My sporting month: September 2011

Ah, September. The end of summer. The beginning of autumn. The conclusion of the last major events of the year in tennis (the US Open) and cycling (the Vuelta a España). The start of the quadrennial highlight in one leading sport. The resumption of hostilities in the qualifying campaign of another. Events all over the world ranging from one of the northernmost countries in Europe to one of the most eastern nations in Asia. And a first encounter between the most successful and longest-serving manager in English football’s top division and a newcomer less than half his age. It should be quite a month. Here’s what I’ll be watching this month.

1. Euro 2012 qualifiers – Bulgaria vs England (2nd), England vs Wales (6th)

England‘s qualifying campaign for next summer’s European Championships resumes with a double-header against the bottom two teams in group F, with victory in both games essential if they are to stay ahead of Montenegro in the race for the one automatic qualification spot.

A day before the anniversary of a 4-0 drubbing at Wembley courtesy of a Jermain Defoe hat-trick, Fabio Capello‘s men will travel to Sofia without key midfielders Steven Gerrard and Jack Wilshere in search of a repeat win over Bulgaria. Four days later they will host Wales, who have lost all four of their matches to date, including a 2-0 defeat to England in March which was more one-sided than the scoreline suggests.

2. Rugby World Cup (starts 9th)

Over the course of six weeks, 20 teams will battle it out in New Zealand for the right to succeed South Africa as rugby union’s world champions. In 2007 the Springboks ground down defending champions England 15-6 in a dour game, while the tournament’s surprise package Argentina repeated their opening night upset of hosts France with a 34-10 victory in the bronze medal match.

The balance of power in world rugby currently resides firmly with the southern hemisphere sides, with New Zealand hopeful of taking full advantage of their position as hosts to win their first World Cup since they co-hosted the inaugural tournament in 1987. Australia will look to carry forward the form which saw them win the Tri-Nations last weekend to claim their third World Cup, with South Africa also seeking to become the first country to take a hat-trick of victories. It will be a major surprise if England, France or any of the northern hemisphere countries come out on top.

The group phase occupies the whole of the first month, with the final taking place in Auckland’s Eden Park on October 23rd.

3. Manchester United vs Chelsea (18th)

This is more than just a clash between two of the Premier League’s heavyweight teams. Coming just three weeks after Manchester United thrashed Arsenal 8-2 in a battle between the division’s two longest-serving managers, this game is a tussle between the old guard, 69-year old Sir Alex Ferguson, and the new generation as represented by new Chelsea boss André Villas-Boas, who at 33 years old is the youngest manager in the Premier League.

It is too early in the fixture list to call this a season-defining match, but it will certainly lay down a marker for the rest of the campaign. Will the wily old fox – whose team this season has received a fresh injection of youth in the shape of Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley – have too much for the latest pretender to the throne, several of whose players are barely younger than he is?

Cancellara will defend his time trial world title

4. Cycling road world championships (19th-25th)

Copenhagen plays host to the cycling’s road world championships for the fifth time in its history (but the first since 1956) on a relatively flat course which offers major opportunities for British glory. In the men’s events, Thor Hushovd (road race) and Fabian Cancellara (time trial) will defend their rainbow jerseys with Mark Cavendish, supported by a full-strength British team, a major favourite for the former.

In the women’s races Britain’s Emma Pooley (time trial) and Italy’s Girogia Bronzini (road race) are the defending champions. Lizzie Armitstead and former world and Olympic champion Nicole Cooke will be Britain’s main hopes in the road race – the pair finished ninth and fourth respectively in Melbourne last year.

5. Singapore Grand Prix (25th)

The battle for the Formula 1 drivers’ championship may be all but mathematically over – Sebastian Vettel‘s seventh win of the season in Belgium moved him 92 points clear with a maximum of just 175 still available – but that will not diminish the spectacle of Singapore’s night race, the first of five consecutive grands prix following the end of the final European race in Italy a fortnight before.

In last year’s race Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso just managed to hold off eventual world champion Vettel by less than three-tenths of a second to claim the hat-trick of pole position, fastest lap and race win. It was a victory significantly less controversial than his previous one for Renault in the race’s maiden outing in 2008, when he took first place after teammate Nelson Piquet Jr was ordered to crash by the team to force a safety car period. That provided the platform for Alonso to charge through the field from 15th on the grid. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is the only other driver to have won in Singapore.

The week in numbers: w/e 19/12/10

24 – Age of Rushden and Diamonds goalkeeper Dale Roberts, who was found dead having hanged himself on Tuesday.

136 – India were bowled out for 136 in the first innings of the first Test at Centurion. It was their third-lowest ever score in South Africa. Morne Morkel took a career best 5/20.

Sachin Tendulkar - 50 Test tons

50 – Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to score 50 Test centuries as India battled to avoid an innings defeat. He finished on 107 not out at the end of day four on Sunday.

26 – Phil Taylor made a hesitant start to his defence of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship. He hit just 26% of his doubles in beating Gary Mawson 3-0 in his first round match.

14 – Number of minutes for which Stuart Attwell took the teams off the pitch during the second half of Ipswich Town‘s game against Leicester City on Saturday evening. Ipswich were leading 3-0 at the time. They eventually resumed, and the game finished 3-0, ending a run of six consecutive defeats for Roy Keane‘s side.

1 – A P McCoy became the first jockey to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award last night, polling 42% of the public vote – four times as much as runner-up Phil Taylor. Heptathlete Jessica Ennis was third.

The Ashes in numbers

9 – Australia stumbled to 28/3 in their first innings. It was only the ninth time in Test history that a side has been reduced to under 30-3 in their first innings in consecutive matches.

6 – Mitchell Johnson‘s first innings haul of 6/38 represented his best ever bowling performance against England.

Mike Hussey - six straight Ashes innings of 50+ (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

6 – Michael Hussey has scored over fifty in each of his last six Ashes innings, the only man ever to do so. In his five innings in this series he already has 517 runs at an average of 103.4 in this series.

109 – England collapsed from 78/0 to 187 all out in the first innings. The 109 runs separating the first from the last wicket represented their worst such sequence ever at Perth …

100 – … Until they went from 23/0 to 123 all out in their second innings, losing ten wickets for just 100.

123 – England’s second innings total of 123 was the seventh-lowest ever at the WACA, and the joint second-lowest recorded by England in Perth (112 in 1998).

6 – This was Australia’s sixth consecutive win over England at the WACA.

The Premier League week in numbers

Sir Alex Ferguson - United's longest-serving manager

24 – Alex Ferguson passed Matt Busby‘s record of 24 years 43 days to become Manchester United‘s longest-serving manager last week.

11 – Arsenal have failed to win any of their last 11 meetings (in all competitions) with either Manchester United or Chelsea. They lost 1-0 at Old Trafford last Monday night.

1 – Junior Stanislas‘s 74th-minute equaliser for West Ham at Blackburn was his first goal of the season.

27 – West Ham have gone 27 away games without a win, the second longest run in Premier League history.

9 – Sunderland‘s 1-0 win over Bolton was their ninth clean sheet of the season. It is already two more than they achieved in the whole of last season.

The NFL week in numbers

297 – After 297 consecutive regular season starts over 19 years, quarterback Brett Favre was forced to miss the Minnesota Vikings‘ 21-3 loss to the New York Giants.

4:26 – The San Diego Chargers came within 4:26 of recording consecutive shutouts for the first time in their history. Nonetheless they easily defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-3.

DeSean Jackson scored on a punt return as time expired

1 – DeSean Jackson‘s 65-yard punt return touchdown as time expired was the first time in NFL history a game has been won on by a punt return on the final play of regulation. Philadelphia scored 28 points in the final 7:28 of the game to stun the New York Giants 38-31.

26 – The Detriot Lions defeated Tampa Bay 23-20 in overtime to snap an NFL-record 26-game road losing streak. It was their first road win since October 28th 2007 (at Chicago).

6 – In losing 17-14 in Buffalo, the Miami Dolphins became the first team in NFL history to start a season 1-6 or worse at home and 6-1 or better on the road.

3 – Teams who have qualified for the post-season, with two weeks still to go until the end of the regular season. The Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers joined the New England Patriots last night. The Chicago Bears can join them if they win tonight.

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, The Times, @StatManJon, and NFL.com.)

The week in numbers: w/e 12/9/10

Kim Clijsters won her third US Open title

14 – Since her return from retirement, Kim Clijsters has won all 14 of her singles matches at the US Open, winning back-to-back titles to add to her 2005 victory. She crushed Vera Zvonereva 6-2 6-1 in Saturday’s final.

3 – Roger Federer‘s new world ranking after his US Open semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic. It is the first time he has been out of the top two since 2003.

89 – Pakistan recorded their lowest ever Twenty20 total in Tuesday’s defeat to England in the second of their two T20 matches.

7 – England’s victory in that game was their seventh consecutive T20 win, equalling the best sequence in T20’s short history, set by both Pakistan and South Africa in 2009.

3.4 – In seconds, the length of time Fernando Alonso‘s Ferrari was stationary during his only pit stop in yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix. Jenson Button had pitted a lap earlier, stopping for 4.2 seconds. The Ferrari pit crew’s speed was enough to leapfrog the Spaniard into a lead he would not relinquish.

24 – Number of points separating Formula 1 championship leader Mark Webber from his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel in fifth after yesterday’s race. There are 25 points available for a race win.

Mark Cavendish (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

2 – Mark Cavendish became only the second British rider (after Robert Millar) to record a stage win in each of cycling’s three Grand Tours by winning stage 12 of the Vuelta a España on Thursday. For good measure, he won the following day too.

967 – Wayne Rooney‘s goal against Switzerland on Tuesday ended an international goal drought of 967 minutes stretching back 12 matches.

10 – Emile Heskey‘s longest run of England starts without a goal. Rooney’s goalless sequence ended at 11.

1 – In his seventh England appearance, Darren Bent registered his first shot on target in international football – and scored from it.

23 – Jermain Defoe has still never played a full 90 minutes for England, after 23 caps.

Stephen McManus spared Scotland's blushes with a 97th-minute winner against Liechtenstein

97 – Scotland did not take the lead against Liechtenstein in Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifier until the 97th minute. They won 2-1, with Stephen McManus scoring the crucial late winner.

36,000 – The whole of Liechtenstein’s 36,000 population could fit into Scotland’s Hampden Park – and still leave 16,000 seats empty.

22 – Argentina beat Spain 4-1 in an international friendly in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, despite the losers registering 22 shots to just seven for the home side. It was the first time Spain had conceded four goals in a game since 2000.

10 – The All Blacks have now won their last ten meetings against Australia. They came from 22-9 down with 20 minutes left to win 23-22 in their final Tri-Nations encounter. New Zealand finished the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record.

1 – Barcelona lost 2-0 at home to newly promoted Hércules, meaning they have already equalled the one defeat they suffered during the whole of their 2009/10 La Liga-winning campaign.

3 – Darren Ferguson‘s Preston North End were leading 3-1 at Burnley on Saturday, but conceded three goals in the last six minutes to lose 4-3.

The Premier League week in numbers

2 – Sir Alex Ferguson‘s Manchester United were leading 3-1 at Everton on Saturday, but conceded two goals in injury time to draw 3-3.

48 – Everton have attempted 48 shots in their last two games (against Aston Villa and Man Utd) – but secured only one point.

8 – Arsenal have now won their last eight Premier League games against Bolton, scoring 21 goals and conceding seven. Bogey team? Not any more.

Alex Song (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

1,000 – In scoring the third goal in their 4-1 win over Bolton, Alex Song registered the 1,000th Premier League goal for Arsenal under Arsène Wenger.

24 – Carlos Vela‘s goal for Arsenal ended a sequence of 24 passes, the most for any Premier League goal so far this season.

10 – Bolton forward Kevin Davies has been booked more times against Arsenal (ten) than any other opponent.

24 – Blackpool‘s 2-0 win at Newcastle ended their hosts’ run of 24 straight home league games without defeat.

4 – Newcastle’s James Perch became only the second player ever to be booked in each of his first four Premier League appearances.

4 – Sunderland have conceded four goals so far this season, all in the last 15 minutes of games. Wigan‘s Antolin Alcaraz scored his side’s goal in Saturday’s 1-1 draw in the 87th minute.

5 – Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole was shown his fifth Premier League red card since the start of the 2008/09 season, more than any other player in that time.

4 – On the three previous occasions that Chelsea have won the Premier League, they have won their opening four games – a sequence they equalled with their 3-1 win at West Ham.

5 – Yesterday’s 0-0 result was the fifth consecutive Premier League draw between Birmingham and Liverpool.

The NFL week in numbers

New Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll

3 – The Seattle Seahawks‘ new head coach Pete Carroll completed a hat-trick of debut wins in his first game with his third NFL team (also New York Jets and New England Patriots). The Seahawks’ 31-6 win over the San Francisco 49ers meant he has won those three games by a combined score of 95-16.

48 – The Green Bay Packers recorded their first win at Philadelphia in 48 years, when Vince Lombardi was in his fourth season as Packers head coach.

12.2% – Percentage of games won by the St Louis Rams since the start of the 2007 season (won six, lost 43). The Rams lost 17-13 to the Arizona Cardinals last night.

9 – By beating Cincinnati 38-24, the New England Patriots raised their record in home openers at Gillette Stadium to 9-0.

Tom Brady (image courtesy of Keith Allison)

21 – New England quarterback Tom Brady has now won his last 21 starts in regular season home games.

5 – The Houston Texans recorded their fifth straight win (dating back to 2009) in outlasting the Indianapolis Colts 34-24, setting a new franchise record for consecutive wins.

31 – Despite losing, the Colts’ Peyton Manning had 40 pass completions, compared to just nine for Matt Schaub. It was the largest differential in completions by opposing quarterbacks who played the entire game since at least 1960.

50 – Rashard Mendenhall’s 50-yard scoring run was the longest overtime rushing TD run since Herschel Walker had a 60-yard score for Dallas in 1987. Final score: Pittsburgh 15 Atlanta 9.

8 – By losing 38-13 to Tennessee, the Oakland Raiders lost their eighth straight season opener, the longest active streak in the NFL.

151 – Matt Forte’s 151 receiving yards in Chicago‘s 17-14 win over Detroit was the second-highest total by a Bears’ running back in franchise history, and the most in nearly 63 years. (George McAfee had 157 receiving yards vs the Rams in December 1947).

(Some statistics courtesy of @OptaJoe, @optajim, @StatManJon and NFL.com.)

There will be no ‘Week in numbers’ next week, as I am on holiday. Normal service will be resumed the following week.