Welcome to this week’s Hugh Watches Sports post. In this edition we will look back on a massive tennis tournament, the start of the new Premier League and Serie A season’s, the return of Formula 1, a huge rugby match and one of the biggest events on the PGA Tour. Let’s get into it.
CINCINNATI OPEN (TENNIS)
The Cincinnati Open is always a crucial tournament in the lead-up to the final grand slam of the year. Taking place just two weeks prior to the US Open, Cincinnati attracts the majority of the world’s top players as they look to find their best form before heading to New York. In fact, nine of the top ten women’s players were in action including last year’s champion Iga Swiatek. Despite the top thirty-two seed’s receiving a bye in round one, there was still a former Cincinnati champion in action as Karolina Pliskova took on compatriot Sara Bejlek. Although it was a tough experience for the 2016 winner as she lost 6-0 6-2. Also in the first round, we saw Venus Williams in action as she was beaten 6-2 6-2 by Emiliana Arango. Moving into the second round, Swiatek began her title defence with a 6-3 6-0 triumph over Arango. Meanwhile, sixth seed Linda Noskova picked up her first singles match win as a Wimbledon champion when she saw off Katie Boulter in straight sets. Elsewhere, 2023 champion Coco Gauff opened her campaign with a tough 2-6 6-4 6-1 victory against Liudmila Samsonova. Perhaps the most dramatic match of round two came when eighth seed Elina Svitolina saved seven match points on route to defeating Tereza Valentova 3-6 7-6 6-0. Although that effort took its toll on the Ukrainian as she withdrew from the tournament before her scheduled round three clash with Xiyu Wang. Elsewhere in the draw during the third round, Swiatek fought off the challenge of Maria Sakkari in three sets to progress into the last sixteen. Meanwhile there were straight set victories for all of the top four seed’s Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula and Gauff. On a busy Wednesday in Cincinnati, the entire fourth round was played. The big headline came right at the end of the day in the night session where Bejlek produced a stunning performance to defeat world number one Sabalenka 7-6 6-4. Also in the last sixteen, there were two battles between top-ten seed’s as Marta Kostyuk got past Mirra Andreeva in three sets, whilst Amanda Anisimova beat Noskova 6-1 6-4. Moving on to the quarter finals, Bejlek continued her incredible run with a hard-fought 3-6 6-4 7-6 victory against Madison Keys to reach the biggest semi final of her career. Meanwhile, Gauff comfortably defeated Kostyuk 6-2 6-2 to progress into her seventeenth WTA1000 semi final. In the bottom half of the draw, Pegula beat Anisimova 6-4 2-6 7-6 in a highly-competitive all-American encounter. Plus, Swiatek continued her title defence as Rybakina retired with an injury five games into their quarter final battle. On Saturday, the first semi final on court saw Pegula seal her spot in a WTA1000 final for the seventh time as she defeated Swiatek 7-5 4-6 6-4 in three tight sets. Then, Gauff produced an exceptional display to bring Bejlek’s great run in Cincinnati to an end. The American secured her place in an eighth WTA1000 final with a 6-4 6-1 triumph. That meant that for the first time since 1970 the women’s final in Cincinnati would be between two American’s. As the showpiece match commenced, Gauff made a phenomenal start and raced into a 5-0 lead. The fourth seed went on to claim the first set 6-2 and put herself in a great position to win a second Cincinnati title. In a much closer second set, Gauff edged it 6-4 to seal the trophy and her first title of the 2026 season. It was the perfect end to a sensational week for Gauff in a Cincinnati as she deservedly won this tournament for a second time. This success marked the fourth WTA1000 title of her career and sets her up very nicely for the upcoming US Open where she is a former champion.
In the men’s tournament, the draw was incredibly open due to the absence of 2025 champion Carlos Alcaraz and 2024 winner Jannik Sinner who are both currently injured. Normally one of those two would be the overwhelming favourite coming into an ATP Masters 1000 event but with neither of them in Cincinnati, it presented a big opportunity for everybody else. In the opening round there was a battle between two wildcard’s as Rinky Hijikata defeated Gael Monfils 2-6 7-6 6-3 in a highly-entertaining encounter. Meanwhile 2017 champion Grigor Dimitrov lost out in three sets against Sebastian Baez. Moving on to round two, the tournament’s thirty-two seed’s all entered the draw with top seed Alexander Zverev recording a 3-6 6-3 6-3 win over Cameron Norrie. Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic was in action for the first time since Wimbledon although he faced a tough draw against big-hitting Thiago Agustin Tirante. In a lengthy battle that was played in humid conditions, Tirante pulled off a huge victory to see off Djokovic in three sets. Also in round two, recently-crowned Montreal champion Ben Shelton made an immediate exit from Cincinnati as he was beaten 6-4 6-4 by qualifier Jaime Faria. In the third round, Zverev edged past Terence Atmane 7-6 7-6 to continue his tournament. Meanwhile, fourth seed Daniil Medvedev was beaten 6-7 7-6 6-1 by the in-form Brandon Nakashima. Round three was rounded out by a night session match-up between two exciting American’s in which France’s Tiafoe got past Learner Tien in three close sets. In the fourth round, Zverev found himself on the end of a defeat as Tommy Paul came back from match point down to beat the top seed 4-6 7-6 6-4. There was also a round four exit for the second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime as he went down 6-3 6-4 against Tiafoe. Elsewhere, Tirante’s fine form continued as he saw off fourteenth seed Jakub Mensik in three sets to reach the quarter finals of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time. In the last eight, Tirante’s memorable run in Cincinnati came to an end as he lost to twenty-first seed Arthur Fils. Elsewhere in the quarter finals, Flavio Cobolli booked his spot in a first ATP Masters 1000 semi final by defeating Paul 2-6 6-3 6-4. Meanwhile an all-American battle saw Nakashima come back from a break down in the third set to beat sixth seed Taylor Fritz 7-6 4-6 6-3. The semi final line-up was completed by Tiafoe who recorded a 7-6 7-5 victory over tenth seed Lorenzo Musetti. On Saturday in Cincinnati, Fils battled past Cobolli to progress into the first ATP Masters 1000 final of his career with a 6-3 6-4 win. Later on in the day, Tiafoe saved three set points before winning a close first set 7-5 against Nakashima. He then won the second set 6-3 to seal his place in a second ATP Masters 1000 final, both of which have come in Cincinnati. That set up a clash between two of the most exciting to watch players on the ATP Tour as Fils faced Tiafoe with them both searching for a maiden title at this level. As the final got underway, one break of serve was enough to settle the first set and it went the way of Fils as he claimed it 6-3. Next, Tiafoe responded brilliantly to win the second set 6-1 and force a decider. The match was being played at quite a pace with the opening two sets taking just fifty-four minutes. In the decider, an early break of serve for Fils broke Tiafoe’s resolve as the American began to tire. With firm control throughout the third set, Fils clinched the biggest title of his career with a 6-3 1-6 6-0 triumph. It was a well-deserved success for the young Frenchman who became the first player from his country to win an ATP Masters 1000 event since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2014. With Cincinnati now completed, attention switches to the US Open which begins next Sunday where players will compete for the last available grand slam trophy of the calendar year.
ARSENAL VS COVENTRY CITY (FOOTBALL)
Two of last season’s league champions went head-to-head on Friday night to open the new Premier Leahue season. Back in May, Arsenal won the Premier League for the first time in over twenty years, meanwhile Coventry City lifted the EFL Championship trophy. That success saw Frank Lampard’s side promoted to England’s top division after twenty-five years outside of it. Over the summer, both teams had spent money to strengthen their squad’s which meant there were an array of new signings making their league debut’s under the lights at the Emirates Stadium. One of those was Arsenal’s Christos Tzolis who was involved in the game’s opening goal in the fifteenth minute. The Greek winger stole the ball off Milan Van Ewijk on the left hand side and laid it off for Riccardo Calafiori who found Kai Havertz on the edge of the penalty area and the German provided a clinical finish to put Arsenal ahead. It was the perfect start for the champions as they weathered the early enthusiasm of their visitors and then dented it with a goal. Now it was crucial for Coventry to try and establish themselves in the game without going behind further. Although they weren’t able to do that as a strong run through the middle of the pitch from Declan Rice set Arsenal on the attack with the Englishman then playing the ball out to Tzolis whose cross from the left was parried by Coventry goalkeeper Carl Rushworth straight into the path of Bukayo Saka who tucked the ball into the net for Arsenal’s second goal. It was a simple finish for Saka as he, after ending his World Cup by scoring a hat-trick, opened his goal scoring account for the new Premier League season. Despite finding themselves 2-0 down inside twenty-four minutes, Coventry responded positively. First, Ellis Simms did well to get past Arsenal defender Gabriel before he was fouled by the Brazilian, earning Gabriel a yellow card and winning Coventry a free-kick right on the edge of the penalty area. Later in the half, a volley from Loum Tchaouna beat Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya but looped just over the crossbar, landing on top of the net. That meant that as the half time whistle blew at the Emirates Stadium, the home side held a 2-0 lead over their newly-promoted visitors. Any hopes of an unlikely comeback from Coventry were all but ended early in the second half when Martin Odegaard added Arsenal’s third goal. A neat move involving Odegaard, Saka and Ben White ended with the latter cutting the ball back for Odegaard to shoot from ten yards out and, although he scuffed his effort, it found its way beyond Rushworth and into the back of the net. Just like the first half, Coventry weren’t deterred by conceding though and they actually had more possession and were the team on the front foot for the remainder of the match. That made for an enjoyable end-to-end game with Arsenal forcing Rushworth to make some smart saves, meanwhile Coventry also called Raya into action. The visitors best chance to score came in the eighty-sixth minute when Victor Torp’s cross from the left was headed towards goal by substitute Jack Rudoni but Raya was able to deny him what would’ve been Coventry’s first Premier League goal for a quarter of a century. Ultimately though, the opening game of the new league season ended in a comfortable 3-0 triumph for the defending champions. It was a strong start for Arsenal as they looked to send out a message to their competitors that they’re ready to defend their title. In contrast, Coventry’s return to the top division ended in defeat but they could take positives from their performance and be relieved that one of their toughest fixtures of the season was now out of the way.
DUTCH GRAND PRIX (FORMULA 1)
After a three-week summer break, Formula 1 returned this weekend with the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort. Coming into the twelfth round of the world championship, Kimi Antonelli leads the way at the top of the driver’s standings, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. In addition to the regular points scored in Sunday’s Grand Prix, Zandvoort was one of this season’s six sprint weekend’s, meaning there were extra points available for the driver’s and teams on Saturday. In the sprint race, Russell triumphed from pole position with Charles Leclerc finishing second and Lando Norris in third. Later on in the day, qualifying for the Grand Prix took place with Norris clinching pole position for the second consecutive race. He would be joined on the front row by Russell, with Antonelli and Oscar Piastri directly behind them. The third row of the grid belonged to the two Ferrari’s of Hamilton and Leclerc, ahead of home hero Max Verstappen who started in seventh. On race day, there was some rainfall around thirty minutes before the race start which turned out to have an influence on the opening lap. As much as the rain had stopped by the time the racing began, there were still some damp patches on the track. Following a clean start off the line where Norris kept hold of the lead, whilst Antonelli snuck past his teammate Russell for second place, there was a huge crash for Verstappen as he spun in a wet area of track and was sent into the barriers. Thankfully the four-time world champion quickly reported that he was okay after a heavy impact, but it was an unfortunate end to what may be his final Dutch Grand Prix, since Zandvoort is set to leave the F1 calendar next year. That incident understandably caused a red flag and the remaining twenty-one car’s returned to the pit lane. As the race was set to get going again, there was a second retirement from the race as Oliver Bearman stopped his Haas on the formation lap due to an engine problem. When racing finally did resume, we had another standing start although this time Norris had Antonelli alongside him on the front row. As the lights went out for the second time, Antonelli reacted better than Norris and he claimed the inside line at turn one to take the lead of the race. Behind them, Piastri produced a wonderful move to cruise past Russell and up into the top three. In the laps that followed, the race began to settle down with Antonelli leading the field from Norris, Piastri, Russell, Leclerc and Hamilton. That was until lap eighteen when Mercedes opted to pit Russell in an attempt to undercut Piastri and it worked as the McLaren driver’s pit stop on the next lap was slow, allowing Russell to get back ahead of the Australian. On lap twenty-one, the top three of Antonelli, Norris and Leclerc all made their first pit stop’s, which saw Hamilton go through into the race lead. Although that was only temporary as the seven-time world champion pitted on lap twenty-five, allowing Antonelli to re-take top spot on the leaderboard. Whilst the order at the front looked fairly consistent after the first round of pit stops, we witnessed some sensational racing further down the field as Nico Hulkenberg, Arvid Lindblad, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda all squabbled over places nine to twelve with multiple changes in position across a thrilling four laps of wheel-to-wheel action. Eventually Hulkenberg was the driver to make ninth place his own and put some distance between himself and his rivals in that particular battle. On lap thirty-four, Leclerc found a way past Piastri to move up into fourth, before his teammate Hamilton also overtook the McLaren a lap later at turn one. Meanwhile, at the front, Norris was closing the gap between himself and Antonelli with the top two now comfortably ahead of Russell in third. Under pressure from Norris, Antonelli came into pit on lap forty hoping to pull off an undercut, although McLaren didn’t respond as Norris stayed out and built an advantage at the front. Seven laps later, Norris headed into the pits for his final change of tyre’s. Whilst Hamilton now held the lead, having not pitted for a second time yet, Norris was now behind Antonelli but on fresher tyres. In fact, within five laps, the top three of Hamilton, Antonelli and Norris were all within a second of each other on the track with the McLaren driver looking the fastest of the trio. On lap fifty-four, Norris made his move as he pulled off a magnificent overtake around the outside of turn one to sneak past Antonelli, before pulling alongside and past Hamilton on the run into turn eleven. The reigning world champion was now in the lead and he quickly set off down the road to increase his advantage over Hamilton and Antonelli. As we began the next lap, Antonelli overtook Hamilton to move into second place, however the drama wasn’t over as Esteban Ocon stopped on track, bringing out a virtual safety car. That prompted Antonelli, Hamilton, Leclerc and Piastri to head into the pit lane, giving them newer tyres for the remaining seventeen laps of the race. Those pit stops also saw Russell gain positions by staying on track as he now sat in second, albeit on harder and older tyres than those behind him. When racing resumed once again, it was now up to Antonelli on soft tyres to chase down Russell and Norris who remained on the hard compound. Despite being on a slower tyre, Norris actually managed to extend his lead at the front, whereas Antonelli quickly closed down the gap between himself and Russell. Team order’s given by Mercedes saw Russell let his teammate through on lap sixty-six which gave Antonelli six laps to close down an eleven-second deficit to Norris. Remarkably though, that gap grew bigger as Norris was putting in a stunning performance to solidify his position out in front. On lap seventy, a collision between the two Williams’ of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon left debris on the track which required a virtual safety car period. That proved very helpful for Russell as he tried to hold off the challenge of Hamilton in his rear view mirrors. With just over a lap to go, racing got back underway but Hamilton couldn’t find a way past his former teammate. As the chequered flag was waved, Norris secured back-to-back race victories with a sensational drive in Zandvoort. He was followed across the line by Antonelli, ahead of Russell, clinching a double podium for the Mercedes team. Behind them came Hamilton, Leclerc, Piastri, Liam Lawson, Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly in the top ten. Ultimately though the afternoon belonged to Norris who gained the perfect redemption after a DNF at this circuit twelve months ago to stand on the top step of the podium this year. That marked Norris’ thirteenth race win in Formula 1 and he became just the second driver after Antonelli to win consecutive races this season. In terms of the championship, Antonelli remains in top spot, meanwhile Russell moves into joint second as he is now tied with Hamilton on 183 points. Looking ahead, Formula 1 now takes a week off before returning in Monza on the 4th September.
SOUTH AFRICA VS NEW ZEALAND (RUGBY UNION)
A four-test match series between South Africa and New Zealand began on Saturday. Appropriately named the ‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour’, given the two nations are ranked as the top two on the planet, these four matches will see world champions South Africa host the All Blacks in the opening three games, before he fourth takes place in America. Coming into this first encounter, South Africa were slight favourites and they did win the most recent meeting between the two nations last September. As the opening match of the series kicked off at Ellis Park, the hosts got ahead inside the first four minutes thanks to a penalty scored by Cheslin Kolbe. However, they weren’t in front for long, as Will Jordan forced the ball over the try line to earn New Zealand five points. On thirteen minutes, South Africa scored their first try of the afternoon when Andre Esterhuizen spotted a gap in New Zealand’s defence and charged through it to run it for the try. With Kolbe then stepping up to send the resulting conversion attempt between the posts, the Springboks took a 10-5 lead. In a game which featured plenty of swings in momentum, the next scoring play came from the All Blacks as Tupou Vaa’i beat a player on the left wing before laying the ball off for Joshua Moorby to carry in for a try. It was a neat attacking move from the away side which, coupled with a successful conversion attempt from Ruben Love, saw them go 12-10 up. Inevitably, there was an immediate response from South Africa as they won a penalty in a scrum, which Kolbe kicked between the posts to post another three points on the scoreboard. That meant that at half time in the first test match between the world’s top two teams, South Africa were ahead by just one point. Moving into the second half, another penalty scored by Kolbe enabled the hosts to extended their advantage to 16-10. Then, almost straight from the kick-off, Fabian Holland charged down and blocked Grant Williams’ clearance before gathering the ball and carrying it over South Africa’s try line. That narrowed New Zealand’s deficit to one point and then they took the lead when Love directed the following conversion through the posts. Next came a sustained attack from the Springboks but they couldn’t break through New Zealand’s resolute defence who did well to keep them out. On fifty-seven minutes, New Zealand set away on an attack with Damian McKenzie charging into space and as much as he didn’t reach the try line, he did manage to win a scrum deep into South Africa territory. That proved crucial as from the resulting scrum, Luke Jacobson was able to force the ball over the try line to put the visitors further ahead. When Love then stepped up to add the extra two points with a successful conversion, New Zealand moved 25-16 up, giving them some breathing space on the scoreboard for the first time in the afternoon. With twenty minutes to go, the onus was now firmly on South Africa to fight back but they still couldn’t get through the resilient and well-organised defence of their opponents. Then, on seventy minutes, came a pivotal moment in the game as Marco Van Staden was sent to the sin bin for foul play. Furthermore, Cobus Reinach then joined him on the next play when he was also shown a yellow card, this time for a deliberate knock-on. With just thirteen players left on the pitch, South Africa’s chances of victory were rapidly diminishing. A seventy-fourth minute try from Jordan made certain of victory for New Zealand as they used their two-man advantage to create space for him to score a simple try down the left wing. The All Blacks added a further two points courtesy of Love’s conversion to add some extra gloss to a stunning victory. As the full time whistle blew in Johannesburg, New Zealand defeated South Africa 33-16 in the first test match of their tour. It was a phenomenal start to the series for the visitors and they will look to repeat their success next Saturday when the two side’s meet again.
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL ROUND (GOLF)
Week two of the FedEx Cup Playoffs on the PGA Tour took us to Missouri for the BMW Championship. Following victory for world number one Scottie Scheffler at last weekend’s St Jude Championship, the top fifty players on the PGA Tour moved on to compete in the second of three playoff tournaments. Not only are they fighting for the title at the BMW Championship but they’re also trying to clinch progression into next week’s Tour Championship, where only the top thirty players will be eligible to play. After the opening three rounds of play at the Bellerive Country Club, Wyndham Clark held a five shot lead at the top of the leaderboard. The American was seventeen under par for the tournament coming into Sunday. Behind him in joint second was both Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay who began the final round on -12. They were just one shot ahead of Christopher Gotterup and Gary Woodland on -11, whilst Collin Morikawa was still potentially in contention on -10. As the top six teed off in the final three slot’s of the day, Morikawa and Woodland both opened with two birdies each through the first four holes. Although Morikawa was then tripped up by a costly double bogey at the sixth hole, meanwhile Woodland dropped a shot at the seventh before hitting a double bogey of his own at the ninth. Those came either side of a birdie at the eighth hole, meaning Woodland sat at -12 at the conclusion of his opening nine holes, a shot ahead of playing partner Morikawa, who also picked up a birdie at the eighth. Behind them on the course, Gotterup got off to a mixed start with a bogey at the first hole being balanced off by a birdie at the fourth. Similarly, Cantlay was also trying to find a balancing act between birdies and bogeys by going one under par on four of his front nine holes, but one over on three other’s. That saw him remain second on -13 at the halfway point of his round. In the final leading group, McIlroy gained a shot through his front nine to join Cantlay on -13, whereas Clark struggled and hit two bogey’s which dropped him back to -15. Elsewhere on the course, Morikawa hit three bogey’s on his back nine but recovered with a spectacular eagle at the seventeenth hole. Playing alongside him was Woodland who matched par all the way through to the end of the round to remain on -12. In the middle pairing of the leading trio, a birdie at the eleventh hole helped Gotterup improve to -12, meanwhile a double bogey on the same hole cost Cantlay in his quest to chase down Clark’s lead. Despite that set back, Cantlay recovered well and ended his round with consecutive birdies on the last three holes to take the clubhouse lead with a total of -14 for the tournament. Back on the course, a bogey for Clark at the tenth hole, coupled with a birdie for McIlroy at the eleventh, saw them go joint top on -14 with seven holes left to play. That was still the situation at the top of the leaderboard as we entered the final three holes. Needing a first birdie of the day to become the outright leader, Clark delivered one at the sixteenth hole to move back onto -15. However, it was the seventeenth hole where the tournament was as good as decided as Clark found the hole in four shots, whilst McIlroy needed six. That birdie for Clark, along with McIlroy’s bogey, enabled him to stretch his lead to three shots over his playing partner and two shots over Cantlay’s final score. As the tournament concluded at the eighteenth hole, Clark signed off in style with a third consecutive birdie to clinch the BMW Championship title. The American ended the tournament on -17 with a final round that matched par and handed him victory. It marked a third PGA Tour win of the season for Clark who will now head into the final event of the season next week full of confidence. Behind him on the final leaderboard came Cantlay three shots back, with McIlroy a shot further back in third and the trio of Gotterup, Morikawa and Woodland all tied fourth on -12. Next, the PGA Tour heads to Atlanta for the Tour Championships where the 2026 FedEx Cup champion will be crowned.
TORINO VS AC MILAN (FOOTBALL)
Italy’s premier division got underway this weekend to kick off what is sure to be another fascinating season of Serie A football. On Sunday evening, AC Milan began a new era under head coach Ruben Amorim when they travelled to Torino. Following an underwhelming end to their last campaign where they missed out on qualifying for the Champions League, Milan opted to change coach over the summer. That provided Amorim with a great opportunity to get back into work after his bizarre tenure at Manchester United came to an end in January. Turning our attention to their hosts, Torino also enter the season with a new head coach after a mid-table finish last May. The new man in charge for them is Ignacio Abate, who is a former Torino and Milan defender. As the new season commenced for these two teams, it was a highly tactical encounter with very few chances created in the early stages. The first note-worthy opportunity for either side to score came in the thirtieth minute when Samuel Chukwueze cut in from the right wing and fired a shot towards the near post but it was well-stopped by Torino goalkeeper Diego Mascardi. That proved to be the closest we came to a goal in an evenly-contested first half where both teams preferred to focus on defensive solidarity. After half time, the game finally began to open up, particularly after the introduction of Luka Modric and Adrien Rabiot off the Milan bench on fifty-five minutes. The two veteran midfielders provided a spark which helped Milan finally break down Torino’s defensive shape. In the sixty-fourth minute, Rabiot’s deflected cross bounced kindly at the feet of Alphadjo Cisse who excellently controlled the ball with his first touch before directing a half-volley into the roof of the net with his second. It was a moment of quality from the Milan attacker as his neat piece of skill and superb finish saw the visitors go 1-0 up. Three minutes later, Milan then doubled their lead and unsurprisingly the two kid fled maestro’s were involved once again. A pass from Modric found Chukwueze in space on the right hand side and his cross was met at the back post by Rabiot who volleyed the ball past Mascardi for 2-0. Two goals in the space of three minutes sparked the game into life as Torino then began to show some attacking intent of their own. First, Alieu Njie set off on a magnificent run down the left wing which ended with him finding some space in the penalty area and firing a shot which cannoned off the near post. That was followed by a great chance for Pietro Comuzzo as he connected with Kian Fitz-Jim’s exquisite pass but sent his volley sailing over Mike Maignan’s crossbar. As we entered stoppage time at the end of the match, Torino finally got themselves on the scoresheet as Che Adams pulled off an audacious finish to direct Gvidas Gineitis’ free-kick into the net. The Scottish striker met the low cross with his back to goal and hit a volley which looped beyon the reach of Maignan and into the top corner. It was extraordinary finish but it proved to only be a consolation as Milan held on to seal a 2-1 victory. Following a tight first half, the quality of Modric and Rabiot turned out to be game-changing for the visitors as two goals in quick succession ensured they made a winning start to the new Serie A season.
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