Arsenal prevails over London rivals Chelsea in third Premier League matchweek

This weekend saw the third round of matches for the Premier League, as well as the first since the first since the transfer window slammed shut on this past Tuesday.

The headline fixture of the weekend came on the Sunday, that being the London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea, as managerial compatriots Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso squared off for the first time.

Chelsea launched off to a shock start by scoring the opener in two minutes of the game starting through summer signing Morgan Rogers, stunning the home crowd with the first goal the Gunners have conceded this season.

But the reigning Premier League champions were able to fight their way back into the game, first through Kai Havertz who scored at the near post against his former club in the 25^th minute.

Xabi Alonso’s side had multiple chances to retake the lead in an exciting match, but the Gunners were the one’s to break the deadlock on the 50^th minute through captain Martin Ødegaard.

The Blues kept trying to level the game but were unable to as Arsenal maintained their perfect winning record to start the campaign.

Also maintaining their perfect start to the season was Manchester City, who took a 1-0 victory over Coventry City thanks to a goal from Erling Haaland.

Manchester United thought they had taken a win at Everton after Benjamin Šeško put the Red Devils 2-1 up, but Ainsley Maitland-Niles scored a screamer from outside the box in the 6^th minute of added time to secure the Toffees a point.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa was held to a 0-0 draw against Hull City, which ensured that the Tigers end the weekend third place in the Premier League table.

Kimi Antonelli wins Italian Grand Prix from 19^th on grid in phenomenal race

Despite starting at the back of the grid in 19^th due to an engine penalty, Kimi Antonelli was able to take a sensational home victory at the Italian Grand Prix in what was a frenetic race in Monza.

Starting in 19^th, the 20-year-old was already up to 12^th when Charles Leclerc spun off at the Parabolica corner on the third lap, crashing his Ferrari into the barrier to bring out a red flag and a stoppage to the race.

Upon the restart, the Mercedes driver was able to make steady progress through the field, remarkably reaching second place after 16 laps, only behind his teammate George Russell.

Russell, who had overtaken shock pole sitter Pierre Gasly earlier in the race, battled his teammate hard for the following laps.

A Virtual Safety Car, brought out by the retiring Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, prompted a pit-stop from Antonelli for fresh tyres, while Russell elected to stay out on his tyres and make them last until the end.

It proved to be the Italian driver who made the right decision, as after some laps catching back up and passing other drivers who had opted to stay out, Antonelli stormed his way past his teammate to take a fantastic home victory, with Russell in second and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen taking the final podium spot.

It is a statement win from the 20-year-old, who’s performance was the furthest back a driver has started to win a Grand Prix since 1983 and extend his lead at the top of the championship to 66 points.

Elsewhere, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took fourth and fifth respectively, while Lewis Hamilton came home in sixth following a race that was marred by contact with his Ferrari teammate Leclerc on the opening lap that caused the 41-year-old to go wide and lose places.

Hamilton voiced his concerns about his teammates’ driving following the race, as intra-team tension seems to be mounting for the Italian team following a string of disappointing results.

Birmingham and Wolves settle for a draw in thrilling West Midlands derby

Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers played out a chaotic 2-2 draw in a West Midlands derby game that provided plenty of action at St. Andrews @ Knighthead Park.

All four goals came in the first half but it was the away side who took the lead thanks to an early goal from Fer Lopez in just the third minute of the game.

It wasn’t until the 22^nd minute when the Blues were able to draw level through Jay Stansfield’s first goal of the season, although some controversy arose over whether the forward had controlled the ball with his arm in the build-up.

Wolves regained the lead just nine minutes later however, as Ladislav Krejčí headed in a goal from a Hugo Bueno corner, but disaster struck for the away side only five minutes later through a calamitous own goal.

Fullback Jackson Tchatchoua attempted to play the ball back to his goalkeeper Jose Sa but misjudged his pass and the ball sailed past the Portuguese keeper and into the net, much to the delight of the home crowd.

This set up a frantic second half where both sides had chances to take all three points but were unable to make good on them.

In a thrilling game, that also saw the emotional return of Birmingham chairman Tom Wagner since suffering a stroke in February, both sides had to settle for a draw.

The result leaves the sides right next to each other in the Championship table, with Wolves sitting in 9^th on eight points and Birmingham in 10^th, just one point behind.

Alcaraz continues to second week of US Open following straight sets victory

Carlos Alcaraz continued his comeback performance at the US Open to advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

In just his fourth competitive match since April, Alcaraz took an impressive victory in straight sets over America’s Tommy Paul (6-4 6-3 6-4).

After recovering from a wrist injury which caused the Spaniard to miss both the French Open and Wimbledon, the 23-year-old has looked assured and focused in his early round matches.

He has only dropped one set in New York as he looks to retain the championship that he won last year.

His chances of doing so will certainly be boosted by the absences of numerous high-profile names from the last eight of the draw, with number one seed Jannik Sinner having withdrawn before the tournament and numerous top 10 players having been knocked out.

 Alcaraz voiced how much emphasis he is placing on match-to-match recovery to ensure that he does not reinjure his wrist.

He said: "I've been really focused on the recovery with my team, with myself, doing the right things off the court trying to be healthy and in good shape for the next round.

"Those days, if I'm practising or not, I'm trying to be chill and focus on the next round.”

A look at the week ahead…

Carlos Alcaraz will be back in action on Tuesday 8^th as he will face eighth seed Ben Shelton, who himself won in straight sets against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of sixteen.

Alcaraz biggest rival for the championship seems to be number one seed Alexander Zverev, who will look to book his place into the quarter-finals against Italian Luciano Darderi, also on Tuesday with the match expected to start in the early hours of the morning UK time.

In cricket, England will be looking to make it a clean sweep against Pakistan as they start the third and final test match in their series at Edgbaston on Wednesday 9^th, with England having won the first two matches.

In football, the first round of European fixtures begin this week as the Champions League gets under way, starting with Aston Villa travelling to Club Brugge on Tuesday 8^th before Manchester City play Porto on the same day.

Napoli will then host Arsenal on Wednesday 9^th as well as Liverpool welcoming Atletico Madrid to Anfield on the same day, before Manchester United round out the action for the English sides as they play Azerbaijani side Sabah FK at home on Thursday 10^th.

There will also be midweek action for other Premier League clubs as the EFL Cup continues, with Chelsea, Newcastle and Bournemouth among those in action.

The EFL will also see midweek fixtures, as Birmingham City take on Norwich City at Carrow Road on Wednesday 9^th and West Bromwich Albion play away to Derby County.

Wolves will not be in action following their game against Portsmouth being postponed due to prior obligations in the EFL Cup.

Lastly, Formula One embarks on a double header, as the grid heads to Madrid for the first ever race held at the brand new Madring street circuit this weekend.