Sports

*Barca Can Open Early 3-Point Gap With Victory At Valencia Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott came off the bench to score the winner as Real Betis beat Real Madrid today - with Kylian Mbappe missing an injury-time penalty. The Dubliner came on in the 68th minute and pounced to score from close range after Thibaut Courtois parried Nelson Deossa's header. This was his third appearance and his first goal for Manuel Pellegrini's Betis since his £17.1m move from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar. Carlos Espi thought he had rescued a point for the visitors with an acrobatic volley from Vinicius…

Can Wirtz Find His Best For Liverpool? Florian Wirtz is easing himself into his second season at Liverpool after a forgettable first. There were signs of promise against Nottingham Forest, where he set up the second equaliser and would have had a goal of his own if not for an offside in the buildup. It is clear the German needs to become more influential as a No 10 given the quality of players he has around him, especially after the expensive arrival of Bradley Barcola this week. Bruno Fernandes showed there is plenty of fun for an attacking midfielder to…

Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé was listed as one of the main targets to be kidnapped by a dangerous French gang led by an 18-year-old under the pseudonym Lester Z. This was reported by the prestigious French newspaper Le Parisien. According to the paper, the actual name of the lynchpin of the plot was Clément L., a Franco-Swiss citizen, who is serving time in prison for armed robbery and pimping. From prison, it was discovered, he was planning to kidnap 26 people: footballers, rappers and wealthy businessmen. He was identified after the assault on a watchmaker last April in Neuilly-sur-Seine,…

The smile on Declan Rice’s face a few minutes from time, on Monday (yesterday) said it all. The Arsenal midfielder had just shut down Ian Maatsen as the Aston Villa full-back zoomed into the box. Arsenal were hardly imperious, Bukayo Saka scoring the only goal, but Unai Emery’s side struggled to hurt the champions, David Raya untroubled. The records will show Villa have lost their first two league matches of a season without scoring for the first time since 2002 but, despite successive defeats, this time there was no capitulation. For Villa, this was a marked improvement on defeat at…

He overcame all the doubts that detractors poured on him, from youth. Messi's has been a story of a man whose God-given talent has not only created many detractors for him, persons and groups whom him and favourable circumstances shamed over the decades. When he was a child, they said his poor family could not afford the expensive daily injections to treat his rare Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD) which had stunted his physical progress. He overcame it as Barcelona in 2000 signed him as a 13-year-old academy player, opting to underwrite the medical expenses. Later, they said, having broken into…

ENGLAND: Premier League Chelsea - Brighton 4-3Leeds - Brentford 1-1Sunderland - Fulham 1-0Manchester Utd - Ipswich 5-2 FRANCE: Ligue 1 Paris FC - Nice 3-0Rennes - Le Mans 3-2Monaco - Marseille 2-0 GERMANY: Bundesliga Freiburg - Werder Bremen 4-1Augsburg - Schalke 3-0 ITALY: Serie A Napoli - Como 1-2Cagliari - Inter 0-1Lazio - Genoa 1-0 NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie Utrecht - PSV 1-6Feyenoord - Den Haag 2-2Willem II - Heerenveen 2-2Telstar - Ajax 0-4Cambuur - Twente 1-4 SPAIN: LaLiga Real Madrid - Malaga 4-0Dep. A Coruna - Valencia 3-1Celta Vigo - Ath Bilbao 0-2*PHOTO CAPTION: Real Madrid players celebrating after another goal…

*'We Expect Sports Festival That Media Will Write, After We Conclude, That We Met World Standards, Surpassed Expectations' *This Will Be Biggest, Highest-Sponsored Sports Festival In Nigeria's History, DG NSC Says By Sylvia Kodilichukwu, Enugu Fresh from hosting a successful Enugu City International Marathon at the weekend, featuring athletes from other countries, Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, is set to accomplish his promise of making the South-East state Africa's sporting destination. Alongside officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC), the Governor has unveiled the official mascot for the 2026 National Sports Festival (NSF), tagged 'Coal City Games', assuring that…

Lionel Messi has not taken long to live up to the expectations with which Casemiro arrived at Inter Miami just over a month ago. The Brazilian already knew what the Argentine was capable of because he had suffered it as an opponent in numerous clashes both at club and international level. But now he is enjoying it and does not hide that the past is behind him and that the present tells him he has the best footballer in history as a teammate. "This is what it means to have Messi on your team. He showed it at the World…

Filip Hrgovic ripped up the script and shattered Moses Itauma's world-title dream as the Briton appeared to punch himself out in an extraordinary heavyweight contest in London, Saturday night. Itauma, 21, controlled most of the fight and scored a second-round knockdown but faded as his relentless output caught up with him. A lover of Nigeria, where his Eket-born father hails, Itauma, after one of his recent boxing successes had visited both his mother's country, Slovekia, and Nigeria to showcase his feats, but he said it was only in the latter that he was appreciated. His words: "I was saying to…

The major talking point from yesterday's round of Premiership games was, perhaps, title hopefuls Liverpool's second draw in as many matches this season. New boy Victor Munoz struck a late equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw for the Anfield giants against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, 26 August, but Coach Andoni Iraola's side were left still searching ​for their first Premier League win this season after his first home league game. Forest had looked set to leave Anfield with all three points, in what would ‌have been a first league victory in charge for Oliver Glasner, when Morgan Gibbs-White converted a…