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LIVERPOOL — Jurgen Klopp said Monday that he has been blown away by the standards Liverpool have set at the start of their Premier League title defence after coming from behind to beat Arsenal 3-1 at Anfield.

Goals from Sadio Mane, Andy Robertson and Diogo Jota saw off the Gunners, who had won their opening two league games of the season.

While Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and now Arsenal have all lost in the opening three weeks of the new campaign, Liverpool have taken maximum points to lay down an early marker that they remain the team to beat in the Premier League this season.

“It’s really early in the season and with this performance it is absolutely ‘wow’,” said coach Klopp.

“From the first second, [it was] dominant against a team in form. We had to be careful like hell of the counter-attacks.

“The football we played was absolutely exceptional. About this game tonight, there is nothing bad to say.”

The outcome of the match could have been very different, though, had Mane not escaped with just a yellow card for an elbow on Kieran Tierney after just three minutes.

Arsenal followed the game plan that had brought them two victories over Liverpool in recent months as they dropped deep then looked to play around the Reds’ press when in possession.

However, unlike when they met at the back end of last season’s Premier League when Jurgen Klopp’s men had already won the league or the Community Shield in August, Liverpool were far sharper in pulling the Gunners out of position.

The only time Arsenal did manage to pierce the Liverpool press before half-time, they opened the scoring completely against the run of play.

Robertson was at fault as he spooned Ainsley Maitland-Niles’s cross into the path of Lacazette, who also failed to make a proper connection, but the ball bounced into the ground and looped over the helpless Alisson Becker.

Wasteful Arsenal punished

Liverpool responded immediately to level within three minutes as Mohamed Salah outmuscled Tierney and when his shot was parried across goal by Leno, Mane turned into an empty net.

Robertson them made amends for his previous error as Liverpool’s flying full-backs combined as Alexander-Arnold’s cross was this time converted by the Scotland captain.

However, where Arsenal sides of recent years might have collapsed, as they did in losing 4-0 and 5-1 at Anfield in 2018 and 2019, Mikel Arteta has instilled a new-found belief in the FA Cup winners.

The visitors were more expansive after the break and created a huge chance to level when Dani Ceballos put Lacazette through on goal, but Alisson stood up well to block the French striker’s shot.

“When you come to Anfield you are not going to get 10 chances. When you are one-on-one with the goalkeeper, you have to score,” said Arteta as Liverpool extended their unbeaten run at home in the Premier League to 61 games.

“It is a really tough place to come for anyone in the world, they set incredible standards.

“They have different weapons. They have been together five years, we have been together a few months. The standards are this and this is what we have to reach.”

Klopp introduced Jota for his league debut 10 minutes from time and the Portuguese international quickly showed why Liverpool spent £41 million ($52 million) to sign him from Wolves.

Jota pounced on David Luiz’s headed clearance to control and fire a sweetly-struck volley found the bottom corner.

MILAN — Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to salvage a point for 10-man Juventus in a 2-2 draw at Roma as Napoli hammered Genoa 6-0 in Serie A on Sunday.

Champions Juventus were trailing 2-1 and a man down after an hour at the Stadio Olimpico after a Jordan Veretout brace for the hosts and Adrien Rabiot’s sending off.

But a towering Ronaldo header grabbed the equaliser in the 69th minute to avoid handing new Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo a first defeat.

Edin Dzeko was back on the Roma front line after his move to Juventus fell through, the Bosnian having missed last week’s trip to Verona which ended in a forfeit defeat for the capital side for fielding an unregistered player.

Instead new Juventus signing Alvaro Morata got his first start after his move from Atletico Madrid earlier this week.

But the champions were pushed hard by the hosts with Veretout opening from the spot in the 31st minute after a Rabiot handball.

The French midfielder added a second shortly before the break just after Ronaldo had equalised for the first time.

Another handball, this time Lorenzo Pellegrini’s, resulted in Juventus being awarded a penalty allowing Ronaldo to slot in.

The Portuguese got his second with 20 minutes to when his head met a Danilo cross seven minutes after Rabiot was sent off for a second yellow card.

Hirving Lozano scored twice as Napoli swept past coronavirus-hit Genoa while AC Milan continued their winning run without Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a 2-0 victory against promoted Crotone.

“The result is a bit misleading, if we hadn’t scored the second goal quickly in the second half, I would probably have changed the set-up,” said coach Gennaro Gattuso.

“In the first half, we suffered a bit, even with a lot of opportunities, we almost conceded a goal. We lacked a little balance, we still have to improve.”

Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen got his first start for Napoli, having come off the bench to lift the southerners past Parma in their opener last week.

Club-record signing Osimhen again impressed against a Genoa side playing without first-choice goalkeeper Mattia Perin, who tested positive for coronavirus, as did midfielder Lasse Schone.

Mexican forward Lozano fired Napoli ahead in the 10th minute in the Stadio San Paolo and Gattuso’s side remained just a goal up at half time.

After the break it was one-way traffic with Piotr Zielinski latching onto a clever Osimhen back-heel flick for the second just seconds after the restart.

Zielinski then helped set up Dries Mertens for the third just before the hour mark before Lozano again struck following a mix-up in the Genoa defence.

Substitute Matteo Politano curled in the sixth with 20 minutes to go to give Napoli a maximum six points after their first two matches.

“Last year Osimhen was the player we needed,” said Gattuso. “He didn’t score today, but he did score. When he attacks we find space. The players look for him, we’re very happy with how he is helping us.” 

The only bad news for Gattuso was Lorenzo Insigne limping off with a left thigh injury ahead of their clash at champions Juventus next week.

Milan meanwhile, without star Ibrahimovic who tested positive for COVID-19, also have injury woes after Croatian striker Ante Rebic fell badly on his left arm.

Franck Kessie scored their first goal from the penalty spot just before the break after a foul on Rebic, with Spaniard Brahim Diaz, on loan from Real Madrid, adding a second four minutes later. 

SOCHI, Russia — Valtteri Bottas took full advantage of a troubled day for his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to claim the ninth win of his career with a measured drive to victory in Sunday's incident-packed Russian Grand Prix.

The Finn swooped to take second place at the start and inherited the lead when the runaway series leader and six-time champion took an extended pit-stop to serve two five-second penalties for irregular pre-race practice starts.

A disgruntled Hamilton, aiming to win and equal Michael Schumacher's record of 91 Grand Prix triumphs, re-joined in 11th place, but fought back to finish third behind Bottas and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

His second win in Russia and second this season reinvigorated Bottas' challenge for the drivers' title and reduced Hamilton's lead to 44 points.

Sergio Perez came home fourth for Racing Point ahead of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, who had to take a five second penalty for an infringement, and Charles Leclerc, who was sixth for Ferrari.

Esteban Ocon was seventh for Renault ahead of local hero Daniil Kvyat and his Alpha Tauri team-mate Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, who was also given a five-second penalty, in the second Red Bull.

Hamilton did not want to talk about his penalty.

"It doesn't matter. It's done now. I'll take the points and move on, but congratulations to Valtteri.

"A big thank-you to the fans here this weekend - spasibo," he said. "It's not the greatest day, but it is what it is..."

Bottas said: "It's very nice to get a win. It's been a while! I need to try and keep the momentum. I've managed to squeeze a few points over Lewis, but there's still quite a few races to go so you never know. I'll keep pushing. I won't give up."

Verstappen said: "We split the Mercedes again so that is good — and we can be happy with that."

All three drivers wore their racing overalls on the podium after the race, obeying the latest revised rules from the sport's ruling body not to wear any items carrying 'political' messages.

Hamilton had made a solid start from his record 96th pole and fended off the slipstreaming Bottas, who had passed Verstappen's Red Bull.

'This is ridiculous!' 

The Dutchman, recovering from a ragged getaway, ran off-line to defend against a rapid Ricciardo before two first lap crashes behind them ended the early action and brought out the Safety Car.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz hit a wall in the run-off area at Turn Two after losing control before Racing Point's Lance Stroll was nudged from behind by Leclerc and spun into the barriers.

Sainz almost collected several other cars including team-mate Norris who managed to avert a collision, but felt he suffered some damage.

The action resumed on lap six, when Hamilton's penalties were announced.

"What happened? What happened?" he responded on team radio. "Those starts, going to the grid, we got five seconds for each — out of position," he was told.

"Where is that in the rule book?" said a disgruntled Hamilton. "Anything to slow me down, but it's ok. I can take it."

Hamilton was also given two more penalty points on his racing licence and, with a total of 10 in 12 months, moved within two of an automatic one-race ban.

He reacted by pushing to open a 2.5 seconds lead on Bottas before pitting on lap 17 for hard tyres and his combined 10-seconds penalty.

"This is ridiculous, man," said a disgruntled Hamilton before re-joining 11th.

At the front, Bottas reeled off fastest laps to open a clear lead before pitting on lap 27, retaining his advantage ahead of Leclerc's Ferrari with Verstappen, having pitted earlier in third. 

By lap 32, Bottas was in command with a 12 seconds lead over Verstappen and Hamilton up to third after slicing through the field, many of whom had pitted.

The charge had given entertainment to the 30,000 spectators, the first significant crowd at a sports event in the Covid-19 era.

With 20 laps to go, he was 22 seconds behind Bottas and 10 off the Dutchman, but his prospects of a 91st win on Russian soil had gone.

The other record-chaser Kimi Raikkonen finished 14th for Alfa Romeo on the day when he equalled Rubens Barrichello record of 322 race starts.

AMMAN — Wihdat remained in the lead ahead of week 9 of the 68th Jordan Professional Football League which kicks off on Monday.

With many matches ending in draws, Week 8 was a chance for Wihdat to boost their lead. They beat Sahab 1-0 and next play Jazira, who are now 6th after they beat newcomers Maan 3-0. Meanwhile, Sarih remained seven points behind with a postponed match and were held 2-2 by Salt ahead of their match with Ma’an.

Ramtha, who were held 1-1 by Hussein, next play Sahab while Hussein meet Shabab Urdun who are now 10th after they were held 2-2 by Aqaba. Salt next play Faisali, who have two postponed matches and are now 7th after they lost 1-0 to Ahli.

The competition’s kickoff earlier this year was delayed for nearly six months for 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup national team qualifiers. Clubs had already been reeling from the lack of sponsors, injuries and lack of momentum after a long break with reigning champs Faisali the first to start the season on a weak footing after they lost in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup. 

This season, the Jordan Football Association’s (JFA) main sponsor, the Manaseer Group, ended its 10-year sponsorship, leading to noticeably downsized prize money for the league champ from JD120,000 to JD60,000, and from JD80,000 to JD30,000 for the runner-up. Similarly, the Jordan Cup champs JD30,000 down from JD57,000 and Super Cup and Shield prize was also slashed to JD25,000.

The league has halted twice this year. In March, and after teams played one round, 11 clubs announced they were suspending participation as the JFA downsized prize money compounded by noticeable officiating mistakes. The competition then resumed only to stop again in August when seven Faisali team members tested positive for COVID-19 while Ramtha players were quarantined in Amman after increasing cases in Ramtha led to heightened alert and more testing countrywide.

The season kicked off with Wihdat beating Ramtha to win the 33rd Jordan Football Association Shield. It was Wihdat’s record 10th Shield title. Faisali beat Jazira to win the 37th Jordan Super Cup — the second major competition on the annual football calendar. The Super Cup has now been won by Faisali a record 17 times out of 25 final appearances, Wihdat have won 13 times, Ramtha and Shabab Urdun twice each while Jazira, Hussein and Ahli won once each.

Last season, Faisali were crowned league champs and combined it with their 20th Jordan Cup title. Wihdat beat Jazira to win the 36th Jordan Super Cup.

PARIS — Novak Djokovic will renew his love-hate relationship with Roland Garros in the knowledge that it is himself rather than seemingly unsettled 12-time champion Rafael Nadal who could pose the greatest threat to winning a second Paris title and 18th Grand Slam crown.

The only man to beat Djokovic in 2020 is Djokovic after the Serb’s hair-trigger temper prompted a sensational disqualification from the US Open.

The 33-year-old arrives in the French capital with a 31-1 record this year after his New York brain-fade was followed by a record 36th Masters title in Rome.

Djokovic’s 2016 triumph at Roland Garros allowed him to become only the third man after Don Budge and Rod Laver to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time.

Not even Nadal, the holder of 19 majors, or Roger Federer, with a record 20 Slams, can match that staggering achievement.

Federer will miss the French Open as he rehabs his injured knee while Nadal has played just three matches since February, a ring-rustiness evident in his quarter-final exit in Rome.

However, Djokovic refused to get carried away by his chances at Roland Garros ahead of Sunday’s start in a wet and chilly Paris.

“It’s Nadal,” insisted the World No. 1 when pushed on who is the favourite. “You just can’t put anybody in front of him.”

Djokovic is right to be cautious after experiencing numerous low points on the red clay of Paris.

‘Ball is dangerous’

Djokovic will start his tournament against Sweden’s Mikael Ymer, the World No. 80.

Nadal, who skipped the defence of his US Open title due to fears over coronavirus, eyes a 13th French Open.

Since his title-winning debut in 2005, the Spaniard has only lost twice at Roland Garros in 95 matches — to Robin Soderling in 2009 and Djokovic in 2015.

The 34-year-old may appear to be under-cooked after his last-eight exit in Rome to Diego Schwartzman.

However, the last time he suffered such an early departure from the Italian capital was in 2017 — just weeks later he was lifting a 10th French Open without dropping a set.

Nadal cut an unsettled figure at a pre-tournament press conference on Friday where he admitted the cold and damp conditions forced him to face his “most difficult ever Roland Garros”.

He is also unhappy about using a new brand of ball.

“For the health of the players, the ball is super heavy and becomes dangerous for the elbow and for the shoulders,” he said.

Nadal begins his campaign against Egor Gerasimov, the 83rd-ranked Belarusian.

The unusual sight of Roland Garros being played in the autumn also means radically different conditions to those expected in its normal time slot of May and June.

Murray versus 

Wawrinka first round

That could suit newly-crowned US Open winner Thiem who has lost the last two finals to Nadal in Paris.

The World No. 3 Austrian has 17 career titles with 10 of those on clay.

Four of his five wins over Nadal have come on clay with three of four victories against Djokovic carved out on the sport’s most testing surface.

This year, Thiem will be in the same half of the draw as Nadal and starts against Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open winner and a former World No. 3.

World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev has, yet, to win a match at the tournament in three visits while sixth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas made the last 16 in 2019, losing a five-set marathon to 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka.

Wawrinka faces fellow three-time major winner Andy Murray in the first round on Sunday in a rematch of their 2017 semifinal epic, a tie which Murray described as the clash which “ended his hip”.

Player to beat

Former champion Simona Halep arrives at the rescheduled French Open as the player to beat in a women’s draw missing title holder Ashleigh Barty and recent US Open winner Naomi Osaka, two of the world’s top three.

Serena Williams can never be discounted as she launches another bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles crown, but Roland Garros is the American’s least successful major despite her wins in 2002, 2013 and 2015.

Garbine Muguruza, who defeated Williams in the 2016 final, is another contender while fellow former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka is hoping to take the momentum from her run to the US Open final into the clay swing.

Last year’s runner-up Marketa Vondrousova will again target a deep run in Paris having rediscovered some form at last week’s Italian Open, where she made the semi-finals before losing to compatriot Karolina Pliskova.

The fourth-ranked Czech retired from the final with a thigh injury after dropping the first set to Halep, who extended her winning run to 14 matches after capturing a second consecutive title coming out of lockdown.

“I’m honoured to hear that I am the favourite, people thinking that I’m the favourite. But I don’t look in that direction,” said Halep, who plays Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo in round one.

“It’s not extra pressure. I’m used to this kind of pressure because I’ve been No. 1 seeded in the past. I’ve been in this position.”

“To play Roland Garros in September, end of September, it’s a little bit weird,” she added. “But it’s nice that we have the chance to play at this tournament.”

No woman has successfully defended the French Open title since Justine Henin won three times in a row between 2005 and 2007, a trend set to continue with Barty pulling out over the coronavirus fears that also prompted her to skip the US Open.

Gloomy 

conditions await

A sore hamstring has sidelined three-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, while Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open winner, will miss the tournament as well. The Canadian hasn’t played since hurting her knee last October at the WTA Finals.

Despite the notable absentees, the field here is stronger than the US Open where six of the world’s top 10 players skipped the event, with the return of Halep, Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens. Belinda Bencic was a late scratch with an arm injury.

“As I said always, many girls from the top 10, top 15 have a chance to win a Grand Slam,” said Halep.

“Roland Garros is very open, because it’s clay court but it’s a little bit faster, so also the big hitters can win it easy.”

The Romanian holds a 20-2 record this season and is unbeaten since January — her only losses came to Aryna Sabalenka in Adelaide and Muguruza in the Australian Open semifinals.

Players will have to adapt to unfamiliar autumnal conditions, with gusting winds and persistent rain forecast for the start on Sunday. The weather outlook isn’t set to improve much either. 

“It’s a big difference between Rome and here, that’s for sure. 15 degrees less,” said a smiling Halep. “I feel the cold. I feel like struggling a little bit. But for everybody it’s the same.”

As for Williams, who turns 39 on Saturday, she has not added to her Grand Slam haul since winning the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant.

The window of opportunity is closing for her to finally match Margaret Court’s total, with an unmistakeable sense of an opportunity gone begging after her semifinal exit at Flushing Meadows.

Williams withdrew from last week’s Rome event with an Achilles strain, meaning she will arrive in the French capital without having played on clay this year.

She is set to face fellow American Kristie Ahn in a rematch of their first round encounter at the US Open. 

She could meet old rival and close friend Victoria Azarenka in the last 16, just weeks after the Belarusian star won their last-four clash at Flushing Meadows.

TOKYO — Japan's 53-year-old footballing golden oldie Kazuyoshi Miura, better known as King Kazu, won plaudits Thursday for his latest record-setting appearance, but said he was disappointed he didn't score.

Miura made history on Wednesday night in Yokohama FC's game against Kawasaki Frontale, when he became the oldest J-League first division starter in history.

"King Kazu once again wrote a new chapter in the history of Japanese football," the Nikkan Sports daily triumphantly declared.

Sports Nippon said spectators were hard pressed to believe the "valiant performance" was by a 53-year-old.

"Kazu is our pride," J-League chairman Mitsuru Murai said.

"This great record that will go down in history will be a bright light... for all active players as well as children dreaming of being future players," he added.

"We hope we'll continue to play outstandingly," the 61-year-old said.

Miura, who has been with Yokohama FC since 2005, was subbed after 56 minutes in a match which saw his side lose 3-2.

He received a standing ovation as he left the pitch, but said afterwards he was disappointed by his performance.

"I was able to receive the ball in the middle of the pitch but couldn't work a lot around the penalty area, which made me feel that I left something to be desired," he said after the game.

"I want to make use of today's experience for the next competitions in the league."

Kazu has been setting age records for some time, and he became the oldest man to play in Japan's league cup competition earlier this year.

In 2017, he became the oldest player to score in a professional match.

He has insisted he won't hang up his boots until he turns 60, and he continues to be a massive draw for fans in both Japan and abroad.

His latest record even earned attention from FIFA's official Twitter account.

"All hail King Kazu," it tweeted, complete with crown emojis.

ORLANDO — Jamal Murray scored 28 points as the Denver Nuggets held off a ferocious late fightback from the Los Angeles Lakers to roar back into contention in the Western Conference finals series on Tuesday.

Murray nailed two crucial late three-pointers in the closing minutes as Denver held on for a 114-106 victory in game three to reduce the Lakers’ lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

But the Nuggets — who looked in complete control for long periods of the contest — were given a mighty scare by the Lakers in a thrilling fourth-quarter battle.

The Lakers had trailed by 20 points with just over 10 minutes remaining but whittled away the Denver lead to just three points with 3min 53sec left on the clock in Orlando.

But just as it looked as if LeBron James and Anthony Davis were poised to complete a remarkable comeback, Murray regrouped to take the game away from the Lakers.

The 23-year-old Canadian’s three-pointer gave Denver a seven-point advantage at 106-99 and he then provided the assist for Paul Millsap to make it 108-99.

With less than a minute on the clock, Murray struck the dagger blow with a three-point jumpshot to make it 111-99 and effectively seal victory.

Denver coach Michael Malone said his team — who had suffered an agonising buzzer-beater defeat in game two on Sunday — were determined not to go 3-0 down in the series. 

The Nuggets have already overturned 3-1 series deficits en route to the Western Conference finals.

‘Not ready to go’

“I had no doubt we were going to show up tonight,” Malone said. 

“We have won six straight elimination games. Everybody always has us packing our bags and leaving, but we’re not ready to go. They’re a very resilient group and they have proved that time and time again.”

Asked about his late flourish, Murray said he had set out to lead by example.

“That’s my whole energy, my whole approach to the game, not getting down if I miss a couple of shots,” Murray said.

“I’m just trying to be aggressive... but the most important part is the energy I bring when I’m talking to my teammates, being a vocal leader, getting up and down and pushing everybody so they tend to follow. I just wanted to see them have a lot of fun today.”

The Lakers meanwhile were left reflecting on an uneven display which ultimately left James and Davis with too much to do.

James led the scoring with a triple double comprised of 30 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, with six turnovers. Davis had 27 points, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (12) and Kyle Kuzma (11) the only other Lakers players to crack double figures.

Murray, who also had 12 assists, was backed with 26 points from Jerami Grant while Nikola Jokic weighed in with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

“You put yourself in an 18-point hole, it’s tough to climb out of that,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.

“I thought Denver played with great energy throughout the game. We didn’t match it early, we matched it late. They’re a great basketball team so credit it to them for the win. They played a really good basketball game. 

“We were not as sharp as we could have been on both ends of the floor. We were playing at a high level, but were a little bit off in the first half. 

“But I liked the spirit that the guys competed with down the stretch to try and make it a game.”

Game four in the series takes place in Orlando on Thursday.

The winner of the Western Conference will play either the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.

The climax to the Covid-19-interrupted NBA season is taking place at Disneyworld in Orlando, where teams have been based in a secure “bubble” since July in order to allow the NBA to complete the campaign.