Manchester United end Arsenal’s winning start

Defending champions Manchester United handed title rivals Arsenal their first defeat this season on Saturday night, while Chelsea and Tottenham continued their perfect start to the English Premier League campaign. United came from behind to clinch a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford against the London club, who saw their city rivals make it four wins from four earlier in the day as Chelsea crushed Burnley 3-0 and Spurs snatched a 2-1 victory against Birmingham.

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Australia complete innings win over England

Australia completed a comprehensive victory over England in the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley, Leeds, winning by an innings and 80 runs inside three days to level the series at 1-1 with just the deciding Test match at The Oval still to play. Resuming the third morning in a seemingly impossible position, trailing by 261 runs on 82 for five after Australia’s first innings 445, England’s daunting task became all the more difficult when they lost two wickets inside the first hour.

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South Africa hold off gallant Lions fightback

World champions South Africa held off a gallant British and Irish Lions fightback to claim a thrilling 26-21 victory in the opening Test match in Durban. The Springboks, inspired by some impressive forward play — particularly in the scrum — looked to be cruising to a comfortable win as they led 26-7 with just 12 minutes remaining. But the match-fit Lions, who had won all six of their games prior to Saturday’s opening Test, scored two late tries against the visibly-tiring home side –who were hanging on when the final whistle was eventually blown

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Torres hat-trick as Spain thrash New Zealand

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres scored a hat-trick within 11 first-half minutes as Spain thashed New Zealand 5-0 in their opening Confederations Cup Group A match in Johannesburg on Sunday. The victory, Spain’s 13th in succession, means the European champions have now extended their unbeaten run to 33 matches, just two short of Brazil’s world record of 35 matches without defeat between 1993 and 1996. Spain took a sixth minute lead when Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas slotted the ball to Torres, who curled his shot home from the edge of the box

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Maradona’s Argentina thrash Venezuela

Diego Maradona’s first competitive match in charge of Argentina saw the South American powerhouses thrash Venezuela 4-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Buenos Aires. The victory sees them close to within three points of group leaders Paraguay, who were beaten 2-0 by Uruguay, only their second defeat in 11 qualifying matches

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