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Substitute Elijah Adebayo struck a stoppage-time equaliser as Luton fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. Chris Wood’s second-half double appeared to have set Forest on their way to a third league win of the season but Chiedozie Ogbene fired Luton a late lifeline and Adebayo rescued them a point in the second minute of added time. New Zealand striker Wood could have easily ended up with a hat-trick as he went close with two other headers while Luton’s Jacob Brown spurned a golden chance to equalise for the visitors when they trailed 1-0. Forest forced the early pressure as Wood’s early volley was held by Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski and Ibrahim Sangare headed narrowly over. Luton responded through Ogbene’s low cross, which narrowly evaded team-mates Carlton Morris and Brown. Morris fired a low shot wide as Luton made their intentions clear by committing men forward on the counter before another first-time effort from Wood deflected off Luton defender Teden Mengi for a corner. Luton’s former Manchester United forward Tahith Chong’s shot from outside the box was comfortably saved by Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner and Wood failed to get his header on target from Serge Aurier’s cross. Forest went close again on the stroke of half-time when Sangare somehow missed the target from Morgan Gibbs-White’s low ball across the six-yard box. But the home side broke the deadlock three minutes into the second period. Anthony Elanga threaded a neat through-ball into Wood’s path and the striker provided an emphatic left-footed finish. Wood should have made it 2-0 moments later when he headed Aurier’s excellent cross inches over before Luton spurned a golden chance to equalise, with Brown heading tamely at Turner from six yards. Wood appeared to have sealed the points for Steve Cooper’s side with a fine header from Elanga’s pin-point, in-swinging cross with 14 minutes remaining. But the Hatters refused to lie down. Their appeals for a penalty as Morris went down inside the box were dashed by VAR before Ogbene lashed home a volley from eight yards, which stood after another VAR check. Still the visitors were not finished. Tom Lockyer launched a long ball into Forest’s penalty area and Adebayo took it superbly on his chest before firing home to haul his side level in the second minute of added time. Read More Erling Haaland back among the goals as Manchester City return to winning ways Thomas Frank celebrates five years at Brentford with victory over 10-man Burnley Sasa Kalajdzic gives Wolves late win on Gary O’Neil’s return to Bournemouth Manchester City back to winning ways as Erling Haaland helps sink Brighton Daniel Kanu scores four in five-star Southend display against Solihull Newcastle romp to victory over Crystal Palace

Manchester City has gotten its Premier League title defense back on track with a 2-1 win over Brighton built on early goals by Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland

Erling Haaland got back on the scoresheet as Manchester City returned to winning ways with narrow 2-1 win over Brighton. After suffering successive defeats prior to the recent international break, the champions were in danger of falling to three consecutive Premier League losses for the first time under Pep Guardiola. That did not seem likely once play began at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday as early goals from Julian Alvarez and Haaland – his first City strike in four matches – put them on course for three points. A reply from Brighton substitute Ansu Fati 17 minutes from time made for a nervous finish – and tension increased when Manuel Akanji picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time – but City held on. For most of the game, City had looked more like their assertive selves with Rodri back after his costly recent suspension. The return of John Stones also brought more assurance, even though first-choice goalkeeper Ederson was on the bench after his recent international exertions for Brazil. Brighton have impressed under Roberto De Zerbi – of whom Guardiola continually speaks highly – but, for all their enterprising play, their defence is proving leaky and their openness was quickly exploited. Phil Foden troubled the visitors early on as he seized possession and broke forward to release the lively Jeremy Doku, who cut inside and curled over. The opener was not long in coming and again Doku glided through the defence to reach the byline and pull back for Alvarez. The Argentinian World Cup winner’s strike was not the cleanest but such is his confidence that his first-time shot had too much power as he beat Jason Steele for his seventh goal of the season. City maintained the pressure with another break from deep ending when Josko Gvardiol shot straight at Steele. Kaoru Mitoma had Brighton’s first opportunity but his tame effort was easily dealt with by Stefan Ortega and the Seagulls suffered a blow when Mancunian Danny Welbeck was forced off injured after 15 minutes. Haaland took further advantage of Brighton’s defensive weakness as he ended his recent – by his extraordinary standards – goal ‘drought’ by doubling City’s lead on 19 minutes. The Norwegian was given too much space as he powered towards the box before firing a left-footed shot into the bottom corner from distance. Alvarez attracted the attention of the VAR after a push on Pascal Gross but nothing was given and Doku threatened again when he beat veteran former City player James Milner but missed the target. Brighton started to show life early in the second half as Gross skewed a shot wide under pressure. Haaland latched onto a Foden pass just after the hour but his strike was beaten away by Steele. Mitoma had another good chance after getting behind the City back line but Ortega rushed out to block on the edge of the area. That was a warning City failed to heed and moments after Alvarez’s attempt to lob a stranded Steele dropped short, they were caught on a rapid counter-attack. Brighton quickly shifted the ball upfield and, although Mitoma’s attempt to pass into the danger area was cut out by Akanji, Fati was on hand to turn in the rebound. Brighton pressed to the end but struggled to create meaningful chances. Akanji’s late dismissal brought more jitters for the home fans, but City completed the job. Read More Luton fight back to stun Nottingham Forest and earn a point Thomas Frank celebrates five years at Brentford with victory over 10-man Burnley Sasa Kalajdzic gives Wolves late win on Gary O’Neil’s return to Bournemouth Manchester City back to winning ways as Erling Haaland helps sink Brighton Daniel Kanu scores four in five-star Southend display against Solihull Newcastle romp to victory over Crystal Palace

The sports world reacts to the announcement that Bobby Charlton, the World Cup-winning soccer great for Manchester United and England, has died at the age of 86

Footage of Bobby Charlton sharing his love for football has resurfaced following his death at the age of 86. The likes of Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer led tributes on social media for the England and Manchester United legend after the news was announced by his family on Saturday (October 21). The clip showed Charlton outside Old Trafford, looking back at the dramatic Champions League final of 1999. United were losing 1-0 as the game went past 90 minutes, with Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær scoring in added time to win the match. “We were a goal down with two minutes to go. I thought, ‘if we can just get the ball into the box…" Charlton said. “You can call it blind faith… we’ll win this still. I was convinced that we could win.” He then talked about goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel going up for a corner, which threw Bayern off. Charlton then went into great detail recalling the first goal, recalling how the ball fell to Ryan Giggs who put a ball into the box which fell to Sheringham. “I remember apologising to some people in front of me for jumping over them,” he said, remembering the celebrations. He then recalled the second goal, saying: “As the ball hits the net, for me it’s like the Earth stood still. I thought, ‘this is what paradise is all about’.” Charlton added: “Suddenly, the world is great again. I thought, ‘there is nothing ever going to be better than this’.” The legendary England footballer's family released a statement on Saturday saying: "It is with great sadness that we share the news that Sir Bobby passed peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning. "He was surrounded by his family. His family would like to pass on their thanks to everyone who has contributed to his care and for the many people who have loved and supported him. "We would request that the family's privacy be respected at this time." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

WOLFSBURG, Germany Bayer Leverkusen battled to a 2-1 win over hosts VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday with goals from

Argentina is serious about the Rugby World Cup third-fourth place game that nobody likes to play

Diontae Johnson is back for the Pittsburgh Steelers

Man United and England soccer great Bobby Charlton has died at the age of 86

Liverpool needed two late goals by Mohamed Salah to get past 10-man Everton 2-0 in the Premier League in a Merseyside derby dominated by refereeing decisions

Will Jordan would be content not scoring a try in the Rugby World Cup final as long as New Zealand wins it

The 2023/24 Premier League season is under way and you can follow every game and every goal right here with The Independent. This year sees Manchester City try to defend their crown and claim a historic fourth title in succession. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City, who also won the Champions League and FA Cup last season, will have to see off Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and the rest to claim an unprecedented sixth league title in seven years. Meanwhile Luton Town are making their first appearance in the Premier League, having risen from non-league in an incredible decade of progress. They followed Championship winners Burnley and second-placed Sheffield United in earning promotion to the top flight. Follow the latest action from the Premier League below.