All posts by n8rngtd.top

Abject. It is, painfully, an accurate way of summing up Liverpool’s form this season. The Premier League champions will not retain their belt, not like this, not with such deep tactical cracks and incoherent players and non-existent belief in Arne Slot’s plan.

The most concerning part of the recent 3-0 defeat in Manchester against Pep Guardiola’s resurgent outfit is that Liverpool were outplayed across the park. Be it physical, mental or tactical metrics, Manchester City shone, and the Reds were blinded by their opponent’s superiority.

Jeremy Doku stood out, darting this way and that, scoring a stunning goal in the second half after breaking away from Ibrahima Konate. The Belgian winger completed seven of eight dribble attempts and created three chances, as per Sofascore.

Liverpool have got so many problems, and the recent wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid provided only the veneer of a revival as City hit the Merseside club with a sobering reality check.

Among Slot’s biggest concerns is the enduring slump of Mohamed Salah. For so many years, the Egyptian has been an unstoppable force for Liverpool, but, aged 33 and at the front of a sinking ship, he is struggling to recover more than a flicker of his former greatness.

Mohamed Salah is becoming a problem

Will we see the best of Salah in a Liverpool shirt again? There’s every chance that the right winger expended incredible amounts of mental and physical energy driving his club to the league title last season, and across all competitions, he scored 34 goals and supplied 23 assists.

Almost three months into the new campaign, Slot’s second in the dugout, Salah has recorded eight goal involvements, but his general play and the accuracy of his shooting have paled in comparison to the many years behind him. Salah is not himself.

This is a worry, to be sure. Not just because Liverpool are playing without their talisman in his groove, but because Slot has shown a hesitance toward unleashing Federico Chiesa right from the start of last season, and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change any time soon.

How much longer can it go on like this? Man City reduced Liverpool’s superstar to half-chances and a role within the defensive press. How many times has Salah picked Pep apart? How often has he been the leading light against this arch-rival of modern times?

There is, of course, the caveat to all this that Salah would be far better placed in a system of greater fluency. This has been anything but the case for the Anfield side this season.

But Father Time is not on the Premier League legend’s side, and, having penned a new two-year extension worth £400k per week in April, Salah has around 18 months to show that FSG have received more than bang for their buck one final time.

But there’s a very real possibility that Salah is past his prime, and that Liverpool need to find a successor.

An onerous task if ever there was one. However, Liverpool actually have a Kirkby prospect who has what it takes to swipe the icon’s shirt.

The Liverpool teen who can take Salah's #11

Slot needs to find a solution to Liverpool’s current woes, but let’s all take a breather, just for a moment. Liverpool have so much talent. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz will come good. But, more excitingly, there’s a wealth of teenage talent soon to be at Slot’s disposal, with one prospect a cut above the rest.

Rio Ngumoha knew he was headed to the upper crust of the Premier League, and a youth system that has shown itself since Jurgen Klopp came along to be a hothouse for those immensely gifted young stars.

Chelsea’s loss was Liverpool’s gain. Ngumoha was poached from Cobham in 2024 and made his professional debut against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup midway through his maiden year on Merseyside.

A left-sided winger with incredible speed and dribbling, the 17-year-old Ngumoha has the potential to become a superstar at Liverpool, with his physical, athletic and fierce playing style offering shades of that man Doku, Anfield villain last weekend.

You could say Ngumoha is preternaturally talented. After all, journalist Kieran Gill is among those to have singled him out as a “generational talent”, and he certainly illustrated his potential with an incredible strike on his Premier League debut, netting the winner against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park in August.

Since then, he has featured sporadically for the Redmen, playing seven games in all competitions but only starting in the Carabao Cup, among that youthful group who were brushed aside by Crystal Palace last month.

Ngumoha’s time will come. He is so fast, so sure of himself when on the ball. He is among the youngest goalscorers in Premier League history, and that goal is sure to be the first of many.

Time must be afforded to one so young. Take Doku. Criticised often at Man City for being endowed with such ferocity and fleet-footedness, but lacking end product and elite decision-making.

Doku is only 23, and his performance against Slot’s beleaguered lot last weekend was the display of a winger reaching new levels of maturity and technical understanding.

Ngumoha will only get better and better as the years go on, and while he can contribute this season, these foundational years could see him bloom at the end of next term, when Salah supposedly leaves, and he could take his shirt, stepping up as Liverpool’s new wide talisman.

Can Nghumoha reach those heights, take that #11 from Salah himself? You’ll have to stay tuned. But Ngumoha will make it easy to do that. Watching him play football is a treat, and he has the capacity to not just emulate a stylistic peer like Doku but become one of the very best in world football.

More than Wirtz: £36m Liverpool star is becoming a "serious issue" for Slot

Liverpool were condemned to a fifth defeat in six Premier League matches at the Etihad.

By
Angus Sinclair

Nov 10, 2025

West Bromwich Albion’s up-and-down start in the Championship under Ryan Mason continued away at Watford in their last outing.

The Baggies battled well last time out on their home patch against Preston North End to collect a 2-1 victory, only to then travel to the Hornets right after this home win, to pick up a disappointing fourth league defeat of the season already, as Javi Gracia’s hosts ran out 2-1 winners.

Leaking two strikes at Vicarage Road now means that West Brom have conceded more goals this season so far than they’ve scored, with just a paltry 12 league goals put away, next to the 13 they’ve surrendered.

Unfortunately, expensive summer recruit Aune Heggebo has failed to click into gear as the Baggies’ main marksman, with the £4.75m splashed out on the Nordic striker’s services already looking to be a rash use of cash.

Assessing Heggebo's poor start at West Brom

Having lit up his native Norway with Brann for some time, as seen in his mammoth tally of 51 strikes from 146 clashes, Heggebo would have been confident in his ability to be an instant success on English shores.

It hasn’t been entirely pear-shaped for Heggebo since his arrival to the West Midlands, though, with the bundled-in strike above against Middlesbrough opening his Championship account for the season.

But, it’s now been five straight games in the second tier since this consolation effort unnerved Rob Edwards’ men, with his showing against Watford standing out as a very passive one looking back.

Staggeringly, despite being on the pitch for a lengthy 70 minutes, the Bergen-born forward would fail to register a single shot at the Watford goal.

To make matters worse, from his minimal 14 touches of the ball, Heggebo would also lose possession a worrying five times, while the 6-foot-1 striker would also lose out on 11 of his 13 duels as he cut an isolated figure up top.

Josh Maja hasn’t fared any better in recent weeks, either, with the ex-Sunderland man goalless throughout October too. Therefore, Mason could be tempted to throw in this other option against Ipswich Town later today, as he attempts to get the goals flowing again.

Mason could unleash West Brom's "natural goalscorer"

Of course, both Maja and Heggebo will have opportunities again to impress as the season chugs along, with Daryl Dike still getting up to speed with what’s expected of him in the Championship, after yet another long injury layover.

While Dike builds back up his fitness, however, the time could be right for Mason to gift another forgotten Baggies attacker in Karlan Grant, some more minutes, with the former Huddersfield Town star even being branded as a “natural goalscorer” by his ex-Terriers boss Jan Siewert, for his blistering form in the second-tier once upon a time.

Indeed, Grant – who has also been praised as “versatile” by ex-West Brom player Carlton Palmer – has quite the impressive back catalogue in the EFL’s elite league, with 54 goals put away from 227 career appearances at the level, 28 of which have come donning Baggies blue and white.

22 of those efforts have come about, too, from the centre-forward spot on the pitch, even with Grant being accustomed to a spot down the wing, with Heggebo – and even Maja – perhaps fearful that Mason will roll the dice very soon in attempting to get the 28-year-old back to his Championship best, to also spark his goal-shy outfit into life.

After all, seven of those goals would come about just last campaign when he was given consistent chances to impress, despite it once looking certain that Grant would be exiting the Hawthorns.

If Mason were to put his arm around the hot-and-cold number ten and start him as his leading man, a confidence, goalscoring hero could well be unearthed once more, with Grant potentially firing home the goals that result in West Brom breaking out of their frustrating inconsistencies.

West Brom have signed a "menace" who looks like another Pereira-type player

West Bromwich Albion looks to have signed a new Matheus Pereira-type menace in this exciting attacker.

1

By
Kelan Sarson

Oct 16, 2025

NEW YORK — Garrett Crochet recoils at the premise. At 26, after 205 ⅓ innings (most in the American League), 255 strikeouts (most in the majors) and a 2.59 ERA (third in the AL) for the 89-win Red Sox, on the cusp of starting Game 1 of the American League wild-card series against the Yankees, he’s finally the guy he always knew he could be, right?

“Um,” he says quickly. “Becoming it.” 

For starters, he didn’t always know he could be this kind of starter. Not until he began throwing 91 mph as a left-handed high school senior did any Division I programs show interest, and even at Tennessee, he spent half his time pitching in relief. When the White Sox drafted him No. 11 in June 2020 and promoted him to the big-league bullpen three months later, he was just thrilled to be in the majors. So he was not exactly clawing at the walls of the bullpen asking to be unleashed on the rotation. 

“I thought that I could do it,” he says slowly. “I wasn’t sure.”

Even that degree of faith began to feel misplaced. In 2021, he threw 54 ⅓ innings in relief and felt gassed. “And I’m, like, last on my team!” he recalls. He set for himself the goal of hitting 80 or 90 innings in ’22, then putting himself in position for a few spot starts in ’23. “And then I blew out [my elbow],” he says. “It was like, ”

The Chicago brass knew he had the talent to be a frontline starter—a four-seamer that touches 100 mph plus perhaps the best slider in the game will usually play—but they wanted to see if he could develop the stamina. So after he finished rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, they let him spend the winter before the 2024 season stretching out. He was so dominant in spring training that they made him the Opening Day starter—his first major league start. 

“I was just like, ” he recalls. “”

The final participant in this year's Home Run Derby was announced Thursday evening, and the New York Yankees will officially have a player partaking in the event.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. was revealed Thursday night as the eighth participant in the derby, officially setting the stage for Monday's showdown at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves.

Chisholm may not be revered as one of the league's biggest sluggers, but he's had some quality power numbers at the plate. This season, he's slugging .530 with 17 home runs in 61 games. That would put him on a 162-game pace for 45 home runs, which should shatter his career-high of 24. Since joining the Yankees at last year's trade deadline, Chisholm has 28 home runs in 107 games.

He joins a derby pool already consisting of Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood, Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton, Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz, Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero and Athletics DH Brent Rooker.

There are no past winners in this year's crop of derby contestants, so a new winner will be crowned in 2025. This will be Chisholm's first time in the derby, and the first time a Yankee has participated since Aaron Judge did in 2017.

The Atlanta Braves have placed outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. on the10-day injured list after he was removed from Tuesday night's loss vs. Kansas City with tightness in his Achilles tendon, the team said Wednesday.

Speaking after the game, Acuna didn't sound optimistic about the discomfort he was experiencing.

"It's an injury; I'm worried," he said, per a write-up from . "It's more pain, but it feels kind of, I feel it a lot when I try to put pressure on it."

The outfielder noted that he first felt the pain when running the bases on Monday night.

"It happened when I scored from first to home on that play," he added, via an interpreter. "They are going to examine me tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes."

In their post on Wednesday, the Braves diagnosed Acuna's ailment as "right Achilles tendon inflammation." Though that's better than a tear, any missed time is surely a blow for the 2023 NL MVP, who missed the majority of his 2024 season with a torn ACL.

"It's an Achilles thing, it's going to take a while," team manager Brian Snitker added Tuesday. "He'll go on the IL, and hopefully in 10 days or so it'll clear up."

For the first time in the series, India’s fast bowlers bowled poorer lengths than England’s. But they regrouped quickly to script a turnaround

Sidharth Monga01-Aug-2025

Prasidh Krishna returned his best figures in Test cricket•Getty Images

“Have you ever felt nothing good was ever gonna happen to you?”At lunch on day two at The Oval, some of the younger players in the India team would have felt the way Chris Moltisanti did when he uttered this immortal line in . Chris is easily frustrated by circumstances, impatient to move up in the North Jersey mafia hierarchy, and even tries his hand at writing a movie script.This Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has been an incredible learning curve for this young India team, a tour where they have had reason to believe that they haven’t been rewarded proportionately for their efforts. The situation at lunch on day two was India 2-1 behind in the series, 224 plays 109 for 1 in 16 overs, and yet another selection looking to blow in their face with just three fast bowlers in the side.Related

• 'That was the plan' – Prasidh on verbal duel with Root

• Siraj, Jaiswal and Prasidh put India in front on 15-wicket day

• Stats – The breathtaking Crawley-Duckett opening salvo

For the first time in the series, India’s fast bowlers had bowled poorer lengths than England’s, hit off the good areas by the sensational and skilful opening pair of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley. One more session of it, and the series would have been gone. India badly needed a Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri to say, as he did in response to the aforementioned question: “Yeah. So what?”Paulie is one of the most ruthless and trusted henchmen of the mob boss Tony Soprano. He is as psychopathic as the other wise guys but he is not given to feeling pity for himself. He is one of the more stoic wise guys. At The Oval, it had to be one or all of the India fast bowlers to step up and say “so what”. We will get up again and do the work. We will do the right things again. So what if the results haven’t gone our way?Mohammed Siraj is a good fit as Paulie. Never to be Tony Soprano, not even of the fast-bowling group, but happy to do the hard work and step up when needed. Sometimes Siraj even reckons he is proud of being given the responsibility and does better when he is, but he knows he is not quite his “Jassi “. He didn’t start off well, bowling ordinary lines with the new ball, conceding 31 in his first four overs, which is why he had to watch Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna start off this crucial session.3:42

‘A workhorse, a man to have in the team’

Akash Deep had not had a great start himself. He had troubled Duckett, was all over him, hit him in the box, and nearly had him three times in his second over, but a reverse-pull for a six from Duckett completely rattled him. The next time Duckett charged at him, Akash Deep lost his length completely and was dismissively cut away. Duckett was almost telling him – twice in one over – that he was not quick enough. That he could leave the crease early and still have time to cut him if he changed the length.This was Bazball at its best, and India were on the back foot. The height difference between Crawley and Duckett meant India were getting cut and driven from the same lengths, which weren’t necessarily big errors. Prasidh looked the best of the three, but never forget that he was coming off the ignominy of having to sit out at Old Trafford for a bowler straight off the flight.It was this beleaguered trio that needed to say “so what” and get on with it. A session of 6 for 106 was as emphatic a “so what” as any. Being the wise guys, they needed to wise up a little first, which they did among themselves. Take your pick on who Silvio and Bobby – two of Soprano’s other lieutenants – are but this was a chat they needed to have to lift each other up. Prasidh said the three got into a corner and decided what had happened had happened. He said they needed to reassure each other, help each other when they veered off lines and lengths, and also “show some body language”.Mohammed Siraj celebrates after dismissing Ollie Pope•Getty ImagesThey knew they had – as a human reaction – started to bowl hard lengths as if in the middle overs of an ODI, but that was not going to help them. Immediately, they started bowling better lengths for this pitch: one with appreciable seam movement available. India have generally stayed on 6-8m for most of the series, but here they started hitting 5-6m more often: 13.4% of the times as opposed to 7.2% in the first session. So even when they pulled it back in reaction to aggression, they were still on the good length.As a result, they not only kept the edges and the stumps in play – thanks to the seam movement – but also gave the ball a chance to swing. Even though high-seam deliveries went down, their average swing went up, which created the combination India needed. Results were not instant, Crawley resumed just as merrily, but even though he didn’t start bowling, Siraj at mid-on was always reassuring his bowlers they were on the right track.Prasidh said it was challenging to keep bowling good balls when the batters played as well as Duckett and Crawley did, but they needed reassurance from each other that if they bowled well, “it was a matter of time”.1:45

Prasidh: I’ve been picked to do a job

Time, though, was not on their side. There were just three of them on a pitch that needed fast bowling the most. Bringing spin on would ease all the pressure. This is where Akash Deep, who took just one wicket, played a big role. He started the session with a five-over spell, had time off for just three overs, and then pitched in with a six-over spell from the other end. All the while clutching his shoulder and stretching it because of a niggle. These were not just any spells; they were 5-0-16-0 and 6-0-18-0 with plenty of questions asked.At the other end, the only fast bowler left standing after playing all Tests, Siraj pulled in a shift: 8-0-35-3. He pulled out the lethal combination of outswing and wobble-seam. He dragged Joe Root across with outswing before bowling the lbw ball with the wobble seam. As a true disciple of Jasprit Bumrah, in his first 12 overs, Siraj bowled only one ball fuller than 5m: the near-yorker to get Jacob Bethell out.It was then time for Prasidh to take over from Akash Deep and show off his wobble-seam ball. He has been bowling it for a while now, increasing the frequency of it as his trust in it had grown, but he also perhaps produced his first wicket with the way the wobble-seam ball is intended: to nip back in and trap the batter in front, Jamie Overton in this case.Good things now started to happen to the wise guys. The rain break came at just the right time to allow them to stay fresh and limit the damage Harry Brook could cause in the company of the tail. If you are just watching from the outside and thought the series was over at lunch, you are probably reacting like Silvio, a nod to if ever there was one: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

Cristiano Ronaldo is being backed to grace a seventh World Cup, with FIFA’s flagship event heading to Portugal – as one of several co-hosts – in 2030. If the all-time great were to make that event, then more history would be made. Nuno Gomes can see that prospect appealing to CR7, with a contract extension having already been signed at club level with Al-Nassr.

• Evergreen Ronaldo: CR7 still going strong at the age of 40

  Those terms are only through to 2027, with it yet to be determined what Ronaldo will do beyond that point. He has starred in the Saudi Pro League, with remarkable individual standards being maintained at 40 years of age.

  He continues to make himself available at international level, with 226 caps being earned while scoring 143 goals. Ronaldo continues to chase down 1,000 career strikes – with the record books being rewritten.

  Ronaldo has stated that next summer’s World Cup will be his last, but anything is considered possible where the former Manchester United and Real Madrid superstar is concerned. He has kept himself in the best possible shape and made no secret of the fact that he wants to continue for as long as possible.

Advertisement

• Getty
  

  Home World Cup: Ronaldo backed to make 2030 finals

  Portugal will stage games at the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Morocco – with group stage matches also heading to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. On Ronaldo bowing out on home soil, former team-mate Nuno Gomes told : “It's a difficult question. I think only him, or maybe not even him, knows the answer because I think he is doing year by year at this age.

  “I think he's still fit to play. He's a really professional player and one of the players that we can point him as an example to follow? For the young generations. But of course he has his age and his capacity is reduced in some qualities, in speed for example. He's not the same Cristiano when he was 18 or 20, but he's still capable to score goals, and in football, it's the most important thing, to score goals and he's still scoring.

  “Of course I think it also depends on the coach. Right now we have Roberto Martinez and I think he adapts the team, having him in the first 11 or not. So I think it will depend on his will, to play more or not. But probably I could tell that it could be his last World Cup. Even though we know that in four years we are hosting some games. And maybe it could be an opportunity to say goodbye at home.”

• Euro 2028 and beyond: When will Ronaldo retire?

  Ronaldo’s former United colleague Wes Brown told GOAL recently when asked if CR7 will play on to Euro 2028: “If he can bring something to the squad, why not pick him? Does that mean he has to play every game? Look at the last competition, everyone was saying he shouldn’t play but he did ok. He knows the press are going to give him stick anyway as soon as he doesn’t score or give an assist. At the same time, he is still there for his younger team-mates and wants them to do well.

  “In his mind he won’t be finished yet and he can still contribute to the team. I don’t think he will retire from international football until he has retired completely. He’s still got the energy, that same belief, and can still do it. There are not many people that can say that at that level.”

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty
  

  Another record for Ronaldo? Oldest player to grace a World Cup

  If Ronaldo were to play towards another major tournament beyond the next European Championship, then he would head into his mid-40s. He will be 41 when representing his country at next summer’s event in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

  The oldest player to make an appearance at the World Cup finals is ex-Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, who faced Saudi Arabia in 2018 aged 45 years and 161 days. Ronaldo would be 45 years and 166 days old by the time the 2030 competition comes to a close.

Manchester City moved to within two points of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, until they play on Wednesday night, with a thrilling 5-4 win over Fulham.

Supporters of their title rivals may have turned off the game when Phil Foden made it 3-0 before half-time, expecting a simple victory for Pep Guardiola’s side, but the Cityzens made hard work of their three points in the end.

Some questionable game management and defensive work from City almost led to them drawing the match, and there are several players who may not be too pleased with their own contributions to the result.

Ranking Man City's worst performers against Fulham

Whilst the likes of Erling Haaland, Tiijani Rijnders, and Phil Foden shone at Craven Cottage, some of Guardiola’s players failed to deliver quality displays on Tuesday night.

Gianluigi Donnarumma was one of those players. The Italy number one conceded four goals from five shots on target against him, letting in 1.95 more goals than expected, per Sofascore.

Full-back Matheus Nunes also failed to put in a convincing performance. The Portuguese defender was dribbled past twice, per Sofascore, and found defending the likes of Alex Iwobi, Samuel Chukwueze, and Kevin a bit too difficult at times.

The same was true of Nico O’Reilly, who lost ten of his 15 duels and was dribbled past once, on the other flank, whilst at the other end of the pitch, Savinho struggled off the bench, wasting several chances to counter and put the game to bed late on.

It was Bernardo Silva, though, who was arguably the worst performer on the night for the Cityzens, which is why Guardiola should ruthlessly drop him from the side.

Why Pep Guardiola should drop Bernardo Silva

The Portuguese central midfielder should be put on the bench for the clash with Sunderland at The Etihad on Saturday after an underwhelming display against Fulham.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Commentating for Sky Sports, former Premier League striker Chris Sutton described Bernardo’s flicked clearance that fell for Samuel Chukwueze to score his first goal of the game as “careless”.

A few minutes after that comment, Sutton added that he could not understand why the Portugal international was still on the pitch because he “doesn’t have the legs” that he once did, and that Fulham had “run around” him.

Those comments from the Premier League title winner are backed up by the fact that Bernardo failed to complete three of his four attempted tackles on the night, per Sofascore, which shows that he was a yard off the pace when attempting to challenge Fulham players.

Bernardo also struggled to get up the pitch to influence matters in the final third, with no key passes or ‘big chances’ created from 69 touches of the ball, albeit that was not as important on a night where City scored five goals by the 54th minute.

As you can see in the table above, the experienced midfielder was even worse than Nunes, who won more tackles, more duels, and made more ball recoveries, whilst also making more key passes.

Bernardo did well in moments towards the end of the match with his ability to retain possession and calm the play down, but it was partially down to his struggles out of possession and defensively that City were in a position where they had to manage the game in the final minutes.

The left-footed star is, of course, still an important player for Guardiola, having started nine league games this season, but the clash with the Black Cats is one that he should be dropped for after this disappointing showing.

Guardiola could provide Rico Lewis with a chance to play in the middle of the park or play Lewis at right-back and bring Nunes back into his natural role in midfield to see if he can improve on his own underwhelming performance.

Man City now favourites to sign "incredible" £88m star, Pep's captivated by him

City have taken the lead in the race for a Premier League star, with Pep Guardiola a big fan.

By
Dominic Lund

Dec 2, 2025

A game on the bench for Bernardo could, also, keep him fresh ahead of the big match against Real Madrid in the Champions League next week, which is another reason why this could be a good move by the Spanish head coach at the weekend.

The Reds entered the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday night locked in a tight battle with the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Fortunately, Cincinnati had the powers of Elly De La Cruz to lean on.

With the Reds up 2-1, the Pirates got a man on first, and Nick Gonzales came up to bat with one out. On a 2-2 count, he absolutely mashed a liner— right at De La Cruz, playing deep at the shortstop position. Without wasting even a second, EDLC then rifled a one-hop throw to first for the force-out that ended the game.

It was a very cool play that required remarkable reaction time and De La Cruz was all too happy to show off his.

That is a hard throw to make it to first on a bounce before the runner does. De La Cruz has done it again.

The win marks the Reds' 61st of the season, and it was arguably the most exciting ending yet.