There were some interesting results in qualifying for Euro 2016 over the weekend with back-to-back games for all competing nations seeing the nine groups starting to take shape. It began with Matchday 2 from last Friday where both Italy and the Netherlands were forced to overcome early scares to take all three points against Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan respectively.
Our tip of Bosnia and Herzegovina didn’t quite come to fruition as they played out a 0-0 draw in Wales, but Belgium’s 6-0 win over Andorra and England’s 5-0 thumping of San Marino saw two of the big guns flex their muscle. There were a couple of huge shocks, however, with Spain falling 2-1 to Slovakia and world champions Germany beaten 2-0 in Poland. Switzerland also fell to a surprise 1-0 loss in Slovenia.
Slovakia and Slovenia would both go on to win their second games as well overnight to make it a perfect week for the European minnows, while Spain hit back with a much-needed 4-0 win over Luxembourg with Diego Costa scoring his first national team goal. England also sneaked in another win with a 1-0 result in Estonia.
A number of sides play their Matchday 3 games over the next 24 hours, but at present only two sides can boast a perfect record of three wins from three games in qualifying – England in Group E and Slovakia in Group C. The other sides currently sitting atop their groups are the Czech Republic, Wales, Poland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Croatia and Albania.
Roger Federer claimed his maiden Shanghai Masters crown with a 7-6, 7-6 victory over Frenchman Gilles Simon overnight, moving up to world number two ahead of Rafael Nadal in the process. Having survived five match points in his second round clash with Florian Mayer, Federer hit top form last week as he dispatched Novak Djokovic in the semis before claiming his 23rd Masters series title and first on Chinese soil.
Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, his 31st career victory extending his championship lead to 13 points over teammate Nico Rosberg, who finished second. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas came in third – well ahead of Red Bull duo Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel who finished seventh and eight respectively.
The Dallas Cowboys sent a message to the rest of the NFL of their Super Bowl credentials with a stunning 30-23 win over defending champions Seattle. Trailing 10-0 early, the Cowboys responded in style with running back DeMarco Murray scoring with three minutes left on the clock in what proved to be the match-winning play. The Cowboys find themselves 5-1 for the first time since 2007, while the Seahawks now sit second in the NFC West at 3-2.
And Oklahoma City will be without star forward Kevin Durant for the first six weeks of the NBA season after he suffered a foot fracture during pre-season. It proved to be an eventful weekend all round for the NBA’s big guns with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers beating his former side Miami in overtime. The new season starts on 28 October.
