All eyes were likely to be on Stamford Bridge last night as the English Premier League title race moved to the home of Chelsea — except those of Leicester City coach Claudio Ranieri.
Leicester, who drew 1-1 at Manchester United on Sunday, were to complete their historic quest for the title if second-placed Tottenham Hotspur could not end a 26-year wait for a victory at Chelsea.
However, Ranieri was to be flying back from Italy, where he said he was due to meet his 96-year-old mother for lunch, while he was not sure if his players would be huddled around a television either.
Photo: AP
Asked if the Leicester squad would be assembling to watch the game, Ranieri replied: “I do not know. I did not ask. They are free. They have a day off.”
If Spurs were to succeed in defeating Chelsea, last season’s champions, Leicester could secure the title in front of their own fans by beating Everton at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
However, even though Ranieri was sacked by Chelsea in 2004, becoming the first managerial casualty of Russian owner Roman Abramovich’s tenure, he was hoping that his former employers do Leicester’s job for them.
“I want to win. It is not important when, believe me,” Ranieri, 64, said. “If I have a chance to win tomorrow, for us it is important to win.”
“In my mind, Tottenham will win all three matches. I am now focused on the Everton match. When I was Chelsea manager, the true derby was against Tottenham. It is a derby,” he added.
Chelsea preventing Spurs from winning would allow Ranieri to return to Stamford Bridge in triumph for Leicester’s final game of the season, but he said he is keeping his mind firmly on the here and now.
“I do not want to speak about so long [ago],” he said. “I want to speak about the next match [against] Everton. I know all the city is blue, but we must continue to stay concentrated without special fireworks. We have to stay there, on the pitch, and think there will be another tough match.”
Leicester are to be without Danny Drinkwater against Everton after the midfielder was sent off for two bookings on his return to his former club.
“I am very sad because he will [miss] the next game at home,” Ranieri said. “I hope I do not miss him.”
It was an unwelcome novelty for United to be involved in a potential title-decider that did not directly concern them, but coach Louis van Gaal did his best to steal Leicester’s limelight after the match.
Seeking to defend Marouane Fellaini, who is likely to face retrospective action for elbowing Robert Huth, Van Gaal went to great lengths to assert that Huth was to blame for pulling Fellaini’s hair.
To illustrate his point, the Dutchman grabbed a handful of a television reporter’s hair and in a subsequent interview, he said that hair-pulling could only be permitted during what he termed “sex masochism.”
Anthony Martial rewarded United’s impressive start by giving the hosts an eighth-minute lead from Antonio Valencia’s cross, but Leicester equalized nine minutes later when Drinkwater crossed for Wes Morgan to head home.
The result left United four points off the UEFA Champions League berths, but with fourth-placed Manchester City, on whom United have a game in hand, losing 4-2 at Southampton on Sunday ahead of their home game with third-placed Arsenal this weekend, hope is not yet lost.
Speaking before City’s game at St Mary’s had finished, Van Gaal said: “I have said you have to win every game that we have to play, so now already we are not closing the gap.”
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS