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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Teemu Pukki scored the only goal in Finland’s 1-0 win over Greece on Thursday evening, but it was Rangers’ Glen Kamara who really stole the show.

Pukki scored from the spot as the Markku Kanerva’s side continued their impressive start to Euro 2020 qualification.

They currently sit second in their group with four wins and one defeat, and no one has been more crucial for the Eagle Owls during that time than Kamara.

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He was at his very best again on Thursday, dominating the middle of the park in a 4-4-2 formation, as he was offered a bit more freedom to roam forward with his midfield partner sitting slightly deeper.

Not only did the Rangers man win the penalty that decided the match, he also completed every dribble he attempted (five), per SofaScore. Greece simply couldn’t deal with his agility, acceleration and close control.

His passing was nothing short of supreme too, completing 94% of his efforts and providing one key pass, while converting the only long ball he attempted.

And he did his bit defensively too, making two tackles and two interceptions. In total, he won the ball back seven times for his side.

Steven Gerrard has a whole host of midfield options at his disposal at Ibrox, from the youthful exuberance of Joe Aribo to the experience of Scott Arfield and Steve Davies, and who could forget the ever-improving Ryan Jack.

Because of this, Kamara has only started seven games so far this season.

Based on his performances at international level though, the 23 year-old may just be the best of the bunch, and deserves a proper run in the team to strut his stuff in Glasgow. A nice headache for the manager to have.

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Arsenal fans shared their messages of support for number two goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez after he shared a tweet saying: “Still learning, still hungry.”

The Argentine was promoted to number two goalkeeper following the sale of Colombian ‘keeper David Ospina, who made his loan move to Napoli permanent.

The Colombia international signed for the Italian side on a permanent deal for a fee reportedly being valued at £4m (via Bleacher Report).

Martinez spent last season on loan at Championship side Reading and enjoyed a fairly successful spell, with Football.London recently highlighting how much the 27-year-old excelled at the Madejski Stadium.

The goalkeeper revealed to Arsenal En America podcast (via talkSPORT) that he had permanent offers to leave Arsenal in the summer after six separate loan spells away from the north London club.

The fans reacted well to the tweets from the shot-stopper as they took to Twitter to respond.

Here is a selection of tweets from the north London faithful:

RCB have played three finals previously; PBKS have made it to the final only once before

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-20252:31

Will an 18-year-long wait end this season?

The IPL will have a new champion after Punjab Kings beat Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on Sunday night to set up a summit clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Neither team has won the IPL before.The IPL final is on Tuesday, June 3, also in Ahmedabad.RCB will be playing an IPL final for the fourth time, having finished runners-up in 2009, 2011 and 2016 to Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively.PBKS have been in an IPL final only once before, in 2014, when they were known as Kings XI Punjab and lost to Kolkata Knight Riders. The 2014 season was also the only time that PBKS had made the playoffs since the concept was introduced in 2011. Their captain Shreyas Iyer is the first IPL player to lead three different teams to the finals: he was captain of Delhi Capitals in the 2020 final and led KKR to the title in 2024.PBKS and RCB had finished Nos. 1 and 2 in the league stage, with nine wins, four defeats and one no-result each in 14 games. There was very little difference between their net run rates too. While PBKS had beaten RCB in Bengaluru, RCB won the reverse fixture in Mullanpur.They met in Qualifier 1 on May 29 in Mullanpur, where RCB dismissed PBKS for 101 and won with ten overs to spare to book their place in the final first. PBKS had to travel to Ahmedabad to play MI in Qualifier 2, and they beat them for the second time in the span of a week to qualify for the final.

[ad_pod ]Some Aston Villa fans have taken to Twitter in disgust over Kevin Friend’s decision to book Jack Grealish for diving in the 96th-minute of the 1-0 loss against Crystal Palace.The Villans captain dribbled into the penalty area before appearing to be held by Gary Cahill, who tried his best to get out of the way before Grealish innocently moved the ball on to Henri Lansbury – whilst falling -Â without claiming for a penalty.

Lansbury then slotted home and appeared to grab a dramatic equaliser for Villa – who had ten men after Trezeguet’s red card – but Friend adjudged Grealish to have dived and awarded a freekick to the Eagles.

The decision was clearly wrong, and VAR should probably be used to amend these types of refereeing calls – hence the Villa fans’ outrage on Twitter.

Find out which Premier League stadium has been ranked the worst in the video below…

Dean Smith’s side lost the game after a goal from former Villa player Jordan Ayew, but they can feel rightfully aggrieved by the awful refereeing decision.

Let’s take a look at some of the Twitter reaction to the incident…

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Delhi Capitals are still unsure on the availability of first teamers like Starc, du Plessis and Stubbs

Nagraj Gollapudi14-May-20252:26

Jaffer: Fraser-McGurk’s high-risk style difficult to sustain

Australia batter Jake Fraser-McGurk has become the second overseas player after Jamie Overton, Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) English recruit, to confirm his pull-out from IPL 2025, which will resume on May 17. Fraser-McGurk, who was signed by Delhi Capitals (DC) at the mega auction for INR 9 crore (USD 1.07 million approx.) is understood to have informed the franchise that he will not rejoin the squad.The IPL has announced that Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman has replaced Fraser-McGurk at DC for INR 6 crore. Mustafizur has previously played for DC in IPL 2022 and IPL 2023, picking up nine wickets across those seasons. However, he will not be eligible for retention by DC for IPL 2026 as per the tweaked replacement rules.The IPL’s original regulations permit teams to sign replacements in the event of illness or injury provided it occurs during or before their 12th match of the season. But the league has taken the call to change those rules, enabling temporary replacements to be signed for the remainder of the rearranged season.The Mustafizur signing, however, has run into complications, with the BCB stating that it hasn’t yet been approached for an NOC. Mustafizur has flown out to Dubai with the Bangladesh squad for the first of two T20I series – the other is in Pakistan – that are due to clash with the rejigged IPL schedule.From being indispensable towards the end of IPL 2024, Fraser-McGurk became dispensable for DC by the halfway mark this season after poor returns with the bat. Fraser-McGurk, 23, opened in DC’s first six matches, but returned single-digit scores in five of them with a highest score of 38 in an overall tally of 55 runs before he was benched.Despite that, the development won’t help DC, who remain in contention for the playoffs, as it is understood they are still waiting for confirmations from several of their first-choice overseas players.That list includes Australia left-arm quick Mitchell Starc and the South African pair of Faf du Plessis and Tristan Stubbs.Stubbs is part of South Africa’s squad for the World Test Championship final, which begins on June 11 at Lord’s, and CSA has said that the WTC-bound players will have to abide by the initial NOCs, which run up to May 25 – the original date for the IPL final.

Davies acknowledged the two wins that the youth team had picked up against Turkey and Kosovo, and went on to say that he’s glad to be back out there.

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This post hints at Davies being frustrated with his lack of playing time at his club, and you can’t blame him.

It remains to be seen whether or not he will be given more of a chance at Everton after this international break, but he clearly loves playing and will be hoping to play a part for the Toffees very soon.

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Rain began soon after DC’s innings ended, leaving SRH waiting to begin their chase

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-20252:15

Aaron: ‘Batters have got better against Kuldeep’

Pat Cummins led the way with three new-ball wickets and a terrific running catch as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) limited Delhi Capitals (DC) to 133 after choosing to bowl first in IPL 2025 in Hyderabad. A grass-free surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium proved to be a tricky one, offering enough grip for balls banged into a hard length to nip sideways as well as stop on the batter, and Cummins is a master of banging the ball into a hard length.The SRH captain took the new ball himself with Mohammed Shami left out, and struck first ball, getting it to straighten and find Karun Nair’s edge. By the time he had bowled 19 balls, Cummins had taken three wickets and Ishan Kishan – keeping for the first time this season, relieving Heinrich Klaasen of the gloves – three catches.With Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat also getting into the wickets column, DC were gasping at 29 for 5 in the eighth over. The fullish ball Unadkat bowled to dismiss KL Rahul, from left-arm around, summed up the conditions – on nine out of ten IPL pitches, Rahul would have probably middled the drive he attempted; this was the tenth pitch, and the ball straightened to kiss his edge and make Kishan the first keeper to catch out an entire top four in an IPL innings.Tristan Stubbs anchored DC’s recovery from that point, putting on 33 with Vipraj Nigam for the sixth wicket – Nigam sacrificed his wicket when both batters ended up at the same end following a dreadful mix-up – and 66 with Ashutosh Sharma for the seventh.As they have done in other recent games, DC named a bowler-heavy starting XI despite batting first, and brought Ashutosh off the Impact Player bench when the need arose. And Ashutosh was primarily responsible for a late flourish that brought DC 61 runs off their last six overs, hitting three sixes in a 26-ball 41. Stubbs finished unbeaten on 41 off 36 balls.Rain began soon after DC’s innings ended, leaving SRH waiting to begin their chase.

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Wolves started their Premier League campaign with a clean sheet – an away one at that too – after a 0-0 stalemate was contested at the King Power Stadium against Leicester City last Sunday.

In 2018/19, Nuno Santo’s side recorded just two clean sheets away from home both coming before October with 1-0 victories at West Ham and Crystal Palace.

Sunday’s 0-0 meant that it was a sixth clean sheet for their Portuguese shot-stopper Rui Patricio inside eight games for club and country.

The impressive record has led to a number of fans at Molineux heaping praise on the 31-year-old.

One supporter labelled him the best goalkeeper in England at the moment – even ahead of the likes of Alisson, Ederson and David de Gea.

Patricio recorded nine clean sheets last season which was the 11th best in the Premier League.

One predicted that he would be the player of the season for Wolves whilst one fan thought the 6 foot 3 stopper deserved a day off.

Here’s the best of the reaction:

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Allrounders go head to head as Leicestershire look to cement advantage

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay12-Apr-2025Martin Andersson’s maiden first-class century led a Derbyshire fightback after Netherlands allrounder Logan van Beek looked to have given his new side the platform to push for a handsome victory on his Leicestershire debut in the Rothesay County Championship.Ex-Middlesex allrounder Andersson finished unbeaten on 101 as Derbyshire recovered from 139 for 6 in reply to Leicestershire’s 484 to close on 346 for 8, still 138 behind but having confounded expectations of avoiding the follow-on.Van Beek added 3 for 87 to go with his 83 not out but Andersson emerged as the man of the day, finding valuable support first from Anuj Dal (43) in a seventh-wicket stand of 110 and then from ex-Leicestershire man Zak Chappell (37).Derbyshire’s Australian opener Caleb Jewell had earlier profited from being dropped twice in making 83.Such was Leicestershire’s dominance of the first part of the day that even with left-hander Jewell given lives on 2 and 25, they still had their neighbours 57 for 3 at lunch in reply to their own total of 484.Van Beek – who previously had two spells as a Derbyshire player – was the bowler when Jewell was dropped by Lewis Hill at backward point in his second over. Derbyshire had already lost David Lloyd – tamely caught and bowled by van Beek – and Harry Came – beaten past the inside edge to be leg before to Ian Holland. They would have been 8 for 3 had the chance stuck.It would have been 53 for 4 had Leicestershire captain Peter Handscomb not made a hash of what should have been a routine catch at second slip off Ben Green that handed Jewell his second reprieve.Green, on loan from Somerset, had only moments earlier dismissed Wayne Madsen, so often Leicestershire’s nemesis, with a ball that came back in to hit the Derbyshire skipper in front.Earlier, van Beek had shown how much of an all-round asset he may be to Leicestershire by finishing their top scorer on 82 not out after Derbyshire had conceded another 61 runs to the home side’s last-wicket pair from their overnight position before left-arm spinner Jack Morley finally wrapped up the innings by having Tom Scriven leg before for 38.On a pitch that had something for the bowlers but afforded scant room for error, van Beek had picked off 13 boundaries from 103 balls, the last-wicket pair adding 83 in total.Van Beek notched his second success with the ball four overs into the afternoon session, squaring up Brooke Guest to end a 25-ball duck with another leg-before before Jewell punished a loose Holland over with a couple of handsome fours as he and Luis Reece tried to mount a fightback.The fifth-wicket combination added 52 but Reece then flailed at a wide delivery from Scriven to be caught behind at 118 for 5. When Jewell was bowled for 83 by a ball from Ben Mike that kept low, Derbyshire were still 345 behind at 139 for 6.Resistance came finally from Andersson and Dal, the latter battling hard despite needing painkillers for a back problem.Not only did the seventh-wicket pair steer Derbyshire to tea with no further losses, they extended their partnership for 10 overs thereafter, chipping 110 runs off the deficit before Dal, having paused for more tablets, drove loosely at van Beek to be caught at backward point.By now, though, Leicestershire’s bowlers were finding it difficult to conjure much response from an ageing ball and 58 runs more were cleared from the arrears before Ben Mike’s tactics of bowling short paid off when Chappell swatted to deep square leg. Hill, at third, then spilled his second chance of the day off a Blair Tickner top edge.Andersson, whose previous best was 93, completed his hundred with the push for two that simultaneously avoided the follow-on, leaving Leicestershire with a handsome lead but in a less dominant position than once seemed likely.

The team wants “matters of an extreme or serious nature” like racism in cricket “to be met head on”, England captain says

Matt Roller05-Nov-2021Eoin Morgan has insisted that he does not mind England’s T20 World Cup campaign being overshadowed if that ensures Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire are “met head on”, adding that bringing about “significant change” would be “bigger than… any of the trophies that we win”.Cricket has been on the front and back pages of British newspapers throughout the past week after government intervention into Azeem’s case against his former club, with England’s unbeaten record at the World Cup in the UAE going under the radar in comparison.Related

• Last chance for South Africa to stay alive as they come up against formidable England

• Azeem Rafiq racism report: Ten questions for Yorkshire

• Roger Hutton resigns in racism probe fallout

• Former Yorkshire player Rana Naved-ul-Hasan says he heard Vaughan's alleged racist comments

Morgan said that his squad was “very serious” in its desire to bring about “meaningful change” and said that the ECB’s decision to strip Yorkshire of hosting rights for international fixtures showed “how seriously the ECB are taking how this has been handled”.”In matters of an extreme or serious nature like these are, they need to be met head on,” Morgan said. “For us as a team, that’s exactly what we want to see. The investigation’s ongoing and live at the moment so only time will tell what happens, but I think the actions by the board have demonstrated how seriously the ECB are taking how this has been handled. Yes, we want to see the sport in a great light but equally if there’s an issue as serious as this we want it dealt with as well.”First and foremost, probably more so for the last two to three years, our culture has been built around inclusivity and diversity. It’s actually been quite a strong part of our game. For that period of time we have been active about talking and actioning things that show meaningful change.”We are very serious about it. We firmly believe that there is no place in our sport for any type of discrimination, and I think the actions of the ECB board to Yorkshire have indicated how serious they are about dealing with issues like this.”England have taken a knee before games throughout their World Cup campaign and wore anti-discrimination t-shirts during a “moment of unity” at various points during their home summer. Morgan said that “continuing to give that strong message” was important and that England were “making good ground” towards meaningful change.”There is only so much we can do as a team,” he said. “I think having had a lot of chats with the team, being a part of the significant change [is something] that we feel will lead to something that will be bigger than any of our careers, or any of the trophies that we win. What we do at the moment to try and achieve that, it’s not perfect, but we are making good ground towards change that we want implemented.”Outside of that, we are actually limited to what we can achieve. Continuing to give that strong message, particularly in our moment of unity, and opportunities to speak to you guys [the media], and I suppose ultimately to be ourselves. In teams you have to be yourself. It should feel a little bit like being at home. Obviously it won’t feel like being at home, being around your family, but it should be relaxed, and give you that freedom to feel comfortable in your own skin.”We want to do things that make a difference, and I believe we’ve made strides forwards as a group in doing that in various parts of our game”•Getty Images

“From our point of view as a team, we can only do so much in role-modelling what we believe is right. Yes, we talk about it, but equally we want to do things that make a difference, and I believe we’ve made strides forwards as a group in doing that in various parts of our game. We have found things that are not only pushing things forward, or taking the cap forward, but also feel very authentic to individuals and where they have come from, the journeys they have been on.”Adil Rashid, England joint-highest wicket-taker at the World Cup to date, played with Azeem for a number of years and has been directly involved in the case, having been named in Yorkshire’s report as a victim of an alleged racist remark from Michael Vaughan, the former England captain. Morgan insisted that Rashid was “travelling okay” and that he was “not concerned at all” that it would affect his performances.”Adil is one of our players that, in the normal scheme of things, doesn’t require a lot of support,” he said. “Given what’s happened so close to home for him, I think it’s great that he does have a great support network around him. The team is here, his family are here, which is fantastic but there is no indication at the moment that anything out of the ordinary is happening.”Being away in a different country detaches you slightly from things as opposed to being at home but certainly he’s a guy that has been very close with Azeem Rafiq growing up at Yorkshire. But he’s travelling okay at the moment. I’m not concerned at all.”