Northampton Town beat Mansfield Town 2-1 at Sixfields after coming from behind to win the League One contest.

Rhys Oates had put the Stags in front, but second half goals by Jack Perkins and Tom Eaves turned the game on its head, and Kevin Nolan’s side would duly get the job done to win the match.

The result handed a boost to the Cobblers, who had lost their previous three outings in league and FA Cup. After 15 games, Nolan’s side have 20 points in the third tier, which has them sat 13th in the table. They are 5 points off the play-offs and 5 points clear of the relegation zone.

Seeking a reaction after being on the wrong end of an FA Cup upset at League Two Oldham last time out, Northampton had started brightly. Jordan Thorniley saw a header from Terry Taylor’s corner just go wide before former Cobblers keeper Liam Roberts denied Cameron McGeehan at close range.

But although the hosts had early chances, Northampton fell behind after 18 minutes. Will Evans’ pass released Oates, who saw a strike from the edge of the penalty area fly into the bottom corner.

Mansfield could’ve struck for a second time in the latter stages of the first half, with Stephen McLaughlin’s header both narrowly missing the target and failing to sit for the visitors’ George Maris to tap in.

Northampton picked up after the break and they scored to make it 1-1 8 minutes into the half. Conor McCarthy’s cross found McGeehan, who flicked on for Perkins to head home and bring the Cobblers back level.

Mansfield were close to retaking the lead when Maris, who replaced former Cobbler Tyler Roberts, was able to have a shot that only just narrowly missed the target.

But it would be Northampton that scored the game’s third goal. Frazer Blake-Tracy fouled Ethan Wheatley in the box, and from the penalty spot, home sub Eaves beat Roberts to put Northampton in front for the first time in the afternoon.

Lucas Akins headed straight at Ross Fitzsimons in the away side’s best chance for a leveller, while during nine minutes of stoppage time, the best chances fell for the home side as Wheatley fired wide before Roberts denied late Cobblers sub Elliot List.

But the home side did the job, as Northampton picked up the three points to return to winning ways after recent misfortune.

The Cobblers will now turn their attention to the EFL Trophy, when they welcome Shrewsbury to Sixfields, while with their next league game at Barnsley postponed due to international call-ups, Northampton’s next league assignment sees them host Cardiff on November 22nd.

Former MK Dons boss Liam Manning has been sacked by Championship side Norwich City.

The 40-year-old has been relieved of his duties by the side from Norfolk after a miserable start to the Championship season. Norwich have lost 10 out of their first 15 games of the second tier season, including all 7 of their home games at Carrow Road.

Manning’s dismissal was confirmed by Norwich earlier today (08/11) a few hours after the latest result, which saw the Canaries lose 2-1 at home to Leicester City.

The Canaries confirmed that assistant head coach Chris Hogg and first-team coach analyst James Krause have also left the club. The club have announced that first-team coach Ryan Garry, supported by goalkeeper coach Tony Roberts and set piece coach Nick Stanley, are to take charge on an interim basis until the appointment of a successor.

In a statement, Norwich City’s Sporting Director Ben Knapper said, “We have tried absolutely everything possible to work through this incredibly challenging period but, unfortunately, given the recent run of results and performances, we have been left with no choice other than to make a change at this stage.

“Liam and his staff worked tirelessly to move our football club forward. They are all fundamentally good people and we wish them the very best in whatever comes next.

“We very much understand the frustration and criticism from our supporters at this stage. So far, results and performances on the pitch haven’t been good enough. We accept that responsibility, but it’s now imperative that we start to repair the relationship with our supporters and do everything we can to give them something to get behind.”

Manning had moved from Bristol City to Norwich in the summer after an impressive season at Ashton Gate last season, in which the Robins finished 6th and reached the second tier play-offs for the first time since 2008.

However, Norwich have struggled under Manning’s watch, picking up just 2 wins from their league matches so far this season. They have also failed to win since August 30th, and had lost 7 of their last 8 games, with the exception being a draw against bottom side Sheffield Wednesday.

Manning previously managed MK Dons between August 2021 and December 2022, which was his first role as a senior manager in English football after impressing in Belgian football.

He took the Dons to third in League One in his first season at Stadium MK, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion and losing to Wycombe in the play-offs, before he then left the Dons in December 2022 after a difficult start to the following campaign as the Dons struggled to an eventual relegation.

Luton Town continued their upturn in form after a 3-0 win over League One leaders Stockport County at Edgeley Park.

Jake Richards, Cohen Bramall and Isaiah Jones did the honours for Jack Wilshere’s outfit, in a game that also saw Luton keeper Josh Keeley save Nathan Lowe’s penalty in-between the second and third Luton goals.

Victory in Greater Manchester means Luton have won four games in a row in all competitions, with the Bedfordshire club up to 9th position, sitting 3 points off the play-offs.

In a clash between two teams who have the nickname The Hatters, it was the home side who were busier in the opening phase.

Stockport, who had taken top spot after being unbeaten in 7 League One games, had early chances, with Callum Camps and Jack Diamond having strikes blocked by Luton defenders.

The hosts pressed in the opening half-hour, with Lowe firing one strike wide when well-placed and another denied by Luton keeper Keeley, before Kyle Wootton missed the target from close range.

But having kept Stockport from opening the scoring, Luton struck the opening goal of the game just after the half-hour mark. Bramall’s cross was not cleared by Stockport and ended up falling the way of Richards, who was able to bundle the ball home for his first Luton goal.

Luton would then make it 2 goals in 4 minutes. A foul on Jones on the edge of the box gave the visitors a free-kick and Bramall’s perfectly placed free-kick beat Stockport keeper Ben Hinchcliffe to make it 2-0.

Both sides came close to adding a further goal after the break, with Stockport’s Wootton missing the target from close range before Hinchcliffe made the stop to deny Luton’s Nahki Wells.

Stockport were awarded a penalty ten minutes after half-time after a foul by Jones on Odin Bailey, but the hosts failed to convert it into a goal back as Keeley made the save to deny Lowe from 12 yards.

The visitors then made it 3-0 with just over 20 minutes to go, as Richards fed Jones, and the Luton right-back charged forward before firing into the back of the Stockport net.

Stockport’s miserable day got worse when Owen Dodgson was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Gideon Kodua, meaning the hosts had to spend the final phase of the game a player down.

Luton will aim to continue their momentum next weekend, as the Hatters welcome Rotherham United to Kenilworth Road next Saturday.

Red Bull would take points but no victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix’s sprint event, with Max Verstappen taking a 4th place finish.

Verstappen had won the previous two sprint races in Belgium and the United States, but there was no joy for him in Brazil as he finished 4th, in a race where he was unable to get onto at least the sprint podium in a chaotic race at Interlagos.

For his 4th place finish, Verstappen picked up 5 points, which sees him lose a little ground on championship leader Lando Norris after the McLaren was victorious in the sprint event, with second place man Oscar Piastri crashing out.

Teammate Yuki Tsunoda made limited advances after starting from the pit-lane, with Tsunoda finishing in 13th position, but primarily thanks to the misfortune of others.

Ahead of the full distance Sao Paulo Grand Prix taking place tomorrow (09/11), Verstappen remains third in the standings. The Dutchman is 39 points behind championship leader Norris, 30 behind Piastri and 62 ahead of George Russell.

Tsunoda sits 17th in the standings on 28 points, with the Japanese driver currently 7 ahead of former Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly in the Alpine and 2 behind RB’s Liam Lawson and Haas’ Esteban Ocon, who are level on points.

The second-to-last sprint race scheduled for 2025 marked part of one of the final race weekends of the year, with only 3 races of the season left after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend.

Verstappen began the race in 6th after struggling in sprint qualifying, while Tsunoda was taken off the grid and starting from the pits after Red Bull made set-up changes.

Off the line, Verstappen was able to pass Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, although he initially settled in-between the veteran Spaniard and Russell.

Things then took a dramatic turn on lap 6, as Piastri crashed from third on the track into turn four after getting caught out by damp areas around the curb on the edge of the corner. Verstappen himself was picked up as having nearly lost the car in this section, though he was able to carry on. By contrast, two others weren’t so lucky, with Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto also crashing. The Sauber would continue while the Alpine would retire on the spot along with Piastri.

A red flag was duly brought out, with racing resuming with a rolling restart after a lengthy delay to proceedings. On that, Verstappen very nearly got involved in incidents after running wide, though he was able to stay ahead of Alonso. He was however unable to catch Russell, with the Dutchman spending the remainder of the race after the resumption stuck in fourth.

Tsunoda meanwhile remained in the lower section of the order. He was able to gain places from 19th on the grid, but all places gained came through the misfortune of others. This included Hulkenberg following his spin in the early stages, Liam Lawson after the RB was given a penalty for a first lap collision with Ollie Bearman and Alex Albon after the Williams suffered a puncture at the start of his last lap. That came after Albon picked up the front wing of Gabriel Bortoleto, who had an enormous crash in his Sauber at the start of the final lap, although he was able to walk away ok.

Red Bull’s attention now turns to the full-length Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which takes place at 5pm tomorrow but where they will be on the back foot after both drivers suffered eliminations in the first part of qualifying. Verstappen could only qualify 16th while Tsunoda qualified 19th, setting the slowest time of all as 20th place Bortoleto didn’t take part in qualifying at all.

This was Verstappen’s first time being eliminated in the first part of qualifying since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, albeit that time was in a race where he did not set a time due to pre-planned engine penalties. It was also the first time since 2006 where Red Bull have seen both cars eliminated in the first part of qualifying in a race.