Today in Sport: 3rd of February, 2025

Arsenal run riot against Manchester City, De'Aaron Fox and Zach Lavine find new homes, and Marcus Rashford bids farewell to Manchester United, plus more.

Written by Lachlan Sherriff

A Fabulous Five: Arsenal Run Riot Against Manchester City

In a shock result, Arsenal defeated Manchester City 5-1 at home, their biggest win against the Citizens since 2003.

It only took 104 seconds for the Gunners to take the lead through Martin Ødegaard, who finished from close range after Kai Havertz squared the ball to the Norwegian following a lapse in City's defense.

Arsenal continued to pepper shots at goal in the first half, but failed to convert, and the score remained 1-0 at half time.

Erling Haaland got things back on track and scored his nineteenth goal of the season in the 55th minute, but Arsenal scored a second goal only a minute later to make it 2-1.

From there on, the Gunners would never look back. Myles Lewis-Skelly scored his first Arsenal goal in the 61st minute, and celebrated with Erling Haaland's signature Zen pose, a clear response to Haaland's initial comment telling Arsenal to "stay humble".

Havertz cut in on his left foot and scored to make it 4-1, before youngster Ethan Nwaneri did him one better with a similar strike from further distance in injury time.

The game would end 5-1, placing Arsenal second in the league table, six points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

Manchester City sit fourth, and will be overtaken if Chelsea win their game in hand against West Ham. This loss also broke City's six game unbeaten streak in the league.

It seems that Haaland's "stay humble" comment is aging like milk, and Lewis-Scally's celebration was the final gram of salt in the wound.

"It's football antics. Things happen on the pitch. He celebrated. It's obviously the Haaland celebration. I know he has respect for him, the whole team has big respect for him because of what he's done, he's a big player."

- Declan Rice on Miles Lewis-Scally's celebration

Arsenal will try and fuel this momentum into defeating Newcastle in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final in their next match. Newcastle currently lead 2-0. Assuming Pep Guardiola chooses to rest his best players in the upcoming FA Cup tie against Leyton Orient, Man City's first squad will play their next game at home against Real Madrid in the Champions League.

De Vrij Rescues Point For Inter in Milan Derby

Another Milan derby is in the history books, as Stefan de Vrij rescued a point for Inter in the dying minutes to secure a 1-1 draw against arch rivals AC Milan.

Inter, who are now unbeaten in their last seventeen league matches, thought they had taken the lead six minutes in through Lautaro Martinez, however the Argentine was denied his tenth goal of the season by the offside flag.

Martinez found the net again in the 33rd minute, but was again denied by the linesman, this time due to Nicolo Barella starting his run too early.

Inter's inability to stay onside would end up costing them, as Tijjani Reijnders opened the scoring for Milan in the 45th minute, putting Inter's unbeaten streak at risk.

Inter were on the attack in the second half, but a great showing from the Milan defense prevented Inter from scoring, including from Kyle Walker, who impressed in his Milan debut.

Nonetheless, it would be Stefan de Vrij who got the last laugh, as debutant Nicola Zalewski's chested assist allowed the Dutchman to finish from close range and rescue a point for Inter.

While Inter felt they should have won the game, considering they had three goals disallowed, hit the woodwork three times and were denied a penalty, manager Simone Inzaghi still insisted he was happy with his team's performance.

“I can only applaud my team. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get beyond the key moments. Three shots that hit the post, three goals disallowed, and a sensational decision not to give a penalty. But despite that, we managed to find the equalizer.”

- Simone Inzaghi following Inter's 1-1 draw with Milan

Inter will turn their attention to Fiorentina at the San Siro next, while Milan prepare for their Coppa Italia quarter final against Roma at home.

Arsenal Prevail In Seven Goal Thriller

Arsenal have ended up winners in a thrilling WSL clash against Manchester City, which saw the ball hit the back of the net seven times.

Arsenal got off to a dream start, scoring twice in the first eight minutes through Mariona Caldentey and Lotte Wubben-Moy, before Mary Fowler scored for Manchester City to make it 2-1 at half time.

Former Gunner Vivianne Miedema equalized for City in the 50th minute, but a quick response from Frida Maanum saw Arsenal take back the lead a minute later.

The craziness was far from over, though, as a reckless challenge from Steph Catley on Aoba Fujino gave Man City a penalty in the 55th minute. Fowler took the penalty and scored the third goal of the game in five minutes, completing her brace and tying the game up at 3-3.

But it would be Stina Blackstenius who had the final say on the game, as she scored the final goal of the game in the 78th minute, with one of the craziest games of the season ending in a 4-3 Arsenal win.

"We know that Stina has been very effective against Man City before. So as soon as there’s a lot of space behind opposition lines and players that want to step forward, then it’s always good to have Stina on the pitch."

- Arsenal manager Renée Slegers on Stina Blackstenius' winner

Arsenal and Manchester City will meet again later this week, as the two face off against each other at Meadow Park in the Women's League Cup final.

Aston Villa Confirm Loan Deal for Marcus Rashford

After falling out of favor with Ruben Amorim, Marcus Rashford has joined Aston Villa on loan until the end of the season.

Rashford, who has been at Manchester United since 2005 and made his senior debut in 2016, scored 138 goals in 426 games as a Red Devil. This is the first time he's played for a club other then Man United since his youth career.

While the talent was always there, the constant changing of managers at United proved to be a problem for Rashford's career, as he could never consistently produce what he was capable of. He had great seasons in a United shirt, scoring 22 goals in 2019/20, 23 goals in 2020/21 and thirty goals in 2022/23. However, there were also underwhelming seasons, such as in 2021/22 when he only scored five goals, or 2023/24 when he scored eight. So far, he has seven goals in 24 games this season.

Aston Villa will be hoping Rashford can replace Jhon Duran, who scored twelve goals in 29 games for the Villans before departing for Al Nassr last week. While Rashford can play on the wing, it's expected he will be competing for the spot Aston Villa's loan striker against Ollie Watkins. Watkins has scored eleven goals in 33 games so far this season.

Even though this is technically only a loan, it does appear that the writing is on the wall for Manchester United. But this next six months could help him work his way back into the England squad, after former England manager Gareth Southgate left Rashford out of his EURO 2024 squad. But with a new manager in Thomas Tuchel managing England, making the 2026 World Cup squad is now a realistic goal for Rashford.

Aston Villa's next match is against Tottenham in the FA Cup, and their next league game is against Ipswich Town. They have also qualified for the round of sixteen of the Champions League.

Fox and Lavine Find New Homes In Three Team Trade

As the NBA trade deadline approaches, seven players have found new homes in a three team trade, including De'Aaron Fox and Zach LaVine.

Fox, a one time all star who made the All NBA Third Team in 2023, joins the San Antonio Spurs after seven and a half years with the Sacramento Kings. LaVine, a two time all star, leaves the Chicago Bulls to join the Kings.

The trade also sees the Spurs acquire Jordan McLaughlin and the Kings acquire Sidy Cissokho, three first round picks, and three second round picks. Chicago, meanwhile, acquire the services of Zach Collins, Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter. They also get their 2025 first round pick back, which they originally traded to San Antonio.

The Spurs, who are currently 12th in the Western Conference, secure a long time point guard for the future to pair with Victor Wembanyama. The move may also see veteran point guard Chris Paul move to the bench, a role he played last year with the Golden State Warriors.

After signing DeMar DeRozan in the off-season, the Kings pair up LaVine and DeRozan, a duo first seen in Chicago. LaVine and DeRozan played 162 games together in Chicago. The pair made the playoffs in 2021/22, the play-in in 22/23, and missed it all entirely in 23/24. But they didn't have Domantas Sabonis, who's leading the league in rebounds this season. The Kings currently sit tenth in the Western Conference, with hopes LaVine can help them rise up the standings.

Chicago, meanwhile, look to finally be committed to tanking after ending the Zach Lavine era. LaVine was with the Bulls for seven and a half seasons, where Chicago only made the playoffs once. With LaVine finally gone, Chicago can stop floating around in mediocrity and embrace tanking. While it might be too late to capture Cooper Flagg in the next draft, there's other drafts in the future where the Bulls will look to rebuild, in hopes they can see successes they haven't seen since Michael Jordan's retirement.

For the Spurs and Kings, they both now have the talent to make the playoffs this year. While neither team is likely to win the championship this season, the Spurs are only going to improve with Wembanyama leading their franchise. The Kings, meanwhile, may need one final piece to take them to the final step.

The Spurs will play the Grizzlies in Memphis in their next game. The Kings play the Timberwolves in Minnesota, and Chicago are set to host Miami at United Center.

Boston Fight Back In Gritty Win Against Philadelphia

Despite being down by 26 points in the third quarter, a 38-16 fourth quarter led Boston to a 118-110 win over rivals Philadelphia 76ers.

Boston's three point shooting helped them secure the victory, especially in the fourth quarter, as they hit seven three pointers in the final twelve minutes compared to Philly's one.

Jayson Tatum led the scoring for Boston with 35, while Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White chipped in with 21, 18 and 17 respectively. Tyrese Maxey had 34, while Guerschon Yabusele had 21 against his former team, but neither managed to score a single point in the final quarter collapse.

Following his team's comeback, Joe Mazzulla showed how proud he was in his post match interview.

“You get a few chances to where you really see the guys do something special in the regular season. I was proud to coach them.”

- Joe Mazzulla after Boston's comeback victory against Philadelphia

Boston travel to Cleveland to play the Cavaliers next, while the Sixers look to make amends at home against Dallas.

Amoore's Career High Leads Kentucky to Win Over Oklahoma

Australian Georgia Amoore has set a new career high of 43 points in No.12 Kentucky's 95-86 win over No.13 Oklahoma.

Amoore, who transferred to Kentucky from Virginia Tech before the start of this season, scored 43 points off 22 shots against Oklahoma, while also going 7/12 from three. Amoore equals a record co-held by Jennifer O'Neill and Rhyne Howard for most points by a female Kentucky Wildcat player in a single game.

Elsewhere for Kentucky, Clara Strack had nineteen points in only 26 minutes, while Sahara Williams led the way for Oklahoma with 27.

Speaking to reporters after the game, coach Kenny Brooks had nothing but praise for Amoore.

“Georgia was terrific in everything that she did today. Not only in points, but she just really controlled the tempo, got the basketball where we needed it, controlled the team when we were in foul trouble in the first half.”

- Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks following Georgia Amoore's 43 point game

Kentucky will return to the court next week for an away game at The Pavillion against Ole Miss.

NFC Secure 2025 Pro Bowl

For a third straight year, the NFC have secured the Pro Bowl.

After coming into the flag football game with a 14-7 lead thanks to their performances in the mini games, the NFC, coached by former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, cruised to a 76-63 win/

Jared Goff led the way for the NFC on offense, with 126 passing yards and three touchdowns. On the defensive end, it was Byron Murphy's night, as he had a pick six in his first ever Pro Bowl. The pair won the offensive and defensive MVP, respectively.

"Obviously, first Pro Bowl, very blessed to be here. But the defense today came to show up, the guys on the defense came to play today, we had fun and coach Eli got us right."

- Byron Murphy after winning defensive MVP in the 2025 Pro Bowl

The game was hosted in Orlando, who do not have an NFL franchise. Goff shared his praise for the city following the game.

"It was fun, it was a really good week. I thought they did a really good job putting it together down here in Orlando. It was fun. Coach Eli did a hell of a job for us, leading us all week."

- Jared Goff after winning offensive MVP in the 2025 Pro Bowl

Despite positive feedback from the players, the Pro Bowl received another decrease in views this year, as many wonder if the 86 year old tradition is finally on it's last legs.

India Win Final T20 Against England

India have come on top in their final T20 match against England, winning the overall series 4-1.

England won the toss and chose to field, but immediately lived to regret it their choice as Abhishek Sharma made an incredible 135 runs off 54 balls, with thirteen sixes and six fours. England bowler Adil Rashid would eventually be the man to send Sharma back to the pavillion with a Jofra Archer catch, but by then the damage was done, as India went 9/247.

Chasing that total seemed impossible for England, and it eventually would prove to be. Phil Salt made a respectable 55, but was let down by his teammates, as no other English player made over ten. England would go all out for 97 after 10.3 overs, confirming a 150 run win for India.

After 135 runs, as well as two wickets, Sharma was awarded player of the match, to the surprise of no one.

“It’s a special one, coming for the country, always a great feeling. When I see it’s my day, I always try to go from the first ball. And the way the coach and the captain have treated me from the first day. They’ve always wanted this intent, they’ve always backed me.”

- Abhishek Sharma after winning Player of the Match against England

India and England will take on each other again soon, this time in the ODI format, in which they will play three times.