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MOURINHO SUFFERS FIRST DEFEAT AS ROMA BOSS

Jose Mourinho suffered his first defeat since returning to coach in Italy as his AS Roma side were beaten 3-2 by Hellas Verona in a thrilling Serie A encounter on Sunday.

A stunning volley from Verona captain Marco Faraoni proved decisive, ending Roma’s 100% start to the Serie A season while earning his side their first win of the campaign.

Roma appeared to be on course for another three points in the pouring Veneto rain after Lorenzo Pellegrini had given the visitors a halftime lead with a sublime back-heel flick.

However, the game swung in the home side’s favour early in the second half as goals from Antonin Barak and Gianluca Caprari edged Verona 2-1 in front.

Ivan Ilic’s own goal as he beat Roma striker Tammy Abraham to a cross levelled things up in the 58th minute, before Verona again took the lead five minutes later through Faraoni.

Roma piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser but Mourinho’s men were left frustrated to sit second in the standings on nine points, with third-placed AC Milan playing Juventus later on Sunday.

“We didn’t play very well, we didn’t adapt well to their way of playing.” Mourinho told DAZN. “We lost many individual duels. I need the videos, I need a few hours to better understand what happened.”

Verona moved out of the bottom three and up to 14th as new coach Igor Tudor got off to winning start after replacing Eusebio Di Francesco in midweek.

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VINICIUS, BENZEMA ON TARGET AS REAL MADRID RALLY TO LATE WIN OVER VALENCIA

Real Madrid forwards Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema scored within the space of three minutes deep in the second half to propel their side to a 2-1 win at Valencia in LaLiga on Sunday after being outplayed for most of the game.

The hosts went ahead in the 66th minute with a thumping low strike from forward Hugo Duro, who spent last season on loan with Madrid.

Real levelled with a deflected strike from Vinicius in the 86th minute and then the Brazilian turned provider, crossing for Benzema to head home the winner in the 88th.

Valencia would have gone top of LaLiga had they held on for the win but instead Carlo Ancelotti’s Real side lead the standings with 13 points from five games.

“It’s never easy to come here especially when you concede the first goal but we never gave in, we kept working and kept persisting,” said Vinicius.

“We’ve got a great result here thanks to the work of the whole team and things are coming off for us right now.”

The win was on the back of another Real late show in midweek when Brazilian forward Rodrygo struck in the 89th minute to secure a 1-0 victory at Internazionale in their first Champions League group game.

Valencia had made a strong start to the season under new coach Jose Bordalas but suffered a setback in the build-up to kick off when captain Jose Gaya was ruled out injured.

More problems followed as midfielder Carlos Soler, who scored a hat-trick of penalties in last season’s fixture against Real, came off injured in the 15th minute while right back Thierry Correia soon followed him in hobbling off in the 23rd.

But Bordalas’ side still managed to outrun and overpower their opponents for most of the game and took a deserved lead when Duro swivelled to send a bouncing ball beyond the reach of keeper Thibaut Courtois and into the net.

Valencia continued to cause Real problems but eased off in the final 10 minutes and the visitors made the most of their deadly firepower, Vinicius scoring his fifth goal of the season and Benzema netting a sixth after bagging a hat-trick against Celta Vigo last week.

“We know what Real Madrid are like, we know they can turn the game around at any stage,” said Duro.

“We had a tough game, we got two early injuries but still managed to go ahead then the victory escaped from our grasp and they made us pay in two isolated moves. We were very unlucky to not at least get a draw today.”

Ancelotti added: “I have a squad who fight all the time, always, playing well or playing badly. It’s a team that keeps believing to the end, that’s the feeling I have today.

“What we did well was the counterattacks in the first half. But we didn’t have aggression at the back. It can happen, you sit back, and they score. After that the reaction was good, Valencia worked hard in the first half, they ran a lot, I put some fresh players on the pitch and we won the game.

“The subs did well, they came on with motivation and enthusiasm, that changed the game.”

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MARK NOBLE MISSES LAST-GASP PENALTY AS JESSE LINGARD RETURNS TO HAUNT WESTHAM

Mark Noble came off the bench only to miss a stoppage-time penalty as Manchester United snatched a dramatic 2-1 victory at the London Stadium.

Club captain Noble, West Ham’s Mr Reliable from the spot, was sent on by manager David Moyes to take the penalty after Luke Shaw handled in the area.

The long-serving midfielder, who retires at the end of the season, had not missed a spot-kick since December 2016, but he was denied a sentimental winner by United goalkeeper David De Gea.

It was a hugely dramatic end to a thrilling match which saw Jesse Lingard return to haunt the club for whom he starred on loan last season.

In a bitter blow for West Ham and Moyes, who tried to re-sign Lingard over the summer, the England forward curled in what turned out to be the winner two minutes from time.

Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier scored his fourth goal in three matches since returning to United, cancelling out Said Benrahma’s deflected opener for the hosts.

Defeat was tough on West Ham, who showed no signs of fatigue from their Thursday night exertions in Europe as they went at United from the off.

Benrahma robbed Harry Maguire in the area and pulled the ball back for Jarrod Bowen 10 yards out, but his shot lacked power and was blocked by Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Moments later a glorious cross-field move from the Hammers culminated in another chance for Bowen, whose deflected shot was kept out by the boot of De Gea, with Tomas Soucek firing the rebound over.

Ronaldo’s first glimpse of goal came midway through the first half, with a couple of stepovers gaining him a yard on Vladimir Coufal before shooting straight at Lukasz Fabianski.

United seemed to have weathered the early storm and almost took the lead through Bruno Fernandes, Fabianski getting the smallest of touches to tip his effort on to a post.

But moments later West Ham went ahead when Benrahma’s shot from the edge of the area took a huge deflection off Raphael Varane to wrongfoot De Gea and roll into the net.

The lead lasted only four minutes before Ronaldo struck, guiding a Fernandes cross into the chest of Fabianski and reacting quickest to tuck in the rebound.

Fabianski got down well to deny Ronaldo a second before Nikola Vlasic skied a chance for the Hammers as a breathless first half came to an end.

West Ham had a major let-off at the start of the second when a wayward pass from Pablo Fornals allowed Fernandes to slip Ronaldo in, but he was denied by Fabianski.

Ronaldo felt he should have had a penalty when he went down under Coufal’s challenge in the area, but referee Martin Atkinson thought otherwise.

The Portugal star was also denied by a timely block from the impressive Kurt Zouma as he looked to get on the end of another Fernandes cross.

Lingard came on as a 73rd-minute substitute and 15 minutes later found the top corner with a fine curler.

When Shaw handled Andriy Yarmolenko’s cross to concede a VAR-awarded penalty the script was written for Noble, but De Gea tore it up with a diving save to secure the points.

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FORMER ENGLAND, CHELSEA AND SPURS STRIKER JIMMY GREAVES DIES AT 81

Former England, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur striker Jimmy Greaves has died. He was 81.

One of England’s greatest forwards, Greaves scored 44 goals in 57 international appearances and is Spurs’ record goal-scorer with 266 goals in 279 games.

Greaves also played for AC Milan and West Ham United and scored a total of 366 top-flight goals during a 14-year career, which stood as a record for most goals scored in Europe’s top five leagues for 46 years until it was broken by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017.

A member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad, Greaves missed out on the final after getting injured during the tournament. He was replaced by Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat trick in England’s 4-2 win against West Germany.

Alcoholism cut Greaves’ career short at the age of 31, and he also had health issues during his later years and suffered strokes in 2012 and 2015.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher described Greaves as “the best goal scorer we have seen”, while Spurs striker Harry Kane called him “a true legend.”

Gary Lineker, a former Tottenham and England striker, said: “Terribly sad news that Jimmy Greaves has died. Quite possibly the greatest striker this country has ever produced. A truly magnificent footballer who was at home both in the box and on the box. A charismatic, knowledgeable, witty and warm man. A giant of the sport.”

England manager Gareth Southgate said the national team would pay tribute to Greaves in next month’s World Cup qualifier against Hungary at Wembley, while Spurs and Chelsea also paid tribute to their former player.

“Jimmy Greaves was someone who was admired by all who love football, regardless of club allegiances,” Southgate said in a statement released by the Football Association.

“I was privileged to be able to meet Jimmy’s family last year at Tottenham Hotspur as the club marked his 80th birthday. My thoughts are with them and I know the entire game will mourn his passing.”

Born in east London in 1940, Greaves signed for Chelsea and made his professional debut at the age of 17. He scored 132 goals in 169 games, racking up 100 league goals by the time he turned 20.

He attracted interest from Italy and signed with AC Milan in 1961, but only managed 12 appearances and nine goals in his single season at the club.

Greaves returned to England with Spurs in 1962 for £99,000 and scored in the FA Cup final as Tottenham lifted the trophy that season.

His nine seasons in north London coincided with the most successful decade in the club’s history. Greaves would also win the FA Cup with Spurs in 1967, as well as the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1963.

Greaves made his England debut in 1959, scoring in a 4-1 win against Peru. He holds the record for the most hat tricks scored by an England player and netted the first of his six in an 8-0 win against Luxembourg in 1960.

He scored the last of his 44 England goals in 1967 and is fourth on England’s all-time goal-scorers list behind Wayne Rooney, Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker.

After leaving Spurs in 1969, Greaves moved across London to sign for West Ham, where he stayed for two seasons until 1971. Due to alcoholism and fitness issues, Greaves was less prolific during his final two years in the top flight and scored 13 goals in 40 appearances for West Ham before he retired in 1971 at the age of 31.

After retiring, Greaves pursued a career in broadcast media and presented popular football talk show “Saint and Greavsie” alongside former Liverpool striker Ian St John from 1985 to 1992.

Greaves eventually received his World Cup winners medal in 2009. Due to FIFA rules which were subsequently overturned, only the players who finished England’s 4-2 win over West Germany on the pitch received winners’ medals in 1966.

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SADIO MANE SCORES 100TH LIVERPOOL GOAL AS REDS THRASH CRYSTAL PALACE

Record-breaking Sadio Mane’s 100th Liverpool goal set Jurgen Klopp’s side on the way to 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace which took them top of the table.

Mane became the first player in Premier League history to score against the same opponent in nine consecutive matches, beating Robin van Persie’s eight in a row against Stoke

His close-range strike just before half-time also made him the 18th man to bring up a century of goals for the club in his 224th appearance.

Mohamed Salah’s rich form continued as his volley 12 minutes from time meant he has only failed to score in one of his six games this season with a sumptuous left-footed volley from substitute Naby Keita finishing proceedings with a flourish.

Just like against AC Milan in midweek Liverpool made hard work of a game in which they created numerous chances.

Klopp made six changes – including his entire back four – from the midweek Champions League tie which meant his side started a league match without either Andy Robertson (rested) or Trent Alexander-Arnold (ill) in the team for the first time since December 2018.

It did, however, afford Anfield its first look at summer signing Ibrahima Konate, lining up in central defence alongside the returning Virgil van Dijk.

Perhaps understandably there were some teething problems with a defence that had never played together before and a shaky start saw Alisson forced to tip Wilfried Zaha’s attempted lob from close range onto a post.

Konate was first extended in a foot race with Zaha, with the winger going down in the area but he did not appeal for a penalty and none was given.

The big centre-back passed his second test as well as, one-on-one with Christian Benteke, he blocked the striker’s near-post shot.

They were the rare Palace attacks as the home side dominated throughout and would have been ahead well before the 43rd minute had they shown more composure in front of goal.

Klopp’s side were frustrated for a long period by Palace’s discipline and organisation which saw them get men behind the ball quickly to regain their shape.

Diogo Jota fired over from a narrow angle after Kostas Tsimikas and Mane combined, Jordan Henderson’s far-post attempt was palmed behind, Thiago Alcantara’s weak shot was blocked by a crowd of defenders and an acrobatic Mane effort went for a corner.

But the worst came last as Thiago’s header was parried by Vicente Guaita only for Jota, who had a poor game against Milan, to blaze over from three yards.

Mane showed him how it should be done, however, when Salah’s glancing header from Tsimikas’ corner was half-stopped by the goalkeeper and the Senegal forward pounced to lash home.

Fewer chances were created in the second half as the game became scrappier before Palace boss Patrick Vieira turned to Odsonne Edouard, who scored twice on his debut last weekend, just past the hour.

But the direction of travel remained roughly the same with Guaita producing a double save from Mane and Salah.

Jordan Ayew wasted a promising opportunity when he opted to shoot rather than crossing for Zaha, who had escaped the clutches of James Milner for once in the game, while Edouard was smothered by Alisson as he somehow found space in the penalty area.

But the visitors’ hopes of snatching something from the game were snuffed out when Salah volleyed home at a corner, whipping his shirt off in celebration at his 99th Premier League goal for the club.

Alisson denied Edouard again before Keita added the gloss with a sweetly-struck shot.

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BRIGHTON CONTINUE FINE FORM WITH WIN OVER LEICESTER

Brighton maintained their impressive start to the Premier League season with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Leicester at the Amex Stadium.

The Seagulls found themselves on the right side of VAR throughout the game as Leicester had two equalisers ruled out in the final stages, with Harvey Barnes judged to be offside and obstructing the goalkeeper on both occasions.

Neal Maupay put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot in the 35th minute, sending Kasper Schmeichel the wrong way, and Danny Welbeck doubled Brighton’s lead just after the break with a well-timed header.

However, after going two goals behind, it was Leicester who dominated, with Jamie Vardy pulling one back just after the hour mark with his 150th goal for the club on his 250th Premier League appearance.

The Foxes kept the pressure on in the final minutes of the game but were unable to find the leveller.

Brighton had the best of the early chances, including when Maupay was fed through by Marc Cucurella, but his shot was blocked and deflected over the crossbar.

Solly March also had an opportunity to break the deadlock after being played in by Joel Veltman but his low drive was saved by the legs of Schmeichel.

A penalty decision from Stuart Atwell handed the home side the breakthrough they had threatened from the start.

The ball into the box was headed by Shane Duffy and struck Jannik Vestergaard’s hand at close range, with the referee pointing to the spot after a discussion with his assistant.

VAR then upheld the decision before Maupay scored from the spot to claim his third goal of the season.

Leicester looked marginally more threatening after the break and Vardy capitalised on a loose ball only to drag his shot wide of the target.

However, Brighton doubled their lead just moments later, with former England international Welbeck sending a header past Schmeichel.

The free-kick was put into the box from Leandro Trossard and Welbeck timed his run, lost Vardy who appeared to be marking him, and jumped well to nod into the back of the net.

Leicester halved the deficit just after the hour mark, with substitute Ademola Lookman playing a clever back-heeled one-two with Youri Tielemens who sent in a well-timed ball to the back post which was calmly slotted into the net by Vardy.

The visitors appeared to have secured an equaliser when Lookman scuffed a volley into the back of the net, but it was ruled out.

The assistant referee had raised his flag for offside with VAR upholding the decision, with Barnes in the line of sight of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and was offside as the ball came in to the former Fulham player.

Caglar Soyuncu headed wide inside the box with just over 10 minutes remaining as Leicester kept the pressure on in search of a leveller, with Barnes also having a shot deflected onto the bar.

Leicester looked to have equalised for a second time, only for Wilfred Ndidi’s header to be ruled out for another offside from Barnes, who was ruled to be obstructing Sanchez for a second time.

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HAALAND HITS BRACE AS DORTMUND THRASH UNION BERLIN

Erling Haaland scored twice, including a spectacular lob, to guide Borussia Dortmund to a 4-2 victory over Union Berlin on Sunday which lifted them to second in the Bundesliga.

Norwegian Haaland has now scored seven times in the league this season while taking his total tally to an impressive 68 goals in 67 games in all competitions for Dortmund.

The visitors had the first good chance in the first minute but Dortmund quickly took control with Raphael Guerreiro firing them in front after a lightning-quick passing move that left the Union defence frozen in the 10th minute.

With Dortmund’s Donyell Malen wreaking havoc with his speed down the wing, it was only a matter of time until they added to their score line. But it was Union who did it for them when defender Marvin Friedrich’s clumsy clearance of a Marco Reus cutback landed in his own net in the 52nd.

“We made it today again unnecessarily difficult for us,” said Dortmund captain Reus. “We are 3-0 up, concede a silly goal then one from a set piece. The fourth or fifth time this season.

“You invest an enormous amount and we just can’t gift away goals like that. We have to quickly start working on that. But we are happy to have won the game.”

Max Kruse’s penalty five minutes later cut the deficit and Andreas Voglsammer’s 81st minute header gave Union hope briefly before Haaland latched onto a deep Mat Hummels cross, saw keeper Andreas Luthe off his line and lobbed the ball high over him to restore order with a remarkable finish.

Dortmund’s third league win in a row lifted them to 12 points, one behind Bayern Munich. The leaders thrashed VfL Bochum 7-0 on Saturday.

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EUROPA: INJURY INFESTED TOTTENHAM SHARE DRAW WITH RENNES

Tottenham came from behind to draw 2-2 in their opening Europa Conference League Group G game at Rennes, but it was a costly evening as they suffered more injury problems.

In their toughest looking assignment of the inaugural third-tier European club competition, they went ahead through Loic Bade’s early own goal before the French team hit back either side of half-time through Flavian Tait and Gaetan Laborde.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s leveller earned Spurs a point, but Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura limped off and with a Premier League match against Chelsea in 72 hours, their attacking numbers look short.

Son Heung-min is already facing a race against time to be fit with a calf injury while Giovani Lo Celso does not get back from his quarantine camp in Croatia until Saturday, leaving Nuno Espirito Santo with a headache.

One man who might have forced his way into Nuno’s plans was Tanguy Ndombele, who was give his first appearance of the season after asking to leave in the summer.

It did not take Ndombele long to show Nuno what he was capable of as a sublime piece of skill created an 11th-minute opener for Spurs which capped an impressive opening.

Yards away from his manager in front of the technical area, the Frenchman produced an audacious off-balance back-heel to set a counter-attack going. Oliver Skipp passed to Harry Kane, whose incise first-time ball put Moura in clear and the Brazilian’s attempted cross was deflected into his own net by Bade.

That was as good as it got for Tottenham as Rennes began to take control of the game.

They should have had a leveller soon after as Benjamin Bourigeaud’s shot was beaten away by Pierluigi Gollini into the path of Adrien Truffert, but the left-back could not keep his header at an open goal down and it went over the crossbar.

Spurs did not get away with it for much longer as Tait levelled in the 22nd minute.

The midfielder played a one-two with Serhou Guirassy, left Ndombele and then curled a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Nuno’s side were on the rack and things got even worse when Bergwijn, back from an ankle injury, went off after appearing to suffer a recurrence.

Hojbjerg’s arrival steadied the ship and Spurs got through to half-time without suffering further damage.

Their plans went further array early in the second half as Moura limped off and was joined by Harry Kane, who was also taken off in a seemingly planned substitution with the Chelsea game in mind.

With them went Tottenham’s best chance of winning and they found themselves 2-1 down in the 72nd minute.

Rennes attacked down their left and Gollini spilled a low shot from Kamaldeen Sulemana, with Laborde enjoying the easiest of tap-ins.

With 17-year-old Dane Scarlett leading the line, Spurs could have wilted, but they found a leveller four minutes later.

Matt Doherty’s cross was deflected kindly into the path of Hojbjerg and the Dane poked home from close range as the points were shared in France.

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MICHAIL ANTONIO AND DECLAN RICE FIRE WESTHAM TO VICTORY AGAINST DINAMO ZAGREB

West Ham announced themselves on the Europa League stage as goals from Michail Antonio and Declan Rice secured a 2-0 victory at Dinamo Zagreb.

The Hammers’ very own Ant and Dec provided the tea-time entertainment in Croatia by finding the net either side of half-time.

Antonio was probably only in the team due to the red card he picked up at Southampton, which has instead given him an enforced rest against Manchester United on Sunday.

But striker brought his sizzling domestic form to the continent with his fifth goal of the season.

Rice, making his European club debut with 26 caps for England already to his name, added the second to give David Moyes’ side a comfortable win in their first ever group stage match.

It is only the ninth time the Hammers have even been in Europe and the last time they won a match, not including qualifiers, was in 1999 against another Croatian side, Osijek.

Manager Moyes admitted beforehand that the trip to the Croatian league and cup winners might be their toughest assignment in Group H.

After all, Dinamo had reached the quarter-finals last season while accounting for Tottenham 3-0 along their way.

As such Moyes named a strong line-up despite making five changes from the weekend draw at Southampton, with Tomas Soucek and £30 million (€35 million) new signing Kurt Zouma joining Rice and Antonio in the starting XI at the Maksimir Stadium.

His side opened the scoring in the 22nd minute thanks to a shocking backpass which will give Jesse Lingard flashbacks to his error earlier this week.

Kevin Theophile-Catherine was the guilty party with Antonio onto the loose ball like a flash.

He poked the ball past stranded keeper Dominik Livakovic and from a tight angle rolled it into an empty net.

Ryan Fredericks should have made it two moments later after he was sent through by Antonio’s clever flick, but Livakovic stood up well and saved with his feet.

Another summer signing, Nikola Vlasic, back in his home country, could have added a second before half-time but saw one shot blocked in a crowded penalty area and flashed another just wide.

Instead Rice doubled the lead with a maiden European goal following a trademark surging run five minutes into the second half.

Rice burst through a challenge on the halfway line and charged forward before lashing a shot through Livakovic’s legs.

Pablo Fornals saw a late effort kept out by Livakovic, while Hammers keeper Lukasz Fabianski barely had a shot to save in an impressive opening to West Ham’s European campaign.

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CELTIC SURRENDER TWO-GOAL LEAD IN EUROPA LEAGUE OPENER AT REAL BETIS

Celtic surrendered a two-goal lead to crash to a 4-3 defeat in their Europa League opener at Real Betis.

Albian Ajeti fired the Scottish side in front and then won a penalty from which Josip Juranovic doubled the lead inside the opening half-hour of the Group G encounter at the Benito Villamarin Stadium.

Yet things began to turn sour as the Spanish side, managed by former Manchester City and West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini, hit back to level matters with two goals in quick succession from Juan Miranda and Juanmi.

Borja Iglesias then put the hosts ahead early in the second half and Juanmi increased the advantage with his second. Anthony Ralston gave the Hoops late hope but Betis held on.

West Ham endured no such frustration as they produced an impressive display to beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in Croatia.

The influential Michail Antonio opened the scoring in the 22nd minute and Declan Rice doubled the lead for David Moyes’ side five minutes into the second half.

Genk joined the Hammers level at the top of Group H after an injury-time strike from Paul Onuachu secured a 1-0 win at Rapid Vienna.

The other match in Celtic’s group, meanwhile, saw Bayer Leverkusen come from behind to beat Ferencvaros 2-1 with goals from Exequiel Palacios and Florian Wirtz.

Galatasaray benefited from an own goal as they opened in Group E with a 1-0 victory over Lazio in Istanbul.

Goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha got the final touch after a cross from Olimpiu Vasile Morutan was diverted towards his own goal by defender Manuel Lazzari in the 67th minute.

Substitute Tino Anjorin scored an 89th-minute equaliser as Lokomotiv Moscow snatched a 1-1 draw at home to Marseille.

In Group F, an 85th-minute penalty from Alexandar Katai gave Red Star Belgrade a 2-1 win over Sporting Braga, while Midtjylland and Ludogorets drew 1-1.