Harry Kane has explained why he was surprisingly named as a substitute before scoring a hat-trick in Bayern Munich’s thumping 5-0 win over Stuttgart on Saturday. The England captain continued his rich vein of goalscoring form in his side’s latest Bundesliga victory, but he admits he was as shocked as anybody that he had to emerge from the bench to do so.

Eyebrows raised as Kompany starts Jackson ahead of Kane

Returning to league action following Wednesday’s triumph over Union Berlin in the last 16 of the DFB-Pokal, Bayern travelled to sixth-placed Stuttgart for what looked to be a tricky test on paper. One of the strongest teams in German football, Sebastian Hoeness’ hosts were also victorious in midweek, downing VFL Bochum 2-0 to book their place in the quarter-finals of the domestic cup.

However, one or two eyebrows were raised before kick-off when the news emerged that Bayern star Kane would start the match on the bench. After scoring in the victory over Union, the former Tottenham forward took his goal tally to 25 in just 21 fixtures in all competitions for Vincent Kompany’s side, who opted to field Chelsea loanee Nicolas Jackson up top.

AdvertisementAFPFormer Tottenham striker shows class with stunning hat-trick

Ever the consummate professional, though, Kane showed no signs of frustration after being introduced on the hour mark, replacing fellow striker Jackson who was unable to find the back of the net for Bayern.

Already in front thanks to midfielder Konrad Laimer’s opener, Kane doubled Bayern’s lead just six minutes after being brought on, before going on to grab his second of the game from the penalty spot.

And to cap off a remarkable 30-minute display, Kane followed up Josip Stanisic scoring Bayern’s fourth by completing his hat-trick on the 88th-minute mark. The win saw Kompany’s side move 11 points clear at the top of the league table ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig’s clash with Eintracht Frankfurt later in the day.

Bayern star man Kane reveals why he started on the bench

When asked about starting the match among the substitutes, Kane lifted the lid on manager Kompany’s thinking, saying the Bayern head coach wanted to keep him “fresh” ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Portuguese giants Sporting CP at the Allianz Arena.

Speaking after the full-time whistle, Kane said: “It's something I'm not used to, but I did it a couple of times this season. The boss wanted to keep me fresh and save energy. 

“I came on after 60 minutes with a couple of other guys and we were able to exploit the space and get the goals. 

“We had a tough battle in the cup midweek and today we faced one of the best teams in the league away, but we looked stronger in the last half an hour and punished them.”

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Getty Images SportManager Kompany also opens up about his gutsy decision

And when Kompany was asked about the gutsy decision to rest Kane, the former Burnley manager revealed the plan was to always introduce the talisman around the hour mark.

“I had this change in mind before the game started,” said Kompany. “We have 4 games in 11 days. If I start Harry every game and he plays 90 minutes, I'll get questions about why he always plays. 

“Every time we played Stuttgart we've always grown stronger as the game progressed. I felt the spaces would be bigger when Harry came on, it was a good moment for him to come on. And he did what he does.”

Longtime Los Angeles Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw further cemented his legacy as one of the best pitchers of his era by recording his 3,000th strikeout on Wednesday night against the Chicago White Sox.

The 37-year-old Kershaw entered Wednesday night's contest against the White Sox needing just three strikeouts to make history. He recorded his 3,000th strikeout in the sixth inning, fanning White Sox third baseman Vinny Capra looking to reach the epic milestone.

Kershaw is the 20th pitcher in major league history to accomplish the feat, and the first since Max Scherzer eclipsed the 3,000 strikeout mark in 2021.

Chicago Cubs left fielder Ian Happ tried to pull a fast one during his club's 3–0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. In the top of the first inning, Happ was on first base after singling when teammate Seiya Suzuki sent a fly ball to deep right field, which, for all intents and purposes appeared to be an extra base hit.

Happ apparently thought so, as he was chugging along towards second base, even rounding the bag when Cardinals right fielder Alec Burleson corralled the baseball with an impressive over-the-shoulder catch for the out.

Happ, who stumbled as he rounded second base, did not retouch the bag but instead opted to sneakily cut across the infield, humorously running right next to second base umpire Ramon de Jesus at one point.

The Cardinals noticed and Happ was doubled up for the last out of the first inning. Happ's apparent brain fart ultimately didn't hurt the Cubs, whose eventual victory salvaged a split in the four-game series with St. Louis.

اختتمت منافسات الجولة الثانية من دور المجموعات ببطولة كأس العرب 2025 المقامة في دولة قطر.

وتأهلت منتخبات السعودية والأردن والعراق بعد حصد كل منها 6 نقاط بعد تحقيق الفوز في الجولتين الأولى والثانية.

طالع.. المنتخبات المتأهلة إلى دور الـ8 من كأس العرب 2025 (محدث باستمرار)

وتقام بطولة كأس العرب 2025، في دولة قطر، حيث انطلقت في الأول من ديسمبر وتنتهي في 18 من الشهر ذاته، بمشاركة 16 منتخبًا.

ومن المقرر أن يتأهل المنتخبين أصحاب المركزين الأول والثاني من الـ4 مجموعات المتنافسة في بطولة كأس العرب. ترتيب مجموعات كأس العرب

ترتيب المجموعة الأولى في كأس العرب 2025

سوريا 4 نقاط

فلسطين 4 نقاط

قطر 1 نقطة

تونس 1 نقطة

ترتيب المجموعة الثانية في كأس العرب 2025

السعودية 6 نقاط

المغرب 4 نقاط

عُمان 1 نقطة

جزر القمر 0 نقاط

ترتيب المجموعة الثالثة في كأس العرب 2025

الأردن 6 نقاط

مصر 2 نقطتان

الكويت 1 نقطة

الإمارات 1 نقطة

ترتيب المجموعة الرابعة في كأس العرب 2025

العراق 6 نقاط

الجزائر 4 نقاط

السودان 1 نقطة

البحرين 0 نقاط

Jacob deGrom is back.

The Texas Rangers right-hander was named to the American League All-Star team last week in recognition of what is turning into a brilliant comeback season. A two-time Cy Young Award winner, deGrom has battled injuries since the 2021 season but is finally healthy again in 2025.

The 37-year-old had a dominant 2021 campaign ended by elbow inflammation, and missed much of the 2022 campaign due to a stress reaction in his right scapula. After leaving the New York Mets to sign a five-year, $185 million deal with the Rangers in December of 2022, he made just six starts for his new team before needing Tommy John surgery. He didn't start another major league game until September 13, 2024.

This season, deGrom has returned to form, and while he's not notching as many strikeouts as he used to, he has been excellent. Through 18 starts, he's 9-2 with a 2.29 ERA, a 0.91 WHIP, and 105 punchouts against 23 walks in 106 1/3 innings. He's currently eighth among AL pitchers in fWAR (2.6).

Though it has been years since he was at his peak, deGrom has a legitimate claim to being the most dominant pitcher of his generation. What follows is a look inside the numbers of his comeback season and his brilliant career. It should serve as a reminder of just how great he is.

1 — Pitchers with more WAR than deGrom since he broke into the big leagues in 2014. Only Max Scherzer's total of 56.3 tops deGrom's 45.4

2 — Pitchers with more fWAR than deGrom since 2014. Scherzer (52.7) and Clayton Kershaw (46.4) top deGrom's total of 45.6.

21 — More appearances (20 starts) Kershaw has had than deGrom in that time.

60 — More appearances (all starts) Scherzer has had than deGrom in that time.

0.99 — deGrom's career WHIP, second to Kershaw's 0.96 since 2014.

2.50 — deGrom's career ERA, second to Kershaw's 2.45 since 2014.

2.63 — deGrom's FIP since 2014, best among pitchers with at least 50 starts. Spencer Strider second by a significant margin (2.78), followed by Chris Sale (2.79) and Kershaw (2.83).

156 — deGrom's career ERA+, second to Kershaw's 162 since 2014. (Side note: Clayton Kershaw was really good. He was also a six-year veteran when deGrom debuted.)

1.08 — deGrom's ERA in 2021. He only made 15 starts, which prevents it from being considered one of the greatest seasons of all-time, but he had a WHIP of 0.75 and 146 strikeouts and 11 walks in 92 innings. An elbow injury ended his season on July 18.

373 — deGrom's ERA+ during that season, the best in MLB history for a pitcher making 15 or more starts by nearly. Pedro Martinez finished at 291 during his legendary 2000 season. When factoring in the Negro Leagues, deGrom's 2021 season is still the best by 50 points, topping Slim Jones's 1934 season for the Philadelphia Stars where he finished at 323.

1.98 — deGrom's combined ERA from 2018 through the '21 season. In that time, he made 91 starts and went 32-21 with 774 strikeouts in 581 innings pitched with a 0.88 WHIP.

205 — His ERA+ in that time, one of the most dominant four-year stretches for a pitcher in baseball history.

4 — deGrom's leaguewide rank in WHIP (0.91) among starting pitchers this season.

6 — His leaguewide rank in ERA (2.29) among starters.

20 — Combined starts by deGrom from 2022 through '24.

18 — Starts he has made this season.

15 — Starts in which he has allowed two or fewer runs in 2025.

14 — Consecutive starts in which deGrom went at least 5 innings while allowing two or fewer runs, which lasted from April 18 through July 7. It was the longest such streak in the American League since 2014.

97.4 — Average miles per hour of deGrom's four-seam fastball in 2025, which ranks fourth among qualified starters in MLB. A reminder: he's 37 years old.

Injuries cost deGrom the better part of four seasons, but that shouldn't taint his legacy. He remains one of the best pitchers of his generation and has reminded everyone of his greatness again this season.

His first All-Star selection since 2021 might be deGrom's greatest, given all he's been through in the past four seasons. He's back where he belongs, among the best pitchers in the sport.

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O Palmeiras encara o Novorizontino nesta próxima quinta-feira (28), no Allianz Parque, em jogo que vale a vaga do atual bicampeão na grande decisão do Paulistão 2024.

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E para eliminar a grande surpresa da competição, o Verdão conta com um ótimo retrospecto de Abel Ferreira em jogos eliminatórios no Allianz Parque.

Desde que o português chegou ao Brasil, o Palmeiras decidiu 23 vezes jogos eliminatórios no Allianz Parque, e acabou terminando 18 vezes como o classificado ou campeão e apenas cinco vezes eliminado.

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Com Abel Ferreira, o Palmeiras também jamais foi eliminado no Allianz Parque em jogos de Campeonato Paulista. As cinco eliminações foram em jogos de Copa do Brasil e Libertadores.

O duelo diante do Novorizontino será o primeiro mata-mata do Verdão na sua arena em 2024, uma vez que o duelo diante da Ponte Pretam pelas quartas do Paulista, aconteceu na Arena Barueri.

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+ Endrick se torna o 4º jogador mais jovem a marcar pela Seleção Brasileira!

Confira todos os jogos do Palmeiras em mata-matas na era Abel no Allianz Parque:

Temporada 2020

5/11/2020 – Palmeiras 1 x 0 Bragantino – Oitavas de Final Copa do Brasil (volta) – classificado


2/12/2020 – Palmeiras 5 x 0 Delfín-EQU – Oitavas de Final Libertadores (volta) – classificado


15/12/2020 – Palmeiras 3 x 0 Libertad-PAR – Quartas de Final Libertadores (volta) – classificado


12/1/2021 – Palmeiras 0 x 2 River Plate-ARG – Semifinal Libertadores (volta) – classificado


7/3/2021 – Palmeiras 2 x 0 Grêmio – Final Copa do Brasil (volta) – campeão

Temporada 2021

9/6/2021 – Palmeiras 0 (3) x (4) 1 CRB – Terceira Fase Copa do Brasil (volta) – eliminado


21/7/2021 – Palmeiras 1 x 0 U. Católica-CHI- Oitavas de Final Libertadores (volta) – classificado


17/8/2021 – Palmeiras 3 x 0 São Paulo – Quartas de Final Libertadores (volta) – classificado

Temporada 2022

2/3/2022 – Palmeiras 2 x 0 Athletico-PR – Recopa Sul-Americana (volta) – campeão


23/3/2022 – Palmeiras 2 x 0 Ituano – Quartas de Final Paulistão (único) – classificado


26/3/2022 – Palmeiras 2 x 1 Bragantino – Semifinal Paulistão (único) – classificado


3/4/2022 – Palmeiras 4 x 0 São Paulo – Final Paulistão (volta) – campeão


6/7/2022 – Palmeiras 5 x 0 Cerro Porteño-PAR – Oitavas de Final Libertadores (volta) – classificado


14/7/2022 – Palmeiras 2 (3) x (4) 1 São Paulo – Oitavas de Final Copa do Brasil (volta) – eliminado


10/8/2022 – Palmeiras 0 (6) x (5) 0 Atlético-MG – Quartas de Final Libertadores (volta) – classificado


6/9/2022 – Palmeiras 2 x 2 Athletico-PR – Semifinal Libertadores (volta) – eliminado

Temporada 2023

11/3/2023 – Palmeiras 1 x 0 São Bernardo – Quartas de Final Paulistão (único) – classificado


19/3/2023 – Palmeiras 1 x 0 Ituano – Semifinal Paulistão (único) – classificado


9/4/2023 – Palmeiras 4 x 0 Água Santa – Final Paulistão (volta) – campeão


13/7/2023 – Palmeiras 1 x 2 São Paulo – Quartas de Final Copa do Brasil (volta) – eliminado


9/8/2023 – Palmeiras 0 x 0 Atlético-MG – Oitavas de Final Libertadores (volta) – classificado

30/8/2023 – Palmeiras 0 x 0 Deportivo Pereira-COL – Quartas de Final Libertadores (volta) – classificado

05/10/2023 – Palmeiras 1 x 1 Boca Juniors-ARG – semifinal Libertadores (volta) – eliminado

Tatsuya Imai wants to forge his own path.

The 27-year-old right-hander was posted by the Saitama Seibu Lions of the Nippon Professional Baseball League and has until Jan. 2 to sign with an MLB team. It’s pretty clear he won’t be joining the Dodgers.

When asked about potentially joining Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki in Los Angeles, Imai was quick to point out that he wanted to do something different.

“I want to take them down,” Imai said in a recent interview, translated to English. “(Playing together with players like Ohtani, Yamamoto, Sasaki, and others) of course, sounds fun, but I think beating a team like that and becoming world champions would be the most valuable thing in my life.”

That’s a bold proclamation from Imai, and he probably earned a bunch of new fans with his attitude.

Tatsuya Imai’s stats in Japan

Imai is a three-time NPB All-Star who just finished his eighth season in the league. In 2025, he made 24 starts and went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP, and 178 strikeouts against 45 walks in 163 2/3 innings. He tossed five complete games and three shutouts along the way. He has posted a sub-3.00 ERA in each of the past four seasons, and owns a career NPB ERA of 3.15.

The newly-posted righty debuted in 2018 at the age of 20, and has been one of the league’s top pitchers since 2021, when he went 8-8 with a 3.30 ERA. He has improved in every season since, peaking with his 2025 performance.

Tatsuya Imai scouting report

Imai is undersized for a pitcher by MLB standards. He stands at 5’11” and 176 pounds. It’s worth noting, Yamamoto is only 5’10” and 176 pounds, so the two are comparable in size.

He throws the ball out of a lower three-quarters arm slot, but he can still generate excellent velocity. Imai’s fastball can hit 99 mph, and it sits in the 95 mph range. He works off that four-seamer with an excellent mid-80s slider, and will toss in occasional splitters as well. He has a changeup and a sinker, but is mostly a fastball-slider guy.

He is an intriguing option for MLB teams this winter.

أسدل الستار على مباريات دور ربع النهائي من بطولة كأس العرب 2025، إذ بات من المقرر أن يلتقي منتخب المغرب أمام الإمارات في دور نصف النهائي.

وحقق المنتخب المغربي، الفوز على سوريا بهدف نظيف سجلة وليد أزارو في الدقيقة 79 ليتأهل إلى نصف نهائي البطولة.

طالع.. بالمواعيد | مواجهات دور الـ 8 من كأس العرب 2025

وكان منتخب المغرب، قد تأهل إلى ربع النهائي بعد تصدر مجموعته برصيد 7 نقاط، حيث استهل “أسود الأطلس” مشوارهم بالفوز على جزر القمر بنتيجة 3-1، قبل التعادل السلبي مع منتخب عمان في الجولة الثانية، وانتصار على السعودية بهدف دون رد.

أما منتخب الإمارات فنجح في التأهل إلى نصف النهائي بعد الفوز على الجزائر بركلات الترجيح مساء الجمعة. موعد مباراة المغرب والإمارات في نصف نهائي كأس العرب

ويلعب منتخب المغرب أمام الإمارات في نصف النهائي يوم الإثنين المقبل الموافق 15 ديسمبر في تمام الساعة الرابعة والنصف مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، الخامسة والنصف مساءً بتوقيت السعودية.

MatériaMais Notícias

Representado pelo diretor de futebol, Anderson Barros, o Palmeiras se posicionou neste domingo (12) sobre a paralisação do Campeonato Brasileiro por causa das enchentes que assolam o Rio Grande do Sul e dificultam demais o trabalho dos cluibes gaúchos que jogam a Série A do Brasileiro.

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➡️ Siga o Lance! Palmeiras no WhatsApp e acompanhe todas as notícias do Verdão

Na zona mista da Arena Barueri, Barros falou sobre ser contra a paralisação do Brasileirão, mas disse que o clube fará todos os esforços para ajudar os clubes do sul do país.

– Será que pararmos o futebol será a solução para todos esses problemas. A melhor forma de ajudar o RS é parando o futebol? Somente o trabalho fará com que a gente supere essa situação, como qualquer tragédia. A Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras entende que não deve se parar o Campeonato Brasileiro, que devemos continuar, que devemos encontrar soluções, como nós estamos fazendo até agora pra suprir, pra afagar e pra abraçar todos os nossos companheiros do Rio Grande do Sul – disse Anderson Barros.

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Apesar de se mostrar contra a paralisação do Brasileiro, o Palmeiras segue somando esforços para ajudar as vítimas da tragédia no Sul do país.

A renda do jogo de hoje será toda destinada para o Rio Grande do Sul, o Allianz Parque está sendo ponto de coleta de doações e a presidente Leila Pereira disponibilizou seu avião para levar cinco toneladas de alimentos para as regiões afetadas pelas chuvas no RS.

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Aaron Judge could return to the New York Yankees' lineup as early as Tuesday vs. the Texas Rangers, manager Aaron Boone shared with reporters on Monday. Nothing is set in stone, though, as Boone wants to speak with Judge once he arrives in Texas.

Judge last played on July 25 and was then placed on the 10-day injured list due to a flexor strain in his right elbow. Tuesday will mark the end of Judge's stint on the 10-day IL, so it's the earliest he can return to the lineup as the Yankees' designated hitter.

"I don't want to say definitely because I haven't seen him yet, but I think that's the plan," Boone said, via the Associated Press. "I think he's expected in here tonight, and we'll make that call."

In preparation, Judge has been hitting balls of of minor league pitchers for the past two days. He would return as the team's DH if he plays in Texas, otherwise he could return to the outfield once the Rangers series is over. Judge hasn't begun playing catch since his IL stint.

"I'm hoping that Judge's clean and is playing catch either [Tuesday] or the next day and we'll start to get an idea about a timeline for that and then we'll see when we get back home what happens there," Boone said.

Judge would replace Giancarlo Stanton in the lineup as the DH. Stanton hit a home run and tallied 2 RBIs on Monday night in Texas.

The Yankees could be getting Judge back at the perfect time, as they've hit a slump. New York was just swept by the Miami Marlins for the first time ever over the weekend.