In pictures: five big winners from a huge weekend of sport

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady lifts the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LV

(Image credit: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

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1. Stokes: ‘Root makes us feel pretty rubbish’
2. Scotland win at Twickenham for first time since 1983
3. Foden on fire as Man City hit four at Anfield
4. Brady leads the Bucs to glory at Super Bowl LV
5. ‘Vintage’ Serena stars on day one of Australian Open

published 8 February 2021

It was a massive weekend of sport with major events and fixtures taking place across four different continents.

Thanks to time zones and scheduling, sports fans in the UK were able to enjoy 66 hours of non-stop action on the TV, The Guardian reported. Sporting events such as England’s first Test in India, Six Nations rugby and the NFL’s Super Bowl all featured in a memorable few days for armchair supporters.

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England captain Joe Root celebrated his 100th Test appearance by hitting a superb 218 runs in the first innings of the first Test against India in Chennai. The 30-year-old’s fifth double century of his career - and second in three Tests - meant he became the first batsman to score 200 in their 100th Test match. Root “sent India on a leather hunt”, said the Hindustan Times as he reached his double-ton with a six off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin. Root’s current form with the bat and technique against spin makes his England team-mate Ben Stokes feel “pretty rubbish”, Sky Sports reports. “He makes us all feel pretty rubbish with how easy he makes batting look,” said Stokes. “He is in phenomenal form. The way he dominates spin is incredible to watch.”

“The Calcutta Cup is coming home,” Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted on Saturday. It was a historic weekend for Scotland’s rugby union team as they got their Six Nations campaign off to a perfect start with an 11-6 victory over old rivals England. Full-back Stuart Hogg says the victory has “lifted the nation” and means a “huge deal to us all”. The first win at Twickenham since 1983 was the “most complete and authoritative Scottish performance I have seen in my life”, former England scrum-half Matt Dawson said on the BBC.

Manchester City made a huge statement as they beat defending champions Liverpool 4-1 at Anfield to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Ilkay Gundogan made amends for his first-half penalty miss by scoring a brace for Pep Guardiola’s City. Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden were also on the scoresheet while Mohamed Salah replied for Liverpool. Nicknamed the “Stockport Iniesta”, Foden was in superb form as he set up Sterling’s close-range header and also scored a superb individual goal. The 20-year-old “bewitched” Liverpool and staked his claim as the “best young player in England”, said The Guardian’s Barney Ronay.

Another year, another Super Bowl ring for legendary quarterback Tom Brady. Now 43 years old, Brady is celebrating his seventh win in the NFL’s showpiece fixture after leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday night’s Super Bowl LV. Brady, who is considered the NFL’s “GOAT” (greatest of all time), was congratulated by many sports stars after the game. And it was another “GOAT”, tennis star Roger Federer, 39, who led the praise on Instagram: “What an inspiring achievement. @tombrady age is just a number.”

The first tennis grand slam of the year, the Australian Open, has started in Melbourne. A small, unmasked crowd on Rod Laver Arena were able to witness a “vintage” performance from Serena Williams as she won 6-1, 6-1 against Germany’s Laura Siegemund, the BBC reports. Williams, 39, is bidding to win a record-equalling 24th grand slam and after the 56-minute first-round victory she said: “This was a good start, it was vintage Serena.” On day one in Melbourne there were also victories for Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic.

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Mike Starling is the former digital features editor at The Week. He started his career in 2001 in Gloucestershire as a sports reporter and sub-editor and has held various roles as a writer and editor at news, travel and B2B publications. He has spoken at a number of sports business conferences and also worked as a consultant creating sports travel content for tourism boards. International experience includes spells living and working in Dubai, UAE; Brisbane, Australia; and Beirut, Lebanon.