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Brighton Thrash 10-man Villa in Opener

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Brighton kicked off their new Premier League campaign in emphatic fashion by thrashing Europa League winners Aston Villa 4-0 at Amex Stadium.

It only took the Seagulls eight minutes to take the lead as Maxim de Cuyper forced an own goal out of Victor Lindelof before the Belgian added his name to the scoresheet 10 minutes later with an easy finish to make it 2-0.

Villa crumbled as Jack Hinshelwood then struck two goals in as many minutes to put Brighton 4-0 up, before the visitors were reduced to 10 men following a red card for Joao Gomes, who lasted only 40 minutes on a nightmare debut.

Unai Emery’s side capitulated completely after a promising start.

Emiliano Buendia almost gave the visitors the lead inside five minutes after he stole possession in the final third but missed the bottom corner by inches.

Brighton, however, capitalised on the first chance that came their way as Villa defender Pau Torres’ blind pass into his own box found De Cuyper, whose shot struck the post before going in off Lindelof.

Georginio Rutter then made a well-timed run to get behind the Villa defence and cut back for De Cuyper to turn home from six yards to double his side’s lead.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side were 3-0 up at the half-hour mark as De Cuyper’s cross from the left was knocked back across the goal by Diego Gomez for Hinshelwood to tap in.

Only a minute later, Yasin Ayari robbed Gomes of possession in the Villa box and Hinshelwood made no mistake to grab his second goal of the game.

Villa’s afternoon went from bad to worse before the eventful half came to a close as Joao Gomes, already on a yellow card, kicked out at Rutter and received a straight red following a video assistant referee (VAR) review.

Though Villa managed to keep Brighton at bay in the second half, the damage had long been done to Emery’s side.

“Silence,” said Emery when asked pre-match about Ollie Watkins’ absence from the Villa squad.

But the noise surrounding the club is only bound to grow louder after their horror show in Brighton.

Watkins looks likely to be the latest to leave Villa this summer with the England striker linked with a move to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal.

Goalkeeper Emi Martinez’s future also remain uncertain following a failed move to Juventus and the arrival of Japan’s Zion Suzuki.

It lays bare the task Emery has to replicate last season’s success, having also lost Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa this summer – all core members of the group.

Even then, the manner of the defeat in the league opener hints Emery’s problems this season could run far deeper.

Gomes recovered from an injury in time to start the opener but the midfielder, signed from Wolves for £38m, put in a display that could contend for one of the worst debuts.

The Brazilian was cautioned for waving an imaginary card at the referee, gave away the ball in the box for Brighton’s fourth goal and was then sent off for kicking out at Rutter.

After securing fourth place in the Premier League and then winning the Europa League last season, Villa were always going to face a challenge to match those heights.

But this opening display will raise questions whether Emery’s side could be heading in the opposite direction.

Brighton, meanwhile, could not have asked for a better start to the new season.

Like Villa, they have also lost key personnel during the transfer window in defender Jan Paul van Hecke and season striker Danny Welbeck, with midfielder Carlos Baleba likely to join them in leaving soon.

Yet, Hurzeler was still able to field a side that looked far closer to Brighton’s first-choice line-up than the one Emery could.

Club-record signing Luka Vuskovic started at centre-back on his Premier League debut and produced an assured display while goals from De Cuyper and Hinshelwood would be a welcome sight as they look to replace Welbeck’s output.

Without a recognised striker, Rutter started up front and, despite not getting on the scoresheet, was central during Brighton’s attacking spree in the first half.

Hurzeler and his players will have little time to savour their start as attention will turn to the Conference League play-off second leg against Norway’s Tromso on Thursday, 27 August (19:30 BST), after a goalless draw last week.

SPORTS

Amusan Misses Podium as Russell Wins Diamond League Crown

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American hurdler Masai Russell claimed the Diamond League title in the women’s 100m hurdles after clocking a meet record of 12.20 seconds at the Brussels final on Saturday, with Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan settling for fourth place.

Amusan finished in 12.

54 seconds, behind Russell’s training partners Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, who lowered her national record to 12.
33 seconds to take second, and Jamaica’s Megan Simmonds, who clocked a season’s best of 12.43 seconds for third.

The race had been billed as one of the highlights of the Diamond League finale, with Russell competing for the first time since taking the world record away from Amusan.

Russell had run 12.09 seconds in Zurich to lower the Nigerian’s previous mark by three-hundredths of a second, becoming the first woman to break the 12-second barrier in the event.

Bahamas world indoor champion Charlton and Dutch hurdler Nadine Visser were also expected to challenge for victory, alongside Amusan, who was determined to reclaim her place at the top of the event.

Amusan had warmed up for the final with victory at the Grand Prix Brescia in Italy on August 31, clocking 12.56 seconds despite a stiff headwind to finish ahead of American hurdler Alaysha Johnson and Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent.

That result came days after Russell’s world record run in Zurich, where the American finished ahead of Amusan, who placed second in a season’s best of 12.23 seconds.

The Nigerian, who is a three-time Diamond League champion, having previously won the title in 2021, 2022 and 2023, had held the world record for four years after running 12.12 seconds in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon. She went on to win that final in 12.06 seconds, though the time did not count as a world record because of an excessive tailwind.

The 100m hurdles was one of several standout events at the Diamond League finale in Brussels, which also featured Olympic champions and world record holders across the programme, with automatic qualification for next week’s 10 million dollar World Athletics Ultimate Championship on offer to winners of events contested at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.

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SPORTS

Fencing: Brou Wins 2026 FIE Satellite Sabre Viking Cup

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Nigeria’s Inkosi Brou has won the 2026 FIE Satellite Sabre Viking Cup in Iceland, adding another international medal to the country’s fencing record.

The one-day tournament took place on Sunday at the Fencing Sabre Center in Laugardal, Reykjavik.

The competition was hosted by the Icelandic Fencing Federation and sanctioned by the International Fencing Federation (FIE).

Brou, who missed the August Commonwealth Championships in Lagos, entered the tournament as its highest-ranked fencer.

The 18-year-old overcame opponents from Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, the Netherlands and Ecuador.

He also defeated competitors from Sweden, the Czech Republic, Jamaica, Hong Kong, Australia, Great Britain and host Iceland.

Brou began his campaign in the round of 16, where he defeated Hamid Al Maazmi of the UAE 15-4.

He continued his impressive run with a 15-11 quarter-final victory over Sweden’s Kenneth Kong.

In the semi-final, Brou defeated Czech Republic’s Lumir Kral, the tournament’s No. 4 seed, 15-12 to reach the final.

The Nigerian then faced Iceland’s Andri Maateev in the final, competing before a partisan home crowd.

In spite of the home support for his opponent, Brou remained composed and delivered a dominant 15-6 victory to secure the title.

The victory marks Brou’s third international medal and further underlines his emergence as Nigeria’s leading fencing prospect.

Brou won Nigeria’s first global fencing medal, a silver, at the 2024 World Tournoi Satellite Cup, also held in Reykjavik.

He added another medal in 2025, winning bronze at the African Junior Championships in Angola.

Brou is currently Nigeria’s highest-ranked fencer globally.

He trains at the Scarsdale Fencing Center and the Peter Westbrook Foundation in the United States.

The latest triumph strengthens Brou’s ambition to make further history for Nigeria on the international fencing stage.

Brou is targeting qualification for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he hopes to become Nigeria’s first Olympic fencer.

His Viking Cup triumph provides another significant boost as he pursues that historic Olympic ambition.

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SPORTS

McColgan Wins London Big Half after Five Months Out

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Eilish McColgan claimed her fourth victory at the Big Half in London on Sunday after returning to action following five months out with a broken toe.

The 35-year-old Scot suffered the injury during the London Marathon in April, crossing the line in seventh place with blood seeping through her shoe, and was forced to pull out of July’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

But McColgan showed the benefit of a month of warm weather training, completing a comfortable victory over the 13.

1-mile course back in the English capital.

“I haven’t even run 13 miles in training! I have mentally ticked that box and can push on from here, which is great,” said the British women’s half-marathon record holder.

She beat last year’s winner Jessica Warner-Judd by one minute 19 seconds, finishing in a time of 1hr 10mins 54secs.

It was more than three minutes outside her best time for the course and well outside her British record for the distance of 1:05:43.

But McColgan added: “I came into this race in a different place from previous years, coming back into training for the last four weeks, so fitness was always going to be my biggest concern.

“I had fear over the broken toe, [so] I eased into it because of nerves and could really attack in the second half.”

Britain’s Jack Rowe missed out on a record fourth consecutive victory in the men’s race, finishing in second place, 14 seconds behind Birchfield Harriers’ Kadar Omar Abdullahi, who won in a time of 1:01:51.

Britain’s David Weir defended his title in the men’s wheelchair event, winning the race for the fifth time in its nine-year history in a new record time.

The 47-year-old, who retired from Paralympic competition in 2024, knocked 45 seconds off his own record for the course, which he set last year, winning in 46:13.

Eden Rainbow Cooper won the women’s event in 52:47 to defend her title.

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