Category Sports News

Dragan Stojkovic resigned as Serbia boss immediately after his side’s 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat by Albania on Saturday.

Rey Manaj scored the only goal to make it back-to-back defeats for Serbia following last month’s 5-0 thrashing by England.

It leaves them third in Group K, with England top on 15 points and Albania second on 11, having played a game more.

“I spoke with the president and general secretary and I offered my resignation,” Stojkovic told a post-match news conference.

“I personally did not expect this defeat. I am someone who accepts full responsibility and is solely accountable.”

Serbia’s next match is away at Andorra on Tuesday.

Stojkovic was appointed Serbia boss in 2021 and led them to the 2022 World Cup, where they finished bottom of their group with just one point from three games.

Saturday’s game was relocated from Serbia’s capital to the southern city of Leskovac because of security fears, with the two countries having a long history of political tensions.

Britain’s Kat Matthews claimed silver at the World Ironman Championship, but compatriot Lucy Charles-Barclay was forced to pull out while leading as competitors battled sweltering conditions in Kona, Hawaiʻi.

Matthews benefited from the late withdrawals of Charles-Barclay and American Taylor Knibb to finish second behind Norway’s Solveig Lovseth, who claimed her first Ironman world title.

Charles-Barclay was leading after 10 miles of the marathon but visibly began to struggle as temperatures pushed 28C with 70% humidity.

She eventually pulled out with about nine miles remaining after consulting with her husband at the side of the road.

That seemingly left the path clear for Knibb to take the title, but the 27-year-old withdrew with four miles left, sitting down on the tarmac as Lovseth and Matthews ran past her.

Matthews finished strongly and completed the marathon in a course record two hours, 47 minutes, but it was not enough to reel in Lovseth.

The Norwegian crossed the line in a time of eight hours, 28 minutes and 27 seconds, with Matthews just 35 seconds behind for her third Ironman silver medal. Germany’s Laura Philipp was more than eight minutes further back in third.

“I worked really hard and I’m very proud of my finish,” said Matthews. “I’m happy for Solveig, she was incredible to watch. I had a very up and down day.”

The Ironman course consists of a 2.4-mile (3.8 km) swim, 112 miles (180 km) cycling and the final marathon, which is 26.2 miles (42.2 km), for a total distance of 140.6 miles.

Meanwhile, the men’s and women’s World Championships will reunify in 2026 after three years as separate events.

Strikers dominated the summer transfer window as a host of major Premier League sides looked to strengthen up front.

Not a day went by without speculation as reigning champions Liverpool and last season’s runners-up Arsenal were among the teams to bolster their attacking options, with Manchester United and Chelsea doing likewise.

We had strikers going on strike, clubs gazumping their rivals and plenty more drama along the way.

With the international break ongoing, clubs are left to reflect on their seven league matches so far.

Stats from Premier League 2025-26. Appearances: 7. Minutes played: 208. Goals: 0. Assists: 0. Shots on target: 0. Chances created: 1.

Everton paid £27m to sign 22-year-old striker Thierno Barry from Villarreal after he scored 11 La Liga goals last season.

But it has been a tough start at the Toffees for the France Under-21 international.

Stats from Premier League 2025-26. Appearances: 5. Minutes played: 357. Goals: 1. Assists: 0. Shots on target: 7. Chances created: 6.

After scoring 57 Premier League goals for Everton in a nine-year spell, Dominic Calvert-Lewin left the Toffees on a free transfer and quickly joined newly promoted Leeds United.

England international Calvert-Lewin, 28, had a chance to “revive his career”, said Whites boss Daniel Farke, who has regularly used the striker – starting him in four of Leeds’ Premier League matches so far.

Stats from Premier League 2025-26. Appearances: 6. Minutes played: 386. Goals: 3. Assists: 1. Shots on target: 4. Chances created: 4.

France international Ekitike was a wanted man in the summer, with Newcastle United the first club to make a bid for him. With Liverpool initially being frustrated in their efforts to sign Alexander Isak from the Magpies, the Reds quickly made a move themselves – signing him for an initial £69m from Eintracht Frankfurt. To Newcastle’s frustration, Liverpool also went on to sign Isak.

The 23-year-old has proved an instant hit with the fans, although question marks remain around how he and Isak will fit into the champions’ team together.

Stats from Premier League 2025-26. Appearances: 7. Minutes played: 578. Goals: 3. Assists: 0. Shots on target: 5. Chances created: 5.

Sweden international Viktor Gyokeres scored 54 goals in 52 games in 2024-25 and helped Sporting win a second successive Portuguese league title before moving to Arsenal in the summer.

The Gunners signed the 27-year-old in a deal that could be worth up to £64m, and he has been a vital part of the side that sits on top of the Premier League table.

Stats from Premier League 2025-26. Appearances: 3. Minutes played: 181. Goals: 0. Assists: 1. Shots on target: 0. Chances created: 1.

Alexander Isak’s protracted transfer from Newcastle to Liverpool was the story of the summer window.

The Sweden striker released a statement in which he said promises had been “broken” by Newcastle and that their “relationship can’t continue” after Liverpool’s first bid was rejected, before he finally moved on transfer deadline day for a British record of £125m.

Stats from Premier League 2025-26. Appearances: 6. Minutes played: 101. Goals: 0. Assists: 0. Shots on target: 2. Chances created: 1.

Brazil international striker Igor Jesus joined Nottingham Forest in a £10m move from Botafogo in July.

It has been a tough start to the campaign for Forest, who are without a win in nine games in all competitions and sacked Nuno Espirito Santo, replacing him with Ange Postecoglou in September.

Stats from Premier League 2025-26. Appearances: 7. Minutes played: 586. Goals: 2. Assists: 3. Shots on target: 3. Chances created: 7.

Chelsea completed a deal worth £60m to take Brazil forward Joao Pedro from Brighton on an eight-year contract, and he headed straight to the United States to play at the Club World Cup.

His two goals in the semi-final helped beat Fluminense and he then scored against European champions Paris St-Germain as Chelsea won the final.

Stats from Premier League 2025-26. Appearances: 7. Minutes played: 385. Goals: 2. Assists: 0. Shots on target: 6. Chances created: 5.

Manchester United completed the signing of RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko in a move worth £73.7m in August.

The 22-year-old Slovenia international’s first start came as United suffered a humiliating Carabao Cup exit to League Two side Grimsby Town, who won 12-11 on penalties, with Sesko criticised as he was the last of 10 United outfielders to take a spot-kick in the shootout.

Stats from Premier League 2025-26. Appearances: 4. Minutes played: 305. Goals: 3. Assists: 0. Shots on target: 3. Chances created: 2.

With Alexander Isak making it clear he wanted to move from Newcastle to Liverpool, Eddie Howe moved to sign 23-year-old Germany striker Nick Woltemade.

The 6ft 6in (1.98m) frontman joined in a club record deal worth up to £69m and has already made an impact.

Fran Kirby felt for a while that something wasn’t right – the fatigue, the nausea, the persistent brain fog. But it wasn’t until she collapsed in her hallway that the symptoms became impossible to ignore.

She regained consciousness thanks to a slap across the face and was told paramedics were on their way.

“I just got really, really extreme chest pain. Like something that I’ve never, ever experienced before,” Kirby told BBC Sport.

“I didn’t know what was going on. My head started to get really dizzy and I remember just saying that I’ve got to go and sit down.

“I got up, walked across the kitchen and then basically just completely collapsed in the hallway, like passed out completely.

“I thought I was having a heart attack.”

The next day she was diagnosed with pericarditis – an inflammation of the fluid-filled sac around the heart. The condition typically causes chest pain and fever.

Kirby’s collapse came in November 2019 and she was sidelined for 10 long months.

A full recovery and comeback followed, and the five years since her return have been fruitful for one of the most gifted players to represent the Lionesses in recent times.

She added eight trophies to her collection with Chelsea, lifted the Euros trophy with the Lionesses, and then signed for Brighton. Five months ago – shortly before England retained their European title in Switzerland – she retired from international football for good.

Having considered ending her career early because of her heart condition, the return to action has delivered more than she could have ever imagined.

“There’s been times where I feel I’m not going to do this any more,” Kirby said of her career.

“I’m not going to do this to my family any more, I’m not going to put them through it, I’m not going to put myself through it.

Kirby’s diagnosis did not mean the end. Instead, it marked the start of a new challenge: a long, difficult journey back to full fitness and health.

“I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was agitated, I was so poorly,” she said.

“I would be on really strong medication, which I didn’t really agree with in the beginning, but I knew it was the only medication I could take. So I was just forcing it.”

She leant on support from Chelsea.

“I remember on Christmas Eve [2019] I called our doctor, Francisco, who was incredible during the process, and I called him crying down the phone – I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do. I am so ill. I am so tired all the time.’ I was sleeping 16, 17 hours a day.”

Football was almost the last thing on Kirby’s mind.

“My thought process wasn’t ‘I want to feel better to play football’, my thought process was ‘I want to be better’,” she said.

“Even if I can’t play football again, even if I can’t go for a run again, I don’t want to have a dull, achy pain in my chest.”

Kirby said her illness was a “real eye-opener” and gave her a new appreciation for life’s simple moments as she got better.

“Walking the dogs, that was just so exciting for me,” she added.

Since her illness, Kirby, who was in her early teens when she tragically lost her mother to a brain haemorrhage, has been “a lot more cautious” about her health.

She takes extra care with rest and recovery as pericarditis can occur after a viral infection, such as a cold or flu.

“I obviously had got ill and then came back too early to try and play, and then it just kind of attacked that specific part of my body,” Kirby said.

“I hadn’t been feeling well for a while, but I kind of just put it down to… I’m a footballer – I’m going to be fatigued, I train every day, I go to the gym, I’m going to be tired.”

Kirby emerged as a youngster at Reading, scoring at a rate of more than a goal a game, a supremely talented forward who earned England caps and played in a World Cup while with her hometown club, before joining Chelsea in July 2015.

Her recovery from the hallway collapse was carefully managed, and Kirby returned the following season with a vengeance – scoring 16 goals and assisting 11 more in just 18 league matches for Chelsea. Those performances earned her the PFA’s Players’ Player of the Year award.

These days, she is particularly careful if she feels her body needs a break.

“I wouldn’t say I’m scared, but aware. I don’t want to have that pain in my chest ever again. It was terrifying,” said Kirby, who is now in her second season with Brighton.

“So whenever I get ill. [When people say] ‘Fran’s not in again’, I’m like, yeah, because I’ve gone through that. I don’t want to experience that again. I need to allow my body to recover.”

But even with a more measured approach to her football, Kirby – who was nicknamed ‘Mini Messi’ by former England boss Mark Sampson – still feels the pressure.

“Everyone expects a certain level when I play,” she said. “And that comes as part and parcel of obviously playing for Chelsea, playing for England, winning all of these things.