Antonio Conte apologised to Napoli's supporters after his side were humbled 3-0 at Verona in Serie A, taking responsibility for Sunday's opening loss.
Conte and Napoli endured a dreadful start to the campaign as Verona scored three goals in the second half, with the 2023 Scudetto champions unable to prevent the hosts from creating a plethora of chances.
Dailon Livramento opened the scoring after 50 minutes before a late double from substitute Daniel Mosquera condemned Conte to a torrid start in his first game back in charge of Napoli.
"We immediately let Verona have a shot at the start of the second half, and in the second instance we went behind," Conte told Sky Sports Italia.
"Then we melted like snow in the sun. What I feel like saying is that we should apologise to the Neapolitan supporters, who follow us with such passion. I am the coach and it is right that I take full responsibility."
Conte acknowledged serious work would be needed to bring Napoli up to the standard he aimed for.
"[It was] a performance that shows we need to work hard in every aspect," the Italian added. "I came to Napoli with lots of enthusiasm, with great desire. If I can help Napoli, I will."
The 55-year-old coach is desperate to seek additional reinforcements before the transfer window closes.
"On the market, one, two, three, four could arrive, as many as the club want to sign," the former Chelsea manager continued. "The problems must be faced head-on, and they are not necessarily easy issues to fix."
That transfer frustration may centre around Victor Osimhen, who appears set to leave Naples, as the striker's exit continues to block Conte from adding to his squad.
"This is a question you should ask the club and not me," Conte said of Osimhen's future. "I see that Osimhen has trained separately. You should ask the club, absolutely not me.
"I said it straight away, I was a spectator on this matter. But beyond a single player, you definitely need to have a different attitude, with more personality, more desire."
Thomas Frank revealed that Ivan Toney is not on the verge of leaving Brentford despite his absence from the Bees' squad against Crystal Palace.
Frank left Toney out of his squad for Brentford's Premier League opener on Sunday.
The Dane said that decision was due to transfer speculation concerning the England forward, whose absence was ultimately not felt too keenly as Brentford claimed a 2-1 win.
The 28-year-old has caught the attention of a number of English sides and teams in the Saudi Pro League, but Frank was quick to quash any rumours that suggested he was on the brink of departing.
Asked whether Toney was on the cusp of a move, Frank replied: "No, it’s not close.”
However, Frank still seemed resigned to Toney eventually leaving.
Asked by BBC Radio 5 Live if it was a matter of when and not if Toney left, he said: "Yes, I guess that's fair."
Losing Toney, who has scored 72 goals in 141 appearances for the Bees since joining in 2020, would be a huge blow, but Frank is confident other players can step up.
He said: "I think Ivan is a top player. He has been a top player and one of our best players, if not the best player over a long spell.
"All the top players in the Premier League, one day they will leave the club and someone will have to step up and do well."
Enzo Maresca wants Raheem Sterling to stay at Stamford Bridge but acknowledged Chelsea must trim their bloated squad.
Sterling was omitted from the matchday squad as the Blues started their 2024-25 Premier League campaign with a 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City.
The England international had featured in the first match across the last 11 league seasons for Chelsea and former clubs City and Liverpool.
Sterling's representatives issued a statement prior to kick-off on Sunday seeking "clarity" after the 29-year-old was left in the cold, along with Trevoh Chalobah, Romelu Lukaku and Conor Gallagher.
Maresca said prior to the match that the decision was based on "technical" aspects, and reiterated that sentiment in his post-match conference – though conceded outgoing transfers are needed.
"The only thing I can say again is it's a technical decision, it's nothing more than that," said Maresca after his first league game in charge of the Blues.
"I want Raheem Sterling, but I want all the 30 players that we have, but there's no space for all of them. So, for some of them, they have to leave."
The statement surrounding Sterling's future had disappointed numerous pundits before Chelsea's opening-game clash with City, who won thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Jamie Redknapp urged Sterling to "play better" and "just get on with it", while former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher had a similar conclusion.
"Massive fan of Raheem as a player and a lad," Carragher wrote on social media platform X. "Not a fan of the Chelsea setup with [the] owners, but this statement is ridiculous!
"As a camp... We look forward to gaining clarity! No need for a statement, especially an hour before kick-off! Just play better."
Ben Chilwell, Axel Disasi, Armando Broja and Carney Chukwuemeka were all absent from the Chelsea match squad, too, leaving Maresca with more decisions to make over players' futures.
"Axel is only just coming back from an injury, while Chilly [Chilwell] has been ill," the former Leicester City boss added, having previously said Chilwell is a likely candidate to leave.
"Every case is a bit different. Carney, he's a very good player but with his injuries in the past the best thing for him is to play 30, 35 games in a row and to show himself he's fit and how good he is.
"With us, is he going to play 35 games? I'm not sure."
Jordan Spieth plans to have surgery on his troublesome wrist injury as soon as possible, the American said after his disappointing FedEx Cup playoffs exit.
The three-time major champion could only finish nine-over par at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, leaving him towards the bottom of the leaderboard and well short of the top-10 position required to progress.
Spieth has battled with a wrist issue for over a year, having first suffered the injury ahead of the 2023 PGA Championship before attempting various treatments to avoid going under the knife.
Yet the 31-year-old has acknowledged surgery is now needed, hoping to get the issue with his left hand resolved.
"I've got to have it operated on ASAP, and then I'll go through the process of what I'm supposed to do from there," Spieth said on Sunday.
The tendon issue has shown no signs of healing, with Spieth expecting a three-month recovery period for his wrist to heal.
"If I don't have a reason to try to rush back – which I don't – I'll probably just take it as slow as I can," he added.
Spieth has failed to make the cut eight times this year in 21 tournaments, though Sunday was just the second instance he has not managed to progress past the first round of the FedEx Cup.
"I kept trying not to make excuses for myself because it didn't hurt when I was swinging," Spieth said.
"But it doesn't seem coincidental based on the amount of time, and really the results being the exact same every single week. So I'm very hopeful.
"I think there's some clarity in getting it done. There's also some uncertainty, and so it's a little scary.
"But also, if I can learn to find some patience – which I'm not very good at doing – then I think I could come back stronger."
Napoli's Serie A season began in calamitous fashion on Sunday as they were thrashed 3-0 by Verona, also losing star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to injury.
Antonio Conte, overseeing his first league game in charge of the 2023 Scudetto winners, was forced to withdraw Kvaratskhelia just before half-time after the Georgian collided with Pawel Dawidowicz.
Napoli's problems mounted after the break when Dailon Livramento got in front of their defence to slot home from close range and give the hosts the lead.
The nightmare continued for Napoli after 75 minutes as substitute Daniel Mosquera received a throughball and calmly slotted his finish past Alex Meret.
With Napoli throwing men forward late on, Verona added some gloss to the scoreline as Mosquera claimed his brace, tapping home a cutback from Darko Lazovic for his brace.
Data Debrief: Conte's perfect record ends
After a dismal 2023-24 season that saw Napoli, as defending champions, go through three head coaches and finish 10th in Serie A, hopes were high that Conte's arrival would herald an instant upturn.
However, the Partenopei were stunned in his first league game at the helm, as he started a season as a Serie A manager with a defeat for the very first time.
He had previously registered five wins and one draw on matchday one in the competition.
Enzo Maresca insisted Chelsea were equal to the masterful Manchester City in the aftermath of Sunday's 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian started his Blues tenure with a loss as Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic scored in either half for the Premier League champions in their 2024-25 opener.
Chelsea mustered 1.23 expected goals (xG), however, to City's 0.82 and almost drew level when Nicolas Jackson had a strike ruled out for offside on the stroke of half-time.
Jackson was again denied by Ederson after the interval, while Enzo Fernandez's cross would have found debutant Pedro Neto for a tap-in if not for Rico Lewis' late intervention.
Former Leicester City boss Maresca believes his side matched City's efforts, yet the game was decided by the quality of Pep Guardiola's team in both boxes.
"I think we competed very well for much of the game," former City development coach Maresca told Sky Sports. "We were similar if not better.
"The performance was there but we didn't take the chances. Probably the big difference was inside the box. I'm quite happy in terms of performance.
"For me, the important thing is to create chances. We didn't score but we created chances. The first goal for them was almost offside, we almost scored.
"These things change results but the performance was good overall. It was quite clear, you can see a team trying to keep the ball and dominate.
"We were against the champions. We will continue and win games. They are a master in this kind of moment.
"They are a master of keeping hold of the ball. The performance was there and that is the main thing. You can see how they managed the ball.
"In terms of chances, we had the same. Keeping the ball was more or less there. We don't like to lose. We just need to continue."
Maresca's maiden match in charge at Stamford Bridge was clouded by his decision to leave out Raheem Sterling, whose representatives then issued a statement demanding "clarity" over the forward's future.
Sterling had featured on the opening matchday of the last 11 Premier League seasons for Liverpool, City and Chelsea, but was omitted from the squad along with Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku and Conor Gallagher.
Maresca insisted the decision was based off "technical" aspects before the game, and reiterated that sentiment following the disappointing defeat.
"To be honest, I didn't see the statement," Maresca said. "I have nothing to say. It was a tactical decision, no more than that.
"In the next day, we will clarify in case we need to. I have been clear, it's a tactical decision. I didn't see it."
Erling Haaland is aiming to become a better all-round forward in the 2024-25 campaign after starting the season with a goal in Manchester City's 2-0 win over Chelsea.
Haaland put City ahead after 18 minutes at Stamford Bridge, taking in Bernardo Silva's pass and bursting between two challenges before clipping a neat finish over Robert Sanchez.
The Norwegian had previously started both of his Premier League campaigns with City by scoring a brace, against West Ham in 2022-23 and Burnley in 2023-24.
He is the sixth player to score his team's first goal in three different Premier League seasons and the second to do so for City, after David Silva (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16).
Across the last three seasons, Haaland has also scored two more Premier League goals in the month of August (13) than Chelsea have managed as a team (11), and four more than rivals Manchester United have netted (nine).
Haaland had a long pre-season to prepare for 2024-25 following Norway's failure to reach Euro 2024, but he says he is still finding his feet.
"Three points, it's a perfect start, the first games are always hard for everyone, it doesn't matter if you had a pre-season or not," Haaland told Sky Sports.
"I had a long pre-season but I don't feel perfect, I'm not in the perfect state. It's good to get that win.
"I knew exactly what to do, I think it was a really good goal. I remember last year he [Sanchez] made a really good save against me, it had been irritating me for a long time, so yeah, it was a perfect goal."
Haaland has now been directly involved in 106 goals in 100 appearances for City across all competitions, with Sunday's opener being his 91st goal for the club (15 assists).
However, the Norwegian has been criticised by some pundits over a perceived lack of contributions outside the penalty area, and he has made improving his overall game a key target.
"The best players are the best on the easiest things. Touching it with your right and passing with your left. That's the important thing. Pep [Guardiola] says this all the time," he added.
"I want to get more involved, that's what Pep wants. But in games like this, do I need to be that much more involved?
"That's the million-dollar question. I want to get more assists and become a better player."
Pep Guardiola was left both relieved and pleased as Manchester City overcame Chelsea on Sunday to banish last season's Stamford Bridge demons.
City and the Blues played out a chaotic 4-4 draw in the corresponding fixture last term, but no such issues were present on matchday one of 2024-25 as Guardiola's side kicked off with three points.
Erling Haaland delivered a well-taken opener on his 100th competitive appearance for City, with his 91st goal for the club paving the way for a routine triumph.
Mateo Kovacic put the result beyond all doubt six minutes from time, powering forward before steering an eye-catching finish into the top-left corner against his former club.
With key midfielder Rodri absent after a late return to training and Phil Foden only fit enough to appear from the bench, Guardiola was satisfied to see his team pass their first test of the campaign.
"I didn't expect it. We are away from our best so three points is the good news. The bad news is we have 65 games ahead of us," he told Sky Sports after the full-time whistle.
"We have an advantage, it's our ninth season together so we know each other well. Of course, there are mistakes you have to improve on but we talked, the difference in being champions was our body language, how did we behave?
"It's the bad moments in the season and in the games that define the big teams. For me, it is an honour to be in charge of these guys. I'm so fortunate, I could not say more.
"There is a plan, defensive, offensive. But afterwards, it's how we celebrate the good moments and come back from the bad moments.
"That's what defines these teams and no one talks about it. For a while, we could never win at Stamford Bridge – this is a big step."
Across the last three seasons, Haaland has scored two more Premier League goals in August (13) than Chelsea have managed as a team (11), and four more than rivals Manchester United have scored (nine).
The Norway striker could have had a second after the break if not for a smart Robert Sanchez stop, before his foul on Levi Colwill saw a finish from the impressive Rico Lewis disallowed.
Yet a routine victory was hardly expected for the visitors, considering they started without Rodri, whose influence on Guardiola's team remains seismic.
Prior to this clash, City had lost just six of 102 matches when Rodri had started since the start of the 2022-23 season, as many defeats as they had suffered in 18 games without him.
Guardiola warned records are there to be broken, however, as the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss hailed the influence of Rodri's replacement Kovacic.
"Be careful with statistics with us because we break it," Guardiola told BBC's Match of the Day.
"Rodri is massively important for us so it's important to have Mateo here because he is an experienced player and a great person. He made a good performance."
Aryna Sabalenka reached the Cincinnati Open final for the first time by toppling Iga Swiatek, clinching an impressive 6-3 6-3 victory over the world number one.
Sabalenka needed one hour and 48 minutes to beat Swiatek and book a final meeting with either Jessica Pegula or Paula Badosa.
The Belarusian entered Saturday's heavyweight clash having lost on all three of her previous semi-final appearances at Cincinnati, falling short of the showpiece match in 2018, 2022 and 2023.
However, she produced a fine performance to end that hoodoo on Sunday, preying on a below-par showing from Swiatek, who won just six of 30 points on her second serve throughout.
Sabalenka made her intentions clear by breaking to love in the second game of the encounter, and though Swiatek hit straight back, another break in the sixth game was enough to hand her the opening set.
Both players were tested on their own serve in the second set, with Sabalenka saving four of five break points faced while converting three of 13 she generated on Swiatek's serve.
Swiatek saved a remarkable 10 match points, eight of them against her own serve, as Sabalenka was forced to clinch her victory the hard way, but a fifth break of the match finally got her over the line.
Sabalenka has now made five WTA Tour-level finals in 2024, the joint-most alongside Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.
Data Debrief: Another big scalp for Sabalenka
Sabalenka's victory was her fourth over a world number one at WTA 1000-level events since the format's 2009 introduction, the joint-most of any player alongside Petra Kvitova.
She has now reached a total of 29 WTA Tour-level finals, the most of any player on the tour since 2017 (Swiatek is second with 26).
Manchester City opened their Premier League title defence with little trouble after sweeping aside Chelsea with a 2-0 away victory on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola's team are chasing a record-extending fifth consecutive title and opened their 2024-25 campaign with a routine three points at Stamford Bridge, in stark contrast to the remarkable 4-4 draw in this fixture last term.
Erling Haaland chipped past Robert Sanchez with a well-taken opener in the first half of his 100th appearance for City, profiting from Bernardo Silva's deft offload to send the visitors on their way to victory.
Nicolas Jackson responded for Chelsea by having an equaliser ruled out before the break, with the Blues striker caught offside after Ederson unconvincingly parried from Cole Palmer's dipping strike.
Jackson again tested Ederson after the interval with a volley from Romeo Lavia's header, but Mateo Kovacic's fine individual finish against his former club six minutes from time sealed the win.
Victory saw City – who also had a Rico Lewis goal disallowed – join seven other teams on three points, while Enzo Maresca's Chelsea are just one place above the bottom three after his first match at the helm.
Data Debrief: Haaland provides further opening-game heroics
Haaland has been directly involved in 106 goals in 100 appearances for City, and the Norway talisman has enjoyed the opening fixture in this competition as well.
The 24-year-old became the first City player to score on matchday one in three consecutive Premier League seasons, after David Silva (2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16).
He has also scored 13 times across his nine Premier League appearances in August, two more than Chelsea have managed as a team since the start of the 2022-23 season.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are winless in their last seven league meetings with Man City (D2 L5), since a 2-1 away win in May 2021, and will have to recover before their next top-flight trip to Wolves on Sunday.
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is not dwelling on the refereeing error that cost Eberechi Eze a goal in Sunday's 2-1 Premier League defeat at Brentford.
Goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa fired Brentford to a matchday-one victory at the Gtech Community Stadium, with Palace briefly levelling in the second half via an Ethan Pinnock own goal.
The Eagles thought they had taken a 26th-minute lead when Eze produced a brilliant effort from a wide free-kick, his ambitious shot clipping the near post and beating Mark Flekken.
However, referee Samuel Barrott blew for a foul from Will Hughes on Nathan Collins, and the VAR was unable to intervene due to the whistle sounding before Eze's shot crossed the line.
After the game, Glasner revealed Barrott had admitted his error but said he was not irritated by that conversation, telling Sky Sports: "It shows he is a great man, a good guy.
"It is over. It is what it is. We talk about what we can influence. In many situations we could have done better.
"We are not in the rhythm we should be, that's no excuse, it is the situation. The team did okay but it was not the best performance we could show."
Palace's defeat came after they finished the 2023-24 season on a seven-match unbeaten run (six wins, one draw), with their last Premier League loss coming by a 4-2 scoreline against Manchester City in April.
They were far from the fluent best they have shown since Glasner's appointment on Sunday, with their 14 shots only tallying 1.07 expected goals (xG), compared to Brentford's 1.39 xG from nine attempts.
Eze took seven of Palace's shots and grew increasingly frustrated as the game went on, while fellow England international Marc Guehi produced a shaky performance amid reports linking him with Newcastle United.
Glasner has no concerns over Guehi's commitment, though, saying of the centre-back: "Everyone could see he was completely focused on Crystal Palace and the game today.
"The last two days, we didn't speak about transfers because we focused on the game, so there's no news."
Louis Rees-Zammit is excited for the future after the former Wales wing made his home debut for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Rees-Zammit, who left rugby union to try his hand in American football, had been expected to miss the Chiefs' preseason game against the Detroit Lions.
However, he overcame injury concerns to feature at Arrowhead Stadium for the first time, albeit Kansas City lost 23-24.
Rees-Zammit took a kick-off, returned a Lions kick-off for 27 yards, and spent time as a wide receiver during his home bow.
"I got to experience [the atmosphere] a little bit," he said.
"I'm excited for another game here next week and then we'll see what happens.
"I'm trying my hardest. I'm working hard in training every day to show what I can do.
"The more reps I get, the better I'll get so I'm excited to see what's going to happen next week and obviously in the future."
Raheem Sterling wants clarity on his Chelsea future after he was left out of the Blues' squad to face Manchester City.
Sterling was a surprise omission from Enzo Maresca's matchday squad for their opening Premier League fixture of the 2024-25 campaign.
The 29-year-old, who joined Chelsea from City in 2022, had featured in all of the Blues' pre-season matches.
However, after Sterling was left out of Sunday's clash against his former club, the winger's camp told Mail Sport that they were chasing clarity from the club.
"Raheem Sterling is contracted to Chelsea for the next three years," a statement read.
"He returned to England two weeks early to conduct individual training, and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach, who he has developed a good working relationship with.
"He is committed, as ever, to delivering at the highest level for Chelsea and the fans, who he holds in high regard, and given his inclusion in official club pre-match material this week, our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend’s fixture in some capacity.
"As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea in relation to Raheem's future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.
"Until then, we will continue to support Raheem's desire to start the new season positively."
Sterling was Chelsea's third-highest scorer in all competitions last season, netting 10 times in 43 games, slightly overperforming his 9.1 expected goals (xG), albeit he only converted four of 17 big chances, defined by Opta as an opportunity from which a player would reasonably be anticipated to score.
Maresca, meanwhile, brushed off the selection choice.
"It's a technical decision, nothing else to say," he told the media. "Managers are paid to make decisions and sometimes players don't like it."
Chelsea have once again been busy in the transfer market, signing nine players, with winger Pedro Neto arriving in a move worth over £50million from Wolves last week.
The Blues have a bloated squad, with coach Maresca having conceded they must focus on shipping players out, with England left-back Ben Chilwell – who was also left out of the squad on Sunday – having been told he can leave.
Conor Gallagher was also absent, as he remains in limbo over a possible move to Atletico Madrid. Forwards Armando Broja and Romelu Lukaku were among the other big names left out by Maresca, with both players expected to depart.
Chelsea's starting XI against City had an average age of just 23 years and 180 days, which is the second-youngest by any Premier League team for their opening match of a season.
Brentford made light of Ivan Toney's absence to start their 2024-25 Premier League campaign with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace, as Yoane Wissa netted a second-half winner.
Bees talisman Toney was left out of the hosts’ squad for Sunday’s game at Gtech Community Stadium, with Thomas Frank confirming before kick-off that decision was made due to transfer interest in the striker.
But his absence was not felt as Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark, cutting onto his favoured left foot to stroke into the bottom-left corner.
However, Palace – who saw strikes from Eberechi Eze and Odsonne Edouard disallowed in either half – came on strong in the second period and levelled through Ethan Pinnock’s own goal.
The Eagles were caught out as the game became stretched, though, with Wissa converting from close range 14 minutes from time to seal the points for Brentford, moving them up to fifth in the early standings.
Data Debrief: Mbeumo and Wissa fill Toney-shaped hole
Frank's pre-match admission that Toney could leave in the final weeks of the transfer window will surely concern Brentford's supporters, with the England international's 36 Premier League goals for the Bees being a club-record tally.
However, the next two players in the club's Premier League scoring charts, Wissa (27) and Mbeumo (23), appeared to relish the freedom of playing in a fluid front three and stepped up in Toney's absence.
Wissa recorded a goal and an assist for the third straight Premier League game after doing do against Bournemouth and Newcastle United to end the 2023-24 season. He is the first player to achieve that feat since Riyad Mahrez did so for Manchester City in December 2021.
Mbeumo, meanwhile, maintained his knack of troubling Brentford's London rivals. Since the start of 2021-22, only Bukayo Saka (12 goals, 14 assists) has bettered Mbeumo's 17 goal involvements (11 goals, six assists) in Premier League London derbies.
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