ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — After the game was over and his team had won, East Carolina coach Blake Harrell could be magnanimous about an officiating gaffe that nearly turned the tide in the Military Bowl.
ECU's Marlon Gunn Jr. had a long touchdown run called back because of an inadvertent whistle — and two snaps later, Pittsburgh forced a fumble and ran it back for a TD the other way to take the lead in the third quarter.
East Carolina, however, quickly rebounded and won the game 23-17, saving the Big 12 Conference officiating crew from an even bigger controversy.
“I felt bad for the official on the sideline,” Harrell said. “Made a mistake. We all make mistakes in life.”
ECU led 10-7 and faced fourth-and-1 from its own 32 in the third quarter when Gunn ran to the right, shed a couple of tacklers and went all the way to the end zone. But the touchdown was negated because of the whistle, and Gunn was credited with a 14-yard gain instead.
East Carolina was called for holding on the next snap, and then Chaston Ditta fumbled on a sack by Pitt's Rasheem Biles, who recovered the ball and returned it 23 yards to the end zone to give the Panthers a 14-10 lead.
“Unfortunately it didn't work out for our football team at that time and moment,” Harrell said. “And then two plays later, it works out for the other team, which makes it even look like a bigger play. But I think as coaches, if we lose our composure, our players are going to as well. How we react is how they react.”
The Pirates didn't stay behind for long. Ditta connected with Anthony Smith for a 72-yard touchdown on the next drive, and there was no whistle bringing that one back. ECU led the rest of the way after that.
“We didn't let one play be the outcome or the story of the game,” Harrell said.
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East Carolina head coach Blake Harrell watches the first half of the Military Bowl NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Annapolis, Md. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Arsenal resisted a late fightback from Brighton on Saturday to keep hold of first place in the Premier League, but Manchester City and Aston Villa are in hot pursuit.
It is a three-way fight at the top with just three points separating first and third in the standings.
City briefly held top spot after a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest, but when Arsenal beat Brighton by the same score later in the day, it returned to the summit with a two-point advantage over Pep Guardiola's team.
Villa is just a point further back in third after extending its remarkable winning run to 11 games in all competitions with a comeback 2-1 victory at Chelsea.
Villa plays Arsenal at the Emirates on Tuesday and a win would see it move level on points with the leader at the turn of the year.
Liverpool is up to fourth after its resurgence continued with a 2-1 win of its own against last-place Wolverhampton, which set a new Premier League record for the longest winless run from the start of a season.
Another own goal kept Arsenal at the top of the standings — but it required an outstanding save from David Raya to deny Brighton.
Martin Odegaard gave Mikel Arteta's team a 14th-minute lead — and when Brighton's Georginio Rutter headed a wicked Declan Rice corner into his own net seven minutes into the second half, Arsenal was in control.
But nerves began to spread around the Emirates when Diego Gomez pulled a goal back against the run of play in the 64th. Yankuba Minteh then hit a shot that was destined for the top corner until Raya stretched an arm to push it away.
“Their goal changed the momentum a little bit and they pressed us towards the end, but we got the three points and that’s all that matters,” Odegaard said. “Lots of positives and still some things we can improve, but overall a good game and another win.”
Arsenal has become a set piece specialist, but in recent weeks it has benefited from a slew of own goals, with Rutter's the latest to prove decisive.
It was the fourth time in as many games an opponent has scored an own goal against the league's frontrunner.
Rayan Cherki kept Manchester City's title challenge powering on with a late winner at Forest.
The France forward's 83rd minute strike secured victory at the City Ground to make it six league wins in a row for Guardiola's team. City is on an eight-game winning run in all.
“Today is a big win,” Cherki told TNT Sports. “I’m proud of the team because this game is very complicated to win.”
It was Cherki's second goal in three games and fifth overall. He also provided an assist with an intricate pass to Tijjani Reijnders to put City ahead three minutes into the second half.
Omari Hutchinson equalized for relegation-fighting Forest, which was holding out for a crucial point until Cherki fired through a crowded box for the winner.
Guardiola, who has won 12 league titles with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, looks like a man who believes his team is ready to regain the crown it surrendered to Liverpool last season. He joined in the celebrations with the traveling fans after the final whistle — acting conductor as they celebrated wildly after another win.
“When we won a lot of titles in Barcelona, Bayern Munich, here, you have a lot of games of this type,” he said. “The body language, how we celebrated, the connection with the fans is there."
Super sub Ollie Watkins came off the bench and extended Villa’s winning run.
With Unai Emery’s team trailing 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to Joao Pedro’s first-half strike, Watkins was sent on to try to salvage something.
And the England striker delivered in emphatic fashion, leveling the game within five minutes of coming on and then heading in the winner in the 84th to stun the home crowd and spark frenzied celebrations among Villa’s traveling supporters.
That’s 12 wins in Villa’s last 13 league games to firmly establish itself as a genuine title contender with Arsenal up next.
“Amazing is the word to sum it up,” Watkins told Sky Sports.
A fourth straight win for Liverpool and another sign that Florian Wirtz is finding his feet in England's top flight.
Wirtz scored his first Premier League goal since joining the defending champion from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer and it proved to be decisive against Wolves.
Wirtz doubled Liverpool's lead before halftime after Ryan Gravenberch had opened the scoring at Anfield, but Wolves halved the deficit through Santiago Bueno after the break.
“I was confident that I will score one day, but of course I wanted to start earlier, scoring and assisting," Wirtz said. “It was like this and I have to accept it. I just know that it would come and I tried to keep going like that.”
After seeing its title defense unravel between September and November, Liverpool is now on a seven-game unbeaten run.
Wolves are on a very different run. After 18 rounds of the season the Midlands club has set a new low in the Premier League era — overtaking the record it shared with Sheffield United for the longest winless start to a campaign.
Kevin Schade scored a hat trick in Brentford's 4-1 rout of Bournemouth.
Antoine Semenyo was on target for Bournemouth ahead of the January transfer window when he is reportedly a target for some of the Premier League's top clubs, including Man City.
West Ham's relegation fight was dealt a blow as Raul Jimenez scored in the 85th to seal a 1-0 win for Fulham, while second-to-bottom Burnley drew 0-0 with Everton.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Chelsea's Benoit Badiashile, bottom, tackles Aston Villa's Boubacar Kamara, during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Aston Villa, at Stamford Bridge, in London, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Brentford's Kevin Schade celebrates scoring his side's third goal of the game, during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Bournemouth, at the Gtech Community Stadium, in London, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. Peter Tarry/PA via AP)
Liverpool's Florian Wirtz celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Liverpool, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)
Arsenal's Viktor Gyoekeres and Arsenal's Declan Rice celebrate after Brighton's Georginio Rutter scored an own goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion in London, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Nottingham Forest's Omari Hutchinson celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, in Nottingham, England, Saturday Dec. 27, 2025. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)
Manchester City's Tijjani Reijnders celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, in Nottingham, England, Saturday Dec. 27, 2025. (Barrington Coombs/PA via AP)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates at the end of the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, in Nottingham, England, Saturday Dec. 27, 2025. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)
Manchester City's Rayan Cherki scores his side's second goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, in Nottingham, England, Saturday Dec. 27, 2025. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)
Manchester City's Rayan Cherki, left, celebrates with Erling Haaland after scoring his side's second goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, in Nottingham, England, Saturday Dec. 27, 2025. (Barrington Coombs/PA via AP)
