Weekend Review: Arsenal are the king of the North as Canelo shows his quality again

Arsenal claimed the first bragging rights in the first North London derby of the season, while Canelo Alvarez made light work of his opponent again. 

Last Friday to Sunday was another weekend to remember as there were a variety of sporting events that kept fans glued to their seats. 

After the pesky international break that fans did not ask for, club football returned last weekend across Europe’s domestic leagues. 

Meanwhile, two major fights took place in Las Vegas on Saturday night.  Sunday had Formula 1 action on the circuit of Baku ahead of some NFL games and European club football. 

It was indeed a weekend that had everything in store for sports lovers. Having given a brief round-up of what happened over the weekend, Housebets highlights the creme de la creme of sporting events from last weekend. 

Arsenal is the king of the North 

The first installment of the North London derby this Premier League season took place on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

Spurs were hoping to end a run of four matches without a win against Arsenal, going into Sunday’s clash. 

However, the Gunners were looking to maintain their recent advantage over their North London rivals. Ange Postecoglou’s men started brighter, with Arsenal happy to cede the majority of the ball to the home side. 

Arsenal did find their bearing as the first half went on but neither side was able to find the breakthrough in the opening 45 minutes. 

The second half also went the same way the first half did but it was Arsenal that drew the first blood as Gabriel got better of Cristian Romero to head in from a corner kick. 

Spurs did try to find a way back, but despite their best efforts, Gabriel’s goal was enough to give Mikel Arteta’s men the win. 

McLaren reigns in Baku 

The Formula 1 train moved to Azerbaijan on Sunday, with Oscar Piastri claiming the victory for McLaren. 

Piastri beat Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in a race that had everything from start to finish. Leclerc had won the Italian Grand Prix a week before and it looked like he would make it back-to-back wins for the Italian manufacturer. 

Leclerc had taken pole in Saturday’s qualifying and led for the early part of the race before he was overtaken by Piastri. 

Piastri overtook Leclerc after the Ferrari driver’s sole pit stop. Although Leclerc tried his best to take control of the race again, Piastri did not cede ground. 

The McLaren driver eventually gained breathing space after Leclerc’s tyres faded in the closing laps. 

This situation effectively sealed Pistari’s position as the race winner, with Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell rounding up the podium. 

However, it was another disappointing race for the defending champion and championship leader Max Verstappen, who finished fifth. 

Canelo Alvarez beats Edgar Berlanga

Saul Canelo Alvarez retained his status as the unified super-middleweight world champion after beating Edgar Berlanga in their fight at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday. 

Canelo won the fight convincingly, even though it went to the judges’ scorecard. The Mexican won 118-109, 118-110 and  117-110. 

Although the first round was a cagey affair, the fight lit up in the third round when Canelo dropped Berlanga. 

Berlanga did try to show some fight but Canelo was just too much for him, With the victory, the Mexican improved to 62-2-2 while 27-year-old Berlanga, born in New York and of Puerto Rican heritage, is now 22-1.

Merab Dvalishvili ends Sean O’Malley’s reign 

A few miles away from the T-Mobile arena, another big fight took place on Saturday night in Las Vegas. 

UFC 306 had the honour of being the first UFC fight to take place inside the newly-built arena called The Sphere. 

However, it was a night to forget for Sean O’Malley as he lost his Bantamweight title to Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili. 

O’Malley was the slight favourite coming into the fight but he had no answers to Dvalishvili’s grappling. 

Dvalishvili set the tone for the fight right from the first land, landing a couple of strikes before taking down O’Malley. 

That was how the rest of the fight turned out, with O’Malley finding it difficult to figure out Dvalishvili. 

Although the fight went to the distance, there was no doubt that Dvalishvili was the unanimous winner.