GRENOBLE, France (AP) — Competing with five Japanese skaters in the six-woman field, Amber Glenn of the United States continued her breakout season in figure skating by taking the lead in the short program at the Grand Prix Final on Thursday as world champion Kaori Sakamoto fell.
Glenn landed the competition's only triple axel jump on her way to a score of 70.04 points.
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Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, of Georgia, compete in the pairs' short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, of Japan, compete in the pairs' short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, of Germany, compete in the pairs' short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Kaori Sakamoto, of Japan, competes in the women's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Kaori Sakamoto, of Japan, competes in the women's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Hana Yoshida, of Japan, competes in the women's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Mone Chiba, of Japan, competes in the women's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Amber Glenn, of the United States, competes in the women's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Glenn said she “pinched a rib” on an awkward landing of the axel and “held back on the following two jumps," which both lost points on execution.
“Today I was in a really rough place competing. I didn’t feel the greatest, but I feel like I stayed very mentally strong and fought for everything,” she said. “And, you know, me a couple of years ago, my anxiety would have gotten to me, but I’ve gotten a lot better with it.”
Glenn is in her first Grand Prix Final at the age of 25 after a strong season brought her first two career wins in the Grand Prix series. She is seeking to become the first U.S. skater to win the women’s event at the Grand Prix Final since Alissa Czisny in 2010.
Mone Chiba is in second place ahead of Saturday's free skate on 69.33 — to the Donna Summer song “Last Dance” — while Hana Yoshida is third on 64.23.
Three-time world champion Sakamoto seemed capable of challenging Glenn for the lead until she fell on the last jump in her program, a triple flip-triple toeloop combination and placed fourth on 63.98.
Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin took a narrow lead in the pairs short program as they aim to retain the Grand Prix Final title they won last year.
Hase and Volodin skated clean to score a personal-best 76.72 for a lead of just .45 of a point from Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara after Miura underrotated a triple toeloop jump. Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava are third on 72.26 for Georgia.
The pairs competition ends with the free skate Friday.
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Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, of Georgia, compete in the pairs' short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, of Japan, compete in the pairs' short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, of Germany, compete in the pairs' short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Kaori Sakamoto, of Japan, competes in the women's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Kaori Sakamoto, of Japan, competes in the women's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Hana Yoshida, of Japan, competes in the women's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Mone Chiba, of Japan, competes in the women's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Amber Glenn, of the United States, competes in the women's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Erling Haaland’s failure from the penalty spot and Bruno Fernandes' latest red card compounded the woes of Manchester City and Manchester United on another tough day for the two Premier League giants.
City dropped more points Thursday in its improbably poor run of form by drawing 1-1 at home to Everton, with Haaland having a spot kick saved by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in the 53rd minute.
The four-time defending champions have only won one of its last 13 games in all competitions and manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged he needs to spend in the January transfer window to reverse City's slide.
“The transfer window in the winter is not easy, but even the players know that we have to add some new players,” said Guardiola, who has had to cope without a host of key players, including Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, through injury this season.
While City is languishing in seventh place, United is even further adrift in 14th place after a 2-0 loss at lowly Wolverhampton.
United played almost the whole of the second half with 10 men after Fernandes collected his second yellow card in the 47th minute. It was the United captain's third sending-off of the season, though one was rescinded.
Second-place Chelsea also dropped points after conceding in the fifth minute of stoppage time to lose 2-1 at home to Fulham, giving Liverpool the chance to extend its lead to seven points by beating Leicester later.
Nottingham Forest won 1-0 against Tottenham to go up to third, while there were also victories for Newcastle and West Ham. Sixth-place Bournemouth drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace.
City secured only its fifth point in the league since the end of October but that will be scant consolation to Guardiola, whose beleaguered team squandered a winning position after going ahead through Bernardo Silva’s deflected shot in the 14th. Iliman Ndiaye equalized in the 36th.
Haaland’s penalty failure means the Norway international has only scored once in his last seven games. He headed in from the rebound after his spot kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Haaland, who last week admitted his form had not been good enough during a run that has seen City’s season unravel, held his head in his hands after his failure to score from the spot. He still has 18 goals in 25 appearances this season, but has not scored in a win for his club since the 1-0 victory against Southampton on Oct. 26.
“We shoot a lot in the 18-yard box, but unfortunately we could not get the results that we wanted,” Guardiola said.
City’s damaging run has seen it slip down the standings in the league and crash out of the English League Cup. It is also in danger of missing out on the playoffs for the round of 16 in the Champions League — sitting just one point above the cut-off point with two games to play.
Wolves' first goal against United came direct from a corner, with Brazil striker Matheus Cunha seeing his kick curl over the head of goalkeeper Andre Onana and into the far corner in the 58th minute.
Such goals are rare, though United also conceded from a corner in its 4-3 loss to Tottenham in the English League Cup this month. Son Heung-min scored on that occasion.
Wolves added a second through Hwang Hee-chan in the ninth minute of stoppage time and have won two straight games since Vitor Pereira was hired to replace Gary O'Neil. Cunha has 10 goals of the season.
Chelsea dropped points for the second time in as many games, with Enzo Maresca's team drawing 0-0 at Everton last week.
The Blues gave up a lead earned by Cole Palmer in the 16th as Harry Wilson equalized in the 82nd and Rodrigo Muniz grabbed the late winner for Fulham, which won at Stamford Bridge for the first time in 45 years.
Arsenal can now jump from fourth to second with a win against Ipswich on Friday.
Forest's remarkable season shows little sign of slowing down after Anthony Elanga's winner against Tottenham at the City Ground. Forest is a point behind Chelsea in third.
Villa was already a goal down to Newcastle after Anthony Gordon's strike in the second minute when Jhon Duran was sent off in the 32nd. Alexander Isak and Joelinton added goals for the hosts
West Ham had to cope with first-half injuries to defender Max Kilman and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, but still won 1-0 at Southampton after Jarrod Bowen's goal in the 59th.
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Matheus Cunha, not in the picture, scores the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United at the Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)
Referee Tony Harrington, centre, gestures to Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, second from left, after being sent off during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United at the Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes heads down the tunnel after being sent off during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United at the Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)
West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen, bottom right, celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League match at St Mary's Stadium, in Southampton, England, Thursday Dec. 26, 2024. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)
Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes, centre, celebrates scoring his side's third goal of the game only to see it ruled out by VAR , during the English Premier League soccer match between Newcastle United and Aston Villa at St. James' Park, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
Nottingham Forest's Nikola Milenkovic and Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke, right, challenge for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur at the City Ground stadium in Nottingham, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)
Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur at the City Ground stadium in Nottingham, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)
Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Fulham at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Fulham's Harry Wilson, center, celebrates after scoring his sides first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Fulham at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Manchester City's Bernardo Silva, center, is congratulated after scoring his side's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola sits on the bench prior to the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Everton's Iliman Ndiaye celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Everton's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, center, reacts after saving a penalty kick by Manchester City's Erling Haaland during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Manchester City's Erling Haaland fails to score a penalty during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Manchester City's Erling Haaland reacts after failing to score a penalty shot during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
