IN ENGLAND
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Manchester City has produced an impressive performance to beat Sunderland five-three to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Enzo Fernandez put City in front after nine minutes with his first goal since his one hundred and twenty-five million pounds move from Chelsea, whipping a free-kick in at the near post.
Rayan Cherki, Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo scored a goal each for Manchester City, while Sunderland’s three goals were scored by Brian Brobbey.
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Manchester United star Matheus Cunha’s deflected strike rescued a point for the team late on to deny Fulham a first Premier League win of the season.
Lisandro Martinez’s bizarre own goal at Craven Cottage had looked set to condemn the visitors to a third consecutive defeat.
However, with just a minute of the ninety remaining, Cunha’s shot from twenty yards took a wicked deflection off Fulham centre-back David Affengruber, wrongfooted goalkeeper Bernd Leno and found the corner of the net.
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Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has made a winning return to Bournemouth as his side signed off for the international break with a one-nil victory at Vitality Stadium.
Alexander Isak’s fourth Premier League goal of the season settled a poor game – and left the Cherries seeking a first top-flight win of the campaign going into October.
Liverpool climb to sixth with nine points from five games, while Bournemouth have three points and drop to 17th.
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Leeds United have maintained their unbeaten start to their Premier League campaign thanks to a hard-earned goalless draw at home against Crystal Palace.
After a first half of few clear-cut chances, the game sprung into life just after the restart with the visitors having three opportunities in quick succession.
Daniel Farke’s Leeds side, who came 14th last season on their return to the top flight, sit fifth so far in 2026-27, with two wins and three draws from their five league matches.
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Wolves has outplayed West Bromwich Albion as Fer Lopez struck the only goal of the game to earn the hosts their first home Black Country derby victory in fifteen years.
Without the injured Raul Jimenez, Cesar Peixoto’s side made light of the striker’s absence as they repeatedly tore holes in Albion’s backline and were denied a larger victory only by the sheer brilliance of Baggies goalkeeper Max O’Leary.
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Former England winger Andros Townsend joked that playing Stoke away was not so bad after all following a bizarre incident in Thailand in which he was run over by a pitch roller.
The 35-year-old former Tottenham, Luton and Crystal Palace forward plays for PT Prachuap in Thai League 1.
Townsend was warming up before a match at Pattani on Saturday when a member of staff appeared to lose control of a heavy pitch roller.
Townsend’s left leg briefly got stuck under the vehicle, but he was unhurt.
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IN NIGERIA
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A stoppage time goal by Valerin Loboa saw Colombia edged out Nigeria’s Falconets, in the quarterfinals of the FIFA women’s Under-twenty World Cup.
The Falconets controlled more of the ball early and generated several chances, including efforts from Favour Nkwocha, Kafayat Mafisere, Janet Akekoromowei, and Onyedikachi Ekezie.
Colombia stayed organised defensively, with goalkeeper Luisa Agudelo making key saves, including tipping over a powerful long-range left-footed shot from Tumininu Adeshina.
In the 76th minute the Falconets were reduced to ten players when Kafayat Mafisere received a straight red card.
Then in the 92nd minute Loboa put Colombia one-nil ahead, capitalising on a rebound after her initial effort came off Falconets keeper Christiana Uzoma.
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Colombia Under-twenty women’s head coach, Carlos Paniagua has expressed his delight after his side secured a hard-fought victory over Nigeria’s Falconets.
Also, Colombia Under-twenty forward Valerin Loboa expressed her delight after scoring a dramatic 92nd-minute winner against Nigeria’s Falconets.
Loboa emphasised team unity over personal glory:
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Inter Lagos have secured a historic one-nil victory over Enyimba in Aba, recording their first-ever win in the Nigeria Premier Football League.
Ezekiel Moses scored the decisive goal for the newcomers in the 18th minute to hand them all three points.
Kano Pillars ended Doma United’s winning run with a convincing four-one victory, while Abia Warriors recorded an away victory, defeating Sporting Lagos two-nil at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan.
Defending champions Rangers continued their strong run with a four-two away win over Kun Khalifat FC in the Oriental derby.
Plateau United came from behind to beat Shooting Stars three-one, and
Warri Wolves edged Kwara United one-nil.
Meanwhile, Nasarawa United and Rivers United played out a one-all draw at the Lafia City Stadium.
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Enyimba have extended their unwanted Nigeria Premier Football League record after losing one-nil to Inter Lagos on matchday 4 fixture in Aba.
Ezekiel Moses was the hero for Inter Lagos, as his 19th minute goal was enough to secure the win.
According to Opta Nigeria, the result means Enyimba have now failed to win any of their last nine home league matches they trailed at half time.
Enyimba remain winless after three matches (prior losses away to Niger Tornadoes two-one and Doma United two-nil), sitting at the bottom of the table with 0 points.
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Super Eagles star, Taiwo Awoniyi has replaced the injured Victor Osimhen ahead of the Super Eagles’ 2027 African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.
A statement by the Super Eagles media officer, Promise Efoghe, said Osimhen was ruled out of the upcoming qualifiers after his recovery from a right adductor muscle strain took longer than expected.
Osimhen was included in the Super Eagles squad for the international window as there were hopes he would regain full fitness in time for the qualifiers.
However, his expected return was delayed after he was not available for Galatasaray’s Süper Lig clash against Trabzonspor on Saturday.
The match had been seen by both club and national team officials as an important fitness assessment for Osimhen.
Following Osimhen’s absence, Awoniyi has now been called up as a replacement for the Galatasaray striker.
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Super Eagles striker, Tolu Arokodare has expressed fierce determination to give his absolute best and help Nigeria secure qualification for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Arokodare’s stellar club form has earned him a well-deserved spot in Eric Chelle’s 24-man Super Eagles squad for the upcoming opening qualifying matches against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.
The forward made clear his ambitions on the international stage.
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Super Eagles duo Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella have missed out as Bayer Leverkusen secured a two-nil victory over RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga clash.
Tella is currently sidelined with an injury and has yet to feature for the club this season.
Meanwhile, Boniface has made just one appearance and provided one assist in the ongoing campaign.
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OTHER LEAGUES
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Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid in a feisty derby to move above their rivals into second place in La Liga.
The turning point of the game came when Dean Huijsen pulled down Giuliano Simeone just inside the box.
Huijsen was sent off after a video assistant referee review and Alejandro Grimaldo scored the resulting penalty.
Jonathan David slid in to score his third goal in three La Liga games from Simeone’s cross to make the points safe for Atletico.
Antonio Rudiger headed in Bernardo Silva’s free-kick to give Real late hope but they could not find an equaliser.
Real sit six points behind leaders Barcelona, who have won every game, and one behind Atleti.
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Atlético Madrid legend, Diego Godín has strongly criticised Julián Álvarez, describing the forward’s attempt to force a move to Barcelona as a stab in the back for the club’s supporters.
Álvarez caused a major storm during the 2026 FIFA World Cup by publicly pushing to leave Madrid for their La Liga rivals Barcelona.
Comparing it to the massive effort it took Antoine Griezmann to win back the Metropolitano faithful after his own turbulent history, Godín noted that time will tell if Álvarez can mend fences.
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OTHER SPORTS
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In Tennis, Great Britain have reached the Davis Cup Finals for the first time since 2023 after sealing a 4-0 win in their qualifying tie against Ecuador.
Henry Patten and Neal Skupski booked Britain’s ticket to November’s ‘Final 8’ event in Bologna with a 6-3 6-4 win over Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo in the doubles at London’s Copper Box Arena.
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In Cricket, New Test coach, Stephen Fleming says he shared English cricket’s obsession with the Ashes and arrives with the goal to beat the Aussies.
Fleming was speaking to the media for the first time since being appointed in July and before taking charge for the tour of South Africa in December.
Like predecessor Brendon McCullum, Fleming is from New Zealand, the little cousin to Australia, in his words.
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In Rugby, Ireland head coach Scott Bemand said their defeat against USA in the WXV Global Series opener at Tallaght Stadium was “a game we should have won”.
USA, led by County Dublin-born head coach Jack Hanratty, fought back from trailing 31-12 at one stage of the second half to score four successive tries and claim a 40-36 comeback win.
A loss of discipline in the second half contributed to Ireland’s loss after their impressive first-half display, and Bemand was frustrated that they let the game slip out of their control.
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In Cycling, Great Britain’s Zoe Backstedt has produced a superb ride to claim silver in the women’s time trial at the UCI World Road Championships in Montreal.
The 21-year-old Welsh rider could have opted to defend the under-23 title she won last year.
But instead she stepped up to elite level and finished 40.11 seconds behind defending champion Marlen Reusser of Switzerland, who retained her crown on her 35th birthday with a winning time of 50 minutes 24.44 seconds.
Belgium’s Remco Evenpoel, meanwhile, became the first rider to win the men’s time trial for a fourth consecutive occasion.
The 26-year-old reigning Olympic champion joins Germany’s Tony Martin and Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara as the only men to have won the title four times.
He finished the 39.2km course in 44:53.13, beating Italian runner-up Filippo Ganna by 57.31secs, while French 19-year-old Paul Seixas was third
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In Athletics, Agnes Ngetich broke the world record for a women-only half marathon as she took gold at the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen.
The Kenyan claimed victory in one hour, five minutes and 15 seconds as she took a second off the previous record, which her compatriot Peres Jepchirchir set in winning the World half marathon gold in 2020.
Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey holds the overall women’s half-marathon world record with a time of 1:02:52.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
Football is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins…words from Johan Cruyff.
