Upsets

BIRMINGHAM — Aston Villa inflicted more misery on shell-shocked Manchester City on Saturday, defeating them 2-1 in the Premier League with goals from Colombian forward Jhon Duran and former City forward Morgan Rogers.

Villa rose above City into fifth place in the Premier League table, and the title holders dropped provisionally to sixth with their ninth loss in 12 games across all competitions.

Pep Guardiola's team could fall to as low as ninth by the end of the weekend and have just one victory to show from that 12-game stretch.

Mexican side Pachuca won the FIFA Challenger Cup match on penalties in Qatar on Saturday by edging Egyptian side Al Ahly 6-5 after a dour goalless draw following extra time and will face Real Madrid in next week's Intercontinental Cup final.

Pachuca won the shootout after missing their first two penalties to become only the second Concacaf team to reach the final of the competition against European champions Real, which takes place at the Lusail Stadium on Wednesday.

ASUNCION — A stunning bicycle kick from Antonio Sanabria and a second-half header from Omar Alderete gave Paraguay a well earned 2-1 home win over Argentina in the South American World Cup qualifiers on Thursday.

Argentina took the lead 11 minutes into the game when Enzo Fernandez's deep pass found Lautaro Martinez, whose thunderous shot was initially ruled out for offside, but was eventually awarded after a VAR review.

BOURNEMOUTH — Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson got on the scoresheet as the hosts held on for a stunning 2-1 victory over champions Manchester City on Saturday, ending the visitors' unbeaten streak in the Premier League at 32 games.

The loss dropped Pep Guardiola's City — who had not lost in the league since a 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa on Dec. 6 — to second in the table with 23 points after 10 matches, two points behind Liverpool. Andoni Iraola's side climbed to eighth on 15 points with their first victory over City in the club's history.

Vini Jr. is the people’s 2024 Ballon d’Or champ. If that makes it any better.

Monday morning struck the world with some of the biggest news of the year as reports revealed that ‘clear’ Ballon d’Or favorite, Vinicius Jr., was to not travel to Paris, France, for the prestigious award’s ceremony — meaning the star Brazilian and Real Madrid forward was imminently snubbed from taking the golden ball home.

BREAKING: Vinicius Jr will NOT travel to Paris as Real Madrid know he will NOT win the Ballon d’Or.

BOURNEMOUTH — A brilliantly-worked goal by Ryan Christie and a Justin Kluivert penalty gave Bournemouth a shock 2-0 Premier League win at home to 10-man Arsenal on Saturday, with Gunners defender William Saliba shown a straight red card in the first half.

The defeat brought Arsenal's unbeaten start to the league season to a shuddering halt and leaves them third in the standings on 17 points, one behind leaders Liverpool and behind Manchester City on goal difference, with both sides in action on Sunday.

LONDON — Greece beat England for the first time as striker Vangelis Pavlidis earned the visitors a richly-deserved 2-1 victory to put them in control of Nations League Group B2 at Wembley on Thursday.

While Pavlidis's winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time sparked wild celebrations among the Greek fans, England stand-in manager Lee Carsley got a sobering reality check.

Two victories since Gareth Southgate stood down had raised Carsley's stock as a likely full-time option, but after a ragged defeat at the hands of Greece, his hopes may have dwindled.

San Marino won their first ever competitive match by beating Liechtenstein 1-0 in the Nations League on Thursday, 20 years since their only other victory, also against Liechtenstein.

The Nations League D game was hardly a clash of the titans, with San Marino bottom of FIFA's rankings at 210th and Liechtenstein 199th, but Nicko Sensoli's goal in the 53rd minute will make him a national hero.

San Marino's only other success came in their 69th game, a 1-0 win over Liechtenstein in a 2004 friendly.

PARIS — Brazil reached the Olympic women's football final as they claimed a stunning 4-2 win over world champions Spain in Marseille on Tuesday and will face the United States for the gold medal.

Playing their sixth Olympic semi, Brazil capitalized on a number of Spanish defensive mistakes to reach Saturday's final at Parc des Princes where they will seek a maiden title against four-time champions USA.