Sam Hoskins scored a 98th-minute equaliser as Northampton picked up their first point of the season with a dramatic 2-2 draw against Lincoln.

The visitors led 2-0 at Sixfields with only four minutes to play but Louis Appere’s smart finish and Hoskins’ dramatic strike salvaged a deserved point for the Cobblers.

Northampton made all of the early running and went close through Tyreece Simpson and Mitch Pinnock, but Lincoln struck first when Ethan Erhahon found Reeco Hackett-Fairchild and he brilliantly fired into the top corner from 20 yards.

Hoskins glanced a header onto the roof of the net in first-half stoppage-time and somehow the Cobblers were not level early in the second half when Lukas Jensen saved from Pinnock before two follow-up efforts were scrambled off the line.

Sam Sherring headed against the post from a corner and Northampton were hit by the sucker punch 12 minutes from time when Paudie O’Connor headed in Lasse Sorensen’s cross.

But the home side responded superbly as Appere finished well with just four minutes to play, and then Hoskins volleyed home with virtually the last kick of the game to rescue a fully deserved point.

Centre-back Joe Low scored twice on his first league start for Wycombe as they edged to a 3-2 win over Leyton Orient to claim their first points of the season.

Orient’s tally remains empty, however, after their third straight defeat in League One and their cause was not helped by a red card for Dan Happe in the early stages of the second half.

Wycombe had their first league goal of the campaign after 15 minutes when Low did well to reach Luke Leahy’s cross and finish into the bottom corner.

Having drawn blanks in their opening three games in all competitions, Orient finally broke their duck as Theo Archibald’s cross was firmly finished by Ruel Sotiriou.

Happe was then sent off five minutes after the restart for tugging back Dale Taylor when the last defender and Wycombe restored their lead when Low nodded in another Leahy cross in the 68th minute.

Taylor appeared to have made the game safe in the last 10 minutes by tapping in Josh Scowen’s ball across goal, but Sotiriou quickly pulled one back by squeezing an effort under Max Stryjek.

Peterborough came from behind to win 3-1 at Barnsley with an impressive second-half performance featuring goals from Hector Kyprianou, Jonson Clarke-Harris and Kwame Poku.

Barry Cotter had put the hosts in front six minutes after the break but it only served to spark the visitors into life.

Peterborough’s Ephron Mason-Clark threatened early on, forcing Liam Roberts to make a save.

At the other end, Nicholas Bilokapic was tested by Jon Russell and Nicky Cadden.

Roberts then made another important save, thwarting Randall after he was put through by Kyprianou.

The home side took the lead when Cotter sent in a low driven cross from the right which found its way into the back of the net.

Roberts made fine saves to deny Randall, Poku and Clarke-Harris before Peterborough equalised.

After 74 minutes, Peter Kioso reached the byline and pulled the ball back to Kyprianou, who fired into the far corner of the net.

Clarke-Harris struck two minutes later, netting from close-range following Poku’s scuffed shot.

Poku added a third five minutes from time, firing into the roof of the net after creating space for himself inside the area.

Mark Harris’ double gave Oxford a 2-1 win at Derby.

Harris scored in each half before Martyn Waghorn replied late on for the home side.

Oxford had the first shot on target in the 17th minute with Marcus Browne forcing Joe Wildsmith into a diving save after good build-up play.

The visitors deservedly went ahead in the 32nd minute when Curtis Nelson gave the ball away and Cameron Brannagan played in Harris to fire into the top-right corner.

Derby put Oxford under pressure early in the second half but almost conceded again in the 64th minute when Browne set up Billy Bodin whose low shot brought a great save from Wildsmith.

Oxford’s pace and quick passing was rewarded in the 72nd minute when another slick move was converted by Harris low to Wildsmith’s left.

Derby responded in the 87th minute after Oxford failed to clear a long throw and Waghorn scored from 15 yards but it was not enough to save them from a second home League One defeat.

Stevenage continued their perfect start to life in League One with a 2-1 win at Cambridge.

U’s keeper Jack Stevens was called on to push away a Finley Burns header early on, before the visitors took the lead after 27 minutes.

A long free-kick from goalkeeper Taye Ashby-Hammond was flicked on by Carl Piergianni, and Jordan Roberts nipped in to tuck the ball beyond Stevens.

Steve Evans’ team missed a huge opportunity after 62 minutes when Roberts played sub Jamie Reid through on goal, only for Stevens to produce a fine stop to deny him.

It looked like Stevenage would be made to regret that miss 10 minutes from the end when two substitutes combined for Cambridge’s equaliser.

Fejiri Okenabirhie’s shot was heading wide but was turned in at the back post by Elias Kachunga.

Parity was to last just moments though, with Reid making amends for his earlier miss with a super effort into the far corner from outside the box to win it for Stevenage.

Chelsea have agreed a fee of £53.5million to sign Romeo Lavia from Southampton, the PA news agency understands.

The midfielder made it known to his club on Monday that he favoured a move to Stamford Bridge over Liverpool, who had had a similar bid accepted, with a deal having been reached on Tuesday night for him to join the west London club.

Lavia will now undergo a medical in advance of becoming the eighth first-team signing the club have made this summer.

He made 29 Premier League appearances last season in what was his debut top-flight campaign, after joining Saints from Manchester City last summer.

PA also understands that the club have agreed to pay Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise’s £35m release clause, paving the way for the France Under-21 international to join Lavia at Stamford Bridge.

It takes Chelsea’s spending this week to over £200m following the British record capture of Brighton’s Moises Caicedo for a potential £115m on Monday.

James Tavernier’s equaliser sent Rangers into the Champions League play-offs as an improved second-half display in Switzerland saw them overcome Servette.

Tavernier’s header five minutes after the break sealed a 1-1 draw which handed Michael Beale’s side a 3-2 aggregate win.

Rangers had failed to test the home goalkeeper in the first half and might have been further behind at the interval but they were the better side after the break and had chances to win the second leg.

The result sets Rangers up for a repeat of last year’s play-off against PSV Eindhoven as the cinch Premiership runners-up bid for a second consecutive campaign in the group stages.

Beale brought Connor Goldson and Ryan Jack back into the team after resting the pair for Saturday’s league win over Livingston and the Gers manager changed his formation from the team’s usual 4-3-3 to a midfield diamond spearheaded by Todd Cantwell. Danilo and Abdallah Sima started up front.

Beale had stated they had come to Geneva to win the game and Rangers attacked in the early stages but Jose Cifuentes scuffed a left-footed effort from their first shooting chance.

The visitors were soon cut open by a slick move but Jack Butland made a brilliant stop at full stretch to deny Timothe Cognat.

The home side took the lead midway through the half. John Souttar came out second best from a challenge following a long ball and both Cifuentes and Tavernier were slow to react to the danger following a blocked shot. Dereck Kutesa had time and space to execute a glorious finish into the far top corner.

The unmarked Danilo had a brilliant chance to level on the half-hour mark but the Brazilian missed the target from inside the six-yard box following Cifuentes’ deep cross.

Servette could have gone ahead in the tie when Souttar was caught trying to play offside as Kutesa ran on to a through-ball from just inside his own half. The goalscorer forced a good stop from Butland from a tight angle but he had a team-mate completely unmarked in the middle.

Rangers maintained their formation at the start of the second half but they showed more urgency and both Nicolas Raskin and Cantwell had efforts saved before Tavernier got in front of his marker and headed home from close range after Borna Barisic whipped in a dangerous cross.

Rangers looked comfortable and Raskin was wide from a half-chance before substitute Cyriel Dessers missed two good opportunities. The Nigeria international headed over and then hit the post from eight yards after being set up by Cantwell.

Servette managed to exert some late pressure but Rangers stood firm and the hosts missed two decent chances in quick succession in stoppage time.

Beale’s side now host PSV at Ibrox in the first leg of the play-offs next Tuesday.

Beth Mead pointed to early World Cup exits for Germany and Brazil as a reminder that results trump performances after England scrapped their way to Wednesday’s semi-final meeting with Australia.

The Lionesses were far from their best in the group stage but emerged with three wins, a pattern that has continued into the knockout rounds as they narrowly edged past Nigeria and Colombia despite starting as heavy favourites to set up the meeting with the co-hosts in Sydney.

Much-fancied Germany, who Sarina Wiegman’s side beat in the European Championship final at Wembley a year ago, were surprisingly dumped out of the tournament at the first hurdle after losing to Colombia and failing to beat South Korea.

South American champions Brazil went out at the same stage after they were held to a surprise goalless draw by Jamaica, making only their second World Cup appearance, in their final game.

And Mead called for England’s critics to put the team’s own performances, which have failed to convince at times despite seeing the side progress to a third straight semi-final, in the context of illustrious rivals who failed to overcome the emerging nations of women’s football.

“You’re never going to play a perfect game every game,” she told the PA news agency whilst attending a McDonald’s Fun Football session ahead of the semi-final. McDonald’s has given 50,000 children access to free football throughout the summer.

“In the Euros, we grew into the tournament and I think it’s the same at the moment.

“We didn’t play our best game in the first two matches and still came away with two victories, in comparison to Germany or Brazil who got knocked out in the group stage. You don’t need to be firing on all cylinders if you’re winning games and getting momentum.

“But fans have an expectation of us to be playing 10 out of 10 every time we get on the football pitch. Unfortunately that’s not football. The opposition make it hard for you.

“But the girls are in a good place. We’ve made it to a semi-final and haven’t actually played our best football. It’s exciting to know they can still get to another level against Australia.”

Mead, who won the Golden Boot as the Lionesses were victorious at Euro 2022 but was ruled out of the World Cup with an ACL injury, pointed to defender Alex Greenwood as England’s standout performer at the tournament so far.

The Manchester City player has made the most interceptions of any player involved across all teams competing in Australia and New Zealand as well as the most touches and the highest number of passes.

Against Australia she is set to start in a back three alongside Chelsea pair Jess Carter and captain Millie Bright, and Mead is hopeful that the club connection will help give them the edge over fellow Blue Sam Kerr.

Australia’s all-time top scorer made her first appearance of the tournament as a late substitute during the last-16 win against Denmark after missing the group stage with a calf injury, coming off the bench once more against France, and coach Tony Gustavasson has hinted she may be used as an impact substitute against the Lionesses.

“Whether Sam Kerr is fully fit or not, she only needs one chance to score a goal,” said Mead. “The England players know that, Millie Bright plays with her every week at Chelsea and knows the ability that she has.

“She’s a player that can stay concentrated and in the game for 90 minutes, we’ve learned that the hard way over the years.

“They’ll have her locked in their sights for the full game. We need to keep her under wraps, we can’t give her a sniff on goal.

“But Alex Greenwood has made more interceptions than any other player at the tournament. She’s got a wand of a left foot and is under-rated in this team.”

Of the continued growth and popularity of the women’s game in England she added: “You can see that by the fact that McDonalds Fun Football sessions are oversubscribed by 160 per cent, it’s great to see first-hand how the next generation have been galvanised by the team.”

Dan Evans’ preparations for the US Open hit another stumbling block with a first-round defeat at the Western and Southern Open.

Evans began the US hard-court swing in sublime fashion by winning the biggest tournament of his career in Washington but lost in the first round in Toronto last week.

And he suffered another swift exit in Cincinnati, going down 6-4 6-3 to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti.

The match was supposed to be played on Monday but was cancelled due to inclement weather and Evans will be wishing the rain had returned.

It was a tough draw against the world number 18 and the first set could have gone either way.

Evans started off inconspicuously and was broken in the opening game but recovered to level at 4-4.

But the British number two immediately lost his serve as Musetti again took control.

Evans did not give up, though, and forced two break points to level at 5-5, but the Italian held him off to take the first set.

A double fault from Evans handed his opponent a break early in the second set and there was no coming back, with a second break enough to send Musetti through.

Andy Murray had been set to face 11th seed Karen Khachanov, but tournament organisers announced he had withdrawn late on Monday night because of an abdominal strain.

The former world number one had also pulled out of his last-16 match at the National Bank Open in Toronto last week.

Murray is aiming to recover in time for the US Open, which starts on August 28.

Chelsea have agreed to activate a £35million release clause in Michael Olise’s contract leaving them free to negotiate personal terms with the Crystal Palace winger, the PA news agency understands.

A deal is yet to be struck with the player but it is understood he has made it clear to Palace that he wishes to leave in order to become the latest recruit in Mauricio Pochettino’s Stamford Bridge rebuild.

The 21-year-old, who can play either as an attacking midfielder or out wide, is currently out with a hamstring injury and is unlikely to be fit before September.

Should he agree terms as expected, he will join seven other first-team recruits brought in during the transfer window so far, taking the club’s total summer spend to over £320m once performance-related add-ons are taken into account.

Southampton’s Romeo Lavia is also understood to have told his club he wishes to join Chelsea with that deal expected to go through in the coming days once a fee – likely to be in excess of £50m – has been agreed.

Chelsea, who broke the British transfer record for the second time in eight months with the signing of Brighton’s Moises Caicedo for a possible £115m on Monday, will have had a net spend of £175m once the Olise deal is finalised, with a clutch of players having been offloaded for significant fees earlier in the summer.

Olise has appeared 63 times in the Premier League for Palace since signing from Reading in 2021 and played an influential role last season in the absence of Wilfried Zaha, who spent part of the campaign injured.

Chelsea are understood still to be in the market for a goalkeeper to play back-up to Robert Sanchez after Kepa Arrizabalaga joined Real Madrid on a season-long loan on Monday.

Super-lightweight boxer Adam Azim has set his sights on becoming the first British-Pakistani undisputed world champion and wants to use his platform to inspire his community.

Azim, who is gearing up for his September 2 bout with Aram Fanyan, admitted he wants to follow the path of his childhood hero Amir Khan by being a role model to the next generation of athletes from Asian backgrounds.

The 21-year-old Azim, who boasts an 8-0-0 undefeated record, wants to become world champion at a young age like Khan, who did so in 2009 aged 22 when he beat Andriy Kotelnik in Manchester.

“Our relationship is really strong (Azim and Khan), he is like a big brother to me, he was my inspiration growing up,” Azim told the PA news agency.

“I’ve told him that ‘I want to be a young world champion just like you’ and that one day I’ll be the only British-Pakistani undisputed world champion, it will be good to become undisputed because that’s my dream, that’s my goal.

“He was a massive inspiration for me because he (Khan) was the only British-Pakistani in that era and everyone was massive fans of him because of his great hand speed and he was always in big entertaining fights.

“It’s a big thing for me (to represent British-Pakistanis) – I want to become a role model for the younger generation coming through and for both the Pakistani and British communities as well.”

Azim partnered with the Shazad Yaseen Foundation in 2022 to provide relief to impoverished areas within Tanzania.

And the Slough fighter aims to continue his charity work in less fortunate areas and wants to use his platform to launch his own “big charity organisation” in the future.

“I want to keep working hard in the ring and also help with my charity work as well,” he added.

“After this next fight I will be flying out to Africa to do some charity work, I want to be more passionate about charity work because there are a lot of unfortunate people who need food and money.

“We partnered with SYF because I really want to make a big charity organisation myself and it’s important to give back to those people who need it more.”

Azim is confident he can lead by example in the ring to inspire more young people from ethnic minority backgrounds to take up the sport.

He said: “I just need to keep fighting so more and more people watch me, I’m on the rise as a British Pakistani and there are others on the rise too so if we keep doing what we’re doing everything will improve (more diversity in the sport).”

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from August 15.

Harry Kane worked hard in Munich.

Neymar touched down in Saudi Arabia.

New surroundings for Gary Neville and the MNF team.

A post shared by Gary Neville (@gneville2)

Christian Eriksen made a young fan very happy.

Manchester City headed to Greece for the Super Cup.

Bethany England was preparing for the World Cup semi-final.

Shots fired!

George Russell was living his best life in the summer break.

Valtteri Bottas was out enjoying a bike ride.

Frank Bruno wants a happy breakfast show.

Respect from Campbell Hatton.