BEB Weekend Sports: Juicy News!

Spurs' woes continue with defeat at Brighton


Tottenham's miserable week continued as they followed their Champions League humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich with a damaging defeat at Brighton.

After their 7-2 drubbing in midweek, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was expecting a response from his players, only for goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to gift Neal Maupay a bizarre opener.

The Spurs captain suffered a freak arm injury in the process, and Aaron Connolly compounded Tottenham's problems by doubling Brighton's lead on his first Premier League start.

And although Spurs made a positive start to the second half, Connolly killed off any hope of them launching a fightback as the 19-year-old Irish striker produced a well-taken strike for his second goal to seal Brighton's first home win since March.

Tottenham have now failed to win in their last away 10 games in the Premier League, stretching back to a 2-1 victory at Fulham on 20 January, and have lost 17 in all competitions in 2019 - more than any other top-flight side.

Last week's home win against Southampton offered Spurs some relief after being dumped out of the Carabao Cup by League Two Colchester but the pressure is mounting on Pochettino with his side having now taken 11 points from a possible 24 this term.

Not only was it Brighton's first win since the opening day but it was Graham Potter's first at the Amex, lifting the Seagulls to 12th before the afternoon kick-offs, with Tottenham set to slip out of the top six.

Hazard scores first goal as Real hold on to beat Granada


Eden Hazard scored his first Real Madrid goal as Zinedine Zidane's side survived a Granada fightback to stretch their lead at the top of La Liga.

Hazard, who signed from Chelsea in June, lobbed Rui Silva at the end of the first half after Karim Benzema's second-minute opener for the hosts.

Luka Modric added an excellent third in the second half, but Darwin Machis and Domingos Duarte responded for Granada.

James Rodriguez then scored late in stoppage time to ensure Real's victory.

With his side criticised following another below-par performance against Club Brugge in the Champions League on Tuesday, manager Zidane called on his side to show why they began the weekend top of La Liga as they welcomed their closest challengers, Granada, to the Bernabeu.

Benzema's finish - his sixth in eight league games - from Gareth Bale's sublime pass using the outside of his left foot provided the ideal start on Saturday, while Hazard's delightful first goal for the club on the stroke of half-time ensured the scoreline reflected the hosts' early dominance.

The result sees Real open up a four-point gap over second-placed Granada.

Third-placed Atletico Madrid travel to Real Valladolid on Sunday.

Adesanya dethrones Whittaker at UFC 243


New Zealand's Israel Adesanya extended his perfect professional record to 18-0 as he dethroned UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in spectacular fashion at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia.

Adesanya, 30, arrived in the arena to an acrobatic choreographed dance routine and produced a near-punch-perfect performance to finish Whittaker after three minutes and 33 seconds of the second round and capture the undisputed UFC middleweight title in front of nearly 60,000 fans at Marvel Stadium.

Whittaker started out throwing a host of power shots but Adesanya was loose and slick on his feet in the opening round, and delivered a stunning right hand in the final seconds that sent Whittaker crashing to the canvas as the buzzer saved the champion from a first-round defeat.

A similar counter right hook from Adesanya found its mark early in the second round as the interim champion began to turn up the heat, but a powerful left from the defending champion showed the challenger would have to be on his guard against Whittaker's power.

And, as the pair started to trade big shots in the middle of the octagon, Adesanya planted his feet and answered a straight right from Whittaker with a stunning right-left combination to send him down, with referee Marc Goddard stepping in to spare the Australian further punishment as the Kiwi moved in to apply the finishing touches on the ground.

Former kickboxing star Adesanya exploded onto the global MMA scene only last year after arriving in the UFC with an undefeated 11-0 record.

The Kiwi then reeled off six successive wins inside the octagon, culminating in his victory over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 in April that saw him capture the interim middleweight title in a Fight of the Year contender in Atlanta.

France beat Tonga to set up England showdown


France will play England to decide who tops Pool C on Saturday after they finally subdued a battling Tonga.

France put in a characteristically fitful display - racing into a 17-point lead before being reeled in, then rallying before a late Tonga try set up a frantic finale.

However, Damian Penaud reclaimed Camille Lopez's restart to end the underdogs' hopes of snatching a win.

Pool C's winners will face the runners-up in Pool D in the last eight.

Australia look the most likely to finish second in Pool D, while Wales will top that group if they can negotiate matches against Uruguay and Georgia.

from Bola Esho's Blog

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