Liverpool head coach Arne Slot welcomed Mohamed Salah’s all-round contribution to their 3-0 victory over Brighton which secured progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

The Egypt international produced a sumptuous cushioned volley to assist Dominik Szoboszlai’s powerful strike for their second before winning and scoring the penalty which ensured there was no late drama at Anfield, after Curtis Jones’ first goal in 58 matches had opened the scoring.

Salah’s goal was only his second for the club since November 1 in what has been an underwhelming season.

However, since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations – prior to which his future looked in doubt after a fall-out with Slot after being benched a number of times – the 33-year-old looks to have adapted to a different role within the side.

“It is very nice to have him on the scoresheet again, but what I like the most is he scoring goals – you can almost expect that – but he also helps the team a lot defensively and that is something very positive,” said the Liverpool boss.

After the match Salah hailed Szoboszlai, his close friend, as currently one of the best players in the world and there was no argument from Slot.

“I think there are a lot of very good to elite football players in the world, but I definitely agree with Mo that Dom is one of them,” added the Dutchman, who believes the Hungary captain offers a lesson to all new signings at the club.

“Dominik is great example of the model we are using at this club. We sign young players from another league, this situation Leipzig, where he was already known as a player for being really physical.

“The player we brought in was already good but where is he now, he is much better than where he was two-and-a-half years ago. That is what you get if you sign young players, give them a bit of time and let them play a lot.

“That’s why the trajectory he has been through can be the same trajectory from other players we have signed from other leagues.

“You can already see their progress but I’ve said many times that next season, the end of the season or in two seasons, players like Hugo (Ekitike) and Florian (Wirtz), because these are two that come from the Bundesliga, will be better than they are now because they’re already good players for us.”

For Brighton, it was a fourth defeat in five matches and boss Fabian Hurzeler was left to rue two good chances from Jack Hinshelwood and Diego Gomez at the end of the first half.

“Moments decided the game, unfortunately in the wrong direction,” he said.

“The goal from Liverpool came from nowhere. We had two big chances where we had to score. The second half the same.

“They had the quality to use their chances. We weren’t able to be that effective. It was a disappointing result for us.”

Midfielder Noah Nartey made an immediate impact at his new club by scoring on his Ligue 1 debut to lead Lyon to a 10th consecutive win across all competitions, and Paris Saint-Germain won 2-1 at Strasbourg to reclaim top spot despite playing the last 15 minutes with 10 men.

Lyon beat Lille 1-0 in a match of few chances for both teams on Sunday. Nartay netted the decisive goal in the 37th minute and Lyon climbed to fourth, level on points with third-place Marseille.

PSG faced strong opposition and returned to first place after Nuno Mendes headed home the winner in the 81st as Strasbourg failed to capitalize on its numerical advantage. PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov saved a penalty in the first half.

Defending champion PSG holds a two-point lead over Lens, with Marseille and Lyon nine points adrift.

Mendes’ goal from Warren Zaire-Emery’s cross came only a few minutes after Achraf Hakimi was sent off for a reckless challenge on Joaquin Panichelli.

In an enthralling first half, Strasbourg had the chance to take the lead in the 19th minute from the penalty spot. But Safonov, a spot-kick specialist who was preferred to Lucas Chevalier in goal for the second match in a row, dived to deny Panichelli.

PSG broke the deadlock following a defensive mistake from Mamadou Sarr in the 22nd minute. The Strasbourg captain failed to clear the ball inside the box and instead fired it straight at Bradley Barcola. It fell to Senny Mayulu, who scored with a left-footed strike.

The hosts drew level five minutes later through a goal from Guela Doue, with his brother Desire Doue – who plays for PSG – watching from the visitors’ bench.

The goal came at the conclusion of a move ignited by a brilliant pass from Panichelli that released Ben Chilwell on the left. The former Chelsea player then crossed into the middle for Doue to slot home.

“It was a very difficult match against a very difficult opponent,” Safonov said.

“We were a bit lucky at the end of the game, it’s true. It was a nervy ending.” 
It was a first league defeat for Strasbourg coach Gary O’Neil, who had been unbeaten since replacing Liam Rosenior following his fellow Englishman’s departure to Premier League club Chelsea.

Nartay shines 
The 20-year-old Danish player signed a five-year contract with Lyon last month, joining from Brondby.

Lille dominated the first half and Nartay showed his solid defensive skills. He then displayed his composure to send a low shot between the legs of the Lille goalkeeper. That capped a fine move by Ruben Kluivert, who had rushed down the the left flank then set up his teammate with a precise cut-back pass at the penalty spot.

“I’m proud of the team, we worked hard,” Kluivert said.

“Lille was good, but we were better.” 
Nartay’s goal extended Lille’s losing streak to a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 match, with Bruno Genesio’s team in fifth place, seven points behind Lyon.

More misery for Metz 
Last-placed Metz slumped to a 14th defeat in 20 league matches this season, losing 1-0 at Angers. Metz’s task was made harder early on when Jean-Philippe Gbamin was sent off after slipping on the ball and stamping on the ankle of Haris Belkebla.

Angers took advantage of the situation and Louis Mouton scored the decisive goal in the 25th minute with a precise finish.

Auxerre moved one point above Metz after a 0-0 draw at Toulouse, and Nice fought back from two goals down at home to draw 2-2 with Brest thanks to second-half goals from Ali Abdi and Elye Wahi.

Tyson Fury has received the backing of a man he knows very well ahead of a potential trilogy showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.

‘The Gypsy King’ announced last month that he would end a near year-long retirement following his second points defeat to Usyk in December 2024.

Several weeks after that, it was confirmed that he will face Arslanbek Makhmudov on July 11, with the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, having since been named as the venue for their heavyweight contest.

Gearing up for his return, which will be streamed live on Netflix, Fury has posted several social media clips of himself training in Thailand.

At this stage, though, his training situation remains largely unclear, with many wondering who his head coach is likely to be on fight night.

While American trainer SugarHill Steward was at the helm for his last seven assignments, some fans believe that the 37-year-old’s father John will step into a more influential role in April.

Either way, Fury is expected to target a third encounter with bona fide heavyweight king Usyk if he is to emerge victorious against Makhmudov.

That much has been suggested by Queensberry promoter Frank Warren, who told Sky Sports earlier this week that the Morecambe man still wishes to test himself at the highest level.

One man who feels Fury can come out on top in a third meeting with the Ukrainian is former British heavyweight champion David Price, who beat ‘The Gypsy King’ as an amateur.

Speaking with Boxing Social, Price believes that Fury, despite losing to Usyk on two occasions, could potentially still exact his revenge on the Ukrainian.

“Yeah, I do [think Fury can beat Usyk]… for two reasons. [In] the second fight, there wasn’t much in it.

“Even the first fight – apart from [Fury] getting hurt in [round nine], there [was] so little in it.

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“[In] the second fight, he lost on points in a very close fight. Both are getting older – Usyk’s been out of the ring [since beating Dubois in July].

“So I don’t see why [Fury] wouldn’t want to go for that fight. He needs challenging, and the only one who seemed to be able to challenge him – disregarding the Francis Ngannou fight – is Usyk.

“Stylistically, it’s not a hard, gruelling fight for Tyson Fury. It’s a chess match.”

Fury lost his first encounter to Usyk via a split decision in May 2024, and while their rematch resulted in a unanimous verdict, many felt that it was a more competitive affair.

Canada’s curling team has fired back at Sweden after the Swedes accused the Canadians of cheating at the Winter Olympics. 

After Sweden accused Canada of double-touching stones on Friday, igniting a global controversy, Canadian curler Marc Kennedy leveled allegations against the Swedes of improperly filming his delivery. 

“They have come up with a plan here at the Olympics, as far as I know, to catch teams in the act at the hog line,” Kennedy told reporters, per the National Post.

“This was planned, right from the word go yesterday. From the words that were being said by their coaches and the way they were running to the officials, it was kind of evident that something was going on, and they were trying to catch us in an act.

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Sweden’s Rasmus Wranaa, left, reacts next to Canada’s Ben Hebert during a men’s curling round-robin between Canada and Sweden during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo Feb. 13, 2026.  (Tiziana Fabi/AFP)

“I know we’re not the only team that they’ve done that to,” Kennedy added. “So, I think this was — I don’t know what the word is for that — but like a premeditated plan to try to catch us.”

Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen told reporters he thinks video was shot outside of the strict rules for Olympic filming.

“I was surprised that there was a live video on the hog line outside of OBS rules,” Thiessen said. “That seems odd to me.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Sweden’s curling team for comment. 

According to the National Post, Team Sweden denied any inappropriate filming, claiming the video came from the Swedish public broadcaster.

Sweden’s Niklas Edin said “absolutely not” when asked about the allegations from Team Canada.

“We’ve been saying this for maybe seven, eight years or something,” he said of the hog line issue. “The media crew decided to place the camera on the hog line to see what was happening, to explain it to the people watching. 

“It was Swedish media, the people covering the game that did that, we were told, at least. I have no idea, but that’s what we were told afterwards.”

The Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) released a statement saying it did not produce the video that appears to show Canada curlers double-touching stones after releasing them at the hog line that has circulated across social media. 

The OBS added, “However, to clarify the general framework, OBS as well as any properly accredited media rights holder that has acquired broadcast rights from the International Olympic Committee is permitted to film within Olympic venues.”

The feud came to a boiling point during Friday’s match when Kennedy and Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson got into it after Eriksson accused Kennedy of double-touching.

Kennedy shouted at Eriksson, “I haven’t done it once. You can f— off.”

Eriksson replied, “I’ll show you a video after the game. I’ll show you a video where it’s two meters over the hog line.”

Both sides appealed to the officials, but no results were changed.

Swiss curlers have made similar comments about Canada. Swiss curler Pablo Lachat-Couchepin was captured on a broadcast talking to his coach during a fifth-end break in which he mentioned he witnessed double-touching. 

WORLD CURLING FINDS NO VIOLATIONS AFTER CHEATING ALLEGATIONS ROCK CANADA-SWEDEN CURLING MATCH

Canada’s Ben Hebert, Brett Gallant and Marc Kennedy compete during a men’s curling round-robin match against Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

“I don’t want to focus too much on it, but he double-touched, and the referee saw it,” he said, according to The Toronto Star. It was unclear if those concerns were raised to officials.

The controversy even bled onto the women’s side on Saturday. 

Canadian curler Rachel Homan had her stone removed after an official ruled she had touched it again after releasing the handle. Homan protested, but, according to World Curling’s rules, there are no official replays, and the official’s final call stands. 

According to The Athletic, video replay of the incident did show Homan’s finger grazing the rock.

World Curling has released a statement addressing the claims first made by Sweden on Friday and Kennedy’s subsequent reaction.

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Canada’s Brad Jacobs and Marc Kennedy in action during the men’s curling round-robin session against Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

“Game umpires are situated at the end of each sheet and physically cannot see every delivery infraction. However, when they are made aware of delivery issues, game umpires are positioned to observe the delivery for three ends. During this period of observation in the Friday evening game, there were no violations recorded,” the statement said.

The sports governing body also addressed two rule concerns, including “double-touching” and touching the granite. According to the rules, players can retouch the handle multiple times, but “touching the handle after the hog line is not allowed and will result in the stone being removed from play.” 

Additionally, the stone will be removed from play if the granite of the stone is touched at all during “forward motion.” 

As a result of the allegations, World Curling has assigned two officials positioned to observe all deliveries for future matches starting with Saturday’s.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Harbhajan Singh blasts Mohammad Amir

NEW DELHI: Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh has come out in support of young Indian batter Abhishek Sharma after former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir called him a “slogger” ahead of the big India vs Pakistan match in the T20 World Cup 2026. Harbhajan strongly disagreed with Amir’s comment and said Abhishek is a proper and skilled batsman, not someone who just blindly hits the ball.

Amir had earlier made the remark while speaking on a Pakistani TV show, which sparked debate ahead of the high-voltage clash. Reacting to it, Harbhajan praised Abhishek’s batting ability and consistency. He said, “Abhishek Sharma is a quality player, and he is a player who is determined to win matches on his own. And not once, but he can do it again and again. I have played cricket, and I know that he is a proper batter who has all the shots; a lot of batsmen don’t have all the shots. A slogger is someone who only sees the ball and slogs; if it connects, great, and if it doesn’t, that’s fine too. He is not like that. He hits the first ball. And as long as he is on the crease, he keeps hitting. So, he is a proper batsman.”Harbhajan also said it is unfair for critics who have never bowled to Abhishek to judge him. He added, “People may say whatever they want. Because, in my opinion, I don’t think they have ever bowled in front of such a batter, and hence, it is wrong to comment that Abhishek is a slogger.”He urged Abhishek to prove his talent on the field, saying, “If I tell you the definition of a slogger, then a lot of people will get angry. So, I don’t want to say that. Because we don’t operate on that level, that they say something and we react again and again. I don’t want to do that. Because maybe he wants us to react. “But, anyway, I’ll say, Abhishek, show us tomorrow what you showed us before. And show us, what Abhishek can do. And I have a lot of hope from Abhishek. And if he plays for a long time, then Team India will set a very long score.”