Dublin, Mayo, Cavan and Tipperary - there is your line-up for the 2020 All-Ireland SFC semi-finals, following a day to go down in history. Tipp will play Mayo in the last four after they ended an 85-year wait to be crowned Munster champions for the 10th time yesterday, as they stunned Cork 0-17 to 0-14 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. And this morning Malachy Clerkin has paid tribute to their triumph in the face of adversity: "Every kind of wind imaginable was against them - and will continue to be against them. Cork and Kerry will still be around in 2021 and beyond. So will Tipperary hurling. Happy and all as people will be at such a heart-warming tale, the continued success of the Tipperary footballers is in the interests of none of those three interested parties." Meanwhile a day for the underdog continued as Cavan ended a 23-year wait of their own to secure the Ulster title thanks to a 1-13 to 0-12 win over hot favourites Donegal in Armagh. As Malachy Clerkin writes: "A Tipperary team with All-Ireland underage pedigree beating a coming Cork team is far-fetched but it's within reality's realm. Cavan taking down Donegal a couple of hours later, after so many years of empty campaigns - well that's just outlandish in the extreme."
Liverpool made light of a number of injuries yesterday to easily beat Leicester City 3-0 at Anfield and move up to second in the Premier League table, behind Tottenham on goal difference. Spurs now look genuine title contenders following Saturday's 2-0 win over Manchester City, and in his column this morning Ken Early has suggested the tables have turned between old rivals Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. He writes: "Mourinho returning from apparent irrelevance to win the league with Spurs would seem more like a wrestling storyline than a football one, but by now we surely know better than to rule it out." Elsewhere yesterday Arsenal hung on at Elland Road for a goalless draw with Leeds, after Nicolas Pepe was shown a straight red card for violent conduct during the second-half. In the day's early kick-off Everton were 3-2 winners over luckless Fulham while West Ham won 1-0 at Bramall Lane to ensure Sheffield United's wait for a win this season goes on. Tonight Burnley play Crystal Palace at Turf Moor (5.30pm) before Wolves take on Southampton (8pm).
The All-Ireland hurling semi-finals take place this weekend, with defending champions Tipperary's title defence over following their defeat to Galway on Saturday. Galway will now face 2018 winners Limerick this coming Sunday, and in his column this morning Nicky English has alluded to the size of the task facing the Tribesmen. This, he writes, is accentuated by playing in back-to-back weeks: "I've been to every championship match, featuring teams playing for the third weekend and all showed signs of fatigue: Dublin against Cork, Cork-Tipp and on Saturday, Clare-Waterford."
Elsewhere the FAI released a statement last night drawing a line under reports Ireland manager Stephen Kenny had shown an "anti-English" video to his players ahead of their recent 3-0 friendly defeat at Wembley. The statement read: "The FAI decided it was appropriate to look into the matter. Since then the FAI has had discussions with a number of staff members and players, including the team manager, Stephen Kenny . . . the board has accepted the explanations provided and considers that the matter is now closed."
Ireland were subjected to another sobering defeat at the hands of England on Saturday, with Eddie Jones's side running out comfortable 18-7 winners in their Autumn Nations Cup clash at Twickenham. But in the fallout head coach Andy Farrell has been determined to look for the positives from another afternoon where England's supreme physicality helped win the day. "Some lads were starting for the first time at Twickenham against a side that's playing so well like England. It's priceless. Even the lads that would be disappointed in their performance tonight, that's priceless as well."
And in the Pro14 yesterday Leinster notched up their latest win as they thrashed Cardiff 40-5 at the RDS. Connacht scored seven tries as they ran out 47-12 winners away to Zebre while Ulster edged the Scarlets 26-24.
