Danni Wyatt finished as leading runscorer in the Women’s Hundred as Southern Brave made it third time lucky with a 34-run win over Northern Superchargers to give Anya Shrubsole a fairytale send-off in the final at Lord’s.

Wyatt’s scintillating 59 from 38 balls meant she overhauled fellow England star Tammy Beaumont at the top of the standings with 295 runs in total.

Freya Kemp’s 31 and Georgia Adams’ 27 lent support as the Brave piled up 139 for six on a dry pitch, despite three for 21 for England seamer Kate Cross.

Jemimah Rodrigues, starved of strike for long periods, made 24 in the chase, but Kalea Moore returned three for 15 and Lauren Bell three for 21, while there were a trio of stumpings for Rhianna Southby as Superchargers were bowled out for 105.

It meant the Brave, bridesmaids in the first two finals, finally got their hands on the trophy, a fitting end to a glittering career for retiring skipper Shrubsole, who took the match-clinching wicket in England’s World Cup winning triumph against India at the home of cricket six years ago.

Much of the Brave’s success on the run to the final had been built on the triumvirate of Smriti Mandhana, Wyatt and Maia Bouchier, but after being put in, two were gone in the blink of an eye.

Mandhana dismissed the first ball of the match to the point boundary only to slice the next from Grace Ballinger to fly-slip, while Bouchier played too soon at one from Cross to leave the Brave eight for two.

However, Wyatt produced a gem of an innings as the England batter played shots all around the wicket, sweeping effectively and hitting inside out over the off-side in racing to 50 from 35 balls with nine fours. A glorious straight six followed as she and Adams added 84 in 63 balls.

A mix-up meant Cross’ underarm throw ended Wyatt’s knock prematurely and Adams, dropped earlier by Georgia Wareham, holed out to the same fielder for 27.

An extraordinary cameo from Kemp, including swinging the bat out of her hands, lifted the Brave above par before she and Chloe Tryon both fell in Cross’ excellent final set.

Marie Kelly was given out lbw to the first ball of the chase from Bell, only to be reprieved on review, but undeterred the England speedster bowled her off the pads with the second.

Phoebe Litchfield took up the chase with two dismissive early fours in a bid to overhaul Wyatt once more as leading runscorer.

She would though only get to 13 before swinging another Bell delivery to a catcher in the deep.

Rodrigues picked up five from a misdirected Tryon throw at the stumps, but only 28 came from the powerplay.

Wicketkeeper Southby then took centre-stage with two brilliant pieces of glovework to stump first Hollie Armitage and then England newbie Bess Heath, the latter having previously hit Bell over the ropes for six.

Shrubsole joined in the fun with a farewell wicket of Alice Davidson-Richards and once Rodrigues holed out in the increasingly desperate pursuit of boundaries, Brave were all but home.

Jack Darcy made all to uphold family honour and provide the Coles with their sixth success in the Grand Prix de Deauville.

Paul Cole first won the Group Two event with Ibn Bey in 1988 and took home the first prize five times as the sole licence holder at the family’s Whatcombe base.

But it is the first time since Oliver Cole has joined his father on the licence that they have tasted glory in the mile-and-a-half contest on the Normandy coast.

Second to Hamish in the Glorious Stakes at Goodwood two starts ago, it was a welcome return to form for Jack Darcy who raced too freely when last seen at Newbury.

And having snapped a nine-race winless run, he will enter Cole family folklore having added his name to the race’s roll of honour.

“He’s a very good horse,” said Oliver Cole.

“Arguably he was a bit too keen in the Geoffrey Freer and it didn’t really go for him. Today he was lovely and relaxed in front and got his own way and won well.

“I nearly didn’t run him because he’s had two quick runs in succession and this was a third, but he’s a very talented horse and he’s shown it today, it’s a good race to win.

“My father has won the race five times, and now we’ve won it six (in total). We love the race and I’m really proud of the horse.

“I remember all the good horses we’ve had win this, Snurge, Courteous and the others. It just means so much for us.”

Jack Darcy’s victory was the final leg of a fantastic treble for the British-trained raiders at Deauville on Sunday, and Mill Stream appears to have teed-up a shot at Group One competition having landed back-to-back course and distance sprints.

A winner of the Prix Moonlight Cloud earlier this month, Jane Chapple-Hyam’s son of Gleneagles took another step up the sprinting ladder by following up in impressive style in the Barriere Prix de Meautry.

Then fresh from a first Group One victory when winning the Prix Morny at the track last week, the father and son duo of Simon and Ed Crisford struck again when Poker Face claimed Barriere Prix Quincey honours.

England have confirmed that Jonny May has replaced Anthony Watson in their squad for the World Cup.

Watson has been ruled out of the tournament by a calf injury so May, who started Saturday’s defeat to Fiji, has filled the gap in the 33-man party to be submitted to World Rugby on Monday.

The only other name missing from the group originally named by Steve Borthwick on August 7 is Jack van Poortvliet whose ankle problem means he has been replaced by Alex Mitchell.

Elliot Daly and Kyle Sinckler are also present as they continue their recovery from respective knee and pectoral injuries.

Max Verstappen equalled Formula One’s all-time record of nine consecutive race wins in his home Dutch Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver matched Sebastian Vettel’s achievement and here, the PA news agency looks at how he compares.

Cloud nine

Verstappen has won 11 of this season’s 13 races – with team-mate Sergio Perez taking the other two as the duo surpassed the great McLaren pairing of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost’s run of 11 straight wins in 1988.

Since Perez’s win in Azerbaijan on April 30, Verstappen has won the Miami, Monaco, Spanish, Canadian, Austrian, British, Hungarian, Belgian and now Dutch Grands Prix.

He won from ninth on the grid in Florida, passing Perez with nine laps to go, and his team judged the rain correctly to hold off Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in Monaco.

Dominant wins in Spain and Canada brought him level with Senna’s career tally of 41 race wins, which he quickly overhauled in Austria.

Victory at Silverstone took him 99 points clear in the drivers’ standings and he shot past pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton on the run to the first corner in Hungary before clinching Red Bull the record for consecutive team wins.

His attention could then turn to the individual landmark and after surging through from sixth on the grid at Spa, he returned from the summer break to beat Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in a six-lap dash to the chequered flag to match Vettel’s streak, set in 2013.

History repeats for Red Bull

Vettel set the record – also driving for Red Bull, for whom Adrian Newey has been in post as chief technical officer on both occasions – when he won the final nine races of 2013 to surge clear of Alonso and win the title.

His run began in Belgium, where he overtook Hamilton early on and was untroubled thereafter, before dominant wins in Italy, Singapore and Korea and a strategic success in Japan.

The German clinched the title in India and added further wins in Abu Dhabi and the United States before a season-ending success in Brazil made it nine in a row and 13 for the season.

Alberto Ascari has a claim to a share of the record, having won the last six races of the 1952 season and his first three starts of 1953. The run was interrupted by Ascari not entering the Indianapolis 500, which at the time was part of the drivers’ championship and was won by American Bill Vukovich.

Michael Schumacher won seven in a row in 2004, as did Nico Rosberg at the end of 2015 and the start of his 2016 title-winning season.

Schumacher also had a run of six across the 2000 and 2001 seasons while Hamilton’s longest run is five wins, as was Verstappen’s before his current streak.

Verstappen is on track to be the first driver ever to win over 80 per cent of races in a season – beating Ascari’s 75 per cent in 1952, when there were only eight races in total – while he has won almost 94 per cent of the maximum points available with 339 of a possible 362 so far.

Veteran prop Cian Healy has been left out of Ireland’s 33-man squad for the Rugby World Cup in France due to injury.

The 35-year-old suffered a calf problem in Saturday evening’s 17-13 warm-up win over Samoa.

He was helped from the field by medical staff in the first half at Stade Jean Dauger in Bayonne before being pictured on crutches.

Munster loosehead Jeremy Loughman has taken Healy’s place.

Ulster pair Jacob Stockdale and Tom Stewart and Connacht’s Cian Prendergast have been left out by Andy Farrell.

Leinster fly-half Ciaran Frawley and Munster hooker Diarmuid Barron also failed to make the cut.

Dan Sheehan, Ronan Kelleher, Jack Conan, Dave Kilcoyne and Keith Earls have been picked, despite recent injury issues.

Fly-half Johnny Sexton, who has now completed a three-match ban, will captain his country ahead of retirement.

Ireland begin their campaign on September 9 against Romania in Bordeaux and also face Tonga, world champions South Africa and Scotland in Pool B.

Aside from the sidelined Healy, wing Stockdale is the highest profile player overlooked by head coach Farrell.

The 27-year-old, Ireland’s joint-sixth highest try-scorer with 19, has become a peripheral figure since the last World Cup amid a series of fitness setbacks.

He started against Samoa due to Earls’ late withdrawal with a niggle but was taken off with a hamstring issue.

Veteran Earls and first-choice wide men James Lowe and Mack Hansen have been preferred to Stockdale.

Farrell’s decision to go with an 18/15 split of forwards and backs sees Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey picked and back-rower Prendergast, who started last weekend’s 29-10 win over England, overlooked.

McCloskey has impressed when selected but his opportunities at 12 have been limited by the presence of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw, in addition to some untimely injuries.

The group includes 16 players who travelled to the 2019 World Cup in Japan under predecessor Joe Schmidt.

Sexton, Conor Murray and Earls are each set for their fourth World Cups.

Regular starters Hugo Keenan, Caelan Doris, Sheehan, Jamison Gibson-Park, Hansen and Lowe are among the 17 players preparing for their first.

Versatile back Jimmy O’Brien, fly-half Jack Crowley and lock Joe McCarthy have each made the grade, having only made international debuts in the autumn.

Ireland squad:

Forwards: Ryan Baird (Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Jack Conan (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Rob Herring (Ulster), Ronan Kelleher (Leinster), Dave Kilcoyne (Munster), Jeremy Loughman (Munster), Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Andrew Porter, (Leinster), James Ryan (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster).

Backs: Bundee Aki (Connacht), Ross Byrne (Leinster), Craig Casey (Munster), Jack Crowley (Munster), Keith Earls (Munster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster), Mack Hansen (Connacht), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), Hugo Keenan (Leinster), James Lowe (Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), Conor Murray (Munster), Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Johnny Sexton (Leinster, captain).

Max Verstappen navigated his way through a chaotic and dramatic rain-hit Dutch Grand Prix to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine victories in a row.

Pole-sitter Verstappen found himself down in 13th place after seven drivers – including Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez – took advantage of a sudden first-lap downpour to move on to wet tyres.

The Dutchman regained the lead on lap 13 of 72 only for the race to be red-flagged with just eight laps to run after Zhou Guanyu crashed out following a second heavy shower.

A 43-minute suspension followed as the tyre barrier at the opening corner was repaired.

But Verstappen beat Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in a six-lap dash to the chequered flag to match Vettel’s streak, set in 2013.

Perez finished third but was demoted a place after he was hit with a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, allowing Pierre Gasly to take the final spot on the podium.

Carlos Sainz finished fifth, holding off Lewis Hamilton, with Lando Norris seventh. George Russell was forced to retire his Mercedes following a late duel with Norris.

Verstappen, whose Red Bull team remain unbeaten this season, extended his championship lead from 125 points to 138 ahead of next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

Dark clouds gathered in the minutes ahead of Sunday’s round in Zandvoort, 30 miles outside of Amsterdam, and just a handful of corners into the start, the heavens opened.

While Verstappen and the leading pack tiptoed their way round the 2.65-mile circuit, Perez – who started in seventh – was called in by his quick-thinking Red Bull team for the intermediate tyres.

With the rain still falling, Verstappen sensibly stopped the next time round but McLaren’s Lando Norris and the Mercedes of Russell stayed out on the slick rubber despite the worsening conditions.

Hamilton, who started 13th, was also sent round for another lap despite the seven-time world champion’s obvious concerns.

“We should have come in, man,” he said over the radio. “It is very wet.”

“Copy, Lewis,” said his race engineer Peter Bonnington. “We’re going to stay out. We’re going to have to brave this.”

But at the end of the third lap, Hamilton was in for wet tyres. He rejoined the track in last place. Russell was still sliding around on slicks before he was changed on to the wet rubber at the end of lap four. When the dust settled, Hamilton and Russell occupied 16th and 18th places.

“I was forecast a podium,” said Russell on the radio. “F***, how did we mess this up?”

By now the rain had relented and dry line was already starting to emerge, and, despite his early handicap, the all-conquering Verstappen was, predictably, on the march.

On lap six he raced past Gasly for third before moving up to second a lap later as he blasted ahead of Zhou. Perez was seven seconds up the road.

Verstappen was taking chunks out of Perez – on one lap as many as four seconds – before he reverted to slicks on lap 11. Perez stopped the next time round but emerged three seconds behind the flying Dutchman, who was now back in the lead, and back in control.

On lap 15, Logan Sargeant was back in the wall a day after crashing out in qualifying. The American was unharmed but the safety car was deployed to retrieve his machine.

Mercedes called Russell in for his third stop of the afternoon, putting him on the hardest, durable tyre in the hope it would see him through to the end of the race.

With Sargeant’s wounded Williams out of the way, the race resumed on lap 21. Verstappen controlled the restart to leave team-mate Perez trailing.

Verstappen raced off into the distance with Hamilton and Russell beginning their fightback through the pack. The Mercedes men were back in the top 10 but with only a dozen laps remaining, the rain returned with vengeance.

The drivers were back in the pits for intermediate tyres before Perez spun his Red Bull at the opening corner and lost second to Alonso.

As the downpour intensified, Alfa Romeo’s Zhou aquaplaned at the first corner and thudded into the tyre wall. Hamilton also ran off at the opening bend but managed to keep his Mercedes out of the barriers and rejoined the track. Race director Niels Wittich red-flagged the race.

After a lengthy suspension the event was back under way at 5.14pm local time with two laps behind the safety car and a rolling start.

Alonso sensed his first win in a decade but despite the tricky conditions, Verstappen kept Alonso behind, crossing the line 3.7 seconds clear of the Spaniard.

Ocean Quest showed her class when storming to Tally-Ho Stud Irish EBF Ballyogan Stakes at Naas.

Jessica Harrington’s speedy daughter of Sioux Nation was an impressive winner of the Committed Stakes at Navan on her three-year-old return and following a narrow defeat over course and distance in the Lacken Stakes, performed with real credit at Royal Ascot when fourth to Shaquille in the Commonwealth Cup.

Freshened up following that outing at the Royal meeting, Ocean Quest was the 10-11 favourite to secure Group Three honours, something she did with the minimum of fuss.

Away well in the hands of Shane Foley, she was always forcing the pace on the far side and came home in splendid isolation to record a decisive three-and-three-quarter-length victory over Aussie Girl who finished best of those on the near side.

Paddy Power handed winner was handed quotes of 12-1 from 16s for Haydock’s Betfair Sprint Cup on September 9 and the same price from 18-1 for the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes (Ascot, October 21), with Harrington indicating both Group One races would be on Ocean Quest’s radar.

“That’s great. She hasn’t run since Ascot, we gave her time. We know she likes a bit of give in the ground and that’s why we put her away after Ascot,” said Harrington.

“I think she’ll go on anything actually and she’s a very classy filly.

“Ascot in October is the main target and she’s in at Haydock in the Group One sprint there.

“We didn’t put her in Irish Champions Weekend because it’s five furlongs, but apparently she gets a free entry now. If it came up heavy maybe.

“This summer we’ve had no idea what ground we’re going to get. You can have good to firm in the morning and abandoned in the afternoon.

“We know she goes on heavy, she’s won on heavy and she’s gone on good to firm so she’s a very versatile filly. She’s classy and speedy.”

There was earlier success for Harrington on the card when Matter Of Fact landed the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden at 22-1.

The daughter of No Nay Never was well held on debut earlier in the season, but showed how much she has flourished in the interim with a stylish display which brings loftier targets into the picture.

“That was nice. She ran in May and has grown an awful lot since then,” said Harrington.

“Nathan (Crosse) said when she was in behind she was behind the bridle, whether it was the kickback or what. It wasn’t until he pulled her out that she absolutely flew up the hill.

“She did it well. She was still very green and she’ll have learned a lot, which is great.

“I’d say she could step up in trip but the dam only got six, even though she’s by Galileo. She has got a beautiful pedigree.

“My two-year-olds are only just starting to come to themselves. They were all good in the spring and then they all started growing. She was small in May but now she’s a fine big filly.

“We’ll see what comes up and see where we go from here. I’d hope we’d be going for stakes race next. She’s got the pedigree and she’s done that well.

“I’d say it was a good maiden, my other filly didn’t seem to get home.”

There was a shock in the opening Irish EBF Median Sires Series Fillies Maiden when Kitty Rose denied Dermot Weld’s 11-10 favourite Tannola.

Sent off at 25-1, Natalia Lupini’s filly made the perfect start, travelling powerfully on the front-end and running on strongly to score by a length and three-quarters.

The trainer’s partner Craig Bryson said: “We were hoping for a nice run but you never know first time out.

“She’s a filly that we’ve liked a lot at home, she did it well and she’ll progress plenty. She’s big and she’s a nice filly.

“She likes to go forward, she likes to gallop and I’d imagine as you step her up in trip she’ll be better. She’s one to look forward to.

“I’ll talk to the lads but we might look at the Ingabelle Stakes at Leopardstown, that might suit her. If she comes out of it well that’s probably the race to go for.

“We had a filly (Highly Desirable) that was third in this race last year and went on to finish third in the Ingabelle. You’d be happy to go and take your chance in it and hopefully get black type.”

The afternoon’s other two-year-old contest went the way of Joseph O’Brien’s McTenett who justified 9-4 favouritism in the Irish EBF Auction Series Maiden.

“He had a nice run the first day and he learned a good bit, he was more professional today. He looks like a nice horse going forward,” said O’Brien.

“We were happy that he’d get the six up here well. It was a nice straightforward ride by Dylan and it’s nice to have a winner for Neil (Sands) and the Bronsan team.

“There is plenty of money in those auction races and there is a winners race in Roscommon in early September.”

Max Verstappen navigated his way through a chaotic and dramatic rain-hit Dutch Grand Prix to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine victories in a row.

Pole-sitter Verstappen found himself down in 13th place after seven drivers – including Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez – took advantage of a sudden first-lap downpour to move on to wet tyres.

The Dutchman regained the lead on lap 13 of 72 only for the race to be red-flagged with just eight laps to run after Zhou Guanyu crashed out following a second heavy shower.

A 43-minute suspension followed as the tyre barrier at the opening corner was repaired.

But Verstappen beat Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in a six-lap dash to the chequered flag to match Vettel’s streak, set in 2013.

Perez finished third but was demoted a place after he was hit with a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, allowing Pierre Gasly to take the final spot on the podium.

Carlos Sainz finished fifth, holding off Lewis Hamilton, with Lando Norris seventh. George Russell was forced to retire his Mercedes following a late duel with Norris.

Verstappen, whose Red Bull team remain unbeaten this season, extended his championship lead from 125 points to 138 ahead of next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

Dark clouds gathered in the minutes ahead of Sunday’s round in Zandvoort, 30 miles outside of Amsterdam, and just a handful of corners into the start, the heavens opened.

While Verstappen and the leading pack tiptoed their way round the 2.65-mile circuit, Perez – who started in seventh – was called in by his quick-thinking Red Bull team for the intermediate tyres.

With the rain still falling, Verstappen sensibly stopped the next time round but McLaren’s Lando Norris and the Mercedes of Russell stayed out on the slick rubber despite the worsening conditions.

Hamilton, who started 13th, was also sent round for another lap despite the seven-time world champion’s obvious concerns.

“We should have come in, man,” he said over the radio. “It is very wet.”

“Copy, Lewis,” said his race engineer Peter Bonnington. “We’re going to stay out. We’re going to have to brave this.”

But at the end of the third lap, Hamilton was in for wet tyres. He rejoined the track in last place. Russell was still sliding around on slicks before he was changed on to the wet rubber at the end of lap four. When the dust settled, Hamilton and Russell occupied 16th and 18th places.

“I was forecast a podium,” said Russell on the radio. “F***, how did we mess this up?”

By now the rain had relented and dry line was already starting to emerge, and, despite his early handicap, the all-conquering Verstappen was, predictably, on the march.

On lap six he raced past Gasly for third before moving up to second a lap later as he blasted ahead of Zhou. Perez was seven seconds up the road.

Verstappen was taking chunks out of Perez – on one lap as many as four seconds – before he reverted to slicks on lap 11. Perez stopped the next time round but emerged three seconds behind the flying Dutchman, who was now back in the lead, and back in control.

On lap 15, Logan Sargeant was back in the wall a day after crashing out in qualifying. The American was unharmed but the safety car was deployed to retrieve his machine.

Mercedes called Russell in for his third stop of the afternoon, putting him on the hardest, durable tyre in the hope it would see him through to the end of the race.

With Sargeant’s wounded Williams out of the way, the race resumed on lap 21. Verstappen controlled the restart to leave team-mate Perez trailing.

Verstappen raced off into the distance with Hamilton and Russell beginning their fightback through the pack. The Mercedes men were back in the top 10 but with only a dozen laps remaining, the rain returned with vengeance.

The drivers were back in the pits for intermediate tyres before Perez spun his Red Bull at the opening corner and lost second to Alonso.

As the downpour intensified, Alfa Romeo’s Zhou aquaplaned at the first corner and thudded into the tyre wall. Hamilton also ran off at the opening bend but managed to keep his Mercedes out of the barriers and rejoined the track. Race director Niels Wittich red-flagged the race.

After a lengthy suspension the event was back under way at 5.14pm local time with two laps behind the safety car and a rolling start.

Alonso sensed his first win in a decade but despite the tricky conditions, Verstappen kept Alonso behind, crossing the line 3.7 seconds clear of the Spaniard.

Al Riffa has a choice of engagements for his next outing, with Joseph O’Brien sure “the best is yet come” from his lightly-raced colt.

Winner of the National Stakes last season, the son of Wootton Bassett did not make his three-year-old return until the Curragh in July, finishing second to Mashhoor in the International Stakes.

He went from there to Deauville for the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano – and gave unbeaten French Derby winner and Arc favourite Ace Impact a real race in going down by just three-quarters of a length.

“He’ll either go to the Irish Champion or the Prix Niel, I’d say,” said O’Brien.

“He came out of his last run well. It was a great run, the winner is one of the best three-year-olds in Europe and we were right in the mix with him.

“Hopefully the best is yet to come with him.”

O’Brien also had news on his high-class filly Above The Curve, who has been placed in Group One company three times so far this campaign, most recently in the Prix Jean Romanet.

He said: “She may go back to France for the Prix Vermeille. She’s come out of the Prix Jean Romanet well.”

Rodri’s late winner clinched Manchester City a hard-fought 2-1 win at Sheffield United and lifted them top of the Premier League.

The City midfielder crashed home a shot from inside the area less than three minutes after Blades substitute Jayden Bogle had cancelled out Erling Haaland’s second-half header with an 85th-minute equaliser.

It was a breathless finish to a game City had dominated – Haaland missed a first-half penalty – but Rodri’s strike finally ended the Blades’ brave resistance and sealed absent manager Pep Guardiola’s 200th win in the English top flight.

With City assistant coach Juanma Lillo in charge of the visitors’ dugout as Guardiola recovers from back surgery in Barcelona, it took 12 minutes for his side to carve out their first chance as Haaland headed straight at Blades goalkeeper Wes Foderingham.

The home side, forced to replace Ben Osborn with summer signing Yasser Larouci in the 17th minute, stuck resolutely to their task as City hogged the ball and patiently probed for an opening.

Foderingham denied the visitors again in the 26th minute by deflecting Alvarez’s shot for a corner.

City were gifted the chance to take a first-half lead when Alvarez’s cross struck John Egan on the arm as the Blades skipper slid in to block and referee Jarred Gillett pointed straight to the spot.

But Haaland failed to convert as his low, left-footed penalty struck Foderingham’s left-hand post.

Blades defender George Baldock was booked for his juddering challenge on Jack Grealish before the interval and the home fans gave their side a standing ovation at the half-time whistle with the score at 0-0.

Lillo stepped out into the technical area for the first time shortly after the restart to see Haaland shank Kyle Walker’s cross inches wide.

There was now more urgency to City’s approach play. Rodri pulled a low effort wide, Foderingham rescued the Blades again by palming Haaland’s dinked effort for a corner and Alvarez lashed Grealish’s lay-off just wide.

Walker then blazed over before City made the breakthrough in the 63rd minute.

Grealish was marshalled by Baldock on the left edge of the area, but made space to clip the ball to the far post and Haaland powered home his third league goal of the season with a towering header.

The Blades responded as substitute Oli McBurnie headed wide from a corner and at the other end Foderingham kept out Mateo Kovacic’s free-kick.

Bramall Lane erupted in the 85th minute when substitute Bogle arrowed a shot inside the far post to haul his side level following an earlier error by former Blade Walker.

But before a crowd of 31,336 could catch breath, Walker made amends by out-muscling Larouci out wide and his cross was lashed home by Rodri after Phil Foden had mis-controlled.

The Blades almost snatched another equaliser when Anel Ahmedhodzic just failed to latch on to McBurnie’s cross, but City held firm to maintain their 100 per cent start.

Matty Cash’s first Aston Villa goals in over a year inspired Unai Emery’s side to a 3-1 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor.

Cash came into the side as the only unenforced change from Villa’s 5-0 midweek Europa Conference League play-off win over Hibernian, and ensured there was no European hangover for his side as he scored twice in the opening 20 minutes.

Lyle Foster gave Burnley hope with a powerful strike two minutes into the second half, but Moussa Diaby restored Villa’s two-goal advantage just after the hour as they ended a five-match winless league run on the road.

Burnley built their Sky Bet Championship title on the back of a 21-match unbeaten run at home, but have started life back in the Premier League with back-to-back defeats at Turf Moor.

Cash, playing in an advanced role on the right side of Villa’s midfield, needed only eight minutes to break the deadlock, sliding in to poke home Ollie Watkins’ cross after John McGinn’s lofted ball over the top had left Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford caught in two minds.

It was the Poland international’s first goal since the final day of the 2021-22 season and the drama of Manchester City’s title-winning come-from-behind win over Villa, but there would soon be another with Cash at the heart of a slick passing move.

Cutting in from the right to collect Watkins’ pass, Cash laid the ball off for Diaby on the right side of the box, then charged into the centre to lash home the resulting cross.

Burnley looked rusty after the postponement of last weekend’s trip to Luton left them with an enforced rest and were being overrun defensively as the chances kept coming.

Cash, brimming with confidence, tried a spectacular volley from Lucas Digne’s deep cross in the 35th minute, but Hannes Delcroix, making his Burnley debut after arriving in midweek from Anderlecht, got in a block to send it over the crossbar.

Cash again linked up with Diaby, whose deflected cross found Watkins, but Trafford was in the right place to deny him from point-blank range.

Burnley had done little to threaten the goal of Robin Olsen, making his first Premier League start since New Year’s Day with Emi Martinez sidelined by a calf strain, but things changed immediately at the start of the second half.

Johann Berg Gudmundsson, on as a substitute, headed a deep ball back into the box and Foster had the power to hold off Pau Torres, spinning to fire beyond Olsen.

Burnley were suddenly on top. Sander Berge sent in a cross begging for a touch, then Zeki Amdouni caused panic between Torres and Olsen.

More confusion between Olsen and Boubacar Kamara allowed Berge to run into the box, winning a corner from which Olsen did well to deny Delcroix a debut goal.

Having coped with the pressure, Villa hit Burnley on the break just after the hour. McGinn shrugged off a shirt pull from Ameen Al-Dakhil to play in Digne, who pulled the ball back for Diaby to find the bottom right corner – the goal surviving a VAR check for offside.

Watkins should have made it four in the 67th minute when he beat Delcroix to a low cross but Trafford again denied him from close range, holding smartly.

Nicolo Zaniolo replaced Diaby to make his Villa debut and almost scored with his first involvement, seeing his shot deflected wide, but the Italy international should have squared for the unmarked Watkins.

Cash, still fancying a hat-trick, shot narrowly wide with 10 minutes left while Zaniolo flashed a powerful effort just over.

Burnley substitute Jay Rodriguez twice threatened Olsen’s goal late on, but there was no way back for the hosts.

Valerien Ismael explained he dropped key midfielder Imran Louza for disciplinary reasons ahead of Watford’s 1-0 defeat at home to Blackburn.

The Morocco midfielder is understood to have been punished for poor time-keeping, arriving late for a training session.

Louza was introduced as a half-time substitute but it was from his error that Ryan Hedges went on to score the game’s only goal.

Ismael made it clear afterwards that stamping down on lax discipline was top of his agenda as Watford’s new manager.

“When we came we set rules with the players and everyone has to respect the rules, it’s as simple as that,” he said.

“Imran knows exactly why he was on the bench today. You have to understand as well I’m not happy to take some decisions but I have to take action when people don’t respect the rules.

“I want to play my best team in the league. It was an internal situation, now everything is clear so we move on. I don’t need to go into details, it is enough to say he was on the bench.”

Hedges won it for Rovers in the 72nd minute. Louza misplaced a pass that allowed Rovers substitute Sam Gallagher to send captain Lewis Travis sprinting goalwards.

Hornets defender Ryan Porteous stopped him with a fine tackle but Hedges seized on the loose ball and, having juggled it on the top of a boot to get it under control, lashed high past Daniel Bachmann from a tight angle on the right.

“I’m delighted with the result and the performance,” said Rovers manager Jon Dahl Tomasson.

“We knew that coming to Watford with those quality players they have it could be difficult to dominate the game on the ball. We showed great organisation and discipline and I think we defended really well.

“We had five or six good moments in the first half where the quality of our passing and decision-making was not good.

“I was disappointed that we were not leading two or three-nil by half-time because there were some key moments. We spoke about those moments and in the second half we scored from one of those moments and could have scored a couple more.”

Matheus Martins, Watford’s Brazilian wideman, was the game’s outstanding individual and came closest to ending a Hornets league goal drought.

First he forced Rovers goalkeeper Aynsley Pears into a parry before smacking the crossbar before half-time. Later, after Hedges had fired Rovers in front, he saw Pears tip a goal-bound effort on to a post.

The win lifted Rovers up to ninth and left the Hornets stuck in 15th, without a goal in Championship action since the 43rd minute of their opening game.

“We missed making the goal to have that opener and the confidence and relief we needed,” Ismael added.

“We shot on the crossbar, we shot on the post, had dangerous situations and in my opinion we should have had a penalty as well.

“We tried to do the right things so my feeling is as long as we have the feeling that we are going the right way we have to stay calm and keep working hard.

“This is the Championship and we know that in two or three months it can look completely different. It is difficult to take that with their only chance of the second half the opponent wins the game.”

Impressive York winner Dragon Leader is likely to stick to chasing the big money for the time being rather than being stepped up in class.

Trained by Clive Cox, the Kennet Valley Syndicates-owned maintained his unbeaten record in scintillating style on the Knavesmire, winning almost £150,000 in the Goffs UK Harry Beeby Premier Yearling Stakes.

In winning by four and a half lengths he evoked memories of Mums Tipple, who streaked away with the same contest in 2019. But rather than take the plunge against Group horses next like he did, Dragon Leader’s connections are happy to stay in similar company for now.

“We’ll let the dust settle, but he is in the Doncaster and the Redcar sales races – both of those are worth a fair few quid – and we’re well weighted in both,” said Kennet Valley director Piers Winkworth.

“We’ll probably go that way, rather than something more ambitious in Pattern company for now, which we might have to do at some point because he looks like a proper, proper racehorse, this Dragon Leader.

“I think for now we will target the money of the sales races rather than Pattern company.”