Manchester City slumped to the ninth defeat of their doomed title defence yesterday, as they were beaten 1-0 by Southampton at St Mary's. Pep Guardiola's side dominated but a well taken first-half strike from Che Adams - his first for the Saints since arriving from Birmingham City a year ago - was enough to give his side all three points. The result means City have now lost more league games this term than Manchester United, who extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 16 as they thrashed Bournemouth 5-2 at Old Trafford on Saturday. And in his column this morning Ken Early has pointed to the prodigious Mason Greenwood - as well as Bruno Fernandes - as being the catalyst behind the resurgence of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side. Elsewhere yesterday Sadio Mane ended Aston Villa's resistance in the 71st minute to set up a 2-0 win for Liverpool at Anfield and leave their visitors firmly trapped in the relegation mire. Newcastle came from behind twice in a 2-2 draw with West Ham at St James' Park, and Republic of Ireland defender John Egan struck late to earn Sheffield United a 1-1 draw away to Burnley. In tonight's fixture, Everton travel to play Jose Mourinho's struggling Tottenham (8pm kick-off).
Bryson DeChambeau shot a final round of 65 last night to secure victory in the Rocket Mortgage Classic last night, as a closing 72 saw Ireland's Seamus Power fall away having been in contention throughout the week. De Chambeau finished three strokes ahead of 21-year-old Matthew Wolff to land his sixth win on the PGA Tour, as he continues to steal the headlines during golf's return to action. And in this morning's Tipping Point column, Malachy Clerkin has asked if DeChambeau's bulked-up frame - he claims to have put on a stone and a half during lockdown - should be raising suspicion. He writes: "In any other sport, this would be a huge talking point. A player making such an enormous physical transformation away from prying eyes and parlaying it into such a dominant show of power upon his return would cause rampant suspicion. For whatever reason, golf seems completely fine with it."
In today's edition of The Game Changers series, Gavin Cummiskey has looked back on the emergence of the great Jonah Lomu, whose breakthrough at the 1995 Rugby World Cup changed the sport forever. He writes: "Johannesburg May 27th, 1995 is where and when rugby gets divided into two distinct eras: Before Lomu and After Lomu. Lomu's first imprint remains a seminal moment because it symbolises the crossover from amateur hour to professionalism. . . Lomu was the cheat in a computer game. Cartoonish invincibility that transcended rugby, creating unforgettable reality TV as he ruptured defences with naked violence."
Elsewhere this morning Seán Moran has spoken to Offaly boss John Maughan, who is in his fifth role of a managerial career which has spread across 29 years. A big advocate of the Tier 2 Championship, Maughan has seen most things in football - until this year - and he believes whoever lifts Sam Maguire at the end of the season, it won't quite be the same. He said: "This is a little bit like the foot-and-mouth league - the Covid All-Ireland! No matter who wins it, it will be tainted because it's different."
It was another fine weekend for the O'Brien family, with 21-year-old Donnacha enjoying his first taste of Classic success as a trainer thanks to Fancy Blue's victory in the French Oaks yesterday. This followed a record eighth Epsom Derby success for father Aidan on Saturday, as Serpentine caught them napping to win at 25-1 under an enterprising ride from Emmet McNamara.
And Valterri Bottas took the opening race of the Formula One season in Austria, with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton demoted from second to fourth following a late penalty.
