Title

There have been so many big days for this group of Slaughtneil hurlers with 13-straight Derry titles and now a sixth Ulster crown.

Of course, there have been disappointments on the provincial stage along the way too and O’Doherty says they have made victories like Saturday’s all the sweeter.

“Mark [McGuigan, captain] alluded to it in his speech – these are special days for the club and something we don’t take for granted,” he continued.

“That’s shown in our hunger and desire, year after year. We lose games and have setbacks, but we always bounce back up again and days like this are so special, so worth it.”

Slaughtneil now have an All-Ireland semi-final against Galway’s Loughrea to look forward to with the game pencilled in for Saturday, 20 December.

Last year, they fell agonisingly short when losing out to Sarsfield’s of Cork by one point, so the ambition now turns to taking the next step and reaching a final for the first time.

“Last year hurt us a lot – there’s no point saying any different,” O’Doherty acknowledged.

“We thought we had a great chance and we did but for whatever reason we didn’t get over the line.

“We are exactly where we want to be now. [We’ve] three weeks to prepare for a massive battle in another All-Ireland semi-final – what else would you want coming up to Christmas?”

Somehow, someway, Los Alamitos is your Southern Section Division 2 football champion. A team of overachievers filled with a roster of best friends combined chemistry, determination and toughness to overcome all odds.

Saturday night before an overflow crowd at San Clemente High, the Griffins recorded seven sacks and took advantage of one of the strangest touchdowns scored by a lineman to beat the Tritons 33-20. This same Los Alamitos team lost to San Clemente 28-9 in a league game on Oct. 24.

“I’m not smart enough to articulate how I feel and how proud I am of these guys,” said Los Alamitos coach Ray Fenton, who was hugging one player after another.

Los Alamitos (12-2) received a sensational performance from quarterback Colin Creason, who completed his final 13 passes and combined with the Griffins’ strong running back tandem of Kamden Tillis and Lenny Ibarra to generate enough offensive firepower to end San Clemente’s five-game winning streak and deliver the Griffins their first championship since 2002.

The game changed on consecutive plays late in the third quarter after San Clemente took a 20-17 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Ethan Miller. Creason completed a shovel pass to tight end Beckham Hofland inside the five-yard line, but he fumble the ball. It went off the leg of a San Clemente defender and was picked up by offensive guard Luke Wehner, a rugby player who knew exactly what to do to score his first high school touchdown — run toward the goal line. He went seven yards for a 24-20 lead.

“I was so scared,” Hofland said.

Said Wehner: “I was not expecting that at all.”

Then Los Alamitos forced a San Clemente fumble on the next offensive play that was recovered by Hunter Eligon. Tillis scored a 22-yard touchdown for a 30-20 lead. The momentum and the game had switched to Los Alamitos.

Individuals kept stepping forward to deliver big moments for the Griffins. Jackson Renger had two of his team’s seven sacks. Hofland had a 24-yard touchdown catch and two field goals. Tillis rushed for 141 yards. The versatile Ibarra had an interception, a 65-yard punt and rushed for 99 yards. And Los Alamitos’ offensive line kept creating opportunities for Creason and the running backs.

The first half ended in a 17-17 deadlock when Hofland made a touchdown catch for Los Alamitos with 39 seconds left. San Clemente had opened a 17-3 lead behind Jaxson Rex, who had a 25-yard catch, forced a fumble and made an interception. Colin Granite scored two touchdowns on short runs.

Los Alamitos’ no-huddle, up-tempo offense started to cause problems for San Clemente’s defense. Tillis had 100 yards rushing at halftime while Creason had 156 yards passing.

Los Alamitos won the Southern Section Division 2 championship with a 33-20 win over San Clemente.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Los Alamitos started the season 8-0, then lost to San Clemente and Mission Viejo in consecutive Alpha League games. The Griffins regrouped and never stopped believing in themselves. They are expected to face San Diego Section champion Cathedral Catholic in a state playoff game next weekend.

So much can happen in seven minutes of football.

Carson proved that on Saturday night in the City Section Open Division championship game, scoring five touchdowns in a 7:05 span of the second quarter to produce a 36-0 shutout of Crenshaw at Southwest College.

After a scoreless first quarter, Zach Brock broke several tackles on a 12-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter, opening the floodgates for the No. 1-seeded Colts (10-3).

Chris Fields III connected with Royal Moore on a 46-yard touchdown and the two-point conversion made it 15-0 at the 7:32 mark. Darren Panton returned a punt 28 yards for another touchdown with 6:20 left in the stanza and recovered a fumble at the Crenshaw 22 two plays later, setting up Craig Walker’s reverse that made it 29-0. Panton ended the scoring barrage with a 23-yard interception return 4:46 before halftime.

“We saw in the first quarter that they were overly aggressive and if we gave them a fake, they’d bite on it,” said Fields, who completed eight of 15 passes for 147 yards with an interception and ran seven times for 38 yards. “I just took advantage of what the defense gave me. Darren’s punt return sealed the deal.”

Carson sacked Cougars quarterback Danniel Flowers four times in the first half — two of those by end Kingston Sula and one each by Derric Myers and Xavier Allen — and forced him into several other hurried throws. Flowers, who made several clutch throws in the semifinals at Birmingham, was held to four-of-10 passing for 37 yards in the first half Saturday while running back Joshua Jones had 11 yards in five carries by intermission.

Carson High receiver Royal Moore sprints down the sideline on his way to a 46-yard touchdown against Crenshaw in the City Section Open Division final Saturday night.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Eric Myers finished with 88 yards in 18 carries to keep the chains moving for the Colts, who claimed their 12th City crown and first since winning Division I in 2003 under coach John Aguirre, who later became City Section commissioner.

Carson moved to within one of second-place Banning on the all-time titles list. Manual Arts holds the record with 17.

“This is a testament to these kids and how hard they work,” first-year coach William Lowe said. “They have good practice habits on the field and in the weight room and are mentally tough. Any play can win or lose a game and when good things happen we try to build on that.”

The sixth-seeded Cougars (10-2) were vying for their seventh City title since 1991. Terrence Whitehead has served as interim head coach all season in the absence of longtime coach Robert Garrett (the winningest football coach in section history with 300 wins to his credit), who is on administrative leave.

“Chris has grown in leaps and bounds,” Lowe said of Fields. “I credit all of my coaches. Our defensive alignment allows the kids to play fast and physical and we were battle-tested despite some tough losses early in the year.”

Nicholas Fonseca snared a tipped ball in the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown on an untimed down as South Gate pulled out a miraculous 63-58 victory over Marquez in the City Section Division I final Saturday at Southwest College.

Marquez had taken a 58-57 lead on a one-yard sneak by Angelo Gutierrez and his subsequent two-point conversion pass to Elyjah Staples with six seconds left. After a fair catch, South Gate took over at its 46 and when Anthony Ford intercepted a pass the Gladiators began celebrating, thinking they had won. However, a pass interference penalty advanced the ball to the Marquez 39 and gave the Rams one last gasp with zeros on the clock.

Quarterback Michael Gonzalez rolled to his right to buy time and launched a pass into a maze of players in the end zone. The jump ball was tipped by two defenders into the waiting arms of Fonseca, who calmly grabbed it out of midair — shocking even his own teammates.

“I said to myself I’m not going to go up for the ball, I’m not that tall. … I’m gonna wait for it to come down and that’s what happened,” said Fonseca, who had 10 catches for 152 and two touchdowns and also scored on a six-yard run.

“I seen it coming, I saw them hit it down but it went right into my hands and I caught it. This is one of the most special moments of my life!”

Gonzalez completed 26 of 34 passes for 450 yards and six touchdowns. Ephaunie Lewis had 10 receptions for 193 yards and three scores — the last a three-yard lob from Gonzalez with 52 seconds left, immediately followed by Fonseca’s two-point run to put South Gate up 57-50.

Marquez tailback Gilberto Cisneros drags Rams defender Jordan Olivares to the goal line in the second quarter Saturday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Nicholas Quintanilla returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a score that pulled the second-seeded Rams (11-3) even and his 39-yard touchdown catch gave South Gate its first lead, 35-28, late in the third quarter. He finished with five catches for 90 yards and rushed five times for 54 yards.

The teams combined for six touchdowns in a wild fourth quarter.

Angelo Gutierrez-Molina threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, Marcus Juan ran for 113 yards and one touchdown in 15 carries and caught four passes for 50 yards. He raced 68 yards on a hook and lateral to give the fifth-seeded Gladiators (11-3) a 50-49 lead with 1:57 left.

Gilberto Cisneros added 84 yards and three touchdowns in 22 carries and Staples had four catches for 129 yards and one touchdown.

“Never give up!” coach Francisco Saldana shouted before raising the trophy

South Gate lost to Chatsworth 38-36 on a field goal with no time left in the Division II final last year — one of the most bizarre endings in City playoff history.

“On the last play my coach told me to run a corner route to the pylon,” Fonseca said. “Last year we were up late and it bit us. This time we came through and it feels great.”

South Gate captured its third City title and first since winning the 3A Division in 1988 under Gary Cordray.

Flamengo beat fellow Brazilian side Palmeiras 1-0 in Peru to lift the Copa Libertadores title for the fourth time.

Flamengo defeated Palmeiras 1-0 to win the Copa Libertadores, becoming the most successful Brazilian team in the history of South America’s top club competition by lifting the title for a fourth time.

A second-half headed goal from Flamengo centre-back Danilo settled a scrappy encounter at the Estadio Monumental in Lima on Saturday – the fifth Libertadores final in the past six seasons to feature two clubs from Brazil.

Flamengo’s win avenged their 2-1 defeat to Palmeiras in the 2021 Libertadores final and leaves the famous Rio de Janeiro club firmly on course for a hat-trick of trophies in 2025.

Flamengo began the year with victory in the Brazilian Super Cup and need only two points from their remaining two league fixtures to clinch Brazil’s domestic championship.

Flamengo’s third win in the tournament since 2019, and fourth overall, put them level with Argentina’s Estudiantes, three behind another Argentinian club, Independiente, with seven titles.

Palmeiras, meanwhile, were left ruing a golden chance to equalise in the 89th minute, when Vitor Roque blasted over the bar from point-blank range.

That was arguably the best Palmeiras chance of a mostly fractious final, littered with 33 fouls and seven yellow cards shared between the two teams.

A scrappy first half saw Flamengo enjoy the better chances, with Bruno Henrique the first to trigger alarm in the Palmeiras ranks with a 15th-minute strike that flew high and wide.

Flamengo continued to find space down the flanks, and moments later, Samuel Lino threatened to break the deadlock, cutting in from the left and flashing a shot wide.

This, however, was as good as it got for Flamengo in the first half, and the men in red and black were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men after 30 minutes, following a melee that erupted when Palmeiras defender Bruno Fuchs brought down Flamengo star Giorgian de Arrascaeta.

As tempers flared, Flamengo’s Chilean international Erick Pulgar flew in and kicked out at Fuchs, yet somehow escaped only with a yellow.

Flamengo again looked the more threatening team after half-time, while struggling to create clear-cut chances.

The breakthrough finally came on 67 minutes, when Arrascaeta swung in an inviting corner from the right.

Danilo – inexplicably left unmarked – rose unchallenged to head home for what would be the winning goal.

On a cool Saturday morning at Fresno’s Woodward Park, Oliver Hunter of Dana Hills became his school’s fifth consecutive state cross-country champion by winning the Division 3 championship with a time of 14 minutes 55.3 seconds.

“He trusted the process. He was all smiles,” coach Craig Dunn said.

Evan Noonan won three titles and Jai Dawson won the other. Hunter was a little concerned early in the season about being pushed and being fit, but Dunn told him again and again, “Trust the process,” and he was ready for his best effort after winning last week’s Southern Section Division 3 championship.

In Division 1 boys, Redondo Union won the team title and Conor Lott of Clovis North held off Maximo Zavaleta of King to win the individual title. Lott ran 14:43.2 and Zavaleta finished in 14:49.7. In Division 1 girls, Jaelyn Williams of San Diego Eastlake won in 16:28.1.

Summer Wilson of Irvine won the Division 2 girls’ title with a course-record time of 16:20. Aelo Curtis of Ventura was second in 16:35.6. Sacramento Jesuit won its 11th boys’ title.

El Toro won the Division 3 girls’ title. Carol Dye of Santa Margarita placed third in 17:22.2.

JSerra won the Division 4 boys’ and girls’ titles. Vin Krueger of Oaks Christian was third in 15:10.5 in the boys’ race.

In Division 5 boys, Olly O’Connor of Viewpoint won the title in 14:52.7.

There are few strategy options as well, because of a unique aspect of this race.

Lusail’s plethora of long-duration, medium- and high-speed corners place heavy demands on the tyres, and the sharp kerbs make matters worse.

Tyre supplier Pirelli, fearing punctures, has imposed a mandatory maximum of 25 laps usage on any set of tyres, which makes the race a two pit-stop strategy at least.

There is plenty of jeopardy, though. Both Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell – who was second in the sprint and has qualified fourth for the grand prix – suffered tears in their front tyres before the end of the 19-lap sprint.

For Piastri, this race marked a timely return to form after a difficult run of races through the autumn.

He looked like a champion elect when his victory in the Dutch Grand Prix, in addition to Norris’ retirement with a fuel-line failure, gave Piastri a 34-point lead in the championship. He had until then been the more convincing McLaren driver this season.

But Piastri has been on the podium only once since then, at the very next race, and a run of grands prix in which he has made mistakes and lacked pace have seen Norris wrest control of the title race from him.

For Piastri – as for Verstappen – really only a win will do tomorrow. Or at the very least they need to beat Norris.

Piastri said: “I’ve been kind of in that same situation the whole weekend and it’s gone well so far.

“So I think I’ve gained you know a lot of confidence back that when things are in the right place and when I’m in the rhythm that things can happen without needing to do anything special.

“So I’m confident we can try and do the same tomorrow. And (I’m) ready for the fight.”

As all three pointed out, though, a lot can happen in the 200 miles of a grand prix.

Other cars can cause problems. There can be safety cars, incidents, retirements.

The tyre restrictions mean the race will likely be flat out from start to finish, or as close as it gets. So mistakes are more likely.

For all that the occasional grand prix can be soporific, and for all many drivers expect this one to be, a race can go awry in many more ways than it can go well.

Verstappen, who is competing for his fifth world title while the McLaren drivers seek their first, knows this all too well.

“You never know what happens in a race,” he said. “We have a two-stop and also some things are not in your control, right?

“There might be some crazy things that also happen behind you, so you just need to keep everything open.

“We’ll try everything we can, try to have a good start, then try to look after our tyres a little bit better because the understeer that we have in the car is normally also not good on race pace for that, but we’ll try to minimise the damage.”

As for how to wind down before the day on which he achieves his lifetime ambition, Norris said he was going to try to relax in his hotel room on Saturday night.

“Play some basketball in my room. Actual basketball. I’m going to go home, get a spaghetti bolognese in, play some Counter-Strike, probably lose some Elo (ratings) and then go to bed.”

Other than that, he said, he would try to stay away from the media, “go and see my engineers, do some work, prepare the best I can. See what opportunities may arise.”

The biggest prize in motorsport is waiting there for someone. Who will grasp it?

Junior cornerback Ayden Celis recovered a fumble at San Fernando’s 22-yard line with 1:27 remaining and the second-seeded Tigers held on to beat No. 1-seeded Cleveland 21-14 at Birmingham High.

It was the ninth City title for San Fernando (11-3) and its first since 2017.

Melvin Pineda plowed into the end zone on fourth and goal from the one-yard line to end San Fernando’s first drive and, after teammate Brandan Marshall recovered a fumble at the Tigers’ 46, Pineda capped the ensuing possession with another one-yard touchdown, his sixth of the playoffs, to make it 14-0.

Cleveland marched to San Fernando’s eight-yard line late in the second quarter but a 25-yard field-goal attempt by Samael Cerritos hit the left upright.

Oluwafemi Okeola intercepted an overthrown pass at the San Fernando 46 early in the third quarter and nine plays later quarterback Domenik Fuentes scored on a three-yard keeper to pull the top-seeded Cavaliers within eight.

Three runs by Brandon Maldonado gained 37 yards to set up Fuentes’ one-yard plunge and a two-point conversion run by Joseph Hurtado that tied the score, 14-14, with 9:33 left.

San Fernando responded with a 75-yard drive, regaining the lead on a two-yard run by Andrew Newchurch, his 16th touchdown of the season, and a clutch extra point by Isaac Ortega with 4:36 remaining in the game.

“It was probably my last [high school] football game and we got the win,” Newchurch said. “The play was overload left and it was wide open. We’re proud to add to the school legacy — we hadn’t won City in a long time.”

The Tigers lost to eventual-champion Chatsworth in the first round of the Division II playoffs last season.

Cleveland (5-9) was seeking its first City title.

Lewis Crocker is set to return to Windsor Park for a voluntary defence of his IBF world welterweight title next spring.

The Belfast fighter beat Paddy Donovan by split decision to clinch the vacant belt in front of a sold-out crowd at Northern Ireland’s national football stadium in September.

Crocker and Donovan’s fight – a rematch of their March contest which ended in Donovan’s disqualification – marked boxing’s return to Windsor Park for the first time since Carl Frampton’s victory over Luke Jackson in August 2018.

It is understood a defence is slated for 11 April, with an opponent expected to be confirmed in the next fortnight.

Crocker, who is unbeaten in 22 professional bouts, has been vocal about his desire to fight Conor Benn, who defeated bitter rival Chris Eubank Jr in dominant fashion in their Tottenham Hotspur Stadium rematch on 15 November.

Speaking to BBC Sport NI in the build-up to that fight, Crocker’s manager Jamie Conlan mentioned Benn and WBC champion Mario Barrios as options for the 28-year-old.

However, Englishman Benn this week told Boxing News, external Crocker “is not really a name that is on my radar”.

With a victory in April, Crocker would be expected to return to the ring in late summer.

Treble winners Hull KR will start the defence of their Super League title with a visit to newly promoted York Knights in the opening game of the 2026 season.

Rovers will travel to York’s LNER Community Stadium on Thursday, 12 February (20:00 GMT).

Hull KR won the Challenge Cup, League Leaders’ Shield and Grand Final last season, sealing the title by beating previous champions Wigan Warriors 24-6 at Old Trafford in October.

York are one of three new clubs in Super League for next season as part of an expanded 14-team competition.

The Knights and Toulouse Olympique were selected to join the top flight by an independent panel, while Bradford Bulls were promoted in place of financially troubled Salford Red Devils after climbing to 10th in this year’s grading system.

York will play in Super League for the first time while Toulouse return to the top tier after their one-season stint in 2022.

Both the Bulls, who return to Super League after an 11-year absence, and Toulouse start the campaign with away games on Saturday, 14 February.

Bradford will make the journey east to face Hull FC, while Toulouse travel to Wakefield Trinity.

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Chad Baker-Mazara scored 23 points, Jaden Brownell added 16 points, and USC claimed the Maui Invitational championship with an 88-75 victory over Arizona State on Wednesday.

Baker-Mazara won the tournament championship for the second consecutive year after scoring 14 points in Auburn’s 90-76 victory over Memphis last season. Baker-Mazara made nine of 16 shots from the field against Arizona State with four three-pointers.

USC took the first double-digit lead of the game at 77-66 with 5:14 remaining on a basket by Ezra Ausar. The Trojans drew an offensive foul under the ASU basket and Jordan Marsh sank a jumper from the free-throw line to make it 81-69.

Marsh sealed it with a long three-pointer for an 86-71 lead.

Ausar, coming off a 25-point performance in the semifinals, finished with 14 points for USC (7-0), which was without leading scorer Rodney Rice. Jacob Cofie had 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, and Marsh added nine points.

Maurice Odum scored 17 points and Anthony Johnson added 15 for Arizona State (6-2). Santiago Trouet and Massamba Diop each scored 13. The Sun Devils trailed by double-digits in all three tournament games.

Rio Hondo Prep in Arcadia is like “The Little Engine That Could.” The Kares are 13-0 and set to play for a 17th Southern Section football title on Saturday night despite having a student body of only 150, of which 82 are boys. Their opponent in the Division 5 final is host Redondo Union, which has a student body of nearly 3,000.

Coach Mark Carson said he embraces the challenge of his team moving up, from winning Division 9 two years ago to winning Division 7 last season after years of competing in Division XIII under old playoff systems based on size, geography and past performance. Now a computer algorithm decides divisional placement. The school has grades seven through 12, so Carson starts training players in middle school with the same offense through high school.

“The key is we have a great middle school tackle football program,” he said.

Every boy in the school knows they’re going to play football or work in the program as a manager. Many are multiple-sport athletes. The chemistry and knowledge they build together is apparent on the football field.

“We don’t really pay attention to numbers on the other team,” Carson said.

Quarterback Yanick Diaz said he has been with some of his teammates since kindergarten. They trust each other.

“I’ve known some of these guys for 15, 16 years,” Diaz said. “It’s still 11 versus 11. I’ll take my 11 over yours.”

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Steve Cherundolo’s first season at LAFC ended in a penalty-kick shootout that decided one of the most compelling playoff games in MLS history. His final season ended in the same way last Saturday.

Cherundolo and LAFC won that first classic match, beating the Philadelphia Union in the 2022 MLS Cup final. They lost the second one, falling to the shorthanded Vancouver Whitecaps in a Western Conference semifinal that had more plot twists than an Agatha Christie mystery.

In between, Cherundolo proved to be one of the best coaches in league history, winning an MLS Cup, a U.S. Open Cup and more than 100 games in all competition in his short four-year stay. He took LAFC to a CONCACAF Champions League final and to the first round of the FIFA Club World Cup, compiling a resume no coach in MLS history can match.

And while his departure will clearly hurt, the club he leaves is in good shape with the core of its roster signed for next season. Of the 16 players Cherundolo used Saturday, just five — goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, defenders Nkosi Tafari and Ryan Raposo and midfielders Andrew Moran and Frankie Amaya — are out of contract.

General manager John Thorrington is expected to announce the club’s roster decisions later this week.

“Moving forward, we’ll see what it looks like for next season. I wish this club the very, very best,” said Cherundolo, who used 75 players, second-most in the league, during his four years in charge. “I can say with certainty it’s in a great spot for a very successful year again. And that would make me very proud.”

The coach, a Hall of Fame player who made three U.S. World Cup teams, announced last April he would be returning to his wife’s native Germany, where he spent the entirety of his 15-year club career, when LAFC’s season ended. That meant he entered the playoffs knowing his next loss would be his last one.

But he made clear last week he was just saying goodbye, not farewell.

“In four years I can be back here,” he said. “I am definitely not canceling that out.”

In the meantime, Thorrington is looking for a new coach for just the second time in franchise history. The first time he stayed in-house, replacing Bob Bradley with Cherundolo, manager of the club’s USL Championship affiliate.

That’s likely to happen again this time since two members of Cherundolo’s staff — Marc Dos Santos, a former Whitecaps manager, and former Galaxy and Chivas USA forward Ante Razov, an assistant with three MLS teams — are said to be among the favorites to take over and build on what LAFC has already accomplished.

“I think Steve himself would say that if he left and the culture crumbled, then he didn’t do a good enough job at building the culture,” defender Ryan Hollingshead said. “We know things are going to continue to chug along the right way and that’s partly because he’s helped make it that way. He put just the right spin on it and it’s created what has led to a bunch of success over the last four years.”

Results aside, if Cherundolo, 46, had been allowed to choose the explanation point to affix to the end of his MLS coaching career, it’s unlikely he could have selected a better one than Saturday’s game, one dramatic and entertaining enough to become an instant classic.

Playing before an MLS stadium-record crowd of 53,937, the Whitecaps took a 2-0 first-half lead and still led by a goal going into stoppage time. At that point first-year Vancouver coach Jesper Sorensen was so confident of victory, he subbed out captain Thomas Muller.

However, things quickly took a turn when defender Tristan Blackmon drew his second yellow card, leaving Vancouver with just 10 players. Son Heung-min needed little time to make the Whitecaps pay, bending in a spectacular free kick in the dying minutes for his second goal of the half — and his 12th in 13 games for LAFC — to send the game to extra time.

That’s when the game went from classic to epic, with Vancouver losing another player midway through that extra time after center back Belal Halbouni limped off with a leg injury. That allowed LAFC, which outshot the Whitecaps 26-9, to pepper the Vancouver goal, bouncing two shots off the posts and another off the crossbar.

Yet none found the back of the net, leaving the game to be decided on penalties, the cruelest, meanest, most unfair — and most exciting — way to determine a winner.

When Son, who finished the game massaging a muscle cramp, limped to the spot to send his team’s first penalty try off the right post, LAFC was in trouble. When Mark Delgado sent the third try over the net and into the crowd, LAFC was done.

“Sometimes football is crazy like this. That’s why we love football,” Son said before closing with “see you next season.”

That was something Cherundolo couldn’t say. But he left with his head held high just the same.

“If you look at the sum of four years with LAFC,” he said “we have a ton to be proud of.”

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

I find it hard to believe how the driver who had 14 podiums and seven wins in the first 16 races, is now having a real struggle with achieving even fifth place. Is it a case of Oscar Piastri feeling the pressure and leading to a few really costly mistakes, or do the tracks really differ that much throughout the season? – Allegra

Piastri’s slump in form since he won the Dutch Grand Prix to take his seventh victory of the season in 15 races is indeed remarkable.

I actually asked him on media day in Las Vegas whether he knew what had been going on, and this was his answer.

“Austin and Mexico were quite different to the other races that have not gone so successfully,” he said.

“There, there was a clear pace deficit and something pretty fundamental that just wasn’t working.

“The other races have just been a combination of different things going wrong.

“Obviously, Baku (where he crashed three times and jumped the start) was what it was. Singapore from a performance standpoint actually was pretty solid, just the race obviously didn’t pan out exactly how I wanted.

“And even Brazil, the pace was good at points. The sprint crash didn’t have a great impact on the rest of the weekend. There were some things resulting from that that were suboptimal for the rest of the weekend.

“So from a pace and performance point of view, Brazil was actually quite good, it was just that there were a lot of things that happened that meant the results weren’t on the table.

“There was a couple of races where, yes, I needed to do some head scratching and work out what was going on, but the other races that have been tough have just been what some might say is a difficult world of motorsport.”

That’s a pretty good summary of what’s been going on.

But there’s another factor to bear in mind, in that Piastri is not driving in isolation. He is also being compared to his rivals, and in particular his team-mate.

There is absolutely no question that, after a shaky start to the season, Lando Norris has moved up a gear or two since the summer break.

Norris himself says the upward trend started before that – and it seems it began with the introduction of a tweak to the front suspension geometry in Canada aimed at enabling him to better feel the front of the car at the limit.

Up until the Dutch Grand Prix, the head-to-head qualifying stats between the McLaren drivers were weighted in Piastri’s favour – but in terms of pure pace the margin was only 0.099 seconds.

Since Monza, Piastri has out-qualified Norris only once, in Singapore, and the pace gap is 0.226secs in Norris’ favour.

This has come about through hard, focused work from Norris, as he explained in Las Vegas. It’s now up to Piastri to respond.

What a day it turned out to be for boyhood Arsenal fan Eze.

Before the match Tottenham manager Thomas Frank joked “who?” when questioned about how close Eze was to becoming a Spurs player in the summer. Those words certainly came back to haunt him.

A first senior hat-trick is a big landmark in itself, let alone a first treble in Premier League north London derby history.

Eze signed for Arsenal in a deal worth £67m and is starting to cement himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet for manager Mikel Arteta.

When he signed for the Gunners there were questions about where he would fit into the side but, after an injury to captain Odegaard, Eze has taken his opportunity with both hands.

The 27-year-old has taken time to settle as he got used to a different role in this Arsenal team than the one he was used to at Crystal Palace, but he has already started to deliver big moments.

He provided an excellent pass for Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage-time equaliser against City, scored the winner against Palace and now has a first senior hat-trick against rivals Tottenham.

Eze provides something different to the rest of the Arsenal forwards and his unpredictability adds another edge to Arsenal’s forward line.

The Gunners have another two big games coming up, with matches against Bayern Munich and Chelsea, but Eze will relish the challenge given the form he is now in.

“That’s him. He had two days off after the England camp and after day one he wanted to train,” Arteta said.

“He wanted to come back and improve and ask questions. When you have such a talent and such an intelligence and then you add that willingness to be better and practise, these things happen.

“When I spoke to Thomas Tuchel (about him) I said how good is he? He said to me one of the best I have seen. I rate him one of the best in terms of talent. If we add in now his work rate, willingness to play for this team and the joy I sense when he is the building we have a special player there.”

No English player has been involved in more goals that Eze in 2025 in the Premier League. Only Erling Haaland (25), Mohamed Salah (23), Bryan Mbeumo (21) and Antoine Semenyo (18) been involved in more Premier League goals than the Arsenal number 10 (18 – 10 goals, eight assists).

“I know how much this move from Crystal Palace meant to him and what a performance from him. Best player on the pitch,” former Crystal Palace forward Clinton Morrison told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“This is where his Arsenal career takes off.”

SAN JOSÉ — Rose Lavelle scored in the 80th minute and eighth-seeded Gotham FC beat the Washington Spirit 1-0 on Saturday night to win their second National Women’s Soccer League championship.

Second-half substitute Bruninha drove into the box on the left wing and sent the ball across to Lavelle, whose left-footed shot sailed past Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury into the bottom corner of the net.

It is the first NWSL championship for Lavelle, who scored in the 2023 final playing for the Seattle Reign against Gotham in a 2-1 loss.

After a strong opening 10 minutes of the match for Gotham, with three shots from Jaedyn Shaw, the final began to mature into a tense affair.

There were few chances and the best of the first half came when Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt perfectly timed a slide tackle and cleaned out Midge Purce with the follow-through.

Early in the second half, Trinity Rodman was brought off the Spirit bench for Sofia Cantore, bringing the crowd to its feet. The U.S. women’s team star was on a minutes restriction after suffering a knee sprain in October.

Even with Rodman, the Spirit continued to struggle to create chances. They had marginally more control of the ball, 53%, but were outshot by Gotham 12-6 and finished the game without a shot on target. Rodman had zero chances created.

The second-seeded Spirit (14-6-8) suffered a second consecutive defeat in the NWSL final, having lost last year to the Orlando Pride. The Spirit reached this final by overcoming Racing Louisville 3-1 in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals and then beating the Portland Thorns 2-0 in the semifinals.

Gotham (11-8-9) defied the odds to make the final, going on the road twice to defeat the top-seeded Kansas City Current 2-1 in the quarterfinals and the defending champion Pride 1-0.

Gotham are the first eighth seed to win the championship. In 2023, when there were only six playoff spots, Gotham became the first sixth seed to lift the trophy.

Coach Juan Carlos Amoros has seven playoff wins in his career and two championships.

The 28-year-old Benavidez, an American of Mexican heritage, has stopped 24 of his 30 opponents and is a former two-time super-middleweight champion.

Nicknamed the “Mexican Monster”, he promised a “war”.

“I’ve had my eye on Anthony Yarde for a long time. He has power and heart. No matter who he faces, it’s a good fight,” added the Phoenix-born Benavidez.

“I want to give people action-packed fights. This one is going to live up to the moment.”

Earlier, heated words between the camps of WBO welterweight world champion Brian Norman Jr and fellow American challenger Devin Haney – who meet on the undercard – led to security stepping in as Haney’s father, Bill, moved toward Norman’s father, Brian Sr.

In contrast, the headliners showed mutual respect, with Yarde and Benavidez sharing smiles and a warm embrace during their face-off.

The Trump administration is calling its new immigration sweep in North Carolina’s largest city “Operation Charlotte’s Web.”

But the granddaughter of E.B. White, the author of the classic 1952 children’s tale “Charlotte’s Web,” said the wave of immigration arrests goes against what her grandfather and his beloved book stood for.

“He believed in the rule of law and due process,” Martha White said in a statement. “He certainly didn’t believe in masked men, in unmarked cars, raiding people’s homes and workplaces without IDs or summons.”

White, whose grandfather died in 1985, works as his literary executor. She pointed out that in “Charlotte’s Web,” the spider who is the main character devoted her life on the farm to securing the freedom of a pig named Wilbur.

The Trump administration and Republican leaders have seized on a number of catchy phrases while carrying out mass deportation efforts — naming their holding facilities Alligator Alcatraz in Florida, Speedway Slammer in Indiana and Cornhusker Clink in Nebraska.

Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official now on the ground in Charlotte, was the face of the “Operation At Large” in Los Angeles and “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago, two enforcement surges earlier this year. As the Charlotte operation got underway, Bovino quoted from “Charlotte’s Web” in a social media post: “We take to the breeze, we go as we please.”

Islam Makhachev steps up to welterweight to face champion Jack della Maddalena at UFC 322 on Saturday in Madison Square Garden.

The Russian is aiming to becoming a two-weight UFC champion and has a record of 27 wins and just one loss.

Makhachev has not lost a fight since 2015, but faces the newly crowned champion Della Maddalena.

The Australian is on a similarly unbeaten streak since 2016 after losing his first two fights.

Can Makhachev join an elite club of two-weight UFC champions or will Della Maddalena continue his rapid rise with a victory over the UFC’s pound-for-pound number two?

Figures from the world of MMA have given their predictions below.

China’s Wu Yize powered past John Higgins 10-6 in the International Championship final to win his first ranking title.

The 22-year-old home favourite hit four centuries in Nanjing, including a 137 break, in a superb display which lifts him into the world’s top 16 for the first time.

Four-time world champion Higgins, 50, hit a 101 break in the third frame but the Scot could not keep up as he looked to become the first player to win a ranking title in five different decades from their teens to 50s.

Wu impressed to seal the win with another century break of 108 and become the 80th player to win a professional ranking event title.

“Honestly, it feels unbelievable,” said Wu.

“Deep down I always believed I had the ability to win a title. Every day I kept thinking about it. I had a strong will to lift a trophy. That belief carried me through this week.”

Higgins said: “I was nowhere near good enough all day. He was striking the ball beautifully. He was by far the better player. It reminded me so much of playing Paul Hunter – the way he gets through the ball and gets so much action on it. He is a brilliant player.

“There’s no point in getting too down. It could open the floodgates – it goes to show the good hands snooker is in. I’m glad that I’ll probably be retiring in a couple of years with guys like that potting them off the lampshades. He is a total star.”