Weekend sports review including Anthony Joshua, Liverpool and a dead heat photo finish

Horse racing

We have to start with a historic renewal of the William Hill Ayr Gold Cup which resulted in the first dead-heat in the race's long, illustrious history.

It looked unlikely a furlong out as favourite Son Of Rest burst clear close to the stands' rail but Baron Bolt thew down a persistent challenge and they couldn't be separated no matter how long the judge studied the photograph.

Here's the full report with reaction from both winning jockeys and the official print of the photo finish which proved that history had indeed been made.

Heavy rain at Newbury took a toll on the ground but the Saturday card still served up plenty of drama, Kessaar continued on his upward curve by winning the Mill Reef and Young Rascal made his first appearance since an Investec Derby flop a winning one by edging out Mirage Dancer in a dour, tense tussle down the straight.

There was to be no fairy-tale farewell from Take Cover but he was carried out on his shield in finishing second to Mr Lupton. Owner Andrew Hollis immediately announced his retirement although trainer David Griffiths wasn't convinced it was the final act from his stable stalwart.

The weather did not spoil the fun at the Newmarket Open Weekend and Graham Clark got some great news lines from John Gosden on Sunday. They included the tantalising prospect of Roaring Lion heading to the Breeders' Cup Classic, confirmation Cracksman will join Enable in the Arc field if the ground isn't fast and the Darley Dewhurst Stakes is the next port of call for Too Darn Hot.

Boxing

Anthony Joshua stole the show on Saturday night when defending his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles with a devastating knockout of Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium.

It was far from plain sailing, though, with the Russian challenger putting up a fearsome display and inflicting some early damage on Joshua whose nose was bleeding badly following a big shot from Povetkin.

Nevertheless, Joshua weathered the early storm and gradually began to take control of the bout before downing his opponent in ruthless fashion in the seventh round.

Speculation is rife as to who Joshua will face next but Deontay Wilder and Dillian Whyte would appear the most likely candidates.

In fact, Joshua is asking fans who he should face next, with a Twitter poll:

Earlier on the card, there were comfortable points victories for Luke Campbell and Lawrence Okolie meaning our boxing tipster Chris Oliver was on the money with each of his three selections on Saturday night.

Football

Liverpool maintained their perfect start to the season with a 3-0 win over Southampton, while Sergio Aguero marked his 300th Man City appearance - and celebrated a new contract - with a goal in Manchester City's 5-0 thrashing of Cardiff.

Manchester United were held to a draw at home to Wolves, but it was in the stands which was most important as it saw Alex Ferguson return to Old Trafford for the first time since emergency brain surgery in May. Great to see him back.

Elsewhere, Burnley got a first victory, Leicester returned to winning ways and more - click here for the full round-up from Saturday.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Arsenal made it four wins in a row as they beat Everton 2-0 and Chelsea's 100% start was brought to an end as they drew at West Ham - more here on both of those games.

In other news, it was a successful weekend for the Sporting Life Accumulator, with our 10/1 four-fold consisting of Nottingham Forest, Charlton, Doncaster and Exeter providing the goods.

In case you did not know, the Sporting Life Acca is an accumulator we carefully select each week - and sometimes in busy midweeks - with enhanced odds thanks to our friends at Sky Bet. Check back with us on Friday to see our selections for next weekend.

In case you missed it...

Check out this stunner from Aston Villa's John McGinn in the Sky Bet Championsip. A goal of sheer beauty.

More football news:

• Scottish Premiership news: Rangers 7/2 to win title after Celtic drop points again
• Jose Mourinho: Manchester United manager blames player attitudes for draw with Wolves
• Mike Ashley: Aaron Wan-Bissaka hit by bottle thrown by angry Newcastle fans at Selhurst Park
• Sky Bet Championship round-up: Birmingham beat leaders Leeds, Forest win late & Stoke pay the penalty

Golf

Tiger Woods won his first tournament in five years when lifting the season-ending TOUR Championship.

Woods had clear daylight between himself and the chasing pack when starting his final round and with many of his main rivals failing away, the American was always in control as he went on to claim his 80th PGA Tour title.

Tom Lewis held his nerve on a thrilling final day of the Portugal Masters to land his second European Tour title.

Lewis looked in danger of throwing his title chance away when driving into the water at the 17th but a marvellous recovery saw him save par with a 30 foot put and he was always in control thereafter.

Darts

Gary Anderson thrashed Peter Wright 11-4 in the Champions League of Darts final to lift the trophy for the first time.

It's his third big TV major of 2018 having also won the UK Open and World Matchplay earlier this year. What a player, although it's his last-gasp victory over Michael van Gerwen in his final group game which made it possible!"

Anderson is now 15/2 with Sky Bet to win next week's World Grand Prix and 5/1 to win the World Championships.

Tennis

Dominic Thiem claimed the 11th ATP World Tour title of his career with a comfortable victory over Martin Klizan in the final of the St Petersburg Open.

Thiem had lost all three of his previous matches against Klizan, but the top seed had no such trouble on Sunday as he eased to a 6-3 6-1 victory in just 68 minutes.

More tennis headlines

• Karolina Pliskova claims Pan Pacific Open title
• Team World keep their Laver Cup hopes alive
• Andy Murray to call early end to his season

Rugby Union

In the Gallagher Premiership, Exeter maintained their 100 per cent start to the new campaign while there were also wins for Bristol and Bath.

Read our full Gallagher Premiership round-up here.

Rugby League

Castleford booked a semi-final spot against Wigan thanks to a dominant victory over Wakefield while St Helens bagged an away win when they travelled to Warrington.

Widnes were relegated from the Super League following their defeat at the hands of Toronto while Hull KR were humbled by Toulouse.

We have all the weekend's Rugby League action covered in our review.

NFL

The Cleveland Browns finally gave their fans something to smile about when winning their first game in the NFL for 635 days.

Baker Mayfield was the hero as he inspired his side to a 21-17 win over the New York Jets.

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