Gary Lemke looks back at a jam-packed sporting weekend where VAR came to Manchester United's rescue as they survived a Coventry comeback to book an FA Cup final spot, and there's no stopping the Scheffler express.
UNITED THROUGH AS VAR COMES TO THE RESCUE
Man United fans, it’s safe to come out from behind the sofa. From popcorn flying all over the lounge, being 3-0 up at 60 minutes, to watching through the fingers during extra-time, and then ultimately, thinking a last-kick goal had sealed it for Coventry. Instead, VAR spoiled the party for the neutrals, and United went on to reach the FA Cup final with a penalty shootout win.
They will join rivals City in the final at Wembley in a month’s time after the holders edged Chelsea 1-0 a day earlier. It’s fair to say that one of the great comebacks in FA Cup history was marred by a toenail that crossed the line that VAR drew in the build-up to what would have been a sensational winner. In EPL action, both Arsenal and Liverpool won, to again leapfrog City, who have a game in hand as they race to the wire.
VERSTAPPEN MAKES IT FOUR OUT OF FIVE
The number was 13, although some might round it up to 14. That, in fairness, was probably the only guessing game we had to play ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. Max Verstappen surged to his fourth win in the first five grands prix of the 2024 season, this time beating Lando Norris by 13.77sec. That’s taking into account the presence of the safety car, which suggests that the world champion would have won by a wider margin without the interruption.
In the four races he’s won this season – last year it was 19 of the 22 – Verstappen has prevailed by 22 seconds, 13sec, 12sec and now 13sec again. There’s a fortnight break before the F1 tent moves to Miami, where the biggest talking point might again be by how many seconds Verstappen will continue his dominance.
🏆 What an amazing weekend here in China 🇨🇳. The car felt like it was on rails 🙏 @redbullracing! Thank you to all the fans, your support has been overwhelming! 👏 pic.twitter.com/1CD575xvXv
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) April 21, 2024
AFRICA’S ELITE WOMEN DOMINATE IN LONDON
The London Marathon is considered one of the world’s best – whether you’re an elite runner or social – and the key takeaway was that Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes filled the first 10 home. Peres Jepchirchir lowered the women’s-only world record to 2hr 16min 16sec to stamp her credentials for the 42.2km title at the Paris Olympics. South Africa’s Gerda Steyn, who recently won the 56km Two Oceans Marathon, will have been watching with keen interest. She has a South African record of 2:24:03., which might seem too slow for a medal in Paris, but in her favour is the fact that the course is one of the toughest, and most hilly, in recent Games’. The men’s marathon also saw an African 1-2.
Peres Jepchirchir put on a show in London! ⚡️
— TCS London Marathon (@LondonMarathon) April 21, 2024
A women-only World Record for the Olympic Champion.#LondonMarathon pic.twitter.com/LwSLCmlvqS
FOURIE ADDS TO HIS LIST OF WINNERS
The KZN racing feeling feels like it has now started and the Cape horses are arriving and having their pipe-openers. However, perhaps the most significant win of the weekend came at Kenilworth, where All About Ronnie prevailed by a short head in a low-key mile race at odds of 10-1. The win marked jockey Richard Fourie’s 259th win of the season, which beats his tally of last year. His next milestone is 300 winners, but all the talk is about him chasing the South African record of 334, set by Anthony Delpech. Hollywoodbets dangled a million-rand carrot for any jockey who would break that mark and right now, barring injury, Fourie looks well on track to cash in.
A fantastic day of racing opened with the Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Welcomes You Maiden Juvenile Plate with KAIBOY and Aldo Domeyer finishing strongly to win against a fast-trailling BAGATELLE FLASH hot on his heels.
— caperacing (@caperacing1) April 20, 2024
Congratulation to the winning connections:@bassracingstble pic.twitter.com/HktEPanlsW
NO STOPPING THE SCHEFFLER EXPRESS
Scottie Scheffler is certain to sign off on another PGA Tour win when the RBC Heritage concludes on Monday. The world No1, who is fresh from a Masters win, showed how strong he is mentally to come back a week later and dominate a PGA Tour event, which would emulate what Bernard Langer last did in 1985. Scheffler holds a five-shot lead with three holes to play when the play is resumed later on Monday.
Expect anything different?
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 21, 2024
Scottie Scheffler is on another level 🔥 pic.twitter.com/u5QDhyWfQL
STELLENBOSCH TAKE STREAK TO 23
In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen scored an injury-time equaliser to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 45, which is an all-time record for any team in Europe’s top five leagues. It’s a remarkable achievement and stretches. back to the final day of last season. Closer home, Dtellenbosch United took their unbeaten run to 23 games, with a comeback 2-1 win over TS Galaxy. Although Sundowns are out of sight, Stellenbosch’s streak of form is impressive and largely gone unnoticed, but they are clearly the second-best side in South Africa at the moment.
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