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Sunderland continued their 100% record in the 2021/22 campaign with a 2-1 win over MK Dons in League One on Saturday.

Lee Johnson’s side have been in fine form to start the season and have now won all three of their competitive games this month. The Black Cats beat Wigan 2-1 in their first league outing before progressing through to the second round of the League Cup by beating Port Vale by the same scoreline.

Ross Stewart and Elliot Embleton scored the goals either side of half-time for Sunderland, with Troy Parrott scoring a consolation for Liam Manning’s team in the 56th minute.

Sunderland Echo reporter Phil Smith highlighted Stewart, in particular, for praise after the game. He scored a goal and won a penalty, with Smith saying that he was excellent at leading the line.

“Another simply excellent display. Led the line so well on a tougher afternoon where possession didn’t always flow. Got his goal, won a penalty.”

However, we believe that another player stole the show for Sunderland against MK Dons – Tom Flanagan.

The central defender was a brick wall at the back and was crucial to the Black Cats eventually coming away with the three points. After Parrott made the score 2-1 there was a flurry of attacks from the home side to draw level in the game, but Flanagan – along with the help of his teammates – was able to halt them.

On Flanagan, Smith wrote:

“Some good interceptions and headers, and was powerful alongside Wright late on.”

Powerful is an apt description of his performance from Smith. He won an impressive 87% of his duels in the game, winning 100% of his aerial battles and four of his five ground duels.

As per SofaScore, the £3.6k-per-week enforcer also made six clearances, made three tackles and one block throughout the game to keep MK Dons at bay as they continued to knock on the door.

Flanagan was not dribbled past on any occasion during the game and committed one foul. This suggests that the MK Dons forwards struggled to get by the 29-year-old defender, whether that be by forcing him to foul them or skipping by him to progress closer to Lee Burge’s goal.

Therefore, he was able to steal the show from the attackers as he allowed their goals to win Sunderland the game with his terrific defending.

Without his excellent interventions to prevent MK Dons from creating chances and scoring, Stewart and Embleton’s strikes would have been in vain.

Hopefully, he will be able to maintain his consistency and continue to deliver similar displays throughout the season. The Black Cats will need them if they are to finally earn that promotion back to the second-tier.

AND in other news, Alan Nixon drops claim on £13k-p/w SAFC “leader”, Lee Johnson will be relieved…

Jamie Smith and Gary Putland are both in line for first-class debuts after South Australia made several changes to their Sheffield Shield side

Cricinfo staff07-Nov-2008
Gary Putland has made one-day and Twenty20 appearances for South Australia and is now in line for a Sheffield Shield debut © Getty Images
Jamie Smith and Gary Putland are both in line for first-class debuts after South Australia made several changes to their Sheffield Shield side. The Redbacks, who have no points from their first three games, have named a 12-man squad for the match against Western Australia in Adelaide starting on Monday.Shaun Tait will be rested as a precautionary measure due to tightness in his left hamstring while Younis Khan has temporarily returned to his Pakistan duties for their upcoming one-day series in Abu Dhabi. Younis has had a slow start to the season – his unbeaten 71 against New South Wales has been his only score of note – and he will return to the side for the next game against Queensland later this month.The opener Tom Plant has been axed having averaged 12.50 in three disappointing games. The batting gaps have provided an opportunity for Smith, 20, a top-order batsman who made his state one-day and Twenty20 debuts two summers ago at the age of 18.The attack has also taken on a fresh look with the absence of Tait. Peter George impressed with six wickets on debut this week and the Redbacks will be hoping for a similarly strong start from Putland, 22, a left-arm fast bowler who has been a fringe member of the one-day side over the past few seasons.Sheffield Shield squad Daniel Harris, Michael Klinger, Callum Ferguson, Cameron Borgas, Jamie Smith, Aaron O’Brien, Graham Manou (capt, wk), Mark Cleary, Dan Cullen, Peter George, Gary Putland, Allan Wise.

Middlesbrough have reportedly opened talks with Sheffield United winger Oliver Burke over a summer move to the club.

The Lowdown: Burke struggles at Blades

The Scotland international has struggled to make an impression at Bramall Lane, scoring and assisting just once apiece in the Premier League last season.

The Blades are thought to be willing to listen to offers for Burke this summer and he may not be without suitors.

The Latest: Middlesbrough move for winger

According to Football Insider’s Boro source, ‘discussions are underway’ between Middlesbrough and United over a move to the fellow Championship club.

Nottingham Forest, West Brom, Celtic and RB Leipzig are also thought to be interested in signing the 24-year-old, who has won 13 caps for his country.

The Verdict: Time to move on

Burke is a talented attacking player but he has been a disappointing signing for the Blades, so it makes sense for him to move on this summer.

The Scot still has two years remaining on his current deal, meaning United could receive a hefty fee for his services, with Transfermarkt valuing him at £5.4million.

Admittedly, selling Burke to another Championship team could help strengthen a rival, but Slavisa Jokanovic doesn’t appear to see a future for him at Bramall Lane, so there is little point keeping hold of a depreciating asset.

In other news, another Sheffield United player is set for an exit this summer. Find out who it is here.

Cricinfo previews the Asia Cup final between India and Sri Lanka

The Preview by S Rajesh05-Jul-2008Match factsSunday, July 6, 2008
Start time 16.00 (local), 10.00 (GMT)
Four of India’s batsmen have already scored more than 250 runs in the tournament © AFP
Big PictureAfter a frenetic 11-day period that saw 12 matches, Sri Lanka and India have survived the crammed schedule, the heat, and a few wobbles to make their way to yet another Asia Cup final. Historically, these two sides have been the strongest in the tournament, winning seven of the eight editions so far; Sunday’s game will be their sixth meeting in Asia Cup finals.The excellent batting pitches have been a constant throughout the tournament, and the teams to survive have utilised these conditions better than others – India and Sri Lanka have easily been the best batting teams of the competition. Both have settled line-ups, with most of their top order in superb form, which points towards another run-fest on Sunday.With both teams in such exceptional batting touch, the difference in the final could be a bowling spell or some inspiration in the field. Nine matches have already been played on the same square at the National Stadium, suggesting that spinners might have something to look forward to. Sri Lanka have the clear advantage in that department, with Muttiah Muralitharan and the exciting Ajantha Mendis leading the way.Sri Lanka also have the edge in the field. India’s exceptional batting has masked their generally sloppy fielding throughout the tournament. Catches have been missed, the ground fielding has been erratic and, in a crunch game, these factors could well be critical.Form guide (Last five completed ODIs; most recent first)
India WLWWW
Sri Lanka LWWWWWatch out for …Sanath Jayasuriya, who loves the big occasion, and he loves batting against India. If he survives the early overs, the Indian bowlers could be in for more tough times.Gautam Gambhir. He has been consistency personified in ODIs this year, and his excellence against spin makes him a key batsman for India against an attack featuring Muralitharan and Mendis.The battle of the openers: Gambhir and Sehwag have added 319 runs for the first wicket in four innings at an average partnership of 79.75 and a rate of 8.14 runs per over; Jayasuriya and Sangakkara have averaged 88.75 per partnership at seven runs per over. The new-ball bowlers from both teams clearly have their work cut out.Murali v Yuvraj: Yuvraj has often struggled against slow bowlers at the start of his innings, and if he bats at No. 5, there’s a good chance that he’ll be confronted by Murali as soon as he comes in.Team newsSri Lanka had rested Chaminda Vaas and Ajantha Mendis for their last round-robin match, against India, but both are certain to return for the final. Two out of Kaushalya Weeraratne, Thilan Thusahara and Dilhara Fernando will sit out. None of them has had tournaments to remember so far, but Fernando’s experience might help him retain his place.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Chamara Kapugedera, 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Chaminda Vaas, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Dilhara Fernando.India’s batting has been spectacular throughout the tournament, but the bowling is a worry. The biggest concern has been Irfan Pathan, who, after missing the first three games due to a side strain, has leaked 148 runs in 20 overs for just a solitary wicket. His place could be taken by Yusuf Pathan. Pragyan Ojha will keep his place after two tidy performances, which means Piyush Chawla misses out.India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Pragyan Ojhan, 10 RP Singh, 11 Ishant Sharma.Umpires Simon Taufel & Tony Hill. Third umpire Zameer HaiderStats and trivia Sri Lanka haven’t lost to India in the last six finals between the two teams – they’ve won four while two were rained out. The last time India won a final against them was ten years ago, in the Singer-Akai Nidahas Trophy. Sanath Jayasuriya averages 51.54 at a strike rate of 100.17 in finals against India. In 11 innings he has scored one hundred and four fifties, including a 99. Muttiah Muralitharan has an excellent economy rate of 4.03 in finals against India. In seven innings, he has taken nine wickets at 28.22. India’s top five (Gambhir, Sehwag, Raina, Dhoni and Yuvraj) all average more than fifty in the tournament, with Dhoni the only one with a strike rate – 97.88 – less than 100.Quotes”Mendis is a big-game player and he has the ability to play well in big matches and we will be counting on him in the final.”
Mahela Jayawardene names his trump card for the final”Our openers have given us good starts and if they continue to do so it would keep pressure off the middle order and set the foundation.”
Mahendra Singh Dhoni looks forward to another strong start by Sehwag and Gambhir

Many Everton fans have been left celebrating as Bernard has officially left the Goodison Park faithful.

As confirmed by their official Twitter page, the Brazilian has signed for Sharjah FC on a two-year deal.

Some supporters of the Merseyside club have previously wanted him to leave, following an ultimately disappointing spell.

Playing in 84 games in total for the Toffees over all competitions across the last three consecutive seasons, Bernard has only managed to score a mere eight goals and make just seven assists, despite mainly operating from advanced attacking areas of the pitch (Transfermarkt).

Nonetheless, the Blues will now be able to reinvest the money that they received from him back into the squad come the new 2021/22 campaign.

Everton fans on Bernard exit

These EFC fans celebrated as the exit news was shared on Twitter, with one Evertonian even going as far as to claim that they were ‘delighted’, while another hailed it as ‘unreal’:

“Christmas has come early. Waster out the door.”

Credit: @irish_toffee87

“Get in”

Credit: @therangarich

“Delighted with this”

Credit: @MarkReidMITM

“Yeah good move this for the club. He was pretty dreadful. Never seen a player fall over as much as him.”

Credit: @nickjones314

“Walcott, Bernard and Bolasie gone. That’s 150k a week straight away….unreal!”

Credit: @Tom_Challinor

“Don’t care, he’s off the wages. Good enough for me.”

Credit: @18GEOTUS78

In other news, find out what club update has Toffees gushing here!

أعلن اليوناني تاكيس جونياس المدير الفني لفريق بيراميدز قائمة لاعبيه لمباراة المصري المقرر خوضها ضمن منافسات الدوري الممتاز.

ويحل المصري ضيفا على بيراميدز في السادسة والنصف من مساء الأحد على استاد برج العرب بالإسكندرية في إطار الجولة الحادية والعشرين من الدوري. قائمة بيراميدز لمباراة المصري

حراسة المرمى: شريف إكرامي – مهدي سليمان – يوسف نادر.

خط الدفاع: علي جبر – أسامة جلال – محمد حمدي – أحمد فتحي – حسين السيد.

خط الوسط: نبيل دونجا – عمر جابر – إيريك تراوري – إسلام عيسى – محمد صادق – أحمد توفيق – هشام محمد – وليد الكرتي – إبراهيم عادل – محمود صابر.

خط الهجوم: فخر الدين بن يوسف – دودو الجباس – فخري لاكاي.

وخاض بيراميدز تدريبه الأخير بملعب الدفاع الجوي، قبل السفر للإسكندرية لدخول معسكر المباراة.

طالع أيضًا.. مرتضى منصور: بيراميدز لا يريد استضافة مباريات الزمالك بسبب الأهلي

وشهدت القائمة غياب رمضان صبحي مجددًا نظرًا لإصابته بآلام في المعدة أبعدته عن مواجهة بيراميدز السابقة أمام فيوتشر.

جدير بالذكر أن بيراميدز يحل في وصافة ترتيب الدوري برصيد 40 نقطة، فيما يأتي المصري في المرتبة الرابعة عشر بـ20 نقطة.

Sky Sports pundit Kevin Phillips reckons that Manchester City will look to retain the services of Raheem Sterling following extensive links with Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lowdown: Tottenham Hotspur prepare for 2021/22

Moving towards 2021/22, many Tottenham fans will be desperate for Nuno Espirito Santo to acquire the players necessary in order to challenge for Champions League qualification.

On the flip side, keeping hold of key assets will also be pivotal to the manager’s aspirations. Talisman Harry Kane has been heavily mooted with a switch to the Citizens, with Sterling suggested by reports as a makeweight in any prospective deal [talkSPORT].

The Latest: Phillips reckons Man City will look to retain Sterling

Those rumours prompted former England striker Phillips to give his verdict in a recent interview with Football Insider. The 47-year-old was quick to big up the capabilities of the former Liverpool winger, stating:

“Getting Sterling in who will probably be the player of the Euros?

“Will that change City’s mind? I certainly wouldn’t be letting him go. Everything changed.

“I know he didn’t perform to the best of his ability last season but players have those seasons.

“He’s not let it affect him. He will be the player of the tournament and I would keep him at Man City.

“He will go back to his club full of confidence as the man of the moment.

“He will be talked about all over Europe, the world. He could be Premier League player of the season next year.

“If that’s the case, if you can get Sterling coming in for Kane, I wouldn’t say it’s a no brainer but what a deal that could be.

“If I’m a Spurs supporter, that’s a huge boost.”

The Verdict: Sterling would be an outstanding signing for Spurs

Phillips correctly points out the 26-year-old’s sparking form with England at Euro 2020. In six fixtures for the Three Lions prior to tonight’s final, Sterling has chipped in with four goal contributions, registering three goals and one assist [UEFA.com].

In 2020/21, despite not living up to the absolute pinnacle of his capabilities, the Kingston-born winger still registered 26 goal contributions in 49 appearances, with 14 goals and 12 assists [Transfermarkt]. Furthermore, Sterling illustrated his ability to trouble opposition defences regularly, achieving an average of 2.1 successful dribbles per match across the season [WhoScored]

Conceivably, he would certainly help to soften the blow for Tottenham of potentially losing Kane to the Premier League champions. However, Phillips has signified the likely reality that Manchester City will probably look to retain Sterling ahead of 2021/22 based on his form for England over the past month.

In other news, many Tottenham fans have erupted following this transfer update.

Sri Lanka’s resurgence after a disastrous tour of England gathered pace on Saturday as they defeated Pakistan by 39 runs at Tangiers on Saturday

Charlie Austin18-Aug-2002Sri Lanka’s resurgence after a disastrous tour of England gathered pace on Saturday as they defeated Pakistan by 39 runs at Tangiers on Saturday.The victory virtually guarantees them their place in Wednesday’s final because of the advantage gained from a bonus point obtained against South Africa and by having far the best net run-rate.”England is history now,” said Jayasuriya. “We have done a lot of hard work on our game with Dav (Whatmore) and Duleep (Mendis) and that is now starting to pay dividends.””The boys did really well today, it was a great all-round performance,” he added.He was delighted with his fielders: “After a long time we produced a really good fielding display with Mahela (Jayawardene) and Upul (Chandana) making a big difference with their three catches.””It was not easy for them chasing as the bowlers did really well, especially Pulasthi (Gunaratne) bowled with a lot of variation and changed the match early on in the Pakistan innings,” the Sri Lankan captain observed.Sri Lanka eventually posted a competitive first innings score of 242, but at one stage they were precariously placed on 53 for three having lost three wickets for 11 runs.But Jayasuriya, the Man of the Match for his 97 from 94 balls, then added 111 runs for the fourth wicket with Mahela Jayawardene (43).”After Marvan (Atapattu) was run out I was very disappointed and then we quickly lost Kumar (Sangakkara) and Aravinda (de Silva) ­ I knew I had to stay there for a long time,” he said.Unlike their first victory, which was assisted by a crumbling pitch in the second innings, conditions remained fair throughout the duration of the match.”The toss didn’t make a big difference today as the ball came on to the bat in the Pakistan innings,” said Jayasuriya.Waqar Younis’s side now have to win against South Africa on Sunday and hope that Sri Lanka then defeat Shaun Pollock’s side on Monday.”We now have to pull ourselves together for a big game tomorrow,” said Waqar.”We bowled them out well but we then needed the top order to get some runs, which they were unable to do,” he added.He praised the efforts of Yousuf Youhana and admitted that the management would have to reassess the best place for Shahid Afridi to bat, who went in at number nine today.”He (Afridi) is the kind of batsmen that you can play at any number and he will change the game, we will have to have a look at what we do tomorrow,” he said.

Somerset entertain championship table toppers Surrey at the County Ground tomorrow, and will be anxious to earn some vital points to enable themselves to climb away from the relegation zone

Richard Walsh02-Jul-2002Somerset entertain championship table toppers Surrey at the County Ground tomorrow, and will be anxious to earn some vital points to enable themselves to climb away from the relegation zone.When the sides met at the Oval in May the rain affected game ended in a draw. Since then Surrey have continued their run of success and have four wins from their six matches.The Cidermen however have continued to be dogged by the bad weather, which has prevented them from getting a result after being in winning situations.They have also had more than their fair share of injuries, and tomorrow will be missing the services of Jamie Cox, who is still recovering from a broken thumb, and strike bowler Richard Johnson who pulled a hamstring at Edgbaston last week.The Somerset team is: Matt Wood, Piran Holloway, Mike Burns, Peter Bowler, Keith Parsons, Ian Blackwell, Rob Turner, Keith Dutch, Simon Francis, Matt Bulbeck and Steffan Jones.Earlier this morning Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "This is another big match for us, and it is important for us to get a result. When we met at the Oval earlier in the season we were in a good position before the rain came down. Our championship form this year is good, so the boys will be full of confidence tomorrow."Acting captain Mike Burns told me: "We are playing well at the moment without much luck. Hopefully this will change and things will start to turn our way starting tomorrow."