1. Lukaku racially abused
Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku was subjected to racial abuse by Cagliari supporters after scoring the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 2-1 victory in Serie A on Sunday.
After scoring the penalty Belgium international Lukaku, who signed for Inter this month from Manchester United, stood and stared at the fans where monkey chants had come from, the BBC reports.
Lukaku is the latest black player to be targeted by Cagliari fans and European football’s anti-discrimination body Fare said: “Cagliari have history for this.”
2. Djokovic booed in New York
Novak Djokovic is out of the US Open grand slam after injury forced him to withdraw from his fourth-round clash against Stan Wawrinka. Defending champion Djokovic came into the match with a shoulder injury and at two sets and a break down he retired to hand Wawrinka a place in the quarter-finals. The New York crowd booed Djokovic’s decision and the world No.1 said: “I’m sorry for the crowd. They came to see a full match but it wasn’t to be.” Swiss star Wawrinka will now play Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the last eight.
Djokovic vs. Nadal vs. Federer: injured Novak out of US Open
3. Konta through to last eight
Britain’s Johanna Konta is through to the quarter-finals of the US Open after beating third seed Karolina Pliskova 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 7-5. Konta will play Elina Svitolina in the last eight tomorrow and she said: “I’ve been in the fourth round twice before so reaching the quarter-finals is a massive achievement for me. The key was to keep going, with Karolina you know there will be massive portions of the match where I don’t feel effective. It is about staying out there and trusting the fundamental things. It was a great match and I’m so happy.”
4. Denly to open in fourth Ashes Test
Joe Denly has confirmed that he will open the batting for England in the fourth Ashes Test against Australia, which starts on Wednesday at Old Trafford in Manchester. With Denly opening it means that Jason Roy will drop down the order to No.4. Kent batsman Denly told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I got a call from [England captain] Joe Root after a bit of time off and he said he’d like for me to go at the top of the order and try and get us off to a good start. Obviously Jason’s going to bat at four.”
The Ashes 2019: England vs. Australia squads, team news, results, fixtures, TV, odds
5. Bright: WSL clubs must capitalise on World Cup
Chelsea and England defender Millie Bright has called on clubs in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League (WSL) to capitalise on the Lionesses’ run to the World Cup semi-finals. The WSL season starts this weekend and the Manchester derby between City and United will be hosted at the Etihad Stadium while Chelsea host Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. Bright said: “Off the back of something so good, we have to push again and I think that’s every club taking responsibility and really pushing audiences and ticket sales and getting people involved. This is the time to do it.”
Barclays FA Women’s Super League opening weekend fixtures
Saturday 7 September
- Manchester City vs. Manchester United (3pm; Etihad Stadium)
- Bristol City vs. Brighton & Hove Albion (3pm; Ashton Gate Stadium)
Sunday 8 September
- Chelsea vs. Tottenham (12.30pm; Stamford Bridge; live on BBC Sport)
- Birmingham City vs. Everton (2pm; Solihull Moors FC)
- Liverpool vs. Reading (2pm; Prenton Park)
- Arsenal vs. West Ham United (2.30pm; Boreham Wood FC)
- How to watch: The FA Player
- For the full WSL season fixture list see thefa.com
6. Wales name squad for Rugby World Cup
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has selected a 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup starting this month in Japan. Lock Cory Hill is included despite being ruled out of the opening match against Georgia on 23 September. Hill has a small fracture in his leg but Gatland said: “It is worth the risk.”
7. Leclerc wins emotional race at Spa
It should have been the most memorable moment of Charles Leclerc’s racing career, but his maiden victory in Formula 1 was overshadowed by the tragic death of Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert. Ferrari driver Leclerc dedicated his victory to Hubert and said: “It is very difficult to enjoy this first win with the situation we had [on Saturday]. It is a good day but on the other hand losing Anthoine brings me back to 2005, my first French [karting] championship was him. It is very difficult to enjoy it fully today but hopefully in two or three weeks I will realise what happened.”
F1 Belgian GP: 5 things we learnt at Spa
8. Bale scores twice, then sees red
Gareth Bale scored twice for Real Madrid in their 2-2 draw against Villarreal but the Welsh international was sent off in the La Liga clash. He received two yellow cards in stoppage time during last night’s fixture.
9. Deadline day No.2: Neymar to stay at PSG
The summer transfer window closes today for clubs in League One, League Two and in Scotland. It’s also deadline day in Italy, France, Germany and Spain. One deal that looks set to happen today is Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan joining Serie A club Roma on loan. Meanwhile, Neymar looks set to stay at Paris Saint-Germain after talks broke down with Barcelona.
10. Kane denies diving during derby
Harry Kane has hit back at claims that he dived to try and win a late penalty in yesterday’s north London derby against Arsenal. In the 85th minute of the 2-2 draw at the Emirates Tottenham striker Kane went to ground inside the area following a challenge from Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos. England captain Kane said: “The defender made a tired tackle and if that had happened on the halfway line I think it’s a definite foul. The ref probably thinks I was looking for it but he came through the back of me. It was 50-50 but VAR would probably have backed the ref in this anyway.”
Arsenal 2 Tottenham 2: north London derby was thrilling but flawed
Today’s back pages: ‘I’m no diver’ says Tottenham striker Harry Kane
