Arsenal hand Postecoglou a loss in his first Forest game, Bournemouth continue hot start

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Arsenal’s Spanish defender #36 Martin Zubimendi (R) scores the team’s third goal during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium in London on Saturday. (AFP)
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Newcastle United’s Nick Woltemade celebrates scoring their first goal during their Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers — St. James’ Park, Newcastle, Sept. 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 14 September 2025
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Arsenal hand Postecoglou a loss in his first Forest game, Bournemouth continue hot start

  • Newcastle United’s new signing Nick Woltemade enjoyed a dream debut, scoring in their 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers for their first victory of their campaign
  • Tottenham Hotspur cruised to a 3-0 win over West Ham United

LONDON: Arsenal ensured former Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou endured a miserable return to English football with a 3-0 victory over his new club Nottingham Forest on Saturday, while a late Brentford goal denied Chelsea moving atop the table.

Newcastle United’s new signing Nick Woltemade enjoyed a dream debut, scoring in their 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers for their first victory of their campaign, while Bournemouth continued their strong start with a 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, and Tottenham Hotspur cruised to a 3-0 win over West Ham United.

Fulham recorded their first win of the season by beating Leeds United 1-0 thanks to a late own goal, while Crystal Palace were held to a 0-0 draw by Sunderland and neither Everton nor Aston Villa could find the back of the net in a scoreless draw.

Villa have failed to score in their opening four league games of a season for the first time in their history.

Arsenal dominated at the Emirates as Martin Zubimendi’s double and Viktor Gyokeres’s tap-in gave Mikel Arteta’s men a comfortable home victory, condemning Postecoglou to defeat in his first game as Forest boss.

Spain midfielder Zubimendi struck a stunning volley in the 32nd minute and then Arsenal doubled their lead within a minute of the restart when Eberechi Eze, making his Gunners debut, laid it on a plate for Gyokeres to score his third of the season.

The game was petering out when Zubimendi put it to bed in the 79th minute with a simple header from Leandro Trossard’s cross.

“(Zubimendi) has given us a lot of positive things: his presence, his authority on the pitch, the way he connects with the players and that composure that he’s having,” Arteta said.

“If he starts to add assists and goals like this, then it’s another dimension of a player.”

Arsenal’s victory provisionally moved them to the top of the table ahead of holders Liverpool who play at Burnley on Sunday.

Chelsea looked poised to leapfrog Arsenal to the top of the table after Cole Palmer scored an equalizer in his return from a groin injury to cancel Kevin Schade’s first-half goal, and Moises Caicedo celebrated what he thought was the winner in the 85th minute.

But Fabio Carvalho poked home the equalizer from six yards out in the 93rd after Schade’s long throw-in.

“Delighted with the approach of the group, the character we constantly show,” Brentford boss Keith Andrews told the BBC.

“The equalizer came very late but it’s what I felt we deserved from the game in terms of the application, the quality the players showed for large parts.”

Newcastle’s new club record signing Woltemade stole the show in Tyneside in their first game since their former hero Alexander Isak departed for Liverpool, scoring in the 29th minute when he arrived at the back post to send a header past Sam Johnstone.

“The fact we haven’t won a game puts more pressure on you in the latter stages,” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe told the BBC. “The win was all that mattered but we’d love to win in a better style and score more goals.

“It was great to see Nick score on his debut. Very strong, I was very pleased with him.”

Tottenham left West Ham languishing in the bottom three, with the Hammers suffering another blow as midfielder Tomas Soucek was sent off for a dangerous tackle.

Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven all scored second-half goals in Spurs’ first game since executive chairman Daniel Levy’s exit from Tottenham.

“So happy that the goal came in the second half because you never know, the momentum can change after half-time but we kept going and scored a good goal after and then 3-0 done,” Spurs boss Thomas Frank said.

“So a very good clear win, a good performance and I think we all know the derby and the importance of the game for the fans.”

At Bournemouth, Alex Scott opened scoring with a brilliant strike from outside the box in the 18th minute.

Brighton drew level in the 48th on a goal from Kaoru Mitoma but Antoine Semenyo sealed the victory for Bournemouth’s third win on the bounce with a penalty in the 61st after Evanilson was brought down.

“The mood in the camp is perfect. We can’t ask for any more, we just have to keep going,” Semenyo told the BBC.

Fulham appeared headed for another draw when Gudmundsson scored a horror own goal from a corner kick in the 94th minute, stooping to head in the ball with great force.

“An own goal in the last minute of the game so we have to feel a bit fortunate,” Fulham boss Marco Silva said.

“It was important for us to keep a clean sheet because we need to create this habit and it allowed us to go on and try to win the game.”


Australia, Ireland out of T20 World Cup as Zimbabwe qualify after washout

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Australia, Ireland out of T20 World Cup as Zimbabwe qualify after washout

  • Zimbabwe will move on to face the West Indies, India and South Africa in the next phase
  • Zimbabwe captain Skiander Raza hails side’s achievement, but warns of tougher battles

KANDY, Sri Lanka: The 2021 champions Australia were knocked out of the T20 World Cup on Tuesday, with Zimbabwe qualifying for the Super Eights after their match against Ireland was washed out without a ball being bowled in Kandy.

Zimbabwe joined Sri Lanka as qualifiers from Group B and will move on to face the West Indies, India and South Africa in the next phase. Ireland were also eliminated.

Persistent drizzle all day at the Pallekelle stadium kept the covers on and the umpires finally called it off at 5:30 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) with no prospect of beginning the minimum five-over match before the 6:10 p.m. cut-off time.

Australia, who had been beaten by Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, needed an Ireland victory to keep their hopes alive.

Zimbabwe are now on an unassailable five points with a game to still to come, while Ireland are third on three points.

Australia, on two points, have one game remaining against Oman on Friday, but cannot overtake Zimbabwe.

Australia had a shambolic build-up to the tournament

They lost leading pace bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood to injury, while captain Mitchell Marsh missed the first two games after being hit in the groin in training and suffering testicular bleeding

Test great Steve Smith was left out despite being in terrific form top of the order in the Big Bash League and his expertise in playing against spin bowling.

COLOURFUL FANS

He flew in as cover last week and was formally added to the Australia squad at the weekend.

But then he was left out for the must-win game against Sri Lanka on Monday which saw an Australia middle-order collapse as they lost by eight wickets.

Zimbabwe captain Skiander Raza hailed his side’s achievement in reaching the last eight, but warned there were tougher battles to come.

“We have come this far. We will celebrate but we have a game against Sri Lanka to come,” said Raza.

“This is only a tick in the box and this is not the only thing that we set out for. Everyone loves an underdog story.”

Ireland skipper Lorcan Tucker was downcast after his side did not get to play.

“Obviously very disappointed to go out in this fashion, but completely uncontrollable,” said Tucker.

“Our batting failed. There were big moments in the tournament particularly against Sri Lanka when we dropped so many catches.

“Hopefully, we will handle these tough situations differently moving forward.”

The rain did not dampen the spirits of a hearty and colorful band of about two dozen Zimbabwe fans, who danced and sang throughout the damp afternoon to serenade their team’s qualification.

“I can tell you, whichever corner they’re sitting at, at any ground, they’ll be the loudest, and they have the songs,” said Raza of the fans.

“They just keep the vibe. They keep lifting us up when their energies are down — and in this weather, it can be sometimes.

“But when we hear them to push us on and we know the songs as well, it gives us that energy as well.”