Sat 27 Aug 2022
Southampton. 0-1. Man Utd. FT
Brentford. 1-1. Everton. FT
Brighton. 1-0. Leeds. FT
Chelsea. 2-1. Leicester. FT
Liverpool. 9-0. Bournemouth. FT
Man City. 4-2. Crystal Palace. FT
Arsenal. 2-1. Fulham FT
Fixtures
Sun 28 Aug 2022
Aston Villa. 08:00. West Ham
Wolves. 08:00. Newcastle
Nottm Forest. 10:30. Tottenham
Tue 30 Aug 2022
Crystal Palace. 13:30. Brentford
Fulham. 13:30. Brighton
After Roman Reigns & The Bloodline attack
Drew McIntyre, who was right in the thick of action last night, had himself hammered with steel chairs by The Usos and the photos of the wounds inflicted are not the prettiest – much like a fight between McIntyre and Sheamus years back, reports Harneet Singh Sethi for Givemesport.
It was WWE’s official account that posted the images of his back and the arm, and they no doubt had everyone feeling the pain.
They had everyone right behind McIntyre, too, which is something they would want ahead of his big one against Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Title at Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales next weekend.
While a considerable majority believes McIntyre will come out on top, former WWE manager Dutch Mantell has opposing views, backing Cody Rhodes to be the man to dethrone Reigns instead.
“I don’t think he’s losing either,” he said of Reigns.
“If I were gonna put that belt on somebody, I don’t think I’d put it on McIntyre right now. I think he’s missing something. I think they pushed him, pushed him, pushed him. I just don’t see it. Survivor Series is coming up. I think still Cody Rhodes is sitting back there, if they’re gonna push him.”
He then shared his final prediction for the fight.
“Since you’re putting percentages on it, I’m gonna go Roman retains 70 percent versus 30.”
Reigns was recently lauded by the legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin, too, and it has to be said, it is not without substantial cause.
Beating Reigns is not going to be easy for McIntyre, and he, of all people, would know that.
Who wins and who loses is a debate for a different time, but what is certain is an absolutely box-office clash in Wales.
After failed pursuits of Jules Kounde and Matthijs de Ligt amongst others, attention turned to Fofana – who has impressed at Leicester over the past few seasons. The Foxes have been reluctant to part ways with the 21-year-old, though RMC Sport report that a verbal agreement has now been reached.
Leicester were not willing to let Fofana for a fee less than £80million, and the deal is set to be a ‘world record’ for a centre-back. The defender was hoping to secure his move to Stamford Bridge this summer after it emerged that the Blues were interested.
Fofana has not been training with the Leicester first-team recently, being moved into the under-23s squad until the saga was resolved. The player also submitted a transfer request as well as hinting about his desire to join Chelsea on social media.
Tuchel, too, has been vocal about how he believes his side need several new signings through the door before the transfer window closes, and he will certainly be elated that a deal has been reached for Fofana following weeks of negotiations. The player is set to pen a six-year deal with the club.
Though despite the positive transfer activity, Tuchel is looking forward to the summer window closing and working with a definite group of players, he explained: “I love the group. We speak a lot about transfer window but the good thing about the transfer window when it closes is that you know this is your group, no more distraction or distraction in focus.
Playing against Lucan United as the away side, Bohs made heavy weather of this tie early on as last year’s finalists struggled to break down the non-league side. But nerves for the Bohs supporters were eased with two goals in the space of three minutes in the first half, Afolabi central to both as he made the first and scored the second. Now 22, Afolabi, on his first start for Bohs, showed signs he can deliver on the potential that made him such a standout name with the Ireland youth teams.
With European qualification via the league looking beyond their reach, the Cup has added significance for Bohs this term, with a special jersey for the Cup run making its debut against Lucan. However, the side will be relieved just to be in the next round, while ten-man Lucan finished with credit for their effort, players like Harry McEvoy and Dylan Connolly showing they have the potential to play at a higher level.
Lucan were unable to trouble Bohs keeper Jon McCracken, making his Dalymount Park debut, but their well-drilled side did frustrate Bohs. Gareth Matthews showed his experience at the back, while Connolly won many of his battles with Kris Twardek. After 32 minutes, Bohs broke their resistance, Afolabi’s through ball and Liam Burt with a left foot shot that was beyond keeper Imrich Toth. Three minutes later, Bohs were 2-0 up. Ali Coote found space in midfield and found Tyreke Wilson, and his cross from the left was ideal for the head of the unmarked Afolabi.
There was some concern for Bohs fans when Afolabi was replaced 12 minutes into the second half, having injured himself while attempting a shot, though his exit appeared to be precautionary.
Bohs owned the ball after that. Sub Ethon Varian twice denied by impressive Lucan keeper Imrich Toth while Ciarán Kelly’s effort was also kept out by DCU student Toth.
Lucan finished with ten men after Anthony McKay was given a straight red for a clumsy challenge on fellow sub Jamie Mullins.
LUCAN – Toth; Kavanagh, Matthews, McEvoy, Connolly; Chindea, Rafferty (Greene 56), McLoughlin (Kinsella 73), Seery (Bracken 73); Ukek (McKay 56); Mooney (Ellis 56).
BOHS – McCracken; Feely, Kerr, Kelly, Wilson; O’Sullivan (McManus 57), Clarke (Byrne 81); Twardek, Coote (Mullins 46), Burt (McDaid 65); Afolabi (Varian 57).
REF – Kevin O’Sullivan
Lampard, Rodgers and Gerrard are getting the heat as sack race looms
Decisive days ahead for managers under intense scrutiny already as early matches garner greater significance with limited room for error
Even before this season began, the Aston Villa players had noticed something different about preparation Independent.ie’s Miguel Delaney writes. The management staff have a private Instagram account that the squad all follow, and it used to be filled with tactical ideas and clips from training. That was at least until this summer and the departure of Michael Beale.
Since then, the posts have been a lot less frequent. A connected criticism has been that Villa’s tactical set-up is less sophisticated. It may be unfair, perhaps even premature, but it does speak to the idea that Beale did the team shape and Steven Gerrard did everything around it.
Villa have consequently been easier to get at. The players are still adapting to a new approach.
At West Ham United, who go to Aston Villa tomorrow, the opposite is the case. The players know all the tactics far too well, to the point it’s all gone stale. David Moyes’s defensive system has never been that enjoyable for the squad, but they were fully invested in it when everything was going well. Now, there’s a growing sense they need something fresh.
That isn’t to say they need a new manager since some of this is the sort of grumbling that evaporates once a team starts picking up points.
That is precisely what Gerrard and Moyes need to do in a Villa Park fixture that already comes with considerable pressure.
They’re not the only ones.
One of the elements to accelerate an exhilarating start to the 2022-’23 Premier League has been that over a quarter of managers – some of them big names – are already under intense scrutiny. There’s so little breathing space or any sense of just seeing how things go at the formative stage of the season with so many variables involved.
All of the matches already matter an awful lot.
You only have to consider the importance of Demarai Gray’s late goal for Everton against Nottingham Forest. The outlook for Frank Lampard would have been so much worse without it, but it’s not like one point from a possible nine is much better. Today’s trip to Brentford now represents one of those classically awkward fixtures in that, even though they are a good Premier League side, you don’t get much credit for beating them but get a lot of criticism for losing.
Brendan Rodgers, meanwhile, isn’t getting much credit at all now because he’s been dropping points in even worse ways. Leicester City look stale in every sense.
Ralph Hasenhuttl might have been in the same situation except for his Southampton side’s 2-1 comeback against Leicester and his resolve. This is about the fourth time in the Austrian’s St Mary’s career that his team have been expected to tailspin only for Hasenhuttl to coach his way through it. There is constant noise the players don’t like the way he talks to them, but it clearly brings a response.
It wouldn’t take much for the pressure to ratchet up again, which is the same for visiting manager Erik ten Hag this weekend.
The limited room for error is what is significant about all this. While none of these clubs are currently sounding out alternatives, boardrooms aren’t deaf to fan unrest. It has been loudest at Villa Park.
This is why these fixtures, this early, already feel so big. We are talking about potential knife-edge matches in burgeoning managerial careers. Would Gerrard’s career be as successful as many have hoped if sacked now? Would Lampard’s? Look at Rodgers, meanwhile. It isn’t long since he had justifiable designs on being the next Manchester City manager. Hassenhuttl was, at one point, seen as the best coach outside the big six. Maybe he still is, and the pessimism was just a reflection of how bottom-half clubs can’t keep persevering on the same path if they keep selling.
That doesn’t necessarily change boardroom ambition, though.
It would at this stage be passé to make a wider point about how Premier League clubs are far less patient than they used to be. That’s well known, even if people might now struggle to name the sole manager who was sacked in the competition’s first season, amid so much 30th-anniversary fanfare. (It was Ian Porterfield at Chelsea).
A place in the Premier League is worth so much that clubs can’t afford the risk of waiting, especially when that very economic structure has created a season where up to 10 clubs could potentially be fighting the drop. It’s still 17 years since we’ve seen a sacking in August, after the season has started, mind. With five changes – and Newcastle United responsible for three of those – it is the least bloody month, even after May. But might even that shift in the next few days?
Gerrard, so far, has the full backing of Aston Villa, particularly Christian Purslow, but the noise from fans has added to uncertainties around his managerial ability. Put bluntly, it’s difficult to know how good he is as a coach. The success at Rangers came as Celtic went through their worst spell in recent history, and Gerrard benefited from Beale. Villa’s recruitment has since then been expensive but erratic, requiring better shape.
Some within the club believe it is just a case of adaptation to circumstances and insist Gerrard has the fortitude to turn this around. Others have questioned unnecessarily destabilizing decisions like the manner in which the popular Tyrone Mings was dropped.
A personnel issue has caused a similar problem in the West Ham squad, with Tomas Soucek’s attempts to look elsewhere reflecting a dissatisfaction over the wage structure. It doesn’t help that Moyes is so notoriously indecisive over transfers, which has fed into an uneasy atmosphere. It’s also hard to know where the first win will come from if West Ham drop points this weekend, given they then play Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. The negative momentum could very much have started.
We do very much know one thing, though. The Scot has already drastically overperformed at West Ham, deserves a lot of patience, and is also one of the few managers in the division who has proven he can dig teams out of those circumstances.
We can’t say that about Rodgers, for all his many qualities. The Leicester manager is currently having to figure out a new team, with problems at every turn and a general sense of staleness. Key figures like Wesley Fofana are not playing and are expected to leave, with little talk of replacements. It is understood Leicester’s hierarchy wants to see more impact from Rodgers with what he has before committing to expenditure.
That rarely works out well and only adds to the uncertainty, not only in regards to faith in the manager. With Leicester’s King Power owners still being affected by the hits to the duty-free industry from Covid, there are increasing murmurs about a potential sale.
Lampard could sympathise with Rodgers there if he didn’t have his own issues. The former midfielder does at least have significant backing from the club and the fanbase, having guided them out of relegation trouble last season. That isn’t indefinite, though, especially with a ‘wild card’ like majority owner Farhad Moshiri.
Lampard needs points. The only consolation is that he’s one of many, and most have to face each other in the next few weeks. They can’t all lose, but all the matches now matter.
He is the scholar who became a Saint and, at the age of just 20 years and 181 days, already a Premier League record holder, Jeremy Wilson writes for Independent.ie.
Not only is Gavin Okeroghene Bazunu the youngest first-choice goalkeeper in the Premier League, but the first to have started his club’s first three games in the competition at such a tender age.
Bazunu was also previously Shamrock Rovers’ youngest player (aged 16 years and 109 days) and a full Republic of Ireland international while still a teenager, with his debut year peaking last November with a penalty save to deny Cristiano Ronaldo.
Southampton face Manchester United today and half an hour in Bazunu’s company is sufficient to understand why Ralph Hasenhuttl was so sure he was mentally and technically ready for regular Premier League football following a €17.6 million move from Manchester City this summer. “I concentrate on the off-field, and the mentality part of football, just as much as I do on the pitch,” Bazunu says.
“To be mentally strong, and to really understand how your brain and your mind works, is just as important. One of the biggest points for me is reading. Psychology books – just really to understand and keep my brain active. As a goalkeeper, you are exposed to so many highs and lows, and so to stay level-headed is a big attribute.”
So what has he been reading lately? “Two books by Tim Grover called Relentless and Winning. They were really good. Also some stuff from Malcolm Gladwell. Tim Grover is more motivation and Malcolm Gladwell is more psychology – but I’m trying to get the best of both to be as educated as I can be.
“To have a really focused mind is key as is not being swayed by emotions, the atmosphere or the conditions of the game. It [the reading] has come more from my own personal interests and a massive part from my mum [Cara]. She sometimes tells me to slow down, enjoy the process, not get too hung up on the end results.”
The parental influence is easily sensed. Bazunu’s dad, Green, introduced a six-year-old Gavin to the sport when he joined Rovers and was initially a prolific goalscorer.
Sickness to a team-mate when he was “11 or 12” opened the door to a first match between the posts and, within four years, he was training full-time for the Hoops. Education always remained a huge priority, to the extent that he even started a sports science degree after moving to Manchester City in 2019.
“I was doing 20-25 hours a week of education on top of training every day at Manchester City,” he says. “It was difficult at times, sitting inside and seeing other lads going out, but I knew it would stand me in good stead.”
He passed the Leaving Certificate and had started his course at Manchester Metropolitan University before Covid struck. He believes being exposed to men’s football from the age of 15 was critical to his development.
“There will always be those who want to put their arm around you, and also those who want to do the opposite,” he says. “The team were protective. Before I knew it, I was 16 and ready to step in and be exposed to the difficulties and challenges of being a professional footballer.”
Such early experience also made life at the City academy initially challenging, and he found himself yearning for senior football where there was more at stake in the matches.
“I think once you get that taste and hunger you just want to play, and do it again,” he says. “You can’t match those environments … the highs and lows, playing twice a week sometimes, playing in front of big crowds.”
Bazunu spent the 2020-’21 season on loan at Rochdale, followed by last season at Portsmouth, where he played 44 matches and was voted player of the season. Southampton duly made their move and Hasenhuttl’s commitment to young players proved decisive.
“The biggest persuasion was the opportunity to play in the Premier League,” he says. “That’s the dream of any kid and I felt like coming to Southampton was going to do that.”
Southampton v Manchester United,
Live, BT Sport 1, 12.30
Premier League’s youngest No 1s
20 years, 181 days: Gavin Bazunu, Southampton, (2022-’23)
20 y, 209 d: Illan Meslier, Leeds United (2020-’21)
20 y 211 d: Paul Gerrard, Oldham Athletic (1993-’94)
20 y 287 d: Kasper Schmeichel, Manchester City (2007-’08)
20 y 294d : David de Gea, Manchester United (2011-’12)
Sat 27 Aug 2022
Southampton 06:30 Man Utd
Brentford 09:00 Everton
Brighton 09:00 Leeds
Chelsea 09:00 Leicester
Liverpool 09:00 Bournemouth
Man City 09:00 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 11:30 Fulham
Sun 28 Aug 2022
Aston Villa 08:00 West Ham
Wolves 08:00 Newcastle
Nottm Forest 10:30 Tottenham
Tue 30 Aug 2022
Crystal Palace 13:30 Brentford
Fulham 13:30 Brighton
 Serena Williams practices at Arthur Ashe Stadium before the start of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Eleanor Brooks writes for Independent.ie that Boyzone were top of the charts and more than a quarter of the women’s top 100 had not been born when Serena Williams made her US Open debut 24 years ago.
Already a superstar in the making at 16, Williams has been the talk of tennis ever since and will be celebrated as such at Flushing Meadows as she marks the end of one of the great sporting careers.
A few weeks short of her 41st birthday and keen to focus on trying to have a second child, Williams has decided, reluctantly, that now is the time to hang up her racket. |
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After months of speculation, it was announced on Friday that Audi would enter F1 as an engine supplier.
Both Audi and Porsche brands are owned by the Volkswagen Group, and both had been heavily linked with a move into F1 in 2026 to coincide with the sport’s new power unit regulations.
Outgoing VW Group CEO Herbert Diess had announced in May that the VW board had approved an entry into F1 for both Audi and Porsche.
“In this case, we will have completely separate operations,” Duesmann said in response to a question from RacingNews365.com.
“[Audi] will have our operations in Germany, and if Porsche enters, they will have their operations in the UK, completely separate.”
Audi have not disclosed which team they would look to partner with, but the firm have been heavily linked with Sauber, who currently compete as Alfa Romeo.
Prior to joining Audi, Duesmann was Head of Development at Sauber between 2007 and 2009, when the Swiss outfit were partnered with BMW.
With headquarters in Hinwil, Sauber are also the closest F1 team to Audi Sport’s Neuburg facility, some 400km away.
Though Porsche are yet to make any announcement regarding their plans to enter F1, the firm has been linked to Milton Keynes-based Red Bull Racing, which would coincide with their power units being developed in the UK.
Scottie Scheffler started with a two-stroke lead in the staggered-start leaderboard at the Tour Championship. By day’s end, it had more than doubled to five strokes over Xander Schauffele, Adam Schupak writes for The Telegraph.
Scheffler birdied the final three holes to shoot 5-under 65 at East Lake Golf Club and improved to 15 under after the opening round of the FedEx Cup finale.
“It’s a bit strange,” Scheffler said of starting the round at 10 under with a two-stroke lead. “That’s why I talk a lot about not looking at the leaderboards and stuff like that because if I try and go out and do my best and pretend like I’m trying to win a regular stroke-play event for four days, I think I’m going to be in a good position come Sunday afternoon, so that’s going to be my plan going forward.”
Scheffler made his first birdie of the day at the third hole and drilled a 3-iron from 230 yards at the par-5 sixth hole and poured in a 17-foot eagle putt. His lead grew to as many as six strokes at one point as Patrick Cantlay, the defending FedEx Cup champion and winner of last week’s BMW Championship, managed to only shoot even-par 70. What would it mean to Scheffler to cap off his season with the FedEx Cup trophy on Sunday? “It would definitely be the icing on the cake for the year,” he said.
Xander Schauffele eats up East Lake again Xander Schauffele walks off the 18th green during the first round of the TOUR Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports
Schauffele, who won the Tour Championship in 2017 and has never finished worse than T-7 in his previous five starts here, continued his stellar play at East Lake. He shot 66, a stroke better than his career scoring average at the course of 67.2 in 21 rounds. Schauffele is alone in second five strokes behind Scheffler and a stroke better than U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
For Schauffele, the key to his round was hitting 10 of 14 fairways on a day when overnight rain led to preferred lies in the fairway and rain during the round softened the course. “I just really worried about hitting the fairway on every hole,” he said. “Sort of started off each hole as its own tournament and was just trying to put it in the fairway because once you have the ball in hand, the greens are a little bit more receptive than normal and you have to be aggressive.”
Joaquin Niemann and Matt Fitzpatrick tie for low round of the day Niemann may have finally figured out East Lake Golf Club. The 23-year-old Chilean is making his third appearance at the Tour Championship. In his previous eight rounds at the playoff finale, Niemann had broken par just once. He’d finished T-27 in 2020 and 29th out of the 30-man field last year.
On Thursday, he started the tournament at 2 under in the staggered-start scoring and improved to 8 under by day’s end with a blistering 6-under 64, which tied for the low round of the day with Fitzpatrick. Niemann capped off his first round by draining a 19-foot eagle putt at the last. “It was two great shots,” he said. “That putt was a bonus.”
Fitzpatrick was pleased with his 64. “Bogey-free rounds are pretty much my favourite,” he said. “My game felt a lot better than it did last week. My coach flew in Monday after I told him to come on Sunday. So yeah, we got some good work in Tuesday and Wednesday and definitely felt comfortable out there today.” Rory’s weird day Rory McIlroy walks to the 18th green during the first round of the TOUR Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports Rory McIlroy experienced the weirdest round of his life on Thursday.
The Northern Irishman’s opening tee shot sailed left out of bounds and he made a triple bogey. He made two more bogeys in his first five holes, yet recovered to make an eagle at six and eight birdies to shoot 3-under 67 at East Lake Golf Club.
After the eagle, McIlroy’s caddie Harry Diamond said to him, “Rory, that’s the weirdest six holes I’ve ever seen you play.” In 773 rounds, McIlroy had never gone without making par in the first seven holes of a Tour event. Fortunately, he sank a 6-foot par putt at the seventh. McIlroy would go on to make just four pars during a roller-coaster round that added up to 67 and left him tied for sixth with Sungjae I’m.
By day’s end as Diamond walked up 18, Golf Channel’s John Wood reported that he had updated his assessment: “Rory, that’s the weirdest 18 holes I’ve ever seen you play.” McIlroy began the first round of the tournament at 4 under in the staggered-start scoring, but it didn’t take long for him to appear out of the tournament as he dropped back to even par. “I got off to the worst start possible,” he said.
“We got a little unfortunate that we teed off in that big downpour earlier in the day. I tried to guide sort of this little peeler into the fairway at the first and complete double-crossed, body stopped… there’s a lesson in there somewhere that even when you’re not sure about what you’re trying to do, sort of going full send for me is the best way forward.”
McIlroy was proud of the way he battled back, but he’ll start the second round trailing by eight strokes and needing help if he’s going to win the FedEx Cup for an unprecedented third time. “I think tomorrow is a pretty pivotal day for the rest of the field just to try to get a little closer to where Scottie is,” McIlroy said. Wise rises Aaron Wise and his caddie Brian Dilley walk up to the 1st green during the first round of the TOUR Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports.
Aaron Wise is playing with house money. The 26-year-old Oregon Duck was the last man in to qualify for the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club on Sunday. Wise declared East Lake his favourite golf course on the PGA Tour, and he proved why on Thursday, shooting a bogey-free 5-under 65. Wise played on his own in the first group of the day due to Will Zalatoris withdrawing from the tournament with an injury, which meant there would be an odd number of players for twosomes. “I don’t think I’ve ever played as a single in a tournament,” Wise said. “It was different. It was interesting to start.
I felt a little weird starting off the round, but once I settled in there walking to three tees or so, felt pretty normal, honestly felt kind of nice because I could go at my own pace and do what I wanted.” Entering the week at No. 30, Wise started the tournament at even, 10 strokes behind FedEx Cup leader Scheffler in the staggered-scoring start. “It’s just one of those things where you almost put it out of your head and you just go try to shoot the best score you can. But yes, it’s weird walking up seven and I’m 1 under on the round, and I look up and it says 10 under is leading.
I’m like, well, no one is 10 under, but I get it,” Wise said. “I’d have to play well here to have a chance. But who knows, today was a good start to that, so hopefully, it keeps going that way.” Last-place money this week is $500,000, but Wise’s 65 propelled him into a tie for 14th. There are still three more days to go before a FedEx Cup champion is crowned and someone goes home $18 million richer in first-prize bonus money. Wise’s plan is to keep chipping away at Scheffler’s lead and see how profitable a week it can be.