• Bangal, Catamo and Calila score in 3-2 victory

• Diallo on target as Côte d’Ivoire draw with Cameroon

Mozambique ended a 40-year wait for victory at the Africa Cup of Nations as they beat Gabon 3-2 in Agadir.

Goals from Faisal Bangal, Geny Catamo and Diogo Calila earned the southern African side a deserved victory in which they were led by 42-year-old winger Elias Pelembe. It is their first win at the continental finals since their debut in 1986 in what was their 17th game.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/C2wBcY0

After arguably the greatest year in the club's history, Crystal Palace will begin 2026 out of form and surrounded by an air of uncertainty.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/Cej5VLW

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery insists it is still too early to say whether his side is in contention for the Premier League title despite being third in the table after their 2-1 victory against Chelsea.

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

Blackmail! Murder! Horny Republicans! This starry bonkbuster is about as good as nonsense television gets

This is it. This is your reward. For getting through Christmas, for getting through the crisis-laden sorrowfest that was 2025, the gods of television have vouchsafed us all The Hunting Wives, eight episodes of the most perfect trash to fill our screens since – well, I don’t even know when. Since Rivals? Maybe, but like the book it was based on by the late, great Jilly Cooper, that show was too good to qualify for this coveted title. The Hunting Wives is not. The Hunting Wives is perfect trash. The most perfect trash possibly ever – how’s that?

I’m not sure I can explain quite how much fun it is with only the paltry resource of the written word at my disposal but let me limn first its hysterical outlines and we’ll see how we get on.

Continue reading...

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

Aston Villa have been here before and fallen away - but they must now be taken seriously as title contenders, writes Phil McNulty.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/25Xmx4q

Manchester United hold on to take all three points in a hard-fought 1-0 win against Newcastle, with Ruben Amorim's side moving into the top five.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/rixa7GJ

• Australia edge England in wild opening to Boxing Day Test

• Over-by-over updates from Melbourne Cricket Ground

• Live scorecard | Geoff Lemon on Australia’s bowlers

For a while, Boxing Day 2025 felt like a re-enactment of Boxing Day 2010. We’re talking an amateur historical re-enactment, given the lower intensity and higher number of participants with private lives under investigation, but still, the broad shape of the thing was much the same. You had England choosing to bowl on a cloudy morning and finishing off the hosts in time for an early tea. The original instance lasted 42.5 overs, this repeat lasted 45.2, only 15 deliveries between them.

Yet this year’s edition felt different for more reasons than just a higher scoring rate that yielded 152 all out versus 98 all out last time around. In 2010, England owned the day, a Jimmy Anderson swing masterclass ripping out a paralysed middle order, Chris Tremlett lopping off top and tail like a légumier preparing string beans. The rehash was a less complete bowling effort that drew a strangely faltering batting response: chop-ons and leg-side nicks and run outs, occasionally the bowling team via Josh Tongue remembering to pitch the ball up before rocketing through someone’s defences.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/tv4Tokh