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Opening-day results can set the tone for a season. Sometimes they don’t, however. Aston Villa’s heaviest defeat at the start of the season in almost four decades may have looked like an anomaly when they were destroyed by Newcastle. It certainly did eight days later. A game later, Villa have wiped out their goal difference. Hammered one week ago, today they inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Toffees. Everton were eviscerated. If there was a deceptive scoreline now, it was because the margin flattered Sean Dyche’s hapless team. They take the place at the bottom of the league that Villa had occupied: unlike them, they could stay there. Villa were terrific. Play like this and it is tempting to wonder how much higher a team who surged from relegation contention to seventh last season can go. Certainly, the ambition that accompanied Unai Emery’s appointment is reflected on the pitch. There was a speed of foot and thought, a sharpness and a style, an evident enthusiasm to suggest that the Spaniard’s impact will not be confined to his first few months. An eighth straight home win – the sort of statistic Everton can only dream of – came with a sense of normality. Villa Park now expects a side brimming with energy and ideas to secure this kind of result. They played with a confidence to bely three setbacks: the loss at St James’ Park and the loss of Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings. But Emery’s rebuilding job has taken on an auspicious look. Pau Torres cruised through his home debut. Moussa Diaby almost marked his with a stunning goal – Jordan Pickford excelling to turn a thunderous volley onto the post – and was still only the second most impressive former Bayer Leverkusen winger. Youri Tielemans was limited to a cameo: Villa’s midfield options are such that he may have to wait a little longer. But much of Emery’s brilliance has been reflected by his inheritance and how he has altered perceptions and results. Bailey has been an inconsistent presence, an expert at flattering to deceive in his first two seasons in the Midlands. An assist and a goal were allied with razor-sharp running. Bailey was a catalyst in a way he had been too rarely. The merits of Emery’s narrow 4-2-2-2 formation were shown by the first goal: one of the tucked-in, attacking midfielders crossed for the other to score, Bailey picking out John McGinn to finish from four yards. It is a system that also gives Villa a surfeit of players in the centre of the pitch and they cut through Everton; too easily, too often. There was a sense that Dyche’s team were too slow to react to everything, perhaps summed up when Pickford clattered into Ollie Watkins, rendering Nathan Patterson’s goal-line clearance from the striker irrelevant. Douglas Luiz has replaced Watkins on spot-kick duty – perhaps another illustration of Emery’s attention to detail and certainly rewarding a player transformed under his tutelage – and he converted from 12 yards. And yet, well-coached as Villa are, slick as some of their moves were, two of their goals stemmed simply from Everton errors. Maybe they were frazzled by Villa’s verve and relentlessness. There could be a few other excuses for Michael Keane’s twin mistakes: first, he only redirected a throw to Bailey, who dispatched a half-volley. Then, worse, came a wild swing at thin air, allowing Jhon Duran to run on and score a first Villa goal, 50 seconds after the introduction. It may have been especially welcome. Villa are well-stocked in several positions but not for out-and-out strikers. Watkins, who did everything but score, lacks a high-class deputy. His young understudy accepted the opportunity. Another substitute was more ill-fated: Philippe Coutinho was hamstrung and in considerable pain. Injuries have been Everton’s constant companion in recent years. On a day when virtually everything that could go wrong did, it was perhaps unsurprising that Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s comeback lasted a mere 37 minutes with the striker hurt after colliding with Emi Martinez. Alex Iwobi went off, too, while Idrissa Gueye’s removal was probably to stop him being sent off. Everton could argue last week’s loss to Fulham offered encouragement, in the number of chances created. This offered none, a side devoid of organisation and fight showing no quality. Maybe there was a deceptive element to their start, too: it could be worse than being beaten by Fulham at Goodison Park implied. Read More Eddie Howe relishing selection dilemmas as Newcastle prepare for packed season Aston Villa suffer another blow as extent of Tyrone Mings knee injury revealed Ashley Young embracing challenge of turning things around for Everton

The women’s soccer World Cup has now ended with Spain winning the final on Sunday. A goal from Olga Carmona saw off England in a 1-0 win for Spain. That result in turn sets up an exciting next match for Scotland’s women but blocks their chance of a world champion claim.It’s bee...

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday he wasn't aware of any "broad-based effort" by Donald Trump to declassify documents before leaving the White House.

Pete Alonso felt bad for throwing Masyn Winn's first MLB hit in the stands, so he made it up to the Cardinals rookie with a gift.When New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso threw Cardinals rookie Masyn Winn's first MLB hit into the stands, he received a chorus of boos inside Busch Stadium. ...

Texas Republicans passed measures this year to eliminate Harris County’s top election job and give the Republican secretary of state power to take oversight of elections in Houston

By Cassandra Garrison GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -Guatemalans began casting their votes on Sunday in a presidential run-off election that many

Over 12,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Tenerife after wildfires tore through the Spanish Canary Island.

The people of Ecuador are heading to the polls -- but they're voting for more than just a new president. For the first time in history, the people will decide the fate of oil extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Spaniards have erupted in joy after La Roja won the Women’s World Cup with some following coach Jorge Vilda’s call to take to the streets and celebrate Spain’s first major soccer title in more than a decade

Aston Villa bounced back from their heavy opening-day Premier League defeat by cantering to a 4-0 home win against Everton. Captain John McGinn and Douglas Luiz’s penalty gave Villa a 2-0 lead at the break and after second-half efforts from Leon Bailey and substitute John Duran, Unai Emery’s side put last week’s 5-1 loss at Newcastle behind them. It was all too easy for Villa as they cashed in on some wayward Everton defending, which prompted half of their fans to leave Villa Park long before the final whistle. Everton have lost their opening two games for the second successive season and their cause was not helped by the first-half withdrawal of the luckless Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The England striker, who scored only two goals last season after being dogged by injury, failed to recover from an early clash of heads with Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez and was eventually forced off in the 38th minute. Villa were without key players Tyrone Mings, Emi Buendia (both knee) and Jacob Ramsey (foot) due to long-term injury, but midway through the first half they had established a comfortable lead. McGinn fired them in front in the 18th minute, volleying home Bailey’s cut-back after the latter had wriggled his way to the byline. Villa doubled their lead from the penalty spot in the 24th minute after VAR ruled Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had taken out Ollie Watkins with a flailing arm. Watkins’ had moments earlier seen his shot cleared off the goal-line, while Pickford, making his 250th Premier League appearance, was booked for delaying the spot-kick, which was coolly dispatched by Douglas Luiz. England’s number one went some way to redeeming himself soon after when turning Moussa Diaby’s goal-bound volley on to a post. Everton troubled Martinez for the only time before the interval when a low, angled shot from Calvert-Lewin’s replacement, summer signing Arnaut Danjuma, forced the Argentinian into a near-post save. The visitors were forced into another change soon after the restart when Alex Iwobi hobbled off and was replaced by Neal Mapauy. It got worse for Everton in the 51st minute when Villa put the result beyond doubt. Bailey pounced after Everton defender Michael Keane had miscontrolled a throw-in into the box and fired home a low shot under Pickford. Watkins went close to adding a fourth when his angled effort rolled inches wide before Martinez superbly blocked Maupay’s close-range effort at the other end following a corner. Keane was caught out again in the build-up to Villa’s fourth, miskicking from former Villa defender Ashley Young’s throw-in and Duran ran clear to bury his first goal for the club, less than a minute after stepping off the bench to replace Watkins. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live We gave everything – Sarina Wiegman so proud despite ‘hard to take’ final defeat World Cup final in pictures: England fall to agonising defeat against Spain Katarina Johnson-Thompson on course for world championship gold

Kyle Harrison has long been the Giants’ most highly regarded prospect. He’s now being called up to the majors for his debut, sources tell FanSided.The San Francisco Giants are calling up left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, the team’s No. 1 ranked prospect, sources familiar ...

A fisherman was airlifted to hospital after being bitten by a blue shark 100 miles off the coast of Portugal. The fisherman, 35, from Indonesia, is recovering in hospital after the incident just west of Vila do Conde, according to local reports. It isn't currently known how he was bitten but it is possible the shark was hauled onto the boat in the nets, according to PortugalResident. An SOS call was sent and a Naval medical rescue helicopter was sent to the boat. The call was received on Wednesday 16 August evening and the man was transported to Porto airport, just before midnight. The man is in a stable condition. Blue sharks are not known for attacking people and in this case, it may have been because it was distressed. The British Sea Fishing website said: “Blue shark attacks on humans are extremely rare but have been recorded. "In total, on a worldwide basis, there are four confirmed cases of fatal blue shark attacks on humans with 25 confirmed non-fatal attacks.” A blue shark was spotted at Praia Beach in Espinho, Portugal last month. Locals and tourists had to clear the sea after the shark was spotted. It followed sightings of the same species of shark close to Spanish beaches the month before. Five sharks came close to the shoreline in different parts of Spain in June, within 10 days. The first incident took place on June 15 when bathers were filmed leaving the water Aquamarina beach in Orihuela south of Alicante. Also that day, a blue shark was spotted inside Ciutadella Port in Menorca. On June 24, another was filmed at a small cove in Ibiza called Calo des Moltons on June 24. Last Thursday, a swimmer was attacked at Rabdells Beach in Oliva, Valencia. It was reported that the shark had become "confused" and swam into shallow water. And on Sunday, beachgoers were distressed after two blue sharks were seen off the coast of Portbou in the Catalan border province of Girona. Following the incident, Portbou mayor Gael Rodrigues issued a message of reassurance saying: "Portbou beach is completely safe." Read More Shark attacks swimmer in shallows of popular Spanish holiday beach Shark lurks meters away from swimmers on French shore Lisbon travel guide: Where to eat, drink, shop and stay in Portugal’s vivacious capital Twila Kilgore tapped as interim coach for U.S. women's national soccer team Neymar set for Saudi move after Al Hilal agree near-$100M transfer fee with PSG AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa