Controversy rules the Manchester derby, Coventry are dunked on and Tottenham still can’t score a goal The 199th Manchester derby was defined by two refereeing decisions: Phil Foden’s first-half red card for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes, and the intervention by the video assistant referee to award Erling Haaland’s winning goal despite Enzo Fernández appearing to interfere with play from an offside position. In both cases, a healthy dose of common sense might have led to a different outcome and Pro Ref admitted that Haaland’s goal should not have stood. Still, it is tough to argue that the final result was harsh on United. Foden’s dismissal gave the hosts a huge opportunity they failed to take, their best chance falling to Bryan Mbeumo in stoppage time. Michael Carrick began his reign with a 2-0 home derby win against 11 men in January, so this felt like a backward step for the manager, unable to find a way to control the game. Carrick also bemoaned City’s two days of extra rest after Champions League games, but chose to keep Fernandes and others on for 90 minutes in the 4-0 stroll past Sabah . United’s next two league games are away at Fulham and at home to Spurs. Carrick will need to be smarter to stop an early-season wobble becoming something more serious. Niall McVeigh Match report: Manchester United 0-1 Manchester City Match report: Coventry 0-5 Brighton Match report: Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal Continue reading...

James O’Connor and Bernard Foley told to focus on Super Rugby Harry McLaughlin-Phillips named for South Africa clash in Perth Wallabies coach Les Kiss has praised the potential impact of veteran flyhalves James O’Connor and Bernard Foley, but called for them to play Super Rugby games before they will be considered for selection after elevating 22-year-old five eighth Harry McLaughlin-Phillips for the clash against South Africa in Perth in two weeks. Ben Donaldson and Declan Meredith have retained their places in the squad following the series victory in Argentina, but the broken leg suffered by Carter Gordon created a place at No 10. Continue reading...

Actor appears naked while mock playing various sports ‘A kick in the face,’ says Olympic champion Titmus Olympic athletes have come out in force to condemn a sports betting advert featuring actor Sydney Sweeney in various states of undress, while showcasing the real skill, strength and beauty of women’s sport. The campaign, for US sports prediction market company Novig, depicts Sweeney in minimal to no clothing while she pretends to play several different sports. Continue reading...

With the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback on leave after his arrest in July, CBS brought a dependable presence into the booth with Jim Nantz If you were looking for insight from the CBS team broadcasting Minnesota’s 39-22 comeback win over Green Bay on Sunday afternoon, you were rewarded even before the first snap. Asked by his play-by-play partner, Jim Nantz, what he was focusing on with new Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray, JJ Watt told viewers that Murray was playing against his former head coach Jonathan Gannon. The now-Green Bay defensive coordinator was dismissed from the head coaching job in Arizona at the end of last season. Continue reading...

Campaign comes to an end after US Open Sinner and Sabalenka most vocal of leading players The world’s leading players have agreed a truce in their long-running battle with the grand slam tournaments over prize money, welfare and player consultation. In a statement released after the men’s US Open final on Sunday the players announced they would stop their 18-month campaign of agitating against the grand slam tournaments, which culminated in a media boycott at the French Open this year, a plan first revealed in May . A similar boycott planned for Wimbledon was called off after the All England Lawn Tennis Club made concessions. Continue reading...

Elversberg 1-2 Bayern; Sassuolo 3-2 Juventus Barcelona see off Levante, PSG end winless start Harry Kane scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season to help Bayern Munich edge to a 2-1 win at promoted Elversberg on Sunday. Handed the captain’s armband with Manuel Neuer rested, Kane scored with 18 minutes remaining. Bayern had taken the lead through the teenage Germany winger Lennart Karl, but Elversberg – who won their opening two matches in their maiden top-flight campaign – levelled things up just after the hour mark thanks to a stunning curling effort from Maurice Krattenmacher. Continue reading...

No 1 seed wins 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 American’s hopes dashed in tense final For a passing moment at the end of a rugged third set, hope sprung anew for Ben Shelton. He had been outserved and outplayed for nearly three hours, but at 6-5 in the third set, one game from defeat, the American finally broke through. He burst into the return game finally pounding his forehand freely and he willed himself into an unexpected fourth set. After he had finished pumping his fist, cupping his ear to the crowd and admirably trying to initiate a drastic momentum shift, the next sequence was most revealing. Shelton opened the fourth set with a shaky game, immediately losing his serve at the start of the set. He worked hard until the end, but he was beaten by Zverev, the top seed, who closed out a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 victory to lift his second grand slam title of the year. Continue reading...

The top-seeded German secured his second grand slam title with a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 win over the American in New York As at every US Open final, the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd will be full of famous faces. For any eagle-eyed tennis/soccer fans wondering if Trinity Rodman will be in attendance (as she has for all of boyfriend Ben Shelton’s matches at this tournament): we probably won’t see her today. The American soccer star is at a match of her own. Her Washington Spirit, locked in a chase for first place in the National Women’s Soccer League, are about to start the second half of their game against the Boston Legacy about five hours south in DC. We’re not done here. The job is not finished. Super excited to get another opportunity to go out there and show my best on Sunday. This whole tournament now at this point has been unchartered territory. I’m in positions I’ve never been in before. I’ve beaten guys – beaten a guy or guys that I have never beaten before. I’m just excited to put it all out on the line. Continue reading...

Officiating body announces it will review the incident Unhappy Carrick says error was ‘as obvious as it gets’ Pro Ref admitted Erling Haaland’s winner in Sunday’s Manchester derby should not have been allowed after the video assistant referee ruled Enzo Fernández was not interfering with play in the build-up. The elite officiating body will review the decision and has contacted Manchester United. Haaland’s 60th minute goal for Manchester City at Old Trafford was initially ruled offside before the VAR’s intervention. It came after Josko Gvardiol’s cross hit Patrick Dorgu’s boot, passed Fernández and the United defender Lisandro Martínez, and was finished by the City No 9. VAR decided Fernández was not interfering despite Martínez marking the midfielder. Continue reading...

Carolina and Chicago combine for 96 points Buffalo beat Houston thanks to late rally Caleb Williams threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 65 yards and two more scores as the Chicago Bears defeated the Carolina Panthers in the highest-scoring season opener in NFL history. Chicago and Carolina scored eight more points than the previous record of 88 set in Tampa Bay’s 48-40 win over New Orleans in 2018. Coach Ben Johnson’s prolific Bears also broke a franchise record for points in an opener, a mark that had stood since 1948, when Chicago hung 45 points on Green Bay at Wrigley Field. The 59 points were the most allowed by the Panthers in team history. D’Andre Swift, who received a $33.75m contract extension earlier this week, ran for 124 yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns, while Kyle Monangai had 100 yards rushing, including a 61-yard touchdown burst. Continue reading...

USA overcame a 14-point France lead in first half Breanna Stewart scores 22 points; Caitlin Clark gets 12 Defending champions USA fell behind early but stormed back past ⁠France 97-79 on Sunday to win the Women’s World Cup. In a rematch of the 2024 ⁠Olympic final , ⁠the ​American women came out on top once more, earning their fifth consecutive World Cup title ⁠and stretching their impressive unbeaten run at Olympics or World Cups to 20 years. Continue reading...

Refereeing is now an impossible job owing to the culture of micro-analysis the Arsenal manager has helped to create A gentleman is never rude unintentionally, only by design. Nobody really knows who said this first. But it could easily be a line from the Elite Football Manager’s Guide to Press Conferences (Premier League edition). Because nothing happens by accident in these spaces. Every word spoken in front of the board covered in adverts is metered and planned. A manager is never angry, or concerned, or even charming unintentionally. The game is the game, but so are all the other bits spilling out either side of it. Continue reading...

Scot wins with ease ahead of Nuguse and Myers Henrich’s final leg earns Britain silver in mixed relay Throughout Josh Kerr’s perfect season, he has made the sublime look routine. So when the bell rang for the final lap of the men’s Ultimate 1500m final, with the Scot in third and closing on the leader, Yared Nuguse, the next 53 seconds felt preordained. So it proved. First Kerr sauntered past Robert Farken into second. Then with 250m remaining, he scootered past Nuguse. The 20‑year‑old Australian star Cam Myers chased valiantly but Kerr smoothly nursed a three-metre lead to the finish. Continue reading...

Americans win fifth consecutive title Reese and Clark celebrate their ‘chemistry’ USA 17-18 France, 1:30 left, 1st qtr: Angel Reese rotates in for the US. Wide-open three-point attempt for Ayayi looks bad enough that the US will probably let her keep taking those fore a while. Continue reading...

Gunners held at Emirates despite 30 attempts on goal City win 4-1 at Aston Villa to extend perfect start Arsenal were left to rue 30 missed chances after dropping points in a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners hit the target nine times and had almost 80% possession but could not convert their superiority into goals. Promoted Palace put on a resilient performance, with the goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin batting away attempts from Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly and Mariona Caldentey to earn another clean sheet. Continue reading...

Mas wins title after three second-place finishes Tobias Johannessen takes final stage in Granada Spain’s Enric Mas secured his first Vuelta a España title on Sunday as Tobias Johannessen won the 21st and final stage in Granada, bringing the three-week Grand Tour to a close. The 31-year-old, who took the red jersey after Tadej Pogacar abandoned the race after a crash on stage eight, held off the four-time champion Primoz Roglic to become the first Spaniard to win the Vuelta since Alberto Contador in 2014. Continue reading...

The bare facts are bleak: Coventry City are only the second team in Premier League history to lose their first four games of the season ­without scoring a goal. “And yet …” will be the enduring message from Frank ­Lampard to his players. And yet they have caused prob­lems for opposition teams. And yet they have already faced three of the top flight’s European contingent. And yet they are not altogether playing that badly – the Brighton goalkeeper Bart ­Verbruggen being named player of the match can attest to that. But Coventry des­perately need a point, or even a goal, to give their ­confidence a much-needed boost. It does not take long for a promoted club’s relegation fears to turn to reality. Continue reading...

Al-Hilal’s Rúben Neves subjected to chants at Al-Taawoun Neves was close friend of Jota and pallbearer at funeral Cristiano Ronaldo said that fans who appeared to ⁠make chants referencing his former teammate Diogo Jota at Rúben Neves during a Saudi ⁠Pro League ⁠match ​should be banned for life from football stadiums. The chants occurred on Saturday during ⁠a fixture between Al-Taawoun and Neves’s side, Al-Hilal, in Buraydah, Saudi Arabia. Continue reading...