Roberto De Zerbi’s inspired double substitution helped Brighton come from behind to sink Bournemouth 3-1.

The Seagulls trailed to Dominic Solanke’s opportunist strike but went in level at half-time thanks to a Milos Kerkez own goal.

Boss De Zerbi, who had made nine changes to his starting line-up from Thursday’s Europe League defeat by AEK Athens, sent on Ansu Fati and Kaoru Mitoma at half-time.

And the pair had an instant impact, combining for an exquisite goal just 15 seconds into the second half, with Mitoma applying the finishing touch.

Japan winger Mitoma then wrapped up the victory with a late header to leave the Cherries still winless from their first six league matches.

De Zerbi also opted to rotate his goalkeepers, replacing Jason Steele with Bart Verbruggen, but that was a move which backfired after 25 minutes.

The Dutchman hesitated on the edge of the area as he attempted to play the ball out.

Ryan Christie charged down the clearance and the ball rolled to Solanke, who chipped the stranded keeper into an empty net from 20 yards.

Brighton offered precious little for the majority of an uncharacteristically lacklustre first half until three minutes of stoppage time.

A goalmouth scramble saw Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster have efforts cleared off the line before Billy Gilmour swung the ball back into the box.

Kerkez climbed at the near post in a bid to clear the danger, only to glance the ball past goalkeeper Neto and into his own net.

De Zerbi made his double change at the break, but not even the shrewd Italian could have foreseen quite the impact the pair would have.

Bournemouth lost possession from the kick-off and Mitoma played the ball out to Barcelona loanee Fati on the left before continuing his run into the area.

Fati’s ball back in was helped on by Mahmoud Dahoud into the path of Mitoma, who sidefooted it past Neto to cap a glorious Albion move.

With Brighton now in firmly the ascendancy, Dunk headed narrowly wide from a corner before Fati failed to convert a cross from Simon Adingra.

Bournemouth went in search of an equaliser and Antoine Semenyo had a low shot well kept out by Verbruggen.

But Mitoma put Brighton further ahead when he nodded in Pervis Estupinan’s cross with 13 minutes left.

Solanke almost scrambled one back for the Cherries from close range late on but his effort was cleared off the line by Albion skipper Dunk.

Go Athletico could line up in next weekend’s Prix de l’Abbaye after opening his Group-race account in Ireland with a battling victory in the Westgrove Hotel Renaissance Stakes at the Curragh.

A Listed winner at Cork on his stable debut for Ado McGuinness in mid-June, the high-class French recruit had since filled the runner-up berth in both the Group Two Sapphire Stakes and the Group Three Phoenix Sprint.

The five-year-old was a 7-2 shot for this Group Three assignment under Ronan Whelan and he showed plenty of tenacity go with his undoubted talent to get the better of a sustained duel with Big Gossey by half a length.

Aesop’s Fables was a further five and a half lengths behind in third, with the heavily supported 6-5 favourite Ocean Quest only fourth.

Of the winner, McGuinness said: “He’s in the Abbaye next week. We ran him here because it was giving it to be quite a dry week. He might travel but if it is dry, we won’t run him.

“I have to speak to Barry (Irwin, racing manager for part-owners Team Valor) first. There is a big possibility that he goes as there isn’t a whole pile left for him (this year).

“He deserved to get it today, he’s been very consistent. He’s been a great horse for me, he’s only had four runs and hit the ground running. I’m very lucky and privileged to have him.

“There’s been very little between him and Ken Condon’s horse (Moss Tucker) all year and if he’s fancied for the Abbaye next week, we won’t be too far behind him. Fingers crossed, he could go there.”

Liam Rosenior said he “won’t get carried away” after Hull returned to the play-off fray with a 3-1 win at Stoke.

First-half goals from Aaron Connolly – his fifth of the season – and Adama Traore handed the Tigers control just after the half-hour mark.

And the hosts’ miserable afternoon was compounded when Regan Slater’s strike deflected off Lynden Gooch and looped into his own net.

The returning Andre Vidigal notched a Potters consolation late on, but it was too little, too late as their winless run stretched to five league games.

Hull coasted to a seventh game unbeaten as they clinched a third successive away win in the Championship for the first time since 2013.

“I’m really happy,” said Rosenior, who marked the 50th game of his managerial career with victory.

“It always feels good when you win away from home and more pleasing than just the win was the performance.

“Everyone was excellent; we showed energy and confidence in the way that we played in possession and we were difficult to break down.

“The signs are really good, but the only stat that matters to me is where we finish at the end of the season.

“It’s brilliant to get the win but it has to be towards something so I won’t get carried away.

“We’re in a good place; we don’t need to focus on the results because they come as a product of our performances and they’ve been consistent this season.”

Goal-scorer Connolly and team-mate Jean Michael Seri clashed at half-time, but Rosenior paid tribute to their attitudes.

He added: “They were arguing and they want to win. I’ve been asking for that from them for the whole year that I’ve been here.

“You need to be demanding with each other; they argued and then they hugged and made up and they’re best mates again.

“You need to fall out with each other at times because it makes you better and makes you successful; it’s perfect and that’s the mentality I want.”

Meanwhile, it was another disappointing afternoon for Stoke as they slumped closer to the relegation zone.

“I think the best team won. It’s the poorest we’ve been tactically since I’ve been here,” boss Alex Neil admitted.

“You look at the game today and think either our set-up wasn’t good enough or we didn’t commit to it or a combination of both.

“We lacked belief in doing it today and when you lack belief it looks a bit of a dog’s dinner.

“We showed a lack of confidence – which is the first time I’ve seen that from them this season – so that was disappointing.

“I don’t ever make any qualms with what fans want to do or if they want to boo or voice their frustration.

“They’re here to support their team and see their team win; if they don’t win, particularly in modern football, it’s either one extreme or the other.

“If you win a game, you’re going up. If you lose a game, you’re getting relegated, so that’s the nature of football now.

“How they voice their opinion, I don’t have any views on it whatsoever; I just want to get the team performing well and trying to win.

“For us, we need that one win that’s going to lift some of the lads and then hopefully we can put a decent run together.”

Noel Meade appears to have a potential Classic contender on his hands after Caught U Looking powered home to secure top honours in the Weld Park Stakes at the Curragh.

Sixth on her debut at the track in late June, the daughter of Harzand showed the benefit of that initial experience when bolting up by six lengths on her second start at Leopardstown.

The youngster had not been seen since that runaway victory two months ago, but proved her worth stepped up to Group Three level in the hands of Ben Coen.

Always travelling well on the outside of the field, Caught U Looking went through the gears quickly when asked for her effort to pick up 9-4 favourite Sakti and prevail by half a length.

Paddy Power gave the winner an introductory quote of 33-1 for next year’s 1000 Guineas.

Meade said: “That’s super. Obviously after she won so easy in Leopardstown there was plenty of interest in her. Tony O’Callaghan and Peter (Kelly), who bred her, own her and despite all the horses he has, Tony wasn’t for selling. He just wanted to keep her and said to roll the dice and see how she goes.

“Obviously there is a little bit of pressure on when you do that. Peter was happy enough to do that as well.

“She’s a good filly and she’s a filly that will improve because she’s a Harzand. She’s going to be better next year, and is probably a mile-and-a-half filly.”

He added: “I hope we can keep her. You keep hoping she can get up to the top, I know she only just won but obviously Ger (Lyons, trainer of Sakti) thinks quite a lot of his and you are always running against something decent from Ballydoyle. It’s hard to win a stakes race in Ireland.

“Everything is open now and we can dream a bit now. I put her in the Guineas the other day and we’ll enter her in the Oaks as well.

“She’s in the Fillies’ Mile next month but I wouldn’t imagine that will happen now, we’ll wait and let her mature.”

Aidan O’Brien raised the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster as a potential next port of call for Gasper De Lemos after the promising colt ground out a first career victory at the Curragh.

The son of Justify shaped with promise when fourth on his racecourse debut at Leopardstown behind stablemate Chief Little Rock, who on Saturday finished second in the Group Two Beresford Stakes.

On the strength of that form Gasper De Lemos was the 9-4 favourite on his second start in the Pat “The Duke” Leavy Irish EBF Maiden, with Ryan Moore taking the ride having hurried back from Australia.

Ridden positively from the off, the youngster came under pressure with over two furlongs still to run, but kept pulling out more and was well on top as he passed the post three lengths clear of Taraj.

O’Brien said: “He had a lovely run the first time. Obviously he’ll be very happy going back up to a mile and he’ll be a middle-distance horse next year.

“It’s tough out there and they have to stay to get it.

“He’s probably a Futurity Trophy horse more than a Dewhurst horse. He’ll get further, he’s like all those Justifys, when they go up in distance they grow a leg.

“He’s a very good mover so I’m surprised he handles the ground. He’s a lovely actioned horse.”

Gibbs Island opened his account at the third attempt with a narrow victory in the Irish EBF Median Sires Series Maiden.

Sixth and fourth in his first two races at Fairyhouse and Roscommon respectively, Andrew Oliver’s youngster raised his game to come out on top in a nip-and-tuck finish by a head from from Mo Ghille Mar, with Marty The Party and Slaney Swagger right on their heels in behind.

“He did it well. He had to grind it out,” said Oliver.

“He’s a full-brother to a good horse that Godolphin owns (Live Your Dream). I trained the half-brother Dream Tale so I know the family a bit.

“He had a nice run at Roscommon and we knew that stepping up in trip should be in his favour. He stayed every yard of the mile and it was a likeable performance.

“I was just saying to Billy (Lee, jockey) that we might look at the Eyrefield Stakes at the end of the year, it’s nine furlongs at Leopardstown. We’ll make a decision in the next week or two.”

Aidan O’Brien has confirmed his St Leger hero Continuous is set to be supplemented for next week’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The son of Heart’s Cry was beaten in his first three starts of the year, but has raised his game significantly in the second half of the campaign to register impressive wins in the Great Voltigeur at York and the season’s final Classic at Doncaster.

Continuous does not hold an entry in the Arc, but O’Brien did raise the possibility of supplementing the three-year-old at a cost of €120,000 in the immediate aftermath of his Doncaster triumph and the Ballydoyle handler is now preparing to add him to the field on Wednesday.

Asked about his Arc plans at the Curragh on Sunday, O’Brien said: “It’s all about Continuous I’d say. Everything looks good with him at the moment and if it is good up until Wednesday, he’ll probably be supplemented by the sound of what the lads are saying.

“Fast or heavy ground, it doesn’t matter to him – he has form on all ground.”

O’Brien confirmed Continuous would be his sole runner in this year’s Arc, but he is set to be well represented in the supporting races at ParisLongchamp.

He added: “Emily Dickinson will go to the Cadran. Unquestionable, who reared up in the stalls here last time, will go for the two-year-old race over seven (Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere) and something might go with him.

“Opera Singer will go to the fillies’ race (Prix Marcel Boussac). Jackie Oh, who was second to Joseph’s filly (Lumiere Rock) here last time, will go to the Prix de l’Opera.

“Kyprios won’t go, it will be too quick for him and we’ll give him time and go back to Ascot.”

Ireland emerged from a blockbuster win over South Africa with a clean bill of health but wary there are “big tests on the horizon” at the Rugby World Cup.

Andy Farrell’s men took control of Pool B with a stirring 13-8 defeat of the Springboks in Paris to put themselves on the brink of the quarter-finals.

Players will go their separate ways to enjoy a few days off following an unforgettable evening at a raucous Stade de France before reconvening to prepare to finish the job against Scotland on October 7.

Aside from some bruised bodies – and possibly a few sore heads – scrum coach John Fogarty confirmed the squad came through an intense contest relatively unscathed.

“We managed to come out of what was a really physical game with a full bill of health,” he said on Sunday.

“There’s medicals on now, but at this moment in time there’s no obvious injuries.”

Ireland saluted a phenomenal defensive effort with a lap of honour in front of tens of thousands of Irish fans in the French capital.

Asked about the subsequent celebrations, Fogarty said: “It is important to make sure we’re aware that that was a big win and we’re obviously delighted with it.

“We took time with each other, enjoyed company. Nothing too mad at all.

“The dressing room is generally the best craic, you’re there all together, there’s no outside distractions. We enjoyed that time together.

“It’s a late kick-off, we got back to the hotel around 1am so we didn’t do the dog on it, but we enjoyed each other’s company.”

Ireland backed up thumping bonus-point victories over Romania and Tonga by downing the defending champions to retain top spot in the world rankings.

But reaching the knockout stages and a probable showdown with either hosts France or three-time winners New Zealand is not yet guaranteed.

“We’re very proud of the result, we’re very proud of the performance,” continued Fogarty.

“But we’re very, very aware that that’s a pool game, we’ve got Scotland next and we’ve got big tests on the horizon.

“We’ve got a few days with family which is so important. I can’t wait to see my wife and kids. I’m sick of looking at the boys at this stage!

“We’ll certainly look at things we need to improve on but we need to get the recovery in now because Scotland are going to be coming.”

Back-rower Jack Conan, who suffered a foot injury in the warm-up win over Italy on August 5, versatile back Jimmy O’Brien and centre Stuart McCloskey are the only members of Farrell’s 33-man squad yet to feature in France.

The trio are in contention to take on Scotland.

“Jack had a brilliant week and took part in training,” said Fogarty.

“We’ve been very, very lucky with the health of the squad.

“Right now we look like we’ll be training with a full deck when we return, which is great.”

Inter Milan made it five wins from their opening five Serie A games with a 1-0 win at Empoli.

Federico Dimarco’s superb strike just after half-time was enough for Simone Inzaghi’s side and while Empoli had chances to equalise, Inter held on to take the points.

The leaders enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the opening stages and had a couple of half-chances through Matteo Darmian and Davide Frattesi, but Empoli goalkeeper Etrit Berisha dealt with both.

The visitors thought they had opened the scoring when Hakan Çalhanoglu’s short corner was whipped in to Marcus Thuram and he nudged the ball home from close range, only for the linesman to rule it out for offside.

Inter upped the tempo in search of an opener after the break and the first chance fell the way of Dimarco, whose powerful drive was smartly saved by Berisha.

The visitors broke the deadlock in sensational style shortly afterwards. A corner was headed out to Dimarco and his first-time effort from 20 yards flew into the top corner.

Inzaghi’s side went in search of a second to kill the game and almost got one when Thuram found himself with space inside the area but his effort curled marginally wide of the target.

Empoli were looking to avoid a fifth straight loss and an opportunity presented itself from a free-kick just outside the area.

Filippo Ranocchia’s curling effort was on target but goalkeeper Yann Sommer was alert to pull off a superb save having not had much to do previously.

The hosts started to cause last year’s Champions League finalists some issues and almost levelled a couple of minutes later. Stiven Shpendi set up Tommaso Baldanzi but his low drilled strike was blocked well by the Inter defence.

Chances started to fall the way of both sides and Thuram was close to making it two but his curling strike went wide.

Baldanzi was Empoli’s biggest threat and made a darting run off the ball to accomodate Jacopo Fazzini’s pass, but once again the danger was snuffed out by the Inter defence.

Defeat means Empoli became the first team in Serie A history to lose five consecutive games without scoring a goal.

Eve Johnson Houghton is readying both Indian Run and Juniper Berries for Group One assignments at Newmarket in the coming weeks.

The Didcot handler is enjoying another excellent season with her two-year-olds and is looking forward to being represented in two of biggest juvenile races of the campaign on the Rowley Mile.

Having recorded a narrow victory in the Group Three Dick Poole Stakes at Salisbury, Juniper Berries will get her shot at top-level honours in the Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes on Saturday.

The daughter of Expert Eye has plenty on her plate as she looks to turn the tables on the William Haggas-trained Relief Rally, who has already beaten her on two occasions, but Johnson Houghton feels she merits her place in the Cheveley Park field.

“We’re definitely going to have a crack at the Cheveley Park and we’re looking forward to it,” said the Didcot-based trainer.

“She’s a huge price. It will be really hard to turn the form around with Relief Rally, I get that, but she’s won her Group Three and where else do you go with her?

“She doesn’t seem to be too ground dependent to be fair.”

Two weeks after Juniper Berries is due to strut her stuff, stablemate Indian Run is set to contest the Dewhurst.

A promising third on his Newbury debut, the Sioux Nation colt has since won a valuable maiden at Ascot and the Group Three Acomb Stakes at York and Johnson Houghton is hopeful there is more to come.

She added: “He’s in good form. He’s had a bit of a chill-out time, but now we’re back working hard and going really well.”

Westover enjoyed a trip to the beach on Friday as his bid for glory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe looms ever closer.

Last season’s Irish Derby hero was not beaten far into sixth place in Europe’s premier middle-distance contest last season and will return to Paris next weekend following an excellent campaign so far.

Second to Japanese ace Equinox in Dubai earlier in the year, Ralph Beckett’s four-year-old has since finished chased home Emily Upjohn in the Coronation Cup and won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud before going down by a head to Hukum in a pulsating renewal of the King George at Ascot.

The son of Frankel has been kept fresh since that late July outing and is reported to be in rude health following a racecourse gallop at his trainer’s local track and a spin on the sand.

“Westover went to Salisbury last Friday and to Hayling Island beach this Friday and both exercises went well,” said Beckett.

“It suited him to just take the edge off him ahead of Longchamp and he’s shown he can handle any ground between the extremes.”

Also set to be in Group One action next weekend for Beckett and Westover’s owners Juddmonte is the regally-bred juvenile Task Force.

By Frankel and out of another Guineas winner in Special Duty, the youngster has looked the part so far in winning a Salisbury maiden and a Listed race at Ripon, earning him a shot at the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.

Beckett added: “Task Force will go for the Middle Park. I was really pleased with him (on Saturday) morning.”

His accent is as American as his caddie, but Sepp Straka believes he has gone the extra mile – thousands of them in fact – to prove his dedication to Europe’s Ryder Cup team.

Straka was asked to compete in the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi in January, a team event between Continental Europe and Great Britain and Ireland which it was felt necessary to revive in the wake of 2021’s record Ryder Cup defeat.

The only problem was that the Austrian was contesting the Sentry Tournament of Champions the week beforehand in Hawaii, which meant undertaking an epic journey across 14 time zones.

“Francesco (Molinari, captain of Continental Europe) was the first person to talk to me about the trip,” Straka told the PA news agency.

“My first reaction was that I don’t know if I’ll make it because I don’t think that I can get there.

“Then I looked into the flights a little deeper and realised that I could make it for the Tuesday and it didn’t start until the Friday.

“Once I realised I could get there in time to prepare then I wanted to make the trip because it was huge in terms of getting to Rome and also getting comfortable playing team golf. I think that is something we don’t get to do a lot.

“I’ve always wanted to be a part of it. I kind of put myself in a place last year for consideration for the team and I knew that would show my commitment.

“From there on, I could focus on just trying to play my best golf and put my name out there.”

Straka won two points from his four matches in the Hero Cup, including a foursomes victory over Ryder Cup team-mates Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton, but then missed the cut in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and Dubai Desert Classic.

However, he claimed his second PGA Tour title in the John Deere Classic in July and two weeks later finished joint second in the Open at Royal Liverpool, his second top 10 in a major in 2023.

Such performances meant Europe captain Luke Donald felt he “couldn’t leave” Straka off his team and duly gave him a wild card, making Straka the second Austrian after Bernd Wiesberger to play in the contest.

“It’s been an incredible ride,” said Straka, whose family moved from Vienna to Georgia when he was 14  – he went on to play on the University of Georgia with twin brother Sam.

“Kind of all started by winning the Honda (Classic) last season and thankfully I was able to ride that and gain confidence and just keep improving my golf game.

“I feel like it’s in a place where I give myself a lot more chances now than did I early in my career and yeah, it’s been an incredible ride the last few years.”

As for having a southern accent and an American caddie in Duane “Dewey” Bock, Straka joked: “I was thinking about maybe getting a translator. Maybe my brother can translate for me for the week just so we don’t have to hear it.

“Dewey is a great caddie. He’s been awesome to have on the bag and it’s helped me so much over the last few months.

“He is definitely red, white and blue. A bunch of the European caddies have been giving him crap about having a US yardage book cover but he’s already changed that. We’re working on him.

“He’s a professional. He’ll do his best job that he can and it will be great.”

Ed Crisford is excited to see Vandeek bid for a second Group One success in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.

The Havana Grey colt has won each of his three starts to date, with a successful debut at Nottingham followed by big-race wins in the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood and the Prix Morny at Deauville.

Crisford, who trains Vandeek in partnership with his father Simon, is well aware the youngster will have his mettle tested on the Rowley Mile next weekend but is relishing the challenge.

He said: “The Middle Park is a proper championship race and if he was able to win a Group One at Newmarket it would be huge – not just for us but for the owner and the horse himself. It would put him on the board as one of the top two-year-olds in Europe.

“It will be a proper race against proper horses and there will be some new horses coming in that we haven’t faced yet. It is going to be a very good race, but he has gone and won a Group One so he goes there with every chance.

“He is the first Group One winner that me and dad have had and he just has that natural talent. We’ve had some good older horses come through our hands like Century Dream, but Vandeek has that real quality as a two-year-old and that means he should be an exciting three-year-old.”

Vandeek’s top-level win in France came at the expense of Christopher Head’s exciting filly Ramatuelle, who had shown her quality by winning a Group Three and a Group Two.

“Looking at the Morny, it was the championship two-year-old race at the time and a proper Group One – you needed to be on your A game to win it,” Crisford added.

“He got caught in a pocket a bit and the French filly Ramatuelle went for it and I thought we might not catch her, but he put his head down and for him to grind her down was a good performance.

“He is still learning his trade and the Morny was the first time he had to race, as up until then he had done it on ability.”

While Vandeek’s wins at Goodwood and Deauville have both come on testing conditions, Crisford is confident a faster surface will not be a problem.

He said: “I think good ground, or just on the quick side of that would be fine as Havana Grey’s (progeny) tend to go on that. To be honest, running him on the soft ground has just been the way it has happened.

“The way he moves and covers the ground, I wouldn’t be too worried on better ground and I think he could be a better horse on it as you would see that turn of foot come to the fore.

“For a breeze-up horse he is unbelievable. He is so relaxed and that will put him in good stead for these big events. He doesn’t waste any energy.”

James Doyle will take over in the saddle aboard Vandeek from Andrea Atzeni following the Italian’s recent move to Hong Kong.

Should all go well in the Middle Park, Crisford will consider stepping his exciting colt up to seven furlong for the first time for a crack at the Dewhurst Stakes back at Newmarket a fortnight later.

He added: “He hit the line strong in France and I think he would stay seven (furlongs) standing on his head. He is a big, tall scopey horse who covers a lot of ground.

“We have to take one race at a time and the Middle Park is his next target. If he wins and looks like he is in great order, who is to say he is not going to have a crack at the Dewhurst as well?”