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2022 Cheltenham Festival: Highlights from the biggest week in horse racing
With the dust now settled on the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, we look back at the highlights of the four days, picking out the week’s top performances from a fantastic week of horse racing. Race of the Week Wednesday’s Champion Chase was all set to be a duel between Shishkin and Energumene once more, but a deluge of rain saw Shishkin pulled up early on, gifting the race to Energumene and denying racing fans a clash they badly wanted.
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Criticism of Newcastle United’s Saint-Maximin undeserved
The gap between Newcastle United’s two Premier League encounters with Everton was just over five weeks, but for Allan Saint-Maximin, they were worlds apart. On the evening of February 8, the Frenchman stood in the centre of the St James’ Park pitch, arms outstretched, singing along to ‘Hey Jude’ by the Beatles as he was serenaded by 52,000 people having inspired a season-turning victory.
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Thomas Tuchel has handled Chelsea crisis brilliantly
Chelsea are in uncharted waters; English football is reeling. Years of turning a blind eye to the origins and intentions behind big business transactions are beginning to sting. Everybody is aware of the real story from which this sporting strand has arisen; in comparison, it almost feels in bad taste to fixate on it.
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Romelu Lukaku was Abramovich’s last great Chelsea mistake
There are much bigger concerns in regards to the sanctions imposed on Roman Abramovich but, from a purely footballing point of view, the impact on Chelsea will be severe. As much as Thomas Tuchel has tipped the club to continue competing with the elite, the simple fact of not having a Russian oligarch’s money to play with will obviously change the landscape.
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Who are the key players in the FA Cup quarter-finals?
The quarter-finals of the FA Cup take place this weekend, with four juicy ties on the schedule. Chelsea are seeking to put off-the-field issues behind them by reaching the final for the third year in a row, but Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest hope to do the Championship proud.
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Luka Modric getting even better with age
Even as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo face, Luka Modric stands as the only player to have disrupted their dominance of the Ballon d’Or over the last 15 years. Indeed, the Croatian midfielder won football’s most prestigious individual prize in 2018 after a series of eye-catching performances for club and country that year.
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Carlo Ancelotti would be a disaster for Manchester United
Few will need reminding that Manchester United are an institution renowned for their quite frankly mind-boggling decision-making. The myriad of mistakes the club have made since, and probably before, the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 need little more explaining but appointing Carlo Ancelotti at this stage would be up there with the worst of them.
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Cheltenham Gold Cup 2022 preview
It’s been a thrilling Cheltenham Festival so far, and Friday sees the big one – the Cheltenham Gold Cup. All eyes will be on Cheltenham at 3.30pm as 11 runners go to post to battle it out for the biggest prize in jumps racing.
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Blackburn’s greatest Premier League XI ever
Before Blackburn Rovers found themselves languishing in the mid-tiers of English football, they had enjoyed a run as one of the top sides in England. Most of this success came at the start of the Premier League era in the early 1990s where investment from local business magnate Jack Warner transformed the side into a title-winning outfit.
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Gareth Southgate can’t afford to gamble on Harry Maguire
From the moment Manchester United made Harry Maguire the most expensive defender in history, the centre back has had a target on his back. Unfortunately for him, Maguire has recently given his critics plenty of ammunition to aim his way with the United captain currently enduring an extremely difficult individual season.
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