Joshua stops Povetkin to retain world titles
Brit extends unbeaten record to 22 wins
But Lacazette ensured that lethargic spell wouldn’t prove costly when he smashed a sublime opener in the second half.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled Arsenal’s lead moments later when the Gabon forward was allowed to slot home despite being clearly offside.
That controversial effort shattered Everton’s resolve as Arsenal celebrated a flattering victory that lifted them to sixth place in the Premier League.
The north Londoners have now won their last five games in all competitions, yet, not for the first time, this was a far from convincing display.
A first clean sheet of the Emery era was a welcome sight for the Arsenal manager, but he will know there is still plenty of room for improvement in all areas.
Everton, without a win in their last 25 visits to Arsenal, could consider themselves unlucky, but their first half profligacy proved decisive.
Marco Silva’s team have lost their last two matches and have won only one of their six league games this season.
After a laboured start from Arsenal, they finally pieced together an incisive raid when Hector Bellerin’s cross found Aubameyang at the far post.
Aubameyang scuffed the ball back to Nacho Monreal and the Arsenal defender saw his strike pushed away by Everton keeper Jordan Pickford.
If that move show-cased the best of the attack-minded Bellerin, Everton’s next chance underlined the Spaniard’s defensive frailties.
A long pass into Richarlison should have been easy for Bellerin to subdue, but he allowed the Brazilian forward to turn away from him far too easily, and it took a good save from Petr Cech to spare his teammate’s blushes. LONDON, Sept 23, (AFP): Britain’s Anthony Joshua retained his world heavyweight titles by inflicting the first stoppage defeat of Alexander Povetkin’s professional career with a ruthless seventh-round finish at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
A previously close contest turned in Joshua’s favour decisively when he sent the Russian crashing to the canvas with a straight right hand and left hook. GLASGOW, Sept 23, (AFP): Celtic’s awful start to the season continued as Stuart Findlay’s header deep into stoppage time handed Kilmarnock a 2-1 win at Rugby Park. A second defeat in the Scottish champions’ first six league games, after also failing to qualify for the Champions League, leaves Celtic six points behind early leaders Hearts.
Brendan Rodgers’s men could also fall to sixth in the table should Rangers beat St Johnstone later at Ibrox to move ahead of their Glasgow rivals. Rodgers made six changes from the side that laboured to a 1-0 Europa League win
Povetkin gamely beat the count but Joshua piled in before referee Steve Gray stopped the contest at one minute and 59 seconds of the seventh round.
Victory saw Joshua extend his unbeaten professional record to 22 wins from 22 fights, with 21 knockouts in front of a raucous home crowd.
“Povetkin is a very tough challenger and he proved it tonight,” Joshua told Sky Sports.
“I realised he was strong to the head over Rosenborg in midweek.
Leigh Griffiths was recalled to the starting line-up after coming off the bench to grab the winner against the Norwegian champions and his diving header put the visitors in front 11 minutes before half-time.
Celtic posted a record turnover of £100 million ($130 million) this week, but their failure to strengthen in the transfer window despite selling star striker Moussa Dembele to Lyon is already being exposed in their bid for an eighth straight Scottish title. They have now scored just six times in their opening six games and but weak to the body.
“I got my knockout streak back, I found my right hand again.” Joshua was putting his International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organisation belts on the line against 39-year-old Russian challenger Povetkin.
This fight was the latest in a line of professional heavyweight title bouts, featuring the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman, between
Britain’s Anthony Joshua (right), lands a blow on Alexander Povetkin on his way to retaining his WBA, IBF and
WBO heavyweight boxing titles on Sept 22 at Wembley Stadium in London. (AP)
rarely looked like adding to their lead before Chris Burke fired in off the post from 20 yards to bring Kilmarnock level.
Celtic continued to dominated possession without seriously threatening, and were caught again by a sucker punch in the 93rd minute when Findlay stooped to head Burke’s corner into the far corner, sparking wild scenes of celebration from Killie boss Steve Clarke.
In four meetings with Rodgers since Clarke took charge just under a year ago, Kilmarnock have now beaten and drawn with Celtic twice. two former Olympic champions, with Joshua having won gold in front of his home crowd at the 2012 London Games – eight years after Povetkin stood atop the podium in Athens.
Joshua, 28, had a significant height and reach advantage of several inches over Povetkin.
Friday’s weigh-in also confirmed a significant size difference, with Joshua tipping the scales at 17 stone 8 pounds (111.5 kilogrammes) compared to Povetkin’s 15st 12lbs.
This fight saw Joshua returning to the scene of arguably his greatest triumph, an 11th-round stoppage of former champion Wladimir Klitschko last year.
Klitschko was the only man to have previously inflicted a blemish on Povetkin’s now 36-fight record, with a points win back in 2013.
Joshua, born in nearby Watford but based in London, had been taken the distance for the first time as a professional in his last title defense – a unanimous points victory over New Zealand’s Joseph Parker in Cardiff in March.
The undercard of that fight saw Povetkin serve notice of his formidable punching power with a sickening knockout of Britain’s David Price.
Povetkin, who in 2016 was given an indefinite ban from boxing after testing positive for the banned substance meldonium that was later cut to a year, had insisted in the build-up he was a far stronger fighter than the one beaten by Klitschko.
He was booed all the way into the ring by a partisan crowd while the smiling champion was roared in to chants of “Oh, Anthony Joshua” at a rain-swept Wembley.
But the first round ended with Povetkin, stooping low, rocking Joshua with a right uppercut that drew blood from the champion’s nose.
Joshua, who said Thursday that “my well is deep, my heart can definitely go through hell and back” was certainly being tested in the opening exchanges, although he did start to respond with some single-punch jabs.
And come the fourth round, Povetkin had a significant cut above the left eye.
Nevertheless, come the end of the sixth he was still in the contest only for Joshua to seal victory barely two minutes later.