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LONDON — West Ham extended their perfect start to the season as Michail Antonio became the club’s record Premier League goalscorer with a double in their 4-1 win against 10-man Leicester on Monday.

David Moyes’ side took the lead through Pablo Fornals’ first half goal at the London Stadium.

Leicester’s Ayoze Perez was sent off for a dangerous stamp on Fornals just before half-time.

Said Benrahma bagged West Ham’s second after the break before Youri Tielemans got one back for Leicester.

Antonio went into the game tied with Paolo Di Canio on a joint-record 47 goals for West Ham in the Premier League era.

The 31-year-old took sole possession of the record with a brace in the closing stages as West Ham followed up last weekend’s 4-2 win at Newcastle with another four-goal blitz.

“I’m really pleased for him. I was disappointed with the way he played in the first half but he did enough to shut the manager up after what I said to him at half-time,” Moyes said of Antonio.

Despite a quiet summer in the transfer market, West Ham sit top of the table and look capable of emulating last season’s sixth place finish.

The Hammers have won their opening two fixtures of a Premier League campaign for only the second time.

“It’s a super night for us. The team played really well. The sending-off changes the game a little bit we did a lot of good things,” Moyes said.

“I’ve challenged the players to find that extra few points that could have been enough to get us in the Champions League.

“I could be asking far too much but what else am I going to do? Stand here and say we want to avoid relegation!”

Memorable moment

West Ham were the only team to beat Leicester twice in the league last season and they maintained that hold over Brendan Rodgers’ men as the FA Cup holders slumped to their first defeat of the new campaign.

Allowed a capacity crowd for the first time since February 2020 after the easing of coronavirus restrictions, West Ham fed off the fans’ energy in a fast start that saw Benrahma’s 20-yard curler saved by Kasper Schmeichel.

Containing Leicester effectively and launching counter-attacks at will, West Ham’s confident display was rewarded in the 26th minute.

A sweeping move ended with Fornals finding Benrahma wide on the left before racing into the area to meet the cross with a clipped finish into the far corner from 12 yards.

Leicester suffered a self-inflicted wound in the 40th minute when Michael Oliver sent off Perez after consulting the pitchside monitor to review the forward’s reckless stamp on Fornals’ ankle.

In the 56th minute, Caglar Soyuncu played a woeful backpass towards Schmeichel without looking and Antonio intercepted.

Antonio slipped the ball to the unmarked Benrahma and the Algerian smashed in his first goal at the London Stadium since signing from Brentford last season.

Against the run of play, Tielemans stabbed home from close-range after West Ham failed to clear James Maddison’s 69th minute cross.

But Antonio wrapped up the points with 10 minutes remaining when he took Declan Rice’s cross, held off Soyuncu and swivelled to blast past Schmeichel.

After celebrating his goal by holding up a large cardboard cut-out of himself on the touchline, Antonio produced another memorable moment in the 84th minute.

Cleverly flicking the ball over his head, Antonio got between two defenders before poking home from close-range.

MADRID — Gareth Bale scored his first Liga goal since 2019 but took two late goals from his replacement, Vinicius, to earn Real Madrid a 3-3 draw at Levante on Sunday.

That result allowed champions Atletico Madrid, who beat Elche 1-0 earlier in the evening, to take top spot in La Liga. 

In the late game in Valencia, Bale gave Real Madrid the lead after five minutes. Karim Benzema ran in on goal but when the ball was held up by water on the pitch cut it back to Bale who side-footed the ball home. 

It was the Welshman’s first goal in La Liga since his second goal, an 86th minute equaliser, in a 2-2 draw against Villarreal at the start of September in 2019, a match which he ended by collecting a red card.

Real dominated the first half, but could not find a second. 

Instead, Levante levelled 28 seconds into the second half.

The ball broke to unmarked Roger who beat Thibaut Courtois with a hard low shot 

Levante took the lead in the 57th minute when Jose Campana met a deep cross with a sweet volley into the top corner. 

Real manager Carlo Ancelotti promptly yanked off Bale, Isco and Eden Hazard in a triple substitution.

One of the subs, Vinicius repaid his coach in the 73rd minute, accelerating onto a pass from Casimeiro, shrugging off a defender and rolling a shot into the corner of the net.

Seven minutes later, David Alaba nodded a Levante free kick down into his own six yard box and Rober Pier gleefully thumped the ball home from close range.

With five minutes left, Vinicius again equalised. 

Receiving the ball wide of the post and near the goal-line, he still somehow found the net, lofting the ball round goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez and in off the far post. 

Two minutes later, Fernandez was sent off for handling outside hs area to stop a Real counter-attack. Because Levante had used all their substitutes, defender Ruben Vezo went in goal but Real could not find a winner.

“He has qualities, he’s very fast, he’s young, he’s a great striker,” said Ancelotti of the Brazilian, but he refused to say if Vinicius would start the next game, which could cost Bale his place.

“I don’t give so much importance to who starts the game or not. It’s not that important. Today, Vinicius changed the match with his freshness.”

“What we lacked was in the defence, not in attack,” said Ancelotti saying his team needed to work on their “defensive commitment”. 

‘He is dangerous’

Earlier in Madrid, Angel Correa continued his torrid form for Atletico.

A week after striking twice in a 2-1 victory in the opening round at Celta Vigo, the diminutive Argentinian striker struck again in the 39th minute.

Atletico, who won the title in a season played behind closed doors, finally got to share their trophy with their fans. For the first time in 18 months there was a crowd at the Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday, where 24,926 were allowed in.

The home club also presented summer signing Rodrigo de Paul. 

The Argentinian international midfielder was willing to help out in defence and assisted on his compatriot’s goal, with a pass very like the one with which he set up Angel di Maria for Argentina’s winner in the Copa America final against Brazil in July.

De Paul lofted the ball over the visiting defence and into the path of the sprinting Correa. 

The striker eluded an untidy challenge on the edge of the penalty area by Elche goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, ran on to the ball, steadied himself and then placed a shot past the backpedalling defenders with the outside of his boot.

“He is very fast, he is vertical, he can turn around like nobody else, he is dangerous because you can’t touch him,” said Atletico coach Diego Simeone of Correa. 

LE MANS, France — The Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez finally came good after years of ill-luck to claim the Japanese manufacturer’s fourth straight Le Mans 24 Hour Race success on Sunday.

Toyota’s second car and winner in the past three years, with Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley sharing the driving, took second.

After 1,440 minutes, 370 laps, over 5,000 kilometres and 33 pit stops, Toyota’s number seven car avoided the misfortune that had ruined its chances in 2017, 2019 and last year to at last take the chequered flag at the end of motorsport’s mythic endurance test.

In a neat touch Nakajima pitted behind Kobayashi in the leading car shortly before the finish to ensure they passed the line virtually in tandem, albeit with two laps separating them in the classification.

In third, four laps adrift, came the elite Hypercar category rival Alpine of Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere.

The two entries from US film director Jim Glickenhaus, at 71 supervising events from the pits in a stetson, completed the top five.

The stands and campsites were occupied again after last year’s Le Mans was held behind closed doors, coronavirus restrictions keeping the traditional crowd numbering 250,000 at home.

With capacity capped at 20 per cent the 50,000 die-hard fans burning the midnight oil were treated to another demonstration of Toyota dominance as Le Mans ushered in the Hypercar era.

The new elite category prototype has found favour with Audi, Porsche and Ferrari, who are due to make their Hypercar entrance in the next two years, assuring a new “golden age” of Le Mans according to the event’s director Pierre Fillon.

Ahead of the return of those grand marques Toyota’s two entries had as rivals in the top class an Alpine and the two Glickenhaus Team cars.

Joining them on the starting line were 56 other competitors in the four lower categories including for the second year two all-female teams.

Kobayashi had ensured the prime spot on the grid after setting the fastest time in Friday qualifying.

The former F1 pilot with Toyota and Sauber shared driving duties with Britain’s Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez of Argentina.

They were praying the fickle Le Mans gods spared them the misfortune that derailed their chances of likely victory in recent runnings.

In 2020 they set out from pole but finished third after a lengthy pit stop for a turbo change.

Treacherous

In 2019 they were coasting in front only for a puncture one hour out to put paid to their hopes of victory.

They also took second in 2018 and the year before Kobayashi and Conway were part of the team that took pole but failed to finish with clutch issues.

Saturday’s start for the 89th Le Mans was treated to plenty of pomp and ceremony, as befits one of motorsport’s crown jewels, 

At 16h00 precisely the turbo-charged machines boasting more horsepower than Napoleon’s army, roared onto the track.

But in a break from tradition organisers allowed them three formation laps to adapt to conditions, rendered treacherous by heavy rain shortly before Ferrari Chairman John Elkann delivered the time-honoured instruction to the intrepid drivers to “Start your engines”.

Conway was behind the wheel of Toyota’s number seven car at the start and despite a puncture, he carved out a 1min 13sec lead before handing the wheel to Kobayashi.

Buemi started from second on the grid but was involved in a collision with a rival Glickenhaus during the opening lap before the two Toyotas settled into a comfortable 1-2.

During the night, with windscreen wipers mercifully unemployed as the rain stayed away, Toyota’s number seven car remained in control, apart from one heart stopping moment when Kobayashi went off track, with the sister car briefly hitting the front before normal service was resumed.

As dawn broke, their advantage grew to around three minutes when, with Buemi at the wheel, the number eight car slowed to a halt with refuelling trouble.

After a reset Buemi was back up and running, albeit a lap behind.

Conway handed over to Kobayashi for the closing hour and with the car running sweetly the team finally got to etch their names on the iconic race’s list of winners.

LONDON — Facing up to a first season in 25 years without European football, Arsenal were expected to feel the economic crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but have spent more money on new players that any other Premier League club in the transfer window to date.

The arrival of Norwegian midfielder Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid and imminent signing of Aaron Ramsdale as competition for the role as number one goalkeeper has taken the Gunners outlay to a reported £130 million ($178 million).

In both Arteta’s first two seasons in charge, Arsenal have finished eighth in the Premier League, their worst performances since 1995.

A club that between 1998 and 2016 enjoyed 19 consecutive campaigns in the Champions League under Arsene Wenger has now been deprived of the prestige and riches of Europe’s top club competition for five years.

Their start to the new season has done little to offer hope that run will be ended come May as they opened the Premier League campaign with a 2-0 defeat to newly-promoted Brentford.

Arteta bemoaned the fact that match was not postponed on Friday after four positive coronavirus cases robbed him of strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.

But the Spaniard needs a quick response ahead of Sunday’s visit of European champions Chelsea and a trip to Manchester City next weekend if his side are to avoid going into the September international break without a point.

“I love challenges and we have a challenge,” said Arteta. “Let’s just embrace it and do the best that we can every single day to try to create the best possible atmosphere around this place.”

Kroenke follows 

Glazer’s lead

The atmosphere inside the Emirates for a first full house in 17 months on Sunday will reveal a lot about whether a summer spending spree has eased the angst among fans.

Arsenal supporters protested furiously against the club’s American billionaire owner Stan Kroenke towards the end of last season after his involvement in the failed European Super League project.

Like Manchester United’s US-based owners, the Glazer family, Kroenke has loosened the purse strings in the transfer window after complaints over his investment in the club.

As United fans returned en masse to Old Trafford for a 5-1 win over Leeds last weekend there was barely any trace of the protests that saw a behind closed doors match against Liverpool in May postponed as angry fans stormed the pitch.

However, while United’s signings of French World Cup winner Raphael Varane and England international winger Jadon Sancho could make them title contenders, the response to Arsenal’s arrivals has not been so positive.

Ben White, a £50 million signing from Brighton, was bullied by Brentford’s physical forwards on the opening night.

Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga will add depth to Arteta’s squad, but are not the calibre of names expected to launch Arsenal back into the top four.

A teenage sensation when he joined Madrid at 16, Odegaard has since been farmed on a series of loan moves, while Ramsdale has suffered back-to-back relegations at Bournemouth and Sheffield United.

Arteta hit back at that criticism, pointing to a long-term project with all five signings aged between 21 and 23.

“I know people have the intention to bury us, to criticise us. I am not interested in that, we have a lot of positives, a lot of energy and my focus is on that and to find a way to beat Chelsea,” he added.

“It is a big turnaround and we are trying to do it in the right way so this club is stable. It is a clear indicator the business that we are doing. The ages are between 21 and 23 years old and it tells you the project that we are building.”

The question remains how long Arteta will be given to manage that project if there is no sign of progress in the coming weeks.

CINCINNATI — Olympic champion Alexander Zverev struck gold at the ATP Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday with his first victory at the US Open tune-up event in seven attempts.

The German has been deep in a rut from his first appearance in 2015 at the Midwest US venue, exiting in the first round every time.

But that all changed as Zverev celebrated success with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 win over South African Lloyd Harris to break his duck.

"I'm happy where I'm at and I'm happy to get my first win in seven years here," he said. "It's obviously a great start to the week."

The breakthrough victory was the seventh in a row for the 24-year-old.

"When I came on court and they said Olympic gold medallist, it did give me goosebumps," Zverev said.

"It made me a little nervous at the beginning of the match, I have to say, because it is a special feeling."

Zverev now goes up against Argentine Guido Pella, a winner over Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-1, 7-5. 

Top seed Daniil Medvedev, last week's Toronto champion, also advanced in a no-drama 6-2, 6-2 defeat of American Mackenzie McDonald that took just an hour for the 2019 Cincinnati champion.

No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas fought off Sebastian Korda for a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 victory that took the Toronto semifinalist into the third round.

The Greek won on his second match point as Korda drove a forehand long after 97 minutes.

Tsitsipas next plays Italy's Lorenzo Sonego who beat American Tommy Paul 7-6 (11/9), 6-2.

Norway's eighth-seeded Casper Ruud out-aced American Reilly Opelka 21 to 17 on his way to a 6-7 (5/7), 6-0, 7-6 (7/4) victory.

Andy Murray's wild card run ended with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 loss to Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.

The Scotsman, who has been struggling to re-establish himself on tour after his latest injury — a groin problem — lost the second-round contest in one and three-quarter hours to the player who knocked Roger Federer out of Wimbledon.

Murray fired a respectable 11 aces to the 17 of his ninth-seeded opponent in the first-time meeting while saving four break points.

"This week was fairly positive. I played much better than at Wimbledon and the grass season," he said. "This week my body felt good, even if hardcourts are not easy on the body.

"Physically I was tired after some of the long rallies, but I felt fine."

The 34-year-old Briton said the only factors that would make him reconsider his comeback were "if my body doesn't feel good " or "my tennis starts going backwards."

The two-time Cincinnati winner, ranked 105th, owns 14 career Masters 1000 titles, the most of any man in a field missing the "Big 3" trio of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — all 20-time Grand Slam champions.

Olympic silver medallist Karen Khachanov joined Murrray in defeat as the Russian exited 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4 to Canada's 12th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who will face Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini for a quarter-final place.

Frenchman Gael Monfils earned the 500th match win of his career as he beat Australian Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-5. Victory put the 34-year-old into the third round against sixth seed Andrey Rublev, aged just six when the Frenchman won his first ATP match in 2004.

"It was at Metz against Xavier Malisse and he retired," Monfils said. "I remember all of my wins. I've been on the Tour a long time. I'm quite blessed in my career."

American John Isner beat Italian 11th seed Jannik Sinner 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

Former champion Grigor Dimitrov reached the third round over Kazakh Alexander Bublik 6-3, 7-5.

BERLIN — Robert Lewandowski netted twice as Bayern Munich retained the German Super Cup with a 3-1 win at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday in a high-tempo encounter.

Lewandowski put Bayern ahead with a bullet header at Signal Iduna Park before Thomas Mueller doubled the visitors’ lead to make it 2-0 just after the break.

Dortmund captain Marco Reus pulled a goal back when he curled a superb shot inside the post before Lewandowski settled the match.

The 32-year-old has now scored 24 goals in as many games against Dortmund, where he spent four years from 2010-2014.

“This means a lot to me. We’ve won our next title and for the spectators it must have been a really cool game to watch,” Lewandowski told Sky.

“It’s something really great for the team which we can enjoy.”

Bayern have now won all of their last six matches against Dortmund.

It was a welcome victory for Bayern, who were winless in four pre-season friendlies before drawing last Friday’s opening game of the new Bundesliga season 1-1 at Borussia Moenchengladbach.

New coach Julian Nagelsmann has earned a trophy, which Bayern also won last year against Dortmund in Munich, with his first win in charge.

“We were better than in Gladbach and this is an important win for the lads,” said Nagelsmann, who hailed Lewandowski’s “exceptional” performance.

It was a frustrating game for Erling Braut Haaland and 16-year-old Dortmund striker Youssoufa Moukoko, who each had goals ruled offside.

Both teams wore black armbands out of respect for legendary Bayern striker Gerd Mueller, who died Sunday aged 75.

During the warm-up, the Bayern squad wore shirts with Mueller’s name and number 9 on the back.

Steady rain did little to dampen the electric atmosphere as tempers quickly became frayed, with three yellow cards dished out in the first half.

Dortmund had the best early chance when England midfielder Jude Bellingham threaded a pass through the defence to Reus on 20 minutes, but Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer blocked the shot with his foot.

Moukoko then had the ball in the net on 36 minutes from a Haaland pass, only to be denied by an offside flag.

Lewandowski put Bayern ahead four minutes before the break, perfectly timing his run into the box to head home a pin-point Serge Gnabry cross.

Bayern extended their advantage four minutes into the second half when Lewandowski failed to connect with an Alphonso Davies cross and Mueller swept in the loose ball.

Haaland beat Neuer three minutes later, but his effort was also chalked off.

However, Dortmund pulled a goal back when Bellingham spotted Reus in space and he unleashed an excellent strike into the corner with 26 minutes to go.

However, Lewandowski ended the tie as a contest, after Bayern capitalised on a rare mistake in the Dortmund defence.

Centre-back Manuel Akanji played a lazy pass which was snapped up and worked to Lewandowski, who slotted home, taking the wind out of Dortmund in the 74th minute.

LONDON — Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku said on Monday believes he is now a “complete” striker as the club’s record signing settles back into life at Stamford Bridge.

Lukaku rejoined Chelsea in a £98 million ($135 million) move from Inter Milan last week. 

The 28-year-old was unavailable for Chelsea’s 3-0 win against Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener on Saturday.

But Lukaku could make his debut in Sunday’s trip to Arsenal and the Belgium forward plans to show how much he has developed since the last time he played for the Blues.

Almost 10 years after arriving in west London as an unknown teenager, Lukaku returns as one of the world’s top strikers.

“I just feel more complete; I’ve tried to master all the facets that a striker needs and I just want to keep improving on the small details all the time and keep improving on my strengths as well,” Lukaku told Chelsea’s website.

“I just want to try to help the team win and be available for the manager as well as for my teammates.

“I want to make sure that they feel comfortable and they can lean on me in whatever situation we’re in.

“The two years in Italy helped me master all the facets of the game for a striker and now I’m ready.”

Lukaku fired 27 goals and laid on 11 assists last term as Inter stormed to the Serie A title.

He also boasts vast Premier League experience after stints with West Brom, Everton and Manchester United.

Chelsea struggled for goals at times last season, but Lukaku is confident he can fill any role required by boss Thomas Tuchel.

“The conversation was really clear from him, that he wants me to be a presence and a leader in the team,” Lukaku said.

“If he wants me to be a focal point or if he wants me to attack the spaces in behind, I can do it.

“It’s not like I’m a new player coming in and not quite knowing what to expect. I know the league, I’ve scored a fair amount of goals here but the past is the past and now we have to look forward.

“I’m a new version of that player from before. I’ve evolved and the team that I’m joining is a very strong team so now we just have to prove it on the pitch by challenging for the Premier League.”

Lukaku also revealed he continues to lean on former Chelsea and Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba for advice.

“Our relationship means the world to me. It’s not like we talk once a month, I talk to the guy every few days!” Lukaku said.

“We have a group chat so we’re constantly communicating and I’ve been on the phone with him a bit more in the past two weeks.

“I had a lot of questions to ask and he still knows a lot of people here so he really prepared me well with the last details.”

WASHINGTON — Wearing the same trunks used by his legendary grandfather Muhammad Ali half a century earlier, Nico Ali Walsh won his emotional professional boxing debut on Saturday with a first-round stoppage.

Walsh delivered a hammering right to knock down Jordan Weeks in their middleweight bout, then struck quickly once fighting resumed and forced a halt to the bout after 1:49 at Tulsa, Oklahoma. “It was a great night,” Walsh said. “This lived up completely to my expectations.” The 21-year-old fledgling fighter was wearing a pair of white trunks with black trim given to him by his grandfather.

“I’m never wearing these trunks again,” Walsh said. “Man, they were my grandfather’s trunks. It’s so emotional. This is a dream come true. It means so much. My grandfather, I’ve been thinking about him so much. I miss him.

It’s just an emotional journey.” Walsh becomes a third generation of Ali fighters, his iconic grandfather going 56-5 with 37 knockouts and becoming the dominant heavyweight champion of the 1960s and 1970s despite being barred from fighting for three years in his prime for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War. Ali’s daughter Laila became a star women’s boxer while Walsh, the son of Ali’s daughter Rasheda, has taken Ali’s legacy into the ring once again.

“I brought my grandfather in the ring with me by wearing his shorts for the first and final time as a professional fighter,” Walsh wrote in a Sunday posting on Instagram. “I’m more than proud to say: The Legacy Continues... It has been very emotional. It’s an emotional journey this whole ride,” Walsh said in the ring after the victory.

“It seems like a lot of pressure but to me it’s just my grandfather. To everyone else, he’s the greatest fighter who ever lived, maybe the greatest person, but, to me, he’s the greatest grandfather.” Walsh was promoted by a former promoter of his grandfather, Bob Arum. “I’m a believer in genes,” Arum said.