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The initial statement from Celtic on Monday was Rodgers had resigned. Then came the statement from Desmond, reiterating this, while also launching a broadside at the former manager.

It was the first illustration of retaliation from the upper echelons of the club to a public narrative from Rodgers.

Since the summer, the now former Celtic manager has been repeatedly asked about – and answered – the lack of transfer activity, and also the quality of those who were actually brought in.

How did the transfer window leave Rodgers feeling? “Empty” he told his press conference on 12 September.

In that same media opportunity, he went on to speak of “cowardly” actions from a club insider who told a newspaper he was trying to manufacturer an exit.

He also waxed lyrical regarding his “huge respect” for Desmond.

The need for support in his team was clear: Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn were both sold, while Jota’s return has been marred by a long-term injury.

This has been compounded by new players struggling to make an impact, plus injuries to key players.

Only three summer recruits started the defeat by Hearts on Sunday.

The result? A pretty limp opening to a disappointing campaign. Eight points off leaders Hearts with points dropped in four games, and out of the Champions League while not scoring a goal against Kazakhstan side Kairat Almaty in a play-off.

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Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons 20–10 on Sunday, capped by a late-game touchdown from CMC.

McCaffrey’s historic night included rushing for both touchdowns and 129 yards on the ground, along with 72 receiving yards, marking his seventh career game with at least 100 rushing yards and 70 receiving yards, breaking a tie with Marshall Faulk and Priest Holmes for the most games.

Standing in for an injured Brock Purdy, Mac Jones completed 17-of-26 passes for 152 yards and one interception.

CMC thrilled fans with his historic performance that carried the 49ers to a win on Sunday.

It was a scoreless first quarter until the Falcons opened the second with a field goal to take a 3-0 lead.Â

Both teams committed turnovers in the second, but the 49ers capitalized, adding a field goal after an earlier touchdown to head into halftime with a 10-3 advantage.

The 49ers opened the second half with a field goal, and the Falcons answered with a touchdown to stay within reach, trailing by three heading into the fourth quarter.

Despite punting on their opening fourth-quarter possession, San Francisco stopped Atlanta on downs at their 35-yard line and capitalized with a McCaffrey touchdown to take a commanding 10 points lead with just under 2:30 left to seal the win.

The win improved the 49ers to 5–2 on the season, tying them with the Los Angeles Rams for first place in the NFC West. Meanwhile, the Falcons fell to 3–3 and dropped in the NFC South standings.

The 49ers will hit the road next Sunday to face the Houston Texans.

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MONTREAL (AP) — Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists as the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday night.

Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, J.T. Miller also scored and Matthew Robertson got his first NHL goal for the Rangers. Adam Fox had two assists and Jonathan Quick finished with 21 saves to help New York improve to 3-0-1 on the road this season.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki scored in the opening 3:42 of the game for Montreal, and Noah Dobson had a goal midway through the third period after the Rangers had taken a two-goal lead. Sam Montembeault had 18 saves as the Canadiens snapped a four-game win streak.

Zibanejad got the Rangers on the scoreboard with a power-play goal with 8:04 left in the opening period.

New York then scored three times in the first 5:51 of the third to take a 4-2 lead.

Miller tied it 34 seconds into the period and Robertson put the Rangers ahead for good at 4:11 in the young defenseman’s sixth career game. Panarin made it a two-goal lead 1:40 later.

Montreal recalled Owen Beck on an emergency basis before the game and fellow center Joe Veleno also made his season debut after the team announced injuries to Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach earlier in the day.

Panarin now has 33 points (eight goals, 25 assists) in 24 career games against the Canadiens.

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Rangers: Host Minnesota on Monday to open a two-game homestand.

Canadiens: Host Buffalo on Monday to finish a four-game homestand.

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Of Raducanu’s 22 defeats, only seven came against lower-ranked opponents, with three in the past month alone.

But beating the very best, who often possess greater power, has proved beyond her so far.

She lost 10 of her 11 matches against top-10 players in 2025, the exception being a victory over Emma Navarro in Miami in March.

She was very competitive against world number one Aryna Sabalenka on Wimbledon’s Centre Court – and took her to a third set tie-break in Cincinnati – but there was little room for encouragement elsewhere.

After a 6-1 6-2 loss to ninth seed Elena Rybakina at the US Open, Raducanu reflected on where she needs to improve to change the narrative.

“My serve – it’s been better, but I think it can get better [still],” she told BBC Sport.

“The ball after the serve as well, so I’m ready for a fast return. I think that’s where I still have some big work to do.

“I think starting the point is extremely important when you are playing at that kind of level.”

Raducanu developed an unfortunate habit in Asia of failing to convert match points.

Last year’s Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova saved three against her in Seoul, and then world number five Jessica Pegula did exactly the same in Beijing a week later.

More concerning, though, was the way Raducanu faded in the deciding set of those matches. Against Pegula, Raducanu went for broke and subsided quickly.

This was not something you could have accused her of over the summer, and was perhaps a sign of a body and mind wearied by nine months on the road.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Blake Snell this offseason so he could pitch well in the biggest moments.

And he did just that in Monday’s Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at American Family Field.

The two-time Cy Young winner allowed just one hit and struck out 10 in eight shoutout innings as he led the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers to seize a 1-0 advantage in the series. Los Angeles is now three wins away from reaching back-to-back World Series.

Snell didn’t need much run support, and the only offense he got came from a Freddie Freeman homer in the sixth and a Mookie Betts RBI walk in the ninth during what was also a strong bullpen game from Milwaukee.

That last run was key because the Brewers scored in the ninth and loaded the bases before Blake Treinen struck out Brice Turang to end the game and preserve the win for Snell, who drew plenty of reaction from social media:

While both offenses were quiet in the early going with Snell and Brewers reliever Quinn Priester—who entered the game after opener Aaron Ashby pitched the first inning—pitching well, one of the biggest moments of the game came in the fourth inning when it seemed as if Los Angeles might break it open.

It was also one of the strangest plays one could ever expect to see on the baseball field.

With the bases loaded, Max Muncy drilled a deep fly ball to center field that looked to be a grand slam when it was in the air. However, Sal Frelick kept the ball in the park and threw it into the infield, where the Brewers were able to get a double play thanks to confused base runners who weren’t sure if he caught it on a fly.

Teoscar Hernández initially tagged, started running home when he thought it wasn’t caught, returned to third when it looked like it might have been, and didn’t make it to home on time. Meanwhile, Will Smith went back to second base thinking it was caught and was forced out at third for a double play and no runs.

Some teams may have allowed such an unfortunate break to linger and undercut their efforts the rest of the game, but the Dodgers’ didn’t do that. Instead, Snell continued to dominate on the mound before Freeman launched a solo homer off Chad Patrick to break the scoreless tie in the sixth.

Even one run shifted all the pressure to Milwaukee’s offense given how dialed in Snell was on the mound. The southpaw maintained the lead with a 1-2-3 sixth inning and another 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, which extended his streak of consecutive batters retired to 14.

The only question at that point was whether he would pitch a complete game, and another 1-2-3 frame in the eighth made it seem like he might.

Perhaps he should have even with 103 total pitches because closer Roki Sasaki struggled in the in the ninth and allowed a run before he was pulled for Treinen.

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The location changed for Game 3 of the NLDS between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs, but the scoring cadence didnâ€t. There were first-inning fireworks in the Friendly Confines, too.

In an NL Central division showdown that produced 13 first-inning runs in the first two games, the Cubs put up a four-spot in the opening frame Wednesday, igniting the Wrigley Field fans desperate for more playoff baseball.

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They’re getting it.

The Cubs maintained their lead the rest of the way, even as the Brewers chipped away, and staved off elimination with a 4-3 victory. Milwaukeeâ€s series lead is down to 2-1, and Game 4 is Thursday at Wrigley.

[Get more Chicago news: Cubs team feed]

In the top of the first inning, the Brewers staked themselves to a 1-0 advantage, in large part thanks to Christian Yelich, who ripped a leadoff double off Cubs starter Jameson Taillon and then scored on a sac fly from Sal Frelick.

While the veteran Taillon ultimately recovered and turned in four innings of work, the same couldnâ€t be said for 25-year-old Brewers righty Quinn Priester. Pitching against the team he grew up rooting for, Priester battled command issues and gave up four runs and two walks in two-thirds of an inning before he was yanked.

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Redeeming himself after losing an infield popup in the sun that advanced Yelich to third in the first frame, Michael Busch blasted a leadoff homer for the second time in the series. Not even swirling Wrigley Field winds could keep this one out of the right-field bleachers.

The Cubs then loaded the bases, and Pete Crow-Armstrong smacked a two-out, two-RBI single to right, chasing Priester and forcing Brewers manager Pat Murphy into a bullpen game early.

In came Nick Mears, the first of five additional Milwaukee arms deployed Wednesday. Almost instantly, Mears fired a wild pitch that catcher William Contreras couldnâ€t corral while Crow-Armstrong swiped second. Ian Happ scored as a result, making it a 4-1 game.

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From there, the Cubs didn’t score again, and the Brewers chipped away at their deficit throughout the night.

Jake Bauers delivered an RBI single in the top of the fourth, and in the seventh, he teed off on reliever Andrew Kittredge’s first pitch, sending a solo shot over the left-center wall and cutting the Cubs†lead to 4-3.

Milwaukee threatened to break hearts in the eighth, loading the bases with two outs, and Bauers came up again with the tying run 90 feet away. Fortunately for Chicago, Brad Keller blew by Bauers with a 97-mph, four-seam fastball up in the zone for a clutch strikeout.

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With that, Keller secured the four-out save in the ninth and extended the Cubs’ playoff run at least one more day. Game 4 is scheduled for 9:08 p.m. ET Thursday in Chicago.

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However, it is clear that Gerrard, who has major backing from many supporters, is now emerging as one of the leading contenders for the position.

Gerrard was in charge of Rangers between 2018 and 2021, eventually leading the club to the domestic title – the Glasgow club’s first in 10 years.

Rangers have not been champions since Gerrard decided to leave for Aston Villa in November 2021.

After a 14th-placed finish in his first season in charge of the Premier League club, he was dismissed 12 games into the following campaign.

Gerrard became manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq in July 2023 but left by mutual consent in January and was subsequently linked with the Rangers job before Martin was appointed in June.

In an interview with former England team-mate Rio Ferdinand, Gerrard this week spoke of his desire to return to management but said he wanted “to be at a team that’s going to compete to win, because I think that suits me better”.

Martin won just five of his 17 matches in charge, leaving Rangers eighth in the table – 11 points adrift of leaders Heart of Midlothian.

Gerrard told the Rio Ferdinand Presents Podcast there had been “five or six really interesting phone calls” since he left Saudi Arabia but said the timing had not been right.

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) Blake Snell allowed one hit in six shutout innings, striking out nine, and the Los Angeles Dodgers barely turned back Philadelphiaâ€s late rally Monday night for a 4-3 victory over the Phillies in Game 2 of their NL Division Series.

Freddie Freeman made a game-saving defensive play at first base and Shohei Ohtani delivered an RBI single that helped the Dodgers take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five playoff. The defending World Series champs can reach their 17th National League Championship Series with a Game 3 win Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Will Smith had a two-run single in a four-run seventh, and the Dodgers took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Thatâ€s when the Phillies finally mounted a major threat.

Nick Castellanos slid headfirst into second base, narrowly eluding a tag, for a two-run double off Blake Treinen that at last sent the Philadelphia crowd into a frenzy and made it a 4-3 game.

Alex Vesia came in to face Bryson Stott, who tried to advance Castellanos with a bunt. But third baseman Max Muncy wheeled and threw to shortstop Mookie Betts sprinting over to cover the bag in time to get Castellanos.

Pinch-hitter Harrison Bader singled and Max Kepler grounded into a fielderâ€s choice that left runners at the corners with two outs.

Roki Sasaki entered and retired NL batting champion Trea Turner on a groundout to second for the rookieâ€s second career save – both in this series. Freeman went to his knees to pick Tommy Edmanâ€s poor throw on his backhand, keeping his right toe on the bag before rolling over onto his back with the ball.

Kepler tripled in the eighth and scored on Turnerâ€s single to trim it to 4-1.

A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Snell was sensational in holding the Phillies to another mostly punchless effort in the playoffs. Turner, NL home run champion Kyle Schwarber and two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper went a combined 1 for 10 with five strikeouts.

On the 15-year anniversary of Phillies ace Roy Halladayâ€s playoff no-hitter against the Reds, Snell had one going until Edmundo Sosaâ€s two-out single in the fifth.

Snell, who walked four and threw 99 pitches, was tangled in a duel with Jesús Luzardo until the seventh.

Luzardo threw 24 pitches in the first before the left-hander settled down and retired 17 straight Dodgers until Game 1 star Teoscar Hernández singled leading off the inning. Freeman doubled and that was all for Luzardo.

After reliever Orion Kerkering got a strikeout, Kiké Hernández hit a slow roller to shortstop and Turner rushed an off-target throw home that allowed Teoscar Hernández to score. Smith lined a two-run single for a 3-0 lead and Ohtani – who struck out four times in the opener and again leading off Game 2 – ripped a run-scoring single off left-handed reliever Matt Strahm for his first hit of the series.

The Dodgers, who used the injured list this season 37 times for 2,585 days, according to Major League Baseball, are finally mostly healthy and need to win just once in two home games to clinch the series. Teams taking a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five postseason series have won 80 of 90 times, including 54 sweeps.

The NL East champion Phillies were used to flailing at Snell.

Snell, who missed four months of his first season in Los Angeles with shoulder inflammation, struck out a season-high 12 over seven innings in a September start against the Phillies. Philadelphia players in the Game 2 starting lineup who had faced Snell hit only a combined .152 lifetime against him coming in.

Snell worked out of his only jam in the sixth, when he issued consecutive one-out walks to finally get a rise out of more than 45,000 fans who had been nervously subdued most of the game. Snell got Harper, the NLDS career home run leader with 11, to swing hard on strike three, and Alec Bohm ended the threat with a chopper to third that snuffed the energy out of the ballpark.

The slumping Phillies were 1 for 18 with nine strikeouts through six.

The Dodgers send RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound in Game 3. Yamamoto struck out a postseason-high nine while pitching into the seventh inning in the Wild Card Series clincher against Cincinnati. Aaron Nola will start for the Phillies.

—

AP NFL:

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Chelsea and Manchester United both maintained their unbeaten starts to the Womenâ€s Super League season, although the defending champions†100% winning record was brought to an end by an entertaining contest between the top two.

The result extended Unitedâ€s agonisingly long wait for a first WSL victory over Chelsea but they will have taken great encouragement from their performance, on a night when both teams created plenty of chances to win and the home side showed they may well have the qualities to mount a serious title challenge.

For a game played between the teams with the two best defensive records in the WSL last term, and which had conceded the fewest goals so far this season before kick-off, the game began in a surprisingly open fashion as both attacked early on. The contest opened at such a fast pace that it could easily have been 2-2 inside the first six minutes, with Hannah Hampton saving with her feet from Elisabeth Terland, Catarina Macarioâ€s effort being blocked by Maya Le Tissier, Jess Park firing narrowly over the crossbar and then Aggie Beever‑Jones following suit when she looked certain to score.

Chelsea did then provide the goal the early flurry of attacks had threatened, as Wieke Kaptein met Macarioâ€s clever back-heeled pass and slotted in a neat, clinical finish low into the corner, as the hosts conceded a league goal for only the second time this season.

Manchester United had lost 10 of their previous 11 WSL meetings with Chelsea, but this confident version of Marc Skinnerâ€s team were unwilling to roll over. Inspired by the dribbling of Park, who seemed determined to skip her way past as many defenders as possible and was the driving force of her teamâ€s adventurous play, they continued to create chances and they were soon level when Anna Sandberg scored her first goal for the club. She could hardly have caught her strike any sweeter, angling her foot perfectly over the ball to arrow a half-volley powerfully past Hampton from just outside the area.

The game was played amid Storm Amy, which brought swirling rain and gusts of wind, and started with a minuteâ€s silence following the terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday, with the home side also wearing black armbands as a mark of respect.

Additionally, both sets of teams joined together in a circle pre-match against racism at the start of Black History Month, in a week when the Peterborough player Kira Rai suffered racist abuse. The England and Tottenham forward Jessica Naz was the victim of racism online nine days previously.

Wieke Kaptein gave Chelsea an early lead. Photograph: Steve Taylor/PPAUK/Shutterstock

This was the ground where Chelsea clinched last seasonâ€s title, with a 1-0 victory in a game that had been fairly even. This looks like a much-improved United team since then, though, and they continued to threaten in the second half, with Fridolina Rolföâ€s deflected effort looping on to the top of the bar before Parkâ€s swerving effort flew narrowly over. Melvine Malard, on as a substitute, dragged a low shot wide with 21 minutes remaining.

Skinner had said on Wednesday that he wanted his team to be brave and “show Chelsea that you can beat themâ€, and they certainly seemed to respond to his rallying cry as they continued to play with intensity and attacking intent, while Chelsea remained dangerous at the other end too, with Beever-Jones going close.

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Such was the extent of the test Chelsea were being presented with, there was even a rare moment of frustration from Sonia Bompastor, with the Chelsea coach shown a yellow card in the second half after she bemoaned a free-kick decision against her team.

Chelseaâ€s Sjoeke Nüsken bent an effort just wide of a post as the visitors began to search for a late winner, and Alyssa Thompson was almost able to race through on to a loose ball inside the penalty area but she was tackled by the quick-thinking United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who also dived low to her left to keep out a Keira Walsh shot moments later.

Guro Reiten had a shot blocked in stoppage time, as late Chelsea pressure grew, but in the end a draw was a relatively fair result and sets the weekendâ€s action up nicely before the other two title contenders, Manchester City and Arsenal, go head-to-head on Saturday. They will be hungry to capitalise on Chelsea and United sharing a point, with City able to close to within a point of the leaders if they win.

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Émile Guité scored the shootout winner as the Chicoutimi Saguenéens held off a rally from the Cape Breton Eagles to win 3-2 on Thursday in Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League action.

Maxim Massé and Guité scored in regulation for Chicoutimi (3-1-0-1). Raphael Précourt made 26 saves.

Lucas Romeo and Eliot Litalien replied for Cape Breton (1-1-1-2). Félix Hamel stopped 24 shots.

Guité’s goal at 14:53 of the third period made it a 2-0 game for the Saguenéens.

However, Romeo made it a one-goal game on the power play with 2:31 remaining in regulation. Litalien added another power-play marker with 1:57 left to send the game to overtime.

GATINEAU, Que. — Nathan Leek capped a two-goal effort with the game-winning marker with 5:05 remaining in the third period as the Charlottetown Islanders edged the Gatineau Olympiques 4-3.

CJ Watroba and Tyler Peddle also scored for Charlottetown (5-0-0-1), which held a 3-1 lead before the Olympiques rallied to tie the game in the third period. Donald Hickey made 24 saves.

Simon-Xavier Cyr, Maxime Coté and Justin Boisselle provided the offence for Gatineau (3-2-0). Danai Shaiikov stopped 19-of-22 shots in 49:37 of action, with Nathan St-Pierre turning away 5-of-6 shots in relief.

HALIFAX — Quinn Kennedy scored twice as the Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 4-1.

Connor MacPherson and Daniel Walters added the others for Halifax (3-2-0), which got 25 saves from Owen Bresson.

Justin Gendron replied for Baie-Comeau (0-4-0-1). Lucas Beckman stopped 25-of-28 shots.

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