Weekend Review: Ryder Cup rollercoaster sees Europe retain trophy with in-Shane finish 

Team Europe (4/6) emerged victorious in the 2025 Ryder Cup, beating Team USA 15-13 after a dramatic final day of play at Bethpage Black.  

Luke Donald’s side won each of the first four sessions to take a commanding 11.5-4.5 lead heading into the final day, the largest lead ever enjoyed by Europe in Ryder Cup history. 

However, Team USA found themselves on the brink of the biggest comeback in the history of the prestigious event, after winning five and drawing one of the first seven matches.  

Ludvig Åberg beat Patrick Cantlay 2&1 to get Europe’s first point of the final day, before Shane Lowry birdied the final hole to claim a half point against Russell Henley and see Europe retain the cup.  

Tyrrell Hatton, in match 10, got Europe to the 14.5 mark to victory, becoming the fifth European team to win an away tournament and the first since 2012.

Bet365’s Steve Freeth quipped the weekend’s action was just as frantic for the bookmaker. 

He said: “There were a few Shane Lowry-esque celebrations from the in-play traders when Europe finally sealed the Ryder Cup with the USA liabilities mounting on the final day.  

“It felt like how far for 1/80 Europe after day two, but the sea of red on the leaderboard saw the hosts shorten from 45/1 into 11/2, triggering panic stations at bet365 Towers and Bethpage alike. Luke Donald’s side drifted to 4/11 before sealing a memorable victory. 

“The pre-game team weren’t as fortunate because it was one-way traffic before Friday. Europe were backed into 6/5 to lift the trophy and 17/10 in the three-way market, with many punters believing an away win was very much on the cards. They were ultimately proven correct, though by a smaller margin than it looked on Saturday night.” 

Alex Firth, senior trader at Midnite, added: “Europe looked home and hosed in the Ryder Cup on Saturday night but it proved to be anything but as Sunday came around with USA mounting a strong comeback to make the European players and fans sweat.  

“Ultimately though, Europe had done the hard work they needed on the first two days to win the Ryder Cup 15-13. Europe were 6/4 outsiders pre-tournament start and were, unsurprisingly, the most popular selection with punters at Midnite.” 

In football, Liverpool dropped their first points of the Premier League season after losing 2-1 to Crystal Palace (3/1) at Selhurst Park.  

Federico Chiesa’s late equaliser appeared to cancel out Ismaïla Sarr’s opener, but a 97th minute winner from Eddie Nketiah sealed the three points for the FA Cup holders.

Arsenal (5/4) capitalised on the result the following day, closing the gap to Liverpool to two points with a 2-1 win away at Newcastle.  

Headers from Mikel Merino and Gabriel capped off a comeback for Mikel Arteta’s side, after Nick Woltemade’s first half header gave the hosts the lead.  

BOYLE Sports’ Brian O’Keeffe remarked on how the results affected the early odds for the Premier Leage title. 

He said: “Gabriel’s last-gasp winner at St James’ Park will not only have given Mikel Arteta’s side a renewed belief – but two huge late goals in two weeks has seen them backed by our traders.  

“They’re now our favourites for the Premier League title at 6/5, edging ahead of Liverpool, who sit at 7/4. With the Reds suffering a first loss of the season at Crystal Palace, Arsenal clearly found that infamous ‘bottle’ at just the right time.” 

The weekend’s action kicked off with Brentford (9/4) beating Manchester United 3-1 to pile more pressure on Ruben Amorim.  

A late Erling Haaland double helped Manchester City (1/5) on their way to a 5-1 thrashing of Burnley.  

The league’s other newly promoted sides fared better over the weekend, with Leeds drawing 2-2 at home to Bournemouth, and Sunderland (15/4) beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the City Ground as Ange Postecoglou searches for his first win in charge of the East Midlands outfit.  

Aston Villa (5/4) picked up their first win of the season with a 3-1 victory at home to Fulham.  

Chelsea were on the wrong end of that scoreline, losing 3-1 at home to Brighton (5/2) after picking up a second red card in successive games.  

Spurs left it late to rescue a 1-1 draw at home to Wolves to round out the weekend’s results.  

Freeth said it was bet365’s “best Premier League Saturday” of the season, with the favourites faltering throughout the day.

He noted: “We started with 11/10 Manchester United at Brentford and finished with 1/2 Spurs at home to Wolves, sprinkled with Evens Chelsea, 17/20 Liverpool and 8/11 Nottingham Forest in between. Of all the favourites, only Manchester City were marked as winners on Saturday, which was unlikely to cause any significant impact at 1/6.”

On the tough set of results for punters, Frith said: “Another weekend which saw all 3pm kick-offs have both teams to score but some less favourable results for punters as Chelsea imploded from 1-0 up as Trevoh Chalobah saw red for a last-man challenge after a mistake from Andre Santos. Brighton were 25/1 for that scoreline pre-match. 

“Liverpool eventually had some late luck against them as Crystal Palace clinched all three points thanks to a 97th-minute Eddie Nketiah goal. Crystal Palace were as big as 40/1 before the goal, which gave Arsenal an opportunity to close the gap on their title rivals on Sunday.”

Betfred’s Alan Firkins added: “It was Arsenal not Liverpool who excelled in snatching a crucial Fergie-time winner this week up at Newcastle in the 96th minute. A late corner (inevitably) nodded home by Gabriel, with keeper Pope neutralised in the general scrum around him. 

“Meanwhile leaders Liverpool suffered a 2-1 reverse at Palace who staged a late late show of their own – a 97th-minute Eddie Nketiah strike with virtually the game’s last kick. Great result for the books this one, as was Brighton’s 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, and Wolves’ point at Spurs.  

“Brentford trashed Manchester United 3-1, piling the pressure upon beleaguered manager Ruben Amorim, and Sunderland’s win at Nottingham Forest was another to note. Decent weekend’s results all told in the Premier League, and Liverpool’s lead is cut to just three points.” 

Across Europe, Harry Kane scored his 100th goal for Bayern Munich (1/10) in a 4-0 win over Werder Bremen.  

By reaching the landmark in his 104th game for the Bavarian side, Kane became the fastest player to hit a century of goals for a side in a top five European league, breaking the record previously held by both Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Bayer Leverkusen (13/10) ran out 2-1 winners away at St Pauli, while Dortmund (1/1) won 2-0 away at 10-man Mainz.  

In Spain, Real Madrid relinquished their 100% record in La Liga by losing 5-2 in the Madrid derby to city rivals Atlético  (21/20).  

Barcelona (9/25) were able to leapfrog their rivals to go top of the table thanks to a 2-1 win at home to Real Sociedad.  

In Serie A, AC Milan (17/20) went to the top of the table after beating reigning champions Napoli 2-1 at the San Siro.  

Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Atalanta, while Inter (12/25) won 2-0 away at Cagliari.  

PSG (1/5) maintained top spot in Ligue 1 thanks to a 2-0 victory over Auxerre, while Lyon (11/5) stayed hot on their heels with a 1-0 win away at Lille.  

Remarking on the weekend’s European results, Freeth said: “I always wince whenever I see high scoring games like Atlético Madrid’s 5-2 win over Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt’s 6-4 victory at Borussia Monchengladbach, but there was enough around the continent to also make it a profitable weekend in Europe. 

“In Serie A, we had 19/20 Juventus dropping points at home to Atalanta with 4/9 Como doing the same against Cremonese, 23/20 Fiorentina drawing 0-0 at Pisa and Lecce scoring in injury time to grab a draw versus 4/6 Bologna. It wasn’t all one-way traffic though, with victories for 1/2 Inter, 2/5 Roma and 17/20 Milan. 

“In La Liga we had Real Madrid losing their perfect record in the Madrid derby, with Barcelona’s victory taking them to the top of the table after the 4/11 shots won from behind against Real Sociedad. 

“Thilo Kehrer’s first half red card played a part, as 10/11 Monaco lost at Lorient with other hotpots like 7/10 Toulouse and 11/10 Nice failing to register three points. Just like at Manchester City, 1/5 PSG’s win didn’t really cause a dent.”