Manchester United ran out comfortable 1-0 winners in the opening game of the Premier League season against a lacklustre Tottenham side.

An unlucky own goal courtesy of Kyle Walker was the difference, but Spurs never really looked like competing despite a late push in the final minutes and United barely got out of second gear while beating the north London side.

But after a mere 90 minutes of Premier League football done and a long way to go – just what have we learnt..?

1. Daniel Levy’s moth-riddled wallet is going to have to come out eventually

Daniel. Please. I know you don’t like spending money but just LOOK at this starting XI. Tottenham could do with strengthening in a number of different areas. Another striker. A central midfielder. Hell anyone who’s actually world class.

They can’t continue to rely on Eriksen and Kane to pull them out of the mire every weekend and Poch must be crying out for a blank cheque to go out and get reinforcements. Do the right thing Daniel, it’s not that painful I promise.

2. Manchester United are genuine title contenders 

After a slow start United ran out comfortable winners against a Tottenham side devoid of ideas, but that doesn’t make their performance any less impressive.

The Red Devils have the strength in depth to mount a serious title challenge, and with mercurial new signing Memphis Depay and Wayne Rooney back in his preferred central striker role, there’s no reason why they can’t push Chelsea and Arsenal all the way.

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3. Anyone would think Bastian Schweinsteiger is basically Jesus Christ resurrected the amount United fans were going on about him

I mean just look at this lot, haven’t these people got got families?

First Division

Alfonso Thomas took a timely five-wicket haul to give the Championship pacemakers, Somerset, an outside chance of victory against Yorkshire at Taunton. Having been up against it since the first innings of the match, in which Yorkshire racked up 372, Somerset took complete control of the third day, first by extending their overnight 220 for 9 to a competitive 258, thanks largely to Craig Kieswetter’s unbeaten 67, then by dismissing Yorkshire for 208 in their second innings. Charl Willoughby and Andrew Caddick gave Somerset a dream start by claiming both openers for ducks, then Thomas got stuck into the middle order. Andrew Gale was the lone survivor in the top-order with 58, while Rich Pyrah made 51 from No. 8 to rescue Yorkshire from 104 for 6, but Somerset’s eventual target of 323 is by no means unobtainable – with ten wickets in hand and with Marcus Trescothick at the crease, unbeaten on 11 at the close.Dimitri Mascarenhas produced a captain’s innings of 74 to lift Hampshire into the ascendancy against Durham at Chester-le-Street. The game had been finely balanced on the third morning, not least when Sean Ervine fell for the addition of only three runs to his overnight 46, to leave Hampshire leading by 226 with three wickets standing. But then Mascarenhas got into his stride, striking 13 fours and a six in a 110-ball innings, to add 67 priceless runs. Durham, in reply, stuttered just as they had done in their first innings. Chasing a sizeable 294, they lost wickets at regular intervals, with Shane Bond and Chris Tremlett among the wickets, to close on 186 for 6. Neil McKenzie made 48 and Dale Benkenstein was still there on 46 not out, but with only the tail for company, defeat is looming on Monday.Justin Kemp put to one side the frustrations of two rain-affected days at Canterbury, and struck his first first-class century of the season to boost Kent’s morale against the champions, Sussex. Kemp made 102, having had to strap his pads on in a hurry following three wickets in seven balls for Ragheb Aga. Robert Key fell for 30, then Martin van Jaarsveld and Darren Stevens followed for ducks to reduce Kent to 76 for 4, but James Tredwell continued his allround form with 68, as the pair added 167 for the fifth wicket. They were eventually all out for a healthy 350, with Aga finishing with 4 for 63, and by the close Sussex were well placed for the draw on 57 for 1.Click here to read John Ward’s report on the third day between Lancashire and Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford.

Second Division

Derbyshire stormed to an innings-and-95-run victory against a feeble Worcestershire at Chesterfield as Graham Wagg and Rikki Clarke shared seven wickets. The match was over before lunch, with the visitors dispatched for 110 in less than 36 overs. Already one down overnight, it was a procession by Worcestershire from the moment Graham Wagg trapped Steven Moore – who is being chased by Derbyshire – lbw for 9. Wagg continued an outstanding match when he had Graeme Hick caught behind off a flat-footed push, soon followed by Steven Davies. Meanwhile, Clarke, back to bowling action in this match after recovering from a broken thumb, snapped up three cheap wickets, including Vikram Solanki bowled by one that nipped back. The final dismissal of Steve Magoffin, heaving across the line, summed up Worcestershire’s capitulation.Glamorgan were made to follow on at Cardiff after being bowled out for 248 in reply to Warwickshire’s 421, but by the close of the third day they were battling hard for survival on 228 for 4. Their lead was a slender 48, and they might have been better placed had they not lost three wickets for 28 runs after a healthy opening partnership of 71 between Gareth Rees and Matthew Wood. Instead it was left to the captain, David Hemp, and Jamie Dalrymple to rally the rearguard with a fourth-wicket stand of 107. Hemp fell before the close for 56, but Dalrymple remained, unbeaten on 52, to carry the fight into the final day.Stephen Peters guided Northamptonshire past the follow-on at Wantage Road with his first first-class century of the season. He batted for five-and-a-half hours and struck 16 fours in his 122, and without him his team would have been in dire straits. As it is they conceded a sizeable enough first-innings lead of 146, although by the close they had struck back with determination, reducing Gloucestershire to 115 for 4 in their second innings. David Lucas claimed both openers and Johann Louw added Marcus North for a duck, as Gloucs slumped to 58 for 4. But they were bailed out by Hamish Marshall and Chris Taylor, who were unbeaten at stumps in a 57-run stand.Click here for Jamie Alter’s take on the third day at Lord’s between Middlesex and Essex.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram is safe after being involved in a road-rage shooting incident in Karachi. He was on his way to the National Stadium for a fast-bowling camp when the attack occurred.Akram told , a Pakistan television channel, that was he was “in shock” and that he had noted the car number and given it to the police.”Wasim was driving himself, and the car next to him tried to jam his car to one side and opened fire. He did not get hit, he is now at the National Stadium, dealing with police formalities,” Arsalan Hyder, Akram’s manager, told ESPNcricinfo.Deputy Inspector General of Karachi East, Munir Sheikh, said it was a case of road rage. “According to preliminary investigation, the incident appears to be a case of road rage. But we cannot say clearly what the motive behind the attack on Wasim Akram was,” Sheikh told reporters outside the National Stadium. “We have identified the car from CCTV footage and will have the suspect in custody in a couple of hours.”

ScorecardRene Farrell claimed 3 for 17 to help Australia wrap up victory and reclaim the Ashes•Getty Images

Australia secured their first Women’s Ashes victory in England in 14 years with a ruthless bowling display in the second T20 in Hove.In a low-scoring match – only seven players reached double figures and the highest individual score was Lydia Greenway’s 26 – England imploded as they chased what had seemed a comfortable 108 for victory and when Greenway was caught at deep midwicket off the excellent bowling of Rene Farrell in the final over they were still 20 runs shy of Australia’s tally.Victory put Australia 10-4 up on points, with only one T20 to play, and ended England’s faint hope of coming from behind to draw the series and hang on to the Ashes.The loss of early wickets, some of them to unforgivably soft shots, left Greenway vainly trying to marshall the tail and, after drawing strong criticism for their dismal batting in the solitary Test match of the series, England must now face the ignominy of posting their lowest ever score in T20 internationals.Australia’s batting was hardly at its best – this was their second-lowest successful defence batting first in T20 – but two wickets in two balls from Ellyse Perry sparked a collapse from which England found it increasingly difficult to recover as Meg Lanning changed her bowlers and directed her fielders superbly.In a start that echoed the first T20 encounter, England sent Australia into bat and set about effectively smothering their top order through the tight lines bowled by Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole.Australia were again unable to score freely throughout the Powerplay; in Chelmsford they were 26 for 1 after six overs, in Hove they found themselves at 19 for 1 after Ellyse Perry chipped Shrubsole to midwicket.The arrival of Lanning heralded the introduction of spin and the dual attack of Danielle Hazell and Rebecca Grundy.Grundy, coming into the side for Jenny Gunn, justified her call up when she trapped Lanning lbw and took a solid catch off her own bowling to dismiss Alex Blackwell, while Hazell accounted for opener Elyse Villani with a full, straight delivery that rapped the front pad.From 51 for 4, Australia were dragged up past the hundred mark by Jess Jonassen and Jess Cameron, with a cameo from Grace Harris, who launched the ball into the hospitality area of the sold-out crowd for the only six of the match.Perhaps England were lulled into complacency by the small target ahead of them. Perhaps they were overconfident after successfully chasing down a slightly more challenging total at Chelmsford. In taking nothing away from Australia’s efforts with the ball and in the field, it must be said that several England players threw their wickets away and panicked as the challenge grew steeper.Edwards departed in the second over, chopping on as she tried to play late to the left-arm spin of Jonassen, but more disappointing was Lauren Winfield’s loose drive off Perry straight to mid-off in the following over.Perry had two from two deliveries when Nat Sciver played across the line to her first delivery only to see the ball clatter into the stumps and when Taylor – the key to England’s victory in the first T20 – and Heather Knight continued the procession to the pavilion, England had slumped to 28 for 5 by the end of the Powerplay.Brunt offered some resistance – aside from Greenway she was the only England player to pass 8 – but once she was bowled, by Megan Schutt, Greenway was left with a mountain to climb and no batting sherpas to help carry the load.Australia’s bowling efforts shouldn’t be overlooked and the inclusion of Farrell on what looked a slow and wearing pitch proved a masterstroke. Australia bowled only four overs of spin as their quicker bowlers cleaned up and there were some terrific efforts in the field, including a brilliant catch from Lanning at midwicket to dismiss Shrubsole and a fine, low take by Jonassen to end the match.But England will rue the lack of composure and application that made a small target seem gargantuan and they must now travel to the double-header with the men in Cardiff for the final T20 knowing they have been soundly beaten across the three formats.

Sri Lanka Cricket’s search for a permanent head coach has attracted five aspirants who have applied for the post, according to the CEO Ashley de Silva.De Silva confirmed that all five applicants who had sent their CVs by the October 6 deadline were from overseas, but did not disclose their names as the applications had been sent on the trust of anonymity.”These applications will be processed and evaluated at the next interim committee meeting scheduled for October 20,” De Silva said. “We will take the next course of action after that. If we are not satisfied with the applicants, we may have to head hunt for one.”With Sri Lanka’s sports minister announcing that the SLC elections will be held in January, there is the likelihood of a new administration coming into place. However, De Silva assured that whoever is selected would be given a two-year contract with their performance to be reviewed after one year.Jerome Jayaratne, Sri Lanka Cricket’s head of coaching, is currently the interim head coach of the Sri Lanka team for the ongoing home series against West Indies. His appointment came four days after Marvan Atapattu resigned as the national team coach.

Central Districts 165 for 9 (Bruce 54, Worker 30, Verma 4-27) beat Wellington 132 (Pollard 44, Ronchi 42, Milne 2-18) by 33 runs
ScorecardFile photo – Adam Milne returned figures of 2 for 18 off his four overs•Getty Images

Tom Bruce’s blitz followed by an all-round bowling display provided Central Districts with their fourth win of the season, by 33 runs against Wellington in Napier.Central Districts were given a strong start after choosing to bat. Captain George Worker and Mahela Jayawardena smashed 48 in 35 balls before Anurag Verma had Jayawardena caught behind for 23 – his first score of less than 50 in three innings in the season. A few quick wickets ensued leaving Central Districts at 66 for 3 in the 10th over. Bruce, batting at No. 4, then combined with 18-year-old Josh Clarkson for a match-changing 53-run partnership in just 35 balls.Bruce struck two sixes and seven fours in his 31-ball 54 and took Central Districts past 150 before Wellington clawed their way back by restricting the hosts to 11 off the last two overs, as they finished with 165. Verma ended with career-best figures of 4 for 27 in his four overs.Wellington lost all that momentum as they were quickly reduced to 17 for 3 in the fourth over of the chase, with Seth Rance picking up two of those wickets. The match swung again as Luke Ronchi (42 off 22) and Michael Pollard (44 off 34), who were the only batsmen to reach double-digit scores, formed a 59-run stand off 38 balls to bring Wellington back into the contest.With Wellington requiring 90 off the last 10 overs, the match looked set for a thrilling finish, but a clump of wickets turned the match in Central Districts’ favour. Wellington were eventually bowled out for 132 in 19 overs, with Adam Milne being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2 for 18.

Michael Powell hit 70 n.o. to put Warwickshire in a strong position in theirchampionship match against Sussex at Edgbaston. They finished 259 runs ahead at 165-2. Powell was not unsettled by interruptions for showers which took 64 overs out of the day’s play and increased his scoring rate. Dominic Ostler (66 n.o.) provided firm support and in so doing became the season’s leading championship run-scorer.The showers seemed to affect Sussex more than the batsmen. Yet there is still some to go for Warwickshire to consolidate their lead in Division Two especially if they encounter the wet conditions of today. Sussex captain Chris Adams, who had been ill earlier, resumed his place in the side after tea. It was in the final hour that Powell and Ostler plundered the bowling to take their third-wicket partnership to 131.

Hoggard: 5-28 Photo © AllSport

With Leicestershire having it all to do with only 53 runs to defend theywere unable to get the early breakthrough that they desperately wanted.Phil Defreitas, along with Jimmy Ormond opened the bowling attack andneither created chances.Infact, it was only when Kumble came into the attack did things start tohappen. He had the left handed Craven caught behind when the score was on27. Just two runs later Defreitas picked up the prize wicket of Vaughan whowas given out L.B.W by umpire Benson.Darren Lehmann fresh from his Championship century against Leicestershireearlier on in the week, continued to enjoy his good run of form and lookedintent on finishing the game as quickly as possible. He hit two consecutivefours in one over off the bowling of Kumble and in the 14th over he hit thewinning runs to give Yorkshire a very easy victory.Yorkshire’s professional attitude and approach towards the game was of thehighest standard and its back to the drawing board for the LeicestershireFoxes!

Unlike Karachi, it was perhaps not England’s day. The ground at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore was green but the pitch absolutely devoid of grass.According to the experts, the ball was expected to come on to the bat and it did so wonderfully well. England made no changes to the team that brought them a thundering victory at Karachi.Pakistan, however, brought in Shahid Afridi and Azhar Mahmood to replace Imran Nazir and Waqar Younis. Afridi was brought in to strengthen the spin department on which Pakistan were depending to win the series.Moin Khan won the toss but contrary to team’s obsession with batting first he opted to field. It was done to offset the bitter experience of dew blamed for Pakistan’s defeat at Karachi.The decision paid off, for the bowlers made good work of England’s strong batting line, ousting the team for 211 runs – an easy total unless a mishap was in the offing. For a magnificent haul of 5 for 40, Shahid Afridi emerged as the star bowler of Pakistan.England opened with Marcus Trescothick and Alec Stewart against Pakistan’s pace attack of the legendary Wasim Akram and young Abdur Razzaq. While runs constantly flowed from Trescothick’s bat, Stewart remained on the defensive.England reached 50 in 10 overs but lost the first wicket at 66 when Alec Stewart was stumped by Moin Khan off Mushtaq Ahmed for 22. Skipper Nasser Hussain joined Trescothick, both of them playing some exciting cricket to record a partnership of 50. They were quite severe against the pacemen but the introduction of spin lowered the run rate considerably.Trescothick was the second batsmen to go after playing an enterprising innings of 65 runs scored in 74 balls. Graeme Hick walked off without showing his mettle. After 30 overs England were 125 for three.Hussain hit two consecutive fours off Shahid Afridi and created some excitement among the spectators. He was lucky when he was dropped twice by Wasim Akram but was eventually stumped by Moin Khan off Shahid Afridi after playing an entertaining innings of 54 runs. England then lost six wickets for 178 runs, ultimately ending the innings at 211 for 9.Shahid Afridi the pinch hitter cum reserve leg spinner who got married during the match at Karachi returned to the side. The honeymoon acted as some sort of a tonic and he became almost unplayable. He virtually ran through the England side claiming five wickets for 40 runs.With Pakistan team in high spirits, a victory target of 212 apparently looked easily manageable.Facing a moderate target, Pakistan were not in any hurry. The team adopted a sensible policy of achieving the target at a slow and steady pace. Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi opened the innings. Not deterred by the England pace duo of Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick they carried the score to 43 in 10 overs.Saeed Anwar was out in the 18th over after playing an invaluable innings of 41 glorious runs and giving Pakistan a wonderful start.Saleem Elahi joined Afridi and the two of them punished the bowlers with strokes all over the ground but at a steady pace. In 20 overs, Shahid Afridi hoisted his individual 50 and 100 of the Pakistan innings. He was out after scoring an enterprising 61, a special point about his innings being that at no stage did he resort to rashness.Yousuf Youhana joined Saleem Elahi and the two of them took Pakistan to the 200 run mark in 43.1 overs. Pakistan now needed only 12 runs in 41 balls. Saleem Elahi who exercised complete command on the game hoisted his 50 with a cover drive to the boundary. A little later he brought victory to Pakistan with a sparkling four to the fine leg region. Pakistan ended up with 214 for 2 thus defeating England by eight wickets.

In the Central Zone Under-22 Tournament played at Field Club Ground,Udaipur, host Rajasthan were held to a draw by Uttar Pradesh onMonday. UP could take home only three points as Rajasthan took fivepoints thanks to the first innings lead.Rajasthan won the toss on Saturday and decided to bat first and didwell to finish at 317 in 131 overs. A Jain with 76 (13 fours) and VSaxena with 81 (9 fours, 1 six) were the batting heroes. Anup Dave 46and L Jain with 40 batted well down in the order and helped Rajasthanbeef up there total. A Solanki with 5/72 was easily the pick of the UPbowlers. UP opening batsman A Kapoor Made a brilliant unbeaten 119 andcarried his batting through the innings. P Singh with 44 (6 fours and1 six) gave Kapoor admirable support. Kapoor in his defiant knockstruck 17 boundaries but ran out of partners as most of the UP batsmenfailed to apply themselves. UP were all out for 286 in 112.3 oversgiving Rajasthan the crucial first innings lead. L Jain with 3/54 wasthe best of the bowling. Rajasthan started their second innings with alead of 31 runs and were 73/1 at the close of play on Monday. V Saxenaremained unbeaten on 41. Perhaps it was the sluggish batting by bothsides that took away the competitive edge.