Ipswich made a winning return to the Sky Bet Championship as they claimed a 2-1 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Former Sunderland striker Nathan Broadhead opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time before turning provider eight minutes into the second half as he set up George Hirst to double the visitors’ lead.

Sunderland were reduced to 10 men when Trai Hume was sent off for a second booking, but Tony Mowbray’s side set up a tense finale when Dan Neil converted Dennis Cirkin’s cross with four minutes left.

Ipswich saw things out, though, to ensure a winning start to life in the second tier in the wake of last season’s promotion from League One.

The visitors created the game’s first clear-cut opportunity shortly after the quarter-hour mark.

Wes Burns picked out Leif Davis with a deep cross from the right and the wing-back’s first-time effort looked to be heading in until a covering Luke O’Nien produced a superb goal-line clearance.

Burns fired in a low strike that Anthony Patterson saved moments later, but Sunderland should have opened the scoring midway through the first half, only for Jobe Bellingham to be found wanting.

Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky could only push Pierre Ekwah’s low drive into the path of the 17-year-old, who joined Sunderland in a summer move from Birmingham, but, while he appeared to have the goal at his mercy, his first-time prod flew over the crossbar.

Neil dragged a shot wide of the target as Sunderland continued to probe in and around the 18-yard box, but Ipswich remained a threat on the break and went close themselves 10 minutes before half-time.

Broadhead backheeled the ball into Conor Chaplin’s path, but the forward’s shot deflected wide off Dan Ballard.

The visitors did not have to wait much longer for a breakthrough, though.

Janoi Donacien’s long throw reached Davis, who fired in a shot from just outside the area, and Broadhead stole ahead of his marker to deflect the ball into the net.

Ipswich doubled their lead eight minutes into the second half, with Broadhead once again heavily involved.

The Wales international played Hirst in on the right-hand side of the area and, after breaking across O’Nien, the striker drilled a rising drive into the roof of the net.

The visitors almost added a spectacular third within seconds of Sunderland kicking off, but Chaplin’s 40-yard chip cannoned off the crossbar.

The hosts’ task became much tougher with 18 minutes remaining as they were reduced to 10 men.

Hume had already been booked for a foul in the first half and he deservedly received a second yellow when he pulled back Davis to prevent the wing-back breaking down the flank.

However, the hosts rallied and clawed a goal back in the 86th minute.

Cirkin delivered a low cross from the left and Neil steered home a first-time finish.

With 13 minutes of added time indicated, Sunderland almost claimed a dramatic equaliser in the 101st minute, but Hladky turned Neil’s goal-bound effort on to a post.

Reigning champions the United States were knocked out of the Women’s World Cup after the VAR intervened in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against Sweden.

Lina Hurtig’s winning penalty was found to have crossed the line following a check with the VAR officials after USA goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher appeared to have saved the effort.

Replays showed the ball had just crossed the line and Sweden were able to celebrate a 5-4 win on penalties after a goalless draw in the last-16 clash in Melbourne.

The back-to-back defending champions led 3-2 in the shoot-out but misses by Megan Rapinoe and Sophia Smith opened the door for Sweden to take it to sudden death.

Goalkeeper Naeher scored for the United States but with their next effort Kelley O’Hara hit the right post to give Hurtig the chance to win it.

Her shot was blocked by Naeher, who then reached behind her to claw the ball away as it looped up in the air, but she was a fraction too late to stop Sweden moving on to the quarter-finals.

James Tavernier admits Rangers’ opening day defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park was “unacceptable” as he looks for a response in Europe in midweek.

The Light Blues were under some pressure after Celtic began the defence of their cinch Premiership title with a 4-2 win over Ross County on Saturday lunchtime but Michael Beale’s new-look side failed to get going.

Killie midfielder Brad Lyons scored the only goal of the game  after 65 minutes to put an early dent in the Gers title hopes as they quickly turn their attention to the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Servette at Ibrox on Wednesday night.

The Light Blues skipper told RangersTV: “It was disappointing.

“Obviously to come away with zero points is unacceptable for us as a team, no matter what opposition it is, it is unacceptable for us as a team to come to a place like this and not create the chances that we wanted to and obviously to lose the game the way we did.

“But obviously it is the first game of the season. We didn’t want to start the season off like this but we have to learn from this and we’ve got a massive game on Wednesday.

“As players we have to pick ourselves up.

“We have to brush ourselves down and put in a performance that not only us as a team accept but put on a performance that the fans accept as well.”

Beale is also looking for early redemption following a damaging defeat. He said: “Really, really disappointing day, it couldn’t be any more disappointing.

“We expected a hell of a lot more, me, the players, the staff, and most importantly, the fans so we will apologise to them and we’ll come back strong in midweek.”

Killie boss Derek McInnes was delighted with the win but was wary of extrapolating too much from it in terms of the rest of the season.

He said: “The time to judge and reflect on the merits of the squad will be at the end of the season.

“We’ve tried to bring in a level of player as there was a lot of work needing done.

“A lot of good players and people have left the building and it was with a heavy heart that some moved on.

“But there was scope there to try to change the squad. We’ve brought 11 in and we’d still like to do one or two more.

“I’d like to bring in a bit more firepower but we had more senior ones coming back like Rory McKenzie and Kyle Vassell.

“Joe Wright should be part of that next week too so we’ve got decent strength there when everyone is fit and available.

“But I’d still like to carry a bit more of a punch at the top end of the pitch. If we can replicate what we served up on Saturday, I’ll be encouraged.”

Lionesses captain Millie Bright is proud to be carrying on the legacy of “fearless” ex-England skipper John Terry as she leads the European champions in the World Cup.

Bright vice-captained Sarina Wiegman’s side last summer and for this tournament inherited the armband from Leah Williamson, who was ruled out after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in April.

The Blues defender herself underwent a “brutal” rehabilitation process from a March knee injury to ensure she would be fit to fight for England’s first global title in co-hosting Australia, where they are next set to face Nigeria in the last 16.

She said: “JT was a big one for me. I think the way he carried himself and he always stepped out on the pitch fearless and stepped up.

“Every team that he’s played in I think he’s done that and he’s led by example, his actions have spoken louder than his words. For me that’s definitely something I believe in as well.

“Off the pitch I think he’s a great human, he’s very caring. I know a lot from a personal level that he’s always given a lot to the women’s team. On the pitch, without a shadow of a doubt.”

Bright could soon follow in another of Terry’s footsteps, with the Blues captaincy now vacant following the departure of Magda Eriksson, who completed a move to Bayern Munich at the conclusion of the last Women’s Super League (WSL) campaign after just shy of six years with Chelsea.

The 29-year-old will likely bump into Terry more often next season after the 42-year-old five-time Premier League champion last month announced he would be returning to Chelsea for a role in the club’s academy.

Chelsea women’s boss Emma Hayes is such a Stamford Bridge stalwart that she has now seen 12 different men’s managers pass through the doors – Frank Lampard twice – during her tenure, and was in her post for nearly five years of  Terry’s playing career in west London.

The 2021 FIFA women’s coach of the year and six-time WSL Manager of the Season is “a great mentor” to Bright, helping her deal with “the hard moments of the game and what are your traits. Then it’s just habits, training yourself. I always have three aims, no matter what I stick to them.

“I think it comes with age and experience over the years, finding out how you are as a person on and off the pitch”.

Hayes, said Bright, has also reinforced the habit of thinking that “when the going gets tough (you) keep the belief, keep the calmness, and always find a way to win.”

England’s knockout stage path to a first World Cup final begins tomorrow against Nigeria, 36 places below them in FIFA’s global rankings but bolstered after ousting a top-10 side in Olympic champions Canada to reach the last 16.

The narrow margin of the Lionesses’ 1-0 victories over Haiti and Denmark to open this campaign drew criticism from some corners, while their 6-1 victory over China to conclude the group stage went some way in subduing sceptics.

Bright insists she has not been privy to criticism inside the England “bubble”, where she has deliberately avoided social media, but sends “level-headed” partner Levi Crew a list of her three personal aims before each match.

She said: “Nothing gets in and nothing gets out. It’s football, everyone’s going to have an opinion, but the only ones that are going to matter are the ones that are within our team, our squad, staff, and players.”

When it comes to the sometimes difficult conversations that do matter, Bright revealed that her armband hardly comes into play, with Wiegman instilling an open approach devoid of hierarchy.

Bright added: “Everyone is equal within our team, I think sometimes it’s seen as the captain has to say the orders, it’s not like that at all.

“I think it’s taken us a while to get to that place over the years. I think that’s something Sarina’s brought in, we need those conversations.

“It’s how you get better and how you develop. It’s all part of growth, it’s not to attack anyone or ‘you’re crap,’ whatever, it’s about how we get the best out of each other and be the best in the world.”

Keira Walsh could make a stunning return for England’s last-16 World Cup clash against Nigeria.

Walsh was stretchered off late in the first half of the Lionesses’ 28 July victory over Denmark, with fears that the influential midfielder’s tournament could be over, but scans revealed her knee injury was not as serious as first suspected.

The 26-year-old took another step forward in her recovery when she joined her team-mates in training at the Central Coast Stadium on the eve of their last-16 showdown, before England flew to Brisbane ahead of the knockout encounter.

England boss Sarina Wiegman said: “She is doing well. She started her rehab straight after we knew what was going on.

“She has been on the pitch, she has been training today. Now we will wait until [we see] how she recovers from that training session and if she does well then she is available tomorrow.”

The Dutch boss, who led the Netherlands to the World Cup final four years ago in France, would not reveal specifically what injury Walsh had sustained, but did add: “I can only say that there wasn’t a ligament injury.

“Of course that moment in that game against Denmark, that was a very hard moment, but after the assessments and we knew what was going on we also said don’t take any assumptions.

“Just wait until a proper assessment has been done. That’s what we did and then we got the green light to just get her rehab started.

“Everybody is going on about injuries all the time, but the day after we noticed things were much better.”

The moment Walsh was stretchered off – grimacing, telling team staff “I’ve done my knee” and fending off help from team-mates – England fans began to fear that she was the most recent victim of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) crisis facing women’s football.

European champions Leah Williamson and Beth Mead were ruled out with that injury ahead of this tournament, while Fran Kirby also underwent surgery for a separate knee issue.

Wiegman stuck to the Lionesses’ standard 4-3-3 formation in the immediate aftermath of Walsh’s injury and brought in Manchester City’s Laura Coombs for the remainder of the 1-0 Denmark victory, but against China handed Manchester United captain Katie Zelem her first England start and switched to a 3-5-2, which paid off with a thumping 6-1 victory.

Wiegman added: “We have two options now. The way we played and what we did against China, we have taken that into consideration.”

Nigeria head coach Randy Waldrum is confident in his plan for however England line up, with or without Walsh.

He said: “Obviously, she’s a key player in the midfield for them. Kind of like we had to do for Australia and Sam Kerr, we had to prepare with and without, we have to do the same.

“England has so many weapons. All of those players are playing all over the world in high profile settings. There are more that can do damage to us than just her. They’ve given us a lot of challenges to prepare for and it will just be another one if she comes in.

“We have to prepare for both, as a coach I would expect her to go with a back three because they played ever so well like that.

“We also know they’re going to adapt to how they can best play against us so we have to prepare for both situations, that’s what makes the job challenging because we don’t have a lot of time. We’ve tried this week to prepare for both and we’ll see which way they come out.

“[Sarina Wiegman] has done a fantastic job with England, since she took over you can see the progression of the team.

“When I look at a coach and try to analyse, if I don’t know them personally, you look at the team and tell if they have an idea. In their organisation, they look like they have a plan [and] a way they want to play.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the all-round game of Kyogo Furuhashi in their opening league win after encouraging the forward to bring a new tactical element to his game.

The Japan striker hit his first goal of the season in a 4-2 cinch Premiership victory against Ross County in typical fashion, stretching the visiting defence before sweeping home Liel Abada’s low cross first time after Celtic caught their opponents out.

Furuhashi hit 34 goals for Celtic last season and was usually found playing on the shoulder of the last defender and often beyond the opposition defence in an offside position.

But Rodgers has asked him to drop deeper at times and the move paid off on several occasions against County.

Furuhashi played a one-two with Matt O’Riley on the edge of the box before the midfielder got to the byline and crossed for David Turnbull to hit his second goal of the game.

The 28-year-old dropped off to set up O’Riley to score and also played Turnbull through before the former Motherwell man forced a double stop from Ross Laidlaw.

Rodgers said: “I just think it’s development of his game. He is clearly a player on the last line, his movement is fantastic, he gets across the first post really well.

“But it’s finding different solutions for the team, so the opposition have something different to think about.

“We have great speed in the wide areas; it’s always about getting the numbers inside, so when he drops short he can link the game really well and then still has the speed to get beyond. I thought he was excellent.”

There was plenty of encouragement for County manager Malky Mackay with his side creating several early chances and then refusing to capitulate after going three down before the interval.

Jordan White and James Brown were on target in the second half and Mackay was particularly happy with the latter’s debut performance.

“I thought Jim Brown, my right-back, was sensational,” Mackay said.

“We brought him from Blackburn and my challenge to him was to get into the Republic of Ireland team. He was captain of Drogheda and he went to Blackburn.

“I said to him to come up here and play in the Premiership and play against the best there is here. Jamie McGrath did it last year and got into the Republic of Ireland team.

“Jim plays like that week in, week out and he’ll be chapping on the door. I’m not trying to pick anybody’s team – but he’ll be a good player if he keeps playing like that.

“I thought he was sensational against a really good player in (Daizen) Maeda.”

England midfielder Keira Walsh is back in team training ahead of their Women’s World Cup last-16 tie with Nigeria.

The 26-year-old was stretchered off during England’s Group D win over Denmark, with what was initially feared could be a tournament-ending knee injury.

However, the Barcelona star’s injury is not as bad as first thought and her chances of featuring in the knockout phase received a boost on Sunday.

The Lionesses begin the knockout phase of their World Cup campaign against Nigeria on Monday and a tweet from England read: “All 23 players are out for training today at Central Coast Stadium.”

Walsh missed England’s last group game, a dominant 6-1 victory over China, and it remains to be seen whether she will be involved for the last-16 clash.

The 26-year-old did not hurt her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), with Sarina Wiegman saying ahead of the China game: “Keira is OK. We said that it’s not an ACL and we can’t give you more information.”

Knee injuries had already ruled captain Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead out of the World Cup.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has expressed his concern about the demands on players in light of changes such as an expanded Club World Cup and more time being added on in games.

After winning the Champions League to complete their treble last term, City will compete in December’s Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia – what is planned to be the final edition featuring seven teams, with the next a 32-side competition taking place in the United States in the summer of 2025.

Meanwhile, the significant increase in time added on seen at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, designed to tackle timewasting, is something set to apply to Premier League matches this season.

Speaking ahead of his side opening their 2023-24 campaign with Sunday’s Community Shield clash against Arsenal, Guardiola said: “I know at the end of next season, we are going to make a (Club) World Cup in the United States after finishing the season, two or three more weeks. That means the holidays will be 15 days or maybe three weeks.

“I think it doesn’t exist already, pre-seasons. The problem is here (touching his head) – exhausted. Look already how many players are injured in pre-season, in bad conditions, humidity, hot, the pitches are not really good, especially in the States.

“It is what it is, so we have to adapt, adjust – but it is not normal.

“Now, for example, every game we’re going to play for 100 minutes. Wasting time – from my point of view it is not going to be solved by extending 10 more minutes. It’s more tiring for the players. It’s too much.

“FIFA, UEFA – more competitions. The World Cup – more teams. This (Club) World Cup – I don’t know how many teams.

“I don’t know what (is going to happen) in the future, for the players, even the managers, to prepare. That’s why you have to see exactly how much you demand of the players.

“Every day, season by season, it’s difficult to handle for the players. They love to play but they need also recovery, with the stress and tension they have. They make a show like they do in front of 55-60,000 people – that is a lot of energy, mental energy, and every week, to do it, is a lot.

“But every year is getting worse and worse, and will be worse. I don’t know how it is going to end, honestly.”

As City prepare to hunt down further silverware, Guardiola has stressed the need for a game-by-game approach in which they “respect incredibly the opponent, do our best to win in the way we believe is better – and after we will see”.

And he added: “I would say honestly we are closer to not repeating the treble than winning it, we are closer to not winning the Premier League than winning it. And no team ever won four in a row.

“Last season – I didn’t start thinking we are going to win the treble. We started, ‘let’s go to try to win (the Community Shield) against Liverpool’ and we lost 3-1.

“And after (that) we won and step by step, good moments. Normally we arrive (in the last few months of the season) in a good mentality and shape, and this is what we are going to try to do again.”

June’s maiden Champions League triumph for City added to five league titles, two FA Cups and four League Cups they have won since Guardiola took charge in 2016.

The Catalan signed a new contract running to 2025 last November, and when asked if he had thought at all about leaving after securing the treble, he said: “I signed a contract because I feel comfortable.

“Nothing changed, for the fact of win or not win. It is how I am happy, and the people is happy, the board especially, the hierarchy, because in the end they decide which manager has to lead this group of players. If they are satisfied, I still am satisfied.

“I want to defend what we won and year by year, maybe at the end of the season I am tired, or I say we will talk with the club, or maybe extend more, I don’t know.”

Michael Beale spoke about a “bit of realism in the air” after new-look Rangers’ cinch Premiership title challenge got off to the worst possible start with a 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock.

Brad Lyons’ strike after 65 minutes gave the home side a shock victory and put an early dent in the Light Blues hopes of wrestling the title back from Celtic, who began the defence of their title with a 4-2 win over Ross County earlier in the day.

It was the Light Blues’ first opening-day defeat in the top flight for 25 years.

The Gers boss has signed nine new players so far and he knows he has to get it right for the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Servette at Ibrox on Wednesday night.

Beale said: “Not the start we wanted at all. We had good control of the game, we had the lion’s share of possession. Kilmarnock defended extremely well throughout, getting lots of people in and around their box.

“We had a couple of minutes towards the end of the first half that should’ve resulted in a goal. We had 18 attempts at goal, but I can’t remember the Kilmarnock goalkeeper being troubled enough.

“In a game like that when it’s stuffy, when we’re struggling to create clear-cut chances, you can’t concede a goal like we did. It’s a poor one.

“It’s bitterly disappointing for the players and staff but ultimately for the fans who have been excited in the summer, so there’s a bit of realism in the air with that result.

“There’s a lot of work to do moving forward but we’ll bounce back on Wednesday.”

Of Beale’s new boys, Jack Butland, Kieran Dowell, Sam Lammers, Abdallah Sima and Cyriel Dessers made their competitive debuts and Brazilian striker Danilo came on later, but the former QPR boss did not want to use that as excuse.

He said: “I don’t want to go down that road because it seems like a cop-out. I thought Kilmarnock played well and we looked stuffy at times.

“We’ve had five weeks together, they’re quality players, we had enough players on the pitch today who know what this is about.

“We had enough of the game in terms of possession and set-plays, we had more than Kilmarnock but we couldn’t find the answer and if you can’t find the answer you cannot concede a goal like the one we did.”

For Killie boss Derek McInnes, he was pleased to meet one of this season’s targets in the first game.

The former Rangers midfielder said: “It was one of the many things we wanted to improve on.

“We spoke with the team about targets and challenges and one of the first things we had to demonstrate was an ability, personality and confidence to beat Rangers and Celtic this season because we beat every other team in the league last season except them.

“You have to do so much right to beat them.

“I couldn’t single anybody out, it was a proper team performance, a squad performance to win the game.

“Rangers are littered with good players but our performances was good.

“So the fact that we have managed to beat Rangers is one of those boxes ticked and it is an encouraging start, but it is only a start.

“We go in to next week’s game (Hearts) with another thing to address our away form, we won two out of our last three away games last season, but we clearly need to improve our away form and next Sunday gives us an opportunity to address that.”

Spain made a statement of intent as they stormed into the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals by brushing aside Switzerland in Auckland.

Jorge Vilda’s side rebounded in excellent fashion from a heavy defeat to Japan, who joined Spain in the last eight after seeing off Norway in Wellington.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at all of Saturday’s World Cup action.

Five-alive Spain hammer Switzerland

Spain limped into the knockout rounds after being humbled by Japan in their final group game but they showed they remain a threat as they reached the quarter-finals for the first time in their history with a 5-1 win over Switzerland. A brace from Aitana Bonmati alongside goals from Alba Redondo and Laia Codina, who had earlier sent a back pass into her own net to briefly bring Switzerland level, had Spain in control at half-time. Spain eased off the pedal in the second half but still dominated proceedings and made it five through Jenny Hermoso to set up a quarter-final with either Netherlands or South Africa.

Japan saunter into quarters

Norway were able to breach a miserly defence as Japan conceded in the tournament after three clean sheets but Futoshi Ikeda’s side claimed a relatively comfortable 3-1 win. Ingrid Engen’s own goal opened the scoring for Japan but Norway responded with their first meaningful attack of the game through Guro Reiten. Risa Shimizu restored Japan’s lead before Hinata Miyazawa scored her fifth goal of the tournament to seal victory, and her side will next face either Sweden or the United States.

Post of the dayQuote of the dayWhat’s next?

Quarter-final: Netherlands v South Africa, Sydney, 3am.

Quarter-final: Sweden v USA, Melbourne, 10am.

Rangers’ cinch Premiership title challenge suffered the earliest of blows with a shock 1-0 defeat by Kilmarnock in the opening day of the season.

Michael Beale’s disjointed side had laboured in the first half at Rugby Park and there was no improvement after the break before they were stunned by Brad Lyons’ counter after 65 minutes.

The 26-year-old Northern Irishman pounced inside the box to fire the home side ahead and in the end it was enough to keep the three points in Ayrshire.

The defeat was a huge setback for Light Blues boss who has signed nine new players so far.

Beale knows the margin for error over 38 games in the traditional two-horse title race in Scotland is slim and there is little time for ironing things out on the training ground – the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Servette is at Ibrox on Wednesday night.

Champions Celtic began their campaign earlier in the day with a 4-2 win over Ross County at Parkhead so there was immediate pressure on the visitors to get the win, but there was a lack of cohesion in both teams, perhaps understandably.

Derek McInnes’ side had only four players from last season in the starting line-up – stand-in captain Lyons, Danny Armstrong, David Watson and Lewis Mayo, who was signed on a permanent deal from Rangers after a loan spell.

Of Beale’s new boys; Jack Butland, Kieran Dowell, Sam Lammers, Abdallah Sima and Cyriel Dessers made their competitive debuts and Brazilian striker Danilo would come on later.

Killie, with four ViaPlay Cup games under their belt already, made it difficult for the Govan side, nullifying most of the threat.

In the 28th minute, backtracking Mayo brilliantly took the ball off Dessers’ toe as the former Cremonese striker raced through from a Sima pass but the offside flag was up.

Killie keeper Will Dennis, on loan from Bournemouth, dived bravely inside his busy six-yard box to gather a loose ball from a James Tavernier corner before he saved a decent low drive from Dessers.

The 23-year-old then tipped a powerful John Lundstram drive over the crossbar for a corner which he comfortably clutched out of the air, but it was a relatively quiet 45 minutes for him and the Killie defence.

Rangers tried to press with more vigour after the break but the home side remained resolute in defence and increasingly confident when they broke.

On the hour mark, seconds after Dowell headed wide following a corner, he was replaced along with Dessers.

Todd Cantwell, a surprise omission, and Danilo came on for Rangers while for Killie, Marley Watkins made way for club captain Kyle Vassell.

And then Killie took the lead. Rangers defender John Souttar failed to deal with a long throw-in from Watson and Lyons swept the ball past Butland from six yards.

Minutes later, with the Light Blues in disarray, Butland did well to save a ferocious drive from Kyle Magennis before Armstrong curled a shot just wide.

Ryan Jack came on for Lundstram and Kemar Roofe replaced Lammers as Rangers, in some desperation, tried everything to rescue a point at least but Dennis was well-protected for the 90 minutes and the six minutes of added time.

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho was relieved to see his side snatch a 1-1 draw at home to Bristol Rovers.

Debutant Kusini Yengi scored a stoppage-time goal to salvage a point after Luke Thomas had given Rovers a first-half lead.

“There are mixed emotions in the dressing room at the moment,” Mousinho said.

“If you had offered me a point with five minutes to go, I would have been happy to take it.

“We need to get a lot more shots on target and take advantage of some of the areas we get into.

“The goal came from probably the best cross we made all game.

“We will look back and reflect on not getting all three points.

“I felt that Rovers were a decent side. For their goal, we gave the ball away in the middle of the park. They broke quickly off of that and capitalised. They showed what they are capable of if they get a sniff of a chance.”

“They defended their box very well in the second half, but I was very pleased for Kusini with his goal.”

Constant heavy showers made playing football difficult, but Rovers forced the early pressure and took the lead in the 24th minute.

Pompey lost the ball in midfield and a quick break and a cross from Jevani Brown saw Thomas sweep the ball home.

His strike looked like it would be the winner but substitute Yengi saved the day for Pompey two minutes into added time.

Bristol Rovers coach Andy Mangan felt that a draw was probably a fair result.

He said: “Ours was a fantastic goal. We’d already had a couple of counters before that.

“We’ve kept them out whilst under a lot of pressure, especially in the second half, until the 92nd minute.

“On another day we would have taken all three points, and the lads are devastated to have conceded that late on.

“The lads should take a lot of confidence from their performance today. To come to Fratton Park and play the way we did at times, there are a lot of positives.

“We have to be deadly on the counter. I felt it let us down a bit today, and that’s something we need to work on.

“Pompey are favourites to go up, so to defend and play like we have is something the lads should be proud of.”

Carlisle manager Paul Simpson believes his side could have come away with more after they started life back in Sky Bet League One with a 1-1 draw against Fleetwood.

Owen Moxon opened the scoring for the Cumbrians with a 30-yard free-kick, but it was cancelled out by Brendan Wiredu’s strike just before half-time.

Both teams had chances to score the winner and Simpson was left to rue missed opportunities.

“I’m reasonably happy with a point out of it, but on reflection – and this is a real early reflection – we’ve had the chances to win the game today,” he said.

“We’ve had two really good chances in the second half, well created chances, but overall I’m really pleased to get our first point and it’s given us something to take confidence from and build for the next one.”

Moxon put the home side ahead in the 36th minute with a beautifully curled free-kick into the top left corner after he had been fouled by Scott Robertson.

Fleetwood equalised, though, in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time as Wiredu’s first-time volley flew into the bottom left corner after Huntington had headed clear Phoenix Patterson’s cross.

Jordan Gibson had a great chance to restore Carlisle’s lead just after half-time, but he miscued a shot from Fin Back’s cross with the goal gaping.

At the other end, Promise Omochere should have scored after Josh Vela’s cross broke his way, but he pulled his effort across goal and wide.

Substitute Joe Garner, formerly of Fleetwood, saw his late header saved by visiting goalkeeper Jay Lynch as the spoils were shared.

Carlisle are competing at League One level for the first time in nine years and Simpson is anticipating a tough campaign.

“We’re going to have to be fitter,” he added. “We’re going to have to be resilient.

“We’re going to have use the squad wisely and it’s going to be a real test for us.”

Fleetwood boss Scott Brown was also left disappointed by his team’s lack of cutting edge.

“They scored a fantastic free-kick and we had to dig deep to try and get ourselves back into the game, but these things are going to happen now and then,” the Scot said.

“Teams are going to score fantastic free-kicks like that, but we showed heart.

“We showed desire to get back into the game and I thought for long periods of the game we controlled the game.

“And, especially the longer the game went on, I thought we looked the fitter team.

“For myself, we’ve got to be proud of the lads on that, but we have to be a little bit more ruthless in the final third and have that little bit more quality as well because we got into some great areas.

“So it’s those small details we need to try and work on as much as we possibly can over the next couple of weeks.”

Wigan manager Shaun Maloney described Charlie Wyke as “special” after his double clinched a 2-1 League One win at Derby .

Wyke suffered a cardiac arrest during training in November 2021 and now plays with a defibrillator fitted in his chest.

Maloney was delighted with his team but acknowledged the significance of Wyke’s contribution.

“Charlie Wyke is a special case,” he said. “Any recognition he gets he deserves every single bit of it.

“What he and his family have been through I can’t put words to that really. It’s taken time for him to get in the mental condition and then physically, he’s come back in incredible shape this summer.

“From the very first days of pre-season, he felt like a different player.

“We’ve been really patient with him and I’m very, very happy for Charlie today.”

Wyke’s goals plus resolute defending and quality goalkeeping were enough to give Wigan victory against one of the promotion favourites.

Wyke seized on a poor back pass from Sonny Bradley to give Wigan the lead in the 38th minute but Derby levelled just before the hour minute through Craig Forsyth’s superb volley.

Sam Tickle denied Forsyth a second just before before Wyke headed in a cross from Tom Pearce after 72 minutes.

Derby piled on the pressure but Wigan stood firm and held on through nine minutes of added time to celebrate a win that cuts their points deduction to minus five.

Maloney was also happy with his side’s character, adding ““I couldn’t have asked for anything better really, the performance had everything.

“At times we were very good first half and then we had to suffer without the ball and had to defend in the last 20 minutes.

“I loved the heart my team showed and I know it’s the first game of the season but this one means a lot.

“The way we defended in the last 20 minutes, there’s a real satisfaction when you see your team defending with every single player putting their body on the line, they’ve got a bit of character about them.”

Derby head coach Paul Warne voiced his frustration, saying: “It’s always frustrating when you lose at home and I can’t say we played at our best today.

“There were some parts of our play that were really good and some parts which were a little bit frustrating but over the whole 99 minutes, I didn’t think we deserved to lose

“It was a pretty even game between two pretty good sides and it just came down to a couple of errors we got punished on.

“Wigan are a good side and if you give them an opportunity they are going to take it and they did.”

Charlton manager Dean Holden felt his side deserved their 1-0 opening-day League One victory over Leyton Orient.

The game at the rainy Valley was settled by a first-half strike from captain George Dobson.

Holden was pleased his outfit put in a performance in front of a bumper home crowd and believed his side could have scored more.

He said “There’s a lot of expectation of supporters turning up with a lot of optimism. It’s important they see a team like today.

“We started really well, we started with intent, we ran all over Leyton Orient – they’re a team who have obviously had a lot of success winning the League Two title last year, playing a certain style.

“They wanted to play on their terms at times, so we needed to get on top of them and force mistakes, which we did.

“We should have won more comfortably, but we looked more solid defensively which was a bit of a concern last week in the pre-season (game) against Aberdeen.

“We had a lot of work to do this week, but credit to the players for taking that on board.”

Alfie May showed excellent footwork in the area to almost net his first Charlton game after four minutes, but Sol Brynn matched his effort.

At the other end, Ashley Maynard-Brewer had to turn away a Theo Archibald effort before the half-hour mark.

The hosts broke the deadlock a minute before first-half injury time. Corey Blackett-Taylor was given too much space down the left by Rob Hunt and his low cross found the foot of Dobson.

The visitors saw Tom James have his shot after 57 minutes deflected over the crossbar as they looked for a breakthough.

Substitute Panutche Camara missed a sitter in injury time to double the Charlton lead, but the hosts held on for victory.

Leyton Orient saw defeat in their first third-tier match since 2015 and were backed by 3,153 visiting supporters.

Head coach Richie Wellens believed an error for the goal proved the difference.

He said: “In terms of performance, we got it wrong just once. We had a lapse in the 44th minute when we gave the ball away, and then we didn’t get enough bodies in to cover.

“In the second half we dominated them and had so many counter-attacks, but we just took the extra touch rather than get our shots off.

“That’s what they did well, they got their shots off and made our goalkeeper work.

“We lost the game but it was a good day for us as a whole and we’ll take a lot of confidence from it.

“The biggest compliment I can take is the reaction of their manager at the final whistle – he was relieved.”