Sports
Man City show why they are worthy WSL title winners as tired United wilt
MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City might as well get the champagne on ice, with their first Women’s Super League trophy in a decade all but wrapped up in a sparkly blue ribbon. And where better to cement their claim on the WSL title than in their local rivals’ backyard at Old Trafford?
United needed no reminder which club was holding the reins in the WSL title race this season as “we are top of the league” reverberated around the half-empty stadium from the City fans, silencing the subdued home crowd.
That is a bit of an understatement. City are now 11 points clear at the top of the table and could be crowned champions in the next league game against Brighton if fourth-place Arsenal drop points in their three games in hand before then. United is second, but this title contest has always been a one-horse race.
The comfortable 3-0 victory encapsulated on Saturday all the reasons why City are worthy title winners. But perhaps the most standout reason is that they are the only side to have beaten all top three opponents this season after defeating Chelsea 5-1, Arsenal 3-2, and United 6-0 across both league meetings.
This win was all too easy for the visitors, as they took full advantage of United’s exhaustion in the midst of an unexpected run to the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinals against Bayern Munich. Goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce made a fine save in the opening minute, but it wasn’t long before Vivianne Miedema struck twice in two minutes — both with her head — to open City’s account. She was loosely marked for the first, and rather than learning from their mistakes, United’s defense left her even more open for the second after a flowing move.
It was almost a third when Rebecca Knaak headed home in the 25th minute — a carbon copy of the first goal — but referee Kirsty Dowle ruled the goal out for obstruction on Tullis-Joyce by Aoba Fujino.
It was clear that City would not relent, and United had little opportunity to counter. When they could get going in attacking areas, a poor final touch often broke down a promising move. And things got worse in the second half. Having hit the crossbar from range earlier in the game, Lauren Hemp orchestrated the third goal as she barrelled down the pitch to beautifully set up Kerstin Casparij, who was racing into the box.
It is the mark of a worthy winner that even when prolific striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw — in line for another Golden Boot title with 18 goals thus far — was playing far from her best, the team could comfortably cruise to victory. The Jamaica international struggled to bury her chances, but her work rate and physicality still proved too much for United’s backline.
Around this time last season, City fell apart after Shaw was ruled out for the rest of the campaign. Her injury, compounded by the absences of Hemp, Miedema, Alex Greenwood and Mary Fowler, completely derailed their campaign, and they finished outside the top WSL three and exited the UWCL at the semifinal stage.
But this chain of events set them up for success this season, though. After sacking manager Gareth Taylor and bringing in Andree Jeglertz, the squad’s return to full strength and key signings in both transfer windows allowed City to remain in the WSL driver’s seat since that opening-day defeat to Chelsea.
Their lack of European football has arguably been the biggest reason for their sustained success, as they have been able to rest and recover without a backlog of games, but the same can’t be said for United, whose league ambitions fell apart amid their debut UWCL campaign.
The “Theatre of Dreams” has become the “Theatre of Nightmares” for United this week. On Wednesday, they showed spirit to come from behind twice against Bayern Munich, but ultimately lost 3-2, which leaves them with a tough ask to overturn the deficit ahead of the second leg next week.
That result would have stung, but the loss to City would have hurt even more. Though a development from the pair’s first meeting this season — when United failed to register a shot on target in a 3-0 loss at the Etihad — United’s failure to compete with their- two shots on target, 37% possession and only 14 touches in the opposition box, was indicative of the gap between them.
United are clearly a team struggling to balance the WSL and Europe — which is nothing new — but the toll of the UWCL has been high. United have eight key players missing: six through injury, one through suspension, and one due to pregnancy. On Saturday, they had only five outfield substitutes available … three of whom were 18 or under.
“We’re limited with the squad we have,” United boss Marc Skinner said after the game. “The players are giving everything we’ve got. It’s nothing to do with anything more than that. The more fatigued you are, the less likely you are to get that body shape right. Tiredness creeps in.
“How we have to plan going forwards, if we want to continually go to the depths in this competition level, so the Champions League, League, Cups, we have to design the squad with bigger numbers and bigger experience if I’m being honest.”
That kind of thing is likely to impact any team, but United’s squad depth was small to begin with and now their hopes of salvaging their season hang by a thread. They have already lost the League Cup final 2-0 to Chelsea and were knocked out of the FA Cup by the same opponent; they could be out of the WSL top three by Sunday and out of the UWCL by Wednesday.
In truth, they were never going to stop City. The champions-elect have been the only real contenders for the title all season and, though they gave glimmers of hope after the narrow loss to Arsenal and draw with Aston Villa, their early points accumulation (while their opponents were battling through European fixtures), gave them enough of a cushion.
City will soon end their 10-year title drought, and no one could say they aren’t deserving winners; United’s only consolation will be that they didn’t seal it in their own back yard.
SYDNEY: As Twenty20 cricket competitions explode around the world, Australia’s Big Bash League is struggling to chart a vision for the future, after plans to privatise its franchises stalled.
Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg is adamant that outside investment is necessary to shore up the game’s financial future and keep pace with a boom in other well-funded leagues played in a similar time slot.
They include the UAE’s ILT20, South Africa’s SA20, and New Zealand’s privately-backed NZ20 scheduled to start in December 2027, all bidding for the best local and overseas players.
“If those salary caps (of other leagues) are significantly higher than ours over the coming years, and players can earn more in those areas, then players will follow those. That’s a real risk to us,” Greenberg told local media.
“I want to make sure that for Australian cricket, our ambition is to have a league that runs at the key part of the year for us, which is the December-January window, and it’s the best T20 league in the world at that moment in time.
“To do that, we have to have a significant amount of money in our salary caps to attract not only the best players from overseas, but to retain and attract our own best players.”
He added: “The concept of bringing private capital to cricket is inevitable at some point.”
While not a direct competitor as it runs in a different window, the benchmark Indian Premier League has seen massive success thanks to wealthy benefactors, with England’s The Hundred also on a roll after an influx of private capital.
But it is a thorny issue in Australia with an initial proposal to sell stakes in each of BBL’s eight teams stalling last month amid concerns about a loss of control for the game’s local custodians.
While the Victorian, Western Australian and Tasmanian cricket associations voiced support and South Australia said it was open to the idea, New South Wales and Queensland rejected the move.
Queensland Cricket, which controls the Brisbane Heat, said it was worried about player payments skyrocketing to unsustainable levels, and that private owners may not be as invested in the grassroots game.
Cricket NSW, which operates the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder, was similarly concerned that it could be detrimental to how the sport is governed and how local players are produced.
‘Sugar hit’
There are also fears about an Indian takeover, with the most likely buyers seen as the rich IPL team owners who have invested in other short-form competitions around the globe.
Former Australian captain Greg Chappell is in the “No” camp, arguing that the BBL belongs to the states and communities that have built it into a successful and well-attended product.
While acknowledging the commercial realities, he said selling it off was not the answer.
“The moment you introduce private ownership at scale, you introduce a set of priorities that may not always align with the long-term health of the game,” he wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Private investors, however well-intentioned, answer to shareholders, not to Australian cricket.”
Andrew Jones, a former head of strategy at Cricket Australia who was instrumental in the launch of the BBL, is similarly unconvinced.
“A one-off sale is a sugar hit, not a solution,” he said in The Australian newspaper, arguing that revenues can be better grown through sponsorships, wagering, ticketing, and more focus on commercialising the women’s game.
Despite scepticism, Greenberg remains confident and is now eyeing a hybrid ownership model.
This would allow the BBL franchises keen to sell stakes to do so while allowing those against to maintain complete ownership.
“If we end up not going together at the same time, can we still extract the same level of revenue, and can we extract the same level of value?” he said.
“I think we can, but I’ve got to do the work to satisfy a recommendation that would ultimately go to the members and our board.”
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The New York Knicks took a commanding 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday as the franchise eyes its first NBA Finals berth since 1999.
Jalen Brunson scored 30 points to lead New York to a 121-108 win over Cleveland, while Mikal Bridges added 22 as the Knicks never trailed in Game 3.
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The New York Knicks bench reacts during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game three of the Eastern Conference finals at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 23, 2026. (David Richard/Imagn Images)
New York is the seventh team in NBA history to win at least 10 straight during a postseason run. The last team to do it was the Boston Celtics, who also went on a 10-game run on their way to the 2024 title.
All but one of the Knicks’ wins have been by double digits, with an average margin of victory of 22.5 points.
Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell finished with 23 points in 38 minutes, while teammate James Harden added 21. Cleveland shot 12 of 41 from 3-point range and 12 of 19 from the foul line.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives to the basket against New York Knicks guard Landry Shamet (44) during the first quarter in Game Three of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Rocket Arena on May 23, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Cleveland rallied and tied it at 50-all on a jumper by Harden before the Knicks countered with a 10-1 run. They went into halftime with a 60-54 advantage.
Music superstar Taylor Swift was courtside for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night alongside fiancé and Ohio native Travis Kelce.
Swift and Kelce, who recently signed a three-year, $54 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, took their seats in Rocket Arena shortly before the opening tip.
Singer Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce attend Game Three of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 23, 2026. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
With the Cavs trailing 91-82 at the end of the third quarter, Kelce and Swift were shown on the arena’s giant scoreboard. Fans cheered wildly as Kelce showed off his team cap and wine-and-gold shirt.
Game 4 is set for Monday night at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. The series will return to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 on Wednesday, if necessary.
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Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs will host the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 on Sunday night. Oklahoma City enters the matchup with a 2-1 series lead.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sports
NASCAR’s Truck Series and O’Reilly Autoparts Series honor Kyle Busch with moments of silence at Charlotte
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The NASCAR world is paying tribute to Kyle Busch this weekend, and that includes some classy ones from two series in which the late driver had a lot of success.
While Busch — who passed away Thursday after “severe pneumonia [that] progressed into sepsis” — had been a full-time driver in NASCAR’s top series, the Cup Series, for more than 20 years, he still competed occasionally in both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series.
He was especially known for his dominance in the Truck Series, winning 69 of his 184 races, and at one point owned a team. In fact, the final win of Busch’s career came just under a week before his death in a Truck Series race at Dover.
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Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, is introduced before the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 1, 2026. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
On Friday, the Truck Series was in Charlotte as part of the Coca-Cola 600 weekend for a race that Busch was supposed to take part in.
NASCAR, RACING WORLD REACTS TO KYLE BUSCH’S SHOCKING DEATH AT 41: ‘CANNOT COMPREHEND THIS NEWS’
Corey Day was in the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, the truck in which Busch took his final win, and it was set to start on pole after Friday’s qualifying was rained out.
Kyle Busch celebrates the final win of his NASCAR career at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo by David Hahn/Icon Sportswire)
Before the race was set to begin on Friday evening, teams and fans held a moment of silence for Busch.
Unfortunately, the race never got underway and was postponed until Saturday morning and then again to Saturday night.
The O’Reilly Autoparts Series, which Busch raced in many times and won many times during his career, also took a moment to remember him before their race at Charlotte on Saturday.
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That race was also suspended due to rain.
There will be some heavy hearts on Sunday when the Coca-Cola 600, the NASCAR Cup Series’ longest race of the year, gets started at 6 p.m. ET.
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