FOOTBALL
Bills trample Jaguars
Josh Allen on Monday produced a monster performance as the Buffalo Bills trampled over the Jacksonville Jaguars 47-10 to maintain their perfect start to the NFL season. Bills quarterback Allen was in superb form as Buffalo buried the Jags in an avalanche of first-half scoring that saw them power into a 34-3 lead at the break. Allen threw four touchdowns and finished with 263 passing yards, while Buffalo’s defense gave Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence a torrid time at the Bills’ Highmark Stadium. In Monday’s other game, the Cincinnati Bengals were left still looking for their first win of the season after suffering a 38-33 home defeat to the Washington Commanders.
SOCCER
Injury shocks Germany coach
Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann on Monday said that news of Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s serious knee injury came as a major shock after the Barcelona goalkeeper underwent an operation that is expected to sideline him for at least eight months. Ter Stegen sustained a rupture of the patella tendon in his right knee, Barcelona said on Monday. The 32-year-old fell badly after jumping for a ball during Barcelona’s 5-1 La Liga win over Villarreal on Sunday and was visibly in pain as he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher. His weight fell on the right knee on which he had two operations in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons. “The news of Marc’s injury was a big shock for us,” said Nagelsmann, who has now lost two experienced goalkeepers in a month following Manuel Neuer’s international retirement last month. “We wish Marc all the best ... we will always be there for him on his way back, Nagelsmann told the German Football Association Web site.
SOCCER
Fans attack Partizan coach
Partizan Belgrade fans on Monday vandalized their team’s dressing room and left their head coach Aleksandar Stanojevic with a head injury after a 4-0 loss to rivals Red Star Belgrade in Serbia. Red Star have won the past three editions of the Belgrade derby and Monday’s victory was the biggest since 1998 when they won by the same score. “Disgruntled fans broke the glass, it’s unpleasant. I came with Band-Aids to the press conference, but there’s no reason to make a theater,” Stanojevic told reporters. “There was nothing more, no fight, no physical conflict. It’s no drama.” Stanojevic said the loss was the worst of his career.
CHESS
Moscow criticizes FIDE ruling
The Kremlin on Monday said that a decision by the general assembly of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to uphold a ban on Russian and Belarusian players was the result of Western and Ukrainian pressure. FIDE’s general assembly on Sunday upheld the ban, which was imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. “The West and Ukraine are putting open and undisguised pressure on countries within FIDE. This is no secret, everyone knows about it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the ban being rolled over. The Ukrainian government, the US Department of State and players including former world champion Magnus Carlsen had urged chess federations to reject an initial motion by Russian ally Kyrgyzstan to fully reinstate the two nations.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
Ousmane Dembele on Wednesday scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 4-1 win at VfB Stuttgart and qualified for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. PSG were at risk of elimination after a disappointing league stage, with three losses and a draw, but were utterly dominant against an outclassed Stuttgart side as they confirmed their place in the playoffs. With six minutes gone, Bradley Barcola headed PSG in front after Desire Doue stood a cross up at the back post following a corner. Stuttgart probed for an equalizer, but PSG hit on the counterattack, Dembele tapping a Barcola pass into an
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