Sports World Today, December 31, 2023: Arsenal Lose To Fulham In The Premier League; Cristiano Ronaldo Finishes Year As World Football's Top-Scorer; Rafael Nadal Returns On The Tennis Court - As It Happened

11:38 PM: 2024 Is Upon Us

With 2024 now minutes away, the year 2023 was a mixed bag especially if you are a Indian sports fan. Here's hoping a great 2024!

10:30 PM: Tottenham Hotspur Beat Bournemouth 3-1 In EPL

Pape Sarr opened the scoring for Tottenham Hotspur in a 3-1 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday before going off with an injury that could put his African Cup of Nations participation in doubt. Son Heung-min doubled the lead with his 12th league goal of the season as Spurs rebounded from a 4-2 loss at Brighton on Thursday to move within a point of fourth-place Arsenal.

Read more about it here

10:09 PM: Tennis Player Andy Murray Reveals That 2024 Could Be His Last

Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has revealed 2024 could be his final year before retirement after illness and injury hampered his preparation for the new season.?

"If I was in a situation like I was at the end of last year, then I probably wouldn't go again," Murray told the BBC. "But then if physically I'm doing well and my results are good and I'm playing well, then that's enjoyable and I could see myself still playing. We'll see how the year goes, see how the body holds up. If things are going well, I'd love to keep going. But if they're not, and I'm not enjoying it, it could be the last year, yes."

9:33 PM: EPL Update

Arsenal lose 1-2 to Fulham whereas Tottenham have beaten Bournemouth 3-1 at their home stadium.

8:00 PM: Score Update From English Premier League

Arsenal are level 1-1 with Fulham at Craven Cottage whereas Tottenham lead Bournemouth 1-0.

6:38?PM: Tottenham Hotspur Vs AFC Bournemouth Playing XIs

Tottenham XI:?Vicario, Porro, Royal, Davies, Udogie, Sarr, Lo Celso, Bentancur, Johnson, Son, Richarlison

Bournemouth XI:?Neto, Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Ouattara, Christie, Kluivert, Tavernier, Solanke, Cook, Sinisterra

6:31 PM: Fulham Vs Arsenal FC Playing XIs Are Out

Arsenal XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli

Fulham XI:?Leno; Castagne, Tosin, Bassey, Robinson; Palhinha, Cairney; Decordova-Reid, Willian, Iwobi; Jimenez

6:23 PM: Indian Men's Cricket Team's Schedule In 2024

5:58 PM: Igor Stimac Looks To FIFA WC Qualfiers

The Indian football team is entering the upcoming Asian Cup as " rank outsiders" and its main goal is to go through to the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, head coach?Igor Stimac?said on Sunday.

Read more about it here.

5:14 PM: New Zealand Ring In The New Year With Drawn T20 Series

The Black Caps have drawn the series T20 level with Bangladesh as they welcomed the New Year.?

5:00 PM: Pubity Sport - Who Will Win Between Lionel Messi And Virat Kohli To Win 'Athlete of the Year'

4:55 PM: Manchester City's Erling Haaland Wishes Happy New Year

4:30 PM: More Football Coming Up!?

The English Premier League juggernaut never settles. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur will be in action later in the day when they face Fulham and AFC Bournemouth, respectively. Meanwhile, Liverpool will play Newcastle United on January 1, 2024, to conclude the matchweek.?

3:30 PM: Events To Look Forward To In 2024!?

Paris Olympics, AFC Asian Cup, U19 Cricket World Cup, T20 World Cups, and much, much more! 2024 promises plenty in terms of sporting events, but these five are the ones to keep a specific eye on:?

Five Sporting Events Involving India To Look Forward To In 2024

3:00 PM: A Point To Prove - Elanga?

Former Manchester United player Anthony Elanga was visibly emotional after his current side Nottingham Forest beat his former team 2-1. Speaking to the media, Elanga claimed he had a point to prove to his former employers.?

"This game was kinda personal for me, to prove that I am capable of playing at higher levels. And I'm just grateful for Nottingham Forest for bringing me in, especially Steve Cooper. Now, he's obviously left and Nuno [Espirito Santo] and his staff have come in and done a tremendous job so far," he said after the match.?

Watch an emotional Anthony Elanga embrace Nuno Espirito Santo after the win here.?

2:00 PM: What's Troubling Gill??

Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar has a simple solution to youngster Shubman Gill's Test cricket woes. Gill, who has only managed one 50+ score in 2023, is approaching the format too aggressively, says Gavaskar, tipping him to adapt his technique to the red ball.?

Read more here.?

1:00 PM: India Team News, Likely XI

Shardul Thakur seems to have recovered from his shoulder affliction after being hit in the nets and could be a part of the India XI to take on South Africa in a must-win new year clash. India lost the opening battle of the three-game series by an innings and 32 runs, and will need to win the next match to keep the hopes of a series win alive.?

India's Potential XI:?Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj.

Read more here.?

12:30 PM: Cricket Update?

Australia have named their 13-man squad for the New Year's Test, with David Warner set to bat in this particular format for the final time - as things stand. Heres are final XIII:?

Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner

11:30?AM: Serie A Round-up

Juventus 1-0 Roma -?Juventus closed the gap on league leaders Inter Milan to two points after securing hard-fought three points at home to Jose Mourinho's AS Roma. Behind in terms of possession on the night, and attempting a similar number of shots as their rivals, Juve nudged ahead in the 47th minute through Frenchman Adrien Rabiot. Despite the onslaught that followed, the Old Lady stood firm, registering its 13th win of the season.?

AC Milan 1-0 Sassuolo -?United States of America star Christian Pulisic scored the only goal in AC Milan's narrow win over Sassuolo, minutes before the clock struck the hour. Milan, having drawn their previous game and rapidly falling off the pace in the Serie A title race - with rivals Inter Milan and Juventus locked in a battle - needed a respite, which Pulisic supplied with a crucial strike in the second half. The Rossoneri attempted 20 shots, landing only two on target, with one ending up as a goal.?

Other Results -?Udinese 3-0 Atalanta; Atalanta 1-0 Lecce; Hellas Verona 0-1 Salernitana; Cagliari 0-0 Empoli

10:00 AM: Premier League Round-up

Nottingham Forest 2-1 Manchester United -?Manchester United's woes continued with their latest loss of the season, this time to a resurgent Nottingham Forest, who claimed their second successive win under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo. Nicolas Dominguez gave Forest the lead in the second half, only for Marcus Rashford to equalize following an error from Matt Turner. Morgan Gibbs-White restored Forest's advantage in the 82nd minute, which they held onto dearly for the time that remained.?

Luton Town 2-3 Chelsea -?Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea nearly threw away a three-goal advantage to the newly-promoted Luton Town, whose comeback charge fell devastatingly short of completion in front of a rocking Kenilworth Road. Cole Palmer scored twice for the Blues, either side of a Noni Madueke goal that the former Manchester City man had set up. Luton cut the deficit through late goals from Ross Barkley and Elijah Adebayo, but couldn't find an equaliser in the time that remained.?

Manchester City 2-0 Sheffield United -?No Erling Haaland, no problem for Manchester City, who amped up their efforts to return to the Premier League summit with a 2-0 win over struggling Sheffield United. Rodri put the Citizens ahead early, while Julian Alvarez added a second in the second half, continuing his fine run of form.?

Other Results -?Aston Villa 3-2 Burnley; Crystal Palace 3-1 Brentford; Wolves 3-0 Everton.?

9:00 AM: NZ vs BAN Update

Incessant rain has, once again, forced the match to be called off at Mount Maunganui. New Zealand were ahead on DLS when the officials decided play had to be abandoned and, as such, they are the de facto winners of the contest. It's a tough result to take for Bangladesh, who came within touching distance of their maiden T20I series win against the Black Caps in New Zealand.?

The Tigers will, however, return home with their first T20I and ODI wins in New Zealand in the bag.?

8:00 AM: NZ vs BAN Update?

It's a close one in Mount Maunganui! New Zealand, aiming to level the series, returned the entire Bangladesh team for just 110 runs, a total the Tigers attained in 19.2 overs before switching focus toward fielding. While it seemed New Zealand had the upper hand, a fine bowling performance by the first-ever New Zealand-based T20 Series win-chasing Bangladesh had managed to limit them at 49 for the loss of five wickets in nine overs.?

NZ need 62 runs in 66 balls to win this one; BAN, meanwhile, need five wickets.?

Hello and welcome to our blog coverage of sports world live today. On the final day of 2023, sporting action concludes with the English Premier League as Arsenal take on Fulham whereas Tottenham Hotspur welcome AFC Bournemouth. Updates from the Indian cricket team's training ground as they prepare for an all-important second Test against the Proteas in Cape Town