ARSENAL hero Lukas Podolski is being investigated by German police shortly after his final ever match.

Podolski, 39, rolled credits on his 18-year career that saw him playing for the likes of Bayern Munich, Germany and of course the Gunners.

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The winger hung up his boots while playing for Polish outfit Gornik Zabrze and bid farewell to football in a testimonial match that was put together in Cologne two weeks ago in front of 50,000 fans.

The ex-Germany international put together his own team he dubbed Team Poldi, which beat a Koln XI 5-3 at the RheinEnergieStadion.

The ex-Galatasaray star received a standing ovation from the crowd after the match which led to him breaking down in tears.

An emotional Podolski then joined the crowd in the stands and was pictured holding a burning pyrotechnic flare as he bid farewell to his fans.

According to Kolner Stadtanzeiger, as per Bild, that landed the German in hot water with the Cologne police as it is prohibited to set off flares in German stadiums.

In fact, that is considered an administrative offence and thus Podolski is facing a pyrotechnics fine.

The same source claims the city is responsible for collecting the fine and the Koln legend will probably receive a hearing notice in the mail within the next few days.

Former police director and head of operations at the Cologne stadium Volker Lange didn’t mince his words about the forward as he dubbed him a “bad role model”.

Lange said: “Firstly, it is forbidden, secondly, he is a bad role model. And thirdly: Someone who will take on responsibility at FC should be a role model – also in such points.”

A number of football greats honoured Podolski during his testimonial match, such as Manuel Neuer, Joachim Low, Mats Hummels and ex-Arsenal team-mate Per Mertesacker.

The ex-Inter Milan star enjoyed immense success as he won the Bundesliga with Bayern, the World Cup with Germany and the FA Cup with Arsenal, where he amassed 31 goals and 15 assists in 82 games.

And Podolski has proven to be successful off the pitch as well thanks to his ice cream and kebab business.

It has been reported that the former Arsenal ace, who spent three years at the Emirates before his departure in 2015, has seen his net worth rise to £177.5million thanks to his investments.

Merab Dvalishvili already convincingly beat Sean O’Malley. But if they fight again, Dvalishvili is confident he can do even better.

It took five rounds for Dvalishvili to best O’Malley and win the bantamweight championship this past September at UFC 306. While O’Malley has disputed the result, he spent the majority of the contest defending against Dvalishvili’s relentless wrestling, so there was little controversy surrounding the scoring.

Dvalishvili’s first title defense is yet to be booked, though he and O’Malley have both spoken about the possibility of an immediate rematch. The champion gave his reasoning for a second O’Malley fight on an episode of The Ariel Helwani Show.

“I’m in, 100 percent,” Dvalishvili said. “When I saw the first time he wants to do rematch, I said let’s fight in November. Even though I’m here, I’m working with UFC, I can fight him—I know he’s not ready now, but that’s why I told him let’s fight in November. We already fought, and I know his game, his power, everything, no problem. I can fight him back and now I will not kiss him, I will finish him, and I will take care of him. I go easy on him the first time, so now this time I will destroy him.”

O’Malley is unlikely to return to action soon, with the fighter recently announcing that hip surgery could keep him sidelined until summer 2025. At best, he hopes to be back in March.

Should they eventually rematch, Dvalishvili vowed to not take it easy on O’Malley and promised a finish.

“Actually, I wanted to finish him fifth round, but [referee] Herb Dean, when I took [O’Malley] down, I was waiting,” Dvalishvili said. “Sean was supposed to move and I either choke him or punch him hard and try to finish him, Herb Dean told me to work and I let go. I changed the position and he told me again, ‘You’ve got to work,’ and then I let go, what should I do, and I let him get up. Then I took a long time to take him down again in the fifth round, otherwise I was going to finish him fifth round, but Herb Dean made me let go.”

“This time, I’m going to try finish him early. I was trying to finish him fifth round, but it doesn’t work out that way. This time, I will finish him early. Now he’s saying he wants to finish me or he will do better, OK, that’s interesting me more if he will do it. If people are interested, I’m in.”

A Dvalishvili-O’Malley rematch became more likely following rumors that undefeated contender Umar Nurmagomedov is in talks to fight Song Yadong rather than challenge for the title. Nurmagomedov was in attendance at UFC 306 seemingly to build to a matchup, but Dvalishvil’s team has been reluctant to anoint Nurmagomedov as the No. 1 option, a situation that has generated criticism.

Dvalishvili wants it to be clear that he will fight Nurmagomedov or anyone else if that’s what the matchmakers call for.

“I have no problem,” Dvalishvili said. “Whoever the UFC will offer me, I will fight. I never choose my opponent, and I’m going to continue same. I never have an option like this to say I’m going to fight him or him, I was never in this situation before and I don’t think any different now.”

Sigh. Tatiana Suarez is out of her UFC 310 fight against Virna Jandiroba.

Giant. Francis Ngannou’s coach Eric Nicksick breaks down the heavyweight star’s PFL debut.

Rankings. Does Ngannou regain the No. 1 spot at heavyweight after his win?

Spoiler? Is Max Holloway about to bring an abrupt end to Ilia Topuria’s title reign?

Imitation Game. Conor McGregor calls out Ilia Topuria for biting his style.

Tapes. Kamaru Usman and Belal Muhammad are both saying they had a physical confrontation that was filmed, but is yet to be released.

Air Khamzat. Khamzat Chimaev shows off his hops on the first episode of UFC 308 Embedded.

Hate. Bruno “Blindado” Silva really, really, really cannot stand Chris Weidman.

Why Not? ONE Championship fighter “wins” boxing match with extremely illegal head kick.

Mike Heck chats with Coach Nicksick.

Get to know the slappers.

“Mighty Mouse” breaks down Saturday’s main event.

Severe MMA. Sean Sheehan and Graeme McDonnell break down PFL Battle of the Giants and take a victory lap over Paul Hughes’ impressive performance.

Anik & Florian. Jon Anik and Kenny Florian chat with Daniel Cormier and Dan Ige, plus coaches Eric Nicksick and Ray Longo.

Back to the ring?

PFL has a star in Paul Hughes.

Hard work, but someone’s gotta do it.

Underground.

Why not?

Ageless.

Pain.

Are there any UFC champions right now properly building up their rightful contenders? Dvalishvili is playing coy with all the Nurmagomedov talk, Julianna Peña is trolling Kayla Harrison, Ilia Topuria is feuding with Belal Muhammad (?) and barely hyping up the fight that’s just days away, and let’s not even get started on Jon Jones.

These folks at the top have earned their spots, but all of this anti-promotion gets exhausting after a while.

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

The Honda MotoGP factory team is finalising a deal with Castrol to replace Repsol from the 2025 season, Motorsport.com has learned.

Although it was an open secret for months, Repsol executives formally informed Honda of their intention not to extend their sponsorship deal – which expires at the end of this season – on the Sunday of this year’s San Marino Grand Prix.

With a brief statement sent just after the MotoGP race, the Spanish company put an end to 30 years of a relationship that began losing strength following the departure of Marc Marquez from the Japanese squad at the end of last year.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

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Repsol’s financial contribution to HRC was considerably reduced once the Spanish rider’s departure to Gresini was confirmed, a circumstance that was reflected in the evident loss of the oil company’s logo on the RC213V, going from occupying a central place to moving to the underside of Joan Mir and Luca Marini’s bikes.

In fact, if the Honda manufacturer’s factory squad has continued to identify itself as the Repsol Honda Team, it has been thanks to a gesture of goodwill from the Japanese brand, which, in any case, has raced with its bikes decorated mainly in the corporate colours (red, blue and white), rather than black.

The Honda/Repsol partnership began in 1995 and has since produced a total of 15 riders’ titles, 10 constructors’ titles and 183 race victories.

With the break-up now just a few months away, Motorsport.com has learned that Honda has already agreed a deal with Castrol for the British oil company to fill the gap left by Repsol from next season onwards.

Castrol is one of the main partners of the LCR team, owned by Lucio Cecchinello, which has the fuel and lubricant company as a main sponsor on the side of the garage currently occupied by Johann Zarco.

The new partnership with the factory team does not, however, jeopardise the existing one with LCR.

While the relationship between Castrol and the Tokyo-based manufacturer’s factory team will not reach title sponsor status by 2025, the relationship could go further depending on a number of factors.

Monday Night Club’s Mark Chapman, Andros Townsend, Rory Smith and Chris Sutton talk about the psychological impact of a Premier League title race.

READ MORE: Arsenal red cards: Mikel Arteta on playing with 10 men

LISTEN: Full episode of Monday Night Club

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STATS show that Arsenal are actually treated LENIENTLY by referees, despite their red card woes.

The Gunners have picked up THREE red cards in just eight Premier League games so far this season – dropping points on each occasion.

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William Saliba’s sending off against Bournemouth on Saturday was the 18th red card Arsenal have been shown in the league since Mikel Arteta took over in 2019 – SIX more than any other side.

Should they pick up another this term, it will be Arsenal’s 108th red card in the Prem era – a joint-record alongside Everton.

But despite complaints from fans over whether they are being treated harshly by the officials, new research from talkSPORT BET has shown that Arsenal are in fact given much more leeway than their title rivals this season.

No team in the traditional ‘big six’ is able to make more fouls than Arsenal before finding themselves in the book, according to the stats.

The Gunners are averaging 5.39 fouls per yellow card, a rate that sees them sit as the fourth most leniently refereed team in the league – as far as yellow cards go.

By comparison, title rivals Man City are the most harshly punished side in the league – picking up a yellow card for every 2.83 fouls.

Chelsea aren’t far behind with referees choosing to brandish a yellow card every 2.93 fouls for the Stamford Bridge outfit.

While Spurs get away with 4.95 fouls and Liverpool manage 5.28 breaches before they find themselves punished.

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Arsenal have made 97 fouls this season, compared to Man City’s 51 with both teams picking up the same number of yellow cards (18).

Of course, Man City’s possession-based football means they are more likely to commit cynical fouls to prevent counter-attacks against them and are, in turn, more likely to be booked despite committing less fouls.

It’s worth noting that two of Arsenal’s red cards have come from cumulative yellows in the game too, with Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard suffering the same fate.

And both players were issued with their second yellows for non-fouling incidents, with the pair both penalised for delaying the restart.

Arsenal are also the only team in the ‘big six’ to receive any red cards this season – of which they have three.

Bruno Fernandes was shown red for Manchester United against Spurs, but that decision has since been retrospectively overturned.

Perhaps the underlying data shows that Arsenal aren’t being mistreated by officials – as so many fans would suggest – and are instead in a position where they need to just dial back their full-throttle defending.

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But their disciplinary record could be a positive thing, at least it is if you’re Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners boss has claimed that his team have been”galvanised” by Saliba’s red card at the weekend and are ready to use it in their favour.

Speaking ahead of their Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk, Arteta said: “It’s absolutely galvanised the group.

“They’ll show their teeth and fight against the situation. They say: ‘OK, this is what we have to play, how we have to do it. We’re going to do it’.

“But playing with ten men, obviously there is an issue. We just cannot continue to do this.

“We’ve also had two different periods where we had a lot of reds and then not any. Now we have had three in a row.

“But we can’t continue to play with ten at this level. The task becomes almost impossible.

“So, we must eradicate that. Let’s take that pain and use it tomorrow. It has to happen.”

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Arsenal player ratings vs Bournemouth

By Alex Crook

TEN-MAN Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season as brilliant Bournemouth dealt them a South Coast setback.

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The Gunners travelled to face Andoni Iraola’s men having won five and drawn three of their opening eight matches this term.

But their task was made a tricky one when William Saliba was shown a red card on the half-hour.

Ryan Christie brilliantly fired the hosts into a deserved lead following a well-worked set piece routine 20 minutes from time.

Justin Kluivert then sealed his side’s incredible 2-0 victory from the penalty spot on 79 minutes.

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Here’s how SunSport rated each Gunners performer on the day.

DAVID RAYA – 5
Was lucky to get away with one poor pass out from the back early on. Made amends for another error by saving smartly with the legs to deny Marcus Tavernier after initially spilling a Semenyo cross-cum-shot before clumsily conceding the penalty.

BEN WHITE – 4
England outcast was back in the team after four games out, but did not look 100 per cent fit and found it tough going containing the lively Antoine Semenyo down the Bournemouth left in the first half and Dango Ouattara in the second.

WILLIAM SALIBA – 3
Usually calm and collected under pressure but paid the price for a rare moment of panic when he hauled down Bournemouth striker Evanilson to get himself sent off and will miss next weekend’s crunch clash at home to title rivals Liverpool as a result.

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GABRIEL – 5
Given the captain’s armband in the absence of the stricken Bukayo Saka, but not at his commanding best, especially after losing centre-back partner Saliba. Did not really step up to the leadership plate.

RICCARDO CALAFIORI – 6
Did a better job containing Semenyo when Bournemouth’s dangerman switched wings at half-time than White did in the first half, but unable to have his usual influence going forward.

THOMAS PARTEY – 5
Back in his traditional central midfield berth after being used as an emergency right back in the 3-1 win over Southampton. Was second best up against Bournemouth’s impressive Lewis Cook.

DECLAN RICE – 5
Another of Arsenal’s international contingent who looked sluggish after the break from domestic duty. Struggled to impose himself on the game in midfield and unable to get forward as much as he usually does. Did his bit dropping into the back-line after Saliba’s dismissal.

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RAHEEM STERLING – 4
Former England man was deployed on the right wing in place of the injured Bukayo Saka and gave the ball away a few times when in promising positions before being sacrificed after the Saliba red card.

MIKEL MERINO – 5
Finally able to make his full Premier League debut after an injury-affected start to his Arsenal career and showed some nice touches. Also fired into the side-netting with the visitors’ best first half opening.

LEANDRO TROSSARD – 4
Started the game well but sold Saliba short with a poor back pass that led to the red card and disappeared from the action after that before being subbed shortly after the half-hour mark.

KAI HAVERTZ – 5
The German cut an isolated figure up front, especially after Arsenal were reduced to ten men, but worked tirelessly for the team without ever looking like adding to his run of scoring in the previous four games in all competitions.

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SUBSTITUTES
Jakub Kiwior (for Sterling, 37) – 4

Gabriel Martinelli (for Trossard, 64) – 5

Gabriel Jesus (for Kiwior, 81) – N/A

Ethan Nwaneri (for Merino, 81) – N/A

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