The Stagcom 31st October Round Up
Happy Halloween, lads! Over the course of the weekend, we were served up some treats, but also witnessed a horror show in the cricket.
We'll take you through all of the important sporting action from the weekend just passed...
Still Tight at the Top
The Premier League is still wide open at these early stages and it is hard to say who the title favourites are this year. Manchester City remain top on goal difference after returning to winning ways at West Brom on Saturday with a 4-0 win. Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan both scored a brace as City were at their devastating best when going forward.
Arsenal are just behind City on goal difference after a 4-1 drubbing of rock-bottom Sunderland. Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud both scored twice for Arsenal; with the Frenchman's quick fire double coming in just seven minutes shortly after being introduced as a substitute. It will now be interesting to see if Arsenal can maintain their early season good form throughout November, a month where the Gunners have traditionally struggled in recent seasons.
Liverpool are third on goal difference after a comfortable 4-2 away win at Crystal Palace. Jurgen Klopp's side raced into a 2-0 lead after early goals from Emre Can and Dejan Lovren, but the game was soon levelled at 2-2 after a James McArthur double. Liverpool central defender Joel Matip restored the away side's lead just before half-time and Roberto Firmino sealed the win just after 70 minutes.
Chelsea complete the top-four after ten games and sit a point behind the other three. Antonio Conte saw his team produce an assured performance to beat in-form Southampton 2-0 at St. Mary's - Eden Hazard and Diego Costa with the goals.
Hanging on in There
Lewis Hamilton kept his slim title hopes alive with a straightforward victory in the Mexican Grand Prix yesterday. Aside from an early scare, Hamilton was unchallenged on route to victory with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg finishing in second place.
With two races remaining, Hamilton still remains 19 points adrift of Rosberg with 50 points available. The reality is that Rosberg could still finish second to Hamilton in the remaining races and claim the title!
Collapse in the Cricket
England suffered a batting collapse in their second innings of the second Test against Bangladesh to suffer an embarrassing defeat. The win was Bangladesh's first ever Test win over England who had looked set for a comfortable win until after tea on day three.
England had bowled out Bangladesh for 296 in their second innings meaning a score of 273 was required. Alastair Cook and Ben Duckett both hit half centuries as England brought up 100 without losing a wicket. But, after tea, it was a different story as England lost all ten wickets for a disastrous 64 runs to finish on 164 all out!
There is little time for respite for England as the first Test of their tour of India begins in just nine days!
Another Murray Win
Andy Murray took another step towards becoming world number one after winning the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Murray defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 7-6 (8-6) in the final to continue his impressive run of form.
The equation is now simple, if Murray can win the Paris Masters next week and Novak Djokovic doesn't make the final, the Scot will become the new world number one. The three-time Grand Slam winner and twice Olympic champion has never been top of the world rankings before.
Image credits: City Watch, BBC Sport, Sky Sports Cricket, Live Tennis