Tipperary are All-Ireland senior hurling champions for the 28th time, after they beat great rivals Kilkenny 3-25 to 0-20 in Croke Park yesterday afternoon. After an even first-half Liam Sheedy's side blew away the Cats after the break, outscoring them 2-16 to 0-9 to lift Liam MacCarthy for the third time this decade. A tight encounter - in which the Dublin weather flickered between heavy rain and glorious sunshine - turned on the 33rd-minute sending off of Kilkenny's Richie Hogan, and Tipp more than made the extra man count. Malachy Clerkin writes: "The over-arching question at the break was what damage the red card would do to Kilkenny, and it took no more than jig-time to get an answer. Tipperary didn't so much get a run on them as inhabit them. They invaded Kilkenny's personal space, insulted the very idea of it." Meanwhile Keith Duggan writes that Sunday's victory means this Tipp side will surely go down as one of the county's greatest: "Just like that, this complicated generation of Tipperary hurlers come shouldering into contention as worthy heirs to the ghosts of the 1950s and 1960s, those tough and brill-creamed forefathers against whom they are constantly compared." And Nicky English suggests the tide of the match was already turning in Tipp's favour before the sending off - and he pays tribute to Sheedy and his side: "The slickness of the hurling has been obvious but the power of the defence is really what Tipperary have brought to Croke Park in the last month with the full ferocity of the county's traditional back play: great in the air and physically powerful, they have built the platform."

Elsewhere Frank Lampard is still searching for the first win of his Chelsea tenure, after the Blues were held 1-1 by Leicester City at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Chelsea took an early lead through Mason Mount but had to settle for a draw after Wilfred Ndidi's 67th minute equaliser. In the day's earlier kick-off, promoted Sheffield United beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Bramall Lane thanks to John Lundstram's goal just after half-time. Tonight, Manchester United travel to play Wolves at Molineux (kick-off 8pm). Meanwhile in his column this morning Ken Early has looked at ongoing controversy surrounding VAR, following Manchester City's 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Saturday evening. City had a late winner chalked off for dubious Aymeric Laporte handball, with the decision taking 75 seconds to make. He writes: "The bigger question is why anyone would think these VAR calls - the type that led to dubious penalties being awarded out of the blue in the 2019 Champions League final and the 2018 World Cup final - represent an improvement on what went before."

Elsewhere Shane Lowry's season is over after he carded a final round of 69 in the BMW Championship to finish on five under par and in a share of 48th place. This saw him slip from 25th to 32nd in the FedEx Cup rankings and means the British Open champion won't be heading to Atlanta for next week's Tour Championship. A final round of 68 saw Justin Thomas win by three strokes from Patrick Cantlay at Medinah, while Rory McIlroy finished in a share of 19th place after a disappointing final round of 71.

And a rain-affected second Ashes Test at Lord's ended in an absorbing draw yesterday, with England falling four wickets short of forcing a sensational final day victory. Ben Stokes scored a fine century as the hosts declared on 258-5 before Australia - without captain Steve Smith, who was pulled from the match with concussion symptoms - survived on 154-6. Smith's concussion replacement Marnus Labuschagne held the Australian innings together in the face of another thrilling Jofra Archer spell, with the England debutant taking 3-32. The next Test gets underway at Headingley on Thursday.