Further tributes were paid to Sir Bobby Charlton ahead of Manchester United’s derby with Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday.
A minute’s applause was held prior to kick-off with both teams, who were wearing black armbands, joined by a group of former players from each club in the centre of the field.
In the Stretford End, supporters unfurled a banner which depicted Charlton holding aloft the European Cup in 1968 alongside a message which read “the finest English footballer the world has ever seen”.
Fans in the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand held up cards to form a mosaic reading “Sir Bobby”.
Charlton, one of the most distinguished players the English game has ever produced and a United great, died last weekend at the age of 86.
Charlton’s achievements included winning the World Cup with England and helping United claim the European Cup, as well as setting club and country goalscoring records that stood for decades after his retirement.
As they have throughout the week, fans continued to lay flowers and scarves by the United Trinity statue, which depicts Charlton alongside team-mates George Best and Denis Law, outside the ground.
The matchday programme featured 28 pages of tributes, including a eulogy from former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
The ex-United players involved in the on-field tributes were Brian Kidd, Alex Stepney, Paddy Crerand and John Aston with Mike Summerbee and Tony Book representing City.
Victor Wembanyama will be "unstoppable" for the San Antonio Spurs when the 19-year-old finds his feet in the NBA.
That is the view of 2014 Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams, who has urged the seven-foot-four power forward to learn from the likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry to boost his chances of success.
Wembanyama – the first overall pick in this year's NBA Draft – has been touted as one of the most exciting prospects of his generation.
While Wembanyama was unable to stop San Antonio losing their 2023-24 season opener against the Dallas Mavericks earlier this week, he played a key role as they bounced back with a 126-122 overtime win over the Houston Rockets on Friday.
Wembanyama finished the Houston victory with 21 points, 12 rebounds and one assist, and Carter-Williams believes his physical stature and all-round skillset make him unique.
"I think he's definitely an anomaly, right? There are not too many seven-foot-four dudes that can move like him," Carter-Williams – who is a free agent after leaving the Orlando Magic – told Stats Perform.
"Obviously, we'll see other people with other attributes, but I think for him, he's so tall and he's got such a long reach that he affects the game in so many different ways and it's going to be cool to see him develop.
"You saw it with Giannis [Antetokounmpo] a little bit. You'd watch the game and there would be like two or three plays where you're like, 'if he can do that 10 times a game, he's in for some serious competition'.
"I think you see that with Victor as well, there's five or six times in the game where you're just shaking your head about how amazing the things that he does are.
"As soon as he starts doing those things more, he's going to be unstoppable."
Asked if he had any advice for the 19-year-old, Carter-Williams said: "I would find my routine.
"If you start that as a rookie and you maintain that work and effort and that health, I think it sets you up for a really good career.
"Obviously, the easy answer is to listen to your coaches and listen to this person, listen to that person, but I think the biggest thing is if you can stick to your resume every single day.
"You hear about LeBron and Steph taking care of their bodies, doing these offseason things and yes, they do have a million resources, but they put themselves in a situation where they can succeed. I think that's what's most important as a rookie."
Carter-Williams has experience of being a highly regarded prospect, having been named NBA Rookie of the Year after starring for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2013-14.
Asked how Wembanyama would respond to the heightened interest in his performances, Carter-Williams said: "It's funny, when you're that age coming into the NBA and people have high expectations, you're kind of oblivious to what's really going on.
"There's so many things going on that you're like, 'I want to play basketball'. That's where I was at that time, obviously at a different level to him, he's one of the hottest rookies of all time.
"He's probably got it 10 times as much as I had it when I was on my streak of being Rookie of the Year, so it's a little tough.
"But I think that when you're at that level, you're just so focused on being on the court, it's like, 'I got a lot of hype, but I really haven't truly done anything'.
"There's that pressure there, but for the most part, I think it's mostly, 'I just want to get on the court, I'm excited to be out there, and I get to play against all these guys that I once looked up to.'"
Joao Palhinha scored a stunning equaliser as Fulham held Brighton to a 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium.
The Seagulls were the better team in the early stages and were rewarded through Evan Ferguson’s neat finish before Palhinha’s superb strike secured a point for the Londoners.
The result extended Brighton’s winless run to three as they rued missed chances in front of goal.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side showed little signs of fatigue following Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League win over Ajax and nearly took an early lead.
Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno kept out Carlos Baleba’s shot from range in the seventh minute and saved Simon Adingra’s effort inside the six-yard box moments later to keep it 0-0.
Baleba was pulling the strings for Brighton as his vision and inch-perfect passes picked out the pacey Adingra, who enjoyed runs into space.
The hosts got the goal they deserved after 26 minutes.
Igor Julio drove the Seagulls up the pitch and when Ferguson retrieved the ball outside the box he showed excellent composure to slide the ball past Leno with his left foot into the bottom corner.
The goal highlighted a gulf in quality between the two sides and the lethargic Cottagers were fortunate not to concede again immediately after the kick-off when their defence was caught napping by Adingra.
A rain-soaked Marco Silva cut a frustrated figure and his pleas to his Fulham players were left unanswered as Willian’s wasteful free-kick put an end to the first spell of meaningful possession the visitors had enjoyed in the Brighton half since the opening minutes.
Left-back Antonee Robinson was struggling to cope with Adingra and the American then gifted Ferguson a back pass, but the Seagulls’ goalscorer failed to double his tally when he was denied by Leno after 40 minutes.
Brighton started the second half quickly and Lewis Dunk was unfortunate not to score in the 49th minute. The skipper lined up a set-piece and his side-footed effort dipped onto Leno’s crossbar.
Fulham made Brighton pay for their missed chances as they made it 1-1 in the 65th minute through Palhinha.
The visitors threw men forward in numbers and the Portugal international got the ball out of his feet on the edge of the box and blasted an effort past Jason Steele.
The goal swung the momentum in the Londoners’ favour and substitute Rodrigo Muniz nearly punished Brighton from the restart through an audacious back heel that was kept out by Steele.
Both teams had opportunities to win it with Robinson clearing an effort off the line before Harry Wilson came close to grabbing a winner at the other end.
Aston Villa continued their impressive home form as they beat Luton 3-1 to rack up a 12th successive Premier League win at Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s side have won every home league game since February 18 and made light work of the Hatters, with goals from John McGinn and Moussa Diaby giving them the upper hand before Luton captain Tom Lockyer put through his own net.
Villa have scored 13 goals in the last three Premier League home games as Emery’s team continue to show they are early contenders for the top four this season.
And with games against Nottingham Forest and Fulham coming up, they have a chance to solidify their position in the race before a clash with leaders Tottenham on November 26.
This was a seventh defeat in 10 top-flight games for Luton, who have quickly found out how demanding life can be in the Premier League, though they did get on the scoresheet when Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez scored a late own goal.
They were up against it from the start as Villa were quick onto the attack and could have led inside four minutes.
Ollie Watkins collected a cross and teed up Nicolo Zaniolo, but the Italian’s cushioned effort drifted just wide of the post.
Only a brilliant double save from Thomas Kaminski stopped Villa from breaking the deadlock in the 11th minute as he superbly spread himself to block Watkins’ close-range effort and then reacted quickly to stop the follow-up effort.
There was no surprise when the hosts went ahead in the 17th minute and it was another masterpiece from set-piece coach Austin MacPhee’s playbook.
Douglas Luiz’s low corner was dummied by Moussa Diaby and it ended up with McGinn at the far post, with the Scotland international shifting the ball past Chiedozie Ogbene and into the far corner.
That might have given the Villa the platform to go on and flourish, but Luton did well to stifle them and the hosts were restricted for the rest of the first half in terms of clear-cut chances.
But that quickly changed after the restart as they doubled their lead in the 49th minute.
Lucas Digne’s cross fell kindly to Diaby 12 yards out and he drilled a low effort into the bottom corner.
The Hatters came from 2-0 down at Forest to draw 2-2 last weekend, but there was little chance of a repeat here.
Villa continued to probe and added a third just after the hour.
Diaby made good headway down the right and his cross was turned into his own net by Lockyer.
Leon Bailey could have made it four but he shot wide while McGinn did not connect with a right-footed shot when the goal was gaping.
Luton did not give up and got on the scoresheet in the 83rd minute, Villa defender Ezri Konsa’s header hitting the crossbar and rebounding off Martinez and into the net.
There was no joy for the British raiders in the Prix Royal-Oak as Double Major ran out a wide-margin winner of the ParisLongchamp staying contest.
Trained by Christophe Ferland, Double Major had seen off Dermot Weld’s Harbour Wind by just three-quarters of a length at the track in the Prix Chaudenay on Arc weekend.
However, the manner of victory was much more straightforward this time and having been in the ideal position at the head of affairs alongside Brian Ellison’s Tashkhan, the only three-year-old in the race surged well clear of his rivals when jockey Maxime Guyon pushed the button entering the straight.
Patrice Cottier’s Skazino kept on for second ahead of Tashkhan, who finished best of the raiding party in third, but Harry Fry’s Metier was never in the mix from a position towards the rear of the field and James Fanshawe’s Novel Legend also finished out of the money.
Having secured top honours in his very first outing in Group One company, connections of Double Major were content to savour their big-race success in the French capital before contemplating future plans.
“We are very happy and the big question was the ground because he has never run on that kind of surface,” Pierre-Yves Bureau, racing manager to owners Wertheimer et Frere, told Sky Sports Racing.
“We knew the horse had that quality, but he was the only three-year-old facing older horses who have much more experience than him, so what he did was very nice and we are very happy.
“Well done to Christophe, he is a nice horse who keeps improving each time and that is very good and promising for the future.
“He is a gelding so hopefully he can travel as well, but we are going to enjoy what happened today because it was a really nice performance. We will have to see about the future.”
Winning rider Guyon added: “It is the first time he has run on this ground – the ground is very sticky today, so before the race we did not know if he loved that or not. Afterwards I can tell you he does.
“The most important thing for him is the distance. At the start of the year we went more of a short distance and now he needs the long distance. Last time he won the Group Two and every time he runs at Longchamp he runs very good, this time he has won a Group One.
“I am very happy for the team, for Christophe Ferland and for Wertheimer et Frere.”
Tyson Fury was given a major scare before eking out a split decision win over Francis Ngannou but a showdown against Oleksandr Usyk on December 23 now appears unlikely.
Here, the PA news agency looks at what went down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between the heavyweight rivals and the potential ramifications.
What happened?
Fury, by his own estimation the greatest heavyweight of all-time, was not only expected to win but put on a show against a mixed martial artist who had never before boxed professionally. While Ngannou holds the record for the hardest punch ever recorded, he is 37, had not fought in any capacity since January 2022 and had undergone reconstructive knee surgery in the interim. Labelled as a circus event unbecoming of boxing in certain quarters, Fury was almost the clown. Put down in the third round, he was tentative throughout and fortunate to get a razor-thin points win.
Why was the fight so close?
Only Fury can answer that. He suggested he was suffering from ring rust, having last fought in December 2022 although that does not hold much water when considering Ngannou’s activity in the past two years. The obvious response is that what appeared a gross mismatch on paper led to Fury wildly underestimating his opponent. Did he cut corners in training? Some observers felt Fury was extra fleshy for this fight. He was given the benefit on the scorecards – just. But if the judge who saw it 95-94 for Fury had scored one round the other way, Ngannou would be celebrating one of the greatest sporting upsets ever.
Was Ngannou robbed?
The shock knockdown allied to landing the more eye-catching blows left many wondering whether Ngannou should have had his hand raised. There is little doubting the result could have gone either way. LeBron James and Gary Lineker were among the most prominent critics of how the judges scored the fight but a robbery indicates Ngannou had everything his own way and that simply was not the case. Fury could not adjust to Ngannou’s awkward style although he employed the jab well and put together the odd combination. But just because Ngannou exceeded any expectations, it does not mean he was swindled.
What next?
As well as perhaps feeling a little chastened, Fury was left with a slight cut on his forehead and bruising over his left eye, injuries he would not have foreseen before the first bell rang. Usyk was brought into the ring afterwards and there was the expectation the undisputed fight between the WBA, IBF and WBO titlist and Fury, the WBC champion whose belt was not on the line in the 10-round encounter on Saturday, would be officially announced at the same venue for just before Christmas. The pair had a brief staredown but the hype was not there following Fury’s underwhelming performance. Fury’s promoter Frank Warren hinted his charge’s wounds would prevent a December clash.
Should we expect more crossover fights?
Yes. MMA has often been viewed as boxing’s poorer relation, both in terms of its actual standing and how the sports recompense their fighters. MMA fighters have generally not done well in a boxing ring – Conor McGregor, Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz have all faltered in recent years – but Ngannou has single-handedly raised his sport’s stock. Ngannou’s success will almost certainly pave the way for more MMA stars while the Cameroonian-Frenchman said in the aftermath he intends to juggle boxing with his duties in the Professional Fighters League.
Could a Fury-Ngannou rematch be on the cards?
The millions both fighters banked plus the disputed nature of the result means a return bout seems almost inevitable – even if Fury intimated afterwards the Usyk fight will be next for him. While he extended his record to 34 wins and one draw from 35 contests, will Fury be satisfied that so many thought he lost to a boxing novice? Surely he will want to correct the record down the line? For now, though, Fury announced his intention to return home and spend time with his family after what he said was a long training camp and the likelihood is he will not be seen in the ring until 2024.
Michael Smith scored twice against his former club to give Sheffield Wednesday a 2-0 victory over South Yorkshire rivals Rotherham United – their first win of the season.
In a derby encounter dominated by the home side, both goals came during the first 45 minutes. Rotherham never threatened to mount a comeback, only carving out a couple of decent chances.
It was new manager Danny Rohl’s first home game since taking charge at Hillsborough and he restored Reece James, Di’Shon Bernard and Callum Paterson to the starting line-up. Rotherham boss Matt Taylor named an unchanged side.
The opening goal came when Anthony Musaba got on the end of a great ball from Barry Bannan and had a shot saved by Viktor Johansson before picking up the rebound and squaring to Smith (12), who fired into the net. That was Wednesday’s first goal in over 10 hours.
The home side continued to apply pressure with George Byers shooting over, Musaba having a low shot saved and Josh Windass putting a great chance off-target after being set-up by Musaba.
Smith made it two-nil in the 36th minute, applying the finish after the lively Musaba caused problems for the Rotherham defenders, who failed to clear.
Another great chance came Wednesday’s way before the break when Callum Paterson’s cross was met by Musaba, but his downward header from a good position bounced over the bar.
Buoyed by their two-goal lead, Wednesday continued to hold the upper hand after the re-start.
A Windass shot from distance threatened to catch out Johansson, with the keeper relieved to see the ball go wide.
The visitors had a chance to pull a goal back when the ball fell to Sebastian Revan following a goal-mouth scramble but he fired over.
That apart, is was virtually all Wednesday from an attacking point of view.
Dominic Iorfa saw his shot deflected off-target and Smith put a low shot just wide. Musaba then had a shot blocked and Will Vaulks put an effort wide.
Musaba, who put in an excellent performance, was forced to go off in the 74th minute after picking up a knock with John Buckley taking his place.
A rare Rotherham attack in time added on saw Revan fire in a shot which flashed just wide of Cameron Dawson’s right-hand post.
The result leaves Wednesday eight points from safety at the foot of the Championship table.
Everton ended a difficult week on a positive note as Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired them to a 1-0 win at West Ham.
The Toffees were playing their first match since the death of chairman Bill Kenwright on Monday at the age of 78.
It had been emotional week, too, for Hammers manager David Moyes, who formed a close friendship with Kenwright during his 11-year spell in charge at Goodison Park.
But while West Ham slumped to a third defeat in eight days following reverses at Aston Villa and in the Europa League at Olympiacos, Everton were able to put some more breathing space between themselves and the bottom three with a second away win of the season.
Calvert-Lewin’s goal was his 50th in the Premier League for Everton, joining Romelu Lukaku, Duncan Ferguson and Tim Cahill in reaching the half-century.
It came six minutes into the second half after a first half that will not live long in the memory.
West Ham created an early opportunity when Lucas Paqueta skilfully lifted the ball over Nathan Patterson and drilled in a low cross which Jarrod Bowen could only slice wide.
Moments later Paqueta showed the side of his game which so infuriates Moyes, gifting the ball to Jack Harrison who burst through only to fire too close to Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola.
Ghana winger Mohammed Kudus, making first Premier League start for West Ham, showed he is already getting used to the darker arts of English football after he was chopped down by James Tarkowski.
As Jordan Pickford raced out of his goal to tell the youngster to get up, Kudus shoved the England keeper away in a skirmish which earned both a booking.
Calvert-Lewin had his first chance from Vitalii Mykolenko’s cross but the striker headed over.
A torturous half was summed up by the audible sigh which echoed around the London Stadium when five minutes of stoppage time was announced.
The game desperately needed a goal and it almost came through Bowen, who got on the end of a James Ward-Prowse free-kick but guided his header too high.
Instead the goal arrived at the other end after Jarrad Branthwaite won the ball back for Everton in midfield and fed Calvert-Lewin.
The former England forward played a one-two with Harrison before executing a Cruyff turn which left both Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd flat-footed and firing low past Areola.
It was Calvert-Lewin’s sixth goal in all competitions against the Hammers, the most he has scored against one single club.
Everton almost doubled the lead when Zouma and Aguerd got in another tangle but Areola got down well to tip Aboulaye Doucoure’s shot wide.
The closest West Ham came to an equaliser was a Said Benrahma volley which Pickford kept out at his near post to secure the points.
Noel Meade’s Cheltenham Festival runner-up Affordale Fury made a successful switch to fences at Galway on Sunday.
A silver medallist at a huge 150-1 in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle back in March, he was also runner-up to Gaelic Warrior in the Grade One Irish Mirror Novice Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival and was an exciting chasing debutant in the Colm Quinn BMW Irish EBF Beginners Chase.
Sent off the 4-6 favourite, Affordale Fury’s jockey Sam Ewing positioned his mount hot on the heels of chief market rival and Grade Two-winning hurdler Favori De Champdou throughout and having matched strides at the final obstacle, the five-year-old’s abundant stamina took over in the run for home.
Although Favori De Champdou refused to lie down, Affordale Fury stayed on all the way to the finish to register a one-and-a-half-length success following a satisfactory round of jumping.
Meade said: “It is a bit of a relief as in beginners’ chases you never know what will happen. He was very good, though, and those ex-point-to-pointers are well schooled. We brought him to the Curragh a few weeks ago and he was really, really good.
“He would like a little nicer ground than that and got tired in the end, but he didn’t get as tired as the others.”
Affordale Fury is now set for a rise in class.
Meade added: “Where I’d love to be is in Leopardstown over Christmas for the Grade One novice over three miles. We’ll enter him for the Drinmore in between, but might instead run in the Grade Two Florida Pearl (at Punchestown) instead.”
Aberdeen manager Barry Robson took responsibility after his side put in a laboured performance in a 2-0 defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
The Dons failed to create anything of note as goals from Kyle Vassell and Marley Watkins either side of half-time gave Kilmarnock a deserved win.
Robson admitted he should have made more than the one alteration from the side who threw away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to PAOK on Thursday night in the Europa League.
He said: “We were poor today. In the first half, I didn’t think it was a very good game. They scored right before half-time, which was a bit of a sucker punch for us.
“But the biggest problem was probably my fault. I should have freshened the team up more from Thursday night.
“It was pretty evident that we looked leggy in the first half. We made a change at half-time and tried to change the shape, but it’s hard.
“That was on me. We needed some fresh legs. I think we would have seen a different team today.
“We’re not looking for excuses. We should come down here and try to win the game. We weren’t at our best at all. I should’ve changed it from the start and I think we’d have had a better outcome.”
Aberdeen remained in 10th position in the cinch Premiership and the Dons manager also admitted results have not been at the required level.
He added: “Our league form hasn’t been good enough. It’s been stop-start, with games being cancelled or moved.
“But if you want to play at this level, play in Europe and go far in cups, you need to deal with that.
“We’ve not dealt with it so far, so we need to start doing that better.
“We’ve got a massive game against Motherwell in midweek and if we can go and win at Motherwell, that can race us up the league and then there’s the chance to reach a final against Hibs next weekend.”
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes was delighted with his side’s first clean sheet in nine games as they secured back to back wins in the league for the first time this season.
The home side moved up to fourth place in the league with the impressive victory.
McInnes said: “Everything is better than last season but we spoke at the team meeting about getting more clean sheets. Last week was a clean sheet display but we gave away a penalty.
“We had to deal with two key players missing in Corrie (Ndaba) and Joe (Wright) at the start of the second half. We’ve still got the clean sheet and my keeper hasn’t been too troubled.
“It was a good performance with strong individual performances. I don’t normally like singling boys out but Lewis Mayo was so good, especially with a three v three defensively which was a big test for us.
“It’s nice to follow up a strong display with another and to see us sitting where we are in the league.
“You don’t look at that too much until the first couple of rounds but I want to hang about there for as long as possible.”
Ryan Potter registered the biggest victory of his training career as Jetoile ran out a shock 25-1 winner of the Jewson Fast Set Finish Old Roan Limited Handicap Chase at Aintree.
Second to Constitution Hill in the Tolworth Hurdle as a novice, the son of Jeremy had disappointed over fences in the main last season before turning his campaign around with a pair of handicap victories at Chepstow in the spring.
That saw him arrive on Merseyside off a mark of 146 for his stiffest test to date over fences and he proved more than up to the task in the hands of Daryl Jacob.
In a race that saw all of the fences in the home straight bypassed, Jetoile made stylish progress to stalk long-time front runner Minella Drama after the final jumping test and having edged his way to the front with the winning post approaching, was driven out for a one-and-three-quarter-length victory over Donald McCain’s brave runner-up.
Al Dancer kept on gamely for third, but both the Paul Nicholls-trained 7-2 favourite Hitman and Dan Skelton’s My Drogo failed to make their presence felt, with the former checking out tamely and finishing last of the 11 runners.
Kylian Mbappe scored an 89th-minute winner as Paris St Germain secured a dramatic 3-2 Ligue 1 victory at Brest.
Mbappe’s second goal of the game – knocking home the rebound after Marco Bizot had saved his penalty – gave PSG three hard-fought points after Brest had battled back from 2-0 down.
First-half goals from Warren Zaire-Emery and Mbappe had put PSG in command, but Steve Mounie and Jeremy Le Douaron rocked the French champions either side of the interval.
PSG showed their intent in the opening 10 minutes as Lee Kang-in and Zaire-Emery had powerful shots beaten away by Bizot and Achraf Hakimi fired over from the edge of the box.
Brest responded with Le Douaron shooting in to the side netting after goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma had offered encouragement with a careless pass in his own penalty area.
The opening goal arrived after 16 minutes in sensational fashion as Bradley Barcola found Zaire-Emery following some clever footwork.
The 17-year-old hammered home from 20 yards, his first goal of the season flying past a startled Bizot.
PSG almost doubled their lead when the overworked Bizot tipped over Lee’s effort but, after Mahdi Camara fired over from 20 yards at the other end, the inevitable second did arrive.
Lee released Mbappe with a delicious pass after 28 minutes, and the France forward advanced to score with a shot which took a slight deflection off Brendan Chardonnet to wrong-foot Bizot.
Mbappe went close again before Brest, who had a penalty claim turned down when Barcola tangled with Bradley Locko, halved the deficit two minutes before the break.
Mounie exploited some poor marking on the edge of the six-yard area to meet Kenny Lala’s cross and beat Donnarumma with a firm downward header.
The goal rocked PSG and parity was restored within seven minutes of the restart after Milan Skriniar had thwarted Mounie with a desperate block.
Le Douaron met the resulting in-swinging corner to send a looping header beyond Donnarumma and inside the far post.
Brest were sensing a famous victory after losing their previous 11 games against the Parisians, and Donnarumma produced a brilliant double stop to deny Pierre Lees-Melou and Le Douaron.
PSG turned to their bench and Vitinha and Ousmane Dembele both saw efforts scrambled clear before Lilian Brassier clumsily challenged substitute Randal Kolo Muani.
The penalty was rewarded after a VAR review, a decision which sparked angry scenes between the two sets of players.
Hugo Magnetti appeared to push his hand into the face of Mbappe before the PSG captain stepped up to take the spot-kick
Mbappe’s kick was pushed out by Bizot but the ball fell kindly for him to stroke home the rebound and, his 10th goal of the league campaign, as PSG made it four successive wins in all competitions.
Love Envoi will not be seen until the new year, when her season will be centred around going one better than last year’s brave second at the Cheltenham Festival.
A winner of the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival in 2022, a pair of taking victories at Sandown saw Harry Fry’s stable star head back to Prestbury Park full of confidence for a crack at the Mares’ Hurdle last March.
Sent off 11-1 in the hands of Johnny Burke, she came within a length and a half of back-to-back Cheltenham Festival triumphs as she eventually had to settle for a supporting role as Honeysuckle bowed out in fairytale fashion.
Despite injuring herself in her next outing at Punchestown, Love Envoi is back in training with Fry at his Dorset base and although the handler is keen to take his time, another crack at the Mares’ Hurdle is firmly in his sights.
Fry said: “She went so close to the Mares’ Hurdle, running Honeysuckle all the way, and obviously the whole campaign is going to be geared around going one better in March.
“She picked up a nasty injury when disappointing at Punchestown when last seen, which is her only bad run of her career and obviously there was a reason for it.
“She has made a full recovery out with Noel Fehily over the summer and he has pre-trained her and she’s just come back to us at the beginning of the month.
“She’s not going to be seen out until the new year I would have thought and it is still early stages with her, but we hope to have a clear run to March all being well.”
Love Envoi has been tentatively pencilled in to return in the same Sandown Listed event in which she recorded a 13-length success early in the year, while a similar contest at Warwick has been identified as another key stepping stone on the route to Prestbury Park.
“The races pick themselves for her and you have got the Sandown race she won last season in early January and then the Listed race at Warwick in February,” continued Fry.
“She was a non-runner in that last year because of the ground, but the programme is there for her and they are ideal prep races for the Mares’ Hurdle itself.”
St Johnstone and manager Steven MacLean have parted company following a shocking start to Saints’ season.
The Perth club are bottom of the cinch Premiership with just four points from nine fixtures and without a league win.
The McDiarmid Park club released a statement which read: “St Johnstone Football Club can announce that it has parted company with Steven MacLean and Liam Craig.
“In the interim, Alex Cleland will assume responsibilities for first team matters.”
St Johnstone also lost to Stenhousemuir, Stirling Albion and Ayr in the Viaplay Cup earlier in the season.
Former Saints striker MacLean, who was first-team coach under former boss Callum Davidson, was scathing after his side’s 4-0 league defeat by St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday and warned that some of his players might have played their last game under him.
He said: “The goals we lost are unacceptable. It’s the basics of football. In the second half, we just imploded and it looked like a couple of players chucked it.
“It is my responsibility and some of these players will be lucky if they play for me again. It is not happening under my watch and it might be I need to play young boys. I thought it was really, really poor.
“You need to show a bravery in those situations and you need people to lead. I just thought we lacked that all over.”
St Johnstone play Kilmarnock at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night.
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