Sports, in brief

Tyler Reddick won NASCAR's Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway in Arizona on Sunday. [1] NASCAR's Cup Series is the top level of US stock-car racing, and this was the seventh of ten races in the Chase, its end-of-season play-off. [2][1]

Kyle Larson started the day 49 points ahead of Denny Hamlin, in second, with four races left. [3][4]

Larson's average finish over the first six Chase races was 2.83, the best start to a play-off since the Chase began in 2004, AP reported. [3]

On Saturday he qualified only 22nd, while the five drivers closest to him took the first five places on the starting grid. [5]

In the race he fell a lap behind the leaders, then a right-front tyre went flat and he hit the wall with about 30 laps left. [6][1]

Larson finished 34th and scored 3 points. Christopher Bell came fourth and scored 49. [2]

Larson now leads Bell by five points, by ESPN's count, with Chase Briscoe 24 behind, Hamlin 31 and Ryan Blaney 40. [1]

NASCAR pays points at the end of each of a race's stages as well as at the finish. Joey Logano won both stages on Sunday for the maximum 20 points, though he finished sixth. [1]

Reddick took only two fresh tyres at his last stop, passed Briscoe with 18 laps left and beat Blaney by 0.801 seconds. [6][7]

It was Reddick's sixth win of 2026 and his first since April, yet he is still seventh in the Chase, 56 points back. [6][7]

Before the race, a data analyst quoted by The Athletic said that if Larson matched his usual results, only a crash or a breakdown would let anyone catch him. [8]

The Chase goes to Talladega next, then Martinsville, and ends at Homestead-Miami on 8 November. [3][1]

Why it matters. Watch Talladega next Sunday: The Athletic's Jordan Bianchi said there is a high chance a title contender has a race-wrecking problem there, so a five-point gap could change hands. [8][1]

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 in Cleveland on Sunday to lead baseball's American League final 3-2. [20][21] Drew Rasmussen pitched seven innings and gave up one run. [21] He has pitched more playoff innings than anyone this year, 21, with an average of 1.29 runs allowed per nine innings. [22] Game 6 is in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Monday, and a Game 7, if needed, on Tuesday. [23]

Why it matters. The winner meets the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series from Friday 23 October. [23] The Rays are known for winning on little money with new ideas, such as not letting a starting pitcher face the same batters a third time. [22]

The NFL said on Sunday that the New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers will still play at the Stade de France, near Paris, on 25 October. [17][24] It will be the first regular-season NFL game ever played in France. [25][24] On Saturday about 550,000 people marched in France against rising living costs and run-down schools, and some protests turned into riots and looting. [26][27] President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that everyone felt anger and shame. [26] The Saints were due to fly to France on Sunday night, straight after beating the New York Giants. [25][24]

Why it matters. The Saints are listed as the home team, and their stadium in New Orleans has only a small youth event booked that day, so the game could move there. [28] It is the sixth of nine NFL games abroad this season, after Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro and three in London. [29]

Ben Simmons, an Australian basketball player, tore his right Achilles tendon in a Sacramento Kings practice on Sunday. [14][30] The Achilles tendon joins the calf muscle to the heel. Simmons, 30, is a three-time NBA All-Star who missed the whole of last season with back and leg injuries. [14] He signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Kings last month, and was due to start on Wednesday's opening night. [14][31] He will have surgery and is likely to miss the season. [30]

Why it matters. A one-year deal was his chance to show teams he could still play, and he now loses that season. [14] He posted that the injury is another chapter in his story, not the end of it. [30]

The Arizona Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Rams 18-16 in Los Angeles with six field goals by Chad Ryland, the last as time ran out. [32][18] A field goal is a kick between the posts worth three points. The Cardinals started as 13.5-point underdogs, the biggest upset of the NFL season so far. [9] The Rams were favourites to win the Super Bowl before the season, and are now 2-4. [18][9] Their new kicker, Blake Grupe, hurt his knee making a tackle in his first game. [16]

Why it matters. A late penalty on the Rams' Josh Wallace moved the Cardinals into kicking range, and Mike Pereira, the TV broadcast's rules analyst, said it did not need to be called. [33] Rams coach Sean McVay said there was nothing positive he could say about the day. [34]

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain won the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, beating Rafael Jodar 1-6 7-6 6-4. [35] A Masters event is one level below tennis's four Grand Slams. Davidovich Fokina was seeded 25th, and he had lost the first five finals of his career, including the Monte Carlo Masters in 2022. [35] He came back from a set and a break down. [35] He had also come from a set down to beat Alexander Zverev in the semi-final. [35]

Why it matters. It is his third title of the year and his biggest. [35] Jodar, 20 and seeded 12th, needed treatment on his right thigh and twisted his foot in the final set. [35]

Eugenio Chacarra of Spain won the India Championship in New Delhi by two shots on Sunday, on 21 under par. [19][36] It was his third win of the season on the DP World Tour, Europe's main men's tour. [37] It also put him top of the Race to Dubai, the tour's season-long points table, ending Patrick Reed's seven months in first place. [37] Rory McIlroy, who has won the table for the past four years, finished 4 under and stays third. [37]

Why it matters. Three events are left, and Chacarra, 26, could become the third Spaniard to top the table, after Seve Ballesteros and Jon Rahm. [37][36] He used to play on the LIV tour, and won his first European tour title only in 2025. [19]

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Chargers 22-6 to stay unbeaten at 5-0. [18][38] Patrick Mahomes reached 100 regular-season wins in his 131st start as a starting quarterback, equalling Tom Brady's record. [18] The NFL was averaging 18.8 million TV viewers a game through its first five weeks, the most on record, and a Chiefs game drew its biggest audience, 28.5 million. [38] The Chargers have lost all six games. [39]

Why it matters. Asked whether Mike McDaniel would keep calling the Chargers' attacking plays, coach Jim Harbaugh said the team would look at everything. [39] McDaniel was hired this year, and the Chargers now have a week off with no game. [40]

The Philadelphia Eagles lost 25-14 at home to the Carolina Panthers, a fourth defeat in a row and the longest losing run under coach Nick Sirianni. [11] They played without quarterback Jalen Hurts, who is out for at least four games with a blood clot in his calf. [32] Their backup, Tanner McKee, threw 45 passes. [32] Sirianni said that everything was on the table. [11]

Why it matters. The Eagles reached three Super Bowls and won two between 2017 and 2024. [41] Pressure is growing on Sean Mannion, the first-year coach who calls their attacking plays. [11]

Brighton beat Crystal Palace, their nearest rivals, 5-0, with Palace three goals down after 10 minutes. [42][13] Diego Gomez scored one of the goals from the halfway line. [42] It equalled Brighton's record win over Palace, from 1956. [42] Palace's manager Pierre Sage, appointed in the summer, apologised to the fans and said he did not know whether he would get time to fix things. [43][13] Palace are 14th and have let in 17 goals, the most in the Premier League. [13]

Why it matters. Under Sage's predecessor, Oliver Glasner, Palace won the FA Cup in 2025 and the Conference League in May. [13] Two earlier Palace managers lost their jobs soon after losing to Brighton. [42]

Manchester United drew 1-1 at Leeds, so they have gone six games without a win, their worst run since 2018-19. [12] They have seven points from seven Premier League games and one league win, against Ipswich in August. [44] Bryan Mbeumo scored United's goal, his fourth of the league season. [12] During the week the defender Lisandro Martinez criticised the club's signings under Jason Wilcox, its director of football. [44]

Why it matters. Coach Michael Carrick said the draw felt like a fresh start. [44] United play Bournemouth, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Liverpool next. [44]

Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 away, with Noni Madueke's 80th-minute shot deflecting in off a defender. [45] It was Arsenal's only shot on target. [45] Madueke had come on at half-time. [45] Forest have still not scored at their own stadium this season. Under their new manager, Oliver Glasner, they have gone five home games without a goal. [45]

Why it matters. Arsenal had won only one of their previous five visits to Forest's ground. [45] Their travelling fans sang 'one-nil to the champions'. [45]

Sonay Kartal, ranked 170th, lost the Wuhan Open final in China to Maja Chwalinska of Poland, 2-6 6-4 6-2. [46][47] The Wuhan Open is a WTA 1000 event, the level just below tennis's Grand Slams. [48] Kartal was the lowest-ranked player to reach a final at that level since it began in 2009. [46] It was only her third event back after six months out with a stress fracture in her back. [48]

Why it matters. Her ranking now jumps to 50th, which makes her Britain's No 1 for the first time. [46] Chwalinska, 25, won the first WTA title of her career, after reaching the French Open final this year as a qualifier. [46]

Celtic beat Hearts 7-1 at Celtic Park in Glasgow and are now four points clear at the top of Scotland's top division. [49] Hearts finished second last season and came in third, seen as possible title challengers. [49] Hearts gave away two goals from set pieces in the first 10 minutes. [50] It was Celtic's biggest win since manager Martin O'Neill returned last year. [49]

Why it matters. Celtic had lost four of their previous six games, and some fans have protested against the club's major shareholder. [49] O'Neill said a four-point lead is nothing this early in the season. [49]

Aaron Rodgers, 42, led the Pittsburgh Steelers back from 13 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-19 in overtime. [51] His two touchdown passes took him to 539, level with Peyton Manning for third on the NFL's all-time list. [51] Afterwards he called the Buccaneers' grass field one of the worst in the league, and said he had been hurt on it twice before. [52] The stadium shares its field with a local college team. [52]

Why it matters. The NFL players' union has pushed for better playing surfaces since 2020. [52] The Steelers' coach Mike McCarthy hurt his ankle at half-time after being stepped on, and came back for the second half. [53]

The Indianapolis Colts led the Tennessee Titans 13-0 at half-time and then gave up 20 points in a row to lose at home. [54] The Titans had lost all five of their games before Sunday. [55] The Colts gained 399 yards to the Titans' 189 and still lost. [54] The Colts are now 2-4. [55]

Why it matters. The team's owner, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, said before the season that the urgency on coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard had never been higher. [54] Writers who cover the Colts for SI now argue that Ballard, who picks the players, should be fired during the season. [55]

The Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 23-13 on Sunday night, their third win in a row. [56][57] Matthew Golden caught six passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. [56] The Cowboys lost KaVontae Turpin, the league's top kick returner, to a rib injury on the first play. [58] All three NFC East teams that played on Sunday lost. If Washington lose on Monday, it will be the first division since 1970 to go two weeks in a row with every team playing and none winning. [59]

Why it matters. The NFC East is a group of four teams, and the New York Giants still lead it despite losing. [59] The Eagles and the Cowboys meet next Monday night. [59]

The New Orleans Saints scored 34 points in a row and held on to beat the New York Giants 34-27. [60] With 11 minutes left the Giants replaced quarterback Jameis Winston with J.J. McCarthy. [61] McCarthy threw for 243 yards, the most in an 11-minute span in NFL history. [62] The Giants got him from the Minnesota Vikings last month for a fifth-round draft pick. [62] The Saints' Tyler Shough threw three touchdown passes with two broken bones in his left hand. [60][15]

Why it matters. Running back Cam Skattebo, who has fumbled four times this season, was not given the ball once. [63] Coach John Harbaugh said that was not by design. [63]

The Atlanta Falcons lost 31-23 at home to the Chicago Bears, after trailing 31-7. [32] The Falcons had to use a silent count at their own stadium because of the noise from Chicago's fans. [64] A silent count is a hand signal to start a play, used when players cannot hear the quarterback. Visiting teams usually need it, not the home team. [64] Coach Kevin Stefanski said they knew they would likely have to use it. [64]

Why it matters. The Falcons are 2-4. [64] Rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels was taken off on a stretcher, but was conscious and could move his arms and legs. [64]

The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-31 at Wembley Stadium in London. Ka'imi Fairbairn kicked a 49-yard field goal as time ran out. [32] It was the last of this season's NFL games in London. [18] The Jaguars stayed in London after winning there against the Philadelphia Eagles the week before. [18] C.J. Stroud threw three touchdown passes. [32]

Why it matters. The Jaguars are 4-2 and still lead their division by two games. [65] The Texans and the Colts are both 2-4. [65]

The Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Ravens 13-10 to go 4-2 and share the top of their division, the AFC North. [66] The Browns gained only 253 yards, and they were 29th of 32 teams for yards gained per game before Sunday. [66] Quarterback Deshaun Watson threw for 164 yards. [66] Coach Todd Monken said he did not want to watch the film of his attack. [66]

Why it matters. Only three teams had scored fewer touchdowns before Sunday. [66] Counting only their running backs, the Browns would be last in the league for rushing yards. [66]

C.J. Gardner-Johnson, a Buffalo Bills safety, was sent off in the second quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders for spitting at their tight end Brock Bowers. [67][68] Spitting means an automatic ejection in the NFL. [67] Last season the Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase was suspended for one game for spitting. [67] Gardner-Johnson said he let his emotions get above him and hurt his team. [68] The Bills still won 33-30. [32]

Why it matters. It is the second ejection of his career, and the NFL may now suspend him. [67] Buffalo is his sixth team. [67]

Two interceptions in Week 6 were cancelled by roughing-the-passer penalties, one against the Chiefs and one against the Packers. [69][56] An interception is a pass caught by the defence. The rule protects quarterbacks from hits that can cause serious injuries. [69] Many fans said the contact in both plays was slight. [69]

Why it matters. Each call handed the ball back to the attacking team. [69] The penalty against the Packers came late in their win over Dallas. [56]

Bournemouth beat Sunderland 2-0 for their first Premier League win of the season, and their manager Marco Rose's first. [70][71] Sunderland's Kevin Danso was sent off after 17 minutes. [70] Both clubs are also in the Europa League, Europe's second club competition, and played on Thursday. [70] Sunderland have lost four league games in a row and are second from bottom. [71]

Why it matters. Last season Sunderland reached Europe in their first year back in the top division. [71] Their defender Nordi Mukiele said maybe the team had become arrogant. [71]

Chelsea beat Tottenham 6-1 in the Women's Super League, England's top women's league, with two goals each from Lauren James and Ellie Carpenter. [72] Tottenham equalised just before half-time, before Chelsea pulled away. [72] Two Chelsea substitutes, Sjoeke Nusken and Maika Hamano, also scored. [72] Tottenham had lost 6-1 to London City Lionesses earlier this month. [72]

Why it matters. The win keeps Chelsea close to Manchester City at the top of the league. [72]

Lyon came from behind to beat Nice 2-1 with 10 men and went top of France's Ligue 1. [10] Monaco lost for the first time this season, 1-0 at Lorient, so five clubs now have 14 points. [10] In Spain, Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-1, with two goals from Kylian Mbappe. [73] Madrid are six points behind Barcelona, who have won every league game, a week before the two meet. [73]

Why it matters. Real Madrid fans chanted for Javier Tebas, the head of Spain's league, to resign. [73]

Northampton beat Cardiff and were the only English club to win in the first round of the Champions Cup, Europe's top club rugby competition. [74] Six other English clubs lost, and Gloucester drew. [74] Leicester lost 41-17 at Pau, who earned a bonus point by scoring five tries. [75] A try is rugby's main score. A bonus is an extra reward in the league table for a big win or a close defeat. Toulouse beat Exeter with 14 men, and Exeter's Henry Slade missed a late penalty that would have drawn the game. [76]

Why it matters. Northampton scored four tries but did not earn the bonus. [74] Pau kept scoring after the result was safe, with 17 points in a row at the end. [75]

New Zealand came from 12-4 down to beat Fiji 18-12 in the women's Rugby League World Cup in Newcastle, Australia. [77] Fiji were playing at their first women's World Cup. [77] New Zealand have reached the final of all six women's World Cups, winning the first three and losing the last three to Australia. [77] Their coach Ricky Henry called the game a wake-up call. [77]

Why it matters. New Zealand are seen as the second favourites. [77] Fiji scored their first ever women's World Cup try. [77]

New Zealand beat Australia 56-50 in Auckland in the first of four netball matches for the Constellation Cup. [78] New Zealand won the Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow, where Australia took bronze. [78] Grace Nweke scored 40 goals from 41 attempts. [78] Australia are ranked No 1 in the world. [78]

Why it matters. If New Zealand win all four matches, they will take the world No 1 ranking for the first time since 2013. [78]