■NETHERLANDS
Referee sends McClaren off
Former England coach Steve McClaren was sent off on Sunday in FC Twente’s 1-1 draw at Feyenoord in the Dutch league. Roy Makaay scored an injury-time penalty after Nicky Kuiper’s 74th-minute goal in a game dominated by McClaren’s ejection. The Twente coach was dismissed for storming onto the field to protest referee Roelof Luinge’s decision to caution Cheick Tiote after the Ivorian midfielder’s 58th-minute foul on Karim El Ahmadi. Also on Sunday, Toby Alderweireld, Dario Cvitanich and Ismail Aissati each scored to help Ajax beat Heracles Almelo 3-0. Heracles had Kwame Quansah sent off in the second half after picking two yellow cards inside six minutes. Twente and Feyenoord, both unbeaten after five rounds, are tied with PSV Eindhoven in second place with 11 points, one less than AZ Alkmaar. In other games, Balazs Dzsudzsak set up two goals for Danny Koevermans as PSV downed FC Groningen 2-0, and Kees Kwakman scored one goal and created another for Matthew Amoah to give NAC Breda a 2-0 win over SC Heerenveen.
■PORTUGAL
Sporting grab first victory
Liedson showed the form that earned him his first call-up to the Portugal national side on Sunday after leading Sporting to a 2-0 win over Academica — their first victory of the season. The Brazilian-born Liedson, a naturalized Portuguese citizen, headed home Pedrinha’s cross in the 64th minute. Academica defender Pedrinha was sent off in the 76th minute, before Yannick Djalo sealed Sporting’s first win from three matches with a goal in the 84th minute. Hugo Viana scored two goals for Braga as they beat Belenenses 3-1, extending their perfect start and moving to the top of the table. Mourtala Diakite’s own-goal put Braga ahead in the 28th minute, before Yontcha equalized with a header in the 51st minute. Former Portugal international Viana put Braga ahead on the hour before making sure of the three points with a cool finish three minutes into injury-time. Also on Sunday, Leiria and Maritimo played out a 0-0 draw, as did Leixoes and Rio Ave.
■GREECE
Panathinaikos go top
Costas Katsouranis scored the only goal of the game on Sunday as Panathinaikos beat a defensively minded Xanthi 1-0 and took sole possession of first place in the Greek league. Goals from Leonardo and Enzo Maresca gave defending champions Olympiakos a 2-0 win away at Larissa as they claimed their first points of the new campaign. Panathinaikos controlled play from kickoff, but could not find away past Xanthi’s sturdy defense until the 40th minute, when Katsouranis headed home a corner from Lazaros Christodoulopoulos. Also on Sunday, it was Giannena 2, Panthrakikos 0; Atromitos 0, AEK 1; and PAOK 3, Levadiakos 0.
■RUSSIA
Kazan extend their lead
Reigning Russian champions Kazan extended their winning streak in the domestic league when they notched up their fifth consecutive victory in beating closest rivals Spartak 3-0 on Sunday. The result consolidated Kazan’s lead of the Russian Premier League table with 43 points from 20 matches, four ahead of second-placed Spartak. FC Moscow sit third on 34 points. Kazan skipper Sergei Semak gave his club the lead, firing in a rebound from 20m past helpless Spartak goalkeeper Soslan Dzhanayev. Six minutes later, Kazan’s Argentine striker Alexandro Dominguez made it 2-0 with his 12th goal of the season from the spot. Alexander Bukharov netted the visitors third goal in the 58th minute with a header.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite