The Guardian

There is a reason why Aston Villa were so desperate to hijack Johan Manzambi’s proposed move from Freiburg to Newcastle this summer, which appeared nailed on. The tall, quick, tricky, clever and perfectly balanced 21-year-old Switzerland attacking midfielder looked worth every penny of the record £50m plus fee Villa ended up paying for him and duly delighted in showing Tynesiders what they missed…

Updates from rematch at the O2 Arena in London Preview: Wardley predicts ‘crazy night’ | Email Alex Tyson Fury versus Anthony who? Yes, Britain’s biggest-name heavyweights belatedly do battle in December – but if you want a better bet for an all-action fight, it’s tonight’s rematch between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley for the WBO title. The first contest was an astonishing slugfest in which Du…

The four Premier League clubs playing in the lesser continental competitions face each other on Sunday – but three are struggling domestically The sun shone. The temperature was in the high 20s. There was a mood of great conviviality. If you were struggling with the official allocation, it turned out you could just email the president of Torreense and he’d sort you out. Were these “Nuno-tickets” …

Valkyries host Dream in opener of best-of-seven series Game 1 tipoff scheduled for 3.30pm ET (8.30pm BST) Guardian writers’ predictions: Golden State or Atlanta? Reach out to Bryan on Bluesky or by email Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at our writers’ predictions for the series ahead. Continue reading...

Kilmarnock move off bottom with 3-2 win Hibs 1-2 Falkirk; Aberdeen 3-1 St Mirren Greg Kiltie scored twice to lift Kilmarnock off the bottom with a 3-2 home victory over Motherwell . Kiltie struck first and last as Neil McCann’s side inflicted a fifth consecutive defeat on the Steelmen, who join Killie in the bottom three, one point above bottom-placed Hibernian. Motherwell had a dominant spell af…

There have been few winners in Manchester City’s guilty verdict, except highly paid lawyers and the inflatable fruit industry. The fans have suffered, being forced to question everything they have been told, while being labelled “cheats” but they were able to forget the cacophony of noise around the club as Enzo Maresca became the first manager in history to win his first seven games in charge of…

If this truly was the turning point for Liverpool’s spluttering forwards then they will owe a big debt of gratitude to Yehor Yarmolyuk. Brentford were 1-0 up when their midfielder saw red for a head-butt on Jérémy Jacquet just before half-time and, while Andoni Iraola will hope that surviving one of the toughest tests the Premier League has to offer is a sign his methods are starting to take hold…

An equaliser from Olivia Smith averted defeat for Arsenal, but a home draw with Birmingham did little to calm fears for Renée Slegers’s future as Gunners coach. Boos accompanied the final whistle at the Emirates Stadium, as the result left Arsenal on six points from six matches and without a win in five Women’s Super League matches, the club’s longest winless run in WSL history. They are eighth i…

After such a dominant performance against a team so blunt going forward, it almost felt inevitable that Álvaro Arbeloa was going to be denied his first Premier League win as Fulham head coach in similar fashion as the weeks and games before. After all their chances and possession, Craven Cottage should not have been a place of nerves when Mohamed Belloumi lined up a free-kick as three minutes of …

Simeone’s side move two points behind La Liga champions I’d have left Real Madrid if I were Vinícius, says Mourinho Álex Baena struck in the 89th minute to snatch Atlético Madrid a 1-0 win at Espanyol and put pressure on the La Liga leaders, Barcelona. Diego Simeone’s side are second, two points behind Hansi Flick’s champions, who visit third-placed Real Betis later on. Baena smashed home from th…

Pool 1: Glasgow Warriors 47-27 Sale Late tries from Darge, Smith and Tuipulotu settle match Glasgow Warriors extended their unbeaten start to the new season by pulling away to claim an impressive 47-27 win at Sale in Pool 1. Glasgow’s winning score might have looked convincing but they only secured victory in the final 20 minutes after Rekeiti Ma’asi-White had temporarily reduced Sale’s deficit t…

It was a Bledisloe Cup mauling at the arena where Australia will host a home World Cup at which they must perform or perish as a rugby power The honeymoon is over for Les Kiss and Doomsday protocols have been activated. Australia’s embarrassing capitulation to the All Blacks – their 13th in a row – is a cold reminder of where the Wallabies sit in rugby’s world order. In a year these teams meet in…

Chelsea have returned from the international break with an authority that augurs well for Xabi Alonso. Two goals from Pedro Neto condemned Everton to a first defeat of the season as the visitors climbed to fourth on the back of their first Premier League clean sheet since January. A head injury sustained by Emi Martínez, who was carried off on a stretcher after seven minutes of treatment, was the…

Watford out of bottom three after beating Charlton 2-0 Middlesbrough 2-2 Cardiff; Millwall 2-2 Lincoln Watford lifted the pressure on Alessio Dionisi and quelled their supporters’ rebellion against the owner, Gino Pozzo, with a deserved 2-0 win against a sluggish Charlton side. After shipping nine goals in calamitous defeats by Burnley and Cardiff, Dionisi’s side had slumped into the bottom three…

The 24-year-old to become new British No 1 Biggest final of career after six months out with injury Sonay Kartal’s dream comeback continues as the Briton beat Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets to advance to the biggest final of her career at the Wuhan Open. Kartal hit back from behind in both sets and fought off six set points to claim a 7-6 (9), 7-6 (5) win over the former French Open champion i…