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In the world of football, Sevilla sacked their manager Diego Alonso after he failed to win any domestic league or European matches for the Spanish club. Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City criticised his players for conceding a late penalty goal for a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace in the Premier League. India's first grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand, who is also FIDE's debut president addressed the rising cheating issues in chess.
Read below to learn details about these top stories and other happenings in the sporting world in the last 24 hours.
Football
Sevilla sacks Diego Alonso just nine weeks after appointing him as manager
Following a 3-0 loss in La Liga against Getafe at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Sevilla sacked their manager Diego Alonso just nine weeks after his initial appointment in place of Jose Luis Mendilibar. The 48-year-old was unable to take Sevilla to a win in the domestic league or in European competition since he took the job on October 10, while his only successes came against lower-league opposition in the Copa del Rey.
It’s not bad luck, it’s deserved: Pep Guardiola comments on City’s 2-2 draw vs Palace in PL
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about his team giving away two points in the Premier League to Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium after conceding a late penalty for a 2-2 result. Speaking to the media after the match, Pep Guardiola was quoted as saying, “It’s not bad luck, it’s deserved. We give away two points. When you give away this penalty, you deserve it. We are not able to close the games. That is the feeling.”
Saudi Pro League to try and sign Mohamed Salah again next summer: Reports
The Saudi Pro League will reportedly try to sign Mohamed Salah once again next summer to bring about the next phase of expansion for the Middle Eastern competition as per the Daily Mail. Notably, during the later stages of the transfer window last summer, Al-Ittihad put together a massive bid of £200 million for Mohamed Salah but Liverpool were able to stay clear of it for the time being.
Ivan Toney excited by the possibility of joining Arsenal: Reports
The Brentford and English striker Ivan Toney set to return to the Premier League in January after serving his betting suspension from the FA, is reportedly said to be really excited by the possibility of joining Arsenal. Fabrizio Romano, the Italian journalist, was quoted as saying on his Kick channel, “This is a rumour I'm hearing that his (Ivan Toney) preference in terms of a top club move in January or the summer would be to go to Arsenal. From what I'm hearing Ivan Toney could be really excited by the possibility of joining Arsenal.”
Some major results in football are as under:
Premier League 2023-24
Chelsea 2-0 Sheffield United
Manchester City 2-2 Crystal Palace
Newcastle United 3-0 Fulham
Burnley 0-2 Everton
La Liga 2023-24
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Atletico Madrid
Sevilla 0-3 Getafe
Valencia 1-1 Barcelona
Bundesliga 2023-24
FC Augsburg 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
RB Leipzig 3-1 Hoffenheim
Serie A 2023-24
Napoli 2-1 Cagliari
Ligue 1 2023-24
Le Havre 3-1 Nice
Eredivisie 2023-24
FC Utrecht 1-1 RKC Waalwijk
Saudi Pro League 2023-24
Al-Riyadh 0-1 Al-Khaleej
Al-Ittifaq 0-2 Al-Taawon
Tennis
It is gonna be a big challenge for him: Lukas Rosol on Rafael Nadal's return
Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol shared an update about Rafael Nadal's return to the tennis court and said that his comeback will be challenging. Rosol said, "Rafa will start again soon, probably already in AO24 (Australia Open), it is gonna be for him a big challenge because he is already 37 years old, and for sure he will face many problems and challenges. I think it will be his last year and a maximum of 12 tournaments. I don’t think he can do more.”
Crowd hated Novak Djokovic for beating Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer: Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou
Tennis legend Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou said that the crowd hated it when Novak Djokovic used to defeat Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. It is because they have always been the tennis superstars. Mouratoglou said, "Rafa and Roger were the biggest superstars of tennis, but Novak came in and beat both of them and the crowds hated him for that. I think he is booed for other reasons as well."
He added, "He [Novak Djokovic] says he doesn’t like this negativity, but sometimes he pushes the crowd to boo him because it helps him during the matches."
Daria Saville participates in Novak Djokovic's flexibility challenge
Australian tennis star Daria Saville participated in the flexibility challenge launched by 24 Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic. She posted a video of herself performing the challenge and captioned it "Not baaaahd." Earlier this week, Djokovic posted a video sharing his flexibility routine and challenged others to join in. He said, “So, I have a lot of people asking me about the piece I did with 60 Minutes. Particularly, there was one filming scene we did in the gym, I was stretching.” He added, “I thought why not start a flexibility challenge; here we are for anybody that is willing to do it.” The 36-year-old captioned the video, “A challenge for the brave.”
Chess
It’s a problem we will continue to deal with: V ishwanathan Anand on rising cheating cases in chess
India's first grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand, who is also FIDE's debut president addressed the rising cheating issues in chess. Anand said that cheating issues will always be there and it is something fraternity would be required to deal with. Anand said, “There will be no final measure. You know how technology shrinks. Once you feel that you have screened for all these things, imagine suddenly in a couple of years, people will think ‘Well you haven’t screened for this’ because everything has shrunk. It’s a problem we will continue to deal with. I don’t think it will completely go away."
Badminton
Lakshya Sen to participate in Guwahati Senior National Badminton Championship
Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen will compete at the forthcoming Senior National Badminton Championship which will be held in Guwahati from December 18, where he will play in the open category. The secretary of the Assam Badminton Association, Omar Rashid said that around 500 players from 39 teams will take part in the forthcoming competitions. Regarding the participation of shuttlers in the meet Rashid said, “A few stars like PV Sindhu, Prannoy HS, all the other star players including Lakshya Sen will compete in the forthcoming competitions.”
