George Kittle will be absent for the San Francisco 49ers for the second week in a row, having been ruled out of Sunday's division match-up against the Seattle Seahawks.

The Pro Bowl tight end missed the 49ers' shock Week 1 loss to the Chicago Bears with a groin injury but returned to practice on Friday, though he carried a questionable status.

Kittle has now been officially ruled as inactive for Week 2, marking the fourth consecutive season where he has missed multiple games.

After last week's loss to the Bears, the 49ers are 6-9 in games without Kittle during his career, including losses in six of their last seven without him.

San Francisco have lost four in a row to the Seahawks, who begun their season with a surprising victory against the Denver Broncos in Russell Wilson's return to Seattle.

Brighton and Hove Albion have announced Roberto De Zerbi as their new head coach.

The Italian has been named as Graham Potter's successor after putting pen to paper on a four-year deal at the Amex Stadium on Sunday.

De Zerbi takes charge with Brighton fourth in the Premier League following an impressive start to the season under Potter, who departed for Chelsea on September 8, having taken 13 points from their opening six games.

The 43-year-old, who had been out of work since leaving Shakhtar Donetsk in July because of the war in Ukraine, will first take charge of Brighton away at Liverpool on October 1.

Albion chairman Tony Bloom told the club's official website: "I am absolutely thrilled Roberto has agreed to become our new head coach. 

"Roberto's teams play an exciting and courageous brand of football, and I am confident his style and tactical approach will suit our existing squad superbly."

De Zerbi also brings Serie A experience to the Brighton dugout, having managed Palermo, Benevento and Sassuolo in the Italian top flight.

The former Milan and Napoli attacking midfielder notably guided Sassuolo to successive eighth-place finishes during his three-year stint with the Italian side.

Brighton chief executive Paul Barber said: "We looked at a range of excellent candidates but Roberto was our number one choice from the start and the only person we spoke to.  

"It's no secret our chairman is constantly monitoring potential coaches, both here in our domestic leagues, throughout Europe and across the world as part of our succession planning work. 

"We feel Roberto is the ideal cultural and technical fit for Brighton and Hove Albion, and the right person to continue the club's progress and work with this outstanding group of players."

Jose Mourinho was sent off in a fit of fury as his Roma side lost 1-0 at home to Atalanta in Serie A.

The head coach was seething after his side were denied a penalty in the 55th minute when Nicolo Zaniolo went over under a challenge from Caleb Okoli.

Replays suggested both players were grappling at each other's shirt long before Zaniolo went to ground, and referee Daniele Chiffi waved away the appeals.

Mourinho joined his players in protesting against the decision, running onto the pitch and shouting and pointing at Chiffi, before the referee brandished the red card his way.

Giorgio Scalvini scored the game's only goal in the 35th minute, a smart side-footed strike from the edge of the penalty area that arrowed through a crowd of players and found the bottom-right corner.

Roma have now lost two of their past three Serie A matches, as many defeats as they had suffered in the previous 21 (11W, 8D), and they sit sixth in the table after seven rounds of the season.

Atalanta's win took the visitors top of the table, at least temporarily ahead of Sunday's late game between Napoli and Milan, both of whom had a chance to jump to the summit.

The victory lifted Atalanta to 17 points from their opening seven Serie A games, a points record for the club at this stage of the season, one better than they achieved in the 2019-20 campaign.

They have kept clean sheets in all four of their away games so far, with Sunday's success following previous shutouts in wins at Sampdoria, Hellas Verona and Monza. Atalanta have only twice previously had four consecutive clean sheets in away games, in 1997 and 2016.

Angel Di Maria accepted responsibility for Juventus' shock 1-0 loss to Monza after he was sent off in the first half on Sunday.

The Argentina international saw red five minutes before half-time for an elbow into the chest of Armando Izzo as the two jostled for possession in midfield.

The 10-man Bianconeri were condemned to defeat by a 74th-minute goal from Monza substitute Christian Gytkjaer to further ramp up the pressure on head coach Massimiliano Allegri.

However, the coach was not to blame, according to Di Maria, who said the result was "all my fault".

In an Instagram post, the former Paris Saint-Germain winger said: "I want to apologise to everyone for this inappropriate reaction I had on the pitch.

"Leaving the team with one down at such a difficult time has cost us the game.

"Losing is all my fault. I am so sorry. I'm a professional but also a human being who makes mistakes and knows how to admit them."

Juventus assistant coach Marco Landucci replied "negativity does not help" when asked about Massimiliano Allegri's future after a shock 1-0 defeat away at Monza.

With under-fire Allegri serving a touchline ban, Landucci oversaw the Bianconeri, who mustered only two shots on target against a team that started the game winless and bottom of Serie A as Angel Di Maria was sent off for a petulant elbow on Armando Izzo.

Substitute Christian Gytkjaer netted a 74th-minute winner for Monza's first victory since their promotion, and defeat means Juventus have earned just 10 points from their first seven Serie A matches.

When questioned on whether he and Allegri still had the club's support, Landucci told reporters: "We don't give up, it's not in our DNA.

"I haven't talked to Allegri yet, we'll do it to understand the situation. We will certainly continue to work to correct mistakes.

"We work precisely on these things, on the goals we have scored, mistakes to try to improve. It is evident that at the moment it is not enough. Negativity does not help.

"The criticisms of the fans are there, now we have to be united. It's easy to be united in victories, we have to be even more so now."

Landucci felt Di Maria's red card was the key moment in the match, adding: "Di Maria's sending off affected us.

"Di Maria is the first to be sorry, he fell into the trap of Izzo, who is very good at this kind of thing."

Antoine Griezmann was the headline inclusion in Atletico Madrid's starting XI for the derby with Real Madrid on Sunday.

Griezmann has scored three goals for Atleti this term, but all of his seven appearances had come from the substitutes bench.

Diego Simeone suggested this has in part been a financial decision, with Atleti set to owe Barcelona a fee for the on-loan forward should he play over half of the available minutes.

Yet he got the nod ahead of Alvaro Morata for the match at the Civitas Metropolitano, starting alongside Joao Felix.

Griezmann's introduction was one of five changes made by Simeone, whose team lost 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, made two alterations to the Madrid team that started in Wednesday's win over RB Leipzig.

Ferland Mendy and Toni Kroos came in for Nacho Fernandez and Eduardo Camavinga respectively.

With Karim Benzema out injured, Rodrygo – who has scored in his last two LaLiga appearances – was selected to lead Madrid's line along with Federico Valverde and Vinicius Junior.

Ancelotti has lost four of his six meetings as a manager with Simeone in LaLiga (W1 D1), while Atleti have the chance to win consecutive games against Madrid in Spain's top flight for the first time since February 2015

Casper Ruud expects to be "a bit nervous" when he features alongside childhood heroes Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and the retiring Roger Federer at the Laver Cup.

Ruud is the world number two heading into the tournament, which sees Team Europe take on Team World in London, after his efforts at the US Open.

The Norwegian fell just short against Spanish teenage superstar Carlos Alcaraz in the final at Flushing Meadows.

Ruud featured at last year's Laver Cup, held in Boston, and this year is due to join up with the 'Big Four' of Djokovic, Nadal, Murray and Federer, who has announced his impending retirement at the age of 41. The quartet have won 66 grand slam titles between them.

While there are some doubts over whether Federer will be fit enough to play in his farewell tournament, with the action starting on Friday, Ruud is "honoured" to have the opportunity to play alongside his idols.

"It's going to be so special this year, having the biggest four tennis players in my childhood," Ruud said in an interview on the Laver Cup's official website.

"It's going to be an honour. [I'm] probably going to be a bit nervous when I'm out there playing in front of them, but I'll do my best and I'm very happy to be able to represent Europe in front of a crowd full of cheerful fans, and a European bench of legends."

 

Ruud has played six matches against the illustrious quartet who will now be team-mates, winning only once – against Murray in San Diego last year.

The 23-year-old has lost three times to Djokovic and once to Nadal – in the final of the French Open this season – while his sole meeting with Federer, back in 2019 at Roland Garros, went the way of the 20-time major champion.

Federer helped to create the Laver Cup but did not play in the 2021 edition due to injury. He was, however, present to support Team Europe from the stands in Boston.

"I was playing the first match of the whole [2021] Laver Cup against [Reilly] Opelka," Ruud said. "It was the first time they showed Roger on the big screen in TD Garden in Boston, and the whole crowd erupted like I never heard before.

"I can only imagine what it will be like when he's on the team and when he will enter the court."

Federer announced the decision to bring the curtain down on his 24-year playing career on Thursday, having not competed since making the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year.

Jean-Clair Todibo condemned refereeing in Ligue 1 as "scandalous" after being sent off just nine seconds into Nice's home game against Angers.

The former Barcelona player was red-carded after a clumsy tackle on Abdallah Sima when he was considered the last man by referee Bastien Dechepy.

It was the fastest card – yellow or red – shown in Ligue 1 since Opta started collecting data in the league in the 2006-07 season.

Defender Todibo clearly felt there was cover, with Dante also in close attendance to Sima when the challenge was made.

The 22-year-old reacted on Twitter, writing: "A refereeing decision that shocks me and condemns my team to start the match with a big disadvantage.

"The decisions of the referees at the start of the season are very questionable, even scandalous and I hope that the @LFPfr will do something to remedy it."

It remains to be seen what the Ligue Professionnel de Football makes of that message, and whether the accusation might serve only to compound Todibo's problems.

There was dismay at the red card in the Nice ranks, with captain Dante frustrated to see his team down to 10 men so early.

Nice went on to lose 1-0, with Nabil Bentaleb getting the only goal shortly before half-time. Angers also had a player sent off as Sofiane Boufal saw red in the 62nd minute for a second bookable offence.

Dante told Prime Video: "When you receive a red card after a few seconds of play, of course it gets bizarre.

"It doesn't happen every weekend. It got us in trouble. We were really well prepared to win this match, we wanted to put some intensity into the first quarter of an hour."

Nice made a number of high-profile moves in the transfer window but have made a surprisingly slow start to the Ligue 1 season, winning just two of their opening eight games.

 

Jameis Winston started for the New Orleans Saints against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday despite having four fractures in his back.

The Saints were without star running back Alvin Kamara against their NFC South rivals due to a rib injury, but Winston was cleared to play.

The former Bucs quarterback was known to have a back injury, and the severe nature of the issue was reported ahead of kickoff.

FOX Sports' Jay Glazer revealed the four fractures, saying Winston was "dealing with an awful lot of pain" but had "no risk of further damage".

Winston was influential in the Saints' 27-26 Week 1 win over the Atlanta Falcons, throwing for 269 yards and two touchdowns.

Both scores and 213 yards came in the fourth quarter, with Winston the first Saints QB to have 200 fourth-quarter passing yards in a game since Drew Brees' 294, also against the Falcons, in Week 10 in 2008.

Ange Postecoglou criticised Celtic's "work ethic" as the Scottish Premiership champions suffered a first league defeat in 364 days at St Mirren on Sunday.

Mark O'Hara headed the Paisley side ahead in the first half, before Jonah Ayunga added a second after the break to inflict a first defeat on Celtic since September 19 last year.

The loss was just Celtic's second in their past 27 visits to St Mirren, and Postecoglou accepted his side were well off their usual standards. 

"We just weren't aggressive both in action and in thought," he said. "We kind of tried to ease our way into a game of football and you just can't do that. You've got to be at it from the start and we weren't. 

"You don't put it down to one of those days; it's a disappointing day. We pride ourselves on having certain standards and we didn't reach those. And football will always teach you that lesson.

"What has got us to this point over the past 15 or 16 months is having a certain work ethic and certain levels of performance and belief. We didn't reach any of those. We've got to take the hits when they come and we've just got to get back up and go again.

"We've done that before as a team over the past 15 or 16 months. It's a sore one, it's one that we've got to use as the fuel we need next to get going again.

"We were nowhere near the levels we want to be. Credit to St Mirren. They worked really hard and were really committed to their game plan. They made it hard for us, but we never hit the levels we need to play our football. It's about dusting ourselves off and getting going again."

Celtic have a two-point lead over bitter rivals Rangers at the Scottish Premiership summit ahead of the international break.

Jose Mourinho says "there is no point crying" about Roma's growing injury list, after Paulo Dybala pulled out of Sunday's showdown with Atalanta.

Dybala was injured during the warm-up ahead of the Serie A clash at Stadio Olimpico – the Argentina international sustaining a left flexor issue in his thigh.

Nemanja Matic replaced the former Juventus forward in the Giallorossi's starting line-up, with Lorenzo Pellegrini pushing into a more advanced role. 

Dybala joins the likes of Georginio Wijnaldum (tibia fracture) and Stephan El Shaarawy (muscular) on the injury list, while Rick Karsdorp is expected to miss around six weeks as he prepares to undergo surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee.

Nevertheless, Mourinho insists his side must be ready to deal with these setbacks, and not get despondent.

"The squad is in the best shape possible," he told DAZN. "We were fortunate really to play against 10 men for almost the whole game on Thursday [the 3-0 win over HJK], as that requires less intensity, pressing and running.

"It's tough, but this is football. With the transfer window closed, there's no point crying about it now.

"The season is made up of lots of little problems to deal with. The really big one was Wijnaldum, but Rick will be back in at most two months."

On a brighter note, Nicolo Zaniolo made his Serie A return for the visit of Atalanta, having recovered from a dislocated shoulder.

Mourinho added: "Nico is in good shape, and he's a player really made to start games. He's different to the others."

Robert MacIntyre landed his second DP World Tour title by beating Matt Fitzpatrick in a play-off finish to the Italian Open.

The 26-year-old, whose only previous Tour triumph came at the Cyprus Showdown in 2020, started the final round three shots behind overnight leader Fitzpatrick.

However, a remarkable 10 birdies for MacIntyre at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club saw him finish seven-under par on Sunday and 14-under overall, level with Fitzpatrick.

US Open winner Fitzpatrick, who was seeking a second title of the season, birdied the 18th hole to force a play-off in Rome.

Just one hole was required as the Englishman could only manage a par after a poor tee shot, whereas MacIntyre birdied to seal a surprise victory.

"This means everything," MacIntyre said. "I was down and out about two or three months ago – I didn't know what I was doing and didn't know where to go.

"But we spoke to the right people and I started working with Simon Shanks. I mean, I've hit two perfect golf shots into the last there. There's so much hard work gone into this."

Rory McIlroy had been expected to rival Fitzpatrick for the title, the Northern Irishman starting the day one shot behind, but he ended up finishing fourth.

He started the final round with a double-bogey on the first hole, before recovering with five birdies over the next 14 holes.

McIlroy was back within one shot of the lead at that point, but a bogey on the par-four 16th, when finding the water off the tee, effectively ended his chances.

Victor Perez capitalised to finish third at 13 under, with his final round of 66 bettered only by MacIntyre's 64.

Rohit Sharma has confirmed KL Rahul is the first-choice opener for India ahead of the T20 World Cup, though former captain Virat Kohli is an option.

India face Australia, who host the upcoming World Cup as reigning champions, in a three-match T20I series starting on Tuesday.

With Rohit rested for India's final Asia Cup match, Kohli filled in at the top of the order and plundered an unbeaten 122 from 61 balls to help seal an emphatic 101-run win over Afghanistan.

Kohli's knock is the highest score by an Indian player in men's T20Is, overtaking Rohit's 118 against Sri Lanka in December 2017, while it also ended his 1,020-day wait for an international century.

Ahead of the first match in Mohali, Rohit told a press conference: "It's always nice to have options available to you. It is very important when you go in a tournament like a World Cup.

"You want the flexibility. We only talk about it, but this is actually what it means. You want your players to be in their best shape, batting in any position and so on.

"For us, when we try and do something new, it doesn't mean that is permanent. We understand the quality of all the players and what they bring to us. We do understand that, but it is an option for us. 

"We will keep that in mind that since we haven't taken a third opener, [Kohli] can obviously open. He opens for his franchise and has done really well. We saw that in the last match, and we are quite happy with what we saw. I don't think we will experiment for that position a lot."

Rahul struck 62 in India's win over Afghanistan, though he has not scored a century in the shortest format since 2018.

However, he remains Rohit's first pick.

"KL Rahul will play the World Cup, and open," Rohit affirmed. "His performances for India tend to go unnoticed. He is a very important player for India. If you look at his record over the last two, three years, it is very good.

"I don't think it is right to not consider one performance because someone else has performed. There is no confusion. We are very clear about what KL brings to us.

"He is a very, very important and quality player and a match-winner as well. His presence at the top is very, very crucial for us."

Interim England captain Moeen Ali says Jos Buttler is unlikely to feature on their tour of Pakistan, as he works to be fit for the T20 World Cup next month.

Buttler succeeded Eoin Morgan as England's white-ball skipper earlier this year following the latter's retirement, having played a pivotal role in their 2019 World Cup success in the fifty-over game.

But a recurrence of a long-standing calf issue while playing in The Hundred has left him nursing a knock just weeks away from the start of this year's short-form tournament in Australia.

England will warm up with a mammoth seven-match series over the next fortnight against Pakistan, with Moeen handed the armband in Buttler's stead, and he has now revealed that he does not know if his team-mate will figure.

"We're not sure," he stated. "He did his calf in The Hundred. He's done it before, so he's just [being] a bit more careful. Maybe at the back end of the tour, he will play one or two games, but we're not sure yet.

"It depends on how he feels. Obviously, with the World Cup in Australia, he's huge for us, and we want him fully fit for the whole competition.

"There won't be any risking him. He will decide if he is going to play in maybe the last one or two games."

England's trip to Pakistan marks a historic series and a particularly special one for Moeen, who is of Pakistani descent, as he gets to lead out the side.

"With my roots being from here and to lead England in such a big and historic series, it's huge," he added. "It's a very proud moment for me and my family, my mum and dad and everybody.

"Of course my family are very happy and my friends and my community, and everybody who I feel like I represent they’re very happy for me. Captaining England in any game anywhere in the world is a huge honour."

England follow their tour of Pakistan with a trio of warm-up games against Australia, before they get their campaign underway against Afghanistan in Perth on October 22.

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