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Bruno Fernandes Strikes Late to Keep Man United on Course for Europa League Last 16 Spot

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Manchester United and Glasgow Rangers in Manchester, England, Thursday, Jan. 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Manchester United and Glasgow Rangers in Manchester, England, Thursday, Jan. 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
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Bruno Fernandes Strikes Late to Keep Man United on Course for Europa League Last 16 Spot

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Manchester United and Glasgow Rangers in Manchester, England, Thursday, Jan. 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Manchester United and Glasgow Rangers in Manchester, England, Thursday, Jan. 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Bruno Fernandes scored a stoppage-time winner as Manchester United beat Rangers 2-1 on Thursday to take a big step toward the Europa League round of 16.
Rangers looked to have snatched a draw at Old Trafford when Cyriel Dessers leveled the game 1-1 in the 88th minute, The Associated Press reported.
But United captain Fernandes struck from close range four minutes later to secure a vital win that moved Ruben Amorim’s team up to fourth in the standings with one round of games to go in the league phase.
First-place Lazio won 3-1 against Real Sociedad and Eintracht Frankfurt is second after a 2-0 victory over Ferencvaros.
United’s win was a much-needed boost for Amorim, who said after Sunday’s loss to Brighton that his team was “the worst, maybe, in the history” of the storied club.
While United’s Premier League campaign still looks dire, with the 20-time English champion 13th in the standings, its Europa League fate is in its own hands going into next week’s game against FCSB in Romania.
Victory, however, didn’t come without some fortune after Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland punched the ball into his own net from a corner to give United the lead seven minutes into the second half.
The top eight teams automatically advance to the last 16, with those placed from nine to 24 going into a playoff round.
Lazio maintained its unbeaten record in the Europa League with victory against 10-man Sociedad and is guaranteed a place in the last 16.
Goals from Mario Gila, Mattia Zaccagni and Valentin Castellanos effectively killed the game off before halftime, with Sociedad’s Aihen Munoz also sent off before the break. Ander Barrenetxea scored late for Sociedad.
Frankfurt is three points behind after a 2-0 win against Ferencvaros was secured through second-half goals from Can Uzun and Hugo Ekitike.
Athletic Bilbao, is third, behind Frankfurt on goal difference.
Son Heung-min scored twice as Tottenham beat Hoffenheim 3-2.
The South Korea star struck in each half at PreZero Arena to help ease the pressure on manager Ange Postecoglou.
It was only Tottenham’s second win in its past nine games overall and kept it on course for the round of 16.
Son doubled the lead in the 22nd minute after James Maddison had opened the scoring in the third. He got his second to make it 3-1 in the 77th. Son was making his 436th appearance for the club — moving up to 10th on Spurs’ list.
Anton Stach scored for Hoffenheim in the 68th and David Mokwa sparked hope of an unlikely comeback in the 88th.
Tottenham is sixth in the standings.
European Cup winner Ajax was stunned by RFS — losing 1-0 to the Latvian team.
It was RFS’ first win in a group or league phase of a major European competition, with Adam Markhiyev scoring the decisive goal in the 78th. But it wasn’t enough to prevent his team from being eliminated.
Ajax is 10th.
The battle to secure a playoff place is in the balance for a number of teams.
Roma lost 1-0 to Dutch club AZ Alkmaar after Troy Parrott’s winner in the 80th.
With one game to go, the Italian giant is 21st, on nine points, and just one point above 25th-place Porto, which lost 1-0 to Olympiakos.
Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce is 23rd, also on nine points, after a 0-0 draw with fifth-place Lyon.
Pro-Palestine march Norwegian broadcaster NRK says hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters marched peacefully in Bodoe before its 3-1 win against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, a gathering in support of Israel was held in a nearby shopping center.
Israeli fans were assaulted after Maccabi’s game against Ajax in Amsterdam in November, which saw five people treated at hospitals and more than 60 detained. Five men were sentenced for to up to six months in prison last month for violence that erupted around that match. The riots caused an international outcry and accusations of deliberate antisemitic attacks.

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US Driver Guthrie Leads Dakar in Saudi Arabia After Stage Three Sweep for Ford

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Yanbu to AlUla - Yanbu, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2026 General view of Ford Racing's Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch in action during stage 2. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Yanbu to AlUla - Yanbu, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2026 General view of Ford Racing's Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch in action during stage 2. (Reuters)
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US Driver Guthrie Leads Dakar in Saudi Arabia After Stage Three Sweep for Ford

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Yanbu to AlUla - Yanbu, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2026 General view of Ford Racing's Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch in action during stage 2. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Yanbu to AlUla - Yanbu, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2026 General view of Ford Racing's Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch in action during stage 2. (Reuters)

Ford Raptors filled the top five places in the Dakar Rally as American Mitch Guthrie Jr won the third 421km stage in Saudi Arabia, his first victory in the top car category, and took the overall lead on Tuesday.

Guthrie ended the loop starting and finishing in AlUla with a 26 second overall lead over Czech driver Martin Prokop with Sweden's Mattias Ekstrom third.

"We started at the back and (co-driver) Kellon (Walch) killed it with the navigation," said Guthrie.

"There were a lot of tricky spots, but we ‌had no flat ‌tires. The car was great so ‌we ⁠just kept ‌moving all day, really."

Spaniard Carlos Sainz, a four-times Dakar winner still competing at 63, was in fourth place overall and compatriot Nani Roma fifth.

Brazilian Lucas Moraes was sixth with Dacia Sandrider teammates Cristina Gutierrez, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sebastien Loeb seventh, 10th and 12th respectively.

Five-times winner Al-Attiyah had led the standings after Monday's ⁠stage but dropped to 11 minutes and 39 seconds off the pace.

Al-Attiyah, ‌who suffered two punctures, was the only ‍driver of Monday's leading six ‍to remain in the top 10. Toyota had filled ‍the top five places in Monday's stage.

Nine-times world rally champion Loeb also lost time with two punctures in the first 100km and no further spare tire after that.

"We’re driving at about 20% of our capacity just to avoid punctures and we still get them," said the Frenchman.

"You don’t see the ⁠punctures coming and with two flat tires and 300 km to go, I had no spare wheels left so we drove the rest of the stage at crawling pace.

"I’m just happy to be at the finish because at one point I really didn’t think we were going to make it".

In the motorcycle category, Spain's Tosha Schareina won the stage for Honda with Australia's defending champion Daniel Sanders retaining the overall lead on a KTM, one minute and seven seconds ahead of ‌Honda's Ricky Brabec.

Wednesday's fourth stage is 417km from AlUla with an overnight bivouac in the desert.

Sports

Liam Rosenior Leaves Strasbourg and Confirms He Has an Agreement to Manage Chelsea

Strasbourg's British head coach Liam Rosenior reacts during the French L1 football match between Stade Rennais FC and RC Strasbourg Alsace at the Roazhon Park stadium in Rennes, western France, on November 2, 2025. (AFP)
Strasbourg's British head coach Liam Rosenior reacts during the French L1 football match between Stade Rennais FC and RC Strasbourg Alsace at the Roazhon Park stadium in Rennes, western France, on November 2, 2025. (AFP)
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Liam Rosenior Leaves Strasbourg and Confirms He Has an Agreement to Manage Chelsea

Strasbourg's British head coach Liam Rosenior reacts during the French L1 football match between Stade Rennais FC and RC Strasbourg Alsace at the Roazhon Park stadium in Rennes, western France, on November 2, 2025. (AFP)
Strasbourg's British head coach Liam Rosenior reacts during the French L1 football match between Stade Rennais FC and RC Strasbourg Alsace at the Roazhon Park stadium in Rennes, western France, on November 2, 2025. (AFP)

Liam Rosenior confirmed his exit from French club Strasbourg on Tuesday and strongly hinted he will be the next Chelsea coach.

Rosenior has been praised for turning Strasbourg, which is part of the same ownership group as Chelsea, into a force in French soccer after a seventh-place finish last season.

Rosenior told a press conference in Strasbourg he has an agreement with Chelsea but has not signed a contract.

“Everything is agreed, it will probably go through in the next few hours,” he said.

“It looks like I will be the next manager of that football club.”

Rosenior’s previous jobs include a stint as assistant coach at Derby to Wayne Rooney, who praised his “incredible” work ethic and attention to detail.

“He’s more than capable of going into Chelsea and doing a great job,” Rooney said on his podcast on Monday. “His detail, how he approaches day to day, he’s as good as I’ve ever worked with.”

The 41-year-old Rosenior has never coached in the Premier League.

Chelsea last week parted company with Enzo Maresca, who spent 18 months in charge.

Moving to Chelsea will bring much more visibility and pressure for Rosenior.

The fifth permanent coach since BlueCo ownership took over in 2022, Rosenior will inherit a team which is capable of high-level success but has lacked consistency. Chelsea is fifth in the league with a 17-point gap to leader Arsenal.

Rosenior could head straight into his first competitive game on Wednesday against Fulham, one of his former clubs as a player.

Interim coach Calum McFarlane laid out one potential challenge when he revealed some players had been left stunned by the decision to move on from Maresca’s 18-month tenure.

“Enzo was incredibly successful with this group and some of them were shocked by the decision,” McFarlane said on Sunday.

Maresca left after a reported breakdown in his relationships with club management and made cryptic public comments about a lack of support. McFarlane stepped in as interim coach to oversee Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City.

Getting the Chelsea job is a rare top-level opportunity for a Black British coach in the Premier League.

“This opportunity for me is something I can't turn down at this moment in my life,” Rosenior said, adding that the perspective of being reunited with his family added an extra incentive.

“It means that I can go home and see my kids,” he said. “I'm away from my children, I missed them. And I wanted to make the sacrifice of not seeing them worth it, with the success that we have here.”

Son of former player and coach Leroy Rosenior, Liam played in the Premier League as a full back for Fulham, Reading, Hull and Brighton over the course of a 16-year professional career, as well as for England Under-21s.

He returned to Hull for his first head coach role in 2022 and joined Strasbourg two years later.

Sports

Sabalenka Eases Through Brisbane Opener, Kyrgios Falls at First Hurdle

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus celebrates winning with fans after her match against Cristina Bucsa of Spain during day three of the Brisbane International tennis tournament at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, Australia, 06 January 2026. EPA/DARREN ENGLAND
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus celebrates winning with fans after her match against Cristina Bucsa of Spain during day three of the Brisbane International tennis tournament at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, Australia, 06 January 2026. EPA/DARREN ENGLAND
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Sabalenka Eases Through Brisbane Opener, Kyrgios Falls at First Hurdle

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus celebrates winning with fans after her match against Cristina Bucsa of Spain during day three of the Brisbane International tennis tournament at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, Australia, 06 January 2026. EPA/DARREN ENGLAND
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus celebrates winning with fans after her match against Cristina Bucsa of Spain during day three of the Brisbane International tennis tournament at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, Australia, 06 January 2026. EPA/DARREN ENGLAND

World number one Aryna Sabalenka began her 2026 campaign with a thumping victory at the Brisbane International on Tuesday while her "Battle of the Sexes" opponent Nick Kyrgios fell short on his return to singles action after nearly a year out.

Sabalenka, who was beaten in straight sets by Kyrgios a week ago in a Dubai exhibition, resumed her preparations for the Australian Open by turning on the style to beat Cristina Bucsa 6-0 6-1 ⁠in 47 minutes to reach the third round.

"Definitely my serve worked really well," she said after the quickest victory of her career.

"I did a couple of serve-and-volleys, which is like, 'wow,' so yeah, I'm super happy with the level. I'm happy to be ⁠back. I always enjoy playing in front of all you guys. That was a great performance from me."

The defending Brisbane champion faces either Sorana Cirstea or Jelena Ostapenko next as she looks to build momentum for the January 18 to February 1 Grand Slam at Melbourne Park, where she will be hunting a third title, Reuters reported.

The injury-plagued Kyrgios also had a short spell on court in ⁠his first singles match since March, the Australian losing 6-3 6-4 to American Aleksandar Kovacevic in 65 minutes.

The 30-year-old is hoping for a wildcard at Melbourne Park and will try to build his match fitness when he teams up with Thanasi Kokkinakis for a doubles round of 16 match on Wednesday.

The duo won their match against Matthew Ebden and Rajeev Ram on Sunday and will take on Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul next.