Roughriders force late fumble at goal line, beat Alouettes 25-17 for 5th Grey Cup title

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Tevaughn Campbell forced Montreal backup quarterback Shea Patterson's fumble at the goal line and Marcus Sayles recovered it in the end zone with 2:53 left to help the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Alouettes 25-17 on Sunday night for their fifth Grey Cup title.

Saskatchewan also won Canadian Football League championships in 1966, 1989, 2007 and 2013. Montreal won the last of its eight titles in 2023.

Trevor Harris completed 23 of 27 passes for 302 yards for Saskatchewan, and the 39-year-old was selected the game MVP.

“I’m just grateful for my teammates. I’m so thankful for my teammates,” Harris said. ”“We did it. It wasn’t the prettiest game but it never is.”

Samuel Emilus had 10 catches for 108 yards, A.J. Ouellette ran for 83 yards and a TD and backup quarterback Tommy Stevens had two 1-yard scoring runs.

Sayles also had an interception for the first takeaway of the game.

Montreal starter Davis Alexander lost for the first time after winning his first 13 starts, going 11-0 over two years during the regular season and adding playoff wins over Winnipeg and Hamilton this year. Fighting a left hamstring injury, Alexander threw three interceptions.

“I didn’t play well enough to win this game for us,” Alexander said. “I did a couple things that I didn’t do during the year, you know, turn the ball over three times. When you get outplayed in the quarterback position, you put your team at a deficit right away..”

On the final play of the game, his long heave fell incomplete.

“I thought he ran around pretty good,” Roughriders defensive lineman Micah Johnson said. “I thought we did a good job of taking stuff away from him. In my opinion he was running around decently … he was healthy.”

Saskatchewan led 25-7 in the third quarter on Stevens' second touchdown and Brett Lauther’s 48-yard field goal.

Stevie Scott III had an 11-yard scoring run for Montreal on the final play of the third, and Jose Carlos Maltos made a 23-yard field goal to cut it to 25-17 midway through the fourth. The Roughriders then missed a chance to pad the lead when Lauther's 32-yard field-goal try was wide to the right.

Montreal took a 7-1 lead late in the first quarter on Patterson’s 1-yard run. In the second quarter, Stevens scored his first TD and Ouellette ran in from 4 yards.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Montreal Alouettes' Darnell Sankey (1) looks on following second half CFL football action against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Saskatchewan Roughriders' Marcus Sayles (8), bottom, celebrates with teammates after recovering a fumble from Montreal Alouettes' Shea Patterson (7) during second half CFL football action in the Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris (7) celebrates the team's win over the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL Grey Cup football game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris (7) celebrates his team's win over the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL Grey Cup football game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Saskatchewan Roughriders' A.J. Ouellette (45) celebrates his touchdown against the Montreal Alouettes during first half CFL football action in the Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

Saskatchewan Roughriders' Tommy Nield (83) gets taken down by Montreal Alouettes' Najee Murray (12) after running 34 yards to the Montreal one-yard line for first down during second half CFL football action in the Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Tommy Stevens (17) celebrates his touchdown with teammate A.J. Ouellette (45) against the Montreal Alouettes during second half CFL football action in the Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Saskatchewan Roughriders' Kian Schaffer-Baker (89) is tackled by Montreal Alouettes' Marc-Antoine Dequoy (24) as Wesley Sutton (37) reaches for the ball during second half CFL football action in the Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Saskatchewan Roughriders' A.J. Ouellette (45), left, celebrates his touchdown with teammates while taking on the Montreal Alouettes during first half CFL football action in the Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

LONDON (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met French, German and British leaders in London on Monday as Kyiv’s European allies try to strengthen Ukraine’s hand in thorny talks on a U.S.-backed plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer gathered with Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the British leader’s 10 Downing St. residence.

Starmer shook hands with Merz on the doorstep of the residence, ignoring a reporter’s shouted questions. Macron arrived a few minutes later and also posed briefly for photographers with Starmer on the doorstep.

Zelenskyy arrived some 15 minutes after the others. As he entered the building with Starmer, he gestured toward the resident cat, Larry, who was loitering on the doorstep.

Zelenskyy said late Sunday that his talks with European leaders this week in London and Brussels will focus on security, air defense and long-term funding for Ukraine’s war effort. The leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the U.S. to deter Russia from attacking again.

U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the U.S. administration’s peace proposal.

Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram that talks had been “substantive” and that National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov were traveling back to Europe to brief him.

A major sticking point in the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine must cede control of its eastern Donbas region to Russia, which illegally occupies most but not all of the territory. Ukraine and its European allies have balked at the idea of handing over land.

Starmer said he “won’t be putting pressure” on Zelenskyy to accept a peace settlement.

“The most important thing is to ensure that if there is a cessation of hostilities, and I hope there is, it has to be just and it has to be lasting, which is what we will be focused on this afternoon,” he told broadcaster ITV.

In an exchange with reporters on Sunday night, U.S. President Donald Trump appeared frustrated with Zelenskyy, claiming the Ukrainian leader “hasn’t yet read the proposal.”

“Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it," Trump said before taking part in the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. "His people love it, but he hasn't read it."

Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since riding into a second White House term insisting that the war was a waste of U.S. taxpayers’ money. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to bring an end to the nearly four-year conflict.

The European talks follow the publication of a new U.S. national security strategy that alarmed European leaders and was welcomed by Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the document, which spells out the administration’s core foreign policy interests, was largely in line with Moscow’s vision.

Speaking with journalists on Monday, Peskov said that the Kremlin welcomed the document’s focus on developing constructive relations with Russia.

“The nuances that we see in the new concept certainly look appealing to us,” he told reporters. “It mentions the need for dialogue and building constructive, friendly relations. This cannot but appeal to us, and it absolutely corresponds to our vision. We understand that by eliminating the irritants that currently exist in bilateral relations, a prospect may open for us to truly restore our relations and bring them out of the rather deep crisis.”

The document released Friday by the White House said the U.S. wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war is a core U.S. interest to “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”

The document also says NATO must not be “a perpetually expanding alliance,” echoing another complaint of Russia’s. It was scathing about the migration and free speech policies of longstanding U.S. allies in Europe, suggesting they face the “prospect of civilizational erasure” due to migration.

Starmer’s government has declined to comment on the American document, saying it is a matter for the U.S. government.

Russian forces continued to attack Ukraine Monday as diplomatic efforts continued.

Russian drones struck a residential high-rise in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Okhtyrka overnight, injuring seven people, the head of the regional administration, Oleh Hryhorov, wrote on Telegram. He said that the building suffered extensive damage.

Elsewhere, in the northern city of Chernihiv, a Russian drone injured three people when it exploded outside a residential building, regional head Viacheslav Chaus said. The attack also damaged a kindergarten, domestic gas pipes and cars.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Monday that Russia fired a total of 149 drones across the country overnight, of which 131 were neutralized and 16 more struck their targets.

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses destroyed 67 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Monday. The drones were shot down over 11 Russian regions, it said.

Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, London, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, Larry the cat, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office walks past. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

From left, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron meet at 10 Downing Street, in London, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Toby Melville/Pool Photo via AP)

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gestures while speaking as he takes part in a joint news conference with the Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin in Dublin, Ireland, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron, right, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Dec. 1, 2025 before a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, a rescue worker puts out a fire of a residential building damaged by a Russian strike in Sumy region, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, a rescue worker puts out a fire of a car in front of a residential building damaged by a Russian strike in Sumy region, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)