Sports
‘Big brother’ Giroud strikes late to lift Lille past Monaco | The Express Tribune
MARSEILLE:
Even though he is about to turn 39, Olivier Giroud promised “this is only the beginning” after striking in added time on Sunday to give Lille a 1-0 Ligue 1 win over visiting Monaco.
Giroud, the French national team’s all-time leading scorer, was brought in by Lille in part to replace Jonathan David, who was making a scoring Serie A debut for Juventus on Sunday night.
“It was a challenge I thought I could take on,” said Giroud. “I’m a man who likes a challenge.
“I’m enjoying myself, even if it’s a little harder to recover with age.”
Giroud had scored 11 minutes into his first outing for Lille as they drew 3-3 at Brest in the first round.
Sunday’s was a far cagier match, before Giroud broke the dull deadlock in the 91st minute.
Receiving the ball with his back to goal, the centre forward spun, glanced towards the far post and then, with goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky moving the wrong way, thumped a shot into the middle of the net.
“This is only the beginning,” said Giroud. “There will also be moments that are a little less cool, but we’ll deal with those too.”
With Monaco pressing, Lille won a penalty on the counter-attack but Giroud swerved his spot-kick over the bar. A “slight blemish”, he said.
“We needed this victory to get our season off to a flying start,” said Giroud.
“I’m going to continue… in this big brother role, which I quite enjoy.
“We have young players pushing behind us, and at some point they will also be able to contribute.”
Coach Bruno Genesio was impressed that Giroud did his damage in the closing minutes, praising the striker’s “technical mastery at the end of the match, despite his fatigue”.
“We played a real team game and he contributed a lot by keeping possession,” he added.
Earlier, Rennes had two players sent off in the first 10 minutes and four seconds at Lorient and went on to lose 4-0.
The week before Rennes had played an hour a man short but still beat Marseille 1-0.
“We need aggression,” said Rennes coach Habib Beye. “Last year we didn’t have enough, now we have too much.”
For Rennes the trouble once again started before kick-off.
Last week, central defender Mikayil Faye overslept and missed the season-opening win over Marseille in which another defender Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal was sent off. He was suspended for Sunday’s game.
With right-back Przemyslaw Frankowski injured, Mousa Al-Tamari was due to take over at wing-back. But the Jordanian arrived late for a pre-match meeting and was dropped by Beye.
Mahdi Camara, a summer arrival from Saint-Etienne, stepped in for his Rennes debut. It lasted four minutes.
Camara caught Lorient’s Dermane Karim in the head with a boot and was sent off.
In the 10th minute, Christopher Wooh brought down Aiyegun Tosin who was running at goal. Wooh was sent off.
“Unfortunately, both red cards were deserved,” said Beye.
Statistical service Opta said its Ligue 1 records went back to 1992 and it could find no previous instance of two players from the same team being sent off so soon after the opening whistle.
After an hour’s practice playing short-handed last week, the nine men held out until the fourth minute of first-half added time when Sambou Soumano gave the hosts the lead.
The visitors then unravelled. Tosin added a second two minutes into the second half, Pablo Pagis struck in the 65th minute and Theo Le Bris pounced four minutes later.
“Once we were down to nine men, it was a match we could no longer control, a match where we unfortunately had to shut up shop,” said Beye.
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Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor was hospitalized on Friday, TMZ reported.
The New York Giants legend suffered a medical emergency in New Jersey, warranting the visit, the outlet said.
Taylor’s status is unclear at this time, but TMZ said that it does not appear to be serious, citing “those close to” him.
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Former New York Giant Lawrence Taylor attends a game between the Giants and the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Jan. 1, 2023. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Taylor’s former Giants did not immediately respond to an email.
L.T. is widely regarded as the greatest linebacker to ever play. He was a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, including in his rookie season.
He won two Super Bowls, made 10 straight Pro Bowls and was named the MVP of the 1986 season. He also remains the franchise’s all-time sacks leader, which includes his 9½ sacks from his rookie season, before sacks became a stat.
New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor enters the field before a game against the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sept. 8, 2024. (John Jones/Imagn Images)
This came despite a lavish lifestyle off the field, which resulted in legal troubles after his playing days. Drug problems have also resulted in health problems later in life.
Taylor showed his support for President Donald Trump in 2024, appearing at a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey.
“I grew up a Democrat, and I’ve always been a Democrat, until I met this man right here,” Taylor said to cheers. “Nobody in my family ever will vote for a Democrat again.”
President Donald Trump and former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor attend an executive order signing ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 31, 2025. The order formally reestablishes the Presidential Fitness Test, creating school-based programs that reward excellence in physical education. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg)
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Taylor made Giants headlines last year when he quickly turned down Abdul Carter’s request to wear his No. 56 that has been retired by the organization since 1994, just one season after he retired.
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KARACHI: Islamabad United on Friday handed Hyderabad Kingsmen a humiliating eight-wicket defeat in the 36th match of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 at the National Bank Stadium.
The victory, which marked United’s fifth in the ongoing eight-team tournament, propelled the three-time champions into the playoffs, joining leaders Peshawar Zalmi and 2021 champions Multan Sultans.
Set to chase a modest 81-run target, the United comfortably knocked the winning runs for the loss of just two wickets and 80 balls to spare.
The 2024 champions, however, had a contrasting start to the pursuit as they lost left-handed opener Devon Conway (zero) on the second delivery of the innings.
But Sameer Minhas and Mohsin Riaz batted sensibly to put United within touching distance as they put together 79 runs for the second wicket until Ali struck again, dismissing Riaz, who top-scored with 42 off just 18 deliveries, studded with six fours and two sixes.
Minhas, on the other hand, remained unbeaten with 27 off 20 deliveries, featuring three fours and a six, while skipper Shadab hit the winning runs in the same over with a boundary on the first delivery he faced.
For the Kingsmen, Mohammad Ali remained the solitary wicket-taker in the gruelling defeat with two scalps.
United captain Shadab Khan’s decision to field first paid dividends as his team’s bowling unit booked the new entrants for 80 in 15.5 overs.
Kingsmen got off to the worst possible start to their innings as Gleeson dismissed Maaz Sadaqat (zero) on the first delivery of the innings.
The right-arm pacer swept through their top order by getting rid of Marnus Labuschagne (five) and Saim Ayub (12) in his next two overs and brought the total down to 24/3.
Following Gleeson’s early blitz was backed by the experienced spin duo of captain Shadab and Imad Wasim as they dismantled Kingsmen’s middle and lower orders by taking three wickets each despite last match centurion Usman Khan’s grit.
The wicketkeeper batter waged a lone battle for the Kingsmen with an unbeaten 25 off 35 deliveries, during which he struck only one boundary.
Besides Usman and Saim, only Kusal Perera and Asif Mehmood, 12 each, could amass double figures against a ruthless United bowling attack.
For United, Gleeson, Imad and Shadab bagged three wickets each, while left-arm pacer Salman Mirza chipped in with one scalp.
Playing XIs
Hyderabad Kingsmen: Maaz Sadaqat, Marnus Labuschagne (c), Saim Ayub, Kusal Perera, Usman Khan (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Hassan Khan, Hunain Shah, Mohammad Ali and Asif Mehmood.
Islamabad United: Devon Conway (wk), Sameer Minhas, Mark Chapman, Mohsin Riaz, Shadab Khan (c), Haider Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Chris Green, Imad Wasim, Richard Gleeson and Salman Mirza.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday Washington had no objections to Iranian players participating in the 2026 Fifa World Cup but he added the players will not be allowed to bring with them people with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Nothing from the US has told them they can’t come,” Rubio told reporters.
President Donald Trump also said his administration “would not want to affect the athletes” in comments he made at the White House.
The 2026 soccer World Cup is set to begin on June 11 across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Paolo Zampolli, a Trump envoy who has no official connection with the World Cup, had earlier suggested that Italy should replace Iran at the tournament.
“The problem with Iran would be not their athletes. It would be some of the other people they would want to bring with them, some of whom have ties to the IRGC. We may not be able to let them in but not the athletes themselves,” Rubio said.
“They can’t bring a bunch of IRGC terrorists into our country and pretend that they are journalists and athletic trainers,” Rubio added. Washington has designated the IRGC as a “foreign terrorist organisation.”
Currently there is no suggestion Iran will withdraw or be banned from the tournament that Italy missed out on.
After the start of the Iran war, Iran requested that Fifa move the team’s three group matches from the US to Mexico, which was rejected.
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states with US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions. A fragile ceasefire in the Iran war began over two weeks ago.
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