Odegaard injured, Italy fans snub Israel, and Coldplay, what happened overnight in world of sport
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard hurts ankle in Nations League ahead of critical early week for Gunners, Italy fans turn backs on Israel team
Very much a feeling of calm after the storm on this one. A chaotic Sunday, when there was more sport than you could shake a hockey stick at, gave way to a gentler Monday.
Still, some things haven’t changed. Kevin De Bruyne is still raging against the fact he and the Belgium team are getting old, and was far from soothed by his side’s 2-0 loss to France overnight.
And important players are still getting injured in early-season internationals; my commiserations to the Arsenal fans out there. Here then, is what happened while you were sleeping.
Two from two
Italy continued their post-Euro 2024 recovery with a tight 2-1 Nations League win over Israel in Budapest which put the Azzurri top of Group A2.
Goals in each half from Davide Frattesi and Moise Kean were enough for Italy to win in a subdued atmosphere at the Bozsik Arena which hosted the fixture because of Israel’s war with Gaza.
Luciano Spalletti’s team have reacted well to their disastrous European Championship title defence, which ended at the last-16 stage, and deserved their second win in a matters of days.
The only other matter of note was the small cluster of Italy fans turning their backs to the pitch when the Israeli national anthem was played.
Haaland scores, Odegaard hurt
After drawing a blank against Kazakhstan last week, Erling Haaland scored his 32nd international goal in just 35 games as Norway beat Austria 2-1 - but he had to wait 2½ minutes for it to be confirmed.
