Chelsea up to fourth, City spend US$42 million on defence, Lion Johnson to become a Bear

Managers and footballers have always been a great source for quotes, the funny, the insightful or the just plain weird – whether intentionally or otherwise. There was Eric Cantona’s musings on “seagulls and trawlers”, Bill Shankly when discussing offside rules opining that “if a player’s not interfering with play he shouldn’t be on the bloody pitch”, and the always excellent Ron Atkinson with his “I never comment on referees – and I won’t break the habit of a lifetime for that prat”. Enter Wolves boss Vitor Pereira, who had this gem after his side’s 3-1 defeat at Chelsea overnight. “The worst moment of our game is when we are defending in the last third. When we are defending in front of our box, this is a problem for us.” No prizes for guessing where we are starting today’s look at what happened while you were sleeping. Sheep in Wolves clothing Chelsea won for the first time in six Premier League matches when they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 at home, with goals from defenders Tosin Adarabioyo and Marc Cucurella plus winger Noni Madueke. The hosts went ahead in the 24th minute when Tosin scored from close range. But goalkeeper Robert Sanchez gifted Wolves an equaliser in first-half stoppage time when he dropped a corner and Matt Doherty stabbed the ball in. Cucurella and Madueke took advantage of some poor Wolves defending in the space of five second-half minutes to seal the win and move Chelsea up to fourth, two points clear of Manchester City and Newcastle. Wolves, who have now conceded a league-high 51 goals, remain 17th and Pereira’s team are only outside the relegation zone on goal difference. The case for the defence Manchester City have completed the signing of Uzbekistan centre back Abdukodir Khusanov from French club Lens for a reported £33.6 million (US$42 million) plus add-ons. Khusanov, the first player from Uzbekistan to join a Premier League club, has signed a 4½-year deal at the Etihad. Lens only paid £84,000 for Khusanov from Belarusian club Energetik-BGU 18 months ago. “This squad is full of the best players in the world and I can’t wait to meet them and play alongside them,” said the 20-year-old, who has 18 international caps. “And of course Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest coaches ever and I am so excited to learn from him and improve my game even more.” Lion becomes a Bear Ben Johnson, the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator, is going to take on the task of trying to turn the Chicago Bears into something other than a laughing stock. And having helped Jared Goff, who has thrown for more than 4,400 yards each of the past three seasons, establish himself as one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, the Bears are hoping he can do something similar for Caleb Williams. This will be the first head coaching job for the 38-year-old Johnson, who was widely considered the top candidate on the market after spending the past three seasons in Detroit. The Lions earned the top seed in the NFC at 15-2 before getting stunned by Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders in a divisional playoff game on Saturday. Chicago finished last in the NFC North at 5-12 and lost 10 in a row before closing the season with a win at Green Bay. Vlhova eyes Milano Cortina return Petra Vlhova, who won slalom gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, will miss the alpine skiing world championships next month after a setback in her recovery from a knee injury and is already focusing on the 2026 Games. Vlhova has been Mikaela Shiffrin’s main rival in slalom for the past decade. However, Shiffrin’s participation at the worlds in Saalbach, Austria, is also in doubt as the American has yet to make her return from abdominal surgery following a crash in November. Vlhova has not raced since tearing the ACL in her right knee a year ago after crashing in a World Cup giant slalom in her native Slovakia. Missing Saalbach will end Vlhova’s run of competing at six straight worlds since her debut in 2013 at age 17. “Unfortunately, the setbacks she faced in December and January have made it impossible for her to participate in the world championships in Saalbach,” Mauro Pini, Vlhova’s coach, said in a statement. “We had hoped she could compete for medals, but that won’t happen this time.”

Chelsea up to fourth, City spend US$42 million on defence, Lion Johnson to become a Bear

A 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge was the London club’s first win in six Premier League games, while French club Lens have just made a fortune

Sheep in Wolves clothing