Coventry City have stunned Newcastle United with an emphatic four-one victory as they won their first Premier League game at home in twenty-five years.
Newcastle goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek hauled down Sidiki Cherif to gift Coventry an early penalty and Jack Rudoni made no mistake with the finish, scoring the club’s first goal at home this season to raise the roof at CBS Arena.
The victory, Coventry’s second of the season lifts them out the relegation zone and up to 14th, where they sit level on points with Manchester United.
Matthias Jaissle’s Newcastle remain 11th, with eight points from their opening six games.
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Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta says it is far from ideal that Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi were injured in a post-match training session after the Gunners’ two-one Premier League win against Leeds.
A training session was held after Saturday’s match at Emirates Stadium for players who either did not feature in or did not play the full ninety minutes against Leeds.
Ecuador defender Hincapie was carried off by goalkeeper Illan Meslier during the session, and Arteta later confirmed Spain midfielder Zubimendi was also hurt.
Hincapie came on after eighty-two minutes as Arsenal saw out victory against Leeds, while Zubimendi, was an unused substitute.
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has backed midfielder Eberechi Eze to step up and find his absolute best form for the Gunners as he settles into life at the club.
Arteta remains entirely confident that the playmaker has the full backing of the squad to hit his stride.
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Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has launched a fierce critique of referee Chris Kavanagh, labeling the official’s handling of Ryan Gravenberch’s controversial dismissal as a poor decision during the team’s three-nil Premier League defeat to Manchester City.
The Dutch midfielder had put in an impressive shift during a tightly contested opening hour at Anfield before receiving his marching orders in the 62nd minute following a second yellow card for a foul on Jérémy Doku.
Carragher argued that the decisive root of the controversy lay in Kavanagh’s earlier, soft decision to caution Gravenberch for a routine challenge on Elliot Anderson.
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Former Manchester City striker Imre Varadi says it was brilliant to see the club’s fans waving inflatable bananas at Anfield on Sunday and feels it brought a lot of fun back.
Varadi was nicknamed ‘Imre Banana’ by City fans during his two-year spell with the club in the late 1980s and they began taking inflatable bananas to games when they played in the old Second Division.
The craze continued into the early 90s, with City fans taking bananas to games intermittently since, and dozens re-emerged at Sunday’s game.
With the club facing sanctions such as a points deduction or expulsion from the Premier League, City fans took bananas to Anfield as a nod to their time as a yo-yo club in the 1980s.
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Women’s football is on course to become a billion-dollar industry, but many professional players are still earning low wages, working on insecure contracts and experiencing rising psychological stress.
This is according to the findings of a new global survey of more than eight hundred footballers by the players’ union Fifpro.
The report stated of players considering leaving the game early, fifty-nine percent cited financial reasons, while psychological stress was another factor identified by forty-six percent.
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Former England striker Andy Carroll has thanked the public for their support after speaking publicly about being sexually assaulted by a man.
Carroll feared he would never fully recover from the trauma of the incident, which happened at his home in 2021 during a second spell at Newcastle United.
Carroll said the response to going public with his experience had been overwhelming.
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Former Port Vale and Gillingham captain Doug Loft has died at the age of 39.
A statement from Gillingham, said he died following a medical emergency at the weekend.
Loft played 196 times for Vale between 2009 and 2014, after signing from Brighton and went on to make seventy appearances for the Gills.
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IN NIGERIA
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Super Falcons will look to secure a place in the third round of the African qualifying series for the 2028 Olympic Women’s Football Tournament when they take on Comoros at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne on Tuesday.
The 10-time African champions head into the second-leg encounter with a two-nil advantage after winning the first leg.
The Super Falcons are aiming to secure a second consecutive appearance at the Olympic Games following their return to the women’s football tournament at Paris 2024, which marked their first Olympic appearance in sixteen years.
The aggregate winner of the tie will advance to the third qualifying round, where they will face Morocco in March 2027.
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Super Eagles star Moses Usor is a major doubt for LASK’s UEFA Champions League encounter against Liverpool on Wednesday.
The Austrian side will welcome the Premier League giants to the Raiffeisen Arena for their Matchday Two fixture.
Usor picked up a shoulder injury during LASK’s two-nil home defeat to Rapid Wien, leaving the 24-year-old racing against time to be fit for the crucial clash.
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Galatasaray assistant coach Ismael Garcia believes Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has the qualities to exploit Barcelona’s high defensive line when both teams clash in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League encounter.
The Nigeria international is expected to lead Galatasaray’s attack against the Spanish champions after recovering from an injury that had kept him on the sidelines.
Garcia confirmed that the former Napoli striker is available for selection and explained why his playing style could cause Barcelona problems
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Dutch centre-back Perr Schuurs has disclosed that Super Eagles forward Tolu Arokodare possesses physical and stylistic qualities he has rarely encountered throughout his professional career.
The defender made the admission on the back of Ajax’s hard-fought one-all draw against NEC Nijmegen.
Schuurs described the towering Nigerian international as a uniquely challenging striker to defend against.
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Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes has issued a clear warning to Super Eagles striker, Victor Boniface following the Nigerian striker’s frustrated tunnel walkout during the dramatic four-three Bundesliga victory over Mainz.
Boniface’s frustrations boiled over after he was overlooked for a third time in the match’s final substitutes window, with coach Carles Martínez opting to introduce Equi Fernández and Jonas Hofmann in the 84th minute.
The incident has spotlighted Boniface’s testing situation at the BayArena this season, where playing time has been heavily restricted.
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Nigerian international Akor Adams is in action but could not help Venezia avoid suffering their sixth consecutive Serie A defeat following a three-one loss to Atalanta.
It was Adams’ sixth appearance in the Italian topflight and has scored just one goal since joining Venezia from Sevilla in the summer.
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OTHER LEAGUES
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Corinthians have appointed Clarence Seedorf as their head coach, with the former Netherlands midfielder taking on his first coaching role since 2019.
The 50-year-old joined on a contract until the end of 2027 with the club 16th in the Brazilian top flight, one place above the relegation zone with eight games left.
Seedorf succeeds former Brazil interim national coach Fernando Diniz, who was sacked by Corinthians last week after the club lost seven consecutive league games.
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Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has encouraged struggling striker Julián Álvarez to keep working and improving ahead of the team’s crucial UEFA Champions League clash against Manchester United on Tuesday.
The Premier League giants travel to the Spanish capital looking to build on an emphatic opening-day rout of Sabah, while Atletico find themselves seeking a response after losing their first league phase fixture away at Liverpool.
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Former Senegal international Boukary Dramé has acknowledged that Morocco could legally secure the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 title, urging Senegal to respect the final decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, even if it favors the Atlas Lions.
Dramé admitted that the ongoing legal battle could end with Morocco officially retaining the continental title despite Senegal’s victory on the pitch.
He stressed that the dispute has reached a stage where legal procedures, rather than sporting preferences, will determine the final outcome.
Beyond the legal consequences, Dramé expressed concern about the damage the controversy has caused to African football’s international reputation.
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OTHER SPORTS
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In Tennis, Alexander Zverev is guaranteed to finish the 2026 season as world number one after Carlos Alcaraz’s surprise defeat in the Shanghai Masters.
German Zverev was on course to climb above current world number one Jannik Sinner, who has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a knee injury.
Alcaraz still had a mathematical chance of stopping Zverev until he was beaten 7-5, 7-6 by Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in the third round on Monday.
After losing three major finals, Zverev landed the first Grand Slam title of his career by winning the French Open in June, and followed that with victory at the US Open last month.
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In Cricket, Australia is primed to earn a statement victory and end South Africa’s unbeaten run under captain Temba Bavuma after Matt Renshaw’s remarkable Test continued on day four of their series opener in Durban.
Renshaw, in his second game back after a three-year absence, followed his 190 in the first innings with 89 to allow Australia to declare on 314-6.
The 30-year-old then dismissed Bavuma with his part-time off-spin late in the day for his first Test wicket.
Captain Pat Cummins followed with a perfect set-up of Tristan Stubbs, pushing him back with shorter balls before nicking him off with a full delivery – to leave South Africa 102-4 at the close.
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In Rugby, Saracens have sacked Totoa Auvaa, the academy player who was involved in a nightclub incident with England cricketers Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson in June.
The English Prem club have confirmed that the 21-year-old Samoan forward has left with immediate effect following another incident in St Albans on Saturday.
Auvaa had originally been stood down from all club duties while Saracens investigated the matter.
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In Golf, Players who sign up to LIV Golf next season will not be allowed to be members of the European tour in 2027.
The European tour, which is sponsored by DP World, said players must make a choice regarding where they play, a significantly tougher stance than in recent seasons.
Only players who are members of the DP World Tour can play for Europe in the Ryder Cup.
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In Cycling, Matt Richardson has been withdrawn from the Great Britain squad for this week’s World Track Cycling Championships in Shanghai amid reports he is under investigation for misconduct.
British Cycling confirmed the 27-year-old Olympic medallist’s removal in a statement but did not give a reason.
Richardson was named in the British squad for the championships, which run from 14th to 18th October.
He had been expected to contend for three medals in the team sprint, individual sprint and keirin.
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TODAY’S FIXTURES
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IN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – LEAGUE STAGE
Lens vs Sporting CP
Sabah FK vs Slavia Prague
Arsenal vs Lille
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United
Galatasaray vs Barcelona
Inter Milan vs Club Brugge
RB Leipzig vs PSV
Viking vs Bayern Munich
Villarreal vs Napoli
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity…words from Amelia Earhart.
