Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch celebrates scoring their first goal at Newcastle [Lee Smith/Reuters]
Who have Arsenal beaten in the Premier League so far this season?
Arsenal have yet to concede in the new campaign and last Saturday romped to a 5-0 home victory over Leeds United that was realistically decided when Bukayo Saka scored the Gunners’ second goal in first-half stoppage time.
The north Londoners opened the new season with a 1-0 win at Manchester United, although the goal came after a mistake by the home keeper in an underwhelming performance by the Gunners.
Do Liverpool still need Alexander Isak?
The Reds have had one bid for Newcastle striker Alexander Isak turned down, and manager Arne Slot has hinted a second offer could be on the cards.
The meeting between the two clubs at St James’ Park was a contentious environment fuelled by the transfer saga surrounding Liverpool’s pursuit of Isak.
But the good news for Slot is that so far, his side appears less reliant on the veteran Salah for their attacking production, thanks in no small part to their summer transfer business.
In particular, former Eintracht Frankfurt attacker Hugo Ekitike is off to a quick start at Anfield with two goals and an assist, including Liverpool’s second tally at Newcastle.
“I think he has already made a big impact in the attacking part of our game,” Slot said Friday. “Not only scoring goals but also being part of build-up situations where he was someone that started the attack or was part of us starting an attack. I’m talking about a difference a bit more than last season, although when [Luis Diaz] played there he was also a lot of times part of our build-up.”
How are Arsenal shaping up for another Premier League title bid?
Saka, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard are already dealing with injuries, with the former two expected to miss at least several weeks.
That will put the focus on recent signings like Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze, who were acquired in part to help Arsenal combat exactly these kinds of situations.
Gyokeres scored his first two Premier League goals – including one from the penalty spot – against Leeds. Eze has yet to debut for the Gunners after completing his transfer from Crystal Palace for a reported fee just north of $80m this week.
“It’s the start of the season and we lost three of our main players, but that’s the reality,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “A very unfortunate situation, three very different situations. But that’s why we keep insisting, like everybody else, you need a big squad to be able to cope and sustain the level.”
Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring their fifth goal against Leeds United [Andrew Couldridge/Reuters]
What happened last season between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield?
The Gunners have drawn their last three trips to Anfield, but lost the last six prior to that.
It will certainly be all hands to the pump once again for Arsenal, having not won at Anfield in the Premier League since 2012.
“The favourite is always the one that won in the previous year. Someone has to come and take that crown away from them, and that’s what we, the rest, are going to try to do,” Arteta said of Liverpool’s title win.
“Very important game. You want to continue building the momentum we are in right now. Going to those grounds, against this kind of opposition, is what you want. Coming from those big games winning in a really convincing way is the objective.”
One player who could help in that regard is Eze.
“When you are next to him, you are comfortable. He’s got a big smile. He picks teams apart,” Arteta said.
“He asks you the right questions and then just let him flow with the ball and the ability he has to pick passes, to drive past people effortlessly and just to understand the timing of things, it’s very impressive.”
Head-to-head
This is the 245th meeting between the clubs.
Liverpool have won 94 of the meetings, with Arsenal claiming victory in 81 of the encounters.
Liverpool team news
Liverpool have no new injury concerns for the match.
Conor Bradley substitute appearance against Newcastle was his first of the season, while Alexis Mac Allister is available after missing the trip to St James’ Park.
Anthony Gordon was sent off for a tackle on Virgil van Dijk in that match, but the Reds captain has been passed clear to play against Arsenal.
Arsenal team news
Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz will be sidelined for many weeks after picking up injuries, while skipper Martin Odegaard is a doubt for the Premier League clash, manager Mikel Arteta said on Friday.
Saka limped off during Arsenal’s 5-0 home win over Leeds United, and Arteta said he injured his hamstring. However, he will not require surgery, which kept him out for months last season.
“Bukayo is doing better but he is out for a few weeks, unfortunately. No surgery, it’s not as bad as the previous one,” Arteta told reporters.
“Obviously, it’s very unfortunate to pick it up, but it’s on the other side … Let’s see how he evolves in the next few days and weeks, repeat the scan and see where he’s at.”
Havertz injured his knee in their season opener at Manchester United and Arsenal confirmed the German underwent a minor surgical procedure.
“I think it will be weeks, but I don’t know how many months. Very unfortunate, very sad for him,” Arteta said of Havertz, who also underwent surgery on a hamstring injury earlier this year.
“He did tremendously well to recover from the previous one; he’d never had an injury before, and suddenly this happens.
“But this is our profession… we need to live with that. We lost another big player for many, many weeks, but it [surgery] was the right thing to do.”
Odegaard was also substituted early in the win over Leeds with a shoulder problem, and Arteta said he is unsure if his skipper will play a part.
“We don’t know yet. He hasn’t trained yet, and if he does, it will be tomorrow,” he said.
New recruit Christian Norgaard and Ben White are also being monitored.
For college football fans, the tranquility and/or boredom of game-free weekends has officially ended.
Yes, the college football season is back today along with all of the game-day traditions: tailgating, plopping on the couch with a 60-inch screen, backyard barbecues and incessant complaining about traffic from residents near the Rose Bowl.
Hope is high for the USC and UCLA football programs, members of the Big 10 Conference (it still feels weird saying that!).
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Our L.A. Times sports team put together an amazing digital preview package for the upcoming season. The Trojans start first, hosting Missouri State at the Memorial Coliseum at 4:30 p.m. today while the Bruins welcome Utah to the Rose Bowl at 8 p.m.
Let’s sample some of that coverage and wish both teams the best of luck. And as an Alabama alumnus myself, may I add a very loud Roll Tide!
Expect a roller-coaster season from USC quarterback Jayden Maiava
My colleague and Trojans beat writer Ryan Kartje said the redshirt junior made a concerted effort over the summer to eliminate the back-breaking mistakes he struggled with last season.
Since last season, he dug deeper into head coach Lincoln Riley’s offense and worked on his mechanics with the experts at the 3DQB training academy in Huntington Beach.
But Maiava’s style has lent itself to high variance.
He loves to chuck it deep and too often throws it into coverage. That could yield some thrilling results. We’ll have to see if that will benefit USC or not.
But 4.3% of his passes last season were deemed turnover-worthy by Pro Football Focus. That was third-highest in the Big Ten and too high for USC’s offense to reach its potential.
UCLA’s defense will need big seasons from safety Key Lawrence and edge rusher Devin Aupiu.
My colleague and UCLA beat writer Ben Bolch said UCLA will look for leadership on defense.
Perhaps the most energetic player on the team, Lawrence, a Mississippi transfer, also boasts plenty of talent, speed and smarts.
Barring a setback from a minor right leg injury he sustained midway through training camp, Lawrence projects to be an opening-day starter.
He’ll need to anchor a secondary that’s replacing every starter.
As for Aupiu, UCLA’s pass rush was meh last season, generating 22 sacks to rank tied for No. 78 in the nation.
As a part-time starter, Aupiu made 4½ tackles for losses, including 1½ sacks — decent production given his limited playing time and easily the most among returning players. Getting into the backfield more often this season is a must for the redshirt senior.
Prediction time: The Bruins will be bowl-bound while the Trojans will split with their rivals.
Bolch is predicting a season full of surprises and a bowl berth for the Bruins. Does he think they’ll beat USC? You’ll have to read his preview.
Kartje is predicting a fast start for the Trojans, who will run into some bumps and bruises in the Big 10 before rallying with a flourish. Will USC topple UCLA and Notre Dame?
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff writer Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew J. Campa, reporter Karim Doumar, head of newsletters Diamy Wang, homepage intern Izzy Nunes, audience intern
Kelly: Has there been a turning point? It’s not been a straightforward linear journey. Your journey has been different to most footballers – from Hereford, Hull, then to the Premier League, winning a European trophy and with England. Is there one moment you can pinpoint that you think, actually, that’s where it all changed?
Jarrod: Probably when I got rejected from Cardiff before I went to Hereford because I went on trial to Cardiff for about six weeks and at the time I thought ‘Right my local team Hereford’s not got anything for me to have that path.’ I’ve gone to Cardiff, thought ‘I’ve done really well for six weeks and they’ve said no as well’. So I was kind of like ‘This is it now then… it’s not going to be.’
But then I think that rejection from Cardiff and then Hereford and then starting back up just made me appreciate it so much more. In the end I was just enjoying playing football because I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t know if it was just going to end and I was playing at Hereford and I thought ‘It can’t get much better than this.’ I was happy with that. Then a few things happened.
I moved to Hull at 17, which was a big lifestyle difference. Three and a half hours away from home was absolutely horrendous but those things have all helped me off the pitch and then it helps you on the pitch as well. But I think if you can mature as a person off the pitch, it helps you.
So, a few things have happened, but I’d say that Cardiff rejection… I thought ‘This was the end, so let me be appreciative of playing when I can.’
Kelly: You’ve played in some huge matches already in your career. Which match, if you could relive one, would you play again?
Jarrod: I think one that sticks with me the most was probably the Europa Conference League final. I had never been involved in any sort of final before. Coming out, getting to the stadium a couple of hours before, going out to look at the pitch as you do, and it was packed.
That feeling of the final whistle going and you’re on the pitch… there’s a replay on YouTube that me and my dad watched the other day of the whole game… after the game ended I think the camera went to me and I had the biggest smile on my face, dropped to my knees and it was just like, the feeling of that, what it meant for us as a group, what it meant for the fans as well. I think that was such a great day.
Kelly: Did you say you and your dad were watching the whole game back recently?
Jarrod: Yeah.
Kelly: That shows you how much it means.
Jarrod: Yeah, he always watches it. He’s into rowing and canoeing, so he’s got a rowing machine and he’ll send me a picture of an hour and 29 minutes and it’s just the whole game. I’ve never watched it before. You knew how it’s going to go but I was still watching a little bit nervous and I’m thinking, ‘I know how the game goes, why am I so nervous?’ I can’t really remember the game fully. It’s been two years now, so to watch it from like two years on in a different way was a weird feeling but I loved watching it.
Kelly: Let’s talk a bit more about Jarrod Bowen the person. You’ve mentioned your dad multiple times already, so let’s start there and family and what it was like in the Bowen household growing up. Take me into a typical day.
Jarrod: Probably a similar upbringing to what most people have. I have a younger brother and sister, so I was the eldest child. They always said I was the favourite child because I was the first born – that’s still a thing. But I loved playing football. A very sporty family. My dad played rugby and football as well. My mum worked at the school that we grew up at. She still works there and that was kind of our life really.
Kelly: You must be the poster boy if your mum’s at the school. You must be like a local hero.
Jarrod: Like I said, my mum, when she comes down, she brings this whole box of things. She says “someone just asked me if…” and she’s the nicest woman in the world, so she will never say no to anyone, so she comes down with this box of stuff and I’ll sign it for everyone. It might be for a raffle or something like that. I’ve grown up in that area, still know pretty much everyone in that area, been to that school, so for them to want my things as well I think it means a lot to me for people to want to put me on the walls and want my signature.
Kelly: I want to know a bit more about your dad. He was an ex-footballer, and he played semi-professional. Is that correct?
Jarrod: He played for Conference-level Forest Green, Worcester… those sorts of teams… Hereford for a couple of years.
Kelly: Is it correct that you still follow his pre-season training routine that he does with you?
Jarrod: Yeah, well… this summer was the first time where I didn’t get called up for England, so I had a five/six-week period. I went home for three weeks I think it was, and we were training on the famous potato fields every single day, so I had a full pre-season with him. This season, my brother was doing it with me, my sister was doing it with me, even Dani [Jarrod’s wife] came out a few times and did it.
Kelly: Was she doing it as well?
Jarrod: Yeah, if you looked at it you would’ve thought, ‘What the hell is going on with this group of people?’ My dad was the kind of instructor, so to speak. It was like his boot camp, we called it, but it was just us running around this potato field and I thought ‘If anyone sees us, they’re going to think what is this? What are this group of four people doing?’ But we did it and it’s something I’ve done throughout my career, so I wanted to do it, and we did it.
Kelly: Does he come to West Ham games? Does he travel?
Jarrod: As much as he can, yeah.
Kelly: It’s far.
Jarrod: Yeah, it’s far, but he tries to come to as many games. He’s already thinking about the Sunderland game. He’s going to drive his camper van.
Kelly: I’m glad you’ve brought the camper van up because I wanted to talk to you about that. That camper van went to the Euros, didn’t it?
Jarrod: Yeah, the camper van went to the Euros! That was him, my brother, my two best mates. They all had a go at driving it. My two best mates were awful at driving it! I think they nearly wrote the camper van off, driving on the different side.
Liverpool to make £130 offer for Alexander Isak, Rasmus Hojlund nears Napoli move, Brentford’s Maximilian Beier bid rejected and Oleksandr Zinchenko could be on his way out of Arsenal.
Liverpool are expected to make an improved £130m offer for Newcastle’s Sweden striker Alexander Isak, 25, with add-ons and bonuses making it a British transfer record. (Telegraph – subscription required, external)
Manchester United have agreed a deal to send Rasmus Hojlund, 22, on a season-long loan to Napoli, with a conditional obligation to buy at £38m. (Athletic – subscription required, external)
RB Leipzig’s Austria attacking midfielder Christoph Baumgartner, 26, is a leading target for Crystal Palace. (Sky Sports, external)
Crystal Palace have also made an £8m bid for 28-year-old Bournemouth winger David Brooks, but the Cherries do not want to sell the Wales international. (Sun, external)
Roma have made an offer to sign Chelsea’s Tyrique George, but Fulham, Crystal Palace and German champions Bayern Munich are also monitoring the 19-year-old English winger. (Sky Sports, external)
AC Milan are pushing to sign Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji, with Crystal Palace also interested in the 30-year-old Switzerland international. (Sky Sports, external)
Chelsea defender Axel Disasi is wanted by his former club Monaco, who hope to sign the 27-year-old France centre-back on loan, but Bournemouth and Aston Villa are also keen. (Footmercato – in French, external)
Liverpool and Roma are working on the final details of a deal that will see Greece left-back Kostas Tsimikas, 29, move to the Serie A club on loan. (Gianluca di Marzio – in Italian, external)
Marseille are interested in signing Arsenal and Ukraine full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, but the 28-year-old’s wages could prove a stumbling block. (Athletic – subscription required, external)
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is still eyeing a move away from Paris St-Germain before the deadline and an unnamed Premier League club has joined Manchester City among those interested in the 26-year-old. (Sky Sports, external)
AC Milan have turned down Bournemouth’s loan offer, with an option to buy for about £17m, for their Spanish full-back Alex Jimenez, 20. (La Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian, external)
Who: Real Madrid vs Mallorca What: Spanish La Liga Where: Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain When: Saturday, August 30 at 9:30pm (19:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 6:30pm (16:30 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Real Madrid sit joint-top of La Liga with four other teams after winning both of their opening matches, setting up Saturday’s clash with struggling Mallorca, who are 16th with one point from two games.
It is Real manager Xabi Alonso’s first season in charge at Santiago Bernabeu, so the former Los Blancos midfielder has a spotlight focused tightly on him, especially given the side’s limp FIFA Club World Cup exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look a closer look at a clash that Alonso’s Madrid will be fully expected to win against struggling Mallorca.
What are Real Madrid’s results in La Liga this season?
The record La Liga winners opened the new domestic Spanish season with a 1-0 win against Osasuna, thanks to Kylian Mbappe’s penalty. The Madrid-based club stormed to a 3-0 win against Real Oviedo in their second game.
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, left, scores his side’s opening goal during the Spanish La Liga match against Real Oviedo [Miguel Oses/AP]
How have Mallorca fared in La Liga this season?
Mallorca have been handed a tough start with the trip to Madrid coming only two games after a meeting with Barcelona in their season opener.
The Catalan club emerged victorious with a 3-0 win. Mateu Morey then saved the islanders from back-to-back defeats with an 87th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 home draw with Celta Vigo.
Will Vinicius Junior start for Real Madrid?
Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso doubled down on his decision to leave Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior out of his starting lineup, insisting every player must fight for their place despite the FIFA world player of the year’s heroics off the bench.
The move paid off last Sunday as Vinicius came on as a substitute to help Real Madrid win 3-0 at Oviedo, providing an assist for Mbappe’s second goal before netting himself.
When asked about the impact of benching such a high-profile player, Alonso remained unfazed.
“In the dressing room, the key thing is that everyone is willing to contribute, whether on the pitch or off it,” he told a news conference on Friday. “Really believing in this is fundamental. And here, everyone does.”
The Real Madrid boss heaped praise on the Brazilian’s response. “I’m very happy with Vini. Against Oviedo, he showed that he can have a big impact coming off the bench. We’re just getting started … and he’s going to be crucial.”
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, centre, is congratulated by teammates Vinicius Junior, right, and Aurelien Tchouameni after scoring his side’s second goal during the Spanish La Liga match against Real Oviedo [Miguel Oses/AP]
Is Rodrygo available for transfer from Real Madrid?
Alonso has also backed Rodrygo, who replaced Vinicius on the left wing for his first start since their Club World Cup clash against Al Hilal in June.
The Brazilian forward has been heavily linked with a move away from the Spanish giants since the arrival of Alonso, but appears to be playing his way into the new coach’s plans.
“He has performed at his best in different positions. He has played as a 9 and even a 10. But I think the left wing is a very good position for him,” Alonso said.
However, the Spaniard did not disclose whether Rodrygo would start ahead of Vinicius again this weekend.
“It wouldn’t be very smart of me to tell you what I’m going to do, put him as a starter or on the left wing again,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll see.”
Head-to-head
This is the 50th meeting between the clubs, with Real Madrid winning on 29 occasions, while Mallorca have emerged victorious from 13 of the encounters.
Mallorca have not beaten Los Blancos in five matches, losing four of those games.
Their last win at Santiago Bernabeu came in May 2009, when the home side were on a run of five defeats to end that La Liga campaign, resulting in a finish nine points behind champions Barcelona.
Real Madrid team news
Alonso remains without the services of Jude Bellingham, Endrick, Ferland Mendy and Eduardo Camavinga, who are all injured.
Mallorca team news
Vedat Muriqi and Manu Morlanes return from suspensions.
Pablo Torre arrived from Real Madrid’s fierce rivals, Barcelona, earlier this year, and is expected to start in the number 10 position.
From Ryan Kartje: A dozen years before he charted a bold, new path for the USC football program, Chad Bowden was living on the pull-out couch of a cramped studio apartment in Hollywood with no clue where his life was headed.
Bowden couldn’t have dreamed up the role he’d one day occupy a few miles down the street at USC, where as the Trojans football general manager, Bowden has infused the program with new energy while putting together the top recruiting class in America.
So how did Bowden rise from that couch to being held up as one of the most consequential arrivals at USC since Pete Carroll himself?
Bowden thought that he might play college football. A few small schools had offered him opportunities to play linebacker coming out of high school in Cincinnati. But Bowden’s father, former baseball general manager Jim Bowden, didn’t think it was the right move. He worried about how his son would handle the rest of the college experience.
“He felt like it was best for me, from a maturity standpoint, to go right into working,” Bowden says.
Which is what led him to the tiny apartment off Highland Avenue. He split the place with Jac Collinsworth, his close high school friend, the two of them packed like sardines into a single room that doubled as the kitchen and dining space. Neither seemed to mind the close quarters. Everything became a competition, with each of them pushing the other.
Every pump of the brakes, every maddening mile in traffic that can be more stop than go, puts him closer to hearing his dad’s voice and seeing his mom’s smile.
These are the visits that can fill a young man’s heart, not to mention his belly. During a recent trip home, the UCLA quarterback savored the family recipe of pisupo, a Samoan dish consisting of corned beef with rice.
“I’ve been getting a lot of home-cooked meals from mom and just having them. You know, an hour away has been fun, man,” Iamaleva told The Times after practice Wednesday. “You know, I’ll go to Long Beach as much as I can. But, you know, during this week, I’ve been locked in with the game plan and stuff like that.”
As he spoke, Iamaleava’s hair was tied back with a pink elastic band reading “Team Leinna.” Two years ago, Nico established a foundation to support breast cancer research and awareness after his mom, Leinna, recovered from Stage IV breast cancer.
But for their most intriguing recent draft pick, it’s also the opening day of a different kind of season.
In the 17th round of last month’s MLB draft, the Dodgers took a flier on University of Missouri pitcher Sam Horn, a 6-foot-4 right-hander with a big fastball, a promising slider and an athletic, projectable build.
Like most late-round prospects hoping to become a diamond in the rough, Horn came with questions. He pitched just 15 innings in his college career after undergoing Tommy John surgery as a sophomore. His limited body of work led to a wide range of scouting opinions.
In Horn’s case, however, the biggest unknowns had nothing to do with his potential as a pitcher.
Because, starting Thursday night, he will also be under center as quarterback for Missouri’s football team.
Rams linebacker Jared Verse shows off the team’s new uniforms.
(Los Angeles Rams)
From Gary Klein: Nothing, it seems, commands the attention of Rams fans more than the team’s uniforms.
And on Thursday, the Rams revealed a new “Midnight Mode” uniform part of the NFL’s Rivalries program.
The “near black” ensemble and helmet was designed by Nike and the Rams based on the ethos that “We work hard all night to earn the spotlight,” said Kathryn Kai-ling Frederick, the Rams’ chief marketing officer.
1885 — John L. Sullivan wins the first world heavyweight title under the Marquess of Queensbury rules when he beats Dominic McCaffrey in six rounds. The fight features 3-ounce gloves and 3-minute rounds.
1952 — Dr. Reginald Weir becomes the first Black man to compete in the U.S. Tennis Championships. Weir appears two years after Althea Gibson breaks the color barrier in the tournament and loses in four sets to William Stucki.
1962 — A.C.’s Viking, driven by Sanders Russell, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats.
1968 — Open tennis begins at the U.S. Tennis Championships. Billie Jean King wins the first stadium match at the U.S. Open and amateurs Ray Moore and Jim Osborne have upset wins over professionals. Moore beats No. 10 Andres Gimeno and Osborne defeats Barry MacKay, each in four sets.
1974 — Nineteen-year-old high school basketball star Moses Malone, signs a contract with the Utah Stars of the ABA to become the first player to go directly from high school into major pro basketball.
1978 — The USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. opens. Bjorn Borg beats Bob Hewitt in the first match 6-0, 6-2 in the best-of-three sets.
1987 — Charlie Whittingham becomes the first trainer to surpass 500 stakes wins when he sent Ferdinand to victory in the Cabrillo Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack.
1993 — Laffit Pincay Jr. wins the 8,000th race of his career aboard El Toreo in the seventh race at Del Mar racetrack to become the second thoroughbred jockey to ride 8,000 winners.
1993 — Brandie Burton’s 20-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff edges Betsy King for the du Maurier Classic title, the LPGA tour’s final major of the season.
2005 — Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova becomes the first U.S. Open defending women’s champion to fall in the first round, losing 6-3, 6-2 to fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova on the first day of the U.S. Open.
2011 — Petra Kvitova becomes the first defending Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round at the U.S. Open, 7-6, 6-3 to Alexandra Dulgheru.
2013 — The NFL agrees to pay $765 million to settle lawsuits from thousands of former players who developed dementia or other concussion-related health problems they say were caused by the on-field violence. The settlement, unprecedented in sports, applies to all past NFL players and spouses of those who are deceased.
2015 — Usain Bolt anchors Jamaica to a fourth successive men’s 4×100-meter title and adds to his record-breaking personal haul of IAAF World Championships gold medals to 11.
2018 — Star quarterback Aaron Rodgers signs NFL record contract extension with the Green Bay Packers; 4 years worth $134m rising to a possible $180m with a record $103m in guarantees.
2018 — Wanheng Menayothin surpasses Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s 50-0 record, beating Pedro Taduran in a unanimous decision to improve to 51-0. The 32-year-old Menayothin (51-0, 18 KOs) won his 10th successful title defense of his WBC minimumweight belt that he won in November 2014.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1918 — The Chicago Cubs, behind the pitching of Lefty Tyler, clinched the National League pennant with a 1-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
1934 — The Philadelphia A’s ended Schoolboy Rowe’s 16-game winning streak with a 13-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
1948 — Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit for the cycle in a 12-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Robinson drove in two runs, scored three runs and stole a base.
1965 — San Francisco’s Willie Mays broke Ralph Kiner’s National League record with his 17th home run of the month in an 8-3 triumph over the New York Mets. Kiner had 16 homers in September of 1949. Mays hit a tape measure shot off Jack Fisher.
1967 — Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A’s hit three triples in a 9-8, 10-inning loss to the Cleveland Indians. Campaneris was the first to have three triples in a game since Ben Chapman in 1939.
1971 — Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves knocked in his 100th run of the season, giving him the National League record of 11 seasons with 100 or more RBIs.
1977 — Lou Brock of St. Louis stole base No. 893, breaking Ty Cobb’s modern record for career stolen bases. The Cardinals lost to the San Diego Padres 4-3.
1977— Cleveland’s Duane Kuiper hit a one-out solo home run in the first inning off Chicago’s Steve Stone at Municipal Stadium. It was Kuiper’s only homer in 3,379 career at-bats — the fewest homers in most at-bats for any player in MLB history.
1985 — Don Baylor of the New York Yankees set an American League record when he was hit by a pitch for the 190th time in his career. Baylor was struck by Angels pitcher Kirk McCaskill in the first inning, breaking the old mark of 189 set by Minnie Minoso.
1991 — Carlton Fisk of the Chicago White Sox hit two homers to become the oldest player in the 20th century to accomplish the mark. He’ll top this by hitting two homers on October 3. Jack McDowell went the distance to beat Cleveland 7-2.
1993 — George Brett recorded his 200th stolen base in Kansas City’s 5-4, 12-inning victory over Boston to join Willie Mays and Hank Aaron as the only players with 3,000 hits, 300 homers and 200 steals.
1998 — Toms River, N.J., wins its first Little League World Series with a 12-9 victory over Kashima, Japan. Chris Cardone hits home runs in consecutive at-bats — including the game-deciding two-run shot.
2000 — Darin Erstad went 3-for-5 to reach 200 hits faster than any player (132 games) in 65 years as the Angels defeated Toronto 9-4. Ducky Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals did it in 131 games in 1935.
2002 — Mark Bellhorn became the first player in NL history to hit a home run in the same inning from both sides of the plate, in the fourth of the Chicago Cubs’ 13-10 win over Milwaukee.
2004 — Albert Pujols hit his 40th home run and reached 100 RBIs for the fourth straight season to help St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 4-0. He’s the fourth player to start his major league career with four straight seasons with at least 100 RBIs, joining Hall of Famers Al Simmons, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.
2010 — Brian McCann hit a game-winning homer with help from video replay, giving the Atlanta Braves a stunning 7-6 victory over the Florida Marlins. It was the first time a game ended using a video review.
2018 — Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich went 6 for 6 and hit for the cycle and Jesus Aguilar homered in the 10th inning, powering the Brewers to a 13-12 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. The Brewers had a season-high 22 hits and rallied to take the lead four different times.
2021 — Taylor, Michigan wins the Little League World Series with a win over Hamilton, Ohio.
2022 — Aaron Judge of the Yankees hit home run #50 of the season, to stay just ahead of the pace set by Roger Maris when he hit 61 homers to set the team and American League record in 1961.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United manager only joined the Turkish football giants in June 2024.
Published On 29 Aug 202529 Aug 2025
Fenerbahce have sacked Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, two days after elimination from the Champions League playoffs by Benfica, the Turkish club said in a statement.
“We have parted ways with Jose Mourinho, who served as head coach of our professional A team since the 2024-2025 season. We thank him for his efforts for our team and wish him success in his future career,” Friday’s statement said.
The former Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Roma coach, who arrived at the Istanbul club in June 2024, led Istanbul’s Yellow Canaries to second place in the league last season behind Galatasaray, failing to end their title drought.
The 62-year-old has had several setbacks during his time in Istanbul. In April, he grabbed the face of Okan Buruk, the coach at fierce local rivals Galatasaray, after a 2-1 defeat in the Turkish Cup quarterfinals, tweaking his nose.
He was fined for comments made after another explosive derby match against Galatasaray in which he also repeated criticism of Turkish referees, accusing the fourth referee of bias. His remarks were judged as “contrary to sporting ethics”.
Celtic were facing a decidedly inferior team and overwhelming favourites to progress, Rangers were down but determined not to be out, Aberdeen had fought back at Pittodrie to have even footing in their tie, and Hibs were ready to make some history.
Best-laid plans and all that…
Celtic huffed and puffed against Kazakh side Kairat Almaty, but they were unable to even come close to finding the back of the net in a blunt display.
Regulation time was stuffy, extra-time was turgid, and the penalties were remarkably unremarkable.
Trailing 3-1 to Club Brugge after an almighty shambles from the first leg at Ibrox, they were outsiders but retained a fighter’s chance if they could find their footing.
Brugge, instead, found the back of the net six times without reply as many of the travelling punters decided it was time for the head coach to vacate his position.
It was 9-1 of an aggregate scoreline for the tie as fans branded Martin a “coward” with some hastily fashioned banners.
A dozen years before he charted a bold, new path for the USC football program, Chad Bowden was living on the pull-out couch of a cramped studio apartment in Hollywood with no clue where his life was headed.
Bowden couldn’t have dreamed up the role he’d one day occupy a few miles down the street at USC, where as the Trojans football general manager, Bowden has infused the program with new energy while putting together the top recruiting class in America.
So how did Bowden rise from that couch to being held up as one of the most consequential arrivals at USC since Pete Carroll himself?
Bowden thought that he might play college football. A few small schools had offered him opportunities to play linebacker coming out of high school in Cincinnati. But Bowden’s father, former baseball general manager Jim Bowden, didn’t think it was the right move. He worried about how his son would handle the rest of the college experience.
“He felt like it was best for me, from a maturity standpoint, to go right into working,” Bowden says.
USC football general manager Chad Bowden looks across the field during preseason camp.
(William Liang/For The Times)
Which is what led him to the tiny apartment off Highland Avenue. He split the place with Jac Collinsworth, his close high school friend, the two of them packed like sardines into a single room that doubled as the kitchen and dining space. Neither seemed to mind the close quarters. Everything became a competition, with each of them pushing the other.
“Both of us were highly motivated guys,” says Collinsworth, whose father is the famed commentator, Cris Collinsworth. “Plus we had [Chad’s] dad in our ear.”
So every morning, they would wake before sunrise to race each other to L.A. Fitness. After, they’d race back up the hill to devour the usual breakfast of egg whites — sometimes mashing in bananas for sweetness. Some days, they’d throw in a motivational video on YouTube to get the blood pumping again, before racing off to try to be the first in the office.
They were both staying up late, getting up early, grinding all day in between. But after a while, it felt to Bowden like he was running in place. He’d tried an internship with a sports agency, only to realize the agency life wasn’t for him. Then he sold Google ads for a company called Linktech, whiling away his days cold-calling strangers who weren’t exactly happy to hear from him. It gave him perspective, he says. But not much else.
It was important to Bowden to find his path as soon as possible. He’d always planned for success at a young age, Jac Collinsworth says. His father, after all, was hired by the Cincinnati Reds as the youngest GM in baseball history back in 1992, and Bowden had practically grown up in that Reds clubhouse. He rode in Ken Griffey Jr’s Lamborghini. He was in the draft rooms, the trade talks, the contract negotiations. Once, he even called out a Reds player’s lack of hustle on the basepaths — and ended up stuffed in a garbage can.
His childhood was intertwined with the game. Even dinnertime could turn on a night’s result. When the Reds won a game, father and son would go out to a local steakhouse for dinner. When they lost, Chad says, they would only eat Triscuits and cheese.
“[Chad] knew that he was going to have to work twice as hard to get that respect from his dad,” Collinsworth says.
As hard as he was working, Bowden didn’t seem to be getting any closer to finding his way in L.A. Evan Dreyer was worried about him.
Dreyer had coached Bowden as a freshman football player at Anderson High in Cincinnati, and they’d stayed in touch since. So when Dreyer was out in L.A., he checked in on his favorite former player.
“Chad needed somebody to look him in the eye and say, ‘What the hell are you doing?’” Dreyer says.
He called Bowden back soon after and offered him a job as his defensive coordinator at Western Brown High, back in Ohio.
Bowden was just 20 years old. He had no coaching experience, aside from filling in for a few weeks as an assistant baseball coach for Dreyer at 14. But Dreyer knew how much Bowden loved football. And he had no doubt that Bowden was bound for great things. He saw it in Bowden even before high school, as early as the fifth grade, when all of the kid’s energy was zeroed in on being the best possible water boy he could be. He sprinted full speed down the sideline to retrieve a loose ball. He didn’t care for school, but memorized the stats of opposing players. It was clear he took pride in the job.
USC general manager Chad Bowden, center, attends a team practice.
(USC Athletics)
But that was when football first swept Bowden up. Now, years later, Dreyer was offering him a chance to get his foot in the door.
“He called me and was like, ‘What are you doing with your life? Football is everything to you.’” Bowden says. “I just kind of sat there and said, ‘What am I doing?”
So took Dreyer up on the offer. The only problem? He had no idea what he was doing as a defensive coordinator.
The team went 1-9. The next year, he followed Dreyer to another high school, and it didn’t get much better. He dialed up blitz after blitz, just hoping for the best. One night, his defense gave up almost 80 points, and a frustrated Bowden was ejected from the game.
Still, he wasn’t one to sit idly by, waiting on a problem to solve itself. Even if there was no obvious — or rational — solution. One week, when his defense gave up over 400 rushing yards, he responded by buying huge tubs of peanut butter, convinced more sandwiches could be the key to bulking up his defensive front.
Once, he babysat for Dreyer’s 3-year old daughter and upon finding out she loved school buses, set out to stop one in the street in order to give her a ride.
There were no half-measures with Bowden, on or off the football field. He preferred to take matters into his own hands if he had to.
“That’s the best way to understand Chad,” Collinsworth said. “He will move a mountain to make something happen.”
He seemed to be in constant motion, attending school at the University of Cincinnati in addition to coaching.
After two seasons coaching high school football, Bowden decided to try a new direction. A friend of his father helped hook him up with an opportunity to shadow the senior vice president of the Miami Dolphins, who eventually helped connect him with Brian Mason, the new recruiting coordinator at Cincinnati.
Mason hired Bowden as a student intern, helping out with Cincinnati’s recruiting. It didn’t take long for him to make an impression on the rest of the staff.
Some staffers, Mason says, were admittedly “thrown off a little bit by his energy” when they first met him. But there was no doubting Bowden’s work ethic as an intern. When Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell gave him a task, coaches remember Bowden sprinting down the hallway to complete it.
“We had to tell him to leave the office, even as a student intern,” Mason said. “He’d go 100 miles per hour to get things done.”
Mason played a critical role helping Bowden focus that energy. He surrounded him with structure and taught Bowden how to be better organized without tamping down his enthusiasm.
“I owe a lot of what happened in my life to Brian Mason,” Bowden says. “Brian did such a great job of understanding that I was crazy. But he also saw the good in me.”
Mason connected Bowden with Marcus Freeman, who at the time was Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator. Bowden asked if he could sit in on meetings with Freeman and Fickell to absorb as much knowledge as he could.
Bowden didn’t stay quiet in those meetings for long. “I never shut up after that,” he says.
It was out of that back-and-forth banter that Bowden and Freeman formed a close bond. Both, according to their fellow coaches, seemed uniquely suited for keeping the other in balance. Where Freeman was the more measured and thoughtful of the two, Bowden was bold and daring. He would push the envelope, and Freeman would rein him back in if need be.
“Like yin and yang,” said Mason, who also worked with both at Notre Dame.
Bowden quickly rose through the ranks at Cincinnati, from defensive quality control assistant to recruiting director. Along the way, there was “tough love” from Freeman that, Bowden says, was exactly what he needed to hear.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman and his team line up to enter the field against USC at the Coliseum on Nov. 30.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“He gave me what I needed to be the best version of me,” he said. “‘If this is what you want to be, this is what you need to do.’”
When Freeman left in 2021 to be Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator, he brought along Bowden, who took a lesser role in South Bend. A year later, Freeman was promoted to head coach and Bowden became his recruiting director and right-hand man.
The recruiting operation quickly took on Bowden’s personality.
“We were flying fast,” says Chris O’Leary, who coached safeties at Notre Dame. “Whether it was offers, calling kids, it was rapid fire all the time. Every day was life or death.”
When it came to talking to recruits, Gerad Parker, who coached tight ends at Notre Dame, likened Bowden to “the crazy uncle at the birthday party.” During official visits, he orchestrated NBA style entrances for recruits and their families. Sometimes he showed up in costume. He memorably dressed up as a leprechaun, another time as an FBI agent.
A leprechaun costume at Notre Dame might seem silly, but Parker said Bowden owned it.
“It’s like going into character when you’re working at Disney,” Parker said. “Those people don’t roll their eyes because they’re in a Cinderella costume. They are Cinderella.”
Of course, not all of his ideas got past the cutting room floor. For one, Freeman refused Bowden’s request to jump out of a helicopter to impress recruits.
“He might bring a list of five ideas, right? And four of them are crazy,” Mason said. “He brought up helicopters on multiple occasions.”
Whatever others thought of his methods, Bowden’s approach was working. He was relentless in building relationships. Recruits raved about his impact. Notre Dame pulled in a trio of top-12 classes that would serve as the bedrock of a run to the national title game.
Michigan had already pursued Bowden to be its general manager before that 2024 run. He turned it down, in order to continue on with Freeman.
By the following January, Bowden decided to change directions. Four days after Notre Dame lost to Ohio State in the national championship, he was named USC’s new football general manager.
At the time, Bowden called the decision “a no-brainer.” While talking with reporters in March, he said “some things that were out of my control” at Notre Dame.
But to those who once worked with both Freeman and Bowden, it was unexpected..
“That had to weigh heavy on Chad,” said Parker, the Irish tight ends coach.
“[They were] like brothers,” said O’Leary, the safeties coach. “I know there’s a lot of layers behind it. But yeah, I was surprised to see him leave Notre Dame.”
By choosing USC, Bowden was once again striking out on his own, walking away from the world he knew best for the promise of building something bigger and better. Fittingly, it would bring him back to the city where his search for a career began.
In seven months at USC, he has completely revamped the front office operation with his hand-picked staff, repaired relationships with local coaches and power brokers and reinvigorated USC’s entire recruiting strategy. The Trojans’ 2026 class has soared to the top of the national recruiting rankings, with 32 commitments and climbing. And boosters are buying in, once again crowding the sidelines of football practices.
Staff members will tell you that Bowden’s impact in that short time at USC runs deeper. That his energy and his willingness to test limits and challenge norms has set a tone for the entire department.
When USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen approached Bowden during a recent football practice, she found him busy scribbling down notes.
“He had 15 things from that practice that he noticed or ideas that he had,” she said.
“He’s the eyes and ears of a program in a way that really takes the pressure off of everyone. He’s just been great within the university community, within the athletic department, with donors, with former players. We could not be more pleased with the progress that he’s made and his team has made and the impact that he’s having on USC football.”
Man Utd lost on penalties to Grimsby Town of the fourth tier of English football following a 2-2 draw in normal time.
Published On 27 Aug 202527 Aug 2025
Manchester United sank to a new low under Ruben Amorim by getting eliminated by fourth-tier Grimsby Town after a marathon penalty shootout in the second round of the English League Cup.
Grimsby won a dramatic shootout 12-11 at the 9,000-capacity Blundell Park on England’s east coast, with Bryan Mbeumo missing the decisive penalty on Wednesday.
United needed late goals by Mbeumo and Harry Maguire just to salvage a 2-2 draw in regulation, having trailed 2-0 at halftime.
It will go down as one of the most embarrassing results in United’s history and leaves the team winless in three games so far this campaign, after a woeful 15th-place finish in the Premier League last season.
“It’s an amazing feeling, one that will live on forever,” said Grimsby’s Charles Vernam, who scored one of the team’s goals.
Tyrell Warren of Grimsby Town scores his team’s second goal [George Wood/Getty Images]
Grimsby’s jubilant fans stormed onto the field to celebrate with the players after Mbeumo’s spot kick rebounded off the crossbar to seal United’s fate.
The home team is currently fourth in League Two, and finished the match with a lineup containing several academy graduates and a Faroe Islands international.
United, meanwhile, had 200 million pounds ($270m) worth of new signings just in its attack in Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko.
Cunha also failed in the shootout by having his weak attempt saved.
“Going into the penalty shootout, the gaffer (manager) said to us, ‘Lads, all the pressure is on them,’ and it was really,” Grimsby midfielder Kieran Green said.
Players of Grimsby Town celebrate victory after the penalty shootout [Shaun Botterill/Getty Images]
The result piles more pressure on Amorim, who came into the game with 16 wins from his 44 matches in charge of United after being hired in November.
United was only playing in the second round – for the first time since 2014– after failing to qualify for European competition last season.
That year, the team lost 4-0 at third-tier MK Dons in the second round.
Brighton cruised into round three with a 6-0 demolition of Oxford as Stefanos Tzimas scored twice on his debut.
Fulham and Everton also progressed with 2-0 wins over Bristol City and Mansfield respectively.
Grimsby Town fans celebrate on the pitch after the match [Lee Smith/Reuters]
A look at two of this week’s top high school football games in the Southland:
THURSDAY
Corona Centennial (1-0) vs. Santa Margarita (0-1) at Trabuco Hills, 7:30 p.m.
Centennial is trying to go to 2-0 against Trinity League teams after a 42-14 win over Servite. Quarterback Dominick Catalano made an impressive senior debut running the offense. It will be a lot tougher against a Santa Margarita defense with an active, aggressive front seven. Look for the Eagles to try to get the ball more often to receiver Trent Mosley. The pick: Santa Margarita.
FRIDAY
Valencia (1-0) at Chaminade (1-0), 7 p.m.
Chaminade upset Oaks Christian last week, showing off its very good offensive line. Valencia has a top dual-threat quarterback in Brady Bretthauer, plus explosive running back Brian Bonner. The pick: Valencia.
Bishop Montgomery told officials at Mater Dei on Monday that it will not be able to play its scheduled football game Friday at Santa Ana Stadium, thus forfeiting to the No. 1-ranked Monarchs.
Numerous Bishop Montgomery players are subject to possible one-game suspensions for leaving the bench with 24 seconds left on Saturday in Honolulu during a 24-17 loss to St. Louis, another Catholic school.
The Southern Section assigned its South Bay officials unit on Monday to review video to determine which Bishop Montgomery players had left the bench, which would be a violation of CIF rules.
It has been a rough start for Bishop Montgomery, which already had five players declared ineligible by the Southern Section after a violation of bylaw 202, which involves providing false information after transferring.
Mater Dei opened its season Saturday with a victory in Florida and will move to 2-0 on the season. Bishop Montgomery drops to 0-2.
Rio Ngumoha scores 100th-minute winner for Liverpool on his debut, after Newcastle fight back from two goals down.
Liverpool needed a 100th-minute winner from 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha to beat Newcastle United 3-2 after blowing a two-goal lead against 10 men in a Premier League thriller.
Ryan Gravenberch and longtime Newcastle target Hugo Ekitike struck for the English champions on Monday, either side of Anthony Gordon’s red card for a wild lunge on Virgil van Dijk.
But amid a frenzied atmosphere at St James’ Park, the Magpies battled back through Bruno Guimaraes and William Osula only to be denied by teenage sensation Ngumoha’s late strike.
Victory takes Liverpool level on maximum points from two games with Tottenham and title rivals Arsenal, who travel to Anfield on Sunday.
Newcastle remain without a win as they miss their want-away striker, Alexander Isak. Liverpool are the likely destination if Isak does leave before the transfer window closes in a week’s time.
Adding to the Magpies’ frustration is the fact that the Premier League champions also won the race to sign Ekitike, whom Newcastle had lined up as a potential Isak replacement.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot named new signings Ekitike and Florian Wirtz, alongside Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah, in an ultra-offensive lineup that saw Dominik Szoboszlai deputise as a makeshift right-back.
After failing to land a number of striker targets in the transfer market, Newcastle’s lack of a clinical number nine was exposed as they failed to break down 10-man Aston Villa in a 0-0 draw to begin their season last weekend.
It cost them again against Liverpool, during a dominant opening 30 minutes.
Roared on by a ferocious capacity crowd of more than 50,000, Newcastle penned Liverpool inside their own half without finding the final finish.
Instead, it was the visitors who took the lead completely against the run of play on 35 minutes.
Gravenberch took aim from well outside the area and powered an inch-perfect shot off the inside of the post.
It got even worse for Newcastle before the break, as Gordon took out his frustration by charging late into van Dijk and was dismissed after a VAR review showed his studs had raked down the Dutch defender’s Achilles.
Slot had not even taken his seat for the second half by the time his side doubled their lead 20 seconds in.
Ekitike made it two goals in as many Premier League games, with a composed side-footed finish from Cody Gakpo’s pass.
Newcastle’s sense of injustice only increased when Ibrahima Konate escaped a second yellow card moments later for a push on Harvey Barnes.
But minutes after being booked for taking his protests too far, a fired-up Guimaraes outmuscled Milos Kerkez to head in at the back post.
Liverpool struggled to make their man advantage count for the entirety of the second half, and were made to pay.
Despite his lack of forward options, Howe has been reluctant to field Osula, but the young Dane netted just his second Premier League goal when he bundled the ball beyond Alisson from a Dan Burn flick-on.
Newcastle continued to charge forward in search of a memorable winner, only to be picked out by Liverpool’s attacking quality.
Salah’s pass was brilliantly dummied by Szoboszlai to leave Ngumoha unmarked to curl calmly into the far corner, just days before his 17th birthday.
Liverpool captain van Dijk praised Ngumoha and his other teammates for the hard-fought win.
“I’m really really pleased for Rio. He has to keep working hard, to stay humble, and I’m sure he will do that,” he said after the game.
“Newcastle have the quality; it is always a difficult place to come, and it was today. I enjoy this type of atmosphere, but we could have made it easier. But we’ve got the three points, and we move on. There were many good things today.”
Meanwhile, Newcastle’s skipper Guimaraes said Gordon’s red card came out of overeagerness.
“I think he wanted to help too much. I think, sometimes, you are so excited to play, you make some mistakes,” Guimaraes told Sky Sports.
“It’s happened to me. We always try to give our best. There is a lot of noise outside that we cannot control.”
