Sesko scores late to rescue 1-1 draw for Man United at West Ham

Manchester United’s winning run couldn’t go on forever. But a dramatic late equalizer from Benjamin Sesko rescued a 1-1 draw at West Ham in the Premier League on Tuesday and kept the momentum going under coach Michael Carrick.

Sesko struck in the 96th minute at the London Stadium to keep United in fourth place ahead of Chelsea, which also dropped points in a 2-2 draw against Leeds.

Tottenham was dragged closer to the relegation zone after a 2-1 loss at home to Newcastle and is now just five points ahead of 18th-place West Ham.

Carrick was moments away from his first loss as United coach as the clock ticked down at West Ham.

After four straight wins, United trailed following Tomas Soucek's goal from early in the second half.

But Carrick, who was part of so many famous comebacks as a United player, is getting used to dramatic turnarounds as a coach as well. After late winners against Arsenal and Fulham, he watched his team salvage a point through substitute Sesko.

The Slovenia international produced a brilliant flicked goal at the near post to stun the home fans and maintain Carrick's unbeaten run.

“It is those times when you aren’t totally at your best that you find a way,” Carrick said. “Credit to the boys for the spirit to get a late goal when we needed it. It is a great quality to have. We’ll take the point and move on.”

While United battled to salvage a point, Chelsea blew a two-goal lead at home to draw with Leeds as Liam Rosenior dropped points for the first time since taking over at Stamford Bridge.

Lukas Nmecha and Noah Okafor sealed the comeback for Leeds.

Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer from the penalty spot seemed to put Rosenior on course for a fifth-straight league win. But Chelsea was stunned by two goals in the space of six minutes from in-form Leeds and had to settle for a point.

Draws for both United and Chelsea could see the race for Champions League qualification tighten if Liverpool wins at Sunderland on Wednesday.

Liverpool is sixth, five points behind Chelsea and six back from United with a game in hand on both.

The top four are guaranteed qualification to the Champions League, but the Premier League is likely to be given an extra spot because of the performances of English teams in Europe this season.

It increasingly looks like a battle for survival for Tottenham. The same might be said for coach Thomas Frank.

The pressure is building on Frank, whose team is still to win a league game in 2026, despite advancing to the round of 16 in the Champions League.

Spurs' last league win was Dec. 28. That's one win in 11 in England's top flight and such a desperate run leaves Frank's team five points clear of the relegation zone after West Ham's draw.

There were boos from the home fans inside the stadium as they witnessed another setback.

"I understand the fans' frustration. We are in a position we don’t want to be in, that we’re working very hard day and night to change," Frank said.

The win for Newcastle ended its three-game losing run in the league.

Jacob Ramsey slid a shot into the bottom corner from close range in the 68th minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to secure the points.

Malick Thiaw put Newcastle ahead in first-half stoppage time.

Archie Gray gave Spurs hope in the 64th, but Ramsey restored the lead soon after.

Bournemouth scored twice in the space of three minutes to come back from a goal down to beat Everton 2-1 at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Iliman Ndiaye's penalty before the break gave the home team the lead, but Rayan leveled in the 61st and Amine Adli scored the winner three minutes later.

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Manchester United's Benjamin Sesko (30) scores against West Ham United during a Premier League soccer match, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in London. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Manchester United's Benjamin Sesko (30) reacts after scoring against West Ham United during a Premier League soccer match, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in London. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Manchester United's Amad Diallo, left, and West Ham United's El Hadji Malick Diouf battle for the ball during a Premier League soccer match, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in London. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick watches before a Premier League soccer match against West Ham United, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in London. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Tottenham's head coach Thomas Frank gives instructions during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham and Newcastle in London, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

Tottenham's Archie Gray reacts after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham and Newcastle in London, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

Chelsea's Cole Palmer, right, winds up to score his side's second goal from a penalty during an English Premier League soccer match against against Leeds United, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Chelsea's Cole Palmer, right, celebrates scoring his side's second goal of the game from a penalty against Leeds United's during an English Premier League soccer match in London, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The Winter Games' thirst for viral moments is ushering Mark Callan, the head ice technician for curling, into the global spotlight.

Social media users have dubbed the sturdy, silver-haired Glaswegian “the Michael Jackson of curling.” That's after official Olympic accounts pushed out videos of the moonwalk-like shuffle he performs while misting the ice between matches at the Milan Cortina Games.

If his gait is a bit bizarre, it's also the result of decades spent creating championship-grade curling ice, a pursuit that necessitates a command of environmental, mechanical and athletic know-how.

Callan has perfected the practice of “pebbling" — spritzing de-ionized water from the Dolomites onto the ice to create the signature stony formation that differentiates a curling surface from a skating rink.

“The viral thing has been a bit of a surprise,” Callan said during round-robin play. “Everybody has a different style of pebbling, bit like driving a car. I find that doing the moonwalk — or the shuffle, if you like — it keeps me stable.”

Athletes rely on Callan's pebbles to curl the granite stones they fling across the ice. When they miss, as the mighty Canadians did in mixed doubles, he's the first guy they blame.

“Ice techs are an easy target,” he said. “We always say that after every single game with mixed doubles, you have two new friends and two new enemies. People who win are your friends. People who lose are your enemies.”

The four ice sheets at the center of Cortina’s curling venue are Callan’s glacial oeuvre — one that World Curling trusts only about 20 others to replicate.

The process starts in the mountain streams of the Dolomites. By the end of these Games, 20,000 liters of Italian water will have been purified and then misted by Callan onto the four concrete slabs, one layer after another.

Upon landing, each droplet instantaneously freezes because of pipes that are funneling 7,000 liters (1,849 gallons) of below-freezing glycol beneath the concrete per minute. White paint and various markers are sandwiched between ice layers to give the court its sheen and structure.

When layering the ice, Callan uses different nozzles so that pebbles of various sizes populate the sheet. Smaller ones are at the bottom while larger ones lie on top, waiting for wear-down by players' broom sweeps.

Each curling match produces a snowflake of sorts: a pebble formation that is unique, shaped by the irreplicable action of players' brooms. Intense sweeping melts certain patches down, making them faster and changing their curl. Part of the sport is “reading the ice,” or analyzing which parts of the court are faster or slower, straighter or curlier.

During the match, Callan and his team monitor a dozen ice thermometers, the temperature of the stadium, the humidity and the “dew point” of the ice. That's the temperature at which frost, which Callan calls a “killer” for curling stones, begins to form. Each measurement must be kept within strict parameters and requires consistent tweaking as spectators, weather conditions and lighting threaten to mess up the fine balance.

Between matches, Callan and his team get to work, scraping the ice before he starts pebbling once more.

“In the good old days of curling, water quality was so poor that if you tried to pebble the ice, there was so much rubbish in it, chemicals in it, it wouldn’t freeze,” Callan says. “In the last 15-20 years, technology has really come into the sport, and ice techs have had to really go and develop with it.”

The task is brutal. The ice tech team works for 17 hours a day, every day, for 18 scheduled days of curling. It's the longest-running sport in the Winter Olympics.

“There’s so much going on, and so much happening, that you kind of live in adrenaline,” Callan said. “Once it’s done, you crash.”

Greg Ewasko is a Canadian ice tech for whom getting to the Olympics has been a “lifelong dream.” He said, “We put our heart and soul into making the ice.”

He said it was “very upsetting” that Brett Gallant of Canada’s mixed doubles blamed the team's failure to qualify for the semifinals on the ice conditions. Ewasko has worked the ice for many Canadian and world championships.

“They are used to playing on my ice,” Ewasko said. “Some days all the magic shows up and everything is good and everybody thinks you’re the greatest. Then there’s some days that some stuff just doesn’t show up. Unfortunately for them, the ice was a little bit straighter than what they’re used to.

“If we could have all winners, then there’d probably be no complainers."

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Curling stones are pictured before the bronze medal mixed doubles match competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Staff members level the ice before the bronze medal curling mixed doubles match at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

A staff member sprays water on the ice before the bronze medal curling mixed doubles match at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

A staff member sprays water on the ice before the bronze medal curling mixed doubles match at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

A staff member sprays water on the ice before the bronze medal curling mixed doubles match at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)