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Rayan Cherki breaks Premier League norm as Man City boost title hopes

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LONDON — Awaiting a corner from the left hand side, Manchester City might just have done what every player in the Premier League has learned from experience is the optimal approach for winning in 2026. Get the ball into the great mass of bodies around the six-yard box and see what happens. For most teams, it is just the shrewdest way to use that possession.

Most teams, though, are not blessed with Rayan Cherki. And so it was that the season of the set piece found a little room for some true No. 10 play of old. Rather than lobbed into the mixer, the ball went short, a give-and-go with Jeremy Doku that allowed Cherki to drive along the edge of the box. Jorrel Hato could lay a glove on his man, but not enough to slow Cherki’s progress. Estevao bought the shimmy as Abdoukodir Khusanov wisely concluded that it was best to give his teammate a clear runway.

Even after that, there was still an awful lot to do. Two blue shirts converged on Cherki but they left the slightest of gaps. The flick of the left boot was so diffident that Malo Gusto did not seem to compute what had happened until the ball was at the feet of Marc Guehi. City’s center back delivered the striker’s finish that the assist deserved.

This game might have ended as a procession, Jeremy Doku adding a third after Cherki had put it on a plate for Nico O’Reilly and Guehi, but it is worth considering how tight this contest was with 45 minutes played. Five shots to five, City were seeing the bulk of the ball without applying overwhelming pressure. Doku’s purposeful drives into the box were a threat, just as the speed of Chelsea’s counters were. As Guardiola told his team at halftime, someone needed to step up. This was a game in need of breaking open. 

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In the 2025-26, Premier League that usually means a set piece, a big cross onto a big bonce. And in a fashion, that is what changed this game for City. It’s just that Cherki didn’t have to wait for a dead ball. That has been the story of his season so far. A 22-year-old, in his first season in England, has found himself in a league that might be the most athletic and physical it has been in a generation. It seems uniquely well designed to brutalize even the most talented of young ingenues. And yet there can be no disputing that Cherki trails only Bruno Fernandes as the outstanding creative force of the season.

From open play, there’s a case to be made that he is in a class of his own. All 10 of his Premier League assists have been adjudged by Opta to have come when the ball is live — his second today breaking from a set piece when he dribbled by his first opponent — as opposed to half of Fernandes’ 16. His 0.46 expected assists per 90 leads the Premier League by a margin of well over 33%, and the overwhelming majority of it comes from open play. His 0.41 was a tally bettered only twice in the previous five seasons. Naturally, that was by Kevin De Bruyne.

It feels faintly sacrilegious to suggest that City might have found the heir to one of the greatest playmakers the English game has ever seen. Keep this up, though and someone is going to be hammering 95 theses against the walls of Manchester Cathedral.

“The numbers, incredible,” said Guardiola. “And the quality in the first season in the Premier League is something unique.”

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Having, in Guardiola’s view, spent too much of the first half too close to Gianluigi Donnarumma, he got into the positions where he could best exert himself on this contest.

“Play close to Haaland and the wingers, attacking midfielders, use the talent that Mum and Dad gave you,” was Guardiola’s message to Cherki. “If he starts to do that he will become an extraordinary player because of his mindset and mentality… He has to learn to do what you have to do for 95 minutes.

“Rayan has something special. The second goal, the pass for Marc Guehi, not even myself being outside, could see it. He’s a top, top, top talent.”

One who delivered the moment that the arc of the season bent towards Manchester City? It is too early to say. Even after Arsenal’s loss on Saturday, this team could still win every game left and miss out on goal difference. The bookmakers and prediction models will still tell you that it is the Gunners who should be counted as favorites. Even as they crawl to the finish line, they have a defense that is conceding less than a goal per Premier League game in 2026. Their fixture list after next week’s clash at the Etihad is more favorable too.

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What they don’t have, though, is Cherki, the sort of talent who can break a game open with a pass no one else can see. Or if they do, those players have seen the pitch too rarely of late. “Are you watching Arsenal,” came the cry from the away end at Stamford Bridge. Those that were would be entitled to have that sinking feeling.

He might be a newcomer to the Etihad Stadium but Cherki already has that feel of a true City player, one who shrugs the scale of the moment off with utter indifference. “I don’t feel pressure,” he said after ladelling so much of it on Arsenal for their visit next week. 

Cherki may not feel pressure but he creates it. At a time where the league seems to have zigged towards athleticism, size and set piece prowess, the most dangerous attacking force in the division might be an undersized, underpowered presser who can conjure something from nothing.

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Former LSU women’s basketball guard reveals transfer destination

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Former LSU women’s basketball guard Bella Hines transferred to TCU, per a report from On3’s Talia Goodman on Sunday. The move comes after her lone season in Baton Rouge.

Hines was part of the top signing class in the 2026 recruiting cycle. She averaged 4.2 points per game, shooting 44% from the field. Most of her shots came from beyond the arc, helping stretch the floor for LSU’s playmakers.

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Early in SEC play, Hines saw few meaningful minutes but that changed in February. She played over 10 minutes five out of the seven games LSU played that month, upping her game as a scorer and defender.

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Hines’ decision to transfer came as a surprise, considering her strong finish to the season. She would’ve been in the running to start or be one of the first two players off the bench, but instead, she’ll head to the Big 12.

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The hidden Masters advantage Rory McIlroy used to crack Augusta code

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In the end, this second Masters championship for Rory McIlroy is almost unavoidably going to become a milestone.

If last year’s emotional triumph to complete the Grand Slam was a destination – the destination – then retaining it puts him in rarefied air but doesn’t answer the only question which will ultimately matter when all is said and done; where this child prodigy from Northern Ireland turned golfing superstar will rank among the all-time greats.

That is the competition for him now: how many majors he can amass, how many records he can break.

By his own admission on this Sunday night in Georgia, at American golf’s most famous course in its crown jewel competition, he won’t always have this level of preparation for a major.

But it was his preparation that ultimately proved crucial in holding off a late charge from some of the world’s best.

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After 71 holes of rollercoaster golf, the 18th hole on Sunday was a microcosm of it all.

Needing to avoid a double-bogey on the last to win back-to-back Masters championships, McIlroy was once again wayward when the fairway was wide open for him.

“Coming off the 18th tee not knowing where my ball was, that was probably the moment of most stress; thinking this could be anywhere.”

Not for the first time, McIlroy’s driving put him out of position heading down the 18th with a two-shot lead
Not for the first time, McIlroy’s driving put him out of position heading down the 18th with a two-shot lead (AP)

The Ulsterman had been long but inaccurate off the tee all week, and found the pine straw yet again. An iron to salvage things ended up in the bunker, but he splashed out to give himself a par putt that would have won the Masters. Drifting only a matter of inches past the hole, a bogey was still enough.

On Tuesday, McIlroy had commented that he felt “winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one.”

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But last year’s triumph might not have helped in the way you’d expect, and it turns out that there are far greater advantages to winning the Masters than people might realise.

The obvious one of McIlroy no longer feeling that same internal pressure to complete the Grand Slam is something that is undeniable, and he admitted himself that he felt it might be simpler this year without the weight of the Grand Slam on his shoulders. But all those years of neurotically wondering how to best prepare in order to give himself the best chance of winning have also set him up for future success at Augusta that will extend far beyond this year’s triumph, his second in a row.

McIlroy with his family after winning a second Masters, including parents Rosie and Gerry McIlroy - who would not miss a second green jacket
McIlroy with his family after winning a second Masters, including parents Rosie and Gerry McIlroy – who would not miss a second green jacket (REUTERS)

McIlroy tried a lot of different regimes as he looked to climb the mountain – arriving late, arriving early, practicing a lot, not practicing at all, playing in tournaments, skipping them – but this year’s preparation is almost certainly what he will continue for the rest of time.

From his base in Florida, he has been baking practice at Augusta into his weekly routine to the extent that it now “feels like my home course”. Skipping the three tour events running up to the Masters simply because he “doesn’t like them” will have made a couple of PGA Tour tournament directors wince, but it has allowed him time to effectively commute (via private jet, naturally) and practice around the course where a tournament that will actually matter to his legacy is taking place.

“I did a couple of days where I dropped Poppy to school, flew up here, played, landed back home and had dinner with her – or had dinner with Erica probably… a couple of day trips like that where I felt it was a better use of my time than going to Houston or San Antonio,” McIlroy admitted in typically frank fashion.

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“Monday, Tuesday last week, then Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I was up here for a day the week before as well.

“I’ve been on this golf course so much the last three weeks, and that’s been a combination of practice and chipping and putting around greens, and then just playing one ball and shooting scores and ending up in weird places that you maybe never find yourself and just trying to figure it out.”

McIlroy’s preparation for this year’s Masters is almost certainly what he will continue for the rest of time
McIlroy’s preparation for this year’s Masters is almost certainly what he will continue for the rest of time (REUTERS)

McIlroy revealed that it wasn’t about conserving energy, just spending productive time working on those details around on the greens where a major championship would be decided come this glorious mid-April Sunday.

And that level of practice has shown.

Ultimately what McIlroy has learned over his nearly two decades of playing years of playing here is that you need to be a killer with the wedges and putter in hand.

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After two days, McIlroy was second-best putting and second-best driving distance but 90th in driving accuracy. He missed every single fairway on the par 5s as he built up his six-stroke lead over Thursday and Friday’s rounds, all eight of them, but came away with seven birdies and a par.

That’s a guy who understands how to play the course.

“I feel like being up here a lot and I’ve prepared as well for this Masters as any other that I’ve played,” he said.

Indeed, his 3.1 strokes gained around the greens during Friday’s round was not just the best in the field all weekend, it was the best by miles. In fact, the gap from first to second was the same as the gap from second to 45th. His chipping and short game was on a different planet to everyone else unfortunate enough to be trying to catch him at Augusta this weekend.

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McIlroy was required to escape from the bunker on the 18th in order to avoid a double bogey
McIlroy was required to escape from the bunker on the 18th in order to avoid a double bogey (Getty Images)

“My scrambling, my putting and my short game are what won me this tournament,” he would say on Sunday night, that green jacket once again on his back.

While Saturday’s round had made the retrieval of that jacket more difficult, McIlroy leaned into practice as a means of dragging himself to the finish line.

After missing some key iron shots left on day three during a disappointing 73, his post-round trip to the driving range as the shadows disappeared and turned into night on Saturday was all about rediscovering the light fade and re-establishing control.

In McIlroy’s own words, the most important shot of Masters Sunday was his nine-iron off the tee on 12, where he pulled out that baby cut that he’d rehearsed so many times under the lights of the practice area and nailed it under the brightest lights of them all.

McIlroy highlighted his nine-iron off the tee on 12, which led to birdie, as his most important shot of the week
McIlroy highlighted his nine-iron off the tee on 12, which led to birdie, as his most important shot of the week (Getty Images)

“It was a really good golf shot at the right time, and probably a golf shot I wouldn’t have been able to hit yesterday before going to the range.”

That birdie, then another on 13, proved decisive. It was his golf through Amen Corner on Sunday and the resultant three-shot swing that was the difference between him and perennial contender Justin Rose, at one point a Sunday leader by two shots, and set McIlroy back on the path to glory after a wobbly start.

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McIlroy described himself on Friday as a “wily old veteran” and this victory provided some support for that. No longer is he the boy wonder who dreams of emulating the greats, he is the established hero who inspires those following around the world.

Could other players have turned up at Augusta over the last few weeks and played practice rounds to familiarise themselves with the angles and sightlines provided by this sternest of tests? Probably not. That’s the benefit of a green jacket. Besides, most of them will have had tournaments to play.

Make no mistake, though. McIlroy has earned the right to prepare how he wishes, he had toiled for more than a decade without tasting glory and tried every which way to prepare in order to win. Now that he’s found his formula, and it appears he truly has, good luck convincing him to change it.

McIlroy and caddie Harry Diamond have cracked the code to win the Masters
McIlroy and caddie Harry Diamond have cracked the code to win the Masters (Getty Images)

“I thought it was so difficult last year because I was trying to win the Masters and the Grand Slam but it turned it was just really difficult to win the Masters,” he laughed on a Sunday night that will once again be filled with champagne at the impeccable Augusta National clubhouse.

Yet he followed with a more important lesson, and a more pertinent one, as his smile melted into sincerity.

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“If you put the hours in and you work on the right things, it’ll work out for you.”

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Absent AEW Star Josh Alexander

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While the AEW star Josh Alexander is currently out of action due to injury, an update has come up regarding the severity of the injury. The Walking Weapon wrestled his last match last month.

After gaining prominence during his time in TNA, Josh Alexander joined All Elite Wrestling last year. Alexander has been an integral part of the Don Callis Family faction during his AEW run. After his last match on Collision last month, where he teamed with El Clon nd Konosuke Takeshita against JetSpeed and Mistico in a trios match, Alexander was ruled out due to injury.

After announcing that he had sustained an injury, Josh Alexander also underwent successful knee surgery. While Josh is expected to be on the road to recovery, an update is here regarding the same. Alexander’s wife, Jade Chung recently shared a post on Instagram featuring her husband as well.

Jade was showing her old wrestling gear in a funny reel in which she made Josh Alexander wear her gear through editing. Alexander was seen in the reel with crutches, as he was having trouble walking after the recent knee surgery.

Alexander could be seen with crutches in the following post:


Josh Alexander’s AEW return is uncertain after injury

After his last match on Collision a few weeks back, Josh Alexander disclosed that he had sustained an injury during his last match. In a video shared on X, Alexander also stated that he is not cleared to compete and there is no timetable on when he will return:

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“Last week on AEW Collision, I suffered an injury. And when you suffer injuries, you don’t know how severe they are. I just found out a minute ago how serious this was, and I know I’ve been limping and in pain for a week, but yeah, my surgeon told me I’m going to need surgery this coming Wednesday. And my knee injury is pretty severe, so I will not be cleared to compete, and there’s no timetable set right now for when I will be back,” Alexander revealed.

It remains to be seen when Josh Alexander will be back in action following the recent knee surgery.