west ham's season, man were leandro trossard.predicted _ leandro trossard. west ham's season, many were predicted losing _ leandro trossard. west ham's season, many were predicted losing declan - many were predicted losing declan rice would mean they would struggle, but they have been compounding all expectation, haven't they? thei;t expectation, haven't they? they have, expectation, haven't they? they have. and _ expectation, haven't they? they have. and they _ expectation, haven't they? they have, and they could _ expectation, haven't they? they have, and they could go - expectation, haven't they? tie: have, and they could go six this evening with a rare win here, as you say. david moyes, just before christmas, let a little of his frustration known about the west ham fans, criticised them for their criticism. look at what we're doing in the league, he said, look what we did the rope conference the last year — to paraphrase the west ham manager, it does not get much better than this. he think that criticism is a bit unfair. he c

west ham are earnina finish? he does! west ham are earning themselves _ finish? he does!themselves just - finish? he does! west ham are earning themselvesjust a - finish? he does! west ham are earning themselves just a little j earning themselves just a little christmas rest. for manchester united, just more frustration and more pressure. i united, just more frustration and more pressure.— united, just more frustration and more pressure. i think a decent 72 minutes, where _ more pressure. i think a decent 72 minutes, where we _ more pressure. i think a decent 72 minutes, where we didn't - more pressure. i think a decent 72 minutes, where we didn't take - more pressure. i think a decent 72 minutes, where we didn't take our chances. we should have gone lead but we didn't and one moment of switching off, and then you see the following effects. i think the team played over a long period a good game but the game is over after 96 minutes today and you have to keep the focus and of course, you have to net. we had a tough week. this is three games in six days. one is a half 12 ki

and west ham, of better into the new year. and west ham. of course. — better into the new year.ball this season which spurs don�*t have to contend with. in terms of tottenham, michael, what�*s realistic for them in terms of where they can finish, do you think? that�*s the question isn�*t it? everyone is thinking, could it be top for, champions league, this is one of those nights tonight where you�*ve got to be your local rivals, big atmosphere. we�*re going to really start to tell into january all those players back, can they strengthen as well? the injury list is incredible, really. and at that point, we might see a little bit more consistency. i understand now at the moment why they are losing games, not picking up results because of the squad, they are missing so many players. look forward to _ missing so many players. look forward to that _ missing so many players. look forward to that one _ missing so many players. look forward to that one later - missing so many players. look forward to that one later tonight, got a little bit longer to wait until the start of next summer�

but could west ham challenge at anfield?. perfect. 1—0 liverpool. very one—sided first half. wait until you see the second. curtisjones picked the space between the keeper's feet. cody gakpo's finish was just as precise. again, west ham gave him the chance to pick his moment. 3—0. the match was over when west ham finally got going. jarrod bowen, a reminder. they have some fine players. so do liverpool. mohammed salisu mod for the last half—hour. on a night like he scored. —— mahamat salac. whenjones scored liverpool's fifth, west ham seem to be in retreat. few semifinals are reached this easily. joe wilson, bbc news. we saw him thumping his fist in the air there. after the game, liverpool manager jurgen klopp voiced his displeasure with a section of the home support at anfield, calling for a better atmosphere on saturday when his side play the premier league leaders arsenal in a huge game in the title race. in the first have a little bit when the boys played really exceptional, i was not overly happy, i have to say, with the

to west ham and all of those festive trappings.side, there was little joy or merriment to be found in a first half of football devoid of anything very much at all. manchester united probably should have been in front before the break. garnacho unable to take the best of very few chances. any optimism was west ham's. jarrod bowen saw this header well saved. he wasn't about to miss another opportunity. he put them in front and from there, they wouldn't look back. the big manchester united mistake just moments later allowed mo kudus to make it 2—0. can he finish? you bet he can! west ham earning themselves just a little christmas rest. for manchester united, just more frustration and more pressure. i think a decent 72 minutes, where we didn't take our chances. we should have gone into the lead but we didn't and one moment of switching off, and then you see the following effects. i think the team played over a long period a good game but the game is over after 96 minutes today and you have to keep the focus and of course, you have to n

west ham to freiber: , guarantee top spot. west ham to freiberg. who — guarantee top spot.. west ham to freiberg, who they be _ guarantee top spot. west ham to freiberg, who they be in - guarantee top spot. west ham to| freiberg, who they be in germany backin freiberg, who they be in germany back in october. west ham know they're already through, but they need a draw to finish top. the interesting aspect of this stage of the competition is for both westtown and brighton, despite having already qualified, there is the added incentive of topping the group because the team that comes top will not play in another match until march. effectively qualifying match to get to the last 16, that will be against the teams that finish third in the champions league. for brighton, they're at risk, second in their group and playing marseilles at home. if they win, they can leapfrog to finish top. i will say this is a very good deal, but we _ i will say this is a very good deal, but we have — i will say this is a very good deal, but we have the ambition to reach the first— but we have the am

west ham see off spurs at the london stadium to make it three wins out of four. and it's happened — the masters championjon rahm ditches the pga tour and joins liv golf. hello and thanks forjoining us on sportsday, wherever in the world you're watching this from. we start with football and a massive result for everton football club. they've thrashed newcastle 3—0 at goodison park to climb out of the relegation zone. worth remembering that everton were deducted ten points for breaching premier league financial regulations last month. but a flurry of late goals gave them a much deserved win. abdoulaye doucoure scored the all—important second with just four minutes left on the clock after dwight mcneil had given the hosts the lead. the hosts punished a pair of mistakes from kieran trippier, before beto ran clear during ten minutes of stoppage — time for his first league goal to make sure of the points. it's stilljust the one away win this season for newcastle. but everton out of the bottom three. you forget we have been in this position before, points wise. ten, 20

james ward—prowse completed west ham's turnaround with 15 minutes left.ans spurs dropped points from a winning position for a fifth consecutive game, while west ham picked up their fifth win in six across all competitions. the players done a really good job. we were resolute, but hey, by the way, we put a hugely talented tottenham team tonight and you know, we had a defensive platform organisation structure to it which got us a result. sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. but we also had really good players who can play on the break and can take the ball and and so on. more mohamed and paqueta and jared, not with forward players who could do that. it's one thing to dominate a game in football, but you've got to sort of make that dominance turn into something meaningful. and we didn't you know, we kind of lacked real conviction in our chances the first and second half and now conceded two goals as well from a lot of it's self—inflicted. so, you know, when you do that, you pay the price. so this at the top of the table looks following the conclusion of

but there is a special win for david moyes and west ham, who climbed to six. m, who climbed to six. we came back here to make sure _ ham, who climbed to six. we came back here to make sure that - ham, who climbed to six. we came back here to make sure that west l ham, who climbed to six. we came . back here to make sure that west ham didn't get relegated. i think that was about three or four years ago now. and i think since then we have grown and i think the team going, getting better, and we will not do, we will not be challenging all the top teams will be time because we don't, we are not dining at that table, but we are coming now and again to these teams and giving them again to these teams and giving them a game. again to these teams and giving them a name. �* , , ., , , a game. let's 'ust remind ourselves how ti . ht a game. let's 'ust remind ourselves how fight it — a game. let's 'ust remind ourselves how fight it is— a game. let'sjust remind ourselves how tight it is in _ a game. let'sjust remind ourselves how tight it is in fact _ a game. let'sjust remin

it'll go to either liverpool, or west ham. liverpool, orwest ham. police and liverpool, or west ham. police investigate after a�* i’u ns and police investigate after a fan runs onto the pitch and into the newcastle goalkeeper at stamford bridge. also coming up on sportsday... he might have been ignored by the ipl, but england's opener hits another century for his country. and changing the game, now changing the world. mary herbst has big plans after winning spotty. i the world. mary herbst has big plans after winning spotty.— after winning spotty. i want young kids to want _ after winning spotty. i want young kids to want to _ after winning spotty. i want young kids to want to play _ after winning spotty. i want young kids to want to play golf, - after winning spotty. i want young kids to want to play golf, not - kids to want to play golf, not because of the other elements, which i think happens a lot grassroots. hello again. welcome to sportsday. it took just a day for nottingham forest to find their new manager. steve cooper

gave west ham all_ terrible goals to concede. gave west ham all of— terrible goals to concede. rest _ disappointed with those, and then the rest of— disappointed with those, and then the rest of the performance is irrelevent— the rest of the performance is irrelevant to people outside, whatever i say about it, the good spells. _ whatever i say about it, the good spells, yeah, no one wants to hear about— spells, yeah, no one wants to hear about that, — spells, yeah, no one wants to hear about that, really, when you have conceded — about that, really, when you have conceded three the way we do. it looks— conceded three the way we do. it looks like — conceded three the way we do. it looks like a — conceded three the way we do. it looks like a comfortable win for west _ looks like a comfortable win for west him — looks like a comfortable win for west him when, yeah, the score line isn't a _ west him when, yeah, the score line isn't a true _ west him when, yeah, the score line isn't a true reflection of the way the game — isn't a true reflection of the way the game went. west brom a

meanwhile, colourful night tottenham as spurs took an early lead against west ham.n front, but come the second half it was all change as jarrod bowen equalised for west ham for one of the more bizarre winners you will see. james ward—prowse eventually giving the hammers the win. lucky for them but for spurs another difficult night. one happy, one definitely not. let's hear from a couple of the managers involved last night — one happy, one definitely not. first everton boss sean dyche, who's been praising his team's unity in the face of adversity. be in an amazing position, relatively to the last two seasons. we have lost sight of that. but the mentality is key for me. we took a knock, we know that. there have been a lot of knocks of the last couple of the seasons but the mentality has been growing, the team mentality. the commitment to each other. the connection with each other, that's a really powerful thing. we have belief in each other, it is sticking and that's important. in contrast, tottenham's ange postecoglu said they'd let themselves down again. it was the

while west ham pick up their fifth win in six across all competitions.ob. we were resolute. by the way, we would a hugely talented tottenham team today —— play. we had a organisation platform structure to it which got as a result, sometimes it gets us, sometimes it doesn't. we also had really good players who play on the break and can take the ball and so mohammed and jarrod and that, we had four players who could do that. sol so i think you need to dominate the game — so i think you need to dominate the game in football, but you need — the game in football, but you need to— the game in football, but you need to make the dominance turn into something meaningful, and we didn't — into something meaningful, and we didn't. we kind of lateral conviction in our chances, first— conviction in our chances, first and _ conviction in our chances, first and second half. —— tacked _ first and second half. —— tacked a _ first and second half. —— lacked. a lot of it is self—inflicted. so when you do that _ self—inflicted. so when you do that you — self—inflicted. so wh

another gift of a goal for west ham united.r a look at the weather. here's simon king. it's been a very wet day for many others. we've had heavy rain spreading its way north and eastwards across many parts but towards the south—west of england, it is here we have had most of the rain. in devon we've had around about half of december�*s rainfall falling in the space of a day, that lead to localised flooding. as that rain cleared, a beautiful sunset in devon with those red skies. the rain still with eastern areas, pushing away tonight, still some fairly strong winds around the northern isles of scotland tonight and then further showers will start to spread their way in from the west by a frost free night, temperatures down to four to 6 degrees. friday, showers will move in across western areas. some on the heavy side, blustery winds around the irish coast but was eastern and south—eastern areas of england, here largely dry with sunny spells for much of the day and temperatures for many getting into double figures, eight or nine d

rauljimenez continued his return to form with another goal as fulham thrashed lacklustre west ham toe—goal victory in five days at craven cottage. it lifted fulham into the top half of the table, three points behind ninth—placed west ham, who missed the chance to climb into the premier league's top six. the players, they understood the plan and they express themselves on the pitch. i think we did plan really well, and the players understand, the way they did it, they executed it. you know that you are playing premier league, you know that you are fulham football club as well. we are enjoying, the fans are enjoying for sure, but it's so tough to win a football match in the premier league 1—0 or 2—1 or 3—2. imagine to win with this score. it's something that doesn't happen often, even for the top clubs in this competition, for clubs that fight for titles in this competition. imagine for us. we enjoy, we wanted always more. the spurs game probably played such a big part in today. mentally, we were finding it tough, and physically as well. not many teams have had thursday—sunday games as

west ham,to them.don well it's a game of football. west ham,to them.nd spurs well it's a game of football. west ham,to them. and spurs will. done to them. and spurs will then play newcastle on sunday. who got really beaten by everton three nil and everton who had those ten points deducted. great result for them. so they move out of the relegation areas. so very good. okay. >> why is tottenham hotspur called hotspur hotspur? >> to you've put me on >> it's down to you've put me on the spot here because i didn't have that. but that's harry hotspur. that's shakespeare. so that shakespeare hotspur. that's shakespeare. so that it shakespeare hotspur. that's shakespeare. so that it wasshakespeare hotspur. that's shakespeare. so that it wasshakes a�*are hotspur. that's shakespeare. so that it wasshakes a bunch of because it was it was a bunch of schoolkids back in the late 18005. schoolkids back in the late 1800s. and they decided to name it so it after harry hotspur. so that was the came from. was where the name came from. and it stuck since then. so they are

they only led 1—0 at half—time but thrashed west ham 5—1 at anfield.nes scored twice after the break. there were also goals from szoboszlai, gakpo and salah. the draw for the semifinals was made after the game and liverpool championship side middlesbrough will play chelsea. the semifinals take place across two legs next month. we'll have more football results for you injust a moment, but let's stay in england, because a day after the club sacked steve cooper, nuno espirito santo has his feet under the desk at nottingham forest. the portuguese takes charge of his third premier league club after spells at wolves and spurs, asjoe lynskey reports. they're five points above the drop zone. the man in charge hauled them up from the depths of the second tier. but this week at forest, things have changed quickly. steve cooper's been sacked and, within 2a hours, nuno�*s come in. and forest want him to take them up a level. big, big chance. very honoured. it's a pleasure to be at forest and be able to manage such a great club with such great history. what i expec

they only led 1—0 at halftime but thrashed west ham 5—1 at anfield.from szoboszlai, gakpo and salah. the draw for the semi—finals was made after the game and liverpool will face fulham and championship side middlesbrough will play chelsea.

leicester and west ham drew, and aston villa beat brighton i—o.ed one and provided two assists, as bayern leverkusen beat frankfurt 3—0. his goal came afterjust 14 minutes, as he squeezed a low shot under kevin trapp to open the scoring. boniface, who is almost certain to be selected for nigeria's africa cup of nations squad injanuary, then helped get the win, finding florian wirtz in space for leverkusen�*s third. first hour was tied, and the second half overall it was very serious, very professional performance, and that's the way we want to keep going to win more games. meanwhile, harry kane scored twice in bayern munich's 3—0 win over stuttgart, to take his league tally to 20 goals in 14 games. kane scored his firstjust 90 seconds into the match, and headed home this second goal after the break. in la liga, real madrid were 4—1 winners over villareal. jude bellingham getting on the scoresheet once again for the home side, as they moved to the top of the table. carlo ancelotti's side are a point ahead of girona, who host alaves on monday. in it

we change a lot of things, we dominate west ham like crazy, we miss chances and if i had been in a stand 1000%. this is that semifinal draw, as you can see, liverpool— fulham, the first leg at anfield. and middlesbrough play chelsea in the other game. philadelphia 76ers star — and reigning mvp — joel embiid is making more headlines in the us as he's now on the nba's longest scoring run in more than half a century. the nba's leading scorer helped the 76ers beat the minnesota timberwolves127—113, claiming a season—high 51 points and 12 rebounds himself. embiid is the first player to score more than 30 points and 10 rebounds in 12 consecutive games since kareem abdul—jabbar did it for 16 games in a row for the milwaukee bucks in 1972. to me, that is not too much of an accomplishment. you know, there are guys that have a lot of records in this league. i think someone did 40 straight 30 points a couple of years ago. you know, there is a lot of records, there's a lot of stats. they are going to be hard to break. and that is obese but for now. we will have more later. goodbye. you're watching b

rauljimenez continued his return to form with another goal as fulham thrashed lacklustre west ham to victory in five days at craven cottage. it lifted fulham into the top half of the table, three points behind ninth—placed west ham, who missed the chance to climb into the premier league's top six. the players understood the plan and expressed themselves on the pitch and i think we played really well. when the players cannot understand... you know that that you are playing premier league and you are playing a football club as well. we are enjoying and the fans are enjoying, for sure. but to win with this score is something that does not happen often, even to the top levels of this competition. they fight for titles in this competition and you can imagine for us, we enjoy. we want it always more. where you probably started with a sports game has played such a big part of today. mentally, we found it tough — and physically as well. not many teams have thursday—sunday games as many as we have had and then, we get another one — two premier league games back to back away from home. certain

they only led 1—0 at half—time but thrashed west ham 5—1 at anfield.zoboszlai, gakpo and salah. the draw for the semi—finals was made after the game

the result of the match between west ham and manchester ended with two nil in favor of west ham .nk you very much for your cooperation with sports news . don't forget sports and may god protect you. with the announcement of 18:00 and greetings, the service is again. we present the news of this section to you. the united nations declared that there is no safe place in gaza. the director of the united nations agency for palestinian refugees, anorwa, warned about the israeli army's order to evacuate the residents of the central areas of the gaza strip, emphasizing that the israeli army simply orders people to go to certain areas. in which air strikes are carried out. according to thomas white, no place is safe. there is no way that people go there

rauljimenez continued his return to form with another goal as fulham thrashed lacklustre west ham to victory in five days at craven cottage. it lifted fulham into the top half of the table, three points behind ninth—placed west ham, who missed the chance to climb into the premier league's top six. the players express themselves on the pitch including when we do well and when the players cannot understand... you know that you are playing premier league and you are playing a football club as well. we enjoy, for sure but to win with this score is something that does not happen often even to the top levels of this competition. they fight for titles in this competition and you can imagine for us we enjoy. it you can imagine for us we en'o . , you can imagine for us we en'o. ,,.,,._ enjoy. it is probably played such a big _ enjoy. it is probably played such a big part _ enjoy. it is probably played such a big part today. - enjoy. it is probably played - such a big part today. mentally we found — such a big part today. mentally we found it tough and physically as well. not many teams — phys

west ham on the number two with. but tonight, at the beginning of the 18th week of the italian serie a , inter is at the top of the table as a guest of genoa. napuri meets mansa. fiorentina will face torino and lazio will host frosinone . the intervention of government officials in the affairs of the brazilian football confederation has put the country's first sport on the verge of suspension. football is in the blood of brazilians somehow this sport in the breath of the people of this country has become the oxygen of football in brazil, it is so big and proud that it is the only confederation among fifa member countries, but in recent days, the president of this confederation, ednaldo rodríguez , has been dismissed from his reputation for forging signatures, now by order of fifa the brazilian football confederation is supposed to be suspended because of this dismissal. fifa, at the same time as the decision to remove rudige from the position of the president of the football confederation of this country, stated that

west ham is in ninth place. it was 24 points. in other games last night newcastle 0.3 against everton, lost in the category. in the 15th week of dutch football, eindhoven defeated rafin by 0.2 and won its place at the top of the table with 45 points. in the absence of alireza jahanbakhsh, who was injured , it defeated olendam 3 times and finished second with 35 points. the second round of the main cup was followed and in the most important games, girona defeated orihuela 5-2. in other games, athletic bilbao defeated cayon 30 , elche beat linares 31. aranidina won 2/1 against cádiz and celta v took sestao by 1. and the federation made extensive changes in the technical staff of the youth and adult freestyle wrestling teams he said that our colleague had a conversation with the new head coach of the national freestyle wrestling team, after pejman, now the first man of freestyle wrestling is mohsen kaveh. in a few years, our age will be marginal, but 62 -year-old kaveh says that because of his friendship with the head of the federat

liverpool face west ham in the league cup quarterfinals on wednesday, last seasons runners up in thelsea tomorrow night. eddie howe�*s side had a morale—bosting win over the weekend, 3—0 against fulham after three defeats in a row. they did pick up a couple more injuries, tojoelinton and fabien schar, and though they are doubts for tomorrow night, sven botman should be available after coming off the bench over the weekend. his first appearance in three months spain has done a lot of work. he has rehabbed really well, so we will have to make a decision on weather we want to start him in this game. i think from a physical perspective he has got the loot behind him. i've been really impressed with how he has attacked that. it was a great thing from the day, really. it was a great thing from the day, really. harry kane's dream debut season at bayern munich continues. the england captain scored twice in their 3—0 win over stuttgart, to take his league tally to 20 goals injust14 games — that's the quickest in the history of the bundesliga. they remain four points behind leaders bayer lever

# everywhere we go - # everywhere we go # everywhere we go # west ham are massive # west ham are massivekudus, who's on fire right now, faces the same dilemma. the lions want him to stay, but fans of the black stars will be dying to see their star man. just imagine being a fan of both...! i don't really like the way we fuse — i don't really like the way we fuse afcon and european football. i think we should have — football. i think we should have a _ football. i think we should have a calendar that could help both _ have a calendar that could help both of— have a calendar that could help both of us. i —— what about south — both of us. i —— what about south america? the tournament... if they can move afcon to— tournament... if they can move afcon to december to suit the nations— afcon to december to suit the nations that are participating because _ nations that are participating because of the heat, why can't they— because of the heat, why can't they do— because of the heat, why can't they do something about nations cup? _ they do something about nations cup? let's work together and try a

west ham was in the ninth place with 24 points. in the other game last night, newcastle won 3-0.rton was defeated and in the seventh place of the table with 26 points, orton is in the seventeenth place with 10 points in dutch football, saud kurd defeated eintoon 2/0 in the 15th week of heerenfin and secured his position at the top of the table with 45 points. faynort defeated volendam in the absence of alireza jahanbakhsh, who was injured, and finished second with 35 points. the third round of the spanish club started last night and in the most important game, girona beat orella 5-2. in other matches, athletic bilbao beat cayon 3-0 , elche beat linares 3-1, aranidna won 2/1 against cadiz, and celta v-1 beat cestao. our country's freestyle wrestling team has only competed in 65, 86 and 125 weights from the six olympic weights kilogram has won the olympic quota and the federation made extensive changes in the technical staff of the youth and adult freestyle wrestling teams, and our colleague had a conversation with the new head coach of the national freestyle wrestling team. after

a gang of professional robbers attacked the home of the west ham captains . the sun newspaper reported on the attack of a gang of armed robbers on the home of the french captain kurt zouma and announced that a large amount of money and jewelry worth more than 100 thousand pounds was stolen from this player. interesting point. but this is where westam officials announced in support of uma that if anyone gives information and clues about the thieves in this case that leads to their arrest, they will give him 25 thousand pounds of magdeh goni . the news of nukel club is that the reason for this choice is the extreme artificiality of nick poe and douri , their main goalkeeper for four or five months from the green rectangle . de gea's appointment was for one year and the dutch player's flight to escape from manchester. barcelona has requested to buy him and save him from his disgrace. fendik was one of the stars of the ajax team in 2020, which was also included in the list of the 10 best talents in the world, but after his transfer to united , he did not get a ch

winning a as west ham take on freiburg 1—0 after half an hour.ch the knockout stages — otherwise they will drop into the europa conference league. rangers are 2—1 up, while sparta are winning 2—0. and liverpool played earlier, they have already won group e, so it doesn't matter that they lost to union saint gilloise. villa real beat rennes which means they take the top spot in group f. villa real beat rennes, which means they take the top spot in group f. but, despite winning tonight, roma will have to play off after slavia prague stayed top of group g. in the europa conference league — aston villa are playing in bosnia against zrinjski mostar and need a draw to seal top spot and move straight into the last 16. it is one altare. that is a result. that is a result. aberdeen can't progress so it would only be a consolation against eintracht frankfurt.

ijust can't believe _ west ham have won something!aps, for istanbuljust days later. the champions league final. all chant: city! city! manchester city beating inter milan by a single goal to complete an historic treble. and not even the manchester weather could spoil that homecoming party. it's just unbelievable. even now, it so doesn't seem real. the best time to be alive, the best time to be a city fan! living the dream! love it! away from football and in rather drier surrounds, more records — novak djokovic winning his 23rd grand slam singles title in the paris springtime. back here, saracens�* comeback was complete, crowned premiership champions at twickenham. just down the road, a dazzling moment in the gold cup, frankie dettori riding courage mon ami to victory in the jockey�*s final royal ascot meeting. the start of the sporting summer, though, was dominated by one of the oldest and fiercest international rivalries. the ashes was ultimately dampened by this manchester weather. still, it was quite a summer. well, here we go. the

ijust can't believe _ west ham have won something!ration perhaps for istanbuljust days later, the champions league final. city! manchester city beating inter milan by a single goal to complete an historic treble. and not even the manchester weather could spoil that homecoming party. it is just unbelievable. even now, it doesn't seem real. the best time to be alive, the best time to be a city fan. living the dream. love it! away from football, and in rather drier surrounds, more records. novak djokovic winning his 23rd grand slam singles title in the paris springtime. back here, saracens' comeback was complete, crowned premiership champions at twickenham. just down the road, a dazzling moment in the gold cup. frankie dettori riding courage mon ami to victory in the jockey�*s final royal ascot meeting. the start of the sporting summer, though, was dominated by one of the oldest and fiercest international rivalries. the ashes was ultimately dampened by this manchester weather. still, it was quite a summer. well, here we go, the ashes is