13/02/2026

SPORTS FRIDAY | FEB 13, 2026

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together, (get a) bit of confidence, make them believe in themselves. “Somebody goes in and does that, they can get the results they need – but it ain’t going to be easy.” Burnley fight back to stun Palace RELEGATION-THREATENED Burnley staged an extraordinary first half fightback to beat Crystal Palace and claim their first Premier League victory in 17 matches. The Clarets had failed to win in the top flight since overcoming Wolves on 26 October, and they appeared to be heading for another bruising eve ning after two first-half Jorgen Strand Larsen goals had put Palace firmly in the driving seat. Burnley failed to register a shot on target in the opening 39 minutes of the game, but Scott Parker’s side finished the half in scarcely believable fashion,

scoring three goals in seven minutes to take a 3-2 lead into the break. Hannibal Mejbri reduced the arrears with a sweetly struck, first-time shot from Marcus Edwards’ cut-back, before Jaidon Anthony guided a low drive inside the near post to restore parity four minutes later. Burnley’s extraordinary comeback was complete in first half stoppage time, when goalkeeper Dean Henderson parried Bashir Humphreys’ header on to the foot of Jefferson Lerma and into the net to spark jubilant, almost disbelieving scenes in the away end. Palace, who arrested a 12-match winless run with victory at rivals Brighton on Sunday, domi nated possession in the second half and should have equalised when the unmarked Daichi Kamada met Daniel Munoz’s cross at the far post, only to turn his header wide of the target from close range.

Lewis, previously in charge of the U-18s, both inter nal options. Redknapp was Spurs boss between 2008 and 2012, initially steadying the ship following the departure of Juande Ramos and then taking the club into the Champions League. The 78-year-old is not expecting to be on the latest shortlist, however. Speaking on Sky Sports News, Redknapp said: “Would I fancy it? Of course I would do it, without any shadow of a doubt. “But I am a realist – I don’t live in (cloud) cuckoo land. It is very doubtful if I would get the job. But could I do the job? Yeah, of course I could do the job.” Redknapp added:“What they need now is some one to go in, get down to basics, hard work – when you lose the ball, don’t be embarrassed to run and try to get it back. “When you lose (the ball), close down, work

SHORTS

Redknapp gets Frank on Spurs return HARRY REDKNAPP would welcome a return to Tottenham but doubts the call will come – and he knows whoever takes over as manager from Thomas Frank faces a tough job to turn the club around. Former Brentford boss Frank, hired in June to replace Europa League winner Ange Postecoglou, saw his eight-month stint end following the 2-1 home defeat by Newcastle on Wednesday which left Spurs 16th in the table. Tottenham are reportedly set to look at an interim replacement, with recently appointed first team assistant coach John Heitinga and Stuart

Reds bounce back A RNE SLOT wants Liverpool to find some consistency after they edged closer to the top four with a 1-0 win at Sunderland. Ű BY REBECCA JOHNSON Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk (top left) scores their first goal during the English Premier League match against Sunderland yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

NOTTINGHAM FOREST have sacked Sean Dyche after only 114 days in charge, with a goalless Premier League draw against bot tom side Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday proving to be his final match as head coach. The 54-year-old joined Forest in October on a contract until the summer of 2027 but becomes the third manager to lose his job at the club this season following the exits of Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou. “Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that Sean Dyche has been relieved of his duties as head coach,” Forest said in a statement yesterday morning. “We would like to thank Sean and his staff for their efforts dur ing their time at the club and we wish them the best of luck for the future.” Forest are 17th in the League after a three-game winless run and sit one place above the relegation zone with 12 matches left to secure their top-flight status. Dyche appeared resigned to his fate after the Wolves game, where Forest failed to score despite 35 attempts on goal. “The owner (Evangelos Marinakis) has been fair to me, without a shadow of a doubt,” Dyche said. “If anyone chooses to change in football now, that’s their deci sion. We’ve all seen it. “People can demand change, and then it’s always whether they change or not. I work very hard. I care about this club. I’ve made that clear. I’m working very hard. “If the owner wants to make a change, then that’s up to him, and that’s the way football is now, that’s the reality of it.” “Owners are owners. They don’t warm you up, it just comes, if that’s the way it goes. I’m a realist. I understand the noise here has changed significantly since the last few games.” Dyche’s predecessor Postecoglou lasted only 39 days in the role, the Australian becom ing the shortest-serving perma nent Premier League manager to be sacked mid-season. Forest will look to appoint a fourth manager this season ahead of the first leg of their Europa League match with Fenerbahce next Thursday. – Reuters Forest sack manager Dyche

Slot urges Liverpool to find consistency after victory at Sunderland

The Liverpool boss also revealed he is expecting Wataru Endo to be sidelined for a period of time after the full-back was carried off on a stretcher during the second half following an awk ward landing, with Joe Gomez coming on to replace him.

Following a disappointing defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, the Reds responded with a hard-fought victory which ended the Black Cats’ unbeaten run of 12 Premier League games at the Stadium of Light this season. Florian Wirtz hit the post in the first half, but Liverpool eventually struck after the break when Mohamed Salah’s corner was flicked on by Virgil van Dijk, with the ball bouncing off Habib Diarra’s head and in at the back post. The win moves Liverpool three points away from the top four and two points behind fifth-placed Chelsea, but Slot was pleased to see his side capitalise from a set piece goal as they target the Champions League spots. He said: “We’ve shown that response so many times already this season. Now it’s about the consistency and the results. “It’s not a coincidence that we win here tonight or that we won our games because we’re usually the better team on the pitch. “It’s more surprising to see that from all the times we were the better team we didn’t make wins, but actually today you could see the reason why. “If you create so many chances and also moments where we could have four versus three situations, three versus two situations, and that should with the quality we have – and that will by the way – leads to us scoring more goals. “In the end we needed a set piece to score and we usually have against these teams set pieces, but we usually, people at Liverpool will tell you, don’t score from a set piece.

Speaking about the injury, Slot said: “It is a serious one. How serious we don’t know yet because then of course he has to be assessed tomorrow, but it doesn’t look good. “It’s his foot, but if

it’s his ankle or his foot that is what we have to

other teams. “We focus on ourselves, in our way, our points and how we build the team. We are trying to focus on each match. Other teams will win and lose.” Tyrone Mings started back-to-back league games for the first time since his hamstring injury which kept him out for two months and thought he celebrated his 200th appearance with a goal. He got the final touch before Hinshelwood turned into his own net but got the applause from Villa Park following the goal and Emery was quick to praise his captain. He added: “He played a fantastic game and scored a fantastic goal. We were resilient and we can win through set-pieces with the players we have. Keep going now, trying to get our good form, mood and energy.” – The Independent assess tomorrow, but I assume that he will be out for a long time. What is long, that is difficult to say this moment.” Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris believes small margins defined the game as they drop to 11th in the table. Despite a solid defensive effort throughout, the Black Cats endured their eighth league loss of the campaign. Le Bris said: “They were good, mature, smart, agile. Many good players with experience. “The first half was a bit tough because we didn’t find the right position to be close to duel them. “We sat, we wasted a bit of energy dur ing this part and with the ball it was diffi cult. “We tried, it was a bit better during the second half, but they scored on set pieces. Small margins defined this kind of game.” – The Independent

“Tonight we did and that’s the biggest dif ference between Burnley at home, I can come up with Leeds away, Leeds at home, all these games where we’ve dropped points.” Victory over Brighton was a must-win match: Emery

Ű BY SUNNY BADWAL

own goal following a teasing Leon Bailey delivery from a corner. Emery admitted it was important to win follow ing a couple of home defeats to Brentford and Everton. “We needed to win. How? Sometimes playing better or worse. We needed to recover confidence today. We are adding players too. The three points are very, very important,” Emery said. “It was an equal match in the first half and in the second we performed worse but it was equal. “The set-pieces are another way we are using and exploiting. A draw would be fair, but we lost two matches here before and needed to get energy with the supporters. “No way (we are not bothered about other team’s results). No way. I don’t want to speak about

ASTON VILLA boss Unai Emery admitted their 1-0 Premier League victory over Brighton was a must win match at Villa Park. Ferdi Kadioglu hit the crossbar in the game’s first big chance following a low-key first half and James Milner wanted to mark his record-equalling 653rd Premier League appearance with a goal but was denied by Emi Martinez. The 40-year-old was introduced earlier than he imagined after he replaced Carlos Baleba in the 22nd minute – following his second minute yellow card – a decision which left the Cameroon interna tional visibly upset on the bench. Aston Villa got the decisive winner five minutes from time when Jack Hinshelwood turned into his