Rays advance to World Series
Spurs collapse on Bale’s return to draw against West Ham Tampa Bay denies Astros historic comeback
LONDON, Oct 18, (AP): Tottenham were transformed by Gareth Bale’s homecoming, just not in the way that Jose Mourinho had imagined.
Cruising 3-0 when Bale came off the bench in the 72nd minute against West Ham, Tottenham incredibly collapsed in a game they had been in control of to draw 3-3 in the Premier League on Sunday.
It was with almost the last kick of the game that Manuel Lanzini blasted a shot from distance into the roof of the net to snatch a point that seemed extremely unlikely when Son Heungmin scored in the first minute and Harry Kane netted twice by the 16th minute.
Agonizingly for Bale, after Fabián Balbuena pulled one back in the 82nd and Davinson Sánchez scored an own-goal three minutes later, the onloan forward from Real Madrid had a golden chance to score the fourth.
Released by Kane, Bale sent Angelo Ogbonna sliding to the turf as he drilled into the penalty area but man
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aged to drag a shot wide.
Rather than any joy for Bale on his return to Tottenham after seven years, West Ham were celebrating in a way that seemed unimaginable in the first half.
Palace 1, Brighton 1 Brighton scored a deflected 90thminute equalizer before having a man sent off in their 1-1 draw at local rivals Crystal Palace.
Argentine substitute Alexis Mac Allister’s shot from the edge of the area ricocheted off Palace defender Gary Cahill and into the corner of the net as Brighton’s pressure finally got their reward at an empty Selhurst Park.
Brighton center back Lewis Dunk was handed a straight red card in the third minute of stoppage time for a crude, two-footed lunge on Cahill in a penalty-area melee, but Palace had no time to take advantage of their numerical advantage.
Indeed, the home side ended the game having had just one shot – and that was the contentiously awarded penalty converted by Wilfried Zaha in the 19th minute.
Palace striker Michy Batshuayi had his jersey pulled by Tariq Lamptey in the area – although contact appeared minimal – and Zaha stepped up to send goalkeeper Mathew Ryan the wrong way from the spot for his fourth goal of the season.
Brighton picked up only their fourth point of the season, having lost three of their first four games. Palace have seven points.
Sheffield Utd 1, Fulham 1 Sheffield United and Fulham both collected their first point of the season in the Premier League after drawing 1-1 in a match featuring a penalty for each team.
Billy Sharp converted his spot kick for United, smashing the ball down the middle in the 85th minute to cancel out Ademola Lookman’s spectacular solo goal eight minutes earlier on his first start for Fulham.
Before that, Aleksandar Mitrović squandered the chance to give Fulham the lead when he lifted his penalty over the crossbar in the 58th.
The two teams had lost each of their first four league games this season, raising the stakes for their meeting at Bramall Lane – especially for the hosts, who have matches against Liverpool and Manchester City ahead in the next two weeks.
Oli McBurnie wasted a clear-cut chance in the first half for United, heading straight at goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, but Fulham had the better of the second half. Mitrović, in particular, will wonder how he failed to score in the game, with his penalty miss and then two late opportunities that he sent off target.
The Serbia striker capped a miserable game on a personal front by giving away the penalty that was converted by Sharp, with Mitrovic kicking the calf of Jack Robinson while attempting to clear the ball at a corner.
Lookman, who has joined on loan from Leipzig in Germany and came on as a substitute in the loss to Wolverhampton before the international break, dribbled past two defenders outside the area before unleashing a fierce shot high into the net to put Fulham ahead.
Burnley are now the only team without a point so far.
United 4, Newcastle 1 Bruno Fernandes made amends for missing a penalty by scoring a brilliant go-ahead goal for Manchester United in their come-from-behind 4-1 win at Newcastle.
After a rare blip from the spot in the 58th minute when the score was 1-1, the Portugal midfielder surged down the field in support of Marcus Rashford and was played in by the striker before taking a touch and curling a shot into the top corner in the 86th.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Rashford
scored even later goals at St James’ Park to seal United’s comeback after the visitors went behind to Luke Shaw’s unfortunate own-goal inside two minutes.
Harry Maguire, who was sent off playing for England in midweek, equalized with a header from a corner in the 23rd.
It was a second win in the league for United after four games as the team bounced back from a 6-1 loss to Tottenham before the international break.
Meanwhile, Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk will undergo surgery on his right knee after damaging ligaments in a challenge by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford during the Merseyside derby, the Premier League champions said Sunday.
Liverpool did not give a timescale on Van Dijk’s absence, but an injury of that nature will likely keep the Netherlands international out for a long period.
“Following surgery,” Liverpool said, “Van Dijk will begin a rehabilitation program with the club’s medical team to enable him to reach full fitness as soon as possible.”
Van Dijk was the subject of a reckless lunge by Pickford in the sixth minute of the 2-2 draw at Goodison Park on Saturday. The center back immediately came off after lengthy treatment and hobbled gingerly around the field to the locker room. It meant English soccer’s player of the year from 2018-19 missed his first minutes of league action since September 2018.
Van Dijk has been a commanding presence at the heart of Liverpool’s defense throughout the team’s rise to the top of English and European soccer in recent years.
SAN DIEGO, Oct 18, (AP): Remarkable rookie Randy Arozarena homered again, 36-year-old Charlie Morton was brilliant against his former team and the Rays reached the World Series for the second time, silencing the Houston Astros 4-2 Saturday night in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series.
The Rays will face either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Atlanta Braves in the World Series in Arlington, Texas, starting Tuesday night. Game 7 of the NLCS is Sunday night.
Tampa Bay’s only other World Series appearance was in 2008, when they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in five games.
The innovative Rays led the AL with a 40-20 record in the pandemicshortened season. Known for their pitching and defense, they also intro
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duced the concept of the starter and sometimes deploy a four-man outfield.
“You sit here and look at this group of guys, and I always say we don’t have a lot of household names, but at the same time, people are making a name for themselves right now,” said outfielder Kevin Kiermaier, Tampa Bay’s longest-tenured player. “And if you don’t know the name by now, then better learn them, because we’ve got some boys who can play.”
Right fielder Manuel Margot squeezed Aldemys Diaz’s flyball in his glove for the final out and fireworks burst over the empty ballpark as the fun-loving Rays began to celebrate.
Arozarena was chosen as the ALCS MVP and did Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous goal celebration dance.
Tampa Bay snapped a three-game losing streak and prevented the Astros from matching the 2004 Boston Red Sox, the only major league team to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a sevengame series.
The Rays also kept the Astros from becoming the first team to win a pennant with a losing regular-season record (29-31).
The loss ended Houston’s first season since their sign-stealing scandal was revealed. The Astros were viewed by many fans as villains for their role in the cheating scandal en route to the 2017 title against the Dodgers, a scam that eventually cost manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow their jobs.
Under new manager Dusty Baker, the Astros were trying to reach the World Series for the third time in four seasons. They lost Game 7 to Washington last year.
Mike Zunino homered and drove in two runs for the Rays, who avoided the ignominy of joining the 2004 New York Yankees, who took a 3-0 lead in the ALCS and lost four straight to the Red Sox. Boston went on to win their first World Series in 86 seasons.
Arozarena, relatively unknown before these playoffs, set a rookie record with his seventh homer of the postseason. His 21 hits are one shy of Derek Jeter’s 1996 rookie postseason record.
Nicknamed “The Cuban Rocket”, the 25-year-old Arozarena drove a 1-1 sinker from Lance McCullers Jr to right-center field at Petco Park with one out in the first for a two-run homer.