Calvin Austin scored two touchdowns, including a tie-breaking 73-yard punt return in the third quarter, to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 26-18 victory over the New York Giants on Monday.

Austin also hauled in a 29-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson that gave the Steelers a 23-9 lead with 13:16 left to play. Pittsburgh (6-2) also received 114 rushing yards from Najee Harris and four field goals from Chris Boswell to win its third straight game and retain first place in the AFC North. 

Wilson, meanwhile, delivered another solid performance in his second start since missing the season's first six games with a calf injury. The veteran quarterback completed 20 of 28 passes for 278 yards and no interceptions.

Tyrone Tracy rushed for a career-high 145 yards on 20 carries and had a 45-yard touchdown run for the Giants, who had a chance to tie the game late after getting to the Pittsburgh 35-yard line in the final minute.

Daniel Jones overthrew a pass for Devin Singletary, however, as the Steelers' Beanie Bishop came up with an interception that sealed the victory and handed New York (2-6) a third straight loss.

Greg Joseph kicked four field goals for the Giants, including three in the first half to match Boswell as the teams went into half-time tied at 9-9.

Austin broke the deadlock, however, with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter. The wide receiver fielded a punt at his own 27-yard line, broke free down the left sideline and out-sprinted all pursuers to record the Steelers' first punt return touchdown since 2019.

Wilson's touchdown strike to Austin early in the fourth put Pittsburgh up by two scores, but Tracy broke off his lone touchdown run on the following possession to bring New York within 23-15 with 11:07 left. The Giants failed on the two-point conversion try, though, as Jones' short pass intended for Malik Nabers was broken up.

Jones finished 24 of 38 for 264 yards with the late interception. Darius Slayton led New York receivers with 108 yards on four catches, while Nabers had seven catches totaling 71 yards.

Aitana Bonmati said she is aiming to win more titles with Barcelona after scooping her second Ballon d'Or Feminin award on Monday. 

Bonmati won the 2023 award after helping her club triumph in the Spanish top flight and Women's Champions League, along with leading Spain to their first Women's World Cup.

The Spaniard continued her fine form for club and country the following year, winning every possible trophy at club level last season as Barca secured a historic quadruple.

She was also part of the Spain side that followed up their World Cup success by winning the first edition of the Women's Nations League, scoring in the final against France. 

Bonmati's success sees her follow club and international team-mate Alexia Putellas in winning back-to-back Ballons d'Or.

But having won 23 different trophies in her time with Barca's senior side, placing her eighth in the all-time ranking for most titles with the Spanish club, Bonmati still wants more.

"What are my dreams? I always say that what makes me be here and what makes the team win medals is our mindset," she said. 

"As long as we continue to be ambitious and keep pushing and fighting, we will continue to win titles."

"I'm so proud to be a part of Barcelona - it's a unique and wonderful club," Bonmati added. 

"I'm so thankful because the club has given me everything since I was 14, and I hope to keep winning titles for them."

It was also a memorable evening for Emma Hayes, who won the first Women's Johan Cruyff Trophy after her sensational year with Chelsea and the United States. 

Hayes steered Chelsea to a fifth consecutive Women's Super League (WSL) title last season, ending her 12-year stint with the Blues on a high.

She then guided the USWNT to gold at the Paris Olympics, claiming the 17th major honour of her glittering career. 

Hayes was not in attendance at the ceremony but recorded a video message, saying she was "embarrassed" about receiving the award.

"I just want to say I'm very honoured to be awarded the first Ballon d'Or for a coach in the women's game. Me and my family are very proud," Hayes said.

"I understand how challenging our work is. I feel a little embarrassed because we're in a team game.

"I've been so honoured to coach such incredible people at Chelsea and the United States."

Rodri is confident that Spain team-mate Lamine Yamal will win the Ballon d'Or in the future after claiming the prestigious award for the first time on Monday. 

Rodri beat off competition from Real Madrid duo Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham to claim the accolade, becoming the first Spaniard to win the prize since 1960. 

Yamal also picked up an award after a stellar year for club and country, winning the Kopa Trophy, which is given to the best to the best player under the age of 21.

The 17-year-old netted seven goals and added nine assists in his debut season with Barca, while also starring in Spain's European Championship success alongside Rodri.

Yamal was named the Young Player of the Tournament at Euro 2024 after registering five goal involvements (one goal, four assists), including an assist in the final. 

During his acceptance speech, Rodri made sure to acknowledge Spain's rising star, saying: "You will win one of these trophies one day my friend. "Keep working hard."

The Manchester City midfielder also became the first player to win football's most prestigious individual prize while playing for an English club since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008.

He played an integral role in City's fourth consecutive Premier League title triumph, with Pep Guardiola's side not tasting defeat in the 34 league games that Rodri featured in. 

"A very special day, for me, my family and my country," Rodri said. "I'd like to tell you an anecdote the story that led me here. 

"When I was 17-years-old, I packed up my suitcases and I went to Villarreal with a dream to work in the Premier League. 

"One day I called my father crying telling him it was all over and that I had invested my life to get here and I had the feeling that, this was it.

"My father said we had come all the way here, let's keep going and this is something that changed my mindset and now, here I am.

"I am a normal boy who never gets carried away with stereotypes. Hard work is what matters."

The Spaniard is out of action for the rest of the season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury against Arsenal back in September. 

Rodri was helped up on stage by Didier Drogba to claim the accolade, with the midfielder having arrived at the ceremony on crutches, and provided an update on his recovery.

"I am just trying to take care of myself. Rest, enjoy the free time with my family and come back stronger," he says.

While many expected Vinicius Junior to be crowned the world's best player at Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony, there was a late twist as Manchester City's Rodri took the prize.

The honour – considered the most prestigious individual gong in world football – comes after Rodri placed fifth in the voting for the 2023 edition, won by Lionel Messi.

Since 2022, voting for the award has been based off contenders' performances in the previous season, with Rodri rewarded for a 2023-24 campaign in which he led City to Premier League glory before shining in Spain's Euro 2024 triumph.

Here, we delve into the Opta data to see how the midfielder came to be recognised as the world's best player.

Season unbeaten

Rodri's importance to Pep Guardiola's all-conquering City side is well-established, but the 2023-24 campaign saw it made clear like never before.

City did not taste defeat in the 34 Premier League games in which Rodri featured, winning 27 and drawing seven. When Rodri was absent, they only won one of four matches, losing the other three.

The champions averaged 2.6 goals per game with Rodri involved compared to 1.5 without him, also conceding 0.9 times per outing with the Spaniard and 1.3 times without him. 

They collected 2.6 points per game when Rodri featured, compared to 0.8 when he did not – that latter tally would equate to 30.4 over a full 38-game campaign, just more than 18th-placed Luton Town's tally of 26 from 2023-24.

Each of City's last four Premier League defeats have come when Rodri was absent, with the Spaniard now unbeaten in an incredible 52 top-flight appearances (42 wins, 10 draws) since a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham in February 2023. 

It is no wonder, then, that City were so devastated to lose him to the anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered in September's 2-2 draw with Arsenal, ending his 2024-25 season prematurely.

The driving force

Rodri has long been viewed as the glue holding City's talented midfield together, but 2023-24 felt like the moment when he stepped up to become a real matchwinner.

Having decided the 2023 Champions League final in City's favour with his goal against Inter, Rodri enjoyed the most prolific season of his career last term.

His eight league goals bettered his previous best of seven from 2021-22, while he also managed nine assists – also his highest in any campaign across Europe's top five leagues. 

He finished with nine goals and 13 assists across all competitions. Just Erling Haaland (38), Phil Foden (27), Julian Alvarez (19) and Bernardo Silva (12) outscored him for City, while only Kevin De Bruyne (17) registered more assists. Not bad for a defensive midfielder.

Rodri also enhanced his reputation as a big-game player with several decisive strikes, from a vital equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea to a result-clinching drive against West Ham on the final day, as City edged out Arsenal for the title.

He also did his job in terms of keeping things ticking over, setting new Premier League records (from 2003-04 onwards) for successful passes (3,359) and successful passes in the opposition’s half (2,122) in a single season.

First for City, fourth for La Roja

Rodri's Ballon d'Or triumph is the first by any City player, with Erling Haaland notably missing out to Messi in 2023. It also ends a 16-year wait for a Premier League player to claim the prize, with Cristiano Ronaldo the last to do so while with Manchester United in 2008.

Having been named Player of the Tournament as Spain claimed a record-breaking fourth European crown at Euro 2024, Rodri also made his mark on the international stage.

He is the first Spanish player to win football's top individual honour since 1960, and just the third to do so overall.

Real Madrid icon Alfredo Di Stefano won the prize twice after switching allegiance from Argentina, in 1957 and 1959.

This year's award was also notable for the absence of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo from the 30-man shortlist, and Rodri is just the third player from outside that duo to claim the trophy since 2008, alongside Luka Modric in 2018 and Karim Benzema in 2022.

He and Modric are the only non-attackers, meanwhile, to triumph since 2007, when Kaka edged out Ronaldo and Messi to be recognised as the world's best.

Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmati scooped the Ballon d'Or Feminin for a second successive year following more club and international success last season. 

Bonmati fought off competition from Barcelona team-mates Caroline Graham Hansen and Salma Paralluelo as well as Lyon's Ada Hegerberg to win the prize. 

The Spaniard enjoyed another stellar year, helping Barca to the Women's Champions League crown, scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Lyon in the final.

She finished with the most goal involvements (11, six goals and five assists) in last season's competition.

Bonmati made 41 appearances in all competitions, scoring 19 goals from midfield and setting up 17 more.

She was also part of the Spain side that followed up their World Cup success by winning the first edition of the Women's Nations League, scoring in the final against France. 

Her success sees her follow club and international team-mate Alexia Putellas in winning back-to-back Ballons d'Or.

Hansen finished as the runner-up, with Paralluelo coming third, making it a Barca top three in Paris. 

The first Women's Johan Cruyff Trophy was won by former Chelsea boss and current United States head coach, Emma Hayes. 

Hayes ended her 12-year stint with the Blues at the end of last season, and went out on the back of clinching her seventh Women's Super League title.

The 48-year-old then led the USWNT to glory in her first tournament in charge, with her side claiming gold at the Paris Olympics.

Spanish and European champions Barca, unsurprisingly, retained the Women's Club of the Year, having won the inaugural award in 2023.

Lewis Hamilton insisted that he had no doubts that Mercedes team-mate George Russell would race cleanly in their battle at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday. 

Hamilton finished the race in fourth, one place ahead of Russell, the seven-time world champion's best finish since winning the Belgian Grand Prix back in July. 

The pair started fifth and sixth respectively, but swapped places on the opening lap, before Russell regained the initiative on Lap 14.

They each moved up a place through the pit stop phase, with Max Verstappen losing ground by serving two 10-second penalties, and Hamilton then closed in on Russell.

Hamilton shadowed Russell before eventually making the move stick into Turn 1 on Lap 65, climbing up into fourth position.

“It’s pretty straightforward, I don't think either of us are silly,” Hamilton said on his battle with his team-mate.

“George is really smart, and is fair, and he's just really good at where he places his car, and I think for me too.

"So when [the team] comes on the radio and says, keep it clean, it's like, ‘of course.’

"It's not really different to when you're fighting anyone else, except for it is your team mate, so you have to be double careful because you both want to finish.”

“It was fun, I had fun today,” Hamilton added. “I had a good start, I had a really bad first stint, took too much front wing out of the car, I had massive, massive understeer.

“After my stop, I was able to rectify it, and then after that I had a much better pace, and I was able to push and keep going.

"We stopped a little bit early as well, compared to what I had planned and stuff. We got good points.”

Hamilton will, however, hope to do better in Brazil this time around, having scored more points (185) than any other driver on the current grid around the Interlagos circuit. 

Russell, meanwhile, ensured Mercedes claimed a double top-five finish and was happy with his finish after crashing in FP2 on Friday. 

“I mean the pace looked pretty strong in the first stint but when I came out the pits behind Piastri, I pulled out down the straight and my front left flap just collapsed,” Russell said.

“I hit this bump so that probably cost me three or four tenths for the remainder of the race, so it was tricky to hold on for 40 laps. P5, probably would have taken that after Friday.”

Mario Balotelli has completed a sensational return to Serie A four years after leaving Brescia, joining Genoa on a free transfer. 

Balotelli, who has 52 goals in 141 appearances in the Italian top-flight, has been without a club since the end of last season after departing Turkish Super Lig side Adana Demirspor.

The 34-year-old joins a struggling Genoa who currently sit in the bottom three in Serie A after managing just six points from their first nine games this term. 

Alberto Gilardino's side have also scored just seven goals this season, with only bottom club Lecce (three) scoring fewer.

"I am pumped. I don’t want to talk much. I just want to get started," Balotelli said earlier on Monday. "I'll give it my all," he added, addressing the fans.

Genoa became the fourth Serie A side Balotelli has played for, having signed for Inter from Lumezzane in 2007, going on to win six major honours for the Nerazzurri. 

After a three-year stint with Manchester City, where he won the Premier League, he returned to Italy for Inter's rivals Milan in 2013, rejoining them on loan in 2015 from Liverpool.

Balotelli has since had stays in France, Turkey and Switzerland, but is now hoping to help Genoa stay in Serie A.

And the Italian could make his debut for the club on Thursday, with Fiorentina the visitors to the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris. 

Bruno Fernandes led the tributes for departing Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag after his two-year stint at Old Trafford came to an end on Monday. 

Ten Hag was relieved of his duties after Sunday's controversial 2-1 defeat to West Ham, leaving the Red Devils 14th in the Premier League table after nine games.

The 54-year-old was only rewarded a new contract ahead of the new campaign after leading United to an FA Cup triumph over rivals Manchester City - his second trophy in as many seasons after winning the EFL Cup the previous year.

Fernandes played a starring role in those successes, and was a key figure in Ten Hag's side. 

The United captain played more games (120) in all competitions under Ten Hag than any other player, while only Marcus Rashford (42) scored more times during the Dutchman's tenure than Fernandes (29). 

"Thanks for everything boss," Fernandes wrote on Instagram. "I appreciate the trust and the moments we share together. I wish you all the best in the future.

"Even knowing the last period hasn’t been great from all of us I hope you fans can keep with you the good things the manager has done for our club!"

Kobbie Mainoo also expressed his gratitude to his former boss, having been handed his senior United debut by Ten Hag in an EFL Cup tie against Charlton Athletic in January 2023.

“Thank you for your trust and belief in me and for giving me the opportunity to play with my boyhood club," Mainoo posted to Instagram. “I wish you all the best for the future”.

Alejandro Garnacho, another player given his first outing for the Red Devils by Ten Hag, also wished the Dutchman well in his next adventure.

"Thank you for everything, boss," Garnacho said. "I will always be grateful to you for giving me the opportunity and the confidence to play for this club.

"It hasn't gone as well as we wanted, but I will remember the good times we had together, and I wish you all the best in the future. Thank you very much Erik."

Ten Hag managed 128 games in all competitions during his time at Old Trafford, winning 72 (D20 L36). 

Only David Moyes (32.4%) lost a higher percentage of his Premier League games as United manager than Ten Hag (31.8%).

United confirmed that Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge as interim head coach during the club's search for a permanent replacement.

Paulo Fonseca believes Milan's early-season rhythm has been disrupted following the late postponement of their Serie A fixture at Bologna last weekend. 

The match, scheduled to take place at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Saturday, was postponed 24 hours before kick-off after heavy rain and flooding in the region.

After failing to win their first three league matches, Milan have since taken 12 points from their next five games, propelling them up the standings after a difficult start. 

But with the Rossoneri not in action over the weekend, they dropped to eighth in the Serie A table ahead of facing leaders Napoli on Tuesday.

"It was tricky to manage this moment. On the eve of the game, we trained without knowing whether we’d play or not the following day," Fonseca said. 

"We wanted to play, and I think we’ve been affected by not playing in this match."

Napoli come into the game on the back of a 1-0 triumph over Lecce, with Giovanni Di Lorenzo's 73rd minute strike sealing a seventh win of the campaign. 

Antonio Conte's side are now unbeaten in their last eight league games, their best run since a run of eight straight wins in February 2023 under Luciano Spalletti.

They have also kept five clean sheets in their last six games, as many as in their previous 34 Serie A matches. 

"As the table shows, Napoli are a strong team at a good moment. They are the table leaders and will be motivated to face us," Fonseca said.

"We are also motivated to play this match against a very strong team that has won games comfortably."

Milan, however, have won just one of their last nine meetings against Napoli whent he fixture has been played in the first half of a Serie A campaign (D2 L6). 

Despite his side's league position after nine games so far, Fonseca believes Milan can win a 20th Scudetto title under his guidance.

"The fans must believe because we are a strong team and we are improving. We think we can fight for the Scudetto," he said.

The first managerial departure of the 2024-25 Premier League season has come, with Erik ten Hag leaving his role at Manchester United.

United's decision to dismiss Ten Hag came after the Red Devils slumped to a 2-1 defeat at West Ham on Sunday, leaving them 14th in the table.

Elsewhere, Liverpool and Arsenal shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw, Manchester City downed Southampton, Chelsea beat Newcastle United and Brentford came out on top in a seven-goal thriller against Ipswich Town.

Late goals also ruled the roost this past weekend. There were five games to have a final result-altering goal scored in the 90th minute (or later) in the Premier League this weekend, the most across a single matchday in the competition's history.

But what do the underlying metrics tell us? 

Unlucky losers: Fulham

Fulham took a point away from Goodison Park on Saturday, but Marco Silva thought his team deserved two more. 

And it is fair to say Everton were largely second-best, with Beto's last-gasp equaliser sparring Sean Dyche's team.

Fulham, who took the lead through Alex Iwobi, registered 1.26 expected goals (xG) to Everton's 0.79 and had 14 shots to their hosts' 10. That being said, perhaps Silva's side only have themselves to blame - they converted only 7.14% of their shots and got only three attempts on target.

Lucky winners: Bournemouth

Evanilson's late header secured a 1-1 draw for Bournemouth at Aston Villa, and though the Cherries could point to some potential penalty decisions going against them, it is fair to say the metrics suggest they were fortunate to avoid defeat.

Only Southampton (0.21) mustered a lower xG than Bournemouth's 0.31 across the fixtures in the top flight this past weekend.

Villa, on the other hand, registered 1.81 xG - the fifth-highest total in the division across the games - while Mark Travers was exceptional in the Bournemouth goal.

He made seven saves to keep Villa at bay, bar Ross Barkley's opener. Indeed, Villa's 3.23 expected goals on target (xGoT) was more than any other team in matchweek nine, so Travers finished with a goals-prevented figure of 2.23.

Andoni Iraola's team certainly rode their luck.

Unlucky losers: Man Utd

Ten Hag's time is up, though the Dutchman was fuming about a contentious penalty decision that ultimately settled the match in West Ham's favour.

When discounting the xG from that penalty, West Ham finished with 2.21 xG - just less than United's 2.34.

United had 18 shots and five big chances (the second-most after Brentford across the weekend's matches), but failed to put those opportunities away, apart from Casemiro's close-range header.

The soft defence that plagued Ten Hag's tenure, though, ultimately came back to bite them yet again.

Gary Neville believes Erik ten Hag's lack of a consistent playing style or identity was his biggest failure at Manchester United and expects another painful rebuild at Old Trafford.

Ten Hag was sacked after just over two years at the helm on Monday, in the wake of Sunday's demoralising 2-1 defeat at West Ham.

That loss left United 14th in the Premier League table with just 11 points from nine matches. Only under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019-20 (10) have they had fewer at this stage of a campaign.

Former United right-back Neville, who defended Ten Hag when his position was questioned following an eighth-place finish last term, now concedes the Dutchman failed to oversee any significant progress in terms of results or style.

Asked whether Ten Hag should have departed in pre-season, when he instead penned a new contract, Neville told Sky Sports: "Those that felt it should have happened will feel they've been proven right.

"However, there were hundreds of thousands, even millions, of fans who wanted to continue with Ten Hag, to give him a chance to succeed under a new structure.

"The shock for me has been how bad they've been with the new signings coming in, with Ten Hag having some stability. To be 14th is unacceptable with that level of spend.

"I think the lack of identity or style has been a real mystery for the last two and a half seasons.

"Even though the recruitment has been awful at times, I do believe there's a group of players there that can play a lot better than they are, if you put an identity into them.

"Yesterday I was shocked to see Casemiro and Christian Eriksen in midfield with [Manuel] Ugarte on the bench. If I was an owner, I'd be asking questions around that.

"It's a real struggle watching United play and that hasn't changed in 18 months, that's been as big a problem as the results."

United struggled for control throughout Ten Hag's reign, with their 136 expected goals against (xGA) since the start of 2022-23 the fifth-worst figure of all ever-present Premier League clubs.

They have also underperformed their underlying attacking figures by a greater margin than any other top-flight team this term, scoring eight times from 14.56 xG.

United also faced 1,739 shots in their 128 games under Ten Hag. Since 2022-23, Manchester City have faced 717 fewer shots than the Red Devils despite playing six more games in that time.

Former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was appointed as an assistant to Ten Hag in July, will now take charge on an interim basis.

Neville, however, does not expect much to change in the short term and feels no player should be guaranteed a place when the club appoints a permanent successor.

"He could set the team up differently, but he's been on the bench with Ten Hag so I'd be amazed if something drastic happened," Neville said of his former team-mate. 

"A lot of work needs to be done with those players. Erik ten Hag couldn't get performances out of them and a lot of those players are his players.

"They're not good enough but they are better than 14th, they're probably better than sixth. The new manager that comes in should probably be made to work with these players for seven or eight months to work them out, to figure out who they want to keep close."

Jordi Fernandez labelled his first NBA triumph as "special" after watching his Brooklyn Nets side upset Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks 115-102 on Sunday.

Fernandez's team outworked the Bucks for four quarters, forcing 18 turnovers and grabbing 12 offensive rebounds while attempting 17 more field goals than their opponents.

Cam Thomas and Dennis Schroder starred in the victory, scoring 61 points between them, handing the rookie head coach a maiden win at the third attempt. 

Fernandez is the first Spanish-born head coach in NBA history, with the result marking the end of a 15-year journey through the ranks. 

He started with the Canton Charge in the G League, then becoming an assistant for both the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings before his move to the Nets in April. 

"It's very special to come all the way from starting from the bottom in the NBA, and working really hard and move up, and move up, and some good moments, some tough moments, different teams, friends, memories," Fernandez said.

"And it's really cool now you look and you have to enjoy this moment because there's only one time that you're a head coach and win a game.

"On the other end, I also feel like, what's the next step? And we've got to move on to the next thing and I want to be in this league, I want to be with this club for a long time."