Ruthless Red Bull drop Lawson after two races

 

Red Bull have delivered one of the most ruthless driver moves in F1 history after deciding to drop Liam Lawson after just two races.

The 23-year-old New Zealander will swap places with Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda and return to Red Bull's second team, Racing Bulls, from the next race in Japan in a week's time.

The decision was reached by Red Bull bosses, including team principal Christian Horner, at a meeting in Dubai on Monday, insiders have told BBC Sport.

It is expected to be formally confirmed later this week by Red Bull, who refused to comment.

Red Bull have long been renowned for the ruthlessness with which they handle their young driver programme.

Even in that context, the way they have dealt with Lawson has caused widespread disbelief in Formula 1.

The move, first confirmed by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, comes after a dire start to Lawson's Red Bull career

The New Zealander qualified 18th at the opening race of the season in Australia, before crashing out of the race in the rain.

In China last weekend, he qualified last for both the sprint and the grand prix, and finished the two races 14th and 12th.

His average qualifying deficit to team-mate Verstappen has been 0.88 seconds. Verstappen finished second in Australia, third in the sprint in Shanghai and fourth in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Japanese driver Tsunoda was asked at the Chinese Grand Prix whether he would accept the promotion to Red Bull if it was offered.

He said: "Yeah, why not? Always. In Japan? Yeah, 100%. I mean, the car is faster."

When the scenario was put to Lawson, he responded: "I've raced him for years, raced him in junior categories and beat him - and I did in F1 as well, so he can say whatever he wants."

Lawson was promoted to Red Bull this season following the team's decision to pay off Sergio Perez, despite the Mexican having two years remaining on his contract.

That decision was made after a difficult 2024 for Perez, who failed to finish on the podium after the fifth race of the season.

Perez's performances contributed to the team finishing third in the constructors' championship last year, behind McLaren and Ferrari.

As Perez's slump in 2024 had mirrored a similar pattern of performance in 2023, Red Bull decided the time had come to get rid of him.

They had the choice between Lawson and Tsunoda as a replacement and chose the New Zealander, despite the fact he had completed just 11 grands prix split over two seasons - whereas Tsunoda has raced for the company since 2021.

Red Bull's decision 'extraordinary'

The decision to promote Lawson to Red Bull, alongside Max Verstappen, after just 11 grands prix spread across two seasons was already questionable.

To demote him back to second team Racing Bulls after just two races in a swap with Tsunoda - who was passed over only three months ago - is, quite simply, extraordinary.

It raises serious questions about Red Bull's management, primarily team principal Horner.

It was Horner's decision to offer a new two-year contract to Sergio Perez last May even though the Mexican was starting to struggle in the second Red Bull - just as he had through the second half of 2023.

He did that despite Carlos Sainz being available following Ferrari's signing of Lewis Hamilton for 2025.

After Perez's performances slumped through the remainder of 2024, the decision was made to terminate his contract. That resulted in a pay-off of many millions of dollars.

And rather than pick Tsunoda, who had four years' experience and had edged Lawson as a team-mate, they picked the New Zealander, apparently because of his mental fortitude.

Now they have to find a way to justify this series of decisions - and the almost unprecedented one to dump Lawson after so little time to bed himself in.

To many, it will smack of a team in denial about the size of the problem they have with their car. And a lack of understanding of what to expect when picking drivers who are yet to prove they are world class as the team-mate of a champion of genius level and expecting them to perform in a car with fundamental issues.

Poor performances led to Lawson's downfall

Lawson took part in six races in 2023 as a substitute for Daniel Ricciardo when the Australian broke his hand in a crash, scoring points with a ninth-place finish in Singapore.

And last year he competed in five races after Ricciardo was dropped following the Singapore Grand Prix, taking points for ninth-place finishes in the US and Sao Paulo Grands Prix.

Tsunoda out-qualified Lawson by a ratio of four times to two in 2023 and seven times to two in 2024. In races, Tsunoda has been ahead six times against four when both have finished.

Red Bull chose Lawson on the basis they believed the Japanese lacked the mental toughness to survive at Red Bull alongside Verstappen, while his fellow driver had more potential to improve.

They had been planning to wait until at least the Japanese Grand Prix before making a call because it is the first track on this year's calendar at which Lawson has previous experience.

But in the end Lawson's poor performances have led to his downfall after just two races.

Verstappen is said by insiders to believe the decision is an error, on the basis that the problem is Red Bull's car - not the second driver.

The Dutchman has said the 2025 Red Bull is the fourth quickest car - behind rival top teams McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari.

The car continues to have balance problems which hampered the team last year and meant Verstappen won only two of the final 14 races of last year, while fighting off a late assault from McLaren's Lando Norris to win his fourth world title

What are the shortest F1 drivers stints?

What's going on with Brazil?

Brazil were beaten 4-1 by Argentina in their most recent World Cup qualifier

In any previous World Cup, there would be genuine fear about Brazil failing to qualify. Not this time.

In an expanded competition, with six South American teams making it through automatically, Brazil have a six-point cushion over a Venezuela team who have just registered their first victory in 10 games.

With four rounds to go, it is impossible to see Brazil not making the cut. But that is hardly the point.

For Brazil, World Cup qualification now serves one purpose - it provides a sequence of competitive matches during which they hope to build a side capable of winning the trophy. And with just over a year to go until 2026, that looks a long way off.

It is easy to forget how good Brazil were in the last World Cup, where they lost in the quarter-finals on penalties to a Croatia team whose only shot on goal in the match took a cruel deflection.

The Qatar 2022 Brazil side were solid - goalkeeper Alisson could have taken a deckchair out for most of the games - with flashes of brilliance. They could have won that competition.

So why have they fallen back so much? How can a team packed with so many good players form such a dismal unit?

The team that were thrashed 4-1 by Argentina on Tuesday appeared to have no midfield, and were unable either to attack or defend.

A decent man out of his depth?

 

Dorival Junior is under pressure following the heavy defeat by Argentina

the 1990s trend of splitting the middle of the park into a pair of midfielders who only defend and a duo who mostly attack. It was at this point Brazilian play lost much of its former fluency, instead investing in rapid breaks down the flanks.

It is in this context that the problems of Lucas Paqueta are so significant.

The West Ham midfielder was on the verge of becoming a big-money Manchester City signing when scandal struck, and his career - now threatened - has not recovered.

The evidence of Dorival's first games in charge - a year ago away to England and Spain - was Paqueta had become the most important player in the team, the man capable of filling space in midfield, dictating the rhythm of the game and unleashing the pace of the likes of Vinicius Jr.

Can Neymar still do it?

The absence of Paqueta almost certainly led to Dorival building his hopes for these international dates around the return of Neymar - which, predictably, turned out to be ludicrously premature.

After so long out injured, it was only to be expected that Neymar would run into muscular problems, and he will need much more time on the field to ease his way back to a level where he can tip the balance.

At 33, he is an unknown quantity. But there is a gaping hole in the team for the type of deep-lying playmaker role he could fill.

Romantics might recall 2002, when Ronaldo looked all washed up only to make a triumphant return from injury and carry a Brazil side that almost failed to qualify all the way to World Cup title number five.

They are still waiting for number six.

If they can do it next year then, in the wake of Tuesday's humiliation, it will be a candidate for one of football's great comebacks.

Ayuso wins stage three to lead Volta a Catalunya

 

UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Juan Ayuso leads the Volta a Catalunya after emerging victorious in a photo finish on stage three.

The Spaniard took the first major mountain stage by the width of a tyre ahead of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Primoz Roglic after the two pre-race favourites had burst clear of the peloton as the finish line approached.

Ayuso now holds a six-second lead over his Slovenian rival in the general classification with four stages remaining.

Spanish Soudal-QuickStep rider Mikel Landa, third on stage three and general classification, is a further five seconds back.

While the first two stages favoured the sprinters, with Brits Matthew Brennan and Ethan Vernon winning a stage each, the 218.6km ride from Viladecans to La Molina was one for the climbers.

Thursday's stage four keeps the riders in the mountains, starting in Sant Vicenc de Castellet and covering 188.7km with a gruelling summit finish in Montserrat Mil·lenari.

Stage three results

1. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 5hrs 49mins 29secs

2. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) same time

3. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-QuickStep) +2secs

4. Lenny Martinez (Fra/Bahrain Victorious) +4secs

5. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Bel/Lotto) +4secs

General classification after stage three

1. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 14hrs 30mins 49secs

2. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +6secs

3. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-QuickStep) +11secs

4. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +14secs

5. Junior Lecerf (Bel/Soudal-QuickStep) +17secs

Archie Vaughan on living with his father's legacy

Archie Vaughan signed his first professional contract with Somerset in May 2024

Archie Vaughan had not even been born when his father Michael famously led England to Ashes glory in 2005, but the legacy of that series surrounds him.

There are undoubtedly expectations that come with a surname etched in cricket history but Vaughan, now 19 and about to begin his second full season with Somerset, is unfazed.

The teenage all-rounder is calm and humble, focused on building on a breakthrough season that saw him average 33.71 with the bat in the County Championship, take 15 wickets with his off-spin, including two five-wicket hauls, and then named England Under-19s captain against South Africa in January.

"The pressure [of expectation] is just outside noise, it definitely doesn't come from my dad himself," Vaughan told BBC Sport.

"He's been a massive influence but what I admire most is that he takes a step back and just lets me enjoy it, leaving my coaches to it. I can't thank him enough for leaving me to it and just letting me be my own man.

"I didn't choose my surname, but it's something I've got to live with.

Though he says he has not watched any footage of the iconic 2005 series with his dad, Vaughan is fully aware of its significance and the impact it had on the generations before him.

He is not the only one carryings a legendary surname from that series. Vaughan's good friend Rocky Flintoff, son of former all-rounder Andrew, has gained plenty of attention for his performances with the bat for Lancashire and England Lions.

A Vaughan-Flintoff reunion has already taken place at under-19 level, and Vaughan says it is helpful to have the shared experience of having famous cricketing fathers.

"We've played together since we were kids and we've spoken about it a few times," he said.

"It must be a big challenge for him, being only 16 with all that attention and noise. It's nice to have someone in the same boat.

"He's such a great player, he'll be playing for England no matter what. But his dad's a bigger name than mine so he puts up with a lot more than I do."

How lockdown boredom led to spin success

Having spent most of his youth focused on batting, Vaughan's success with the ball was somewhat unexpected, the highlight being match figures of 11-140 against eventual County Championship winners Surrey last September.

Vaughan then started 2025 by taking 6-19 in the Youth Test against South Africa, which England Under-19s won by 10 wickets.

Those are remarkable feats considering he turned to bowling spin out of boredom during the Covid-19 lockdown, having only bowled seam previously.

"It definitely took me by surprise," said Vaughan.

"I would still probably say I'm more of a batter, but I will keep working hard at both and it's just about managing my expectations again.

"I haven't been bowling for very long, I only started it properly in my back garden during lockdown - whereas I've been batting for as long as I can remember."

Vaughan accepts his family gave him a "great opportunity" to attend Millfield School and pursue his cricketing dream, but he is extremely driven to make the most of it.

While he is not drawn on comparisons to his dad's batting and captaincy, Vaughan is confident elsewhere.

"I'm pretty sure I'm a better off-spinner than him," he added. "And I'm definitely a better fielder."

A lot has changed in the 20 years since one of cricket's greatest Test series. But with a Vaughan and a Flintoff emerging as two of the country's most exciting talents, it feels like a full-circle moment is upon us.

Why the TGL needed Horschel's dramatic putt

 

Billy Horschel made a birdie putt on the penultimate hole as Atlanta Drive GC beat New York GC to claim the inaugural TGL title in Florida

As Billy Horschel's golf ball disappeared into the hole, the American celebrated by sprinting, leaping, swearing and chucking his club.

It was an electrifying and animated move that became the signature moment of TGL's debut season.

That downhill, snaking and ultimately successful putt helped land Horschel and his Atlanta Drive team-mates Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas victory against the franchise known as New York Golf Club.

This was in the second of the best of three final series. The victors came from 3-0 down (a point is awarded for each hole won) to triumph 4-3 to take an unassailable 2-0 position.

Such a dramatic finish was exactly what the Tech-infused Golf League needed - the sort of climax envisaged by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy when they bought into the idea of a raucous indoor simulator version of the game.

The decisive putt, which involved a number of dramatic breaks, could be seen as a metaphor for an opening season that was far from straightforward.

There were technical glitches, blowout matches, necessary rule changes and a mixture of reactions from golf fans. But somehow the TGL eventually hit its target.

It yielded respectable television audiences, helped reveal players' personalities and engaged a somewhat younger audience. The median age for ESPN's viewership was 51 years old compared with the usual 63 for PGA Tour and LIV events
deep for a project that boasts 11 of the world's top 15 golfers. The 1500 seat 250,000 square feet Sofi Centre venue on the Palm Beach State College campus cost $50m to build.

And there are already thoughts of adding a second venue on America's west coast, although that would likely be years down the line.

"We're in the middle of an expansion process now," said Mike McCarley, the TMRW executive who co-founded the project with Woods and McIlroy.

"When exactly we make that decision - there's no timeline on it necessarily," McCarley added to the Palm Beach Post.

"We've had potential expansion team owners at every single match this season coming to visit us. Some of them, multiple times. Some of them have a lot of questions, a lot of feedback."

TGL already has the backing of leading American sports investors, who are behind the six teams that competed.

They include the Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank (Atlanta Drive), John Henry and the Fenway Sports Group (Boston Common), New York Mets owner Steve Cohen (New York Golf Club), former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry (The Bay Golf Club) and David Blitzer, who joined Woods' group that owns Jupiter Links.
We really like those team owners that are operators of other sports teams and other professional leagues in their communities," McCarley said.

"But we got a lot of really interesting diverse people domestically and internationally. They can kind of take a look and see what it looks like going forward."

Former tennis great Serena Williams is co-owner of the Los Angeles team and her involvement prompts consideration over whether TGL missed a trick by not including some of the LPGA's top stars, such as Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko.

Like LIV, TGL may struggle to win over traditional die-hard golf fans with its raucous environment, which is in stark contrast to the more genteel way golf is usually played.

But the new league was not brought in for the benefit of that constituency. It is there to broaden golf's base.

Significantly, the players seem to have enjoyed it and deem it worth incorporating into their early season schedules.

"Obviously it is a little bit of a challenge with everything we've got going through the year with our own schedules, but I don't think anyone has ever walked away and said 'this felt like a burden'," Horschel stated after collecting his share of the $9m winners' spoils.

"I could never imagine what this was going to be," the reigning BMW PGA champion added. "I remember coming into the arena in November and walking out and I was just in awe. I couldn't imagine what I was seeing.

"I described it like a football player walking into Mercedes-Benz Stadium right about to play, a basketball player walking out - Steph Curry walking out at Oracle Arena, stuff like that.

"Never imagined we'd be playing golf in an arena with a big simulator and people and music and chanting. It has been really cool and has sort of exceeded all of our expectations."

'So surreal' - teenager Eala stuns out-of-sorts Swiatek

 

Alexandra Eala is only the third wildcard to reach the Miami Open semi-finals

Five-time major champion Iga Swiatek was on the end of a monumental shock as Filipina teenager Alexandra Eala continued her dream run to reach the Miami Open semi-finals.

Second seed Swiatek, playing with increased security in Miami after being verbally abused by an "aggressive and taunting" fan, was completely out of sorts as she lost 6-2 7-5 to the world number 140.

The 23-year-old's serve was broken eight times as she continually struggled to hold serve, while her baseline game was shaky and led to a host of forehand errors.

Eala, 19, remained composed and focused as she completed the biggest win of her career.

"It might be one of the biggest upsets I've been on the side of the court for," said former British number one Tim Henman, who was watching in his role as a Sky Sports analyst.

Poland's Swiatek recently spoke out about the emotional toll she has faced in recent months, having served a one-month ban for a doping offence and not wanting to "step on the court" as a result.

This defeat means she has not reached a final since winning the French Open in June.

Eala, who was given a wildcard to play in Miami, will face Britain's Emma Raducanu or American fourth seed Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals.

Next week she will break into the world's top 100 for the first time.

"My mind is really blank, I don't think I've processed what I've just done," Eala told Sky Sports afterwards.

"In the end I'm still the same player I was two weeks ago."

From student to master - trailblazer Eala graduates against Swiatek

Coming from a country with little tennis pedigree, Eala is already accustomed to being a trailblazer for the Philippines - even though she is still a teenager.

In 2021, she became the first Filipina to win a WTA Tour match and first to win a junior Grand Slam crown with the 2022 US Open title.

The New York triumph even led to the teenager gracing the cover of Vogue back home.

Now Eala has announced herself to a wider global audience, having beaten some of the biggest names on the WTA Tour to reach the last four.

A graduate of the Rafael Nadal Academy, she had only won two main-draw matches before her stunning run on the Miami hard courts.

Three of her four victories at the WTA 1000 event - the tier of tournaments below the Grand Slams - have come against major champions.

A second-round win over 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was followed by a seismic win over world number five Madison Keys - who won the Australian Open in Janu

ary - in the third round.

In June 2023, Eala was presented with her graduation certificate by Nadal and Swiatek

round when Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa withdrew injured, but showed again why she is regarded as an emerging star in Wednesday's quarter-final.

Fearless, ferocious and hitting a flurry of winners, Eala produced a quality performance in her first career match against Swiatek.

However, they had met previously when Swiatek, along with 22-time major champion Nadal, presented Eala with her graduation certificate two years ago.

"It's so surreal," added Eala, who had Nadal's uncle, and former coach, Toni, with her team against Swiatek.

"I'm so happy and so blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this stage.

"My coach told me to run, to go for every ball, to take all the opportunities I can, because a five-time Slam champion is not going to give you the win."

Top seed Zverev out of men's singles

In the men's singles, German top seed Alexander Zverev was knocked out by France's Arthur Fils in the fourth round.

Zverev lost 3-6 6-3 6-4 to 17th seed Fils, leaving only Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic as the remaining top-10 seeds in the last eight.

Djokovic, seeded fourth, plays his quarter-final against American 24th seed Sebastian Korda later on Wednesday.

The winner will face Bulgarian 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who produced a remarkable mental and physical effort to beat Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo.

Dimitrov, 33, could not convert any of seven set points in the first set, and looked exhausted in the latter stages, before securing a 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) win.

Moments after victory he was breathing heavily and assessed by a doctor on his chair.

British pair Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool reached the men's doubles semi-finals with a 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 10-8 win over India's Yuki Bhambri and Portugal's Nuno Borges.

Man City and Chelsea could earn £97m at Club World Cup

 

Chelsea's Enzo Maresca and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola have the prospect of the Club World Cup this June and July

Manchester City and Chelsea could earn up to £97m in prize money from this year's Club World Cup.

The overall prize fund, shared between all 32 teams based on different factors, will be £775m, with £407m divided between all participating clubs and £368m awarded on a performance-related basis.

By comparison, last season's prize money in the Premier League, external ranged from £175.9m for winners City to the £109.7m earned by bottom-placed Sheffield United.

Money awarded for participation is weighted by a ranking based on sporting and commercial criteria, meaning European clubs will earn more for taking part than teams from other continents.

The top-ranked European team by Fifa's metrics will receive £29.6m just for participating - and they would secure the maximum prize available of around £97m for winning all of their group-stage games and then going on to win the tournament.

A group-stage win will net a team £1.5m, with £5.8m for reaching the last 16, £10.2m for reaching the quarter-finals, £16.3m for reaching the semi-finals, and £31m for winning the final.

As a result, Manchester City and Chelsea, the two Premier League sides in the competition who qualified thanks to their recent Champions League wins, could earn the biggest prize money ever awarded in club football over a seven-game format.

The expanded Club World Cup will take place in the United States from 15 June to 13 July.

Previously an annual tournament contested by seven teams, it will now feature 32 clubs and take place once every four years.

"The distribution model of the Fifa Club World Cup reflects the pinnacle of club football," said Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

Teams from each of the six international football confederations will participate: Asia (AFC), Africa (Caf), North and Central America (Concacaf), South America (Conmebol), Oceania (OFC) and Europe (Uefa).

There are 12 places available for European teams - the highest number of any of the confederations - and they are decided by clubs' Champions League performances over the past four seasons.

Only two clubs per country can qualify, so 2022 Champions League finalists Liverpool are not included but 2021 winners Chelsea and 2023 winners City are.

Other European teams have qualified through a Uefa ranking system determined by clubs' performances over the four seasons.

A magical high in rollercoaster Arsenal campaign

 

Chloe Kelly assisted Arsenal's first and third goals against Real Madrid

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter at Emirates Stadium

Arsenal needed something special to book their place in the Women's Champions League semi-finals - and how they produced it.

The 3-0 second-leg win over Real Madrid on Wednesday, which sealed a 3-2 victory on aggregate, was arguably the most significant result under manager Renee Slegers so far.

Six months ago when she replaced Jonas Eidevall, then as interim boss, Arsenal's season looked set to be one of huge disappointment.

Now they find themselves among the elite, preparing to face record eight-time European champions Lyon - coached by former Arsenal boss Joe Montemurro - for a place in the final.

"It's important for the club and the players," said Slegers. "They are part of Arsenal because they want to go far in tournaments, win things and be on the biggest stage.

"So it's important for us. I'm very happy with the result and we're going into the semi-finals."

Alessia Russo was the star on a magical night at Emirates Stadium as she scored twice and had a further two goals ruled out for offside.

England team-mate Chloe Kelly grabbed two assists, with Spain forward Mariona Caldentey joining Russo on the scoresheet during a ruthless second-half display which saw the Gunners score three times in 13 minutes.

It was only the second time a club has overturned a two-goal first-leg deficit in the quarter-finals of the competition, with Arsenal having done so against Torres in 2004, losing 2-0 away before a 4-1 home success.

Without a doubt, that Arsenal team ran all over Real Madrid," said former England captain Steph Houghton on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"In those 13 minutes, where they scored three goals, they were absolutely relentless and that's what you have to be at this level. They were outstanding."

Electric' & 'masterful' - Gunners show character in comeback

Only Lyon have scored more goals in the Women's Champions League this season

Fans were on their feet at full-time, singing and waving scarves as the players walked around the pitch receiving their deserved plaudits.

It had been a complete performance from the Gunners - a total turnaround from their placid display in Spain a week before when they lost 2-0.

They pressed with intensity, tested Real Madrid's defence with Kelly's teasing balls and could rely on Russo's sharpness in front of goal.

"It was electric - a masterful gameplan from Renee Slegers and well executed by the Arsenal players," said ex-England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley on 5 Live. "They had to go for it.

"They had so many opportunities in the first half and managed to capitalise in the second half and that's what counts. Real Madrid had nothing left."

Arsenal have had their fair share of success stories at Emirates Stadium. But in a rollercoaster campaign, this was a wonderful high, and a result that will stand out as they booked an eighth semi-final appearance in the competition.

Slegers' first victory in charge as interim manager, a day after Eidevall resigned, was in this competition when Arsenal overcame Valerenga 4-1.

It felt a stretch then to consider them as European semi-finalists but now, having booked their spot in the last four, Slegers admitted this was "probably the clearest" example of their character to fight back.

"We have done really good things before, coming back from setbacks and good performances against top teams," she added.

"But this is definitely one of the clearest ones where you play an opponent away, the game looks like it does, the result is what it is, then you have to put this performance and result in."

Russo on 'fire' as forward shows 'maturity'

Alessia Russo is the joint-top goalscorer in the Women's Champions League this season with six goals - level with Pernille Harder

Having come so close to a first Arsenal hat-trick, Russo could have been forgiven for feeling frustrated at full-time.

Two video assistant referee (VAR) interventions meant she had two goals chalked off for offside, either side of a wasted opportunity when one-on-one with visiting goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez.

But the England forward celebrated at the final whistle and said the thought of being in the last four had "not sunk in yet".

"It was just amazing - the result, the fans, playing at the Emirates... it just doesn't get old," Russo told BBC Sport.

"When we went to Madrid we were disappointed, but we knew we had the belief and we knew what we needed to do. There was disappointment and it turned into fire quite quickly."

Her contribution, alongside that of team-mate Kelly, played a key role in Arsenal's courageous comeback and Houghton said it showed Russo's "maturity".

She is now the joint-top scorer in the Champions League with six goals and has 17 in all competitions for her best goalscoring season to date.

"She got a lot of criticism at the beginning of the season and was probably doing too much work for the team - not being selfish enough as a striker," added Houghton.

"She showed a real maturity about her display [against Real Madrid]. Almost everything she touched went in the back of the net.

"She's got the goals that have sent Arsenal into a semi-final of the Champions League."

England show Tuchel's search for thrills will be no quick fix'

England head coach Thomas Tuchel shows his frustration during the World Cup qualifier against Latvia at Wembley

Thomas Tuchel wants England's brave new era to bring thrills and excitement, but he has swiftly discovered that if you have seen one England qualifier you have almost seen them all.

Tuchel has been firing off positive messages since delivering a damning verdict on England's Euro 2024 campaign under predecessor Gareth Southgate, which he claimed lacked intensity, identity and hunger.

During the routine 3-0 win over a Latvia side ranked 140th in the world, it was clear Tuchel's intended transformation will not be a quick fix - because this was more of the same labouring old England seen so often under Southgate.

The Three Lions, as they have done so many times before, finally overcame gallant but limited opposition after struggling for long periods to make the most of their superiority, too often pedestrian and too often failing to transform good positions into goals.

There was the traditional Wembley backdrop of paper aeroplanes - with the first hitting the turf after 14 minutes as opposed to 33 against Albania - the Mexican wave and the thousands of empty seats well before the final whistle.

And there were even the old frustrations that have surfaced before in this type of attritional fixture, with Jude Bellingham - who was already on a yellow card - fortunate referee Orel Grinfeld took a lenient view of his reckless second-half challenge on Raivis Jurkovskis.

England got there in the end, as they always do in these qualifiers, with Reece James illuminating his first international start since September 2022 with a superb free-kick seven minutes from half-time to break the deadlock.

Latvia, unsurprisingly, barely left their half after the break, and England put the result beyond doubt with two goals in eight minutes.

Captain Harry Kane scored his 71st goal in 105 international appearances with a simple tap-in after 68 minutes and substitute Eberechi Eze added the hosts' third with a deflected shot.

All very routine. All very England when it comes to qualifiers - as it should be against a country ranked between Burundi and the Dominican Republic on Fifa's list.

Reece James (centre) scored a superb free-kick on his first international start since September 2022

This is not, it must be stressed, a criticism of Tuchel, whose tenure in its infancy.

It is simply a confirmation that providing the sort of thrill ride the German coach wants to serve up for England fans is easier said than done in these types of games with this team, and there is no quick fix to change that.

If Tuchel thought he could quickly blow away the cobwebs he believed had gathered on Southgate's England, then his first two games in charge will have been a sobering dose of reality.

There has been little, so far, to distinguish Tuchel's team from the one that went before it.

For long periods this was a deadly dull England performance.

Tuchel, in some respects, has made a rod for his own back with his deeply unflattering review of the Three Lions' efforts in Germany last summer and his talk of change.

England did do some of the things their new boss demanded. He wants more touches in the opposition box - and that figure more than doubled from his first game against Albania, increasing from 34 on Friday to 69 against Latvia.

They put in 36 crosses on a night when they enjoyed 73.5% possession, but the end product was poor. Marcus Rashford improved slightly on his performance against Albania, but Jarrod Bowen could not make the desired impact as a replacement for struggling Phil Foden.

England sent in 21 of those crosses in the first half, the most in a game since they played Poland in October 2013 and delivered 25 - but their only goal game from James' free-kick.

In a sign of England's complete domination, they had 569 successful passes in Latvia's half compared to the visitors' 26 in theirs, and must be disappointed such overwhelming statistics resulted in relatively meagre results.

Tuchel wants to give England a fresh identity as they try to cross the psychological barrier from a nearly team to winners, but - as so often in the past - the acid test will only truly come when (it is hardly if) they qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Qualifying should be a formality from a group that also contains Andorra and Serbia, so the first high-quality opponents England are likely to meet will be when they get to the World Cup.

It is a situation they have been in before - and then been found wanting when it matters.

Jude Bellingham was fortunate not to receive a second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Raivis Jurkovskis

This a problem for Tuchel to solve and one he will be well aware of.

But the 51-year-old will have enjoyed the spectacular strike from James, a player he greatly admires and who was a vital part of his Chelsea team that won the Champions League in 2021.

Kane's second was also right up the head coach's street, with Declan Rice accelerating into the Latvia area, collecting Morgan Rogers' pass and drilling a ball across the face of the six-yard box which left his captain with a simple finish.

What will cheer Tuchel is that he has plenty of raw materials to work with.

Bellingham, for all the impetuosity that could - and should - have seen him sent off on Monday, is a generational talent, while Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly has demonstrated he is a natural at this level.

There was more good news from The Hawthorns where another Gunner, Ethan Nwaneri, excelled in a goalscoring performance for England Under-21s - and the return of a third Arsenal player, Bukayo Saka, will offer an added attacking dimension.

Tuchel's task is to find the "X Factor", the missing ingredient, to get England's men over the line they have failed to cross since the 1966 World Cup.

Two wins from two games is a satisfactory - and totally expected - opening to the Tuchel era, but now he must discover the missing link to enable him to deliver the exciting England side he has promised.

And on the somewhat tedious evidence of his first two games, Tuchel will have plenty to exercise his mind between now and the next international camp in June