Sports

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom — Rooted to the bottom of the Premier League for the first time in 30 years, Manchester United’s disastrous start to the season on and off the field could still get worse when they face Liverpool on Monday.

Always one of the biggest clashes in the English football calendar, Liverpool’s visit to Old Trafford has taken on even more importance after a difficult few weeks for both clubs.

Liverpool’s title hopes have already been hit by draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace to leave Jurgen Klopp’s men four points adrift of defending champions Manchester City.

However, Liverpool’s woes of an early season injury crisis and the absence of Darwin Nunez due to his ill-discipline that cost the Uruguayan a red card on his home debut, pale into insignificance compared to United’s troubles.

Erik ten Hag is off to the worst start of any United manager for over 100 years after a 4-0 humbling at the hands of Brentford followed Brighton’s first ever win at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the season.

A large-scale protest by United fans is planned before kick-off aimed at the club’s owners, the Glazer family.

“A fish rots from the head,” said the Manchester United Supporters Trust this week with pressure rising on the Americans to consider selling the club.

Elon Musk joked he was buying the Red Devils this week, while Britain’s richest man Jim Ratcliffe has signalled his interest.

The lack of a coordinated transfer strategy has left Ten Hag to work with largely the same squad that suffered 5-0 and 4-0 thrashings at the hands of Liverpool in their two meetings last season.

Ten Hag, though, also has questions to ask after pushing for the signing of Lisandro Martinez from his old club Ajax despite the Argentine centre-back’s diminutive frame seemingly being unsuited to the rigours of the Premier League.

Martinez was hauled off at half-time against Brentford with United already trailing 4-0, but Ten Hag conceded afterwards all 11 of his starting line-up could have been replaced.

Brentford players covered 13.8 kilometres more in that match and Ten Hag reportedly responded by cancelling a planned day off to make his squad run that distance the day after defeat last Saturday.

But it is on the pitch he needs a response with Liverpool also wounded for their trip to Manchester.

Newcastle test for City

City’s transformation into the dominant club in English football over the past decade thanks to the flow of investment from Abu Dhabi appeared the blueprint for Newcastle to follow under the ownership of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

But Newcastle’s first summer transfer window under the new regime has been surprisingly quiet with Nick Pope and Sven Botman the only new faces at St James’ Park.

They have still enjoyed a strong start to the season with four points from their first two games, but City’s visit will give an early indication as to how seriously the Magpies could challenge for a top-four finish.

No money for Rodgers

Leicester are the only Premier League club yet to spend any money in the window and manager Brendan Rodgers is not expecting that to change due to the state of the club’s finances.

“I spent my summer holidays convincing players to come but when I come back the reality of the situation is there and we are unable to follow through with it,” said Rodgers on Thursday.

“I don’t run the finances of the club. I run the football department and if they say we can’t sign a player I trust the club that it’s the case.”

The Foxes long-serving captain Kasper Schmeichel joined Nice earlier this month and more key players could still leave with Wesley Fofana a target for Chelsea, while Newcastle have had bids rejected for James Maddison.

After just one point from their opening two games, Leicester badly need a win to lift the mood around the King Power ahead of a tough run of fixtures that includes trips to Chelsea and Tottenham in their next five games.

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James has agreed to terms on a two-year NBA contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers worth $97.1 million, according to multiple reports on Wednesday.

The deal, according to ESPN and The Athletic, includes a player option for the 2024-25 season, in which James could see his 17-year-old son Bronny become an NBA rookie.

The contract could be worth $111 million to the superstar forward if the NBA salary cap makes a major jump for the 2023-24 campaign.

Terms would give James a career guaranteed total earnings number of $532 million, edging the four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA Most Valuable Player ahead of Kevin Durant for the record guaranteed career earnings total.

James, 37, has said he wants to play through the 2024-25 season for the chance to play alongside his eldest son, a top high school prospect in Los Angeles.

James, who would have been entering the final season of his Lakers’ contract in October, will now be able to negotiate a new deal or become a free agent in two seasons, the same options available to star teammate Anthony Davis.

The Lakers won their most recent NBA title in 2020 but missed the playoffs last season, going 33-49, and James was limited to 56 games by injuries although he averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists a game.

Warriors face Laker in NBA openers

Defending champion Golden State will host the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston will entertain Philadelphia when the 2022-23 NBA season opens on October 18 in a league schedule announced Wednesday.

Each team will play 82 regular-season games through April 9 with a play-in tournament ahead of the April 15 start of the play-offs and the NBA Finals commencing on June 1.

The schedule sees the resumption of international regular-season contests with the Miami Heat playing the San Antonio Spurs on December 17 in Mexico City and the Chicago Bulls meeting the Detroit Pistons in Paris on January 19.

There will be five games played on Christmas Day for the 15th consecutive year, tipping off with Philadelphia at New York and followed by the Lakers at Dallas, Milwaukee at Boston and Memphis making a December 25 debut at Golden State before the holiday slate concludes with Phoenix at Denver.

In a move to encourage fans to vote, no NBA games will be played on US Election Day, November 8, while all 30 teams will play on November 7 as well as April 9 to end the campaign.

On opening night, the 76ers will visit the reigning Eastern Conference champions before the NBA champion Warriors receive their championship rings before hosting superstar LeBron James and the Lakers.

On October 19, New York will visit Memphis and Dallas go to Phoenix in a rematch of a Western Conference semifinal series from last season.

The next night, Milwaukee travel to Philadelphia while the Los Angeles rivals the Lakers and Clippers meet.

October 21 will feature Boston at Miami and Denver at Golden State.

There will be two rematches of last season’s NBA Finals when the Warriors play host to Boston on December 10 and visit the Celtics on January 19.

The week of January 23 will be NBA Rivals Week, a series of games featuring various league rivalries.

A trio of January 28 contests include the Lakers at Boston, New York at Brooklyn and reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic leading Denver against Philadelphia and MVP runner-up and 2021-22 scoring leader Joel Embiid.

The estimated average miles travelled for NBA clubs in the 2022-23 regular season has been reduced to close to 66,000 kilometres per team, a record low in the era with 30 teams and 82 games each.

It’s a cut of over 3,000 kilometres per team from last season’s all-time low of 69,000 kilometres travelled per club.

CINCINNATI — Borna Coric spoiled the return of Rafael Nadal after a five-year absence from the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday with a 7-6 (11/9), 4-6, 6-3 upset victory in the second round.

The 36-year-old Spaniard, who won the Cincinnati title in 2013, was playing his first match in well over a month after withdrawing with an abdominal injury from his Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios.

“When you come back from injury, if you win the first match things get better,” Nadal said. “That was not the case today.”

Nadal began the season with three titles and 20 consecutive wins but will head into the US Open after only one summer hardcourt match.

“This tournament was difficult for me. He played better,” Nadal said. “It’s difficult to take a lot of positive things from this match.”

“I need to practise. I need to return better. That’s the truth.”

The night appearance by the 22-time Grand Slam champion was interrupted for an hour and a quarter by rain in the opening set.

Once back, the pair struggled into a first-set tie-breaker which lasted for well over a quarter of an hour.

Nadal missed on two set points of his own and had to save two set points for Coric.

But on the Croat’s third opportunity, Nadal handed over the set after an hour and a quarter on court with a costly double-fault.

“I had chances in the tiebreaker and I played terrible on two easy set points,” Nadal said.

Nadal then took another 75 minutes to square the match thanks to a break in the seventh game of the second set.

The Spaniard was broken to trail 2-4 on a forehand wide, opening the door for Coric, who finished off the victory in just under three hours.

“It was very very special,” said Coric, who had shoulder surgery last year. “I’ve been out the last two years injured. I didn’t play on the big stage.”

“I was looking forward to playing this match. It was all kind of crazy I would say.”

Kyrgios, meanwhile, lost his way amid objections to on-court advertising lights, with the Wimbledon runner-up falling 6-3, 6-2 to American Taylor Fritz.

The Australian was in complaint mode from the start, lamenting the distraction of flickering LED lights on an advertising board and demanding a fix.

World No. 28 Kyrgios, after a standout summer which included the Washington title this month, could not find his best game in crashing out to 11th seed Fritz after only 50 minutes.

Women’s 10th seed Emma Raducanu dispatched her second Grand Slam champion in less than 24 hours, crushing Victoria Azarenka 6-0, 6-2.

The teenaged US Open champion claimed the first 10 games before Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, finally captured a game.

But the young Briton, who ousted Serena Williams the night before with another love set, denied Azarenka on two break points in the final game to win in 63 minutes.

“It was another really difficult match and a tough matchup to play Vika,” Raducanu said. “I knew I had to be really on my game. I didn’t have much time to turn around.“

Andy Murray needed a post-match on-court visit from the trainer after losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Cameron Norrie in the second round.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, twice a Cincinnati champion, needed massage on his right thigh before leaving the court after battling for nearly two and three-quarter hours.

“My consistency maybe was not where I’d want it,” Murray said. “But there was some positive tennis in there at times. I definitely had enough opportunities to win.”

After cramping at other events in recent weeks, the 35-year-old Scotsman is worried about his physical situation.

“It’s a big concern for me. It’s something I need to address and find a solution for,” Murray said. “You need to try and understand what’s going on there.”

American Ben Shelton stunned fifth seed Casper Ruud, defeating the Norwegian 6-3, 6-3, while women’s World No. 1 Iga Swiatek beat Sloane Stephens 6-4, 7-5.

GLASGOW — Armando Obispo spared Walter Benitez’s blushes as PSV Eindhoven rescued a 2-2 draw against Rangers in the Champions League play-off first leg on Tuesday.

PSV goalkeeper Benitez looked to have gifted Rangers the advantage when he allowed Tom Lawrence’s free-kick to squirm through his hands in the second half at Ibrox.

Benitez’s howler put Rangers 2-1 ahead after Antonio Colak had cancelled out Ibrahim Sangare’s opener for PSV.

But Obispo bailed out his teammate with a priceless late leveller that leaves the tie on a knife-edge heading into next week’s second leg in Eindhoven.

Although PSV will be favourites on home turf, Rangers should still fancy their chances after staging a rousing comeback from 2-0 down to defeat Union Saint-Gilloise 3-0 in the third qualifying round.

Following on from that dramatic comeback, this was another tense European night for Rangers in their bid to return to the Champions League group stage.

Rangers last played in that round of the competition in 2010-11 before financial problems saw them drop into Scottish football’s bottom tier, from where they eventually returned to the top-flight.

They were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by Malmo last season, then enjoyed a memorable run to the Europa League final, only to lose to Eintracht Frankfurt in the final.

In a nod to Rangers’ European heritage, Ibrox legend John Greig was watching from the stands alongside former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

But Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team initially struggled to rise to the occasion on a rainy night in Glasgow.

Netherlands striker Luuk de Jong was inches away from giving PSV an early lead when he fired over from close-range.

Unable to shake off their lethargy, Rangers paid the price for some woeful defending in the 37th minute.

James Tavernier and Connor Goldson failed to clear a PSV corner, allowing Sangare to scoop his shot past Rangers keeper Jon McLaughlin from six yards.

Sangare’s goal served as a much-needed wake-up call for Rangers, who responded with an incisive raid to equalise just three minutes later.

Lawrence and Steven Davis ignited the move with one-touch passes to Tavernier on the right flank.

Croatia striker Colak had scored in his previous three Rangers appearances and the close-season signing was on target again as he met Tavernier’s cross with a clinical finish into the far corner.

Finally showing the same energy levels as their raucous fans, Rangers nearly took the lead just before half-time when Tavernier’s header forced a save from Benitez.

Van Bronckhorst was up against his former Netherlands teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former Manchester United striker in his first managerial role with PSV this season.

Van Nistelrooy’s men remained a threat and Ismael Saibari poked narrowly wide after Rangers made a hash of dealing with De Jong’s header.

Benitez made a complete mess of handling Lawrence’s 70th minute free-kick, which bounced out of his grasp and trickled over the line despite his desperate attempt to claw it back.

But Obispo silenced Ibrox in the 78th minute as he rose above Goldson to meet a corner with a towering header that flashed past McLaughlin.

FC Copenhagen held off a fightback from visiting Trabzonspor to win their first leg 2-1.

In Norway, hosts Bodo/Glimt edged Dinamo Zagreb 1-0. Norwegian veteran Amahl Pellegrino headed in the only goal in the 37th minute.

LIVERPOOL — Liverpool fought back with 10 men to prevent a first Premier League defeat in front of fans at Anfield since 2017 as Darwin Nunez was sent off during a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Monday.

Luis Diaz’s sensational strike salvaged a point for the Reds after Wilfried Zaha opened the scoring for Palace in the first half.

Just two games into the season, Liverpool trail leaders Manchester City by four points with their new 75-million-euro (£63 million, $77 million) striker largely to blame.

Nunez had scored in his first two appearances against City in the Community Shield and in rescuing a point as a substitute in a 2-2 draw away at Fulham last weekend.

But the Uruguayan’s headbutt on Joachim Andersen just before the hour mark left his side with an uphill challenge in the match and increasing ground to make up already in the title race.

“He knows that now himself,” said Jurgen Klopp when asked if Nunez had let his teammates down.

“Of course it was a red card. He was provoked but that is not how he should behave.”

Liverpool partly dug themselves out of a hole thanks to Diaz’s brilliant equaliser and Klopp said he was bursting with pride at how the 10 men reacted after a difficult week caused by an early-season injury crisis.

Roberto Firmino, Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Jota, Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate were all sidelined, while Joe Gomez was only fit enough for an appearance off the bench.

Nat Phillips was forced to make his first Premier League appearance since the final day of the 2020/21 season at centre-back, while Klopp had no options to refresh his attack late in the game.

‘Witch in the building’

“The real feeling I have at the moment is pride,” added Klopp. “With the week’s preparation we had it was unbelievable. It was like a witch was in the building, every time someone else had a problem.”

Klopp had lambasted his side for a slow start that cost them two points at newly-promoted Fulham on the opening weekend of the season.

This time Liverpool came flying out the traps, but failed to turn their early dominance into goals.

James Milner, Nunez and Mohamed Salah were all guilty of failing to hit the target with big chances, while Harvey Elliott’s goalbound shot was blocked by Andersen.

Palace had barely been in the opposition’s half for the first half-hour, but Patrick Vieira’s gameplan worked to perfection for the opening goal.

Eberechi Eze wriggled free from the Liverpool press to play the perfect ball in behind for Zaha to break the offside trap and curl beyond Alisson Becker into the far corner.

Liverpool should still have been level before half-time as Nunez mishit a glorious chance and the ball floated back off the post.

His nightmare home debut was complete on 57 minutes when he lashed out at Andersen with a headbutt that will also see him miss upcoming games against Manchester United, Bournemouth and Newcastle.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Liverpool refused to let their proud home unbeaten record either side of the behind-closed-doors era of coronavirus restrictions go.

Diaz led the fightback with a terrific individual run and arrowed finish into the far corner to level on 61 minutes.

The red card did not deter Palace from their plan to sit deep and counter-attack, and it nearly worked.

Zaha should have won the game when he hit the post with the goal gaping from Cheick Doucoure’s cross 12 minutes from time.

CINCINNATI — Andy Murray won his first hardcourt match of the summer on Monday, defeating Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 7-5 in the opening round of the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Masters.

The 35-year-old Scot was facing his 37-year-old Swiss rival for the 22nd time with both treble Grand Slam champions still coming back to full form after long-term injuries over the past few seasons.

Murray lost in the first round at Washington and last week in Montreal while Wawrinka’s last win came on grass two months ago at Queen’s Club, London; he has not won on cement since the Australian Open last year.

Murray needed four match points to advance at a tournament he has won twice, in 2008 and 2011. The veteran was competing here for the 17th time. 

“We’re not young anymore,” Murray said. “Both of us gave our best right until the end. 

“Matches like this are a lot tougher than when we were in our mid-20s. 

“Both of us love this sport, we’ve had our issues with injuries the last few years.”

“The sport has been a huge part of my life, I started playing when I was four.”

Compatriot Cameron Norrie joined Murray in the second round with his 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-4 defeat of Dane Holger Rune.

The Scot began to well up as he described his love for the game.

“When I was out injured and not sure if I would be able to come back, I remembered the reasons why you play the game,” Murray said.

“It’s taken a lot of effort and struggles to get back [after two hip surgeries] and play at this level again. 

“I want to make the most of it while I’m still able to.”

Murray claimed the opening set in the tiebreaker as he faced his longtime rival.

Rybakina off the mark

The Scot went down a break in the second set but got it back before finding himself at a set apiece after being broken in the final game. 

The third set featured another pair of early service breaks; but Murray brought an end to hostilities with a break for 6-5 followed by a laboured concluding hold of serve. 

In the closing stages, Murray loudly chastised himself as his grip on the set threatened to slip away against the Swiss whose best showing here was a semifinal a decade ago.

The contest was punctuated repeatedly by visits from the trainer for both men. 

Other winners on opening day included 2016 champion Marin Cilic, who defeated Spain’s Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-3, and American John Isner, the 2013 finalist against Rafael Nadal, who advanced past France’s Benjamin Bonzi 7-6 (13/11), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4). 

Italy’s 12th seeded Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist, lost his second straight match as his return to hardcourt stalls.

The 2021 Wimbledon finalist was beaten by Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/5). 

In the WTA draw, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina defeated Egyptian Mayar Sherif 6-3, 6-2. 

The World No. 25 set up a second-round clash with eighth seed Garbine Muguruza, title-winner here in 2017. 

The 23-year-old Kazakh lifted her game in the second set to end with five aces and 13 winners against Sharif.

“I was slow at the beginning but I got my rhythm and served well,” Rybakina said. “But my serve always helps me.”

The newest Grand Slam champion said she is trying to look ahead in her career as she adjusts to her status. 

“Wimbledon gave me confidence but now I’m focusing on my other tournaments and trying not to think of the past,” she said.

American Amanda Anisimova beat ninth seed Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 6-4.

MADRID — David Alaba scored with a stunning free-kick immediately after coming on as a substitute as reigning champions Real Madrid came from behind to beat Almeria 2-1 in their opening game of the season in La Liga on Sunday.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side trailed to an early goal by Largie Ramazani away against their promoted opponents, but Lucas Vazquez equalised just after the hour mark.

The winner arrived with 15 minutes remaining at Almeria’s Power Horse Stadium, as Alaba strode onto the pitch and curled a free-kick in off the upright after Luka Modric had been fouled just outside the box.

Real were made to work hard for the points against an Almeria side who won last season’s second-tier title to return to La Liga after a seven-year absence.

“We had lots of shots on goal but once we got the first goal it made things much easier for us,” said Ancelotti.

“I am happy with the way the game went. We were not spectacular but there were lots of things to take into account, like the game on Wednesday and the heat.”

At one point it looked like Madrid might suffer a defeat in their opening league game of the season for the first time since 2008, with Ancelotti’s decision to rotate his squad not initially paying off.

The Italian had made five changes to the line-up that started in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Super Cup in Helsinki, when goals by Alaba and Karim Benzema gave the defending European champions the first silverware of the campaign.

Alaba and Modric were among the players dropped to the bench, while close-season signings Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni were handed first competitive starts for their new club.

Rudiger caught out

Yet, the game was just six minutes old when former Chelsea defender Rudiger was caught out by a ball over the top and Ramazani ran through to beat Thibaut Courtois.

Ramazani, the 21-year-old Belgian winger who used to be on the books at Manchester United, ran off to celebrate in acrobatic fashion as Saudi-owned Almeria enjoyed a dream start to their top-flight comeback.

Yet the hosts needed some inspired goalkeeping from Fernando Martinez to keep them ahead into half-time, with the standout save coming low to his left to deny Rudiger five minutes before the break.

Vazquez then had the ball in the net in the 43rd minute only to be denied by a very tight offside call, but the full-back was the man who dragged the away side back level in the 61st minute as he pounced on a loose ball in the area to score.

Almeria, who had already seen a hanging Vinicius cross strike the frame of their goal on its way behind before that, soon conceded again.

When Modric was fouled just outside the box by Rodrigo Ely, Austrian defender Alaba was waiting on the sideline for the chance to come on.

The break in play allowed him to replace Ferland Mendy, and he came straight on to take the free-kick and score in stunning fashion to complete the latest comeback from Ancelotti’s team.

Earlier, Japan star Takefusa Kubo marked his Real Sociedad debut by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win at Cadiz.

Kubo, 21, moved to San Sebastian last month on a five-year deal from Real Madrid, after never managing to break into the first team at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Signed by Madrid from FC Tokyo as an 18-year-old in 2019, he was farmed out on loan to Mallorca, Villarreal and then Getafe, before returning to Mallorca last season.

Carlos Soler’s penalty gave Valencia a 1-0 win over promoted Girona in their first La Liga outing under new coach Gennaro Gattuso.

Valencia held on after having Swiss defender Eray Comert send off early in the second half.

Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw by Rayo Vallecano in their opening game at the Camp Nou on Saturday.