SOCCER
Flares end Dutch match
The match between bitter rivals AFC Ajax and Feyenoord was on Sunday abandoned after fans lobbed flares on the pitch in Amsterdam, with violence later erupting outside the stadium in the latest unrest to blight Dutch soccer. Feyenoord had taken a 3-0 first-half lead at the Johan Cruyff Arena, sparking ugly scenes from the hardcore supporters of Ajax, who are experiencing one of the worst crises in their storied 123-year history. The unrest spilled out of the stadium, as furious Ajax fans smashed into the main entrance, prompting riot police on horseback to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd. “If you go to a football game ... you can’t go here with your family because there’s always violence,” spectator Bryan Buffing said. “We have a real, real big issue in the Netherlands.”
TENNIS
Laver win thrills McEnroe
Team World on Sunday won a second straight Laver Cup title as Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe sealed a 13-2 victory over Team Europe with a 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5) doubles win over Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev. Team World captain John McEnroe, who had endured four straight defeats in the event that began in 2017 before seeing his side rally to victory in London last year, was thrilled to celebrate a dominant triumph that began with a four-match sweep on Friday. “It felt unbelievable to kick their ass, baby,” McEnroe said. “They kicked ours many times, OK. It was a battle to the end when we won last year.”
SOCCER
Newcastle rout Sheffield 8-0
Newcastle United on Sunday thrashed Sheffield United 8-0 to shrug off their slow start to the English Premier League season. Saudi-backed Newcastle had lost three of their opening five Premier League games to dampen expectations of a title challenge on Tyneside, but manager Eddie Howe’s men showed no mercy as they put the Blades to the sword with ease. Three goals in 14 first-half minutes set the tone as Sean Longstaff, Dan Burn and Sven Botman put the visitors on course to cruise to victory. Callum Wilson, Anthony Gordon, Miguel Almiron, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak were then on target after the break as the Magpies became the first side to have eight different goalscorers, not including own-goals, in a Premier League game. “The big thing for us was that we really wanted to score and we weren’t content with three,” Howe said. “I want that mentality to run through the team.”
SAILING
UK wins twice in a row
Ben Ainslie and Emirates Great Britain on Sunday earned their second straight SailGP regatta win and the US finished third a day after flight controller Hans Henken was knocked unconscious and hospitalized after the squad’s 50-foot (15m) catamaran crashed hard off its foils in strong wind in Taranto, Italy. Ainslie prevailed over three-time defending SailGP champion Tom Slingsby of Team Australia who came in second and Jimmy Spithill of Team USA in third. The Americans subbed in Taylor Canfield for Henken, who was expected to spend a second night in the hospital. The wind dropped off during the podium race and the 16-minute time limit expired, so race management awarded final positions based on the standings after five fleet races, which Ainslie dominated with finishes of 2-2-3-1-2.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
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