India lost the fourth test at Southampton to hand over the series to England who took an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the series. The series was meant to be Virat Kohli’s first big away test as a leader of the No 1 test side in the world, but it seems the champion player still needs to come up with better planning and talent to achieve success away from home. In football, the top European clubs were in action over the weekend, and the big names did not falter as they came away with vital wins. Let us take a look at the top sporting highlights from the last week.

Football

English Premier League

Chelsea, Liverpool make it four wins on the trot: Both Chelsea and Liverpool are in marauding form at the moment and notched up their fourth win on the bounce to make an early statement in the title race. Chelsea looked heading for a frustrating goalless draw at the Stamford Bridge as visitors Bournemouth looked solid at the back. But the deadlock was broken by Pedro in the 72nd minute while Eden Hazard cropped up with yet another goal in the 85th to hand Maurizio Sarri’s men a 2-0 win.

Liverpool was away at Leicester City and had a healthy 2-0 lead at halftime courtesy Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. But the talking point of the game was a howler from new signing Allison Becker who made a meal of a back pass in the second half to hand the home team a lifeline. Liverpool still went on to win 2-1, but the Red’s goalkeeper’s risk-taking play is in the spotlight early.

Manchester United win at last to hand Jose Mourinho some breathing space: Jose Mourinho saw his Manchester United team play fast and creative football away at Burnley as they came away with a 2-0 win. The result could have been much worse for Burnley had not it been the brilliance of goalkeeper Joe Hart who saved a Paul Pogba penalty and numerous other efforts by two-goal hero Romelu Lukaku. The only blip on the day for United was the sending off of Marcus Rashford who was shown the red for a headbutt on Phil Bardsley.

Manchester City beat Newcastle United yet again: Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker were on the scoresheet for Manchester City as they however still came up triumph over Newcastle United who had not beaten the Citizen’s away for more than a decade. It was 1-1 at the start of second hand the Magpies had plenty to play for, but a rocket from Kyle Walker got the City fans celebrating again. The omission of last season’s star Leroy Sane continues to be the real talking point, and the German would be hoping for a new lease of life post the international break. Sports Round-Up August 20 to 26: India at Asian Games 2018, Prithvi Shaw in Test Squad, Cristiano Ronaldo Misses Goal for Juventus Top Highlights This Past Week.

Italian Serie A

Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan win in the Italian Serie A: Juventus won away at Parma with goals from Mario Mandzukic while it was AC Milan who got morale lifting 2-1 win over top side AS Roma. Inter Milan dismantled Bologna 0-3 with new signing Radja Nainggolan getting the opening goal which marked a good week for the top teams in Italy.

Spanish La Liga

Barcelona hammer Huesca 8-2; Real Madrid beat Leganes 4-1: Barcelona was in the mood at Camp Nou against newly promoted Huesca who had taken a shock lead. Both Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez hit braces, and Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic and Ousmane Dembele found the back of the net too as Barcelona went top of the La Liga on goal difference. Arch rivals Real Madrid beat Leganes 4-1 at Santiago Bernabeu with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema getting the goals again for the Los Blancos.

Cricket

England beat India by 60 runs in the fourth test; Win series: England showed the world yet again why they are such a tremendous force at home when they defeated India by 60 runs in the Southampton Test. The win meant England have now registered yet another test series win at home against India who was weak with the bat in the fourth innings.

Set a target of 245, India were bowled out for 184 to meekly surrender yet again outside the subcontinent where they have failed to chase a target of 200 plus in the last three decades. The bowling of Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson and Man of the Match Moeen Ali were too hot to handle for the Indians who looked good for a brief interval during the partnership of Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli.

India’s inability with the bat and the failure to get the England tail bundled out quickly can be listed out as the main reason for the defeat. But, several players, particularly from the top order, have consistently failed in swinging conditions and a thorough introspect needs to be carried out for the future Australia tour. Sports Round-Up August 13 to 19: EPL Match Results, India's Resurgence Against England, and Bajrang Punia's Gold Medal at Asian Games Top Highlights This Past Week.

Tennis

2018 US Open

Serena Williams beat Kaia Kanepi in three sets to advance to the quarter-final: Serena Williams defeated Kaia Kanepi 0-6,6-4,3-6 in the round of 16 matches to set up a quarter-final match against Karolina Pliskova in the 2018 US Open. Serena Williams hit 18 aces in the game and overcame a stiff resistance offered by Kanepi in the second set where she found a way to break her serve and set up a thrilling third and final set.

Rafael Nadal reaches quarter-finals after defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili: Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili did well to win a set but was no match up against Rafael Nadal who took the game 6-3,6-3,6-7,6-4 in the round of 16 of the 2018 US Open. The game may have looked closer on paper, but in reality, there was a vast gulf in class between the two players with Nadal now facing Dominic Thiem in the quarters.

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic could meet in the quarters: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic could be on a collision course in the quarter-final stage of the 2018 US Open if they win their respective round of 16 matches. Both the former champions have been handed easy draws in the round of 16 with Federer facing Australian John Millman and Djokovic up against Joao Sousa of Portugal.

2018 Asian Games

India finishes with the best medal haul: As the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia came to a close, the Indian contingent finish with its best medal tally in the games. India won 15 Golds, 24 Silver and 30 Bronze to finish in the 8th place with 69 medals in the honours list. The Game set the pace for the future competition for India where it now knows it can not only actively participate but also conjure up decent medal haul. Several events which were not considered our best bet for a medal were our critical areas for success which are` a step ahead from the past.

We will be keeping track on all the sporting action lined up in the coming week and with the 2018 US Open reaching the business end and the International Friendlies coming up in football, the week promises to be a good one for fans.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 03, 2018 10:48 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).