As much as the memory of past comebacks from Manchester City will continue to occupy Arsenal’s every waking thought, the temptation to declare that the title race is all but over is becoming increasingly impossible to resist.

Pep Guardiola must know there will be no breathless sprint for the finish if his side continue to play with such a lack of identity, cohesion and belief. Putting it bluntly, this is not the City of old. This was a careless, unfocused performance and it left them nine points below Arsenal, albeit with a game in hand. City did not raise the tempo until it was too late and although they limited West Ham to a solitary shot the problem is that it was the one that allowed Konstantinos Mavropanos to earn the point that lifted Nuno Espírito Santo’s dogged side out of the bottom three before Nottingham Forest host Fulham on Sunday.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Fc5oM8A

The US president threatens Cuba with a “friendly takeover”

from BBC News https://ift.tt/G10i8JZ

Sir Laurie Magnus said the relevant process appeared to have been followed when Lord Mandelson was made ambassador.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/7Syuf13

• Manager speaks at length after defeat at Real Madrid

• Players must use ‘guts and nose’ to score, he adds

Pep Guardiola launched a four-and-a-half minute defence of his team selection in the 3-0 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid. Guardiola chose to play an attacking 4-2-2-2 formation at the Bernabéu stadium on Wednesday and the visitors were ultimately humbled by a Federico Valverde hat-trick to leave them on the brink of a European exit.

“I had to explain it [team selection] before and after? After 10 years? I would not convince you one second, any one of you, anyone,” Guardiola said before City’s visit to West Ham on Saturday. “Why? Because we lost 3-0, destroyed, yeah it’s normal. It’s not personal, believe me, it’s all the managers.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2hmpkUv

Meta and YouTube accused of creating harmful products in trial seen as a bellwether for attitudes towards social media

The first-ever jury trial over the potential harms of social media wrapped up on Thursday. Lawyers for Meta and YouTube have argued their platforms are safe for the vast majority of young people, while lawyers for a young woman at the center of the case say the tech companies have designed their products to be addictive, leading to mental health issues in children and teens.

The six-week trial has seen a parade of high-profile witnesses, including Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri and YouTube’s vice-president of engineering Cristos Goodrow. Jurors have also heard testimony from the lead plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman who goes by the initials KGM, her therapist and expert witnesses on social media and addiction.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ym7Okz0

England's kicking has become a bugbear of supporters, but it is actually one of the few areas of their game that is functioning well in the Six Nations.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/anYp1wM

At least there was no public humiliation for Filip Jörgensen from his manager. But while Liam Rosenior did not do an Igor Tudor and hook his goalkeeper, this hurt. It is why a goalkeeper passing out from the back only looks clever until the moment it goes wrong.

Above all, it was tough for Chelsea to take. They impressed at the Parc des Princes, twice pegging Paris Saint-Germain back, but there was no escaping the reality that the focus was on the moment Jörgensen’s stray ball out gifted the European champions the advantage in this last-16 Champions League tie.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ldT4VnQ