Burnley boss Vincent Kompany has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association after he was sent off during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea.

Kompany said later that the standard of refereeing in this season’s Premier League “hasn’t been good enough”.

The former Belgium defender has until Friday to respond to the charge.

“It’s alleged that the manager’s language and/or behaviour around the 40th minute was improper and/or abusive and/or insulting towards a match official and/or questioned their integrity,” an FA statement read.

Assignon was shown a second yellow card shortly before half-time for fouling Mykhailo Mudryk, and Kompany was sent to the stands for his reaction.

Six Burnley players have been sent off in 30 games this season, the highest number of any Premier League team.

Speaking after the game, Kompany said he is “not shying away” from giving feedback to officials and does not have “any issues with being fined”.

Burnley are 19th in the Premier League and travel to Everton on Saturday.

Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke’s epic heavyweight clash recorded a massive television audience on Sky Sports this Easter Sunday making it one of the platform’s highest-rating boxing events in the past decade.

Billed as ‘Bad Blood’, the unbeaten rivals could not be separated on the night as they put everything on the line in a thrilling 12-round contest that is already being described as one of the greatest British heavyweight fights of all time.

The BOXXER promoted event, live from London’s O2 Arena, attracted a peak audience of 746,000 for the main event – with an average audience of 438,000 tuning in across the four hour broadcast and a reach of over 1.7million.

These impressive figures make Wardley and Clarke’s battle for the British and Commonwealth Titles the fifth-most watched boxing event on Sky Sports in the last 10 years behind only Eubank-Williams, Shields-Marshall, Khan-Vargas and Taylor-Catterall, and mark the biggest audience for a heavyweight fight.

Fans were treated to first-class shoulder programming from Sky Sports in the build up to the event including a tense face-off hosted by Johnny Nelson in ‘The Gloves Are Off’ and a look behind the scenes into each fighters’ training camp in ‘Behind The Ropes’.

Adding to the excitement on the night, a stacked undercard featured a series of mouthwatering clashes that saw Chris Kongo overcome welterweight rival Florian Marku, Viddal Riley retain his English cruiserweight title against Mikael Lawal, Ben Whittaker drop and dominate Leon Wilings, Callum Simspon score a showreel knockout win over Dulla Mbabe, and Alen Babic stop Steve Robinson.

Ben Shalom, BOXXER Founder and CEO, said: “What we witnessed on Sunday was one of the greatest British heavyweight fights of all time. At BOXXER we are committed to growing the sport to new audiences and giving our fighters the biggest possible platform to perform. The numbers are incredible. It shows the huge potential and appetite for boxing in the UK and Ireland. We’ve had an amazing start to the year and we look forward to delivering more massive nights with unmissable action in 2024.”

Rob Selmes, Sky Sports Director of Rights, said: “It was great to see such a thrilling fight for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles, immense bravery from both fighters and huge numbers tuning in to watch. A compelling card was part of a fantastic weekend of live sport on Sky Sports, with millions of sports fans enjoying our coverage and being taken closer to all the action.”

Having already delivered a series of spectacular events in 2024 including Jonas-Mayer, Buatsi-Azeez and Wardley-Clarke, the BOXXER and Sky Sports schedule continues on Saturday, May 11th with Lauren Price challenging Jessica McCaskill for Welterweight World Titles in Cardiff.

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For most of the dynasty days, the Golden State Warriors have drawn praise for their offense.

Their defense, however, is what has set them apart from the rest of the pack during all these years.

That’s why it’s been so nice to see them turning back the clock and playing elite defense over the past five games or so.

Recently, Draymond Green proved why he’s one of the best and most versatile defensive players this game has ever seen, essentially salvaging the Warriors’ game with a clutch block on Daniel Gafford.

That’s why, following the win, Andrew Wiggins went on to call him a ‘defensive mastermind,’ stating that he was everywhere and is the kind of ‘special’ player who seems to have eyes in the back of his head (via Warriors on NBC Sports).

“Draymond is special. Very special,” Wiggins said.

“Draymond is special. Very special.”

Wiggs shares his vantage point of Draymond’s clutch block in tonight’s win pic.twitter.com/xPEHOitXFC

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 3, 2024

Green’s basketball IQ and defensive expertise have never been in question.

He’s the kind of difference-maker who can have a huge impact on both ends of the floor.

Just last week, Steve Kerr’s team held three opponents under 100 points in three consecutive games, all on the road.

That’s their best stretch since a five-game span in January 2022.

Avoiding the Play-In Tournament is pretty much impossible at this point, although there’s still a chance they could leapfrog from No. 10 all the way to No. 7, which would obviously do wonders for their postseason chances.

That’s not going to be easy and will require some help from other teams, but you can never sleep on the Warriors.

NEXT: 
Steve Kerr Reveals When Jonathan Kuminga Will Return To Action

 
 

 
 

Ange Postecoglou stressed Tottenham aren’t the “finished article” after he joked about wanting to control his players with a “joystick” following their 1-1 draw at West Ham.

Spurs missed the chance to close the gap on fourth-placed Aston Villa having taken a fifth-minute lead through Brennan Johnson’s tap-in, but Kurt Zouma equalised by heading in when unmarked at a corner.

The Hammers should have completed the turnaround after half-time as Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario saved well from Konstantinos Mavropanos from another corner, before Michail Antonio wastefully fired straight at the Italian while completely through on goal.

Both sides could have won it in stoppage time as Destiny Udogie shot straight at Lukasz Fabianski from inside the box and Bowen’s effort went wide of Vicario’s far post.

“I thought for the most part we controlled the game pretty well,” said Spurs boss Postecoglou. “They are a big, strong team. They sit deep and make it difficult for you. You have to be fairly calm in your approach but also really disciplined because they are a threat from the counter-attack.

“We conceded from a set-piece but the rest of the set-pieces we coped with really well. In the front third we lacked a bit of clarity of thought. But they are human beings, it is just football. I would love to have a joystick and put them where I want them, but it doesn’t work like that.

“Sometimes we have more time than we think. There were times when the ball was flashed across the box when we should have been in those areas. It is all part of the development. That is why we have coaches, why we develop a system. We are not the finished article and we know that.

“There was enough there tonight for me to say that it is a team still heading in the right direction.”

The result means Spurs sit two points behind Villa – who head to Manchester City on Wednesday – and nine ahead of sixth-placed Manchester United, who face Chelsea on Thursday. West Ham, meanwhile, remain in seventh after Newcastle’s draw with Everton.

How an end-to-end game could not be settled

West Ham started this London derby brighter and had a glorious chance to take the lead as good work from Mohammed Kudus down the left saw him cross for Bowen in the box, but the England international took his eye off the ball and put his close-range effort wide.

That proved crucial as less than a minute later, Spurs took the lead. Yves Bissouma fed Timo Werner down the left, and the German was allowed to enter the box and find Johnson a few yards out. Unlike Bowen, the Spurs winger knew where the net was.

Back came the Hammers as Kudus saw another close-range effort deflected over from a corner – and it was from a similar set piece where West Ham found their leveller.

Zouma was allowed the space to venture to the front post and meet Bowen’s corner completely unmarked, with the defender nodding the ball home with the back of his head.

Both sides had chances to reclaim the lead as James Ward-Prowse tested Vicario’s gloves with a 30-yard free-kick, while Pedro Porro and Rodrigo Bentacur fired wide for Spurs in an enthralling opening period.

It finished where it let off in the second period as West Ham searched for an early second. Vicario was equal to Antonio’s drive, then Mavropanos’ header from the resulting corner, before Lucas Paqueta flashed a drive just wide from the edge of the box.

The hour-mark saw the chance of the game fall to Antonio, who latched onto a long ball forward and held off Micky van de Ven to run completely clear. With Vicario to beat, he could only fire the ball into the goalkeeper’s midrift.

Spurs put the pressure on as the second half went on, with Heung-Min Son – unusually quiet in this game – firing well wide of Fabianski’s near post, while Porro tested the West Ham goalkeeper.

The game had to wait until 93 minutes to find the final big chances of the game. A loose ball fell to Udogie in the box and with a clear sighting of goal, he could only hit Fabianski’s midrift.

West Ham then went up the other end and Antonio’s flick found Bowen in the box, but he could not find the far corner while under pressure from the onrushing Vicario. A point had to be settled for.

Ange: Our forwards lacked clarity of thought

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou:

“The most part, we controlled the game really well. It’s a tough place to come, they sit deep and make it difficult for you, which you kind of know you have to be calm in your approach and really disciplined as they’re always a threat on the counter.

“The most part we dealt with it really well. We conceded from a set piece, but on the whole we handled our set pieces well on the whole.

“The front third lacked a bit of clarity of thought. We got into some good areas and could have had much better outcomes, our general play I was really happy with.

“They [the attackers] are human beings, it’s just football. I would love to have a joystick and tell them where to be!

“It’s not easy against a side like West Ham. At times I think we have more time than we think. There were times where the ball was flashed across the box where we could be in those areas.”

Moyes delighted with West Ham’s record vs Spurs this season

West Ham manager David Moyes:

“The draw was probably fair in the end. We did a lot of good things again, showed a lot more good things defensively tonight than we did at the weekend. We looked a threat when we had to be, we had to be at our best to stop a very good Tottenham team.

“We were much more aggressive and resilient defensively. Overall, if you had given me four points off Spurs this season, I would have shaken your hands and said thank you very much. Overall, a really good set of results against Tottenham this season.

“Undoubtedly, they made us work hard as well. We had to chase the ball a lot tonight. But I want a team who, out of possession, who can do the time through the minutes. Who knows, we might need it in injury time in the weeks to come.”

Analysis: Spurs have a set-piece problem

Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz at the London Stadium:

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou looked towards his forward line not having “clarity of thought” in key areas for their 1-1 draw against West Ham, but perhaps the other end of the pitch requires a bit more attention.

Spurs conceded their tenth goal from a set piece this season in this game as Kurt Zouma rose unmarked in the box to head home the equaliser. That’s the sixth-worst record in the division – and five out of those six worse teams are relegation candidates.

Postecoglou’s side are also in the bottom three for Expected Goals conceded from set plays. It is relegation standard defending in this department.

Goalkepeeper Guglielmo Vicario was targeted from set plays in Spurs’ FA Cup exit to Manchester City in January, then again in the 2-2 draw with Everton a week later.

Two more points were dropped at West Ham – it is a nagging issue that is holding Postecoglou’s side back in his debut campaign at Spurs.

What’s next?

West Ham are back in action on Saturday, taking on Wolves in the Premier League; kick-off 3pm.

Tottenham play on Super Sunday, taking on Nottingham Forest, live on Sky Sports; kick-off 6pm.

talkSPORT have you covered for the horse racing with free racing tips and from the day’s racecard at Kempton.

Tom Lunn has gone through the cards, form, going and much more to help guide your horse racing betting choices.

1

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Wednesday racing tips

• KEMPTON
  6.00: Winter Snowfall 1/1 (1.5pts)
  6.30: Mashadi 11/2 Each-way (1pt)

Winter Snowfall

Three of the five runners are from Godolphin and William Buick is up on the favourite of the three.

He opts for Winter Snowfall out of the two Charlie Appleby-trained horses, with Sahara Snow a big 5/1 price.

But it’s the John & Thady Gosden-trained three-year-old who could be the biggest threat, ridden by Kieran Shoemark.

Juneberry, who has already had a debut race at Lingfield back in October over 1m, but the up to 1m3f looks better suited to the Galileo filly.

It’s no surprise to see Sahara Snow make her debut over 1m3f either as she’s by Sea The Stars, who was dominant over that kind of middle distance.

There’s a lot of promise from this three-year-old though and has seen her fair share of backing in the betting.

Mashadi

By Blue Point and has been second on every run bar his maiden contest in September.

Off until early March of this year for his reappearance on his first run for trainer Kevin Phillippart De Foy.

He was 7/1 but came a neck second to Media Shooter and that was a big run for what was possibly an improvement on his first run since being gelded and upped to 6f.

Upped again to 7f which should suit along with first time cheekpieces to prompt a bit more improvement for the Amo Racing-owned gelding.

Tom Lunn’s Racing Tips Profit + Loss

• October-Present: +141.29pts
• Total from July 2023: +214.66pts

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All odds correct at time of writing

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A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chase their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
• GamCare – www.gamcare.org.uk
• Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org

For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.

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Rangers and Celtic clash on Sunday with the Scottish Premiership title race set to go to the wire, but who should start at Ibrox?

Brendan Rodgers’ side won on their previous trip to Ibrox as Kyogo Furuhashi scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory last September.

The Hoops then took the honours again at Celtic Park in December as they ended Philippe Clement’s unbeaten record as Rangers boss to move eight points clear of their rivals, who had two games in hand.

There have been many twists since that day as Rangers closed the gap before moving above their rivals, who are back to one point clear having played a game more.

Both managers face some key selection issues, so who would you pick for your team to start at Ibrox?

Pick your Rangers starting XI

This will be a first home Old Firm for Clement who must select his best XI and beat Celtic, if they are to return to top spot.

Is this a game for January signing Mohammed Diomande to impress in a midfield battle against the likes of Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley?

The Rangers fans were delighted to see Abdallah Sima return from injury in Saturday’s win against Hibernian, but would you start the forward in this fierce derby ahead of Cyriel Dessers or Fabio Silva?

Dessers netted his 13th league goal of the season against Hibs, but was once again guilty of spurning chances to add to the scoreline.

Will Ridvan Yilmaz win his fitness battle ahead of Sunday? If not, will Borna Barisic continue in defence or could Dujon Sterling slot in at left-back?

Use the team selector below and share your selection on Twitter @ScotlandSky.

Pick your Celtic starting XI

Callum McGregor is expected to be fit, but would you start the captain who has not featured since their 7-1 win against Dundee over five weeks ago?

Who should start up front for the Hoops? Kyogo Furuhashi has scored in both games against Rangers this season, but since joining on loan in January, Adam Idah has scored more goals than the Japanese striker.

Should Reo Hatate keep his place in the starting XI after returning from injury against Livingston, or would you opt for Paulo Bernardo after he scored in West Lothian after replacing his midfield counterpart?

Elsewhere, Cameron Carter-Vickers is fit for the first time this season – but who do you expect to start alongside him in the backline?

Use the team selector below and share your selection on Twitter @ScotlandSky.

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Quarterback Caleb Williams will almost certainly be the first player taken in this month’s NFL Draft, but there are at least two other potential franchise QBs who are available this year.

One of them is Jayden Daniels, who won last season’s Heisman Trophy while with LSU.

Per NFL Network, former NFL player Bucky Brooks and analyst Daniel Jeremiah said Daniels would be a better fit for the Washington Commanders, who have the No. 2 pick, than the New England Patriots, who have the No. 3 selection.

Patriots or Commanders…
Which team is the better fit for Jayden Daniels?@MoveTheSticks and @BuckyBrooks agree on this one pic.twitter.com/9wMaUS380l

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) April 2, 2024

Brooks cited Kliff Kingsbury, who is Washington’s new offensive coordinator, and the success Kingsbury had as the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach with Kyler Murray, their dual-threat QB.

While Daniels threw for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns in 2023, he also added 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.

Daniels’ ability to extend plays and move the chains with the legs seems to be the main advantage he has over Drake Maye, who is the other QB prospect that has made this year’s draft crop so attractive at that position.

Another thing that would make Washington a nice destination for Daniels is the fact that they can offer him more roster support than New England.

They have a solid playmaker at wide receiver in Terry McLaurin, and they brought in Austin Ekeler, a true dual-threat running back, in free agency.

On defense, veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner, a Super Bowl champion and surefire Hall of Famer, will bolster their front seven after arriving in free agency from the Seattle Seahawks a few weeks ago.

NEXT: 
Cardinals Set To Meet With Top WR Prospect This Week

 
 

 
 

Pep Guardiola has hit back at Roy Keane after the Sky Sports pundit compared striker Erling Haaland to a “League Two player” in Manchester City’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal.

City fired a rare blank at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday with Haaland enduring a frustrating afternoon, touching the ball just 23 times, as they lost ground in the Premier League title race.

Keane was left unimpressed by the 23-year-old’s performance and said: “In front of goal he’s the best in the world, but his general play for such a player – it is so poor. Not just today. He has to improve that.

“He’s almost like a League Two player – that’s the way I look at him. His general play has to improve. It will do over the next few years. [He’s a] brilliant striker but he has to improve his overall game.”

However, speaking ahead of City’s fixture against Aston Villa on Wednesday night, Guardiola defended Haaland and claimed it wasn’t the striker’s fault that his team didn’t score.

“I do not agree with him, absolutely not. He’s a manager for the second or third league? I don’t think so,” said Guardiola.

“He’s the best striker in the world and he helped us win what we won last season. The reason why we didn’t create many chances [vs Arsenal] was not Erling, it’s that we need more presence in the final third with more people.

“We played an exceptional game, I reviewed the game against Arsenal, but we missed more people in the final third maybe for the quality and skills that we have. Erling is exceptional.

“I’m surprised this came from a former player. From journalists, I can understand, never been on the pitch but former players is always a surprise. It’s like the referees when they retire they criticise the referees.

“How difficult is that business for the players? It always surprises me. Their memory disappears quickly. The problems the players have, they had. They missed a thousand, million times and they were hurt when they were criticised by the former players.

“But today is what it is. We have to accept it and move forward. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future but I’m not going to criticise my colleagues when I retire. ‘Should be this, should be that, could do that’ – I could do it now and I don’t do it. But everyone has to live for something.

“Players have to accept it, it’s the job. If you don’t want to accept it you have to do another job. When you’re this public figure you have to accept it.”

Haaland has scored just once in six attempts against the top five sides this season although Guardiola insists it’s down to the team.

“Sometimes he misses, sometimes lack of supply, sometimes instructions from the managers, sometimes the opponent is really good,” said Guardiola. “In football there is not just one reason, there are many. Football is a team sport, it’s not individual like golf or tennis.”

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And here’s how Tuesday’s events went down.

Indiana State 100, Utah 90

Ryan Conwell scored 27 points and Robbie Avila added a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double to co-pilot the Sycamores to a 100-90 win over Utah.

Julian Larry and Isaiah Swope each scored 15 points apiece for the Sycamores, who won their 32nd game of the season. A victory in the NIT final would tie the school record for wins, set by the Larry Bird-led 1978-79 national championship finalists.

Indiana State shot a blistering 56.9 percent from the field, with Avila making 11-of-14 shots.

Utah had an exceptional shooting night itself, including 17-of-29 three-pointers (58.6 percent). Deivon Smith made all of his six threes en route to a game-high 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Branden Carlson added 17 more points for the Utes, who finished their season with a 22-15 record.

The two teams were tied at 44 going into halftime, and the back-and-forth action continued for the first 10 minutes of the second half.

However, Indiana State went on a 20-9 run over a four-minute period to turn a 63-60 edge into a 83-69 advantage. Larry scored seven of those points, including this bucket off Swope’s sweet dish:

Conwell added six points during that stretch.

Indiana State’s approaching NIT final appearance will mark its first in school history.

Seton Hall 84, Georgia 67

Seton Hall jumped out to an 18-3 advantage and led by as many as 24 points en route to a comfortable wire-to-wire victory over the Bulldogs.

The opening run, which included a pair of Al-Amir Dawes three-pointers, set the tone for the game. Kadary Richmond also scored six points during that stretch.

Four Pirate starters scored in double figures, led by Dawes’ 20. Dre Davis pitched in 19 points and nine rebounds, while Richmond posted 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Seton Hall dominated the boards, grabbing 45 to UGA’s 32. The Pirates also held the Bulldogs to just 38.5 percent shooting, including 5-of-26 from three-point range.

Silas Demary Jr. paced the Bulldogs with 19 points. Noah Thomasson was the only other Bulldog scoring in double digits (10).

Seton Hall improved to 24-12 for the season. Another win would mark the seventh time in school history that the Pirates have won 25 or more games in a season.

Georgia finished the season 20-17 with the defeat.