Alysa Liu is Team USA's best shot for Olympic medal in figure skating final
Reigning world champion Alysa Liu is Team USA's best shot for an Olympic medal in the figure skating final Thursday night.
Arsenal face ‘bottle job’ questions after implosion against Wolves, says club legend
Arsenal should be braced for accusations they are “bottle jobs” in the wake of a disappointing 2-2 draw at Wolves.
The Gunners were two goals in front after strikes from Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie, but Hugo Bueno pulled one back for the hosts before debutant Tom Edozie scored a last-gasp equaliser.
Arsenal are now five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, but Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand.
Speaking on Sky Sports, former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson said the mentality of Mikel Arteta’s side is going to come in for intense scrutiny in the season run-in.
“You can’t play in second gear. When it went 2-2, for the last three minutes there was an urgency, they didn’t have that [before Wolves’ equaliser]. You can’t play like that. Every game is a cup final until the end.
“You’ve got to play at a high tempo. If Arsenal play at a high tempo, Wolves can’t live with them. But to play the way they played, and it’s slow and lazy, and they are giving the ball away, then Wolves are always going to be in the game.
“That could come back to bite them. That is really, really disappointing tonight. It [criticism] is going come on full blast now – being ‘bottle jobs’, ‘melting’. It's full-on now.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was critical of his side’s performance.
“Extremely disappointed with the result and the way the game ended, but we have to blame ourselves,” he said. “In the second half we didn’t show anything close to the standards required in this league to win.
“It was one moment after another. Even though we scored the second goal, we never had control of the game — that’s the reality.”
Arsenal have now won only three of their last eight Premier League matches.
“Disappointed. Not much else to say,” Saka said. “There was a big difference between our first half and second half performances. We dropped our standards and were punished for it.
“It’s time to focus on ourselves, raise our standards and improve our performances. It’s in our control.”
Arteta said his team have to accept every criticism that comes their way and need to bounce back against Tottenham on Sunday.
He added: “That’s credit obviously to Wolves, they can’t be underestimated. It’s very basic things and simple things that today we did really wrong and that’s why we had the feeling without conceding much, when the game is open that kind of thing can happen.
“Any question, criticism, opinion, you have to take it on the chin today. That’s it. Any bullet, take it because we didn’t perform at the level required, Anything anybody says can be right because we didn’t do what we had to do. The way to do it is on the pitch on Sunday in another great opportunity we have.
“We have always done it but if you are strong you need to show it next time. To say it here is simple but we have to show it on the pitch.”
Wolves boss Rob Edwards saw his side pick up a second successive draw and was proud of the belief his side showed to gain an unlikely point.
“It’s nice to get a late equaliser and especially when you’re 2-0 down against a team like that. We’re up against Arsenal, everyone needs to have a bit of perspective. In the first 20-30 mins it was everything we expected the game to be like.
“We stayed in the game and that was important. We showed belief and played with a bit more emotion. To show that character and quality and all of that. It might be easier for the lads to lose belief but that’s not the case.”
Winston, Manhattan Jaspers square off against the Marist Red Foxes
Marist Red Foxes (16-10, 10-7 MAAC) at Manhattan Jaspers (12-16, 8-9 MAAC)
Riverdale, New York; Friday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Jaden Winston and Manhattan host Justin Menard and Marist in MAAC play Friday.
The Jaspers have gone 7-5 at home. Manhattan is fourth in the MAAC scoring 75.3 points while shooting 43.1% from the field.
The Red Foxes are 10-7 against MAAC opponents. Marist averages 15.2 assists per game to lead the MAAC, paced by Menard with 3.8.
Manhattan scores 75.3 points, 11.8 more per game than the 63.5 Marist allows. Marist averages 6.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.3 fewer made shots on average than the 8.8 per game Manhattan gives up.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Marist won the last matchup 80-68 on Dec. 7. Elijah Lewis scored 22 points to help lead the Red Foxes to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Devin Dinkins is shooting 33.6% from beyond the arc with 1.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Jaspers, while averaging 12.7 points. Winston is averaging 16.4 points, 3.7 assists and 2.6 steals over the last 10 games.
Rhyjon Blackwell is scoring 12.2 points per game with 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Red Foxes. Menard is averaging 12.7 points and 3.8 assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Jaspers: 4-6, averaging 73.0 points, 28.9 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 7.5 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 42.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.0 points per game.
Red Foxes: 5-5, averaging 66.4 points, 30.7 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 5.2 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.3 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Former Tottenham star concerned interim boss Igor Tudor ‘knows nothing about the Premier League’
Igor Tudor will take charge of his first match on Sunday when Tottenham face Arsenal in the north London derby
Niagara visits Mount St. Mary's, looks to stop road slide
Niagara Purple Eagles (7-19, 4-12 MAAC) at Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (12-15, 8-8 MAAC)
Emmitsburg, Maryland; Friday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Niagara will try to end its three-game road slide when the Purple Eagles play Mount St. Mary's.
The Mountaineers have gone 6-5 at home. Mount St. Mary's allows 72.1 points to opponents and has been outscored by 4.0 points per game.
The Purple Eagles are 4-12 in MAAC play. Niagara has a 2-4 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
Mount St. Mary's scores 68.1 points per game, 2.9 fewer points than the 71.0 Niagara allows. Niagara has shot at a 43.8% rate from the field this season, 3.3 percentage points above the 40.5% shooting opponents of Mount St. Mary's have averaged.
The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. Mount St. Mary's won 68-58 in the last matchup on Jan. 19. Arlandus Keyes led Mount St. Mary's with 15 points, and Will Shortt led Niagara with 10 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Keyes is averaging 11.7 points for the Mountaineers. Abdou Khadre Kebe is averaging 1.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Justin Page is shooting 42.3% and averaging 12.1 points for the Purple Eagles. Vice Zanki is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mountaineers: 6-4, averaging 67.7 points, 34.7 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 4.5 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.0 points per game.
Purple Eagles: 3-7, averaging 63.2 points, 28.1 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 5.5 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 45.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.