With a 5-0 victory at the Emirates, Victor Gyokeres gave Leeds a harsh lesson in the step-up to the Premier League.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard both suffered injuries eight days before Arsenal’s trip to Liverpool.
As the only two teams to have a 100% record in their opening two games, Arsenal surpassed north London rivals Tottenham at the top of the table in goal difference.
After Jurrien Timber opened the scoring, Saka fired a blistering strike from a close range to double the home side’s lead.
As a solution to Arsenal’s need for a killer number nine, Gyokeres was acquired from Sporting Lisbon.
During the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Leeds United on August 23, 2025, Swedish striker #14 Viktor Gyokeres and Arsenal’s English midfielder #41 Declan Rice celebrate scoring the team’s fifth goal from the penalty spot at the Emirates Stadium in London. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP)
Despite scoring 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting, the Swede’s ability to succeed in the Premier League has been questioned.
Before Timber bundled his second from another Declan Rice corner, Gyokeres made his mark with a strong solo run and finish.
With almost the final kick of the game, Gyokeres sealed the score from the penalty spot.
Before kick-off, new £60 million ($81 million) signing Eberechi Ezi was paraded after he turned down a move to Tottenham.
However, a routine win was hampered by the sight of captain Odegaard and his field-topping talisman Saka.
To win the season opener 1-0 at Manchester United, Arsenal needed to rely on their threat from set pieces.
Despite a dominant opening, the Leeds defense was considered to be highly competitive.
Before Saturday, Timber had only scored twice in 52 games for Arsenal.
The Dutch international doubled that total in the 34th minute when he first tapped Rice’s warm delivery head.
Odegaard then left after it appeared to have injured his shoulder, which was severely slammed against the turf.
Saka quickly restored the momentum of the Emirates crowd when he allegedly used his weak right foot to pass Timber high past Lucas Perri.
Before making the move to Portugal, Gyokeres had once been a target for Leeds while he was a player for Coventry in the Championship.
Arsenal’s new £66 million signing showed what the Yorkshire side had missed when he slammed onto Riccardo Calafiori’s ball over the top and cut inside before striking the near post.
Saka’s hamstring injury nearly cost her the season last year.
The England international was concerned for Arteta when he was replaced after 53 minutes by holding the back of his left leg.
When Leeds stifled another Rice corner and Timber forced the ball over the line from close range, Arsenal added a fouth.
Max Dowman, 15, could then have the opportunity to make his Premier League debut.
After teammate Ethan Nwaneri, he became the second youngest player to play in English football.
Julia Schell scores an astonishing six tries in the second half as Canada thrash Fiji 65-7 in their opening match of the Women’s Rugby World Cup at the LNER Community Stadium.
MATCH REPORT: Women’s Rugby World Cup: Canada v Fiji – Pool B
Love Island star Yasmin Pettet revealed how her now-boyfriend Jamie Rhodes has been supporting her after leaving the ITV2 programme
Love Island’s Yasmin reveals reason she and Jamie ‘haven’t been intimate yet’(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Love Island fan-favourite Yasmin Pettet revealed she and Jamie Rhodes have not yet been intimate following their time in the Spanish villa. The ITV2 icon was heartbroken after leaving the show as her beloved cat Miaow Miaow passed away while she was filming.
Earlier this month, she revealed: “As I’ve spoken about her on the show, I’m sure a lot of you will know I have a cat called miaow miaow who’s been by my side for 11 years now. When I was filming Love Island I had a bad gut feeling something was off and when my mum and sister came into the villa I asked them and still felt like something was off.”
Revealing that her family chose not to tell of her of the tragedy at the time and she was informed by her sister once filming had finished, she added: “Rightfully they didn’t tell me because I was still in the villa but after the final I called my sister and she told me that miaow miaow had cancer and died whilst I was away filming Love Island.
READ MORE: Love Islanders ‘didn’t get along for weeks’ finalists say as they blast ‘villain’ editREAD MORE: Zara McDermott ‘paying the price’ with her health after making mistake
Yasmin and Jamie ‘haven’t been intimate yet’(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
“I’m trying to be as active as I can on socials, but am taking time for myself to process this heartbreak., RIP to my beautiful baby girl, you were so loved and will always be in my soul.”
The star has been grieving the loss, and Jamie has been providing her with emotional support. In a new interview, Yasmin revealed there has been ‘no rush’ in their romance.
“I’ve been going through grief and Jamie will just sit there when I cry on him,” Yas said to The Sun. “I’ve taken a lot of time to process my emotions, so Jamie and I haven’t been intimate yet.”
She continued: “He’s so patient. He’s never rushed that, because he knows it will happen at the right time.”
Yasmin, Shakira and Toni have spoken about their experiences on the show(Image: ITV)
Meanwhile, the finalists – including Yasmin, Shakira and Toni – of this series recently took a jab at ITV bosses, accusing them of portraying them as ‘villains’ throughout the series.
Love Island fans even previously criticised the editing of certain scenes, particularly during the much-anticipated Movie Night.
Speaking to The Sun’s Fabulous magazine, Shakira said: “Yeah, they’d never show the other side of things, which was frustrating. We constantly felt like villains. Every chance they got, they tried to kill us off.”
Toni chimed in: “During the first public vote, Shakira and I were both in the bottom. We spent weeks thinking that it was us against the world, because that’s how everyone in there made us feel.”
Despite this series being one of the more heated ones in recent memory, the women confessed that many of the Islanders genuinely didn’t get along ‘for weeks’.
Toni revealed: “A lot of us really just didn’t get along. For weeks and weeks, there were no solid couples, because no one could even stand to speak to each other!”
Article continues below
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Andy Burke
Salford Community Stadium hosts BBC Sport Scotland.
When Francesca McGhie made her debut for Scotland in 2023, she claimed she “didn’t really know how to play rugby.”
The 22-year-old winger’s impressive Women’s Rugby World Cup debut is fairly new, and it’s fair to say that he’s getting used to it fairly quickly.
Scotland wiped out Wales in Pool B, with games against Fiji and Canada afoot, with a fantastic hat-trick of tries from McGhie.
When Fiji defeats the lowest-placed team in their group on Saturday, they almost certainly will advance to the knockout stages.
McGhie stole the show in the middle of arguably Scotland’s best performance in a long time.
converting rugby ball to ballet shoes
McGhie’s first love wasn’t rugby union.
She had a passion for dancing, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland accepted her as a student due to her talent in ballet and contemporary dance.
That quick footwork would be beneficial to her ultimate calling as a rugby player, but it wasn’t until 2018 that she began playing as a 15-year-old that she would start.
She helped the Watsonians win the 2023 Premiership by joining the following year.
In the same year, she announced herself in the Test room with a stunning solo try in a victory over Ireland, which earned her the award for World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year.
McGhie has demonstrated her ability to handle significant situations.
In the Six Nations this year, she scored the final try against Ireland, and her hat-trick against Wales increased her total try-scoring record to 13 in 23 games.
After Saturday’s victory, Scotland head coach Bryan Easson declared to BBC Scotland, “What a finisher!”
I told her this morning that there would be a few scores, but I told her at half-time, “Come on, that’s not enough.”
What are her team-mates in Scotland saying?
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Captain Rachel Malcolm: “She is probably going to be one of the best wingers with the ball in hand,” if not already. She is such a evasive athlete.
“I believe she made a mark on this event, she made a mark on the world stage, and I’m eager to see what she has in store for us.”
Evie Gallagher calls her “ridiculous.” Since her first Six Nations appearance, Francesca seems to have been developing.
I’m just so excited to see what she brings to the next few games because she’s something worth talking about because she put out performance after performance then.
Emma Orr: “She’s just amazing. She does a great job for me. I believe she has suffered a few injuries in the pre-season, but I’m so, so happy to see her in action and record a hat-trick in the opening game.
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What were the experts’ opinions?
Deborah McCormack, a lock from Scotland, says, “She’s on fire. She is utterly unreal. She is important to Scotland.
That’s the key to a successful relationship in the center: they fix their defense and squander the available space for Fran. She is adoring it whole.
Siwan Lillicrap, a former Wales lock, said on BBC One, “She’s been outstanding, hasn’t she?” McGhie is a top-notch finisher.
With such great pressure on it, no player can score a hat-trick in the opening match of the World Cup.
“I’ve always enjoyed McGhie a lot. She also provides opportunities for both finishing and finishing.
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Cheryl Fergison, best known for her role as loveable Heather Trott in EastEnders, has opened up about her latest health battle that left her ‘world rocked’. The star was rushed to hospital
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Sitting in a bustling cafe, TV favourite Cheryl Fergison carefully sips her coffee.
It’s not the heat of the drink which is making the former EastEnders star cautious but the fact she needs both hands to hold the cup – her right too unreliable on its own thanks to a stroke.
“I would say it was probably one of the lowest times in my life,” says the actress, 59, of the devastating illness which struck in May.
“One of the hardest things is to process what it does to you. One minute you’re walking, talking, going to the shops; the next your world is rocked. It’s shocking.”
Cheryl’s son called an ambulance after she told him what symptoms she was experiencing(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror ahead of the release of her explosive new memoir, Behind The Scenes, the mum of one – best known for her role as loveable Heather Trott in the soap – explains she was at home watching TV when she first realised something was wrong.
“I started to feel funny, with a really bad headache at the back of my head.
“I went to bed but couldn’t settle. When I got up in the night to go to the bathroom, my balance completely went and I had to stop myself from falling over. My whole right side felt numb, heavy and tingly.”
Fearing the worst, Cheryl called her son Alex. “He worked with elderly people and recognised the symptoms. He phoned an ambulance straight away.”
Cheryl, who had surgery for cancer of the womb in 2015, was rushed to hospital in Blackpool where doctors confirmed she had suffered a stroke.
The star has endured tough struggles since her time on the soap(Image: BBC)
The illness left her unable to walk – it initially took three people just to help her to the toilet – and she still uses a stick.
“I have had to retrain my brain. I couldn’t even pick up a penny at first,” says Cheryl, who lives in Cleveleys, Lancashire.
“You lose the ability to coordinate your hands, to walk properly, your balance is gone. It’s frustrating and makes you angry. But I’ve started to recover; I am coming on in leaps and bounds now.”
Still having physiotherapy, she admits being ill has given her pause to reflect, especially as she is about to turn 60.
“Material things don’t matter; they can be lost or broken, but memories are everything. Friends, family and laughter – that’s all that matters.
“Going into this new decade is a chance for a new me. I’m not ready to be put out to graze yet.”
Cheryl Fergison with her son Alex Saddiqi, and husband Yassine El Jamouni (Image: Tim Merry/Mirror Express)
Her no holds barred memoir is shot through with that trademark fighting spirit – a spirit tested to the limit when she was left penniless, broken and in crippling debt after being scammed by her own accountant.
The actress – who just last year admitted she was forced to use food banks – says she was “gobsmacked” to discover she owed hundreds of thousands of pounds to the taxman after her accountant pocketed her cash for five years.
She learned the devastating news in 2012, at what should have been one of the happiest moments of her life.
“I’d just walked out of the Celebrity Big Brother house,” Cheryl recalls. “I was on such a high; I’d been paid £175,000. I felt excited, positive – like the future was finally opening up,” explains the star, who had married her Moroccan husband Yassine El Jamouni, who is 20 years her junior, just months earlier.
The actress says family is ‘all that matters’(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
“My phone just kept pinging. Some messages were congratulations but others were from people I knew in the entertainment industry. One read, ‘We are in big trouble. Ring me. It’s about our accountant.’ That was the moment my entire world collapsed.”
The man Cheryl had trusted with her finances had seemed utterly respectable. “I thought he was looking after me,” she explains. “But he was lining his own pockets.
“For five years I paid him faithfully, and he didn’t send any money to the tax office. My savings, my security, everything was gone.”
Police launched an investigation. Cheryl was later told the fraudster had been picked up by Interpol in connection with another scam, but she never saw a penny back.
“Even though I was the victim, I still had to repay it. It’s taken me so many years to recover. I had to sell my house,” she says.
Cheryl, whose acting career has seen her perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as Little Britain and Doctor Who, admits it’s sometimes been hard to battle private setbacks in the public eye.
The star lost everything in a cruel scam(Image: Tim Merry/Mirror Express)
“You’re expected to keep up appearances. Barbara Windsor told me: ‘keep putting a brave face on when you go out there, darling; give them a show, put on a smile.
“But at the same time the pressure is on. When you’re famous, people assume you’re loaded. I was paying restaurant bills I couldn’t afford just so no one knew I was struggling. But behind closed doors, I was totally skint.”
The actress has decided to tell her full story after recently being ridiculed online for selling EastEnders scripts and singing in her local Chinese restaurant to earn cash.
“Just because I am off the telly, doesn’t mean that I haven’t gone through some very hard times. I don’t let it get me down though.”
After being scammed she was diagnosed with womb cancer less than two years later and what followed was an uphill battle with her physical and mental health, including publicised issues with self harm. Cheryl also opens up about being homeless with her then toddler son back in 2002, years before fame came calling. At the time, she was trapped in a toxic marriage to her first husband, Afghan refugee Jay Saddiqi, whom she wed in May 2000.
But their relationship was volatile and they split up. Broke, she spent eight months living in a women’s shelter with her son Alex, then a baby. Life in the shelter was bleak, but Cheryl was not going to let it destroy her.
Cheryl and her mum
“In 2018, many years later. I found myself sitting on a bench in Dartford on the exact same spot I used to sit in when I was homeless but this time because I was performing in a hit musical at the theatre just a few feet away.
“I thought, ‘Wow, I have come so far.’ Life has a funny way of going full circle.”
Her book confronts deeply painful moments, including being the victim of a sexual assault as a child and her hidden battle as an adult with binge eating.
“I would eat in secret, when I was happy, as a treat, and when I was sad. It was my coping mechanism,” she admits.
But there are also many hilarious anecdotes from Cheryl’s star-studded life including how her Albert Square character’s obsession with George Michael led to a real life friendship.
Cheryl’s upcoming book shares secrets from her life
“You know that episode, where Heather and Shirely [Linda Henry] go to George Michael’s house? That was based on real life.
“Once when walking with Linda and Cliff Parisi in Highgate, they rang the bell and ran away, leaving me to chat to his housekeeper. It was so embarrassing but by the time I had got to the EastEnders set George Michael left me a voice mail. He started sending me gifts and we became mates. He was such a kind man.”
The book also allows Cheryl to set the record straight about her marriage to her much younger Moroccan husband.
“People will gossip. We’ve been through a lot, we come from different worlds. But I know the truth.”
Despite the ups and downs, Cheryl insists she has been “very blessed.”
“I’ve met so many amazing people and had some incredible highs – my life has been more of a soap opera than EastEnders.”
Now, as she approaches her big birthday, she’s optimistic about the future.
Article continues below
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that money and fame don’t equal success. I’m looking forward to the next chapter. Bring it on!”
Cheryl Fergison, best known for her role as loveable Heather Trott in EastEnders, has opened up about her latest health battle that left her ‘world rocked’. The star was rushed to hospital
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Sitting in a bustling cafe, TV favourite Cheryl Fergison carefully sips her coffee.
It’s not the heat of the drink which is making the former EastEnders star cautious but the fact she needs both hands to hold the cup – her right too unreliable on its own thanks to a stroke.
“I would say it was probably one of the lowest times in my life,” says the actress, 59, of the devastating illness which struck in May.
“One of the hardest things is to process what it does to you. One minute you’re walking, talking, going to the shops; the next your world is rocked. It’s shocking.”
Cheryl’s son called an ambulance after she told him what symptoms she was experiencing(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror ahead of the release of her explosive new memoir, Behind The Scenes, the mum of one – best known for her role as loveable Heather Trott in the soap – explains she was at home watching TV when she first realised something was wrong.
“I started to feel funny, with a really bad headache at the back of my head.
“I went to bed but couldn’t settle. When I got up in the night to go to the bathroom, my balance completely went and I had to stop myself from falling over. My whole right side felt numb, heavy and tingly.”
Fearing the worst, Cheryl called her son Alex. “He worked with elderly people and recognised the symptoms. He phoned an ambulance straight away.”
Cheryl, who had surgery for cancer of the womb in 2015, was rushed to hospital in Blackpool where doctors confirmed she had suffered a stroke.
The star has endured tough struggles since her time on the soap(Image: BBC)
The illness left her unable to walk – it initially took three people just to help her to the toilet – and she still uses a stick.
“I have had to retrain my brain. I couldn’t even pick up a penny at first,” says Cheryl, who lives in Cleveleys, Lancashire.
“You lose the ability to coordinate your hands, to walk properly, your balance is gone. It’s frustrating and makes you angry. But I’ve started to recover; I am coming on in leaps and bounds now.”
Still having physiotherapy, she admits being ill has given her pause to reflect, especially as she is about to turn 60.
“Material things don’t matter; they can be lost or broken, but memories are everything. Friends, family and laughter – that’s all that matters.
“Going into this new decade is a chance for a new me. I’m not ready to be put out to graze yet.”
Cheryl Fergison with her son Alex Saddiqi, and husband Yassine El Jamouni (Image: Tim Merry/Mirror Express)
Her no holds barred memoir is shot through with that trademark fighting spirit – a spirit tested to the limit when she was left penniless, broken and in crippling debt after being scammed by her own accountant.
The actress – who just last year admitted she was forced to use food banks – says she was “gobsmacked” to discover she owed hundreds of thousands of pounds to the taxman after her accountant pocketed her cash for five years.
She learned the devastating news in 2012, at what should have been one of the happiest moments of her life.
“I’d just walked out of the Celebrity Big Brother house,” Cheryl recalls. “I was on such a high; I’d been paid £175,000. I felt excited, positive – like the future was finally opening up,” explains the star, who had married her Moroccan husband Yassine El Jamouni, who is 20 years her junior, just months earlier.
The actress says family is ‘all that matters’(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
“My phone just kept pinging. Some messages were congratulations but others were from people I knew in the entertainment industry. One read, ‘We are in big trouble. Ring me. It’s about our accountant.’ That was the moment my entire world collapsed.”
The man Cheryl had trusted with her finances had seemed utterly respectable. “I thought he was looking after me,” she explains. “But he was lining his own pockets.
“For five years I paid him faithfully, and he didn’t send any money to the tax office. My savings, my security, everything was gone.”
Police launched an investigation. Cheryl was later told the fraudster had been picked up by Interpol in connection with another scam, but she never saw a penny back.
“Even though I was the victim, I still had to repay it. It’s taken me so many years to recover. I had to sell my house,” she says.
Cheryl, whose acting career has seen her perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as Little Britain and Doctor Who, admits it’s sometimes been hard to battle private setbacks in the public eye.
The star lost everything in a cruel scam(Image: Tim Merry/Mirror Express)
“You’re expected to keep up appearances. Barbara Windsor told me: ‘keep putting a brave face on when you go out there, darling; give them a show, put on a smile.
“But at the same time the pressure is on. When you’re famous, people assume you’re loaded. I was paying restaurant bills I couldn’t afford just so no one knew I was struggling. But behind closed doors, I was totally skint.”
The actress has decided to tell her full story after recently being ridiculed online for selling EastEnders scripts and singing in her local Chinese restaurant to earn cash.
“Just because I am off the telly, doesn’t mean that I haven’t gone through some very hard times. I don’t let it get me down though.”
After being scammed she was diagnosed with womb cancer less than two years later and what followed was an uphill battle with her physical and mental health, including publicised issues with self harm. Cheryl also opens up about being homeless with her then toddler son back in 2002, years before fame came calling. At the time, she was trapped in a toxic marriage to her first husband, Afghan refugee Jay Saddiqi, whom she wed in May 2000.
But their relationship was volatile and they split up. Broke, she spent eight months living in a women’s shelter with her son Alex, then a baby. Life in the shelter was bleak, but Cheryl was not going to let it destroy her.
Cheryl and her mum
“In 2018, many years later. I found myself sitting on a bench in Dartford on the exact same spot I used to sit in when I was homeless but this time because I was performing in a hit musical at the theatre just a few feet away.
“I thought, ‘Wow, I have come so far.’ Life has a funny way of going full circle.”
Her book confronts deeply painful moments, including being the victim of a sexual assault as a child and her hidden battle as an adult with binge eating.
“I would eat in secret, when I was happy, as a treat, and when I was sad. It was my coping mechanism,” she admits.
But there are also many hilarious anecdotes from Cheryl’s star-studded life including how her Albert Square character’s obsession with George Michael led to a real life friendship.
Cheryl’s upcoming book shares secrets from her life
“You know that episode, where Heather and Shirely [Linda Henry] go to George Michael’s house? That was based on real life.
“Once when walking with Linda and Cliff Parisi in Highgate, they rang the bell and ran away, leaving me to chat to his housekeeper. It was so embarrassing but by the time I had got to the EastEnders set George Michael left me a voice mail. He started sending me gifts and we became mates. He was such a kind man.”
The book also allows Cheryl to set the record straight about her marriage to her much younger Moroccan husband.
“People will gossip. We’ve been through a lot, we come from different worlds. But I know the truth.”
Despite the ups and downs, Cheryl insists she has been “very blessed.”
“I’ve met so many amazing people and had some incredible highs – my life has been more of a soap opera than EastEnders.”
Now, as she approaches her big birthday, she’s optimistic about the future.
Article continues below
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that money and fame don’t equal success. I’m looking forward to the next chapter. Bring it on!”
