Sports
Manchester City and a refused pass that laid bare their myriad problems
Manchester City attempted 683 passes in their 1-1 draw with Everton, but it was one that Nathan Ake refused that revealed the tensions that are gnawing at them.
It came just as another flurry from Pep Guardiola’s side was beginning to settle down. A familiar sense of exasperation was already brewing in the stands — fans reflecting on Iliman Ndiaye’s sensational equaliser, that came from Everton’s first touch in the City box — but after a strong start to the second half, including a rare Erling Haaland penalty miss, adrenaline and indignation was beginning to take hold.
There was a roar as City regained possession deep in their own half, fans urging the team on as Ake ambled forward while Josko Gvardiol careered down the left flank. But as the Dutchman turned back to find Bernardo Silva in midfield, to a collective groan from home fans, Guardiola burst to the edge of his technical area and appealed for calm.
Everton scrambled back into their shape — Guardiola still pleading with his supporters — as a slower attacking move through the middle eventually fizzled out down the opposite side
It could have become the kind of sweeping move that City have struggled to contain throughout their growing winless run — no team have conceded more than their 5.3 expected goals (xG) from fast breaks in the Premier League this season — but it only underlined their aversion to exploiting such situations themselves.
Gvardiol had rushed past Jack Harrison, and clearly had the forward momentum to skip by 36-year-old Seamus Coleman at full-back, but on this occasion, Guardiola’s insistence on controlled build-up prevailed over common sense. City had sufficient numbers back to deal with any loss of possession and a counter-attack the opposite way, and given their current issues controlling such situations even when they are in their desired defensive shape, surely they should have just taken the chance.
It was, of course, just one individual decision in a game of millions. But as City once again looked more threatening when they picked up the pace and were more aggressive in their movement, it poses the question as to whether Guardiola’s side should embrace the disorganisation of a direct forward run that little bit more.
Despite long periods of safe attacking play, City were not completely risk-averse in their approach. Particularly in the opening 15 minutes, they seemed desperate to score the first goal, aware that their opponents had ground out consecutive clean sheets against Arsenal and Chelsea, and were capable of turning this into a 90-minute slog.
City usually bring one of their full-backs into midfield to help with their build-up, but it was noticeable how they pushed both Rico Lewis and Gvardiol high and wide as they came flying out of the blocks, looking to overload Everton’s back four and stretch them across the pitch.
As we can see from the grab below, with Lewis cut from the shot in the bottom right, the approach was practically a 3-0-7 as City piled on the pressure in the early stages.
After Silva nicked the opening goal, however, Lewis was quickly restored to his more central role to offer more control in the build-up and make City more compact should they lose the ball.
Here he is three minutes after the goal, close to Mateo Kovacic in midfield.
It was a conscious decision by Guardiola to take the sting out of the game and revert to a more settled shape, and he may have been vindicated had Ndiaye not produced a moment of brilliance on the break. But with City so susceptible to sucker punches right now, it felt a missed opportunity to see them take their foot off the gas so soon.
One of the side effects of Lewis dropping back into midfield is that his winger — Savinho yesterday — loses support out on the flank. The Brazilian took 15 touches in the quarter of an hour leading up to City’s goal, but only 16 throughout the rest of the half.
Data from SkillCorner helps to paint the picture further: City are the team in Europe’s big five leagues who make fewest overlapping runs per 30 minutes in possession. They have also attempted the fewest passes to find a runner in-behind relative to their possession, taking up around 46 per cent of their opportunities to find those runs when they are made. Unsurprisingly, that’s the lowest such proportion in the Premier League this season.
There are several factors that influence those numbers — the fact that City tend to face teams who sit deep and deny them space in behind being one — but the lack of movement from forward players while the team inches forward has become increasingly apparent in recent weeks. It makes things predictable, as it did for Aston Villa, and only increases the difficulty of finding players in congested central areas, mostly static and with their back to goal.
There was an encouraging example of a positional rotation in their 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the start of the month, as Jack Grealish dragged a defender into midfield to allow Gvardiol to steam through for a shot on goal, but City seem reluctant to make such disruptive strides forward as often as they could.
A gloomy way of looking at things is that dropped points don’t matter so much now that City are so far away from the summit. The damage — from a title-chasing perspective, if not perhaps Champions League qualification — has already been done.
But starting a run of three winnable games with another setback feels like a missed opportunity for the team to rebuild confidence in front of goal. Had City been more ruthless in their approach, and gone for the kind of passes that Ake turned down, their firepower might have overridden some of the bad luck.
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
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After a slow first round at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia on Thursday, pace of play was a point of emphasis at the PGA Championship on Friday.
However, when an official approached Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley, they became animated.
Thomas, a longtime Team USA Ryder Cup member, and Bradley, last year’s United States captain, were on the fourth hole when they were approached by an official in a cart, and the conversation quickly turned into finger-pointing.
Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley watch from the tenth green during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2026. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Thomas said after the round that he, Bradley and fellow USA Ryder Cupper Cameron Young, who won the Cadillac Championship earlier this month, were put on the clock, with the official telling them to pick up the pace. However, both Bradley and Thomas appeared to point at the group in front of them.
“We just didn’t really agree with it,” Thomas said, citing course conditions, high winds and tough pins. “We were behind. That wasn’t our issue… It’s just the fact that we weren’t holding up the group behind us.”
Thomas said they were caught up with the pace on the very next hole.
Justin Thomas plays his shot on the 15th tee during the second round of the PGA Championship in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
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Thomas had a lengthy conversation with the official, while Bradley appeared to make his point short and sweet — though he was definitely not happy with the call.
It is a large PGA Championship field, with 156 golfers at the course and groups even starting their rounds on the back nine. The scores have also been rather high, with just 25 players below par at the time of publishing.
Aronimink also features a shared tee box on 1 and 10, holes 9 and 17 crossing paths, and a lengthy par-3 eighth hole that’s causing problems. Three par-3s are over 200 yards on the course, and there is also a 457-yard par 4 on the fourth.
Keegan Bradley prepares to putt on the 14th green during the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on May 14, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
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As Chris Gotterup put it on Friday, “You’re not going to get any four-and-a-half hour rounds out here.”
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The Sparks are finally in the win column, but the outcome was in doubt late Friday night.
Behind double-digit scoring from all five starters, the Sparks had by far their best offensive showing of the season, shooting 63.8% during a 99-95 win over the expansion Toronto Tempo.
The Tempo didn’t make things easy, cutting the deficit to two points late and later trailing by just three with 31 seconds remaining and possession of the ball. Marina Mabrey missed a three-point attempt before late Tempo fouls gave the Sparks enough of a cushion to win.
Kelsey Plum nearly claimed a double-double with 27 points and nine assists, while Dearica Hamby had 19 points with seven rebounds and Nneka Ogwumike scored 20 points.
Erica Wheeler, who started in place of Ariel Atkins (concussion), scored 10 points with seven assists and was a plus-16 as the primary ball handler after starting the season two for 16 from the field. That freed up Plum to be in position to score, setting up a much more efficient Sparks offense.
Toronto was shorthanded in the frontcourt without starting center Temi Fagbenle (right shoulder), and the Sparks trio of bigs had a field day with 54 points in the paint.
The Sparks came out firing on Friday, opening with a 17-2 run.
The Tempo went on a 10-0 burst heading into the second quarter but the Sparks countered to maintain momentum and led 46-38 at halftime.
A Wheeler three-pointer early in the third quarter gave the Sparks a 20-point lead. The Tempo cut it to three midway through the fourth while Brittany Sykes (27 points, seven assists) sparked Toronto’s rally. The Tempo put up more shots than the Sparks, 70-58, largely because of a 10-2 offensive-rebounding gap.
Cameron Brink’s 10 points were the only ones provided by the Sparks’ bench, while the Tempo got 42 points from reserves.
Toronto was coming off its first win in franchise history on Wednesday when it defeated Seattle but struggled against a more complete offensive team in the Sparks.
In her return to Los Angeles after winning a national championship with UCLA this spring, Tempo rookie Kiki Rice netted 11 points.
Kate Martin made her Sparks debut as a developmental player with Atkins and Sania Feagin (lower left leg) unavailable and picked up one rebound in six minutes.
The Sparks will face Toronto again on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
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The WNBA season has been in session for about a week, so it is far too early to make assumptions about teams. That doesn’t mean we won’t make them; it’s just too early to really believe it. I lost my first WNBA bet this season, so I’m hoping to avenge that loss here as the Sky take on the Mercury.
The Chicago Sky are one of the most poorly run franchises in basketball. They have had some great names on their team and only one championship to show for it.
Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner shoots over Indiana Fever guard Aerial Powers in the first half at PHX Arena. (Rick Scuteri/Imagn Images)
There really isn’t a clear indication of what is wrong with the franchise, but they’ve never been able to retain their talent. Aside from Kamilla Cardoso, I can’t name a player on this team that they’ve actually drafted. They just seem to get good players and then show them the door.
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Even though they’ve had questionable front office decisions, they seem to have put together a solid team for this season – something I didn’t expect before the season started.
They are 2-0, which is too early to really say they are a good team. I also want to reserve judgment until they face a team with a longer history than last year. The Portland Tempo played their first-ever game against the Sky, and Golden State was good last year, but still is in just their second season of existence.
The Phoenix Mercury are actually considered one of the best franchises in the league. I’m sure there are issues that people have reported, but for the most part, they have good facilities, and people want to play for their team. They made it all the way to the WNBA Finals last season before falling to the Las Vegas Aces. This year, they are looking to restart that journey and see if they can win the last game of the year.
Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper dribbles the ball in the second half at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., on July 27, 2025. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
It will need to come with some better play than they’ve shown through three games this year. They are just 1-2 for the year with a 0-1 home record. The lone win was a blowout victory over the Aces (a clear revenge game if we’ve ever seen one). Then they lost the next two games against Golden State and Minnesota. Losing to the Lynx wouldn’t be a problem, but they didn’t have Napheesa Collier, who still has an ankle injury.
I expect the Mercury to make some adjustments for this game. They haven’t looked very crisp to begin the year, but they’ve been strong on offense, averaging 87 points per game.
The Sky are going to keep relying on their offense to do just enough and their defense to lock in. The Sky do have an edge on the interior, so they can get buckets fairly easily down low. I like the over 166.5 in this game.
Chicago Sky guard Skylar Diggins chases the ball during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on May 13, 2026. (Bob Kupbens/Imagn Images)
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I also think it is worth betting on Kahleah Copper to go over her point total. Copper had two rough games before she broke out in the last game. Now she has the same sight lines and can attack the bigs from the Sky with her athleticism. Since going to Phoenix, she has scored 29, 7, 16, 25 and 28 points in five games against them.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
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