The Milwaukee Bucks will be "tough to stop" in the Eastern Conference race this season after pairing star point guard Damian Lillard with two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
That's according to former Buck Michael Carter-Williams, who believes the Boston Celtics may emerge as Milwaukee's closest rivals after picking up Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
After 11 years with the Portland Trail Blazers, Lillard joined the Bucks in a huge three-team trade in the offseason.
He made an immediate impact as Milwaukee began their 2023-24 campaign with a 118-117 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.
Lillard finished with a record-breaking 39 points on his Bucks debut, surpassing Terry Cummings' 34 points on his first outing for the team back in 1984, while Antetokounmpo added 23 points and 13 rebounds.
With those two stars linking up, free agent Carter-Williams – who represented Milwaukee between 2015 and 2016 – expects his former team to enjoy an exciting season.
"They're both amazing players. The things that they do on the court are tough to stop," Carter-Williams – who will play in the G League in Mexico City as he awaits an NBA offer – told Stats Perform.
"You put those two together, it's a tough combination, and they're immediately one of the best combos in the league.
"It's going to be interesting to see what they can do and like I said, they're both huge talents so they're going to be tough to stop."
Carter-Williams was surprised to see Lillard land in Milwaukee, but he says the team had to do everything possible to secure him in the huge trade.
"I was shocked," he said. "I didn't see that coming, I thought it was going to be Miami or Toronto, or there was one other team in the mix.
"I didn't see him going into Milwaukee, but the trade made sense. Obviously, it's tough to give up Drew [Timme] but when you're getting a guy like Damian, I think anybody besides Giannis is liable to get traded."
After Antetokounmpo was taken by the Bucks as the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft, Carter-Williams had the chance to play alongside him during his formative years.
Reflecting on his time as a team-mate of Antetokounmpo, Carter-Williams said: "It was great, especially seeing him play early on in his career and watching his development.
"Every day, you could see him slowly getting better and better and just to watch his work ethic… he's an unbelievable person.
"He's a better person than he is a basketball player and I think that's what makes him unique.
"Watching him play has been great, as a friend, as a fan, as a team-mate, it's been awesome to see."
Milwaukee's offseason moves have seen them touted to improve on 2022-23, when they topped the East but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Miami Heat.
Boston also went down to Miami in the playoffs after finishing second in the East, and they have subsequently strengthened by adding former Bucks guard Holiday and Porzingis from the Washington Wizards.
Carter-Williams expect last season's top two to battle for supremacy in the Eastern Conference again, saying: "I like the Bucks and the Celtics in the East.
"The Celtics getting Porzingis and Jrue are two huge pickups for them. I like them coming out of the East, in the West, we'll see how things shake up.
"I think if Anthony Davis and LeBron [James] can be healthy, I think they [the Los Angeles Lakers] are a tough team, they have built a nice little roster over there.
"Then there's Denver, who you can't count out, they got [Nikola] Jokic and they just won it so I think those two are at the top in the West."
The Celtics moved to 2-0 for the season by beating Miami 119-111 on Friday, with Holiday and Porzingis finishing with 17 points apiece.
Liverpool showed their support to Luis Diaz during a comfortable 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
Quickfire goals from Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez before the break and Mohamed Salah’s second-half effort helped Jurgen Klopp’s side maintain their 100 per cent home record in the Premier League this season.
Jota held aloft Diaz’s number seven shirt after scoring, with the Colombian not featuring in Liverpool’s squad following reports his parents had been kidnapped in his homeland.
Liverpool’s latest victory – their eighth in a row in all competitions at Anfield – was their seventh from 10 league games this campaign and lifted them back to within three points of leaders Tottenham.
Forest rarely threatened and, although they hit the woodwork through Anthony Elanga’s late volley, they were forced to defend in numbers as their winless league run was stretched to six matches.
A minute’s applause was held before kick-off in memory of former England and Manchester United great Sir Bobby Charlton and ex-Everton chairman Bill Kenwright, who both recently died.
Liverpool quickly assumed control, but had only Nunez’s angled volley and Jota’s header, both easily saved by Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner, to show for all their possession.
But that changed with two goals in four first-half minutes, which gave the half-time scoreline a truer reflection of Liverpool’s dominance.
Nunez’s fierce first-time shot was parried by Turner into the path of Jota, who turned home the rebound from eight yards.
In celebration, Jota ran to manager Jurgen Klopp, who handed him Diaz’s shirt to show to the Liverpool fans.
Nunez doubled Liverpool’s lead in the 35th minute with an emphatic near-post finish after Dominik Szoboszlai’s cut-back.
Forest’s backline looked increasingly vulnerable. Nunez sent an overhead kick narrowly over the crossbar and Turner produced fine saves to deny Ryan Gravenberch and Szoboszlai before the break.
Harvey Elliott went close to a third Liverpool goal soon after stepping off the bench in the second half when his shot was deflected wide by Forest defender Ola Aina.
Salah capitalised on Turner’s misjudgement to put Liverpool 3-0 up in the 77th minute.
Turner was caught out by the bounce of Szoboszlai’s long diagonal punt up field and Salah raced clear to sidefoot home his eighth league goal of the season.
Forest almost pulled one back in the 85th minute when Elanga’s first-time volley following a cross to the far post crashed against the underside of the crossbar.
Liverpool thought they had scored a fourth goal through substitute Cody Gakpo deep in stoppage time, but VAR ruled he had been offside when converting from close range.
England were counting the cost of their worst ever World Cup campaign after they flopped to a fifth defeat in six games against hosts India.
Despite a rocky history in one-day cricket the defending champions of 2019 have plumbed new depths over the last four weeks, racking up their most losses at a single tournament and an unprecedented sequence of four-in-a-row.
A 100-run thrashing in Lucknow, where they were skittled for a paltry 129, leaves them rooted to the foot of the table in 10th place and on course to embarrassingly miss out on the 2025 Champions Trophy.
It has emerged that places at that event, a ‘mini World Cup’ of sorts, will be awarded to hosts Pakistan and the seven best finishers in group stages of this event rather than being allocated on ICC rankings. As it stands, merely scrambling to eighth place will require a mighty turnaround in fortunes over the next three games.
For a side widely credited with revitalising the 50-over format over the last eight years, that would cap a remarkable fall from grace.
Losing to the table-topping hosts in front of 50,000 bombastic fans at the Ekana Stadium was no surprise – head coach Matthew Mott even billed the opposition “raging favourites” – but this was an opportunity missed.
A much-improved bowling and fielding performance, their best of the tournament to date, had restricted India to 229 for nine, but a top-order collapse left a hole they could not climb out of.
Between the penultimate ball of the fifth over and the first ball of the ninth, England lost their top four for just nine runs as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami ran amok. Between them the seam duo were a cut above England, sharing combined figures of seven for 54.
England began their chase with an air of misplaced confidence, tearing 30 off their target in less than five overs before things fell apart.
The architect of their downfall was the impeccable Bumrah, who had already started to get the ball talking before he claimed two wickets in two balls.
Dawid Malan was the first, slashing at width that was not there and dragging down his own stumps to stop the growing momentum in its tracks. For his next trick, Bumrah removed the linchpin Root for a golden duck.
Sizing his target up with a wicked delivery that tailed in on a full length, he thumped the front pad as Root shuffled across. It looked plumb lbw, but Root called for DRS.
UltraEdge showed a tiny disturbance as the ball passed the inside edge but TV umpire Ahsan Raza upheld the dismissal leaving Root pointedly waving his bat towards the big screen replays.
Stokes has bailed England out of worse dilemmas, but this time he could only exacerbate it.
Unable to get to grips with a high-class examination from India’s seamers he departed to an ugly swipe after a runless 10-ball cameo. Resolving to slog his way out of the mire, he cleared his front leg to a precision inducker from Shami, losing his composure, his balance and two of his stumps in one dreadful moment.
The stands exploded in celebration, with Kohli leaping high and punching the air with joy. Bairstow was next in line, bowled by Shami via two separate deflections to leave England 39 for four.
Buttler’s lean spell continued as he was wildly outfoxed by a ripper from left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, hunched over his bat as he took England’s last hopes with him. Liam Livingstone top-scored with a modest 27, but the contest was already over settled as India applied the finishing touches inside 35 overs.
England, who surprisingly went in with the same XI that had been roundly hammered by Sri Lanka three days earlier, at least showed some fight in the first innings.
They bowled with control, kept producing chances and were visibly sharper in the field. Were it not for a captain’s knock of 87 from Rohit Sharma, that may well have been enough.
But his steadying hand, allied to a handy contribution of 49 from Suryakumar Yadav at the back end, bought India’s attack enough breathing space.
David Willey was the standout, claiming three for 45 including star man Virat Kohli for a nine-ball duck. Willey bowled every delivery to the master batter, tying him up with a nagging line and length before drawing a frustrated hack to mid-off.
That moment drew an instant, deathly silence from the massed thousands wearing replica ‘Virat’ shirts, with Willey flexing his biceps and filling the void with his own roar. He followed up with timely dismissals of KL Rahul (39) and Yadav, while Woakes and Adil Rashid also turned in encouraging performances.
With India losing four for 49 in the last 10 overs, it was hard to see what more England could have done to set up the chase but a limp batting display saw them bowled out for their lowest World Cup total since the inaugural edition in 1975.
Sean Dyche and Dominic Calvert-Lewin dedicated Everton’s 1-0 victory at West Ham to chairman Bill Kenwright.
The Toffees were playing their first match since the death of Kenwright on Monday at the age of 78.
It was a performance the lifelong Everton fan would surely have been proud of with Calvert-Lewin hitting a superb second-half winner.
“Firstly, and you can’t guarantee it, but it’s befitting to win after the week we’ve had following the sad loss of the chairman,” said Toffees boss Dyche.
“The players know the depth of the chairman’s love for the club, they’re well aware of that.”
Calvert-Lewin revealed the shock of the news affected everyone at Goodison Park.
“No-one was prepared for what happened this week and it has saddened everyone at the club. That one was for Bill,” the striker told Sky Sports.
“He would have been proud of us and proud of how we won – to get the lead, dig in and work so hard. It was a very good day.”
Calvert-Lewin, who has been beset by injuries over the past couple of seasons, looks to be finally getting back to his best.
Six minutes into the second half he played a one-two with Jack Harrison, Cruyff-turned away from Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd and hit a low shot past Alphonse Areola.
It was his 50th Premier League goal for Everton, joining Romelu Lukaku, Duncan Ferguson and Tim Cahill in reaching the half-century.
“Dom’s a very good player who’s had a tough couple of years,” added Dyche.
“He’s very close now, you can tell in his body language and it was a fine finish.
“He looks stronger, sharper. It is a really good marker for him to get to that number.”
A second away win of the season gave Everton a little more breathing space between them and the bottom three.
“This is a tough place to come, they’ve proved that over the last couple of years, so it was a very good performance,” said Dyche.
“We are improving from last season. I think there are clear signs of that.”
For West Ham, it was a third defeat in eight days following reverses at Aston Villa and in the Europa League at Olympiacos.
David Moyes picked an attacking line-up, handing Ghana winger Mohammed Kudus his first start in the Premier League, but their only shot on target came in the 90th minute through substitute Said Benrahma.
“That would be a problem for us,” said Moyes. “But, let’s be fair, that’s the first game we’ve not scored a goal in this season.
“But I agree, I thought we missed chances today, we missed two or three opportunities to score. I don’t think it was ever going to be a game where we had nine or 10 opportunities. I didn’t see it that way for either team.”
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.”
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