Thierry Neuville labels WRC struggles the “hardest time of my career”

February 13, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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Thierry Neuville described his current World Rally Championship struggles as the ‘hardest time of his career so far’ following a difficult morning at Rally Sweden.

The 2024 champion has been struggling for confidence behind the wheel of his Hyundai i20 N Rally 1 this season, with his struggles from last month’s opening round in Monte Carlo continuing in Sweden.

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Even after topping Thursday’s shakedown, the Belgian again repeated that he felt "something is missing to be confident”, and on Friday he went as far as saying that this current period is the hardest of his career to date.

Neuville ended the morning loop of stages sitting seventh overall, 1m37.4s behind rally leader Toyota’s Elfyn Evans. Neuville’s struggles with the balance of his car were compounded by a run into a snowbank in stage three that cost him more than a minute.

“Generally, it was ok but I’m really fighting the balance,” said Neuville at the end of stage four.

“It is not a surprise to be honest it is disturbing a lot, and it makes it very challenging. We are losing a bit of time now, but the rally is still long so we will keep working and we will see.”

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

When asked about the direction the team can take with the car in the midday service, he added: “It is tough. Honestly, it is the hardest time of my career so far. We have changed so many things so you could say we are a bit lost as well, which doesn’t help.”

Speaking in the media zone about his current situation, Neuville elaborated further, adding: “I wouldn’t say that I’m very happy to be honest. We will do some changes for this afternoon, but it is pretty hard to know where to go and what to do, but if we don’t try, we will not learn anything. I guess we have to do some changes to see what it brings.”

Neuville’s Hyundai team-mates Adrien Fourmaux and Esapekka Lappi also struggled to find the pace to compete with Toyota. Fourmaux was forced to make an extreme set up change after stage two to try and find a solution.

“I was struggling a little bit with understeer on the first corners [in stage two] but I did not expect that big a gap I would say,” he said. “I decided to go quite extreme on the set up to make the car work better.

“It is a bit more difficult to drive but at the end it seems to be faster. It is not the pace I would like to be but it is an improvement, so maybe we can fight for something from there.”

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Arsenal boss issues clear demand before FA Cup tie

February 13, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

Arsenal boss issues clear demand before FA Cup tie

Mikel Arteta has outlined his expectations ahead of Arsenal’s FA Cup tie with Wigan Athletic, stressing the need for higher standards after the Brentford draw.

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Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal must be “excellent on the day” as attention turns from a frustrating league draw to the FA Cup, with Wigan Athletic visiting Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

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After a 1-1 Premier League stalemate at Brentford, Arsenal return to the Emirates aiming to reach the fifth round of a competition they last won in 2020. Since that triumph, progress beyond the fourth round has proved elusive, a record Arteta is determined to address.

“Every three days we are playing different competitions so we are so used to it,” he said.

“So, we will reflect on the game [v Brentford], take the positive, the learnings for sure that we have to improve and go on Sunday again with the energy and the batteries fully charged to go and win the game.

“It’s an opportunity for the team, again, with another competition, and the history that we have related to that competition, it’s amazing. We’ll play at home again. I’m really excited to recover and go again.”

Wigan arrive in north London after five consecutive defeats and having parted company with their manager last weekend, but Arteta made clear that reputation and status count for little in knockout football.

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“We haven’t been good enough on that day, and when you come to a competition, you have to be excellent on the day, and the rest, the shirt that you wear, or the badge that you wear, is irrelevant. So we’re going to have to prove that against Wigan again on Sunday,” he added.

Arsenal and Wigan have played each other 21 times, with Arsenal winning 16 and drawing two. The sides have not faced each other since a 1-1 draw in the 2014 FA Cup at Wembley. A Jordi Gomez penalty in the second half had given Wigan the lead before Per Mertesacker equalised in the 81st minute, taking the game to extra time and then penalties. Thanks to Lukasz Fabianksi, the Gunners progressed 4-2 after the shootout.

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Arteta played in that game and said after the match, “It seems like at the moment we need to suffer and really earn things but I think we’ve done it today.

“We were unlucky to go a goal down the way the game was going but I think we showed a lot of character as well. We gave everything we had, we went forward, we created chances. It took us until the end to score and as for the penalties I think we were cool.

“I think Lukasz was fantastic and he really helped the team. The atmosphere was one of the best I’ve seen in football.”

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Valentine’s Day Movies Streaming on Netflix in 2026: 14 Films That Spread the Love

February 13, 2026 · NY Post

Save some money by staying home and watching romantic movies on Netflix.

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