Sports, in brief

The Arizona Cardinals traded receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Houston Texans on Sunday, two and a half years after picking him fourth in the 2024 NFL draft. [1][2]

Houston gave a 2027 second-round draft pick for Harrison, and the two teams also swapped picks from the last rounds of the 2027 draft. [3][4]

A draft pick is a team's turn to choose a new player from college each spring, and the earliest picks are the most valuable. The Cardinals had hoped to get a first-round pick for him. [5]

Before the deal, CBS Sports cited an ESPN report that at least one team now valued him only as a pick from rounds four to seven. [6]

He is the first receiver picked in the top five to be traded within three years since Ahmad Rashad in 1974, whom the Cardinals also traded. [7]

Harrison, 24, had five catches for 85 yards in four games this season. In 33 games he has 1,578 yards and 13 touchdowns, and he has never reached 1,000 yards in a season. [3][1]

The Cardinals already paid his $22.5m signing bonus, money handed over when a player signs. Houston owes him only $4m this year and $5.62m in 2027. [3]

Houston can also keep him for 2028 by taking up an option in his contract, and must decide this coming off-season. [3][8]

On 23 September Harrison hired agents for the first time. Until then his father had done that job: Marvin Harrison Sr., a Hall of Fame receiver. [9]

Arizona told him on Saturday morning that he would be traded and kept him out of Sunday's game. The deal was finished during the Cardinals' 45-21 home loss to the Detroit Lions, their ninth home defeat in a row. [5][10]

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans confirmed it after Houston's first win of the season, 26-3 over the Tennessee Titans. [11][10] Quarterback C.J. Stroud, Harrison's teammate at Ohio State, said he had talked to 'some different people' about him before the deal. [12]

Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur said only that the trade was 'in the best interest of the club', and that he would 'keep the details tight'. [13][14] The Athletic graded the deal D for Arizona, which is 16-39 under general manager Monti Ossenfort. [4]

Why it matters. The next thing to watch is whether Houston takes up Harrison's option for 2028 this off-season, which will show whether the Texans see him as more than a cheap two-year try. [3][4]

Manchester City beat Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, in their first league game since an independent panel found them guilty of 114 charges of breaking the Premier League's money rules. [18][26] Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch was sent off after 62 minutes, and Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki then scored. [27][18] City have won all six league games and stay top. [18] Liverpool have not won in five home league games, and this was Andoni Iraola's first league defeat as their manager. [28]

Why it matters. City have appealed, and the punishment could include relegation or a record points deduction, BBC Sport reported. [26] Until it is set, nobody can say how much this season's wins will be worth. [29]

Andy Burnham, the UK's prime minister since July, said he will publish details of his meetings with Manchester City's bosses from his nine years as mayor of Greater Manchester. [30][31] Kemi Badenoch, who leads the opposition Conservative party, had demanded them. [31] After the verdict, Burnham said he would be 'really concerned' to lose City's Abu Dhabi owners. [30] Some rival clubs told BBC Sport they were worried about political interference in City's appeal. [31] Burnham said his only significant meeting with the club was in 2021. [31]

Why it matters. The panel found City used 'sham' contracts with sponsors to bring in more than 830m pounds. [31] A final ruling on the appeal is expected next year, and the league has not yet set a punishment. [32]

Canelo Alvarez, the Mexican boxing star, still plans to fight Christian Mbilli for a world title in Riyadh on 31 October, Turki Alalshikh said on Sunday. [33][34] Alalshikh runs Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, and under him the country has used its money to stage many of boxing's biggest fights. [33] On Saturday a missile from the Houthis, an armed group in Yemen backed by Iran, hit Riyadh's main airport, killing at least 12 people. [35] Another projectile hit the airport on Sunday. [33]

Why it matters. DAZN, the streaming service showing the fight, is still planning to broadcast from Riyadh, The Athletic reported. [35] Several airlines have stopped flying to Saudi Arabia, and the attacks have raised doubts about big events in a country that has spent heavily to host world sport. [33]

Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday from pole position, his second win in a row. [36] Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes finished third and now leads his teammate George Russell by 102 points, with six races left and 25 points for each win. [37] If Antonelli wins in Austin in two weeks, with Russell ninth or lower and Lewis Hamilton fifth or lower, he becomes Formula One's youngest champion, at 20. [37] Hamilton ignored Ferrari's call to change tyres, fell from third to sixth, and apologised. [23]

Why it matters. Ferrari had been heading for second and third, so Hamilton's choice cost the team points, as he said himself on the radio. [23] Russell, Antonelli's only close rival, finished ninth. [36]

Marco Bezzecchi won MotoGP's Indonesian Grand Prix on Sunday, and Jorge Martin's third place put him back on top of the motorcycle championship. [38] Martin, the 2024 champion, has 355 points to Marc Marquez's 353, with five races left. [38] Marquez, the reigning champion, had taken the lead for the first time this season by winning Saturday's shorter sprint race, but finished sixth. [38] Aprilia, an Italian maker, filled all three podium places. [38]

Why it matters. Bezzecchi is third on 309 points. [38] The next race is at Phillip Island in Australia in two weeks. [38]

The SEC, the group of US universities Kentucky plays college football in, fined the university $500,000 when its fans stormed the field after a 35-34 overtime win over LSU on Saturday. [17][39] Under a rule changed in 2025, the money goes straight to LSU, and the fine is the same for a first offence as for an eighteenth. [17] It can be waived if the visiting team and officials reach their changing room before fans come on. [17] The same night, Alabama fans threw bottles and cans at Georgia's players after a 20-17 loss. [40]

Why it matters. The win still counts, and Kentucky rose to 15th in the weekly national rankings. [39] The money goes to the team that lost the game, not to the conference. [17]

The NFL fined New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson $12,537 for a chop block, an illegal low block on a defender, in the last minute of a win over the Buffalo Bills a week earlier. [16] Referees did not call it during the game. [16] Had they done so, the Patriots would probably have been pushed back 15 yards and had to punt, Sports Illustrated's Bills site wrote. [16] The NFL banned all chop blocks before the 2016 season. [16]

Why it matters. The win still counts. [16] The Patriots have now won two in a row and could move above the Bills in their division. [16]

The NCAA, which runs US college sport, would not say whether it will keep paying for the CARE Consortium, the concussion study it started with the US Defense Department in 2014. [41] The project's funding runs out at the end of October. [41] It began by following 53,000 college athletes and military cadets, and has received more than $105m, at least $23m from the NCAA. [41] A source told Sportico, a sports-business site, that the NCAA is not part of the latest funding talks, which are with the US Defense Department. [41]

Why it matters. A study of its data published in March linked several concussions to worse physical and mental health five years after college. [41] The US Defense Department has moved its research money toward military work, and has not said whether it will pay. [41]

The Washington Commanders and New York Giants drew 27-27, the NFL's first tie this season, after both sides blundered in overtime. [42][10] First the Giants' Cam Skattebo fumbled when they were in range of a winning kick. [10] Then Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels held the ball and went down with 12 seconds left and no timeouts, and the clock ran out before the Commanders could kick. [10][43] Mike Tomlin, the former Steelers coach, called the finish 'disgusting' on television. [44]

Why it matters. The Giants lead their division at 3-1-1, a game and a half ahead of the Eagles and Cowboys, so even a tie moved them forward. [45] Magic Johnson, a part-owner of the Commanders, said he was in 'total disbelief'. [46]

Cam Little kicked a 57-yard field goal as time ran out to give the Jacksonville Jaguars a 19-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. [22][47] The Eagles had gone ahead with eight seconds left, but Ameer Abdullah's 53-yard kick return left one second on the clock. [47] Two players were thrown out for fighting on the opening kickoff. [48][22] The Jaguars' specialist snapper was hurt early, so defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton snapped the ball for the winning kick. [49]

Why it matters. It was officially a Jaguars home game, but the stadium was packed with Eagles fans. [49] Jacksonville are now 4-1, and Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said 'I lost us that game'. [50][47]

The San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 32-29 to win their first five games. [10][50] 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw was thrown out for head-butting Seattle's Ernest Jones, who had no helmet on. [51] Seattle's last chance ended when receiver Cooper Kupp was ruled short of a first down on fourth down. [52] The game had seven turnovers, the most in any NFL game this season. [10]

Why it matters. Seattle beat San Francisco twice last season, once 41-6 in the play-offs. [10] The 49ers are top of their division, two games clear of Seattle. [10]

Cincinnati Bengals safety Jordan Battle intercepted Miami quarterback Malik Willis twice in a 31-24 win. [10] Days earlier Battle had said Willis taps the ball before every throw, and that the Bengals could use the tap as a signal to move. [53] CBS Sports said it is not clear how much the tap helped. [53] In baseball, the Dodgers' Max Muncy said teams now run video through AI programs to spot small changes in how a pitcher holds his glove and hand. [54]

Why it matters. Muncy said the programs flag movements in large amounts of video that people might miss. [54] Miami are 0-5. [10]

Fernando Mendoza, picked first overall in this year's draft by the Las Vegas Raiders, played his first NFL game in the fourth quarter of a 45-17 loss to the New England Patriots. [55] He came on for Kirk Cousins with the game already lost and completed 6 of 8 passes for 48 yards. [55] He is the first quarterback picked first overall not to start in week one since Baker Mayfield in 2018. [55] Patriots quarterback Drake Maye threw four touchdown passes. [10]

Why it matters. Cousins went into the week tied for the most touchdown passes in the league, which is why the Raiders had kept their top pick on the bench. [55] Las Vegas have now lost two in a row after a 3-0 start. [55]

Aaron Rodgers, 42, threw three touchdown passes as the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Indianapolis Colts 34-22. [10] His 80-yard pass to Jaylen Warren moved him past Peyton Manning into third place on the NFL's list of career touchdown passes. [56] The two had been level on 579. [56] Only Tom Brady, with 737, and Drew Brees, with 608, have thrown more. [56]

Why it matters. This is Rodgers' farewell season, and the Steelers are 3-2. [56] He took a crushing hit from a 314lb Colts lineman as he threw the record pass. [10]

The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears 31-7, as the Bears honoured Mike Ditka, their Hall of Fame player and coach who died recently. [57] Jordan Love passed for 367 yards, a Packers record against the Bears at Lambeau Field, Green Bay's home ground. [57][10] Green Bay forced five turnovers against Tyson Bagent, who started for the injured Caleb Williams. [10] It was the Packers' biggest win over Chicago since 2014. [57]

Why it matters. Chicago had won three of the four games before this one, including a play-off game last season. [10] Both teams are now 3-2. [57]

Tyler Huntley, playing for the injured Lamar Jackson, scored on a one-yard run in overtime as the Baltimore Ravens beat the Atlanta Falcons 30-23 on Sunday night. [10] Huntley had led a tying touchdown and two-point play in the last minute of normal time. [10] Ravens tight end Mark Andrews dropped a touchdown pass and fumbled earlier in the game. [58] Atlanta's Michael Penix Jr. left hurt, and his stand-in Tua Tagovailoa threw the interception that ended it. [10]

Why it matters. Baltimore are 4-1, and Huntley threw two touchdown passes as the stand-in starter. [58][10] Derrick Henry ran for 102 yards against the league's best run defence. [10]

The Los Angeles Chargers lost 23-17 to the Denver Broncos and are 0-5. [10] Four of their blockers were rookies, and quarterback Justin Herbert was sacked five times. [10] Asked for his message to the team, coach Jim Harbaugh said: 'I don't know what that message is.' [59] Denver coach Sean Payton called the plays himself, after taking the job back from his offensive coordinator during the week. [10]

Why it matters. The Chargers also started 0-5 in 2023, the year before Harbaugh arrived. [10] Denver won at the Chargers' stadium for the first time since 2023. [10]

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Sunday in the first game of baseball's National League semi-final, a best-of-seven series. [60][61] Brice Turang hit a home run, and Milwaukee's relief pitchers held on after their starter Jacob Misiorowski left in the fifth inning. [61][60] It was the Brewers' first play-off win over the Dodgers since 2018. [60] The Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians start the other semi-final on Monday. [61]

Why it matters. The Dodgers spent $433m on players this season, and the other three semi-finalists spent $360.5m between them. [62] Owners want a salary cap in talks for a new deal with the players, whose current one expires on 1 December. [62]

Taylor Knibb of the US won the Ironman world championship in Kona, Hawaii, after the leader, Norway's Solveig Lovseth, collapsed less than a mile from the finish. [63][21] An Ironman is a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and a 42.2km run, and Knibb finished in 8 hours 36 minutes 29 seconds. [21] A year ago Knibb herself collapsed near the end while leading. [63] France's Vincent Luis, 37, won the men's race at his first Kona. [21]

Why it matters. Lovseth got up and walked to the finish, in eighth place. [21] Winning would have paid her $125,000. [63]

Kenya's Amos Kipruto won the Chicago Marathon on Sunday in 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds, ahead of Ethiopia's Tadese Bikila. [64] Last year's winner, Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, was fourth. [64] Ethiopia's Hawi Feysa won the women's race again, in 2:13:33, a record for the Chicago course. [64] Australia's Izzi Batt-Doyle was sixth in 2:20:38, taking 46 seconds off her country's record. [65]

Why it matters. It was Kipruto's second win at one of the 'majors', the sport's biggest city marathons, after London in 2022. [64] Batt-Doyle improved her own best time by two minutes. [65]

Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese woman to win the China Open, beating Russia's Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-4 in Beijing on Sunday. [25] She entered on a wildcard, a free place the organisers give, ranked 54th in the world. [25] She saved three set points in the first set and then won the last 11 points of it. [25] It was her first title at the WTA 1000 level, the tier below the four Grand Slams, and her first title in two years. [25]

Why it matters. Zheng had elbow surgery last year, and said after the final that she had been through 'a very, very tough year'. [25]

Scotland's Grant Forrest won golf's Spanish Open by one shot after holing a birdie putt on the final hole. [66] He finished 14 under par, ahead of Spain's Eugenio Chacarra and France's Victor Perez. [66] It was his third win on the DP World Tour, Europe's main men's tour, and his first as a professional outside Scotland. [66] The win earns him places at next year's Open Championship and the Masters. [66]

Why it matters. Forrest said it had been 'such a tough year', and called a trip to Augusta, where the Masters is played, 'fairytale stuff'. [66]

Australia bowled South Africa out for 284 in reply to 390 on day three of the first Test in Durban, and led by 139 at the close. [67][68] Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon are the only four bowlers in history to play together with more than 300 Test wickets each. [67] They have now played 38 Tests together, a record. [67] Cummins took three wickets and the other three took two each. [68]

Why it matters. All four are over 33, and many people in Australia call the team too old. [67][68] This series against South Africa, the world Test champions, starts a run of Tests against the strongest sides. [68]

Hasan Mahmud took a hat-trick, three wickets with three balls in a row, against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. [69] He is the first Bangladesh fast bowler to do it in a Test, after two spin bowlers in 2003 and 2013. [69] His five wickets in the innings took him to 50 in Tests in his 17th match. [69] Bangladesh ended the day 329 runs ahead in the one-off Test. [69]

Why it matters. He is the fastest Bangladesh fast bowler to 50 Test wickets. [70] He has now taken five wickets in an innings in four different countries. [70]

Georgia Voll scored 131 not out from 97 balls as Australia's women beat Bangladesh by nine wickets in Brisbane and took the one-day series 2-0. [71] Earlier, Bangladesh's Sobhana Mostary, 24, scored 118. [71] She and captain Nigar Sultana added 195 together, the biggest partnership against Australia in women's one-day internationals. [71] Australia reached their target of 221 in 28.1 of their 50 overs. [71]

Why it matters. It was Bangladesh's highest total against Australia. [71] The 195 stand was the biggest for any Bangladesh wicket in women's one-day internationals. [71]