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Given Celtic’s place in the global football pecking order, they are well-versed when it comes to selling a star player and being able to replace him.

Of course, a lot of the time, the Hoops’ excellent record in the transfer market means they’re able to replace their high-quality departures with signings.

However, Brendan Rodgers is also looking for his current players to step up and perform, with one player in particular having done exactly that this season.

Matt O'Riley impact at Celtic

Matt O’Riley arrived at Celtic from Milton Keynes for a reported fee of £1.5m in January 2022, and the fact he was then sold to Brighton two-and-a-half years later for a club-record £25m gives you a bit of an indication as to how well he performed in Glasgow.

The midfielder made 124 appearances in hoops, scoring 27 goals and registering 35 assists, winning seven major trophies as well as being named the club’s Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year before departing.

Ankan Bhowmick of Sports Illustrated labels the Danish international one of Celtic’s ‘best-performing’ players of their successful modern history, while Clive Lindsay of BBC Sport believes he has the quality to go to the very top, saying that his ‘languid running style’ can be ‘deceiving’ given that he’s a ‘quality…all-rounder’.

Given all of this, O’Riley was always going to leave a rather large void at Parkhead, but Celtic haven’t really missed him, thanks to a key player stepping up, but it’s not the player you might be thinking of.

Celtic's current creative focal point

Arne Engels was signed for a club-record fee of £11m from Augsburg on deadline day, to be O’Riley direct replacement.

However, as outlined by Andrew Newport of the Daily Record, the midfielder has, at times, not quite lived up to expectations so far, with the Belgian himself stating “I don’t care about the price tag… I think I have good numbers and good performances”.

Engels has accumulated ten goals and 12 assists in a Celtic jersey so far, but it is actually Alistair Johnston who has shouldered the creative burden following O’Riley’s exit.

The Canadian international was rewarded with a new contract back in November, with manager Rodgers describing the right-back as “phenomenal”, praising his “desire to improve in everything he does”, adding that “these are the qualities which make a great player”.

Joe Callaghan of the Guardian notes that Johnston has become a “cornerstone” for both club and country, with his performances seeing him included on the long-list for Best FIFA Men’s XI of 2024.

So, let’s analyse how he and O’Riley are similar, despite operating in different positions.

Appearances

29

37

Minutes

2,421

3249

Goals

4

18

Assists

8

13

Chances created

38

91

Big chances created

14

14

Passed attempted

2,023

1986

Through-balls

7

16

Take-on success %

50%

52.11%

Ball recoveries

100

208

Touches per 90

98

78

Of course, due to the obvious aforementioned positional differences, Johnston and O’Riley’s statistics are often somewhat different, although the fact that both created 14 big chances certainly jumps off the page, with the Canadian registering more of those than any other Celtic player this season.

During the most recent international window in March, Canada’s manager Jesse Marsch stated “there are some weeks I watch Alistair and I think… the games are too easy for him… players do need to be challenged.”

So, while Johnston is playing like O’Riley on the park, could he follow the Dane’s path off the pitch by becoming the latest Celtic fan favourite to be sold for an enormous profit?

Now worth 3x less than Johnston: Celtic struck gold selling "immense" star

Celtic full-back Alistair Johnston has been exceptional this season, ensuring one man remains rather forgotten in the past

ByBen Gray Apr 18, 2025

Also, what kind of an over is a “smudger”?

Steven Lynch28-May-2024Calvin Harrison bowled an over in a county match the other day that was described as a “smudger”. What does this mean? asked Bill Dunmore from England
That over by the Nottinghamshire legspinner Calvin Harrison came during their Championship match against Hampshire at Trent Bridge last week. It was the 48th over of Hampshire’s second innings, near the end of the match. The first delivery went for five wides, then the subsequent balls went for three, two, six, four and one, before the final delivery was a dot. Every ball of the over thus had a different outcome: this unusual event is apparently known on the county circuit as a “Smudger”, after the former Middlesex opener Mike “MJ” Smith. He was a tall batter, with an unusual movement across the crease as the bowler delivered, and played five one-day internationals for England in 1973 and 1974.After his playing career, Smith became Middlesex’s scorer, and apparently recorded an over like this in one game. According to Martin Briggs, a regular on the Ask Steven Facebook page: “He noticed one such over when scoring a county match years ago and thereafter was forever on the lookout for another. He was apparently held in great affection on the circuit, and county scorers named that kind of over after him, ‘Smudger’ being a common nickname for a Smith. I think I heard the story from Derbyshire’s former scorer John Brown.”Such overs are obviously difficult to spot, but I asked the Melbourne statistician Charles Davis whether his wondrous international database could throw up any other examples. This is not a definitive list, but he did discover a few: “In India’s ODI against Pakistan in Mohali in April 1999, an over by Virender Sehwag – who was making his debut – included (not in order) a dot ball, three singles, a single off a no-ball (two on to the total), a delivery that went for three wides, a four, a four off a no-ball (five runs for the total), and a six. I haven’t found any six-delivery overs in Tests or ODIs that contained 012345 or 123456, but there a few with 012346 (not in that order). However, the strangest such over must surely have come in Bombay(now Mumbai) in 1951-52, when the 44th over of India’s first innings, bowled by England’s Brian Statham, read 4, 0, 1, 2, 3… 8.”Harshal Patel won the purple cap for the second time this year. Has anyone else won it twice? asked Mahendra Sunderam from India
Harshal Patel took 24 wickets for Punjab Kings in this year’s IPL, to take the purple cap for the most wickets by a handy margin. Patel also won it in 2021, when he picked up 32 wickets (the joint-most in any IPL season) for Royal Challengers Bangalore.This award has been shared around quite a lot: since the first IPL in 2008, only two others have won it twice. Bhuvneshwar Kumar did it in successive years for Sunrisers, with 23 wickets in 2016 and 23 in 2017, while Dwayne Bravo topped the tables with 32 in 2013 and 26 in 2015 for Chennai Super Kings.Turning to the batters, Virat Kohli has won the orange cap for the most runs in the IPL season for the second time; he also came out on top in 2016 with 973 runs, the overall record for any season. Chris Gayle also topped the list twice, for RCB in 2011 and 2012, but David Warner has done it three times (2015, 2017 and 2019, all for Sunrisers). For the overall list of most runs in an IPL season, click here.Who has been out for a duck most often in Tests? asked Richard Sullivan from England
Top of the pile here is the West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh, who was out without scoring in 43 of his 185 innings, 61 of which were not out. Second is Stuart Broad, who was dismissed for nought 39 times (244 innings, 41 not-outs). But the leader in percentage terms, at least among the men with most ducks in Tests, is the New Zealander Chris Martin, who was dismissed 52 times, 36 of those without scoring (he also had a creditable 52 not-outs). Martin also bagged seven pairs in Tests – no-one else has more than four.Leading the way for ducks in men’s ODIs is the prolific Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya with 34, not far ahead of the Pakistan pair of Shahid Afridi (30) and Wasim Akram (28), and Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene (also 28). In T20Is, Ireland’sPaul Stirling has so far bagged 13 ducks, ahead of four men with 12.In women’s ODIs, Jhulan Goswami of India collected 18 ducks, while England’s Charlotte Edwards had 16. . And in women’s T20s, Danni Wyatt of England has to date bagged 17 ducks, four more than Suzie Bates of New Zealand and Malaysia’s Winifred Duraisingam.Shakib Al Hasan (left) has the most wickets in T20 World Cups while Virat Kohli (right) has the most runs•Associated PressWith the next T20 World Cup tournament fast approaching, who has scored the most runs and taken the most wickets in them over the years? asked Christopher Glass from Australia
The leaders in these two tables are both likely to add to their tallies in the forthcoming T20 World Cup. Virat Kohli leads the way “>for the batters, with 1141. The only other man over 1000 is Mahela Jayawardene (1016). Rohit Sharma goes into the 2024 tournament with 963.The leading wicket-taker in T20 World Cups is Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, with 47 (like Rohit, Shakib played in all eight previous editions of this tournament). Shahid Afridi comes next with 39, one ahead of Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga, but the next man on the list who should feature in 2024 is another Sri Lankan, Wanindu Hasaranga, with 31.I was amazed that the United States beat Bangladesh the other day. Have they ever beaten a Test nation before? asked Jay Morrison from the United States
Before upsetting Bangladesh last week at Prairie View in Houston, Texas, the United States men’s team had won 36 previous official internationals – but only one of them was against a Test-playing nation. The USA defeated Ireland by 26 runs in a T20 match in Lauderhill (Florida) in December 2021.Just to show it was no fluke, the USA followed up their win over Bangladesh by coming out on top in the second game as well, to clinch the series, another first for them against a Test nation.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Kohli’s sideways shuffle a sign of India’s batters buying into their new approach

Karthik Krishnaswamy03-Oct-20222:05

Rahul: ‘When batting first, we always try to be aggressive and take a lot of risks’

In an innings containing 25 fours and 13 sixes, this was perhaps not the most eye-catching boundary. But it was significant in two ways.One, it moved India’s score past 190. This was the 10th time in 21 innings this year that India had ticked off that milestone while batting first in T20Is. Across 2020 and 2021, India had only reached 190 three times while batting first, in 16 attempts.Scoring bigger totals more often has significantly improved India’s record while batting first. Duh, you might say, but this transformation has come from a recognition that par is simply not enough, given the advantage chasing teams enjoy in T20 cricket. On Sunday, India made 237 for 3 – their fourth-highest T20I total – and South Africa still gave them a scare.”It is something that all of us came together and we said, you know, this is what we want to do as a team,” Rohit said during the post-match presentation, when asked about India’s batting approach. “Sometimes it has come off; there will be times where it doesn’t come off, but we want to stick to it. We felt that this is the method of moving forward, it has given us results, and we will continue to take that approach.”You need special players to pull off this sort of approach, of course, and India have more than one in their ranks. Rahul is one of them, and while his shot-making ability can sometimes lie puzzlingly dormant in the early parts of his T20 innings, it was in evidence right from the first ball of the match, when he punched Kagiso Rabada past point off the back foot, silkily and with time to spare.He’s taken a bit of time finding his rhythm since coming back from injury in August, and on Wednesday he had battled his way to a slower-than-run-a-ball fifty on a hugely challenging pitch in Thiruvananthapuram. But that back-foot punch off Rabada seemed to flick a switch in him. You know Rahul is in rare and almost unearthly touch when he plays that shot, and when he whips sixes effortlessly off his pads, as he did twice in this innings.It was a standout innings in every way other than the fact that Suryakumar Yadav found a way to upstage it. Suryakumar is in the sort of form where he can seemingly decide to hit any line and any length from any bowler to any part of the ground, and all that’s been written about in ample detail already.His 22-ball 61 in Guwahati, however, brought another facet of his game to light.During his half-century in Thiruvananthapuram, Suryakumar had adopted a scissor-like trigger movement, segueing from an open stance into a side-on position at release, with front foot moving across to the off side and back foot jumping towards the leg side. On Sunday, he used an entirely different trigger movement, starting from the same open position and ending up even more open, with his back foot moving back and across and his front foot remaining stationary.It would be hugely illuminating to hear Suryakumar talk about these technical adjustments. What we do know is that he looked just as comfortable with both set-ups, and just as capable of accessing every part of the field.Dinesh Karthik: India’s most futuristic T20 cricketer?•BCCIAnd to cap it all off, Dinesh Karthik came in with less than two overs remaining and scored an unbeaten 17 off 7. Karthik is 37, and he first played international cricket in 2004, but he’s perhaps India’s most futuristic cricketer, the sort of hyper-specialist that could one day define the way T20 is played. He came in with only 11 balls remaining, but he greatly prefers that to having time to play himself in.Rabada bowled the last over to Karthik with deep backward point, deep cover, long-off, long-on and deep midwicket on the boundary. The plan was to go wide of off stump and short, to try and take away Karthik’s leg-side options. Twice, Karthik stepped across and found himself still having to drag the ball from well outside the line of his body, but he still managed to use his bottom hand and wrists to swat the ball over square leg.Rabada had done little wrong, but it didn’t matter.All through this year, all through the lead-up to the T20 World Cup that begins later this month, India have tried to push themselves to bat in a certain way. It’s not always been smooth; individual batters have struggled for rhythm at times, and there have been flurries of top-order wickets at other times. But in the longer term, good processes beget good outcomes, such as India’s improved bat-first record.On some days, good processes beget immediate outcomes. Sunday was such a day: a day of vindication, a day when almost everything fell into place.

Also, what is up with Royals’ powerplay struggles?

Saurabh Somani19-Oct-2020Why were MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja slow during the middle overs?
The Super Kings weren’t going too well when Jadeja joined Dhoni in the middle, having slid to 56 for 4 in ten overs. The pitch was slow, and offering some grip. The Royals then got both parts of a two-pronged strategy right: tactics and execution. As soon as the powerplay was done, they had brought on legspin from both ends in Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia, and both men had already got a wicket when Jadeja joined Dhoni in the middle.The tactics involved continuing with legspin from both ends, even though Steven Smith had overs from Kartik Tyagi, Ankit Rajpoot (who ended up bowling just one over) and Ben Stokes to call on – that is without counting Jofra Archer, whom he must have wanted to save for the death overs anyway. But both Dhoni and Jadeja haven’t been at their best against legspin this IPL, particularly googlies. Dhoni’s strike rate against the legbreaks has been a reasonable 129.16, but against googlies, it’s just 86.36. Jadeja’s numbers are even worse – 63.15 against googlies and 110.00 against leg-breaks. So while it may have seemed counter-intuitive to continue with legspin from both ends when a left-hander was at the crease – one who has been in otherwise good striking form in Jadeja – the match-up was valid.The execution involved slowing it up from the bowlers. With no pace to work with off the surface, bowling it slower would mean that much more effort on the part of the batsmen to manufacture pace. When you have to do that, there is always the chance that timing goes awry, which is what happened. Both Gopal and Tewatia rarely rose above the mid-80s kph, and there was only one genuinely quicker ball bowled in their combined eight overs, when Tewatia fizzed one through at 111.7 kph. Lack of pace and accuracy, coupled with their own struggles against the type of bowling combined to keep Dhoni and Jadeja quiet. They did add 51 runs, but took up 46 balls to do so.How did Dhoni get run out?
This was only the ninth run out of Dhoni’s IPL career, having batted 179 times. He’s normally amongst the quickest between the wickets, which is why he isn’t run out very often. In the 18th over, Dhoni had just hit his second boundary, getting it only because Archer at long-off let the ball slip through his fingers. The next ball was driven firmly to Archer again, but Dhoni seemed to think there was only a single in it and wasn’t running hard for the first one. Archer mis-fielded again, and Jadeja, who was alive to the possibility of a second, urged Dhoni on, who then began sprinting back. But the delay from the first run being run meant Dhoni was an inch short when Archer recovered from the fumble and fired in a sharp throw to the keeper. Dhoni, normally a master at converting ones into twos, failed to do so this time. He was run out at 17.4 overs, and the Super Kings could get only 18 runs in the remaining 14 balls.Is the Sam Curran experiment working out for the Super Kings?
The Super Kings took the decision to promote Curran up the order because he had been striking the ball well in the middle overs, and they needed impetus at the top. However, in three games so far, Curran hasn’t managed to replicate his middle-order fireworks. What has worked against him is high pace with a new ball. He was out for 0 off 3 against Delhi Capitals, and made only 22 off 25 against the Royals, having faced eight of Archer’s first 12 balls and scored only two off them, while also getting into all kinds of tangles. Not a single ball from Archer to Curran was pitched up. Curran had relative success as an opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but though he ended up with 31 off 21, his start there too was slow, being 10 off 15 at one point.ESPNcricinfo LtdNot having Curran in the middle order has also contributed to the Super Kings being slow through that phase. Against the Royals, they couldn’t hit a single boundary off either Tewatia or Gopal, who combined to bowl eight overs for 32 runs, also picking a wicket each.Why did Dhoni bowl out Deepak Chahar and Josh Hazlewood at the start of the chase?
Despite having seen the Royals legspinners do well, Dhoni opted to go with his faster men at the top of the Royals’ chase. Chahar and Hazlewood bowled their full quota inside nine overs, only broken up by one over from Jadeja. The reasons were two-fold.As Dhoni explained after the game, the reason he brought Jadeja on in the seventh over was to see if the pitch was holding up, and he found that it wasn’t. The grip that the Royals slow bowlers had got, was noticeably less on offer in the second innings, with dew playing a part. That meant Dhoni’s spinners wouldn’t have the advantages that the first innings offered. Secondly, given that the Super Kings had put up only 125 for 5, the only way to win the match was to bowl the Royals out. Dhoni decided to go with his best wicket-taking options while the game was still alive. Both Chahar and Hazlewood did a good job, picking up three wickets inside the powerplay, but in the end, there wasn’t enough to defend.What is up with the Royals’ powerplay troubles?Speaking of wickets, the Royals have been losing more than any other team in the powerplay this IPL. They have now lost 20 wickets in the powerplay in the ten games they have played. The lack of a good start has contributed to their troubles with the batting. On Monday, their powerplay score was 31 for 3, but they could weather that because the target being chased was such a small one.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe trouble at the top has perhaps contributed to the Royals keeping Jos Buttler at No.5. When they lost three quick wickets, they still had the experienced pair of Buttler and Smith in the middle, who eventually put on a match-winning 98-run partnership, with Buttler hitting 70* off 48.Why did Kedar Jadhav bat so lowA couple of weeks ago, Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming reacted angrily when he was asked why Jadhav had batted above Dhoni, coming in at No.4. Fleming said then that Jadhav was the Super Kings’ designated No.4 and was merely batting in position.On Monday, Jadhav came out at No. 7 in the 18th over. His own poor form has probably contributed to the changing position, having even sat out of the XI a couple of times. Perhaps the Super Kings wanted to send a left-hander in at the fall of the fourth wicket since two legspinners were bowling, so Jadeja went in ahead of Jadhav. Then too, overall Jadeja has had a much better tournament with the bat than Jadhav, so recent form could have played a part.

MatériaMais Notícias

Com o corte de Gabriel Magalhães, zagueiro do Arsenal que sofre com uma inflamação no tendão de Aquiles, a tendência é que os estreantes Murilo, do Palmeiras, e Fabrício Bruno, do Flamengo, disputem uma vaga entre os titulares da Seleção Brasileira.

continua após a publicidade

➡️ Siga o Lance! no WhatsApp e acompanhe em tempo real as principais notícias do esporte

O escolhido de Dorival Júnior deve compor a dupla de defensores ao lado de Beraldo, titular do PSG, presente na primeira lista.

Caso o comandante opte por manter a hierarquia da convocação, o camisa 26 do Verdão entra como “favorito” em relação ao defensor rubro-negro, quinta opção, que herdou a vaga de Marquinhos, cortado em razão de problemas físicos.

Bremer, por sua vez , corre por fora na disputa. Isso porque o jogador foi a última opção de Dorival para integrar o sistema defensivo da Amarelinha.

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No entanto, o zagueiro da Juventus possui experiência no futebol de seleções e participou da última Copa do Mundo, disputada no Qatar.

Em reta final de preparação para a disputa da Copa América, a Seleção disputará dois amistosos na Europa. No próximo sábado (23), o Brasil encara a Inglaterra, no estádio de Wembley, em Londres. Três dias depois,, enfrenta a Espanha, no Santiago Bernabéu, em Madrid.

Tudo sobre

Dorival JúniorEspanhaFlamengoInglaterraPalmeirasSeleção Brasileirazagueiro

Newcastle United are now seriously considering a January bid for a new midfielder, who is being targeted by some of Europe’s top clubs.

Newcastle keen on midfielder likened to Sandro Tonali

Sandro Tonali has earned rave reviews this season, with Paul Scholes causing a stir when he chose the Italian ahead of Declan Rice as the best midfielder in the Premier League back in October, saying: “I love Sandro Tonali as well. He’s been brilliant. Very good. I would probably choose Tonali at this point.”

“I think he’s better than Rice. I really like Rice, don’t get me wrong, I think he’s got everything. Sometimes he takes a few too many touches of the ball and tries to look a bit more stylish than necessary. He can do everything but I just don’t think he does it enough. I prefer Tonali but they’re both good players.”

The central midfielder has remained a key player for Eddie Howe, making 19 appearances in all competitions, although there are some doubts over the future of midfield partner Joelinton, who received criticism for his performance in the 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur.

With the Brazilian struggling, Howe may want to enter the market for a new midfielder during the January transfer window, and Newcastle are now seriously considering a bid for Ferencvaros midfielder Alex Toth, who is valued at around £13.5m.

A whole host of Europe’s biggest clubs have been eyeing the Hungarian, who has been compared to Dominik Szoboszlai, including Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund, but the PIF are now plotting a January move.

The 20-year-old excels as a box-to-box midfielder, and some of his performances for Ferencvaros suggest he may now be ready to test himself in one of Europe’s top leagues…

Related Outscoring Woltemade: Newcastle preparing move for one of the PL's best strikers

He’s been in excellent form.

Posts ByTom Cunningham Dec 3, 2025 Toth could be fantastic long-term addition to Howe's squad

Given his age, the young Hungarian still has plenty of time to develop, but he has already started to put in some very promising displays for Ferencvaros, chipping in with four goals and 15 assists in 56 outings for the Hungarian club.

Football talent scout Jacek Kulig has described the maestro as a “roaming playmaker”, while also comparing him to Newcastle star Tonali, which is a huge compliment, considering just how highly Scholes rates the Italy international.

Not only has the starlet impressed domestically, but he also earned huge praise for his performance against Genk in the Europa League earlier this season.

With Toth potentially available for a very affordable fee, Newcastle should undoubtedly make a bid this winter, and they should move quickly, given the rival interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Jarred Kelenic did not hustle out of the box on Saturday and the Atlanta Braves are still dealing with the consequences on Monday. The trouble started when Kelenic hit a long fly ball that bounced off the wall in right field. Kelenic thought he had hit it out and celebrated. When the ball didn't go out he started to run and tried to stretch a long single into a double. Instead he was thrown out at second.

Later that night Ronald Acuna Jr., who is out recovering with a torn ACL, tweeted and subsequently deleted that if it had been him that did that, he would have been benched, which is exactly what happened back in 2019 when Acuna did something similar.

After the game manager Brian Snitker was asked about the play and said he hadn't seen it.

Without being punished during or after the game, Kelenic actually took it upon himself to go to the manager's office to apologize for not hustling.

Acuna is currently on track to return to the Braves this season. Hopefully he hurries.

Brazil will have to do better next summer if they are to end a wait of 24 years for a World Cup trophy after they were held to a 1-1 draw by a disciplined Tunisia in Lille on Tuesday night. A first half goal from Hazem Mastouri threatened to put the Eagles of Carthage on course for a famous win, albeit in a friendly, but Chelsea prodigy Estevao Willian levelled things up not long before the interval.

A well-supported Tunisia on French soil managed to stifle and frustrate Brazil through the opening quarter of the game and then took the lead in clinical fashion when Mastouri finished from close-range. But an element of fortune got the Selecao back into it just before half-time, a penalty confidently converted by Estevao following a VAR check on what appeared to be a soft handball.

Brazil struggled to create that much of note throughout the second half, largely shooting off target despite racking up more than 20 attempts over the course of the game. A second penalty came as Tunisia too casually tried to play their way out of pressure in their own box, resulting in substitute Vitor Roque being dragged down. But Lucas Paqueta blazed the spot-kick over the bar.

18-year-old Estevao almost had the final say, striking the base of the post with the last kick of the game in stoppage time, but 1-1 was how it finished.

GOAL rates Brazil's players from Stade Pierre-Mauroy…

• AFP
  

  Goalkeeper & Defence

  Bento (5/10):

  A more aggressive response to Tunisia's breakthrough might have made it harder for Mastouri to finish by closing the angle much quicker.

  Wesley (5/10):

  Booked inside the opening 10 minutes. Otherwise struggled to make an impact going forward.

  Marquinhos (7/10):

  Hardly misplaced a pass all night and was equal to what Tunisia in limited attacks threw at him.

  Eder Militao (6/10):

  Played an hour before being withdrawn with injury. Was OK apart from that.

  Caio Henrique (7/10):

  A polished defensive performance and a better attacking outlet than his counterpart on the right.

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• AFP
  

  Midfield

  Estevao Willian (8/10):

  Had to wait a long time while being berated by a hostile and largely partisan crowd to take his penalty, but kept his cool exceptionally well to continue an incredible start to his international career. It's five goals in six international appearances so far this season. The only Brazil player who looked very lively.

  Bruno Guimaraes (6/10):

  Got into the right areas but could have done more with the possession he had.

  Casemiro (7/10):

  Saw plenty of the ball in the middle of the pitch and able to use that to create chances with passes forward. Defensively unchallenged.

  Rodrygo (6/10):

  A few positive moments here and there but a frustrating night overall.

• AFP
  

  Attack

  Matheus Cunha (5/10):

  Limited impact until being withdran at half-time, just 21 touches of the ball.

  Vinicius Junior (6/10):

  Didn't really do that much to challenge Tunisia, before decent pressing contributed to winning the second penalty.

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• AFP
  

  Subs & Manager

  Danilo (5/10):

  Had to do very little defending after replacing Wesley at half-time. Made little difference.

  Vitor Roque (6/10):

  Won the penalty that Paqueta missed, which will be frustrating.

  Fabricio Bruno (6/10):

  A solid centre-back replacement an hour in.

  Fabinho (5/10):

  Only 22 touches of the ball in half an hour on the pitch. Lacked impact.

  Lucas Paqueta (5/10):

  Had the chance to win the game for his country and fluffed his lines.

  Luiz Henrique (N/A):

  The last of six permitted substitutes towards the end.

  Carlo Ancelotti (6/10):

  Comes away fro this international window with plenty of questions to answer.

The visitors had collapsed from 96 for 0 to 125 for 5 in a chase of 175 in Harare

Andrew Fidel Fernando03-Sep-2025Kamindu Mendis’ 41 not out off 16 from No. 6 rescued Sri Lanka from a collapse, and catapulted them to victory in a game that seemed to be slipping away. Sri Lanka needed 46 runs off the last four overs, having slipped from 96 for no loss to 125 for 5.But Kamindu crashed four sixes and a four, the vast majority of those shots coming behind square on the leg side as Zimbabwe’s seamers got their lines wrong at the death. In the end, Sri Lanka cruised home with five balls remaining and four wickets in hand.Higher up the order, Pathum Nissanka struck his third half century of the tour to set the platform for this chase of 176. It was a competitive total given the conditions, with Brian Bennett’s 81 off 57 balls being the primary driver of Zimbabwe’s score.Aside from Richard Ngarava, who took 2 for 19, Zimbabwe’s seamers were expensive.ESPNcricinfo LtdTinotenda Maposa’s horror overWith three overs to go and Sri Lanka still needing 34, Zimbabwe needed a quiet over from Tinotenda Maposa, who had bowled well until that stage. Kamindu manufactured a boundary off a wide yorker by reverse-scooping him for four first ball. Then came the horror deliveries. The next one was a chest-high full toss at the body which Kamindu swatted over the deep fine boundary. Maposa followed up that no-ball with a leg-side wide, and finished the over with another leg-side full toss that Kamindu happily deposited over the deep square leg rope. That 18th over cost Zimbabwe 26 runs, and essentially decided the match.Sri Lanka’s middle-overs wobbleFollowing Nissanka’s outstanding 55 off 32 in which he was typically strong square of the wicket, Sri Lanka went through a period in which they lost six wickets for 46 runs in seven overs, with several Zimbabwe bowlers striking through this spell. The opening stand of 96 had come rapidly however – Kusal Mendis and Nissanka having scored at more than nine an over. This gave Sri Lanka some cover to weather the collapse.Bennett holds Zimbabwe togetherAlthough his innings began with some lucky edges through deep third, Bennett powered Zimbabwe through an impressive powerplay in which they reaped 59 – Bennett contributing 32 off 17. The deep third area would continue to be productive for Bennett, who used the seamers’ pace well. He also reverse-swept the spinners behind square on the offside. He was involved in fifty partnerships with Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl, before Dushmantha Chameera took out Bennett’s stumps with the last ball of the 19th over.Chameera takes threeThe best of Sri Lanka’s bowlers was Chameera, who finished with figures of 3 for 30. He was effective both in the powerplay and the death, taking the first wicket, before later sending down a series of excellent yorkers. He was good at reading the batters too – twice batters attempted to spring to the offside to drag him to leg, but found that Chameera had sent a rapid yorker at the base of their stumps and rattled them.

West Ham United are looking to build some momentum under Nuno Espirito Santo, though they now appear to have suffered an injury blow at the London Stadium.

Nuno Espírito Santo makes early judgements on West Ham squad

Nuno has only been in East London for a matter of weeks. However, the former Nottingham Forest boss is already laying down the law as he aims to secure Premier League survival at a minimum this term.

Coming as a surprise to some, West Ham have put James Ward-Prowse up for sale, with Guido Rodriguez also an apparent target for Saudi Pro League clubs.

Nevertheless, the Argentina star reportedly rejected a switch to the Gulf region despite being offered a £30,000 pay increase, as an unnamed agent delivered the lowdown on his situation, via Claret & Hugh.

They said: “Rodriguez had five interested clubs in the summer but didn’t want to move. One offer from Saudi would have given him an extra £30k per week, but he said no.”

On the other hand, Ward-Prowse has been withdrawn from West Ham’s matchday squads against Arsenal and Everton, signalling that Nuno isn’t willing to offer any chance of redemption to players he doesn’t believe will fit his tactical framework.

Taking decisions for the benefit of his group, Nuno will be keen to add a sense of physicality to his side, who have been too passive this term and easy to cut through, conceding more than anyone else in the top-flight with 16.

The Hammers have also scored the joint-second fewest goals at just six, and they may now be struggling for firepower even more following the latest developments coming out of the international break.

With George Earthy out until November after sustaining a hamstring problem (ExWHUemployee), Nuno has been dealt another injury blow.

West Ham star Niclas Füllkrug suffers injury blow

As relayed by Kicker, Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann confirms that West Ham striker Niclas Füllkrug has suffered a “torn muscle bundle in his thigh” on international duty, and will now be out for ‘several weeks’ as he looks to work his way back to fitness.

The 32-year-old has gone through a series of unfortunate absences since arriving in London and will now be out for the foreseeable, leaving Callum Wilson and youngster Callum Marshall as Nuno’s only two available strikers for Brentford.

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ByJack Salveson Holmes Oct 10, 2025

Struggling to get his West Ham career off the ground, Fullkrug, on around £90,000 per week at the London Stadium, has netted three times in 27 appearances for the club and is yet to get off the mark this term.

Jarrod Bowen may also be a candidate to feature through the middle in his absence, with Nuno searching for his first win ahead of a potential six-pointer next weekend.

Luck hasn’t been on Fullkrug’s side since joining the Hammers from Borussia Dortmund, albeit everyone connected with the club will hope he can make a speedy recovery as West Ham look to kick on after a poor start to the campaign.