Sports · Sunday, 25 October 2026

01 Briefing what happened

Nicolas Jackson scores twice as Aston Villa beat Manchester City 2-1 to end the leaders' perfect start, and Arsenal beat Everton to draw level with City on points

Two City mistakes gave Villa both goals, and Arsenal's 2-0 win over Everton tied the top of the Premier League. In Milwaukee the Brewers came back from 4-0 down to lead the World Series 2-0, and Petr Yan kept his UFC title by winning three rounds of five.

Premier League wins in a row for City before Saturday, all of this season's games

Villa's 2-1 win ended the run [1]

15 v 8

shots, City against Villa

Villa's goalkeeper Zion Suzuki saved several of City's [2]

1.13

goals City let in per league game

only Manchester United, twice, won the title letting in more [6]

The lead story — what happened

Aston Villa beat Manchester City 2-1 at Villa Park on Saturday. [1] It ended City's run of seven Premier League wins, every league game they had played this season. [2]
Nicolas Jackson, Villa's striker, scored both goals, and they were Villa's only two shots on target. [3] City had 15 shots to Villa's eight. [3]
Before the first goal, the referee gave Villa a corner because City's goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, held the ball too long. [4] That punishment is a rule brought in at the start of this season. [4]
In the sixth minute Marc Guehi, a City defender, failed to control a pass, and John McGinn set up Jackson to score. [2]
Erling Haaland headed City level early in the second half, his ninth league goal of the season. [2] Jackson scored the winner on the hour, set up by the substitute Ibrahim Mbaye. [2][5]
Zion Suzuki, Villa's goalkeeper signed this summer, made several saves and tipped a shot from Josko Gvardiol onto the bar. [2][3]
Guehi's mistakes have cost City three goals in two league games, and Enzo Maresca, City's manager, said he is not worried about him. [3]
Since the start of last season only eight players have made more mistakes leading to Premier League goals than Donnarumma and Guehi, with three each. [6]
Later on Saturday Arsenal, the champions, beat Everton 2-0 with goals from two defenders, Ezri Konsa and Gabriel. [7] That moved Arsenal level with City on points at the top. [6]
City concede 1.13 goals a league game; only Manchester United, in 1996-97 and 1999-2000, have won the title letting in more. [6] Arsenal concede 0.625. [6]
City are also waiting to learn their punishment after being found guilty of 115 charges of breaking the Premier League's money rules. [7] Fans at Villa Park booed them before kick-off. [2] Until a punishment is set, nobody knows what City's results this season will finally count for. [8]
Jackson cost Villa up to 65 million pounds from Chelsea this summer and has seven goals in his first 11 games. [9] Villa had one point after four league games and now have 11 from eight. [10]

Manchester City1.13

Arsenal0.63

Goals let in per Premier League game this season. The two clubs are level on points, but City let in almost twice as many.

Who is involved

Nicolas Jackson

Aston Villa's striker, signed from Chelsea this summer; he scored both goals
Marc Guehi and Gianluigi Donnarumma

Manchester City's defender and goalkeeper; their mistakes led to the goals
Enzo Maresca

Manchester City's manager; he said both goals were avoidable
Unai Emery

Aston Villa's manager; his side have now won four games in a row
Arsenal

the Premier League champions; their win over Everton put them level with City

How it unfolded

5 min Villa win a corner because City's goalkeeper holds the ball too long [4]
6 min Guehi loses the ball and Jackson scores [2]
53 min Haaland heads City level [1]
60 min Jackson scores again for 2-1 [2]
Later Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 and draw level on points [7]

Where this points

City and Arsenal now share the top on points, and the next thing that could change the race is the punishment for City's rule breaking, which has not yet been set. [7]

Signals on this beat

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing, and the arrow is where it is heading.

Mistakes deciding big games High↑

City's two goals conceded at Villa both began with City errors. [3] Tampa Bay made an error and two other misplays as the Brewers came back to win. [11] Chelsea's goalkeeper Mike Penders punched a corner into his own net against Spurs. [12]

Bosses losing their jobs Building↑

NC State fired its football coach, Dave Doeren, and owes him 9.75 million dollars. [13] Burnley sacked Nicky Hayen after 14 games. [14] Manchester United's Michael Carrick has gone seven games without a win. [15]

Officials' calls under fire Building↑

Big 12 officials wrongly ended normal time in UCF's win over BYU, a week after admitting another error. [16] The World Series game ended on a disputed check-swing call. [17] Tottenham's women's coach said the penalty that beat his side broke the rules. [18]

Champions keeping their titles Steady→

Alexander Volkanovski kept his UFC title with a record ninth title-fight win. [19] Petr Yan kept his on the judges' cards. [20] Dalton Smith kept his boxing world title by a split decision in Sheffield. [21]

The rest of the day

40 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

02
Brewers lead the World Series 2-0

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Saturday after trailing 4-0 in the first inning. [11] Sal Frelick tied the game with his first home run in three months, and rookie Cooper Pratt hit the winning single in the seventh. [11] The Brewers signed Pratt to a 50 million dollar deal before he had played in the major leagues. [22] Aaron Ashby got the last five outs and has not allowed a run in 15 and two-thirds innings this postseason. [23] Game 3 is in Tampa on Monday. [24]

2Brewers
0Rays
Games won in the best-of-seven World Series. The first team to four wins takes the title.

Why it matters — The Brewers, in their first World Series for 44 years, are two wins from their first title. [25][26] Resale tickets for Game 2 cost at least 2,490 dollars on Saturday morning, after Game 1 set a World Series record. [25]
03
NC State fire Doeren and owe him 9.75m dollars

NC State, a US university, fired its football coach Dave Doeren on Saturday, a day after a 31-28 loss at Stanford left the team at 3-4. [13] Doeren was in his 14th season and is the winningest coach in the school's history. [27] His contract ran to 2029, so NC State owes him 9.75 million dollars for the last three seasons of it. [27] Maryland fired its coach on Wednesday and owes him about 9.8 million. [13]

Why it matters — Two firings have cost nearly 20 million dollars in one week, and Front Office Sports estimates buyouts since 2014 near 1 billion. [13] An industry source told The Athletic this week that the pool of good replacement coaches is not deep. [28]
04
USC lose at Wisconsin as Riley's future is doubted

Wisconsin beat No. 16 USC 24-7 on Saturday night, and USC ran for minus 17 yards on 25 carries. [29] It was USC's second loss, with Ohio State, Indiana and UCLA still to come. [29] Lincoln Riley, in his fifth season as coach, has won 5 of 20 games against top-25 teams at USC. [29] CBS Sports reports that firing him would cost about 70 million dollars. [29]

Why it matters — Riley said he takes responsibility for the loss. [30] USC built one of the most expensive teams in the Big Ten, so a school that has paid for players now has to weigh that buyout against another lost season. [30][29]
05
UCF beat No. 2 BYU after another officials' error

UCF, an unranked Florida university, beat second-ranked BYU 39-31 in double overtime on Saturday. [31] It was UCF's first win over a top-five team. [31] Officials from the Big 12, the conference both teams play in, wrongly ended normal time by running 10 seconds off the clock, a former NFL referee said. [16] That came a week after the Big 12 admitted a mistake that ended BYU's game against Notre Dame early. [16]

Why it matters — Both errors helped BYU at the time, and the Big 12 had promised to review how it handles the end of games. [16] UCF could now be fined 50,000 dollars because fans ran onto the field. [32]
06
Cincinnati beat No. 8 Texas Tech

Cincinnati beat eighth-ranked Texas Tech 37-24 on Saturday, its first home win over a top-10 team since 2006. [33] Cole Tabb ran for 173 yards and JC French threw four touchdown passes, both career bests. [33] Texas Tech turned the ball over three times and lost for the first time this season. [34] The loss ended a nine-game winning run in Big 12 games. [34]

Why it matters — With BYU and Texas Tech both beaten on one day, the Big 12's hopes of getting three teams into the College Football Playoff are weaker. [34]
07
Spurs win at Chelsea for the first time since 2018

Tottenham beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, their first win there since 2018. [35] Chelsea's goalkeeper Mike Penders punched a corner into his own net on his first Premier League start. [12] Cole Palmer was then sent off for a second yellow card, and Mathys Tel scored late. [35] Xabi Alonso, Chelsea's manager, said Palmer must learn from it. [35]

Why it matters — Spurs finished 17th in each of the last two seasons, and the win lifted them to 12th, their highest place since January. [36] It was only their second run of two league wins in 42 games. [36]
08
Burnley sack Hayen after 14 games

Burnley sacked their coach Nicky Hayen on Saturday, within two hours of a 4-1 defeat at Lincoln. [14] He was appointed in July, and his only win came at Watford on 10 October. [37] Burnley were relegated from the Premier League in April and are now 22nd of 24 in the Championship, the league below. [14] A new technical director is due to help pick the next coach. [14]

Why it matters — Burnley's debt rose by 30 million pounds to 142 million in its latest accounts. [14] Its parachute payments from the Premier League last only two more seasons after this one. [14]
09
Premier League's sacking months are near

No Premier League manager has been sacked this season, but November and December bring almost a third of all sackings, a BBC analysis found. [38] Last season 11 managers left their clubs, after an average of 310 days in charge. [38] Manchester United's Michael Carrick has gone seven games without a win before Sunday's game with Bournemouth. [15] Carrick said United are not an unmanageable club. [15]

Why it matters — Clubs often change manager before the January transfer window, when a new manager can sign players. [38] Tony Pulis, a former manager, argued United need stability after spending more than 1 billion pounds under three earlier managers. [39]
10
Fulham climb out of the bottom three

Fulham beat Coventry 1-0 on Saturday with an 80th-minute goal from Oscar Bobb. [40] It was Bobb's first Premier League goal for Fulham since his 27 million pound move from Manchester City in January. [40] It was also Fulham's first away win in nine games, a run going back to February. [40] The result lifted them out of the relegation places and left Coventry second from bottom. [40]

Why it matters — Both teams started the day in the bottom three, and Coventry had beaten Newcastle 4-1 in their previous home game. [40]
11
Volkanovski sets a featherweight record

Alexander Volkanovski, 38, kept his UFC featherweight title in Abu Dhabi on Saturday by stopping Movsar Evloev six seconds before the end of the second round. [41] Evloev had been unbeaten in 20 professional fights. [41] It was Volkanovski's ninth win in a UFC featherweight title fight, one more than Jose Aldo's record. [19] He had promised his wife a quick win, for their wedding anniversary that week. [41]

Why it matters — Evloev finished the first round with more strikes and takedowns than Volkanovski. [19] The stoppage meant the judges' scores were never needed. [19]
12
Yan keeps his title by one round

Petr Yan kept his UFC bantamweight title by beating Merab Dvalishvili on all three judges' cards, 48-47, in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. [20] It was the third fight between the two, and Yan leads the series 2-1. [42] Dvalishvili won the first two rounds and tried a record 58 takedowns. [43] Yan turned the fight with a kick to the body late in the third round. [20]

48Yan
47Dvalishvili
Each judge's score after five rounds. Each judge gave Yan three rounds and Dvalishvili two.

Why it matters — Yan's coach told him before the fifth round that the fight was level at two rounds each, so whoever won it would win. [20]
13
Smith keeps his world title by split decision

Dalton Smith of Britain kept his WBC light-welterweight world title in Sheffield, his home city, on Saturday. [21] Two judges scored it 115-113 for Smith and the third 116-112 for Alberto Puello, of the Dominican Republic. [21] He won the title in January with a fifth-round knockout of Subriel Matias. [21] It was Smith's first defence, and he stayed unbeaten in 20 fights. [21]

Why it matters — Smith's promoter, Eddie Hearn, named Shakur Stevenson, an unbeaten American champion, as a possible next opponent. [21]
14
Foster unites three boxing belts

O'Shaquie Foster beat Emanuel Navarrete in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday to hold three junior lightweight world titles at once. [44] Foster came in with the WBC belt and took Navarrete's IBF and WBO belts. [44] He knocked Navarrete down twice in the last round. [44] The judges scored it 115-111, 118-108 and 118-108. [44]

Why it matters — Four of Foster's previous five fights had ended in split or majority decisions, where the judges did not agree. [44]
15
Richard wins a first world floor title

Frederick Richard, 22, won floor exercise gold at the world gymnastics championships in Rotterdam on Saturday. [45] He scored 14.633 and beat Britain's Jake Jarman, the defending champion, by 0.033. [45] Richard is the first American man to win the world floor title since 2003. [45] He has taken 0.3-point deductions at US events for wearing shorts over leggings instead of the usual stirrup trousers. [46]

Why it matters — Jarman's silver made him the most decorated British gymnast in world championships history. [47] Richard said more brands want to back his campaign to change gymnastics uniforms before the 2028 Olympics. [46]
16
Andrade wins vault on cleaner landings

Rebeca Andrade of Brazil won the world vault title in Rotterdam on Saturday, her third, which equals the record for a woman. [48] She scored 14.466 over two vaults, ahead of the Americans Claire Pease and Skye Blakely. [48] Andrade used easier vaults than at the Olympics but won on execution, the score for how cleanly a move is done. [49] She had taken a long break and had five knee operations. [48]

Why it matters — Pease tried the hardest vault of the final but scored lower on execution, so Andrade's easier, cleaner vaults won. [49]
17
England men beat France 82-0

England beat France 82-0 at the Rugby League World Cup on Saturday, a record-breaking win. [50] They had lost their first game 30-12 to Tonga. [51] To reach the semi-finals England must now beat Papua New Guinea on Friday and hope Tonga beat Samoa on 1 November. [51] If Tonga win, the place goes to whichever of England and Samoa has the better points difference, and Samoa are 68 ahead. [51]

Why it matters — England or Great Britain have finished in the top four of all 16 previous Rugby League World Cups. [51]
18
Australia's women beat England 78-0

Australia's women beat England 78-0 in Perth on Saturday, scoring 15 tries to none. [52] England lost 90-4 to Australia in Las Vegas in March 2025 and changed their squad afterwards. [53] England's coach Stuart Barrow said two errors from kick-offs set the tone. [53] England play Samoa next week for a place in the semi-finals. [52]

Why it matters — Australia's women play in a fully professional league, the NRLW, while England's young squad is still being built. [53]
19
Valkyries level the WNBA Finals 2-2

The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 67-62 on Saturday to level the WNBA Finals at two games each. [54] They held Angel Reese, Atlanta's star, to eight points. [54] Game 5 is in California on Monday. [54] The place for Game 6 on Thursday is not settled, because the Atlanta Hawks have an NBA game booked in the same arena that night. [55]

Why it matters — The Dream's own arena holds only 3,500 people, the smallest in the WNBA, so they have played every play-off game in the Hawks' arena. [55]
20
Antonelli on pole on a title weekend

Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes took pole position for Sunday's US Grand Prix in Austin, 0.179 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen. [56] Antonelli, 20, leads his teammate George Russell by 102 points. [57] He becomes world champion on Sunday only if he wins, with Russell lower than eighth and Lewis Hamilton lower than fourth. [56] Russell starts sixth and Hamilton fifth. [56]

Why it matters — If the title does not come on Sunday, the next race is in Mexico. [57]
21
Rain cancels Phillip Island's last MotoGP

The Australian MotoGP race at Phillip Island was cancelled on Sunday because of rain and poor visibility. [58] The medical helicopter could not fly, and the nearest hospital is more than 45 minutes away by road. [58] It was the circuit's last race, because the event moves to a street track in Adelaide from 2027. [59] South Australia's government secured the race for six years after talks with Victoria's government broke down. [59]

Why it matters — Marc Marquez could not add to his lead, and Jorge Martin, who broke his forearm in Saturday's sprint, stays 10 points behind with four races left. [59]
22
US investors buy 42% of Valencia

Pitchwise Holdings, a US group backed by the KKR founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts, agreed to buy 42% of Valencia, a Spanish football club. [60] The deal values the club at 1.25 billion euros, including debt. [60] Pitchwise will also put in 100 million euros, and the Lim family keeps control. [61] Valencia started a new stadium in 2007, then stopped work in 2009 when money ran out. [61]

Why it matters — The money should help finish the 70,000-seat stadium, which Valencia hope to move into next season. [61] About 44,000 fans who own 8.5% of the club will see their share shrink. [61]
23
Infantino says most of football backs him

Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, world football's governing body, told BBC Sport the vast majority of the sport supports him. [62] He faced calls to resign over a plan to sell part of FIFA's commercial rights to a private investment firm, which he dropped within days. [62] UEFA, Europe's football body, wants the plan's documents by 2 November. [62] Rivals must declare for the March election by 18 November. [62]

Why it matters — No candidate has yet filed, so Infantino could win a fourth term unopposed. [62]
24
NFL's Paris game goes ahead after protests

The NFL kept Sunday's game between the New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers at the Stade de France on schedule after a day of protests across France. [63] The Associated Press reported nearly 1,000 arrests among more than 400,000 protesters. [63] The NFL closed its fan house in Paris on Saturday, and the Saints moved theirs to Sunday. [63] The NFL's commissioner, Roger Goodell, met France's president, Emmanuel Macron, on Friday. [63]

Why it matters — The league had said its security around the game and its events would be heightened. [63]
25
Nashville SC win their first Supporters' Shield

Nashville SC beat CF Montreal 2-0 on Saturday to win the Supporters' Shield, the prize for the best record in Major League Soccer's regular season. [64] It is the club's first. [64] Sam Surridge scored his 18th goal of the season and Hany Mukhtar added the second. [64] Nashville finished the day with 70 points. [64]

Why it matters — The win stretched Nashville's unbeaten run to seven games, while Montreal are already out of the play-offs. [64]
26
A 17-year-old outplays Messi's Inter Miami

The New York Red Bulls beat Inter Miami 2-0 on Saturday. [65] Adri Mehmeti, a 17-year-old American midfielder, ran the game for the Red Bulls. [65] Lionel Messi did not start, two days after receiving the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports in Spain. [65] The first goal was an own goal by Casemiro. [65]

Why it matters — The three points matter in a close race for MLS play-off places. [65]
27
Arsenal women win the north London derby

Arsenal came from behind to beat Tottenham 2-1 in the Women's Super League on Saturday. [18] Georgia Stanway equalised and Alessia Russo scored a penalty for the winner. [18] Tottenham's coach Martin Ho said the penalty was outside the laws of the game. [18] Brighton beat West Ham 3-0 on the same day. [18]

Why it matters — It was Arsenal's second league win of the season and ended a run of five games without one under their coach, Renee Slegers. [18]
28
Lazio go top in Italy

Lazio beat Parma 2-1 to go top of Serie A, Italy's top league, with 22 points from eight games. [66] Inter Milan, the champions, are three points behind with a game in hand. [66] Roma twice came from behind to draw 3-3 at Napoli. [66] In Germany, Borussia Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 to go three points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. [66]

Why it matters — Roma's draw kept their unbeaten league run at 15 games, going back to April. [66]
29
Leicester beat Northampton in the rain

Leicester Tigers beat their neighbours Northampton Saints in rugby union's Premiership on Saturday, in heavy rain at Welford Road. [67] Northampton led at half-time, then Leicester scored four tries after a scuffle near the break. [67][68] Leicester took a bonus point in front of a full stadium. [68]

Why it matters — Northampton knocked Leicester out of last season's play-off semi-finals, and have not won a league game at Leicester for four years. [67]
30
Ospreys go back to St Helen's

The Ospreys, a Welsh rugby union team, beat the Dragons with five tries in their first game back at St Helen's in Swansea. [69] They left the larger Swansea.com Stadium in 2025 to move to the smaller ground. [69] The crowd was 5,592. [69] The Dragons had three players sent to the sin-bin. [69]

Why it matters — It was their first game at St Helen's since 2020, and the BBC's report said it felt like home despite a long list of unfinished building jobs. [69]
31
Texas and Indiana survive close games

Texas beat seventh-ranked Ole Miss 34-27 on Saturday, with quarterback Arch Manning scoring three touchdowns. [70] Texas had led by three touchdowns before Ole Miss came back. [70] Indiana beat Michigan 13-6 in overtime to improve to 7-1, though their offense managed only 212 yards. [71]

Why it matters — Both stay in the race for the College Football Playoff on a day when No. 2 BYU and No. 8 Texas Tech lost. [31][34]
32
Rangers beat St Johnstone 4-0

Rangers beat St Johnstone 4-0 in Scotland's Premiership on Saturday. [72] Kevin Kelsy, a Venezuelan striker, scored twice, and Ryan Naderi scored once. [72] St Johnstone's Kai Fotheringham was sent off for a high challenge. [72] Rangers had dropped points at Dundee the weekend before. [73]

Why it matters — Rangers' strikers are scoring while Lawrence Shankland and Youssef Chermiti are injured. [73]
33
Heat lose their first three games

The Miami Heat have lost their first three NBA games of the season. [74] They traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo, now the team's star, in the summer. [74] He scored over 30 points in each of the first two games but was in foul trouble against Charlotte on Saturday. [74] Isaiah Thomas, a former All-Star, said the Heat need a scoring point guard. [74]

Why it matters — Thomas said the problem is the guards around Antetokounmpo, not the star himself. [74]
34
Palmowski wins the F1 Academy title

Alisha Palmowski, 20, of Britain, won the F1 Academy title in Austin on Saturday. [75] F1 Academy is an all-female racing series that helps women move toward Formula One. [75] She clinched it by finishing second in Saturday's race, before Sunday's race and the last round in Las Vegas. [75] She is its youngest champion and has won five of the 11 races this season. [75]

Why it matters — She is the series' second British champion, after Abbi Pulling in 2024, and is part of Red Bull's academy for young drivers. [75]
35
Knicks apologise over championship rings

The New York Knicks apologised on Saturday to staff and fans over their NBA championship rings. [76] The Athletic had reported that assistant coaches got empty boxes on ring night. [76] Staff were earlier sent a fake email offering free rings, a test for an online safety class. [76] The club said it is spending 3.7 million dollars on more than 275 rings and jewellery for players, staff and others. [76]

Why it matters — Madison Square Garden, which owns the Knicks, said using the ring for the safety test was a mistake. [76]
36
A footballer licenses his AI double

Cristian Volpato, 22, an Australian international who plays for Sassuolo in Italy, has licensed an AI copy of himself. [77] He signed with Callandor, a California company, in September. [77] It holds exclusive rights to his digital likeness, voice and performance data. [77] It finds brand deals for the copy, takes a cut and tries to stop content he has not approved. [77]

Why it matters — Bookmakers, broadcasters and brands already use athletes' images in AI content without permission, and some players are now fighting back. [77]
37
Monfils defends Svitolina

Gael Monfils, the French tennis player, called the criticism of Elina Svitolina venomous after she announced the end of their marriage. [78] Svitolina, from Ukraine, said the emotional impact of Russia's war on her country was part of the reason. [78] The couple married in 2021 and have a four-year-old daughter. [78] Monfils said they are still a family. [78]

Why it matters — Monfils asked for kindness towards Svitolina, saying much in a relationship cannot be explained in a post. [78]
38
Miami win their first game as No. 1 since 2002

Miami beat Pittsburgh 52-23 on Saturday in their first game ranked No. 1 in the AP poll since 2002. [79] They led 31-7 at half-time. [79] Miami went top after the No. 1 team lost in each of the two weeks before, Texas to Oklahoma and then Georgia to Auburn. [79] The week before, Miami only narrowly beat Florida State. [79]

Why it matters — Miami's win came on a day when No. 2 BYU and No. 8 Texas Tech both lost. [79][31]
39
Virginia Tech and Syracuse end long losing runs

Virginia Tech beat Clemson 20-16 on Saturday, its first win over Clemson since 2007, with a touchdown 1 minute 44 seconds from the end. [80] It was Virginia Tech's sixth win of the season. [80] Syracuse beat North Carolina 31-30 in overtime by going for a two-point try instead of a tie. [81] That ended Syracuse's run of 11 straight conference defeats. [81]

Why it matters — Virginia Tech had not played at Clemson since 2012. [80] Syracuse won only because its coach, Fran Brown, chose to go for the win rather than kick for a tie. [81]
40
Oklahoma State pass two seasons' wins in one

Oklahoma State beat Colorado 57-24 on Saturday night. [82] The win was the team's fifth this season, one more than it managed in 2024 and 2025 combined. [82] Colorado's quarterback Isaac Wilson completed 14 of 16 passes in the first half before Oklahoma State took over after the break. [82] Colorado, coached by Deion Sanders, have now lost all four Big 12 games. [82]

Why it matters — A team that won four games in two seasons is now 3-1 in its conference, while Sanders' Colorado are 2-5. [82]
41
Booker scores 43 and the Spurs win at last

Devin Booker scored 43 points as the Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors 131-122 on Saturday, their first win of the season. [83] The Warriors were missing Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. [83] The San Antonio Spurs also won for the first time, 122-106 at Dallas. [84] Victor Wembanyama and three teammates combined for 83 points, and the Spurs forced 21 turnovers. [84]

Why it matters — Booker had been criticised for his game in Portland a few nights earlier. [83] The Spurs won on the second of two nights of games in a row, against a Dallas side without Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving. [84]

02 Lesson why it matters

Why a fight is won round by round, not by the most punches

Judges give each round to one fighter, usually by 10 points to 9, so winning three close rounds beats winning two by a long way.

The twist

A fighter can do more over a whole fight and still lose, because the judges count rounds won, not work done.

The picture

Rounds Yan won3

Rounds Dvalishvili won2

How each judge saw Yan against Dvalishvili. Three rounds to two, scored 10 to 9 each, gives 48-47.

How it works

A fight is split into rounds, usually three, five or twelve
Each judge gives each round to one fighter, usually 10 points to 9
A round won by a lot counts the same as one won by a little, unless a knockdown makes it 10-8
The judges add up the rounds, not the punches
A stoppage ends the fight before any scores are added

The same force, elsewhere today

Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

Yan beats Dvalishvili 48-47

Dvalishvili won the first two rounds and tried a record 58 takedowns, but Yan won three rounds, so each judge scored it 48-47 for Yan.
Smith keeps his world title

Two judges gave Smith seven of 12 rounds while the third gave Puello eight, so close rounds decided which way the fight went.
Foster unites three belts

Navarrete was behind on rounds by the late stages, so only a knockout could still win it for him, and he never found one.
Volkanovski stops Evloev

Evloev finished the first round with more strikes and takedowns, but the stoppage in the second round meant no round score was ever added up.

Where you've seen this

Tennis

a player can win more points than the other and still lose, because the match is counted in sets

Elections by district

a party can win more votes overall and fewer seats, because each district is counted on its own

Golf match play

a golfer can take more shots in total and still win, because each hole is won or lost on its own

The catch

The round system only counts what the judges see, so two judges can watch the same close round and give it to different fighters.

And the whole of it

The fighters, their coaches and the crowd all count the fight differently, and only the three judges' cards decide it. Yan's coach was counting rounds in the corner, and that is the count that won.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

Manchester City top the Premier League while they wait to hear their punishment for breaking its money rules, so nobody yet knows what this season's results will count for. [7][8] On the same Saturday two US universities had fired football coaches in a week and owe them nearly 20 million dollars, and Big 12 officials got the end of a game wrong for the second week running. [13][16]

Why it works on us — A 9.75 million dollar buyout sounds like a penalty for firing a coach, but it is money owed for the last three seasons of the contract NC State gave Doeren in 2024. [27]

Who gains

Arsenal — City's defeat put them level on points at the top without having to play City. [6]
Dave Doeren — NC State will pay him 9.75 million dollars for three seasons he will not coach. [27]
Pitchwise Holdings — It buys 42% of Valencia, with two stadiums and a training ground, for a share of a 1.25 billion euro valuation. [60][61]
Callandor — It holds exclusive rights to Cristian Volpato's AI likeness and takes a cut of every brand deal it finds for it. [77]
South Australia's government — Victoria's talks with MotoGP broke down, so South Australia secured the race for six years from 2027. [59]

Who pays

NC State — It pays Doeren 9.75 million dollars while it also pays whoever replaces him. [27][13]
Valencia's fan shareholders — About 44,000 fans own 8.5% of the club, and the new 100 million euros of shares shrinks their part. [61]
The sell-out crowd at Phillip Island — They came to the circuit's last MotoGP race and saw no race, because the medical helicopter could not fly. [59][58]
Atlanta Dream fans — They still do not know where Game 6 is, and the Dream's own arena holds only 3,500. [55]
Burnley — Its debt rose by 30 million to 142 million pounds, and it is 22nd in the Championship with a coach to find. [14]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

What punishment Manchester City will get, and when.

City were found guilty of 115 charges, but no punishment has been set, so their place in the table is not final. [7][8]
02

Whether USC fires Lincoln Riley, and how much that would cost USC.

His contract is private; CBS Sports estimates the buyout at about 70 million dollars. [29]
03

Where Game 6 of the WNBA Finals will be played.

The Atlanta Hawks have an NBA game booked in the same arena that night, and the WNBA has not said what will move. [55]
04

Whether the Big 12 changes how its officials end games.

It promised a review after the Notre Dame error, and a second end-of-game error came a week later. [16] It has also not said whether UCF will be fined for its fans running onto the pitch. [32]
05

Whether anyone will stand against Gianni Infantino.

Candidates must declare by 18 November and none has yet, while UEFA wants FIFA's documents on the dropped sale plan by 2 November. [62]
06

Whether the check-swing call that ended World Series Game 2 was right.

Baseball now uses a system to check balls and strikes, but nothing like it exists for check swings, so the umpire's call stands. [17]
07

Whether Jorge Martin can ride in Malaysia next week.

Aprilia says his forearm fracture is not as bad as first thought, but has not said he will race. [59]
08

Who NC State can hire to replace Doeren.

The school has started a national search, and an industry source told The Athletic the pool of good candidates is thin this year. [85][28] CBS Sports lists Philip Rivers, a former NC State quarterback who has never coached in college, among the names. [86]

04 Hope carry this

Rebeca Andrade of Brazil had five knee operations and three years away from the world championships. In Rotterdam on Saturday she won the world vault title for the third time, which only one other woman has done.

Also true today

Sal Frelick tore a labrum in the summer and played on without surgery. On Saturday his first home run in three months tied World Series Game 2, and the Milwaukee Brewers won it.
Alisha Palmowski, 20, became the youngest champion of F1 Academy, the all-female racing series. She dedicated the title to her grandmother, who is ill.
Adri Mehmeti, a 17-year-old midfielder, ran the game as the New York Red Bulls beat Lionel Messi's Inter Miami 2-0.