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Man City Strike Twice Late on to Beat Bournemouth

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Manchester City scored two late goals to earn Enzo Maresca a win in his first Premier League game in charge – and deny Marco Rose the perfect start as Bournemouth boss.

The Cherries took the first-half lead through Marcus Tavernier, who was left in loads of space to slam in after Evanilson’s incisive low ball across the area.

Erling Haaland, usually at his most prolific in August, missed a host of chances for City as they looked set for a frustrating afternoon.

But Marc Guehi, playing in defensive midfield for only the third time in his career, nodded in Rayan Cherki’s corner with six minutes to go.

And it got even worse for Bournemouth when Josko Gvardiol guided a shot into the bottom corner in injury time.

The goal was initially disallowed for offside, but given after a video assistant referee review.

It was Bournemouth’s first defeat in any competition since January, ending their club-record 18-game unbeaten run.

City showed improvement from the side who were bashed 3-0 by Arsenal in last Sunday’s Community Shield – but for most of this game it looked as if Maresca was going to start with consecutive defeats.

Replacing a legend is always difficult – as David Moyes experienced when Sir Alex Ferguson left neighbours Manchester United in 2013 – and the late comeback will come as a major relief in their first Premier League game without Pep Guardiola in a decade.

City did not exactly promote from within when hiring Maresca, who quit as Chelsea manager at the start of 2026, but the Italian was Guardiola’s City assistant in 2022-23 and would perhaps be seen as something of a continuity candidate.

It was a very shaky start though and they went 1-0 down at home on the opening day of a Premier League campaign for the first time since 1995-96 – the season they ended up being relegated.

Maresca’s team selection confused many, with six players who have played most of their City games in defence starting on Sunday – including Guehi in midfield.

But all’s well that ends well and Guehi looked as if he had rescued a point before defender Gvardiol added two more from another Cherki pass.

Things would have been more comfortable if Haaland had brought his shooting boots.

The Norwegian has scored 22 goals in 14 Premier League games in the month of August – but failed to take any of his five chances.

Bournemouth fans would have feared a dip after enjoying the best season in their history last campaign. Sixth place took them into Europe for the first time ever.

And it was a surprise when boss Andoni Iraola announced in April he would be leaving in the summer – eventually joining Liverpool.

Ex-Salzburg and Leipzig boss Rose was confirmed soon after – replacing Iraola at the end of last season, giving him plenty of time to watch from a distance and get to know his new team.

Only one of the side who started against City was a new signing, with Portuguese defender Antonio Silva the replacement for Marcos Senesi, who left for Tottenham.

The Cherries showed plenty of the aggressive, positive play that they produced under Iraola thanks to such dangerous attackers on the break – including Rayan, Evanilson and Tavernier, who all linked up well for the opening goal.

Letting the lead slip late on will be hugely frustrating and ends their long unbeaten run, but Rose, and Cherries supporters, should still have seen plenty to encourage them from a game they would not have expected to win.

And if they had picked up Guehi from a corner maybe they would have done.

SPORTS

Starc Takes 10 Wickets as Australia Thrash Bangladesh

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Mitchell Starc took 10 wickets in the match as Australia bounced back from last week’s shock defeat by Bangladesh to win the second Test by an innings and 51 runs and draw the series 1-1.

The visitors were skittled for 95 in 38.

3 overs with Starc taking four wickets and Nathan Lyon and captain Pat Cummins three each, as Australia wrapped up victory just after tea on the second day at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay.

Starc finished with match figures of 10-51, following his 6-12 in the first innings as Bangladesh struggled to 64 all out.

The game was the fourth-shortest completed Test match with a side winning, with exactly 125 overs bowled.

Last Sunday’s nine-wicket defeat for the world’s top-ranked side in Darwin was widely seen as one of Test cricket’s greatest upsets.

“A lot of things went right these couple days and a lot of things went wrong last week,” said Cummins, 33, who took 3-10 in the second innings.

“We needed to bounce back, and it was a great couple of days from the lads. I thought everyone was sharp. It was a great start and we didn’t really let up after that.”

Earlier in the day, Australia added 45 runs to their overnight total as they were bowled out for 210 with Cameron Green top scoring with 67 and Lyon adding an unbeaten 32 to give them a first-innings lead of 146.

Left-arm paceman Shoriful Islam was the pick of the bowlers with 7-48.

The visitors’ second innings got off to a poor start, losing both openers inside eight overs as they slumped to 24-3.

They then collapsed in the middle session, struggling to 95-8 by tea before Lyon wrapped up victory by taking the final two wickets in three balls.

“Much better week. We knew we weren’t at our best, or what we expect of ourselves, in Darwin,” said 36-year-old Starc, who was named Player of the Match and Series after taking 12 wickets at an average of 12.08.

“What we expect of ourselves this week is what we got, particularly with the ball and the wicket that aided us with the ball.”

Starc has now moved to 10th on the all-time Test wicket list with 445, 126 shy of Lyon’s haul in sixth place.

Australia’s next Test series is a three-match tour of world Test champions South Africa in October.

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Mourinho Urges Vinicius Jr to Control Emotions

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Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho said Vinicius Jr needs “great emotional control” after claiming the winger is being bullied on the pitch.

The 63‑year‑old’s comments come after the Brazilian picked up an avoidable yellow card in a 2‑1 La Liga opening win over Espanyol for an argument with midfielder Cala in the first half.

Vinicius Jr has been the target of regular abuse during his eight years at Real Madrid, including the night Mourinho was in the Benfica dugout when Gianluca Prestianni was accused of racially abusing the Brazilian – a claim the Argentine denied.

“I run the risk of you going back months and pulling out my words when I was an opponent of Vini Jr,” said Mourinho.

“Now Vini Jr is mine. Vini Jr is not a saint, but what they do to him is too much.”

Mourinho claims his star winger is being targeted by players to seek a reaction “from the first minute” and is “repeated” by all teams the Brazilian comes up against.

“It’s frustrating for him. He needs to have great emotional control,” he said.

After receiving the yellow card in Mourinho’s first competitive match of his second Real Madrid spell, the Portuguese told Vinicius Jr to consider how his actions on the pitch can ignite reactions in the stands.

“I spoke to him at half-time, and I even told him in detail: ‘If you score a goal, be careful how you celebrate it so I can keep you on the field.’ It’s tough,” he said.

“We’re in a social era of anti-bullying. With Vini Jr, we’re still in the bullying era, whether it’s from opponents or the crowd.

“We need to educate him as much as possible and prepare him as much as possible. And that’s it.”

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Kejelcha Breaks Men’s Half Marathon World Record by 29 Seconds

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Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha has broken the men’s half marathon world record, winning a World Athletics road race in Buenos Aires on Sunday in 56 minutes 51 seconds.

The 29-year-old previously held the record with a time of 57:30, set in Valencia in October 2024, but lost that to Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo in March.

Kiplimo ran 57:20 in Lisbon earlier this year but Kejelcha has now knocked 29 seconds off that time to regain the record, subject to official ratification.

The world track silver medallist in the 10,000m also holds the world record for a men’s 10,000m road race.

He also became one of the first men to run a sub-two hour marathon in record-eligible conditions earlier this year when finishing second behind Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe in the London Marathon.

Sawe won the record-breaking race in 1:59:30, beating Kejelcha by just 11 seconds.

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