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Diamond League Final Takes Centre Stage

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A month after the Olympics closing ceremony, 25 champions and 41 other medallists from the Tokyo Games are due to be in Zurich this week for the final of the 2021 Wanda Diamond League.
The 12th meeting of the summer series draws the finest athletes from around the globe to the Swiss city as they vie for the prestigious Diamond League trophy and the winner’s prize of $30,000 (£22,000).
Series winners will also receive a wildcard for next year’s World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon and the Zurich organisers have laid on a mouth-watering feast of athletics for both today’s events in the city centre and tomorrow’s inside the Letzigrund Stadium.
In the sprint showdowns, back-to-back Olympic 100m and 200m champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah, is the star attraction in a tantalising women’s 100m race, after running a blistering 10.54 seconds in Eugene last month.
The Jamaican is now the second fastest woman of all time and she may face the third in Zurich, with her compatriot, and predecessor as Olympic champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce expected to compete.
Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who has run 10.78 this year, and British duo Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita are also on the provisional start list.
World 200m champion Asher-Smith, may choose to focus on the longer event, though, where she would face equally stiff opposition in Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, and Christine Mboma of Namibia.
Asher-Smith, 25, finished third in both Paris (100m) and Brussels (200m) recently after a rollercoaster Olympics, which she finished with bronze in the 4x100m relay after injury marred her individual events.
In the men’s sprints, Canada’s Olympic 200m champion Andre de Grasse and American 100m silver medallist Fred Kerley are named in both events.
It should come as no surprise that Norway’s Karsten Warholm will start the 400m hurdles as the overwhelming favourite.
After shattering the world record with a scintillating 45.94 to win gold in Tokyo, Warholm ran a modest 45.51 over the flat in Lausanne and will be eager to return to his best in front of a capacity crowd.
His compatriot Jakob Ingebrigtsen, 20, is listed for both the 1500m and 5,000m.
Should he compete in both, he would run in two different venues – with the latter one of seven titles up for grabs in the city centre on Wednesday, and the former one of 25 on offer in the stadium on Thursday.
The Olympic 1500m champion, who ran a Games-record three minutes 28.32 seconds to take gold, is the European record holder in both events, and his battle with Kenyan world champion Timothy Cheruiyot over the metric mile will be a particularly fascinating duel.
In the pole vault, Sweden’s Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis will be looking to add to his recent wins in Paris and Brussels as he faces American two-time world champion Sam Kendricks, who was forced to withdraw from Tokyo 2020 on the eve of the competition after a positive Covid-19 test.
Elsewhere, Kenyan 1500m Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon faces 5,000m and 10,000m gold medallist Sifan Hassan, American two-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser takes an unbeaten record this season into the men’s shot put, and the women’s high jump features all three medallists – Authorised Neutral Athlete Mariya Lasitskene, Nicola McDermott of Australia and the Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh.

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Tottenham Fight Back To Hold Brighton

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Tottenham fought back from two-goals down to secure a deserved point against Brighton.

The Seagulls were second best for much of the match but found themselves 2-0 up after 31 minutes thanks to Yankuba Minteh’s early strike and Yasin Ayari’s powerful drive.

However, Richarlison halved the deficit just before half-time when he stopped a shot by Mohammed Kudus before slotting in.

Spurs dominated the second half but their finishing let them down as Richarlison and substitute Xavi Simons were both unable to make the most of promising opportunities.

But the equaliser came eight minutes from time when Jan Paul van Hecke turned Kudus’ cross into his own net.

Spurs then pushed for a winner as they looked to continue their impressive start to the season, but Brighton held on for the point.

Bundesliga: Kane Continues Goal Harvest (5)

Harry Kane scored his second hat-trick of the season as Bayern Munich overcame a shaky start to win at Hoffenheim and continue their 100% start.

The England captain, 32, broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time with a clinical first-time finish from a cleverly worked low corner, and doubled Bayern’s lead from the spot after Albian Hajdari was harshly penalised for a handball.

That broke Hoffenheim’s resistance and Kane completed his ninth Bundesliga hat-trick with another penalty, given for a foul on substitute Michael Olise after a video assistant referee (VAR) check.

This time Kane sent home keeper Oliver Baumann the wrong way for his 13th Bayern goal in seven matches across all competitions this season, adding to his Champions League double against Chelsea last Wednesday.

“Hat-trick Harry is what they called me in school,” Kane told Tidesports source after the match. “That one kind of stuck when I was younger.”

“Any ball in the box, whether penalty or not, I back myself to hit the target.”

Hoffenheim had the better of the first 45 minutes, Fisnik Asllani only able to hit the post after goalkeeper Manuel Neuer passed straight to the Kosovan.

They eventually got some reward for their efforts, former West Ham full-back Vladimir Coufal’s deflected free-kick beating Neuer to earn the Czech his first goal for the club.

Ex-Liverpool winger Luis Diaz hit the top of the bar late on as he failed to continue his record of scoring in every Bundesliga game this season, but Serge Gnabry added a fourth for Bayern with the last kick, converting a rebound from a tight angle after Baumann saved from Joshua Kimmich.

Nicolas Jackson made his first start since joining Bayern on an initial loan deal from Chelsea, but the Senegal striker had a very quiet game before being replaced in the 62nd minute.

In Italy, Lorenzo Pellegrini fired Roma into the Serie A top four as Lazio had two players sent off in a fiery derby.

The midfielder found the bottom corner in the 38th minute as Roma extended their unbeaten run to four games against their city rivals.

Lazio have lost three of their opening games of the season and had Reda Belahyane and former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi dismissed in late drama.

Roma started well and Rome-born Pellegrini claimed the vital goal – his fourth in a Rome derby after being available for transfer in the summer – following good work down the right by Matias Soule.

But the hosts will rue missed opportunities as Boulaye Dia, Mattia Zaccagni and Alessio Romagnoli all had openings.

With four minutes left substitute Belahyane was shown a red card for a late studs-up challenge on Manu Kone.

Danilo Cataldi struck the outside of the post for Lazio in a last-gasp effort to snatch a point, while team-mate Guendouzi was sent off for dissent after the final whistle.

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Zidane’s Son Switches Allegiance To Algeria

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Luca Zidane, the son of France’s World Cup-winning playmaker Zinedine, has switched his international allegiance from France to Algeria.

Born just outside Marseille, the 27-year-old goalkeeper had appeared for France at various youth levels.

The move, which was approved by Fifa, may enable Zidane to follow in his father’s footsteps by appearing at a World Cup, with Algeria expected to secure a place at the 2026 finals in North America in their qualifier against Somalia next month.

Zidane, who is the second of four brothers, all of whom came through the Real Madrid academy, currently plays for Spanish second tier side Granada.

He played two matches for Madrid and has La Liga experience at Rayo Vallecano, but dropped a level in 2022 to play for Eibar before heading to Andalusia in 2024.

Zidane qualifies for the North African country through his father, whose parents hailed from the Kabylie region of Algeria.

Zinedine Zidane, who is regarded as one of the games greatest players scored twice for France in their 1998 World Cup final victory over Brazil, but was famously sent-off in the 2006 final, which was won by Italy after a penalty shootout.

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Man Utd Beat Chelsea To Ease Pressure 

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Manchester United capitalised on Robert Sanchez’s fifth-minute red card to secure a crucial victory over Chelsea in torrential rain at Old Trafford.

The first match in Premier League history to see two or more goals, red cards and substitutions in the first half was settled by goals from United skipper Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro, who was the other player sent off before the break.

It was Sanchez’s dismissal that set the course of the game though.

The Spain international raced from his goal to meet Bryan Mbeumo as the striker ran beyond the Chelsea defence.

Sanchez then upended the forward outside his area rather than allow him past to tap the ball into an empty net.

Enzo Maresca’s response to the red card was to take off both Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian and, as Cole Palmer had to be replaced after suffering a recurrence of a groin injury, Chelsea had lost three attacking players in the space of 20 minutes.

Trevor Chalobah pulled one back for Chelsea with a header 10 minutes from time but United kept their nerves at bay to make it to the final whistle with their lead intact.

The victory was United’s second of the season and came in front of minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who gave head coach Ruben Amorim assurances over his future 48 hours earlier.

It also means Chelsea have still not won at Old Trafford since 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson was United manager.

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