Sports, in brief

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]

Why it matters. 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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]