Hull City stuns Manchester United in Premier League opener

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

London, Aug 23 (IANS) Newly promoted Hull City produced a huge shock in the opening round of the new Premier League season with a 2-0 win at home to Manchester United on Saturday.

Semi Ajayi put Hull City ahead from close range in the 17th minute following a corner and new signing Nobel Mendy powered in a header in the 38th minute to double the home side’s lead.

Tottenham Hotspur conceded a 3-0 defeat away to Brentford, who took the lead with Keane Lewis-Potter slotting home from Mamadou Sangare’s pass in the 12th minute. Vitaly Janelt doubled the lead in the 33rd minute and Michael Kayode made it 3-0 in the 49th minute.

It could have been even worse for Tottenham as Igor Thiago thumped a 55th-minute penalty against the post.

Oliver Glasner’s debut as new Nottingham Forest coach ended with a 1-0 defeat at home to Leeds United, with the visiting side snatching all three points thanks to Anton Stach’s 88th-minute free kick.

Everton won 2-0 at home to Crystal Palace, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall putting Everton ahead in the 42nd minute and Thierno Barry adding a second in the 53rd minute.

Ipswich Town also had a winning return to the Premier League, triumphing 2-1 at home over Sunderland thanks to Jack Clarke’s 90th-minute shot from the middle of the penalty area.

Emersonn gave Ipswich a 24th-minute lead after Julio Enciso’s assist, only for Nilson Angulo to level for Sunderland in the 39th minute.

Skipper Bruno Fernandes felt it was a pressing issue as he said after the match, “Same mistakes as we did last season in every away game.

“We give too much of the ball to them. In the first 20 minutes the goalkeeper had more touches on the ball, too much time.

“We need to press a little bit more, be more aggressive, and set-plays – we need to work on it, to be more aggressive and try not to concede these types of goals.”

–IANS

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‘The first-ball wicket summed up my two-year‘: Mayank Yadav on his dream comeback

Harare, July 24 (IANS) India fast bowler Mayank Yadav said dismissing Zimbabwe opener Brian Bennett with the very first ball of the opening T20I felt like the perfect conclusion to the long and difficult road back from injury, describing the moment as one that ‘summed up’ the previous two years of his career.

Making his return to international cricket after a 21-month injury lay-off, Mayank struck with his opening delivery and finished with figures of 2-18 to claim the Player of the Match award as India defeated Zimbabwe by seven wickets at the Harare Sports Club. His spell, along with Prince Yadav’s 2-19, restricted the hosts to 125/7 before Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s record-breaking 18-ball fifty powered India to a comfortable victory and a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Reflecting on the emotional significance of the opening-ball wicket, Mayank admitted it instantly made the long wait worthwhile. “So these two years, it was a long, long time, eagerly waiting to play again in Blues. I think today when I took a wicket in the very first ball, it summarised everything from two years, so it feels great now. It was very tough, but at the same time, what I feel, it was very important for me also,” he said in a video posted by the BCCI.

The 24-year-old also revealed that a disappointing IPL season, where he went wicketless, had dented his confidence, but conversations with senior players helped him regain belief in his own strengths.

“I was just thinking that I just have to back my skill, I have to back my strength, that’s it. Because in IPL, I didn’t have a very good season. That was the first time in like many, many years that I didn’t get any wickets.

“But after that, I had a chat with a lot of players. So they have only told me one thing: just keep backing your strength, keep believing in yourself. So that is the only thing I was just thinking about before that first ball.”

Mayank also paid tribute to the three people he credited for helping him through his recovery, which included his mother, his sister and trainer Rajni, whom he first met at the Centre of Excellence in 2024.

“Three people are there: my mum, my sister and my trainer, Rajni sir. Met him in 2024 for the first time at the COE. I think he is the person who understands me and understands my body very well.

“Somewhere I am stuck, so I just go to him and just ask, like, how should I go about it or what are the things I can do better. Now when I see, like when I am playing again, I just want to perform every day for those three or all the efforts. Try to give all the efforts to those people.”

Despite his match-winning spell, Mayank admitted that his biggest emotion after the game was relief.

“More, it’s relief because, like after a very long time, the expectation is a lot with me. Keeping pressure on myself, so now I have got these two wickets, I have got the performance. So that is a big relief for me.

“I am very happy that I am back in the team; I am playing again. It’s a very mixed emotion for me,” he added.

–IANS

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Masters Cup hockey: Punjab, Haryana win in women’s category; Odisha, Maharashtra in men’s section

Chennai, June 19 (IANS) After the power-packed first day of the 1st Hockey India Masters Cup 2025, it was Punjab and Haryana in the women’s category registered a win in their respective games on Day 2, whereas Hockey Maharashtra and Hockey Association of Odisha had a successful outing in the men’s category.

In the first match on Thursday, Hockey Punjab defeated the Hockey Association of Odisha 3-1 in the women’s category. Sangita Minz (3’), Captain Amandeep Kaur (5’), and Niti (26’) scored for Hockey Punjab while Ranjita Beck (50’) could only score the consolation goal for Hockey Association of Odisha.

In the second match, Hockey Haryana defeated Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 8-4 in the women’s category. Suresh Rasna Babu (2’, 20’) scored a brace for the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, joined by Christy Elena Edward (40’), and Saumya (56’) also scored one goal each.

On the other hand, both Chingshubam Sanggai Ibemhal (3’, 10’, 13’) and Sonika Yadav (32’, 49’, 51’) scored a hat-trick to take the game away from their opponent. Suman Lata Chumbak (26’) and Neetu Kumari (44’) also scored one goal each to confirm the first win in the tournament.

In the other match on Thursday, Hockey Maharashtra defeated Manipur Hockey 7-1 in the men’s category. Captain Dhananjay Mahadik (34’, 36’) led from the front and stood out to be the top goal scorer with two goals in the game.

Dadasaheb Prakash Ghumbre (12’), Vikram Pillay (14’), Leonard Keith Pereira (19’), Shakti Bharatsingh Thakur (24’), and Harish Padinjarethil (54’) also contributed to Hockey Maharashtra with one goal each. In response, Sorokhaibam Bidyakumar Singh (25’) scored the only goal for Manipur Hockey.

In the last match of the day in the men’s category, the Hockey Association of Odisha won 6-3 against Le Puducherry Hockey. Harikrishnan S (17’) scored the opening goal of the match for Le Puducherry Hockey, joined by his teammates B Adhikesavan (23’) and Delhiganesh (58’), who also scored a goal each in the second and fourth quarter, respectively.

On the other side for the Hockey Association of Odisha, Santiel Mundu (32’, 41’, 43’) scored a hattrick further joined by Captain Lajrus Barla (19’), Ladhu Ekka (52’) and Bernard Lakra (59’) who also contributed one goal each to affirm their first win in the tournament.

–IANS

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Athletic Club handed major blow ahead of Man Utd clash as key trio out with injury

Bilbao, May 7 (IANS) Manchester United have been handed a major boost as Athletic Club will be without three major players for the second leg of the Europa League semi-final scheduled to be played at the Old Trafford Stadium on Friday (IST).

Head coach Ernesto Valverde named the 24-man matchday squad that will travel to Manchester on Wednesday, which confirmed both brothers Inaki Williams and Nico Williams, alongside the side’s top scorer, Oihan Sancet, will miss the game through injury.

Already trailing by three goals, Athletic need a miracle in the game against the Red Devils, and the absence of the trio creates huge problems for the side.

Sancet, who had missed the first leg as well, has scored 15 goals in the La Liga and is the team’s top scorer this season. Nico Williams broke through to stardom at the 2024 Euros and has been highly sought after by European clubs.

So far this campaign, he has 11 goals and seven assists to his name. Striker Inaki has also been a major source of goals for the side, having scored 11 goals and provided nine assists. He was expected to be the fulcrum of their attack and therefore a major threat to Manchester United defence.

No team has beaten Athletic Club at Estadio de San Mamés in this Europa League season until Manchester United turned up and earned a 3-0 victory with a Bruno Fernandes double, which moved him joint-first in the race for top scorer.

Manchester United, meanwhile, are unbeaten through 13 Europa League games this term (W8 D5), and it would take quite the defeat to prevent them from booking a Europa League final spot as this tie heads to Old Trafford.

Athletic Club matchday squad:

Unai Simón, Agirrezabala, Santos, Gorosabel, Paredes, Yeray, Vesga, Berenguer, A. Djaló, Guruzeta, Núñez, I. Lekue, Ruiz de Galarreta, Yuri, De Marcos, Unai G., Maroan, Jauregizar, Prados, Canales, Adama, Olabarrieta, Rego and Varela.

–IANS

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