Cristiano Ronaldo has reached a staggering 950 career goals, continuing to add to his legendary tally while leading Al Nassr to the top of the Saudi Pro League.
He scored in the 88th minute after his Portuguese compatriot, Joao Felix’s opener in the 25th minute in the first half, to bag three points for the league leaders on Saturday in the Saudi Pro League.
Ronaldo’s consistency and impact remain remarkable, proving why he is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time.
His goals have propelled Al Nassr toward a strong position in the title race, with fans eagerly watching as he nears the 1,000-goal milestone.
PUNCH Online had reported that Ronaldo netted his 949th career goal as Al Nassr cruised to a 5–1 victory over Al Fateh in the Saudi Pro League on October 18.
Al Nassr’s next game is on Tuesday against Al-Ittihad, who are seventh on the log standings. (Punch)
Victor Osimhen continued his fine run of form as Galatasaray came from behind to beat Göztepe 3–1 at the RAMS Park on Sunday.
Efkan Bekiroğlu shocked the hosts with an early opener after just six minutes.
Galatasaray has Osimhen to thank for a leveller in the 19th minute.
The Nigerian striker capitalised on a defensive error — his third league goal of the season.
His fine performance comes days after his brace earned Galatasaray a 3-1 win over Bodø/Glimt in the UEFA Champions League last Wednesday.
Galatasaray went on to take control in the second half through strikes from Gabriel Sara and Mauro Icardi, either side of Göztepe’s efforts, before the visitors ultimately fell short.
The victory keeps Galatasaray top of the Turkish Super Lig with 28 points, five clear of second-placed Trabzonspor.
Göztepe remain fifth on 16 points after suffering only their second defeat of the campaign. (Punch)
Jannik Sinner clinched his fourth title of the season on Sunday as the Italian rallied from a set down to beat Alexander Zverev in the final of the Vienna Open.
Sinner dropped his first set of the tournament before staging a comeback to see off Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to land the 22nd title of his career.
It is his second triumph in Vienna, where he also lifted the trophy in 2023, and extended his winning run on indoor hard courts to 21 matches going into next week’s final Masters 1000 of the year in Paris.
But the top seed had to do it the hard way after falling behind as world number three Zverev, who had won four of seven previous meetings, secured the only break of the first set to take the upper hand.
“It was such a difficult start in this final for me,” said Sinner.
“I went for a break down, had some chances in the first set but couldn’t use them. He was serving very well, but I just tried to stick there mentally and play my best tennis when it came.”
Sinner replied though by racing 3-0 ahead in the second set as he forced a decider against the 2021 champion.
Zverev saved two break points in the fifth game of the third set but Sinner maintained the pressure despite battling a thigh issue in his first event since retiring with cramp at the Shanghai Masters.
Sinner created another opportunity at 5-all with a blistering backhand down the line and won a lengthy rally the following point to snatch the key break.
A routine hold wrapped up victory for the 24-year-old who has reached the final in eight of his 10 tournaments this season, with Sinner adding to his titles at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and Beijing.
“The third set was a bit of a rollercoaster, but I was feeling the ball very well at times, so I tried to push and I’m very happy of course to win another title,” Sinner added. “It’s very special.” (JapanToday)
Erling Haaland’s 12-game scoring streak ended Sunday in Manchester City’s first loss in nearly two months, allowing Arsenal to extend its lead to four points in the Premier League.
Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace — secured via a brilliant scissor kick by former Palace player Eberechi Eze — was made all the sweeter by City losing 1-0 at Aston Villa, with right back Matty Cash grabbing the winner from a fierce 19th-minute strike.
It was City’s first defeat since Aug. 31 and meant Haaland’s scoring run for club and country — stretching back even further, to Aug. 23 — is over. The Norway striker did bundle the ball into the net in the 90th minute, before crashing into the post, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
With beleaguered Liverpool losing 3-2 at Brentford on Saturday, it has been a bad weekend for Arsenal’s chief title rivals.
Somewhat surprisingly, Arsenal’s closest challenger now is Bournemouth, which won 2-0 at home to Nottingham Forest. Even more unlikely is the sight of promoted Sunderland a point back alongside third-placed Tottenham, which won 3-0 at Everton. City is one point further adrift in fifth — and already six points behind Arsenal.
“It’s very early, we’re still in October,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, whose team is seeking a first Premier League title since 2004. “The emotional state is really high but there are a lot of things to get better.”
City reeled in Arsenal to win the title in the 2023-24 season and is going to have to do it again.
City manager Pep Guardiola isn’t too concerned at this stage.
“I was worried before the international break (in September) when we were 14th in the table,” Guardiola said.
“If they win all their games and win the Premier League, congratulate them. That’s all we can do … but I don’t live in October and November thinking, ‘Oh what is going to happen if we don’t win the Premier League?'”
Eze barely celebrated after producing a wonderful finish from Gabriel Magalhaes’ nod-down to ultimately clinch a fourth straight league win for Arsenal.
“The technique is unbelievable,” Arteta said of the England playmaker, who started the season with Palace before completing a move to Arsenal, the team he supported as a kid, for a reported initial fee of 60 million pounds ($80 million) late in the summer transfer window.
This was a first league goal for his new club — and it came from a typical source, an Arsenal set piece.
It was also another clean sheet for Arteta’s team, which has conceded just three goals in nine games. It was achieved despite center back William Saliba being withdrawn because of injury at halftime and Declan Rice also going off midway through the second half with an undisclosed problem.
Haaland had previously scored in all but one of City’s games this season and, in his words, has been in the form of his life.
But he was unable to make it seven straight Premier League games on the scoresheet as Villa defended stoutly in the face of a late City onslaught to record a third straight home win over Guardiola’s team.
City has lost three of its nine league games.
Cash lashed home a left-footed shot after a corner reached him at the edge of the area.
During the summer transfer window, Bournemouth lost three of its back four and its goalkeeper from last season.
It hasn’t stopped the team making an unexpectedly good start — and a prolific new striker has been unearthed, too.
After Marcus Tavernier opened the scoring directly from a corner in the 25th minute, 19-year-old striker Eli Junior Kroupi doubled Bournemouth’s lead with a long-range strike into the corner — his fourth goal in his last three appearances.
The France under-21 striker is currently playing in place of the injured Evanilson.
It was Sean Dyche’s first Premier League match in charge of Forest.
Center back Micky van de Van scored two first-half goals at corners and Pape Sarr added a late third for Tottenham in its win at Everton.
Burnley scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to win 3-2 at last-placed Wolverhampton, which has yet to win any of its first nine games of the campaign for the second straight season.
Wolves manager Vitor Pereira was involved in a heated exchange with his own fans after the game. (JapanToday)
Sean Dyche got off to a winning start as Nottingham Forest boss thanks to two penalties to beat Porto 2-0 in the Europa League, while Aston Villa were stunned 2-1 by Go Ahead Eagles on Thursday.
Forest, who sacked Ange Postecoglou after just 40 days and eight games in charge on Saturday, had not won in 10 games stretching back to the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
But Dyche, who began his playing career at the two-time European champions, roused an immediate impact, even if Forest needed some fortune from VAR interventions to get the better of the Portuguese giants.
Morgan Gibbs-White fired in from the spot on 19 minutes after Jan Bednarek had been penalised for handball.
Former Southampton defender Bednarek thought he had equalised early in the second half, only for the goal to be ruled out after a VAR review for offside against Samu Aghehowa.
The video assistant referee also came to the home side’s aid when Nicola Savona was initially booked for diving, only for that decision to be overturned and a second penalty awarded 13 minutes from time.
Igor Jesus this time slammed home for his first Forest goal at the City Ground.
Villa boss Unai Emery said his side were taught a lesson in the difficulties of European football after their perfect Europa League start came to a surprise end in the Netherlands.
Emery’s men had backed up their status as pre-tournament favorites by beating Bologna and Feyenoord to get their European campaign off to a flying start.
The visitors started strongly when Evann Guessand fired in his first Villa goal.
However, in wild weather conditions, the home side secured a famous win in their first ever experience of group stage European football.
Mathis Suray’s deflected shot levelled before half-time and Mats Deijl dinked over Emiliano Martinez to give the Dutch Cup winners the lead.
Emi Buendia was Villa’s match-winner at Tottenham on Sunday, but the Argentine went from hero to villain as he missed a late penalty with the chance to snatch a draw.
“Today showed us how difficult it is to play in Europe, to play away,” said Emery. “This is the reason I love football, because football has a lot of different ways to win. You can dominate, like
we did, you have chances to score, but if we are conceding a few chances, maybe you can lose. And we did.”
Danny Rohl endured a nightmare start as Rangers manager in a humbling 3-0 defeat in Norway to Brann.
The Glasgow giants’ hopes of making the latter stages are in tatters after a third consecutive Europa League defeat left them bottom of the 36-team table.
A change of manager made no immediate impact as Emil Kornvig converted at the back post to give Brann a half-time lead.
Jacob Sorensen punished more poor defending to head in from a free-kick before Noah Holm rubbed salt in Rangers wounds.
Celtic did salvage some pride for Scottish clubs by coming from behind to secure their first European win of the season over Sturm Graz.
Two goals in three minutes from Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren earned a 2-1 victory after Tomi Horvat’s wonder strike put the Austrians in front at Celtic Park.
Danish side Midtjylland moved top of the standings with a 3-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
Lyon beat Basel 2-0 to continue their 100 percent record thanks to goals from Corentin Tolisso and Afonso Moreira.
Braga are the only other side so far with three wins from three after they beat Red Star Belgrade 2-0.
Bologna won 2-1 at Steaua Bucharest to register their first win in the league phase.
Fenerbahce beat Stuttgart 1-0, while Real Betis were held 0-0 away at Genk. (JapanToday)
Manchester United climbed into the Premier League’s top four with a 4-2 victory over Brighton, as Sunderland went second after stunning Chelsea 2-1 on Saturday.
United took nearly a year into Ruben Amorim’s reign to win back-to-back league games but have now won three-in-a-row after ending Brighton’s run of success at Old Trafford.
The Seagulls had won on their previous three visits amid a run of six wins in seven league games against United.
There are signs of the Red Devils’ £200 million trio ($266 million) of attacking additions in the transfer window, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, beginning to click.
Cunha curled in his first goal for the club from outside the box to open the scoring.
Casemiro’s deflected effort doubled United’s lead before half-time.
Sesko then teed up Mbeumo to fire in at the near post.
Danny Welbeck’s brilliant free-kick and Charalampos Kostoulas’ header set up a nervy finale.
But Mbeumo smashed home his second goal to seal the points in the 97th minute.
United surge ahead of Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham into the Champions League places and within three points of leaders Arsenal.
Sunderland’s dream return to the top flight after an eight-year absence goes on after Chemsdine Talbi’s stoppage time winner at Stamford Bridge.
The Black Cats already seem set to buck the trend of all promoted sides being relegated straight back to the Championship in the past two seasons.
Chelsea looked like they would be the side to go second in the table when Alejandro Garnacho drilled in his first goal for the club after just four minutes.
Sunderland levelled midway through the first half when Wilson Isidor bundled in from close range after Chelsea failed to clear a long throw-in.
The visitors comfortably held the Club World Cup winners at bay in the second period before landing the sucker punch on the counter-attack in the 93rd minute when Brian Brobbey teed up Talbi to curl perfectly into the bottom corner.
Defeat leaves Chelsea down in seventh and any hope of a title challenge fading fast.
“We were not good enough and in the Premier League the consequences can be bad,” said Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.
“If you want to be there (challenging for the title), you need consistency.”
Newcastle beat Fulham 2-1 thanks to captain Bruno Guimaraes’ 90th minute strike at St. James’ Park.
Jacob Murphy pounced on an error by Calvin Bassey to give the Magpies a first-half lead.
Sasa Lukic headed in Fulham’s equaliser just before the hour mark.
But Marco Silva’s men fell to a fourth consecutive defeat that leaves them hovering just above the relegation zone.
Guimaraes swept home the rebound after Bernd Leno had saved William Osula’s initial effort to propel Newcastle up to 11th.
Liverpool slumped to a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat as Brentford bullied the defending champions in a 3-2 win.
Goals from Dango Ouattara, Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago secured victory for the Bees, who climb to 10th in the table.
Liverpool slip to sixth and could be seven points adrift of leaders Arsenal by Sunday as their title defence has collapsed in spectacular style over the past month. (JapanToday)
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday stood by the choice of Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny to headline next year’s Super Bowl halftime show, a decision President Donald Trump has branded “absolutely ridiculous.”
Speaking in New York after the league’s annual autumn meeting, Goodell said he had no qualms about picking the Grammy-winning entertainer, who is wildly popular across the United States, for the NFL showpiece despite the backlash it had drawn from Trump and right-wing critics.
“He’s one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world,” Goodell said of the decision. “That’s what we try to achieve. It’s an important stage for us. It’s carefully thought through.”
Goodell said the NFL’s picks for the high-profile halftime show frequently elicited “blowback or criticism.”
Bad Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, had already sparked right-wing ire after saying he would skip the United States during his upcoming world tour due to fears of immigration raids at his concerts.
The Latin megastar brought a fresh wave of controversy after being named to headline the Super Bowl last month, with right-wing critics infuriated at the choice of an artist who sings mostly in Spanish.
In an interview on Newsmax, Trump, who has regularly sparred with the NFL, said he had “never heard” of Bad Bunny.
“I don’t know who he is,” Trump said. “I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s, like, crazy.” He went on to brand the decision “absolutely ridiculous.”
Other conservative critics have joined the pile-on.
“Is the @NFL incapable of reading the room?” Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s Senior Director for Counter Terrorism, posted on X last month shortly after the announcement.
Former racing driver turned right-wing commentator Danica Patrick said separately on X: “No songs in English should not be allowed at one of America’s highest rated television events of the year.”
Bad Bunny has said his halftime act was “for my people, my culture, and our history.”
Puerto Rico, where Bad Bunny hails from, is a U.S. territory in the Caribbean. In June, Bad Bunny posted video footage on his social media channels from an ICE raid that took place on his home island.
Super Bowl halftime shows have traditionally attracted the biggest names in the music industry, including the likes of Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Prince and Paul McCartney.
More recent performers have included this past year’s headliner Kendrick Lamar, the rapper who cut out profanity but still performed a viral diss track of his rival Drake. (JapanToday)
The International Olympic Committee said Wednesday it will recommend no international sporting events be held in Indonesia after the country barred Israeli athletes from the gymnastics world championships in Jakarta.
The governing body also said it was ceasing any discussions with Indonesia about hosting future Olympics.
An Indonesian government official declared earlier this month that Israeli athletes would be denied visas to participate in the championships, which started Oct. 19. Israel’s team included 2020 Olympic gold medalist and defending world champion Artem Dolgopyat in the men’s floor exercise.
“These actions deprive athletes of their right to compete peacefully and prevent the Olympic movement from showing the power of sport,” the IOC executive board said in a statement.
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation and has long been a staunch supporter of Palestinians. The scheduled participation of Israeli athletes had sparked intense opposition within the country.
The IOC executive board met remotely this week to discuss the situation in Indonesia and also the “recurrent global issue regarding athletes’ access to international competitions.”
The IOC said “all eligible athletes, teams and sports officials must be able to take part in international sports competitions and events without any form of discrimination by the host country.” It added that the fundamental principles that govern the Olympic movement include “non-discrimination, autonomy and political neutrality.”
It said it was ceasing dialogue with Indonesia over hosting the Olympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, Olympic events and conferences until the government gave “adequate guarantees” that all participants would be granted access to the country regardless of nationality.
In addition, it said it would recommend international federations do not stage tournaments, events or meetings in Indonesia until those guarantees were given.
The Indonesian Olympic committee has been invited to IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland to discuss the issue. (JapanToday)
Hugo Ekitike scored against his old club as Liverpool got back on track with a 5-1 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday while Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were among the night’s other winners.
The Anfield side came into their trip to Germany reeling after a run of four consecutive defeats which included a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray in their last Champions League outing.
They bounced back in style by coming from behind to hammer Eintracht, who suffered a second straight 5-1 defeat in Europe — having started their Champions League campaign with a 5-1 win.
Rasmus Kristensen gave the hosts the lead but Ekitike broke away to equalise against the team he left in July in a £79 million ($105.5m) deal.
Virgil van Dijk headed the visitors in front at a corner on 39 minutes and Ibrahima Konate made it 3-1 before the interval in almost identical fashion.
Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai added further goals in the second half as Liverpool moved up to 10th in the 36-team league phase standings.
“I don’t know if it’s a statement but it is a win and something to build on,” Van Dijk told broadcaster TNT Sports.
Chelsea won by the same scoreline against Ajax at Stamford Bridge, in a match which featured an early red card and three first-half penalties.
Kenneth Taylor was sent off for the Dutch visitors before Marc Guiu and Moises Caicedo scored for the Premier League side.
Wout Weghorst pulled one back from the spot for Ajax but Enzo Fernandez and Estevao both converted penalties before half-time for Chelsea.
Tyrique George rounded off the scoring in the second half as for the first time in Champions League history three teenagers scored for the same team.
“We trust a lot of young players,” said Maresca after the goals for Guiu, Estevao and George. “That is the strategy of the club, but not only the ones that we buy. Also the ones from the academy.”
Chelsea have now won their last two European outings since beginning their campaign with a 3-1 defeat at Bayern.
Ajax, meanwhile, are bottom of the standings as one of only two teams without a point after three games — the other is Jose Mourinho’s Benfica.
Bayern are one of five teams with the maximum nine points as Harry Kane scored his 20th goal in 12 club appearances this season in a 4-0 cruise against Club Brugge at the Allianz Arena.
Lennart Karl, 17, got the opener before Kane, Luis Diaz and Nicolas Jackson also hit the target for the Bundesliga champions.
Madrid also have nine points following a hard-earned 1-0 victory against Juventus at the Santiago Bernabeu as England captain Kane’s compatriot Jude Bellingham scored for the first time this season.
The goal came just before the hour mark, with Bellingham converting the rebound after Vinicius hit the upright. Juventus have now gone seven games without a win.
“I’m very happy with the win, it was a very tough game with chances at both ends and we had to sweat for it, but it was an important win against a big team,” Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told Movistar.
Tottenham Hotspur became the only one of England’s six representatives to fail to win this midweek as they were held to a 0-0 draw away to Monaco.
In Lisbon, Portuguese champions Sporting came from behind to defeat Marseille 2-1 in a game which hinged on a red card in first-half stoppage time.
Igor Paixao’s stunner put Marseille ahead, but Emerson Palmieri was dismissed for a second yellow for diving after a decision to award him a penalty was overturned.
Sporting used the extra man to equalise in the second half through Geny Catamo before Alisson Santos got their winner.
Nigeria superstar Victor Osimhen netted twice as Galatasaray beat Bodo/Glimt 3-1 in Istanbul, with Yunus Akgun scoring their other goal before Andreas Helmersen pulled one back.
Athletic Bilbao beat Qarabag of Azerbaijan 3-1 at San Mames, coming from behind after Leandro Andrade had given the visitors a first-minute lead. Gorka Guruzeta bagged a brace for the Basque side either side of a Robert Navarro goal.
Atalanta and Slavia Prague drew 0-0 in the night’s other game.
The next round of Champions League action in a fortnight will include clashes between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern, and Liverpool and Real. (JapanToday)
Hoshoryu defeated fellow yokozuna Onosato in the final bout of the five-day exhibition Grand Sumo Tournament at London’s Royal Albert Hall to claim the champion’s trophy on Sunday.
The Japan Sumo Association’s first overseas tournament in 20 years proved to be a big hit in the British capital, with roughly 27,000 fans attending over the five sold-out days at the renowned concert venue.
British news outlets and social media were abuzz with images of the giant wrestlers sightseeing around London, where they mingled with local fans and onlookers.
Both grand champions entered the final bout unbeaten in a two-way tie for the lead, meaning the winner would walk away with the title.
Mongolian-born Hoshoryu, 26, used a strong belt grip to spin the 25-year-old Onosato around and usher him out of the ring from behind.
Rank-and-file wrestler Tobizaru started the day with a share of the lead but was knocked out of the race as he lost to komusubi Takayasu. The No. 15 maegashira, whose name translates to “flying monkey,” became a fan favorite in London as the underdog title challenger.
Onosato, who beat Hoshoryu to win the September grand tournament in Tokyo, delivered a brief farewell message in English at a closing ceremony for the first sumo tour to London since 1991.
“Hello everyone. London is great. Thank you and see you again. Goodbye,” said Onosato, keeping his address short and sweet.
Sumo association chief Hakkaku expressed his satisfaction with the tour, hailing it as a huge success.
“It was even better than I expected,” said Hakkaku, formerly yokozuna Hokutoumi. “I’m overwhelmed with emotion. It feels like sumo has been broadcast to the world.”
The London tournament featured wrestlers from the elite makuuchi division and was the sumo association’s 14th overseas tour. The first was to Moscow and Khabarovsk in what was then the Soviet Union in 1965, while the most recent was to Las Vegas in 2005. (JapanToday)
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