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The Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
‘We've lost millions' – Punters clean up as Paddy Power suffer ‘one of the worst days' in their history
PADDY POWER were left reeling after last night's Nations League thriller between Spain and France helped punters cash in to the tune of millions! The nine-goal spectacular, which ended 5-4 to Spain, triggered one of the worst financial batterings in the bookmaker's history, thanks mainly to their own Super Sub promotion. Find The Sun's betting publishing principles here 1 Super Sub means if your selected player is substituted, your bet rolls over to their replacement - and it backfired in spectacular fashion. Over the last 18 months, it's featured in 973 games. But none have come close to stinging their pockets quite like this encounter. It's understood the bookmaker lost 'millions upon millions' – all down to a series of hugely punter-favourable results. Among the killer blows: Dani Vivian replacing Robin Le Normand and immediately giving away a foul, which cost them half a million quid. Samu came on for Mikel Oyarzabal in the 77th-minute, and had a shot on target, which too cost Paddy Power a small fortune. Then Gavi strolled on in injury time, picked up a yellow card in the 97th minute, and cost Paddy another £200k! A Paddy Power spokesman said: "I thought the Nations League was supposed to be boring? I wish it bloody was! "But fair play to the punters. They've come in, taken advantage of Super Sub and absolutely pulled our pants down, leaving us licking our wounds at Power Tower today." Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who: For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The joke is about to be on everyone bar Spurs or Manchester United
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have given Football Daily plenty of ammunition over the years, but with both sealing their place in a European final on Thursday with comfortable victories in their respective semi-finals, this is not meant to be a snide missive about their latest achievements. Sure, Athletic Club can only recruit players from an area the size of Wales, were missing their first-choice centre-back Dani Vivian through suspension, their best three attacking players through injury (Iñaki and Nico Williams, plus Oihan Sancet), were 3-0 down from the first leg and still gave United's band of global internationals a frightful scare by taking a first-half lead at Old Trafford. But fair play to United, they roared back in the second half, and ended as comfortable winners, 4-1 on the night and 7-1 on aggregate. In reaching the final, Ruben Amorim has a real and tangible reason to be proud of his team, and it's also nice to see Mason Mount being good at football again. And sure, Bodø/Glimt's total transfer spend last summer (€7m) was just over 10% of the fee Tottenham paid for Dominic Solanke (Bodø also sold players last summer for a total of €18.6m, a profit of more than €11m), and the Norwegians' stadium has a capacity that would make them the 16th largest ground in League Two, but genuine credit should be given to Spurs for succeeding in the Arctic Circle where others have failed – this season Porto, Besiktas, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Olympiakos and Lazio have all been beaten by Bodø in Bigger Vase. Tottenham put in a professional display and deserve their place in the final. Chapeau. Ange Postecoglou has a big opportunity now to do one of the least Spursy things of all time by winning this major trophy, a result that would also probably mean the Australian keeps his job and delivers on that much-mocked promise of flamin' silverware in his second season. 'If it's so easy to get to a final, then why doesn't everyone who finishes in the top three do it?' barked Postecoglou. 'It's going to upset a lot of people isn't it? Who cares if we're struggling in the league? It's a separate thing. It's got nothing to do with league form. I couldn't care less who's struggling and who's not. I think both us and Manchester United have earned the right to be there. 'I love winning,' continued Postecoglou, ignoring his own comments on Spurs' league form in the paragraph above. 'That's what I've done my whole career. People will dismiss it, that's fine. We've been losing players, key players, and yet they've still found a way to stick together. That gives me the belief that the challenge we have of trying to overcome a tough opponent in a massive game.' At least the two finalists will be evenly matched. Despite their much maligned Premier League campaigns, Manchester United (15th) and Tottenham (16th) are just one game away from a European trophy and the riches of Bigger Cup qualification. Just think how many Old Trafford staff lunches that could potentially pay for. Tottenham might even be able to renew Fraser Forster's £75,000-a-week contract. From the bottom of Football Daily's can of Tin, good luck to both teams in the final. Join Yara El-Shaboury from 8pm BST for hot Championship playoff semi-final minute-by-minute coverage of Coventry 0-0 Sunderland. 'It's not the moment to talk about the future. Now we know, we want to have a proper farewell on Sunday for some players and for myself. We have to enjoy this moment with mixed emotions. We can be happy and proud of what we have achieved during this time. I'm very thankful from the first day to the last one. You've got the announcement finally after chasing it' – Xabi Alonso announces his departure from Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season (and has a jab at hacks doing their jobs), paving the way for a widely expected move to Real Madrid. Re: yesterday's Football Daily. Can I suggest that after Arsenal provide a guard of honour on Sunday, Liverpool repay the compliment twice to acknowledge the titles Arsenal would have won in the last two seasons if it wasn't for the pesky 'team with the greatest number of points is first' nonsense?' – Dominic Hodgson. One point that yesterday's Football Daily omitted – Arsenal got further in Bigger Cup than rivals Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Manchester City. I rather suspect that Mikel Arteta would be mildly pleased if you now referred to the semi-finals as the new 'Round of Arsenal'' – Mike Wilner. Apologies to anyone who watched Salford (yesterday's Class of 25, full email edition) in the Northern Premier back in the day, but Salford City? Salford City? The answer to the problems with football in that area of Manchester is Salford City? I'm no fan of FC United, to be honest (the angst is wearing), but if jaded millionaires really wanted to make a statement and pose an existential crisis to the club that made them and yet is tanking under a leveraged buyout, there was one obvious choice. But no, they went for the vanity-stroking path of high fives with Tom Brady and Ryan Reynolds in a dull Netflix documentary about the Championship playoff struggle. Tell me, one Salford fan, that you view United as an actual rival, and don't just check your phone for updates about Josuha Zirkzee' – Jon Millard. Send letters to Today's prizeless letter o' the day winner is … Dominic Hodgson. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here. This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, .
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The joke is about to be on everyone bar Spurs or United
THE FULL ENGLISH Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have given Football Daily plenty of ammunition over the years, but with both sealing their place in a European final on Thursday with comfortable victories in their respective semi-finals, this is not meant to be a snide missive about their latest achievements. Sure, Athletic Club can only recruit players from an area the size of Wales, were missing their first-choice centre-back Dani Vivian through suspension, their best three attacking players through injury (Iñaki and Nico Williams, plus Oihan Sancet), were 3-0 down from the first leg and still gave United's band of global internationals a frightful scare by taking a first-half lead at Old Trafford. But fair play to United, they roared back in the second half, and ended as comfortable winners, 4-1 on the night and 7-1 on aggregate. In reaching the final, Ruben Amorim has a real and tangible reason to be proud of his team, and it's also nice to see Mason Mount being good at football again. Advertisement And sure, Bodø/Glimt's total transfer spend last summer (€7m) was just over 10% of the fee Tottenham paid for Dominic Solanke (Bodø also sold players last summer for a total of €18.6m, a profit of more than €11m), and the Norwegians' stadium has a capacity that would make them the 16th largest ground in League Two, but genuine credit should be given to Spurs for succeeding in the Arctic Circle where others have failed – this season Porto, Besiktas, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Olympiakos and Lazio have all been beaten by Bodø in Bigger Vase. Tottenham put in a professional display and deserve their place in the final. Chapeau. Ange Postecoglou has a big opportunity now to do one of the least Spursy things of all time by winning this major trophy, a result that would also probably mean the Australian keeps his job and delivers on that much-mocked promise of flamin' silverware in his second season. 'If it's so easy to get to a final, then why doesn't everyone who finishes in the top three do it?' barked Postecoglou. 'It's going to upset a lot of people isn't it? Who cares if we're struggling in the league? It's a separate thing. It's got nothing to do with league form. I couldn't care less who's struggling and who's not. I think both us and Manchester United have earned the right to be there. 'I love winning,' continued Postecoglou, ignoring his own comments on Spurs' league form in the paragraph above. 'That's what I've done my whole career. People will dismiss it, that's fine. We've been losing players, key players, and yet they've still found a way to stick together. That gives me the belief that the challenge we have of trying to overcome a tough opponent in a massive game.' At least the two finalists will be evenly matched. Despite their much maligned Premier League campaigns, Manchester United (15th) and Tottenham (16th) are just one game away from a European trophy and the riches of Bigger Cup qualification. Just think how many Old Trafford staff lunches that could potentially pay for. Tottenham might even be able to renew Fraser Forster's £75,000-a-week contract. From the bottom of Football Daily's can of Tin, good luck to both teams in the final. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE Join Yara El-Shaboury from 8pm BST for hot Championship playoff semi-final minute-by-minute coverage of Coventry 0-0 Sunderland. QUOTE OF THE DAY 'It's not the moment to talk about the future. Now we know, we want to have a proper farewell on Sunday for some players and for myself. We have to enjoy this moment with mixed emotions. We can be happy and proud of what we have achieved during this time. I'm very thankful from the first day to the last one. You've got the announcement finally after chasing it' – Xabi Alonso announces his departure from Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season (and has a jab at hacks doing their jobs), paving the way for a widely expected move to Real Madrid. FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS Re: yesterday's Football Daily. Can I suggest that after Arsenal provide a guard of honour on Sunday, Liverpool repay the compliment twice to acknowledge the titles Arsenal would have won in the last two seasons if it wasn't for the pesky 'team with the greatest number of points is first' nonsense?' – Dominic Hodgson. One point that yesterday's Football Daily omitted – Arsenal got further in Bigger Cup than rivals Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Manchester City. I rather suspect that Mikel Arteta would be mildly pleased if you now referred to the semi-finals as the new 'Round of Arsenal'' – Mike Wilner. Apologies to anyone who watched Salford (yesterday's Class of 25, full email edition) in the Northern Premier back in the day, but Salford City? Salford City? The answer to the problems with football in that area of Manchester is Salford City? I'm no fan of FC United, to be honest (the angst is wearing), but if jaded millionaires really wanted to make a statement and pose an existential crisis to the club that made them and yet is tanking under a leveraged buyout, there was one obvious choice. But no, they went for the vanity-stroking path of high fives with Tom Brady and Ryan Reynolds in a dull Netflix documentary about the Championship playoff struggle. Tell me, one Salford fan, that you view United as an actual rival, and don't just check your phone for updates about Josuha Zirkzee' – Jon Millard. Advertisement Send letters to Today's prizeless letter o' the day winner is … Dominic Hodgson. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here. RECOMMENDED LISTENING Football Weekly (bonus)? Football Weekly (bonus)! TIME TO GET THE CLAWS OUT Can a team who have been coasting for three months ever get the old engine purring again? That's the question facing Sunderland when they kick off their Championship playoff campaign at Coventry. Régis Le Bris and his squad pretty much knew automatic promotion had gone when back-to-back defeats against Leeds and Hull left them 10 points off the top two in mid-February. Since then the form table has them 17th, sandwiched between Oxford and Sheffield Wednesday, and they enter the post-season on the back of five straight defeats and two goals in their last seven. Indeed, though Sunderland finished a whopping 13 points ahead of Frank Lampard's side, the gap was 14 points in mid-October. To compound things, Coventry hammered them 3-0 in mid March, but in truth the Sky Blues have hardly roared into the playoffs themselves – meek defeats at Plymouth and Luton, both subsequently relegated, meant the 2-0 win over Middlesbrough on the final day was a necessity rather than a flourish. Something will have to give and it should kickstart a weekend of the usual playoff high-drama. NEWS, BITS AND BOBS In this-is-definitely-a-good-idea-I-see absolutely-no-problems-arising news, the Premier League has asked clubs to give broadcasters the right to film inside dressing rooms or conduct in-game interviews during live coverage from next season. Advertisement WSL and Women's Championship teams will continue to be relegated beyond 2026, the idea of temporarily removing relegation no longer being pursued. Chelsea Supporters' Trust have called for a formal investigation into the ticket sales process for their Tin Pot semi-final home leg against Djurgården after hundreds of away fans purchased tickets for the home sections of Stamford Bridge (and made no secret of it). CST called the situation 'the most serious breach of stadium security in recent memory'. A 1-0 win means Blues face Betis in the final. David Kogan has been urged to take 'concrete steps' and demonstrate his impartiality after being endorsed as the chair of football's independent regulator by a select committee of MPs. West Ham's Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been called up by DR Congo for the first time. And in other Hammers news Aaron Cresswell, Lukasz Fabiański, Vladimír Coufal and Danny Ings are to do one in the summer. Advertisement Liverpool's Mo Salah and Arsenal striker Alessia Russo are the Football Writers' Association men's and women's players of the year. It's all about next season now for Mikel Merino and Arsenal. 'Having played in the Bernabéu, having played PSG, it's going to be a huge learning point for the future. We will be back stronger, we will be back more ready,' he tooted. And Newcastle have risked upsetting some fans by announcing plans to redesign the club's badge for the 2026-27 season. 'As football and the world changes so, too, must the symbol that unites us,' cheered the club. STILL WANT MORE? 'I punched another dad' – our seemingly violent readers share stories of the worst parent behaviour at kids' football (and that quote is far from the worst of it). Advertisement Leeds, Burnley, Lionesses, PSG and the playoffs? It's our quiz of the week! Why are Saudi Arabia at the Gold Cup? It's the latest in the Kingdom's soft power campaign, writes Karim Zidan. Roméo Lavia is the ideal cog in Enzo Maresca's machine – when he is fit, reckons Ben McAleer. And even with three games left, there are still plenty of things to look out for in the Premier League this weekend. Ten of them, in fact. MEMORY LANE Kevin Nolan generally enjoyed a chicken-style dance to celebrate scoring, and here some Newcastle fans demonstrating it in the stands at St James' Park (April 2011) after he grabbed the opening goal in a 4-1 victory. 'I'M THE KING OF BOGGLE, THERE IS NONE HIGHER'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fernandes stars as Manchester United cruise against 10-man Athletic Bilbao
Manchester United enjoyed their night in Bilbao so much that they will surely be coming back. They remain the only unbeaten team among the more than 100 that have played this competition over eight long months, and even if they do fall to a first in seven days' time, the margin of this victory means they should still be there on its final game in this same arena, the season given meaning and potentially a triumphant end, the Europa League their elixir and their escape once again. They came to the stadium everyone calls the Cathedral and defeated Athletic Bilbao so convincingly that the second leg carries little threat. No one had won here this year in Europe and Athletic had conceded just 10 times in all competitions; United scored three in a quarter of an hour, an opening goal from Casemiro and two from Bruno Fernandes ending this before half-time. All the more so because the second came from the spot, accompanied by a red card for Dani Vivian, infuriating the home supporters and virtually ensuring that they will not play the final they host on 21 May. Related: Ruben Amorim says Athletic Bilbao win is 'best result' of his time in charge so far Ultimately this was an efficient, impressive performance in which United looked something like the team they are supposed to be: one that can win a European title that has become their salvation and a glimpse, perhaps, of future hope, not least as it would give them Champions League access. One that ended up looking on a different level to their opponents, even if it hadn't started that way. In fact, Athletic began well, forcing the first corner and the first roar inside 90 seconds. United's early possession was not so much a platform for them to do something as for Athletic to, ready to asphyxiate their opponents and accelerate with the robbed ball. That front-footed approach, though, did expose them to the ball behind and just four minutes in, Manuel Ugarte released Alejandro Garnacho to finish. That was offside, but it was also a warning, an invitation to United to seek the same wing. André Onana had to save from Alex Berenguer, Iñaki Williams headed just over and when the Ghana international then raced up the right and pulled back, Victor Lindelöf made two decisive interceptions – the second on the line with Berenguer shooting from five yards. That should have been the opener; instead, having resisted the pressure, it was United who got it just before the half hour. Ruben Amorim admitted that the first 25 minutes were not the same as the rest, the game changing with the opening goals and the red card. The first goal was made by United's unlikely hero doing unlikely things, more unlikely even than last time. Harry Maguire, the emergency striker who had completed that astonishing comeback against Lyon, smacking in a header on 121 minutes, now went all Stanley Matthews. If that had been latter-day Ronaldo, this was more like his teenage incarnation. Faced by Mikel Jauregizar on the right, Maguire turned one way and the next, went past his man and delivered the cross. Ugarte headed it on and, at the far post, Casemiro arrived to nod into the net. United doubled their lead two minutes later, and in a way that gave them even more of an advantage than the goal they scored. Again, it started on the right, where United had always identified opportunity. When the ball from Noussair Mazraoui came across the six yard box, Rasmus Højlund went down. Vivian accused him of diving but the defender was protesting too much. Højlund may have been quick to go to ground but there had been a clear hand on his shoulder and when the referee Espen Eskås came back from the VAR screen he pointed to the spot and pulled out a red card, double jeopardy doing for Athletic. Vivian departed, Fernandes rolled in the penalty and this, it seemed, was done. Iñaki Williams did bend a shot wide but Athletic appeared gone and United added a third. Højlund scrambled for the ball, Ugarte provided the clever flick and Fernandes ran through to finish high. The lead might even have extended still further before half-time, when Mazraoui smashed one off the bar. The protests which accompanied them off at the break increased early in the second when the referee was called to the screen to have another look at Maguire pulling down Maroan Sannadi. He, though, decided that was no red card, any tiny hope that the numbers might be evened out – and a comeback would start – snuffed out. Instead, United controlled this, never in danger. They managed it with a certain comfort, a sense of superiority, and the threat, if not the need, of extending the lead still further. There was another penalty appeal from Højlund, tangling with Yuri Berchiche. Ugarte and Casemiro both took aim from distance and the Brazilian put a header against the post. The frequency increased in the final 10 minutes, Julen Agirrezabala saving from Garnacho and Fernandes before Fernandes headed over and Højlund's shot didn't find the target. Iñaki Williams had gone sprinting up the pitch, the noise from San Mamés rising as he ran, but Athletic were exhausted, defeated, and those chances were a reminder that this could still get worse. For Manchester United, despite not adding the fourth, the night in Bilbao could hardly have been any better, and they will surely be back.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Man United v Athletic Bilbao LIVE: Europa League final beckons for hosts after huge win
Manchester United have one foot in the Europa League final but will be wary of a response from Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford in the semi-final second leg. Ruben Amorim's side claimed a hugely impressive 3-0 win in Bilbao last week and will be hoping to finish the job and return to the Basque Country for the final on 21 May. Athletic were dangerous in the opening stages before the tie turned on Dani Vivian's red card, but they will be missing three of their best attacking players in Nico and Inaki Williams and top scorer Oihan Sancet. Amorim, however, said 'anything is possible' at Old Trafford and United's form has been inconsistent all season, with Sunday's 4-3 defeat at Brentford continuing their woeful Premier League form. United, though, are unbeaten in Europe this season and will be reach the Europa League, setting up a shot at qualifying for next year's Champions League, if they maintain that Utd take 3-0 lead into second leg against Athetlic Bilbao | Kick-off at 8pm on TNT Sports Man Utd in strong position to advance but Ruben Amorim warns 'anything is possible' Athetlic Bilbao hit by triple injury blow and are without star Nico Williams
