Sports Poets Society

A disgraceful episode in so many ways The verdict against Manchester City changes everything we understood about their era Arguably everyone who bought a Sky subscription in that period now has a claim against City 26 Sep 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport By Barney Ronay Welcome, then, to the age of asterisk. Whatever punishment Manchester City and their owners receive at the end of this process, the fact remains, everything is tainted now. Overturn the tables, scatter the gold coins. Throw your medals in the bin. You cheated to win them. Whatever that thing was, it’s done. Stolen glory, stolen income, stolen joy. Every chant, every “we won the lot”, every awkward documentary scene about the deep, throbbing heart of this empire of love. It all looks odd, sinister, cold, sloppy, but also, and this is always the best response, utterly absurd. This is not over of course. We still work on the principle of innocent until repeatedly proven guilty, pending mega-bucks final appeals. There could yet ...

League leaders have scored a glut of goals from dead balls this season – and they may be about to master throw-ins too 24 Jan 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Niall Mcveigh Set pieces are dominating the Premier League this season, with almost 30% of goals coming from corners, free-kicks, penalties or long throws. The leaders, Arsenal, are kings of the dead ball, scoring 17 of their 40 league goals from set pieces (including penalties). But what makes Mikel Arteta ’s side so effective in these areas, and what can opponents do to stop them? The data provides some answers. Rice and Saka in the swing Arsenal have scored 19 goals from corners in all competitions this season. Much of the credit for that goes to their primary corner takers, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka . Taking corners from the left with his right foot, Rice has created eight goals, compared with five from Saka , who offers left-foot deliveries from the right. The vast majority of Arsenal’s corners (81%) are in-swinging, and statis...