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Arteta Urges Arsenal to Pile Pressure on Man City in Title Race

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta gives thumbs up during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg soccer match between Sporting CP and Arsenal FC at Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, 07 April 2026. (EPA)
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta gives thumbs up during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg soccer match between Sporting CP and Arsenal FC at Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, 07 April 2026. (EPA)
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Arteta Urges Arsenal to Pile Pressure on Man City in Title Race

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta gives thumbs up during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg soccer match between Sporting CP and Arsenal FC at Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, 07 April 2026. (EPA)
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta gives thumbs up during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg soccer match between Sporting CP and Arsenal FC at Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, 07 April 2026. (EPA)

Mikel Arteta challenged Arsenal to pile pressure on Manchester City by extending their lead at the top of the Premier League before their title rivals play 24 hours later.

Arteta's side host Bournemouth on Saturday and second-placed City travel to Chelsea on Sunday as the title race approaches a pivotal moment.

The Gunners are nine points ahead of City, having played a game more than Pep Guardiola's team.

That lead would increase to 12 points if Arsenal defeat Bournemouth, putting City under intense pressure to take maximum points from their tricky trip to Stamford Bridge.

Asked how important it would be to move further ahead of City, Arteta told reporters on Friday: "The closer we get, the relevance and importance of the match increases, obviously, and tomorrow is a big day for us.

"The players know it, our supporters know it, it's early kick-off, so get up early, have an early breakfast, bring your lunch, bring your dinner, as you say in England, and let's go all together for it because it has to be a big day."

After losing to City in the League Cup final and to second tier Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals, Arsenal bounced back with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League quarter-final first-leg on Tuesday.

The Gunners are chasing a first English title in 22 years, as well as their maiden Champions League crown.

And Arteta is convinced that they can finish the season with both trophies, which would finally end their six-year silverware drought since lifting the FA Cup.

"First of all, the capacity we have as a club and as a team, the will to win," Arteta said to explain his belief.

"We recognize the opportunity ahead and we are going to do our best to achieve it."

Arteta's Arsenal contract expires in 2027 and the Spaniard remains fully committed to the club after reports of talks over a new deal.

"There's no news on that. We have no time to discuss that now. The full focus is on what we have to do from here until the end of the season," he said.

"I am fully committed and really happy and I feel good. My family is good and I still have so much ambition to do with this football club, and for now we are in a good place.

"This job is about the present and what you do on the day. Give your very best and feel that you are the person that can lead and inspire the group to achieve great things for the club."

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Sports

Duo Muchova and Mensik Win US Open Mixed Doubles Title

Czech duo Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova kiss the trophy. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
Czech duo Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova kiss the trophy. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
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Duo Muchova and Mensik Win US Open Mixed Doubles Title

Czech duo Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova kiss the trophy. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
Czech duo Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova kiss the trophy. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP

The Czech team of Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik won the US Open mixed doubles Wednesday, saving two match points in a nervy semi-final and then pulling through in a tight final.

The pair survived a second-set pummeling in the championship decider in New York to edge Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Flavio Cobolli of Italy, 6-3, 1-6, 10-6.

Mensik, a singles semi-finalist at this year's French Open, sealed the triumph with a searing ace to the backhand corner.

Another Mensik ace saved one of two match points earlier in the evening when the Czech pair edged the Russians Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev, 5-4, 3-5, 11-9.

The back-to-back wins secured the first Grand Slam title for both Mensik and Muchova, who lost a heartbreaking Wimbledon singles final in July in three sets to fellow Czech, Linda Noskova.

"At the end the matching outfits made the difference for us," Muchova quipped during the trophy presentation, referencing the white and maroon kit worn by the team.

The mixed doubles event is in its second year with a convention-busting format which features shortened sets and multiple matches played the same day.

The competition is scheduled before the main US Open to attract singles stars who usually avoid Grand Slam doubles events to conserve energy for the concluding matches of the biggest events.

The tournament's star teams -- the cross-generational partnership of Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka -- did not make it through the event's preliminary rounds.

That left open a Grand Slam opportunity for some of the game's most accomplished non-household names to nab a precious major title, resulting two semifinals and a final that all went the distance.

Earlier, Cobolli and Bencic beat the married team of Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and Gael Monfils of France in a hard-fought marathon, 4-5, 4-1, 10-5.

The result ended the prospects for a fairytale finale to the career of the acrobatic Monfils, who has said 2026 will be his last season.

Sports

Al Ahli Defeats Auckland FC 1-0, Advances to African-Asian-Pacific Cup Final

Al Ahli defeated Auckland FC 1-0 on Wednesday evening in the first round of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2026. (SPA)
Al Ahli defeated Auckland FC 1-0 on Wednesday evening in the first round of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2026. (SPA)
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Al Ahli Defeats Auckland FC 1-0, Advances to African-Asian-Pacific Cup Final

Al Ahli defeated Auckland FC 1-0 on Wednesday evening in the first round of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2026. (SPA)
Al Ahli defeated Auckland FC 1-0 on Wednesday evening in the first round of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2026. (SPA)

Al Ahli defeated Auckland FC 1-0 on Wednesday evening in the first round of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2026, held at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah before a crowd of more than 46,000 fans.

The only goal came in the 63rd minute, scored by Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, the Saudi Press Agency said on Thursday.

With this victory, Al Ahli advanced to the FIFA African-Asian-Pacific Cup final, where they will face African champions Mamelodi Sundowns, the South African side, on September 19.

Sports

Williams Sisters Granted US Open Doubles Wildcard

Serena Williams, left, and Venus Williams, right, both of the United States, wave to the crowd at the end of a women's doubles match against Marta Kostyuk, of Ukraine, and Peyton Stearns, also of the United States, at the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Mason, Ohio. (AP)
Serena Williams, left, and Venus Williams, right, both of the United States, wave to the crowd at the end of a women's doubles match against Marta Kostyuk, of Ukraine, and Peyton Stearns, also of the United States, at the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Mason, Ohio. (AP)
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Williams Sisters Granted US Open Doubles Wildcard

Serena Williams, left, and Venus Williams, right, both of the United States, wave to the crowd at the end of a women's doubles match against Marta Kostyuk, of Ukraine, and Peyton Stearns, also of the United States, at the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Mason, Ohio. (AP)
Serena Williams, left, and Venus Williams, right, both of the United States, wave to the crowd at the end of a women's doubles match against Marta Kostyuk, of Ukraine, and Peyton Stearns, also of the United States, at the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Mason, Ohio. (AP)

Venus and Serena Williams are slated to compete in women's doubles at the 2026 US Open after being granted a wildcard, tournament officials announced Wednesday.

The announcement by the US Tennis Association follows Serena Williams' dramatic return to Arthur Ashe stadium Tuesday when she and mixed double partner Carlos Alcaraz of Spain won their first match before losing in the quarterfinals.

Venus Williams had earlier been granted a USTA wildcard to compete in women's singles, an event Serena Williams is not participating in.

The sisters together have combined for 14 women's doubles Grand Slam titles, including two US Opens. They have also won three gold medals together at Olympics in women's doubles.

The sisters last competed together in New York in 2022 when they lost their opening match to the Czech team of Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova.

They dropped their opening match at the Cincinnati Open earlier this month.

The pair had been entered in Wimbledon earlier this summer, but withdrew after Serena suffered an injury in an opening round singles loss.