Sports
Premier League: Brentford Humble Tottenham, Everton, Leeds, Ipswich Start With Wins
Big-spending Tottenham Hotspur made a nightmare start to the new Premier League season after Brentford swept them aside in a convincing 3-0 win at the Gtech Community Stadium earlier today, August 22.
Spurs, who spent about £237 million this summer and broke their transfer record twice in a bid to avoid a repeat of last season’s struggles, handed debuts to four new signings in west London. Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke and club-record £100m signing Sandro Tonali all started.
However, Brentford tore through Roberto De Zerbi’s side from the opening stages.
Keane Lewis-Potter gave the home side the lead in the 12th minute after Mamadou Sangare picked him out unmarked inside the area. Brentford’s club-record summer signing continued to impress as the hosts controlled the match.
The Bees doubled their advantage in the 33rd minute when Vitaly Janelt tapped home after Antonin Kinsky had saved Mathias Jensen’s effort.
Tottenham failed to register a shot on target in the first half, prompting De Zerbi to make a double change in the second half. He introduced £85m signing Mateus Fernandes and Rodrigo Bentancur for Conor Gallagher and Lucas Bergvall.
The changes failed to alter the pattern of the game as Michael Kayode added Brentford’s third after Sangare’s effort fell into his path following a save by Kinsky.
Brentford almost made it four when Michael Oliver awarded a penalty for Bentancur’s foul on Kevin Schade. Igor Thiago, however, struck the post from the spot.
Earlier in the day, Everton recovered from an early scare to beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, securing their first opening-day Premier League win in five years.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry scored either side of half-time to give David Moyes’ side their earliest win in a new campaign since August 2021. The win also ended a seven-match winless run from the end of last season.
Crystal Palace began life under new manager Pierre Sage without last season’s top scorer Ismaila Sarr, who missed the travelling squad amid links with Galatasaray.
The visitors created early chances through Eddie Nketiah and Jean-Philippe Mateta, while both players later struck the woodwork.
Everton made Palace pay three minutes before half-time when Dewsbury-Hall fired into the far corner. Barry doubled the lead eight minutes after the restart, heading in Iliman Ndiaye’s cross from close range.
Palace’s difficult afternoon worsened when defender Chadi Riad left the pitch on a stretcher with an apparent serious knee injury.
At the City Ground, Oliver Glasner’s reign as Nottingham Forest manager began with a 1-0 defeat to Leeds United.
Anton Stach scored the decisive goal directly from a free-kick with two minutes remaining after Nikola Milenkovic fouled him.
The match remained finely balanced for much of the afternoon, with set-pieces creating most of the danger. Harry Wilson had a Leeds goal ruled out for offside, while Forest defender Jair Cunha hit the post before half-time.
Igor Jesus headed wide for the hosts after the break, while Matz Sels denied Tarik Muharemovic as Leeds pushed for a breakthrough.
Stach finally delivered it in the closing stages, beating Sels at the near post to give Leeds a winning start to the campaign and hand Glasner a painful opening defeat.
Ipswich Town also celebrated a winning return to the Premier League as substitute Jack Clarke struck a 90th-minute winner against his former club Sunderland at Portman Road.
Ipswich took the lead in the 24th minute when Julio Enciso intercepted a pass, carried the ball forward and squared for summer signing Emersonn to score.
Sunderland hit back six minutes before half-time through Nilson Angulo, whose curling free-kick struck the crossbar before going in.
With the game heading towards a draw, former Sunderland winger Clarke curled the ball into the far bottom corner to secure a dramatic 2-1 victory for Ipswich.
Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly will leave his role after agreeing to sell his stake in the Premier League football club to co-owners Clearlake Capital.
The announcement came early on Thursday morning, with the US equity firm acquiring “full control of the club”.
Boehly bought a stake in the London club in 2022 and said it had been an “honour” to serve as chairman.
He gave his thanks to “the coaches and players, the talented leadership and staff at Chelsea, and the legions of dedicated fans”.
His statement continued: “I have valued my partnership with Clearlake and the wider ownership group, and the collective decisions and investment we have made to support the immediate and long-term success of the club.
“I am confident that Chelsea is well positioned for continued success under Clearlake’s leadership.”
Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano, co-founders of Clearlake Capital, said: “Todd has been an important partner throughout our ownership of Chelsea, and we thank him for his time and contribution as Chairman.
“He will always be a part of the Chelsea story and family. Clearlake has served as Chelsea’s majority owner since 2022, and as we move to full control our focus is to continue investing in the Club’s infrastructure, sporting performance, player development and delivering long-term success for Chelsea and the Club’s supporters.”
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Todd Boehly bought the stake in 2022 (Image: Getty)
Chelsea said that Hansjörg Wyss “will remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group” after Mark Walter, another of the club’s co-owners, also sold his stake to Clearlake.
Mr Boehly, Mr Walter and Hansjörg Wyss each had a 12.8% stake following their joint takeover of Chelsea four years ago.
The new change will not change day-to-day operations or strategy at the club.
Lionel Messi is set to make his final appearance for Argentina after being named in the squad for an international friendly against Benin on October 6.
The 39-year-old forward, who announced his retirement from international football in August, will return to the national team for what is expected to be an emotional farewell before Argentine supporters at River Plate’s Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) plans to honour its captain during the fixture, with AFA president Claudio Tapia confirming that Messi was invited to receive the send-off the federation believes he deserves.
“We made the decision to invite the best player in the world, the symbol of our national team, our captain, Lionel Andres Messi, so that he can have the farewell he truly deserves on October 6 here in Argentina,” Tapia said.
Members of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning squad have also been invited to attend the ceremony.
Messi is expected to win his 208th and final international cap against Benin. He remains Argentina’s record appearance holder and all-time leading scorer, with 125 goals for the national team.
His two-decade international career has been decorated with major honours, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup and Copa America titles in 2021 and 2024.
Before the farewell fixture, Argentina will face Bolivia in Cordoba on September 30 and Burkina Faso in Buenos Aires on October 3.
The Bolivia clash will be Argentina’s first match since their defeat to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final.
The fixtures will also take place against the backdrop of FIFA disciplinary sanctions imposed on Argentina following incidents involving members of the team.
Argentina have been ordered to play their next home match at 50 per cent stadium capacity after breaching FIFA disciplinary regulations relating to demonstrations considered non-sporting at a sporting event.
The punishment followed Argentina’s 2-1 semi-final victory over England in July, when several players displayed a banner bearing the words: “The Falklands are Argentine.”
The upcoming friendlies are also expected to count towards suspensions handed down following incidents after Argentina’s World Cup final defeat to Spain.
Midfielder Leandro Paredes has been suspended for 10 matches, while defender Nahuel Molina was handed a seven-game ban.
Despite the disciplinary backdrop, the October 6 fixture is expected to centre on Messi as Argentina prepares to bid farewell to the captain who led the country to its long-awaited World Cup triumph.
The Premier League’s refereeing body has admitted that an error was made in allowing Erling Haaland’s winning goal to stand during Manchester City’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Sunday’s Manchester derby.
The controversial goal, scored at Old Trafford, has sparked fresh questions over the use of VAR after the video assistant referee overturned an initial offside decision and allowed City to take the lead.
Haaland eventually scored the only goal of the encounter as Manchester City secured all three points against their city rivals.
However, the refereeing body, ProRef, later acknowledged that the VAR team made an error in its assessment of the incident.
The controversy centred on City midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who was in an offside position during the build-up to Haaland’s goal.
Although Fernandez did not make contact with the ball, his position and movement were considered potentially relevant because of his interaction with Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez.
The assistant referee had initially raised his flag for offside, but VAR intervened and determined that Haaland was onside when he received the ball.
The on-field decision was subsequently overturned, allowing the goal to stand.
Following a review, however, ProRef admitted that VAR had failed to properly consider whether Fernandez had interfered with Martinez in the build-up.
According to the refereeing body, the VAR team should have advised referee Michael Oliver to review the incident on the pitch before reaching a final decision.
ProRef described the incident as an “error of judgement” and said Manchester United had been informed of the mistake.
The admission is likely to fuel further debate over VAR and the consistency of Premier League officiating, particularly when decisions have a direct impact on the outcome of high-profile matches.
Manchester City, however, will retain their 1-0 victory despite the refereeing admission.
Under Premier League rules, a match result is not overturned because of a subsequent admission that a refereeing or VAR decision was incorrect.
The defeat leaves Manchester United to rue another controversial moment in a derby that City ultimately won through Haaland’s decisive strike.
The latest development also puts renewed focus on the responsibilities of VAR officials, particularly in situations involving an offside player who may not touch the ball but could still influence an opponent’s ability to defend the play.
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