The Padres dropped a winner-take-all Game 3 in the National League wild-card series to the Cubs on Thursday night. And while the Padres' ninth-inning rally fell just short, the club may be left stewing all winter long about a different moment.

After a leadoff home run from Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill cut the Cubs' lead to 3-1, shortstop Xander Bogaerts stepped up to the plate. Working the count full, Bogaerts took a 3-2 fastball on the lower outer half of the plate, a pitch he surely felt was ball four. But home-plate umpire D.J. Reyburn called it strike three, leaving Bogaerts incensed.

Cubs relief pitcher Brad Keller proceeded to hit Ryan O'Hearn and Bryce Johnson on consecutive pitches, giving San Diego hope that they could potentially tie the game. But it was not to be, as Jake Cronenworth grounded out and Freddy Fermin flied out, ending the Padres' season.

And the club's players were still fuming about the called strike after the game, as the likes of Bogaerts and Jose Iglesias angrily confronted the umpires as they left the field and filed past the visitor's dugout.

Two things. Number one, it doesn't seem like the best idea logistics-wise to have the umpires' only path off the field and back to the locker room take them past the visitor's dugout. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

Secondly, the Padres certainly have a right to be angry. The pitch seemed to be one that, had the Automated Ball-Strike challenge system been in play this season (it will be next year), could have been overturned to a ball. Plus, Umpire Scorecards, which uses MLB's advanced pitch tracking data to rate the accuracy of home-plate umpires and the impact of their calls on games, determined that Reyburn's called strike three was the most impactful missed ball-and-strike call in the contest.

But while the Padres and their fans have every right to be angry about the missed call, there's something else that should make them even angrier. The likes of Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Arraez, and Manny Machado, three of the club's most productive hitters, combined to go 0-for-11 with three strikeouts and a walk in a winner-take-all elimination game.

Four MLB players on four different teams accepted their qualifying offers on Tuesday to remain with the clubs they competed for this past season.

All qualifying offers are one-year, $22.025 million contracts to return to their teams for the 2026 season. It gives the teams more time to decide if they want to keep the players around for a longer contract afterwards, or if the player will end up a free agent next offseason.

The big headline was pitcher Shota Imanaga accepting the Cubs’ qualifying offer to remain in Chicago. It was originally believed that he would land elsewhere, but now he’s here to stay in Chicago.

The Yankees will get center field Trent Grisham back in one of the team’s first big decisions of the offseason. New York could now turn its focus to retaining Cody Bellinger for next season.

Pitcher Brandon Woodruff will return to the Brewers after he accepted his qualifying offer. He dealt with various injuries during the 2025 season.

Lastly, the Tigers will retain second baseman Gleyber Torres, who is coming off his first year in Detroit in which he accomplished an All-Star season.

Then, there were nine players who declined their player option, causing them to remain free agents this offseason. Those players include Kyle Schwarber, Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Dylan Cease, Edwin Díaz, Ranger Suárez, Zac Gallen, Michael King and Framber Valdez.

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Recheado de bons jogadores, o Botafogo avançou na Libertadores, garantiu a vaga nas oitavas da Copa do Brasil e faz boa campanha no Brasileirão. Entre os grandes nomes estão Luiz Henrique, Tiquinho Soares, Savarino e Junior Santos. Mesmo com os grandes números e o apreço de Artur Jorge pelo modelo ofensivo, os atletas só estiveram em campo juntos durante 25 minutos.

continua após a publicidade

Esta minutagem está dividida em dois jogos: nove contra o Universitario, a única vez que o quarteto iniciou um jogo como titular até agora, e os outros no duelo contra o Cruzeiro, pelo Brasileirão, quando os atletas permaneceram em campo ao mesmo tempo por 16 minutos.

➡️ Tudo sobre o Fogão agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso canal Lance!

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Camisa 10 do Glorioso, Savarino já caiu nas graças da galera. Em 23 jogos, marcou cinco gols e deu cinco assistências.

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Grande nome da última temporada do Botafogo, Tiquinho já fez seis gols e deu cinco assistências nos 20 jogos que atuou pelo Botafogo.

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Incontestável em 2024, Júnior Santos já atuou em 30 jogos na temporada, marcando incríveis 16 gols e dando cinco assistências.

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BotafogoBrasileirãoLibertadores

It looked like it would be the week that would end Daniel Farke’s time at Leeds United. One that would all but condemn the Yorkshire giants to a swift return to the Championship. And yet.

While last weekend’s Etihad fight-back ultimately proved in vain, that second-half showing has sparked new life into the Elland Road side, having since claimed four valuable points at home to both Chelsea and Liverpool in recent days.

Unlike in midweek, however, the Whites were far from at their best this time around, with Hugo Ekitike surging the away side into what appeared to be an unassailable two-goal lead.

This is not the Liverpool side that claimed Premier League glory last term, though, nor is it the Leeds outfit which meekly fell to relegation two years ago – they’re made of sterner stuff.

Aided by the reckless Ibrahima Konate, Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s spot-kick sparked a frantic finale at Elland Road, with Anton Stach levelling things up just two minutes later.

Man of the moment Dominik Szoboszlai then looked to have popped the Leeds balloon, before Ao Tanaka came up trumps at the death – cue bedlam, delirium, and a queue of writers not quite sure what to make of it.

Tanaka the hero in stunning second-half fight-back

It was all going so wrong for Farke and co, with Joe Rodon gifting an opener to that man Ekitike, before the Frenchman netted a second almost within a minute to make it 2-0 on the 50-minute mark.

There looked to be no way back, with Leeds drifting toward defeat, before a trio of changes sparked the game into life.

Up stepped Wilfried Gnonto, Brenden Aaronson and the aforementioned Tanaka to alter proceedings, with the three late arrivals making an impact in all three goals for the home side.

Indeed, it was Gnonto’s direct run which drew the foul from Konate for Leeds’ first, while Aaronson laid on the assist for Stach, as Farke’s men levelled things up just two minutes later.

The headline-grabber, however, was Tanaka, with the Japanese midfielder – who had been replaced by Ilia Gruev in the starting lineup – pouncing at the backpost to snatch a point in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

That moment aside, the 2024 summer signing also notably won 100% of his duels after entering the fray, as per Sofascore, with the decision to start Gruev in his place seemingly backfiring as far as Farke is concerned.

Tanaka will surely be reinstated into the fold next time around, while fellow substitute Gnonto should also be in the mix for a regular starting berth again.

Why Leeds sub now needs to start every game

While Tanaka may have stolen the show in stoppage time, the game truly appeared to change due to the added dynamism of Gnonto in attack, with Leeds looking rather blunt prior to that.

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Noah Okafor, for instance, was hooked just after the hour mark, having made just five passes in all, while registering just 14 touches, with the Whites in need of a spark to ignite their limp forward line.

As ever, it was the diminutive Italian who proved to be just that, cleverly drawing the foul from Konate with his fleet of foot inside the area, representing one of two fouls he would win in that late cameo.

Direct and penetrating, the 22-year-old also notably recorded a stellar 100% pass accuracy even while seeking to make things happen for his side, having even recorded more touches (17) than Okafor despite his limited time on the field.

From Championship hero to peripheral Premier League figure, Gnonto has not had the game time he would’ve liked in 2025/26, with a calf injury limiting him to just seven top-flight outings thus far.

Gnonto’s 24/25 Stats

Stat (*per game)

Record

Games

43

Starts

26

Goals

9

Assists

6

Big chances missed

6

Big chances created

10

Key passes*

1.1

Pass accuracy*

81%

Successful dribbles*

1.0

Stats via Sofascore

On the evidence of Saturday night, however, he should well be a regular fixture moving forward, now that he is fit and firing again, with Leeds simply looking a different team with the speedy forward spearheading the attack.

As noted by Yorkshire Evening Post’s Graham Smyth, who awarded him an 8/10 match rating, Gnonto was ‘bright, lively, tricky’, having fearlessly taken the hosts forward time and again.

With a trip to Brentford now next on the agenda next weekend, the former Zurich starlet should surely be deserving of a recall to the starting XI.

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U.S. international Christian Pulisic, battling the flu, came off the bench and scored twice in 10 minutes on Monday night to spark AC Milan’s dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Torino, sending the Rossoneri back to the top of Serie A. His introduction in the 66th minute proved to be the catalyst for a remarkable turnaround at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.

Getty Images SportAmerican makes immediate impact with equalizer

With the visitors trailing 2-1 despite Adrien Rabiot's spectacular first-half strike, the 27-year-old American needed just 60 seconds to make his mark on the contest. After Alexis Saelemaekers delivered a precise cross from the left flank, Pulisic showed his predatory instincts by arriving at the perfect moment to fire home the equalizer.

AdvertisementPulisic completes remarkable turnaround

The American's decisive contribution came just 10 minutes later when he fired Milan into a 3-2 lead with another clinical finish. In the 77th minute, midfielder Samuele Ricci found Pulisic inside the Torino penalty area, and the forward made no mistake with his left foot, beating goalkeeper Franco Israel to complete the comeback. The goal sent the traveling Milan supporters into raptures and silenced the Torino faithful who had been celebrating what seemed like a comfortable lead earlier in the match.

The dramatic comeback seemed unlikely after Torino had established a commanding 2-0 lead within the opening 17 minutes. Croatian international Nikola Vlasic opened the scoring in the 10th minute from the penalty spot after a Milan defensive error. Then veteran Colombian striker Duvan Zapata doubled the advantage just seven minutes later with a clinical finish that left goalkeeper Mike Maignan with no chance.

Milan appeared disorganized defensively until Adrien Rabiot provided a lifeline with a spectacular long-range strike in the 24th minute that reduced the deficit to 2-1. Despite this boost, the visitors continued to struggle creatively until Pulisic's introduction.

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Getty Images SportVictory propels Rossoneri back to Serie A summit

The dramatic win carries significant implications for Milan's title aspirations, propelling them back to the top of the Serie A standings with 31 points from 14 matches, level with Napoli but ahead on goal difference. The Rossoneri face Sassuolo next on Dec. 13 before going on the road to face Napoli on Dec. 18 in the Supercoppa Italiana semifinal.

Moved up to open for Australia’s chase, the left hander produced one of the more remarkable innings in Test history

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2025

Travis Head produced an incredible display of hitting•Getty Images

Travis Head was lauded for an “out of this world” innings by Australia captain Steven Smith, after his offer to open the batting in place of the injured Usman Khawaja produced one of the most devastating innings seen in Test cricket, but admitted he had to overcome some self doubt leading into the match.Head flayed 123 off 83 balls with 16 fours and four sixes as Australia chased down 205 in 28.2 overs to complete an astonishing two-day victory at Perth Stadium when, just a few hours earlier, England were in control of the game.Head had been lean on runs in the first part of the season with a mixture of T20Is, ODIs and one Sheffield Shield outing. He has often shown an ability to flick a switch but admitted there had been a few nagging thoughts leading into the series.Related

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“Probably not the prep that I would have liked going into the Test, but the process was right, the method was right,” he told Channel 7. “I did a lot of training. I trained all four days here, which is unheard of for me. I just found a little bit of rhythm.”I’m never going to doubt my own ability, but I think when you have a big gap in Test cricket and you’re lying in bed a couple of nights before, you’re like, can I do it? Can you still produce it? Can you, as a cricketer each year, keep rolling out good scores in big moments? It’s not going to get much bigger than this.”I think your mind just takes you to, am I good enough to still do it against the absolute best? I’m pleased to slap around a little bit today and get a score and get into the series and to be 1-0 up is a great way to contribute. But I wasn’t worried too much.”When Khawaja suffered further back spasms late in England’s second innings it became clear Australia would again need to reshuffle the batting. Unlike the opening day when Marnus Labuschagne partnered Jake Weatherald, they opted for the aggressive route of Head, who does the role in white-ball cricket for Australia and has previous opened in Tests on the subcontinent.”I was pretty keen to do it,” Head told Channel 7. “Just felt like the moment was right. I felt like if I could get away, obviously the plans that they’ve had over the years with me, with short-pitch bowling where they’ve come to me, I thought that if I could get away with a new ball, [that could] probably take a little bit of sting out of it. [It] could help [Weatherald] at the other end…I feel like when we stack Marnus and Smudge at three and four, it just feels right. So nice that I could move up.”Felt like I got off to a great start. Weathers played beautifully. And once we sort of got 50, 60, I thought that’s a great blueprint, a great start. You see the numbers start ticking down, and you think, you’ve got two world-class batters behind you, hopefully make their job a bit easier.”At the post match presentation, Smith said the innings stood up against any that he had seen. “He played some outrageous shots, even when he shanked it he got it in the gaps. One of those days when you’re on, you’re on and you make the most of it and he got us home. We probably did quite like how it [the top order] worked in the first innings and Travis was like ‘I want to do it’ and I was like ‘go for your life’…that was just incredible to witness.”It’s right up there with knocks I’ve seen from anyone. Fourth innings, albeit day two, the wicket was probably almost at its best to bat at the end there, but the way he went about his business, played some really nice shots early, and when they went short he played the way he wanted to and was kind of toying with them I suppose.”Speaking separately to Fox Cricket, Head said he would have been all right with getting out early because it was the right decision for the team. “Quite easily could have been out first over,” he said. “It didn’t really matter. I thought that was the right process, right way of thinking, go out there, see what happens and it’s worked today.”Once the runs started to flow, Head sensed it was his moment to really unleash and produced a fearsome display of strokeplay as Australia hunted down the target at speed.”I was able to sort of get through Gus [Atkinson] and Jof [Archer] with a new ball, who were dangerous in the first innings. Then sort of seized an opportunity where I could be a little bit more aggressive in moments when they moved the field. They started with a third man, brought third man back up, and then felt like I could get away again…and ride the wave for the first 50 runs. Then once I got past then, I thought, we’ll just pin the ears back and see what happens.”

In the almost six years he’s been in charge, Mikel Arteta has helped to transform Arsenal.

He’s led the North Londoners from mid-table mediocrity to genuine Premier League and Champions League contenders.

The Spaniard’s tactical nous and standard-raising philosophy have undoubtedly played a massive part in this turnaround, but so has the club’s recruitment and promotion of youth players, like Bukayo Saka.

The Hale Ender has gone from promising prospect to the face of Arsenal and undoubtedly their most important attacker, although, based on recent reports, the club are looking to sign someone who is playing better than him at the moment.

Arsenal target superstar star attacker outperforming Saka

Since making his debut for Arsenal in a 2018 Europa League group stage match against Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava, Saka has gone on an incredible journey with the club.

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Despite being moved around the pitch and then spending plenty of time at left-back in his early career, the Englishman has now become the club’s go-to right-winger and the first name on the teamsheet when fit.

In all, the 24-year-old has made 280 appearances for the Gunners, in which he’s racked up a sensational haul of 76 goals and 73 assists, which is an average of a goal involvement every 1.87 games.

However, due in part to his injury, he has performed a little under par this season, and now it looks like the club are looking to sign someone who is outperforming him.

At least, that is according to a recent report from Spain, which claims Arsenal are still very interested in Michael Olise.

In fact, the report has revealed that the Gunners are now preparing an ambitious plan to sign the Bayern Munich star and are willing to break their transfer record to do so, preparing an offer of around €150m, which converts to around £132m.

That’s an outrageous sum of money to spend on a player, but given Olise’s ability and potential, it might just be worth it for Arsenal, especially as he’s outperforming Saka.

How Olise compares to Saka

So, the first thing to say is that it seems highly unlikely that Arsenal would sign Olise to outright replace Saka.

After all, the Hale Ender has become the face of the project and probably the most beloved player of the last 20 years among the fanbase.

Instead, the Frenchman could be looked at as someone to offer competition, or, as has been the case with Noni Madueke, someone who can interchange with the Englishman during games, almost making the idea of a starting position antiquated.

With that said, it’s worth looking at how the pair have stacked up against one another since the Bayern ace’s move to Germany.

Last season, his first in Baveria, saw the 23-year-old rack up a sensational tally of 20 goals and 23 assists in 55 appearances, totalling 3842 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.27 games, or every 89.34 minutes.

Appearances

55

37

Minutes

3842′

2619′

Goals

20

12

Assists

23

14

Goal Involvements per Match

0.78

0.70

Minutes per Goal Involvements

89.34′

100.73

Appearances

20

17

Minutes

1583′

1211′

Goals

9

6

Assists

10

2

Goal Involvements per Match

0.95

0.47

Minutes per Goal Involvements

83.31′

151.37′

In contrast, Saka scored 12 goals and provided 14 assists in 37 appearances, totalling 2619 minutes, which is an average of a goal involvement every 1.42 games, or every 100.73 minutes.

Okay, what about this season then?

Well, the former Crystal Palace star has really taken it up a notch, already scoring nine goals and providing ten assists in 20 appearances, totalling 1583 minutes.

That comes out to a staggering average of a goal involvement every 1.05 games, or every 83.31 minutes, and truly justifies analyst Filipe Sousa’s description of him being a “nightmare” for defenders.

For his efforts this season, the Gunners’ talismanic number seven has scored six goals and provided two assists in 17 appearances, totalling 1211 minutes.

That comes out to a somewhat underwhelming – for his lofty standards – of an average of a goal involvement every 2.12 games, or every 151.37 minutes.

Now, it should be said that he suffered another hamstring injury at the start of the campaign and is clearly still not at 100%, but even so, he would likely admit his output has been a little disappointing this season.

Ultimately, while it would cost an egregious sum of money, Arsenal should do what they can to sign Olise, as he could help get the best back out of Saka, and a team with the pair of them in it is a scary team indeed.

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India have been grouped with Pakistan; Sri Lanka with Australia and Ireland; England with West Indies and Bangladesh; and New Zealand with Afghanistan and South Africa at the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup in February and March.The tournament, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, begins on February 7 and ends on March 8, with the marquee India-Pakistan fixture scheduled for February 15 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The ICC revealed the groups and fixtures at an event in Mumbai on Tuesday.The complete first-round groups are as follows:Group A: India, Pakistan, USA, Netherlands, Namibia
Group B: Sri Lanka, Australia, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Oman
Group C: England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal, Italy
Group D: New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, Canada, UAE
The final of the tournament will be played in Ahmedabad or Colombo on March 8 – if Pakistan qualify it will be in the latter. Similarly the two semi-finals are in Kolkata – or Colombo if Pakistan qualify – on March 4, and Mumbai on March 5.The other venues for the event are Delhi and Chennai in India, and Kandy in Sri Lanka. Both the R Premadasa Stadium and the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo will host games, and all the group matches involving Sri Lanka or Pakistan will be played in Sri Lanka. The other teams in Group B – Australia, Ireland, Oman, Zimbabwe – will also play all their group matches in Sri Lanka. India and Netherlands are the only teams with group matches at four different venues, including one in Colombo. The games start at 11am (0530 GMT), 3pm (0930 GMT) and 7pm IST (1330 GMT).The format for the tournament is the same as the previous edition in 2024 in the USA and the West Indies, where the 20 teams were divided into five groups of four. The group stage runs from February 7 to February 20. The top two teams from each of the groups progress to a Super Eight phase from February 21 to March 1 where they will be further divided into two groups of four each.The Super Eight groups are as follows assuming these teams qualify from the first round; if another team qualifies, they will take the place of the team from their group that failed to make it:Super Eight Group 1: X1 (India), X2 (Australia), X3 (West Indies), X4 (South Africa)
Super Eight Group 2: Y1 (England), Y2 (New Zealand), Y3 (Pakistan), Y4 (Sri Lanka)
Each team will play the other three in their Super Eight group, with the top two from each group qualifying for the semi-finals.Unlike at the 2024 World Cup, where teams like India played two matches in three days including a travel day, in the 2026 tournament teams will have a gap of at least two days between matches if they are at different venues. Also, unlike in 2024 when New York hosted six matches in five days and the pitches became an issue, the ICC has decided not to hold multiple matches at a venue within a short span of time. One exception though is the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, where four matches will be played in six days – on February 7,8, 11 and 12.Click here for the full T20 World Cup schedule.