi’s fine downward header from an Anthony Scully header early on.

Rovers took the lead with a fine strike by Omotoye, found by Teddy Jenks before the forward produced a crisp drive past Pompey goalkeeper Ryan Schofield.

Portsmouth’s set-piece link-up play worked the second time around for Pompey as Scully’s deep corner was bundled home by Yengi after Searle failed to collect the cross.

The turnaround was complete as Swanson gave the visitors the lead as he fired past Searle from a tight angle down Pompey’s right side.

Harvey Bunker drilled an effort towards Schofield’s top corner but the Pompey man was up to the task in Rovers’ best moment after the break.

Yengi added a third from the spot after Kamara was upended by Rovers full-back Jamie Robson in the penalty area.

Derby County crashed to a second home defeat in four days after Jake Beesley grabbed a brace to give Blackpool a 2-0 Carabao Cup win at Pride Park.

Blackpool outplayed Derby in the first half and although the home side were better in the second, there was no way back.

The visitors went ahead in the seventh minute when Derby’s defence failed to deal with a cross from the left by James Husband and Beesley turned to score from 10 yards.

They should have doubled their lead in the 20th minute after Sonny Carey ran clear on the left and picked out the unmarked Owen Dale, but his shot was too close to Josh Vickers.

But Derby gifted Blackpool a second goal in the 32nd minute through Callum Elder’s back header, which beat Vickers and Beesley fired into an empty net.

Blackpool were quicker all over the pitch and the half-time whistle was greeted with a chorus of boos from the home fans.

Derby improved and Conor Washington forced Richard O’Donnell into a save in the 55th minute, while at the other end, Vickers prevented Kyle Joseph making it 3-0 in the 83rd minute.

Although Derby had plenty of possession, Blackpool comfortably saw the game out.

Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan’s double helped rifle Reading to a shock 4-0 Carabao Cup win over Millwall at The Den.

The Nigerian striker netted early in both halves before substitute Charlie Savage’s free-kick and Mamadi Camara’s late strike fired Ruben Selles’ League One visitors to an impressive first-round triumph over their Championship opponents.

The Royals grabbed the lead in the very first minute when Ehibhatiomhan pounced on Caylan Vickers’ prodded pass to poke home over goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski.

They should have scored a second just 10 minutes later when Vickers blasted wide with only Bialkowski to beat after being put clean through by Camara.

Gary Rowett’s hosts grew into the increasingly fiery contest and rallied for a first-half leveller but were unable to properly test Royals shot-stopper Coniah Boyce-Clarke as they remained a goal behind at the break.

Selles’ side came close to doubling their lead just after the interval when half-time substitute Femi Azeez shot wide from distance.

But they seized the crucial second just moments later when Bialkowski could only parry Vickers’ shot straight into the path of Ehibhatiomhan, who slammed home from close-range.

Savage – son of former Wales international Robbie – grabbed his first goal for the club with a fine free-kick into the top corner before Camara’s late tap-in inflicted more misery on Millwall and capped a comfortable night for Selles’ resurgent Royals in the capital.

Andre Vidigal’s winner saw Stoke progress to round two of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 win over fellow Championship side West Brom.

The summer signing – who also bagged a brace at the weekend – stepped off the bench to net the decisive goal with 25 minutes remaining.

The hosts went ahead after 27 minutes as Wesley’s shot came back off the post before hitting goalkeeper Josh Griffiths and crossing the line.

Albion levelled just after the hour-mark through substitute Brandon Thomas-Asante’s clever near-post flick.

But their joy was short-lived, as Stoke restored their advantage almost immediately after the restart.

The visitors had started on the front foot, as both John Swift and Conor Townsend forced early saves from Mark Travers.

Stoke soon fashioned a chance of their own from the left, as Ki-Jana Hoever’s goal-bound volley deflected wide.

Chances were few and far between following the opener, as City took a narrow lead into the break.

Stoke started the second half brightly, with Chiquinho twisting and turning inside the area before seeing a close-range effort saved.

At the other end, Albion almost levelled twice in quick succession, first through Swift and then former Stoke man Erik Pieters.

Two goals in as many minutes sparked both sets of fans into life, and Stoke saw out the win, despite missing late chances to put the game to bed.

Juninho Bacuna scored twice as Birmingham cruised into the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 win at Cheltenham.

The Curacao international’s first goal was a heavily deflected shot in the 24th minute which flew past goalkeeper Luke Southwood off defender Liam Smith after efforts from Keshi Anderson and Koji Miyoshi were blocked.

Miyoshi was tripped by former Birmingham defender Curtis Davies on the edge of the box seven minutes later, earning the experienced debutant a yellow card.

And Bacuna curled the resulting free-kick into the top left corner for his second of the night.

Birmingham had threatened earlier, with Lukas Jutkiewicz nodding Emmanuel Longelo’s cross wide in the 17th minute.

It was nearly 3-0 before half-time, with Miyoshi threading a ball through for Jutkiewicz, but Southwood advanced to save well.

Jordan James played Anderson through on goal in the 61st minute, but Southwood was equal to it.

Southwood denied Anderson again in the 74th minute with another one-on-one block.

The overworked keeper beat away James’ powerful drive five minutes later, but the Sky Bet Championship side had done enough and League One outfit Cheltenham failed to trouble visiting stopper Neil Etheridge throughout the 90 minutes.

New Zealand international Ben Waine bagged two first-half goals as Championship newcomers Plymouth eased into the EFL Cup second round 2-0 against League One Leyton Orient at Home Park.

Argyle’s opener came seconds after Orient striker Joe Pigott fired just wide on 25 minutes.

Waine pounced on a back-pass from Os central defender Omar Beckles to calmly slot past advancing keeper Sam Howes, making his first start for Orient, who topped League Two last season.

Argyle surged further ahead through Waine from close range on 38 minutes as the Kiwi forward turned in Freddie Issaka’s pacy pinpoint cross from the left.

Steven Schumacher made wholesale changes to the Plymouth side which opened their Championship campaign with a 3-1 home win over Huddersfield.

Spanish central defender Julio Pleguezuelo – a summer signing from FC Twente – made his competitive Argyle debut along with new season-long loan midfielders Lewis Warrington, from Everton, and Luke Cundle, from Wolves.

Orient’s best opportunity came from a Tom James corner from the left on 19 minutes, the ball deflected off a defender on to the far post and from the rebound Beckles smashed a rising drive off the bar. Dan Happe’s thundering follow-up flew over.

Ollie Wood and Mark Stewart snatched men’s Madison silver on the line and came within a whisker of gold for Great Britain in a thrilling finale at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow.

New Zealand won the final sprint but Wood came charging down the final straight to take second place and with it pip the Kiwis to silver by a single point, while finishing only two points off the 37 points that gave gold to the Dutch duo of Jan-Willem van Schip and Yoeri Havik.

While Wood replicates the Madison silver he won alongside Ethan Hayter in last year’s worlds in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, the medal was only the second at this level for the 27-year-old Scot, a particular thrill on home boards in Glasgow.

“Some of the guys we’re racing against have just come from the Tour de France, they’re super strong so we knew to be in with a shout we’d have to be clever and bide our time and we did that,” Stewart said.

“We did that and we’re only two points off gold so there’s contrasting feelings. We’re gutted not to get the win, how amazing would that have been to deliver but at the same time to be here in Glasgow and be on the podium is fantastic.”

A late dig was not enough for Neah Evans as she missed out on the medals in the women’s points race, surrendering her title.

Less than 24 hours after winning the women’s Madison crown alongside Elinor Barker, Evans found she was missing the extra kick she needed in a race won by Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky ahead of Australia’s Georgia Baker.

Evans started strong and had followed an attack from Kopecky and Baker midway through the race, looking to gain a lap on the field.

But the pair opened up a small gap to Evans, and while they could work together to pick up the points, Evans had to chase alone, putting in an effort that would cost her later on as she later lost the lap she had worked so hard to gain.

Evans then tried to go long to get the points she needed in the final sprint but could not respond to an attack from Japan’s Tsuyaka Uchino.

“The race didn’t quite go as I was hoping, so I tried to adapt,” Evans said. “I just tried to reset and relax and I relaxed too much. I think I didn’t have the usual zip in my legs.”

Evans came into these worlds, on her home track in Glasgow, still suffering the effects of a training crash last week – the injuries still visible on her right leg.

Although that did not stop her and Barker winning in the Madison, she could not back it up a day later.

“Up to the crash, I was having a brilliant lead-in,” the 33-year-old said. “I thought, ‘I am going to be fine’, but then you have that little step up. You say it is not going to affect you, it won’t make any difference, but you know it is going to.

“At this level just a few watts missing is the difference between being able to close the gap or not. So is what it is.”

There was yet more success for Britain’s para-cyclists on the penultimate day in the velodrome too.

Neil Fachie and Matt Rotherham joined Lizzie Jordan and Amy Cole to win gold in the mixed B team sprint – a 19th world title for Fachie at the age of 39.

Fran Brown won the women’s C1 scratch race and Jody Cundy, Kadeena Cox and Jaco van Gass teamed up to take silver in the C3 mixed team sprint.

The Tampa Bay Rays put opening day starting pitcher Shane McClanahan on the 15-day injured list last week.

It appears he'll be sidelined much longer than just 15 days.

Rays manager Kevin Cash told Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday that McClanahan is "highly unlikely" to pitch again this season.

McClanahan has been seeing several specialists to examine his injured left forearm, and is slated to visit at least one more before a decision is made on whether he'll need surgery.

Surgery options include a loose body removal, a flexor tendon procedure and Tommy John surgery, which typically requires at least 12 months of recovery for pitchers.

 

 

McClanahan landed on IL last Thursday, one day after he left his start against the New York Yankees after four innings because of what was later described as left forearm tightness.

The 26-year-old got off to a sensational start to the season, going 11-1 with a 2.12 ERA with 97 strikeouts over 89 1/3 innings in his first 15 starts, but hasn't won since while battling tightness in his mid-back.

In his last six starts, the two-time All-Star is 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA, pitching fewer than four innings in four of those outings.

He was instrumental to Tampa Bay's fast start to the year, as the Rays were a major league-best 51-22 and owned a six-game lead over the second-place Baltimore Orioles atop the AL East at the time of McClanahan's last win on June 16.

Since then, however, they have MLB's eighth-worst record at 17-24, and enter play Tuesday three games back of the division-leading Orioles.

Julen Lopetegui has parted company with Wolves just days before the start of the new Premier League season.

Here, the PA news agency looks at what went wrong for the Spaniard.

Wasn’t the appointment of Lopetegui considered a coup and wasn’t he doing well?

Yes, when Wolves brought in the former Spain and Real Madrid manager last November, with the team in the relegation zone, it seemed the club had made a smart appointment. Given that Lopetegui had initially turned them down too, they had shown great determination to recruit him. He repaid them by comfortably guiding the club to survival. It was not spectacular but he steadied the ship and form in the spring was a clear uplift on the football of his predecessor Bruno Lage.

So, the foundations were there to build on. Where did it start to go wrong?

At the end of last season there were rumblings that the club would need to match Lopetegui’s ambition in order for him to stay on, despite having signed a three-year contract when he arrived. That meant strengthening a squad that fell short in many areas last term, particularly in the goal-scoring department. Yet, with the club also concerned about balancing the books, it appears they were unable to satisfy him and relations soured.

What have been the problems with the squad?

Wolves signed 10 senior players last season and brought in a further two on loan. Having posted a loss of £41.6million in their last set of financial results, this obviously suggested some sales would be required to prevent further deficit and to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations. Subsequently captain Ruben Neves left for Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal for a club record £47million and Raul Jimenez also moved on, with Matt Doherty the only notable arrival on a free transfer.

What was said about the situation?

Lopetegui voiced his frustration over the summer, saying that transfer activity had been a “big disappointment” and he was unable to enact his ideas. “We were excited by this new plan, but now we don’t have this plan because we don’t have any new players,” he said. Wolves chairman Jeff Shi put out his side of the story in an open letter to supporters last week. “We are also working hard to make sure the club have a long-term robustness and sustainability,” he wrote, adding that it was important to “maintain a sustainable balance of both sporting performance and financial strength”. It seems this only succeeded in bringing matters with Lopetegui to a head.

What happens next?

Given his track record and reputation, Lopetegui is not likely to have trouble finding his next job. Clubs will need to be wary his services come with high demands, however. Wolves are reportedly lining up former Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil as his replacement.

Julen Lopetegui’s nine-month spell as Wolves head coach has ended after reaching an “agreement to part ways” on the eve of the new Premier League season.

The former Spain and Real Madrid boss arrived in November after the club were successful in their second attempt in recruiting him to replace Bruno Lage.

Lopetegui guided the side away from the bottom of the table to a 13th-placed finish but apparent disagreement over the club’s recruitment policy over the summer has resulted in the 56-year-old departing.

“The head coach and club acknowledged and accepted their differences of opinion on certain issues and agreed that an amicable end to his contract was the best solution for all parties,” said a statement from the club.

“Talks have been ongoing in recent weeks, held with the utmost respect and cordiality, affording the club time and space to begin work on finding a successor, while also ensuring that Julen and his backroom staff could continue their planned preparation to ensure the playing squad would be in the best possible condition for the start of the Premier League season.”

In his own statement Lopetegui said: “I wish Wolves and everybody at the club the very best of luck for the future, and thank them for the opportunity granted at the time to take charge of this wonderful club.

“It has been an honour to enjoy this adventure. Also, of course, I want to thank the players, who have always given the maximum to achieve our objectives, and especially the fans that made me feel like one of them from the very first moment and have always been amazing to me, my staff and my family.”

Mansfield powered into the Carabao Cup second round for the first time in five years with a convincing 2-0 home win over Grimsby.

Mansfield dominated the first half and led through a Lucas Akins penalty on 27 minutes, sending keeper Harvey Cartwright the wrong way after Cartwright had brought him down following a loose touch on a back pass.

Early on, Abo Eisa made a brilliant block to deny Stephen Quinn while Luke Waterfall cleared an Aden Flint header off the line.

Davis Keillor-Dunn then sent Rhys Oates clear down the centre on 18 minutes but he blazed horribly over.

Akins could have had a first-half hat-trick, firing over on 19 minutes and forcing a save from Cartwright on 31 minutes.

Ex-Stag Danny Rose almost levelled against the run of play, but Christy Pym pushed away his header from a 38th-minute corner.

Aaron Lewis and Keillor-Dunn then both wasted great Mansfield chances late in the half, Cartwright saving from Lewis at the far post and Keillor-Dunn firing over a gaping goal from Akins’ square ball.

Constant early second-half pressure saw the Stags seal the win on 55 minutes as Keillor-Dunn’s square pass saw Oates wriggle into the box and dispatch a low finish from 12 yards off the outside of his boot.

Swansea’s top scorer of the past two seasons, Joel Piroe, struck twice to give his new boss Michael Duff his first win as the Championship side went safely into the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 3-0 home win over Northampton.

The subject of much transfer speculation this summer, Piroe struck in the 10th minute when Wales international Ollie Cooper drove into the Cobblers’ box and passed across goal for a simple tap-in.

His second came 10 minutes into the second half and was equally simple. This time Liam Cullen took up the running on the right and his cross ricocheted off a defender and went in off Piroe’s chest.

The first strike took him to 50 goals in his professional career and his second made it 46 in 94 games for the Swans.

Swansea dominated the opening exchanges, but their League One visitors created a couple of good chances, both of which were pushed just past the post by Kieron Bowie.

Swansea came out hard and fast at the start of the second half and skipper Matt Grimes set Cooper free, but he stumbled as he tried to beat Max Thompson in the Northampton goal and saw his scrambled effort go inches wide.

New signing Josh Ginnelly marked his debut with a 93rd-minute scorcher to put the final seal on a good night’s work.

Middlesbrough marched into the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 3-2 victory at 10-man Huddersfield.

Kian Harratt gave the hosts an early lead but Jaheim Headley’s 13th-minute red card handed Boro the initiative.

And goals from Samuel Silvera, Isiah Jones and Riley McGree wrapped up victory for Michael Carrick’s visitors before Kyle Hudlin’s late consolation.

Huddersfield led inside four minutes a Harratt pounced on a Boro defensive error and fired home his first senior goal.

But Town’s hopes were hit when last man Headley bundled Isiah Jones over and was given his marching orders.

Carrick’s side drew level in the 20th minute when Silvera’s shot struck both posts on its way in.

After the break, Martin Payero came close to poking Boro in front after some uncertain Town defending.

And the visitors took the lead in the 63rd minute as an inspired threaded pass from Dan Barlaser found Jones, who flicked the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Chris Maxwell.

Substitute McGree added a third with eight minutes left when he cut on to his right foot and fired low past Maxwell.

Hudlin headed home in the fourth minute of added time but Boro held on to progress into the second round.

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