Sturridge hits 50th goal for Liverpool to snatch Chelsea draw

Daniel Sturridge’s late equaliser against Chelsea proved not only important for Liverpool, but was also an important milestone in the striker’s career.

Liverpool trailed late on against the Blues 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, with Eden Hazard’s first-half goal the difference after multiple chances were squandered by the Reds.

Chelsea looked set to take home the three points when Sturridge, substituted in just three minutes before, hit a blast from distance that found its way into the top corner, leaving Blues goalkeeper Kepa with no chance.

The goal not only snatched a point for the Reds, but was Sturridge’s 50th in a Liverpool shirt, as he joined an impressive group who have reached the mark in the Premier League with the club.

Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Dirk Kuyt, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez are the previous Liverpool players to reach 50 goals for the club, making Sturridge the seventh.

"It was a big goal," he told BT Sport. "The boys worked tirelessly all game, we created chances in the first half and we were unlucky not to score.

"I like to think I have [scored better] but probably not. This one was a nice goal but as I said it was just about getting a result. It's good to get the result.

"It's a team game. I just give my best every minute I get. It's important to keep pushing forward, having a positive outlook."

It was a mark that seemed unlikely to be reached at the start of 2018 as Sturridge was sent out on loan to West Brom, with seemingly no way back into Jurgen Klopp’s plans.

But an injury, all too frequent in his career, allowed him just 116 minutes with the Baggies and saw him return to Liverpool with another chance to work his way back into the rotation.

While a spot in the front three seemed unlikely with Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane entrenched, Sturridge has again proved himself a capable goalscorer, however limited his minutes on the field may be.

Sturridge only has received two starts this season, in the League Cup and the Champions League, and scored in both.

He also has a pair of goals in substitute appearances, netting with just three minutes on the field against West Ham and in four minutes of time against Chelsea.

The striker now has 17 career Premier League goals as a substitute, which is good for third-best in the competitions history behind Jermain Defoe’s 24, and Olivier Giroud’s 19 according to Opta.

It also continues an impressive run of form for Sturridge as he has netted in his last three appearances for the Reds.

With the games coming fast, Liverpool travel to face Napoli midweek and then host Manchester City in a top of the table clash next weekend, as long as Sturridge can stay fit, he should see more opportunities to build on his Reds milestone.

Juventus beat Napoli, extend Serie A lead

Juventus have bounced back to beat 10-man Napoli 3-1 Saturday as Mario Mandzukic struck twice off Cristiano Ronaldo to help the champions to a six-point lead atop the Italian Serie A.

Juve have a maximum 21 points from seven games as the second-place Neapolitans stayed on 15 after Saturday's match.

The guests came close when Piotr Zielinski hit the post and were deadly on a stuttering clearance as Dries Mertens flicked off Jose Callejon on 10 minutes.

The inspired Ronaldo fired two harmless shots before providing a clinical cross for Mandzukic on 26 and was crucial also on the second goal of the Croat.

David Ospina only managed to deflect the Portuguese's long shot onto the post and Mandzukic pounced to complete the comeback on 49.

Mario Rui weakened the Napoli's reaction by being dismissed on 58 minutes after a second caution, but Napoli still had a chance when Callejon had a shot saved by Wojciech Szczesny.

Leonardo Bonucci secured victory on 76 with a close-range flick off a Ronaldo header.

"It is an important goal and it was important to win," said defender Bonucci, who rejoined the Bianconeri after a season at AC Milan.

"Sending Napoli six points adrift was a crucial step. These are three crucial points.

"When you are Juve you must play well and we must all be careful when we exit our box. Early in the game we were under pressure and went down on a mistake I made, but then we got back in control."

At Rome's Stadio Olimpico, Roma beat Lazio 3-1 in an intense city derby to move up after a dismal start to the season.

Lazio captain Ciro Immobile missed three attempts before the Giallorossi found the net on 45 minutes from substitute Lorenzo Pellegrini, who flicked in with his heel after Martin Caceres' botched clearance.

Immobile dispossessed a dithering Federico Fazio to level on 67 but Aleksandar Kolarov drilled home a free-kick before Fazio made amends to clinch victory with a header on 86.

Roma are now on 11 points from seven games, sitting one point behind fifth-place Lazio.

Late action saw Inter Milan's new signings Lautaro Martinez and Matteo Politano net their first goals to seal a 2-0 defeat of visiting Cagliari.

Inter moved past Lazio and Roma to go level on 13 points with third-place Sassuolo, who welcome AC Milan late Sunday. Cagliari have six points.

AFL grand final: West Coast beats Collingwood by five points at the MCG in classic decider

West Coast Eagles have won their fourth AFL premiership, beating Collingwood at the MCG to take the flag west for the first time since 2006.

Adam Simpson's men were jumped by Collingwood early, trailing by as much as 29 points in the first quarter.

But the Eagles slowly gained a foothold in the game, and trailed by only two goals at half-time before getting on top in the final quarter and sealing victory with a Dom Sheed goal to win 11.13 (79) to 11.8 (74).

The Magpies — who were attempting to match Richmond's achievement in going from 13th on the ladder to premiers — looked like winners for most of the day, but they couldn't take enough of their chances, and ran out of run at the wrong time.

This was the seventh consecutive grand final between a team from Victoria and an interstate side.

Victorian sides had won the previous five editions. West Coast was appearing in the grand final for the seventh time in the AFL era (since 1991), the joint-most along with Geelong.

It was a sixth time in the decider for the Magpies.

The big query going into the day was the fitness of West Coast key defender Jeremy McGovern, who had been slowly recovering from a bump to the hip from Melbourne's Christian Petracca in last week's preliminary final.

Coach Adam Simpson had declared himself "extremely hopeful" that McGovern would play — the Eagles' swingman took his place at the captain's run on Friday afternoon, but the acid test came on the MCG a day later, and he passed.

Josh Kennedy had the first chance 90 seconds in after a solid move, but he missed a set shot from 25m out.

At the other end, the first storyline of the day came when Travis Varcoe — whose sister died after a head injury in a local football game in Adelaide — ran inside 50 and slotted the opening goal for Collingwood five minutes in.

The Eagles were under the pump, and Collingwood made a break around the 10-minute mark when Rising Star Jaidyn Stephenson kicked a couple in quick succession — first a snap from the right forward pocket, and then a dribble kick as the Pies fans roared in the stands.

The Magpies were forcing West Coast out of their usual game — and when Jordan De Goey spun out of two tackles and snapped another from the left forward pocket Collingwood led by 23 points at the mid-point of the quarter.

West Coast was looking desperate on the MCG, and Will Hoskin-Elliott added to the Eagles' problems when he drilled a set shot to make it 5.0 - 0.2.

Things were looking reminiscent of the Magpies' first-half demolition of Richmond last week, but deep into time on West Coast finally managed to get on the board with an unlikely effort, as the ball bobbled in the goal square, and Willie Rioli managed to get the back of his shin to it before it crossed the line.

Then with a minute to go, Luke Shuey found Kennedy for a mark close to goal and he converted, to leave the Magpies' lead at 17 points at quarter-time.

Nations League round-up: Switzerland blow Iceland away while Finland and Greece also get off to winning starts

      image Switzerland- Iceland 6-0

Liverpool midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri helped Switzerland to a thumping 6-0 win over Iceland in League A Group 2.  

Steven Zuber fired the home side in front after 13 minutes, with Denis Zakaria knocking in a second shortly afterwards.

Shaqiri's free-kick flicked in off Birkir Bjarnason after 53 minutes, with Haris Seferovic and Albian Ajeti, on his debut, completing the route in St Gallen.

Norwich forward Teemu Pukki's early goal proved enough to give Finland a 1-0 victory over Hungary in their Group C2 clash in Tampere.

                                   image Estonia-Greece 0-1

Greece beat Estonia 1-0 at home thanks to a single goal scored in the second half by Olympiakos captain Kostas Fortounis.

In League D Group 2 Belarus romped to a 5-0 home over minnows San Marino thanks to a brace from Stanislaw Drahun.

And in that same group Luxembourg saw off Moldova 4-0, scoring three times in the second-half.

Earlier on in the day Northern Ireland succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at home to Bosnia and Herzegovinia.

Japan earthquake: death toll rises in Hokkaido

The death toll from a powerful earthquake that hit Hokkaido has doubled to at least 16, according to Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, with more than half the island’s 5.3 million residents still without power.

Another 26 people were missing, disaster management authorities said.

The 6.7-magnitude quake, which hit before dawn on Thursday, triggered landslides that buried houses and paralysed Hokkaido with widespread power and transport cuts.

The death toll had been put at eight overnight but broadcaster NHK cited Abe in reporting the new total soon after he held an emergency meeting early on Friday.

The island, a tourist destination known for its mountains, lakes and seafood, lost all power after the quake when Hokkaido Electric Power Co shut its fossil fuel-fired power plants as a precaution.

Earthquake triggers landslides in Hokkaido, Japan – in pictures

The utility had restored power to about 1.31 million of 2.95 million customers by early Friday, the economy, trade and industry ministry said. It could take at least a week to restore power fully, according to the industry minister Hiroshige Seko.

The quake was the second disaster to hit Japan this week alone after a summer during which the country has been battered by deadly typhoons, flooding and a record heatwave.

Kansai international airport has been shut since Typhoon Jebi ripped through Osaka on Tuesday, although some domestic flights operated by Japan Airlines (JAL) and ANA’s low-cost carrier Peach Aviation resumed on Friday, the carriers said.

At Hokkaido’s main airport, New Chitose, JAL was preparing to restart some flights on Friday, a spokesman said. ANA cancelled all morning flights but would resume operations as normal in the afternoon, a spokesman said.

JR Hokkaido planned to resume bullet train operations from midday. It was also trying to resume other train services on Friday afternoon, a spokesman said.

However, manufacturers were still being affected by power outages. Toyota Motor Corp’s Tomakomai factory, which makes transmissions and other parts, said operations remained suspended indefinitely until power was restored, a spokesman said.

Toppan Printing’s operations at a plant in Chitose, which makes food packages, would remain suspended until it regained power, a spokesman said.

Cultural events were also affected, with a soccer friendly between Japan and Chile scheduled for Friday in Sapporo called off.

Benfica reach Champions League group stage

Eduardo Salvio scored twice, including a penalty, as Benfica beat PAOK 5-2 on aggregate to make it through to Thursday's Champions League draw.

The teams were tied 1-1 after the first leg in Greece and Aleksandar Prijovic put the visitors ahead on the night.

But goals from Jardel, two from Salvio and Pizzi put Benfica in control, with PAOK having Leo Matos sent off.

Benfica's victory means they take a spot in pot two ahead of last season's runners-up Liverpool.

Dutch champions and 1988 European Cup winners PSV Eindhoven safely made it through to the group stages with a 6-2 aggregate win over BATE Borisov.

Mark van Bommel's side won the second leg 3-0 courtesy of goals from Steven Bergwijn, Luuk de Jong and Mexico international Hirving Lozano and will be in pot three.

Red Star Belgrade, who lifted the European Cup in 1991, took their place in pot four by coming from 2-0 behind to draw 2-2 against Salzburg and making through on away goals.

Munas Dabbur struck twice for the Austrian champions, but two goals in two minutes from El Fardou Ben Nabouhane and Milos Degenek was enough for Red Star.

Ajax, Young Boys, AEK crack Champs League

                                   photo AEK Athens

Four-time European champions Ajax have qualified for the Champions League for the first time in four years after a goalless draw in the second leg of their playoffs tie at Dynamo Kiev secured a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Young Boys reached the group stage of the competition for the first time in their history after winning 2-1 at Dinamo Zagreb for a 3-2 aggregate scoreline, while AEK qualified at the expense of Vidi after a 1-1 home draw to back up a 2-1 away win.

Ajax created numerous opportunities at home with the best coming on 14 minutes after Tomas Kedziora dragged down De Ligt at a corner.

However, Dusan Tadic hit the post from the penalty spot, spurning an early invitation to put Ajax firmly in control of the tie.

"We made it difficult for ourselves by not scoring but this is well deserved," Ajax captain Matthijs De Ligt said.

"I'm not thinking about the draw, we're in ecstasy and are going to have a party."

In Zagreb, Izet Hajrovic smashed in the opening goal for the hosts after just seven minutes only for Young Boys to level on 64 minutes with striker Guillaume Hoarau slotting home from the penalty spot after Martin Leovac fouled Roger Assale.

Just two minutes later the Swiss side went ahead with Hoarau netting from close range after a corner was headed back into his path.

AEK reached the group stage for the first time since 2006 despite ending their draw with Hungarian minnows Vidi short on troops.

Petros Mantalos sent the hosts ahead from the penalty spot on 48 minutes before Loic Nego executed a neat chip nine minutes later to level the score.

The Greeks had Helder Lopes sent off with 10 minutes to go for a foul on the edge of his own area and Marko Livaja was also dismissed when a fight broke out after the full-time whistle.

"It's an unbelievable feeling that the team has returned to the Champions League after 12 years," AEK striker Ezequiel Ponce said.

"My teammates did a great job and I am very happy to be a member of this side and of this effort."

On Wednesday, PSV Eindhoven host Bate Borisov with a 3-2 lead, Salzburg are at home against Red Star Belgrade after a 0-0 first-leg draw and Benfica visit PAOK with their Champions League playoffs tie evenly poised at 1-1.

Aliza Cornet slapped with code violation after changing shirt on court

A female tennis player has copped a dress code violation for taking her shirt off on court during the US Open.

Due to the sweltering conditions at the tournament this year – tops of 38 degrees Celsius – players are offered a longer than usual 10-minute break as a reprieve from the heat.

In a match against Swedish Johanna Larson, French tennis player Aliza Cornet used the break to change into a new shirt.

After returning to the court and realising it was on backwards, Cornet pulled it off and promptly put it on the right way.

The chair umpire, Christian Rask, then gave her a code violation.

A clearly perplexed Cornet challenged Rask on his decision, asking why she was getting a violation. Rask clarified that it was because she was not allowed to take her shirt off on court.

The code violation was technically a warning, so she didn't lose any points, but the 28-year-old was obviously confused by the decision – shaking her head and smirking in a "can you believe this?" way.

Many have been quick to call attention to the fact that male tennis players are often seen with their shirt off while on the court. As pointed out by The Spun, in a recent match Novak Djokovic spent several minutes bare-chested before putting a shirt back on.

Not only that: the Women's Tennis Association handbook states that a player can change clothes during the end of a set. Cornet was yet to begin her next set, so she was technically still at the end of a set.

As Laura Wagner wrote for Deadspin, "This was a judgment call on the part of the chair umpire, who could clearly see what the issue was, and he inexplicably chose punitive action."

Technicality and rules aside, one thing is clear: it would have been less likely for Cornet to cop this violation if she had been a male.

VAR at Valladolid saves Barca

Barcelona beat Real Valladolid 1-0 on Saturday but had VAR to thank after it ruled out a last-gasp equaliser for the new boys.

Jordi Masip, poor finishing and an equally-poor pitch kept the score goalless until Ousmane Dembele's winner just before the hour mark, although VAR was needed to make sure of the result deep in stoppage time. 

Philippe Coutinho came into the Catalans’ XI for their trip to Valladolid, who handed a debut to Enes Unal.

The Blaugrana had won nine of their previous 11 meetings with the Pucela but lost 1-0 the last time they travelled to Jose Zorrilla in March 2014.

Dembele kept his place in Barca’s attack, despite not scoring against Alaves, but he was lively again, while Enes almost capped his debut with a piledriver and header, both of which Marc-Andre ter Stegen dealt with.

Masip, a product of La Masia, also did all he could to make the Catalans wish they kept him with a string of saves, including one on a Coutinho drive.

The unruly state of the Jose Zorrilla pitch, which had only been relayed a few days ago, stunted Barca’s possession game, making a stalemate increasingly likely.

However, Sergi Roberto kept a cross in play and his header dropped to Dembele, who fired a shot past Masip first time.

Valladolid began pushing for the equaliser, but Ter Stegen was on hand to scoop up Keko’s header, before substitute Malcom should’ve killed the game off, only for the ex-Barca goalkeeper to smother his one-on-one.

It was left to VAR to settle the contest, and having already chalked off Luis Suarez’s finish from close range, the technology crucially spotted Keko a step out of line when he flung home a diving header with just seconds remaining.

Real Valladolid 0-1 Barcelona                         

Dembele 57

Real Valladolid: Masip; Moyano, Olivas, Calero, Nacho; Borja (Keko 64), Alcaraz; Anuar, Plano, Toni (Verde 87); Enes (Cop 70)

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Coutinho (Malcom 74); Messi, Suarez (Munir 90), Dembele (Vidal 76)

Ajax, AEK grab Champions League playoff wins

Dusan Tadic starred for Ajax as the Dutch side eased to a comfortable 3-1 win over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League play-offs first leg on Wednesday.

Young Boys tied 1-1 with Dynamo Zagreb and AEK Athens won 2-1 at Vidi with both sides having a man sent off.

Donny van de Beek sent Ajax ahead in the second minute thanks to a glaring error from Kiev goalkeeper Denys Boyko, who let the midfielder's shot slip under him.

The Ukrainians hit back with Tomasz Kedziora heading home on the rebound from a corner after Andre Onana denied Tamas Kadar.

Ajax dominated the ball but Kiev looked sharp on the break and the Dutch side needed a slice of luck to go ahead again when Hakim Ziyech's shot deflected in off of Kadar.

Former Southampton playmaker Tadic fired home Nicolas Tagliafico's low cross to send Ajax two goals ahead at the break.

Klaas Jan Huntelaar headed against the woodwork after the break and Ziyech smashed a low effort off the post late on as Ajax looked to virtually secure qualification for Europe's premiere competition before next week's second leg.

"It was a great game with great support. The fans were fantastic and we played great on the pitch. 3-1 is a good position (to go to Kiev)," said Ajax coach Erik ten Hag.

"Defending the second ball (from set pieces) we have to be more disciplined. We have to keep playing because if you lose the ball against this team then they come at you strong."

Hungarian minnows Vidi had Szabolcs Huszti sent off after just 23 minutes after a reckless challenge on AEK's Anastasios Bakasetas, who later was dismissed himself for crashing his studs into Istvan Kovacs' ankle.

Before that Viktor Klonaridis and Bakasetas struck for the Greek side, with Danko Lazovic later pulling one back for Vidi to give them a chance in Athens.

"After conceding we showed nervousness, which we shouldn't have. We had to keep the ball and not sit back so far," said AEK manager Marinos Ouzounidis.

"However they also threatened and were confident of scoring. I expected them to be hard to play but was also expecting to do better after the goals we scored.

"It's all up to us. If we have the attitude and focus we need in the second leg, I don't think we have a problem."

Swiss side Young Boys took an instant lead against Zagreb through Kevin Mbabu's second minute goal but Mislav Orsic hit back five minutes before the break.

The Croatians were on top in the second period with Izet Hajrovic striking the post, but the tie finished neatly poised for the second leg.

Amr Warda’s first Champions League goal helps PAOK Thessaloniki FC hold Benfica

The 24-year-old old came off the bench to earn the black and whites a vital away draw at Estadio da Luz

Egypt international Amr Warda was PAOK Thessaloniki’s hero as they played out a 1-1 draw at Benfica in Tuesday’s Champions League first leg play-offs.

Warda rifled from close range past goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos after Fernando Varela’s header off Dimitris Pelkas’ free-kick had kissed the crossbar.

Pizzi had given the hosts the lead from the penalty spot after Jonas was fouled by Maurício on the stroke of half time.

Benfica continued their dominance in the second half before manager Razvan Lucescu threw the Egyptian into the fray for Dimitrios Limnios.

In the 67th minute, Warda had a clear-cut chance to level scores but his effort went over the cross bar despite having just Vlachodimos to beat.

And nine minutes later, he drilled home the equaliser to the excitement of the away fans. However, he was cautioned in the 89th minute for his foul against Rafa Silva.

Chuba Akpom made a cameo appearance for the Greek outfit after replacing Aleksandar Prijovic with three minutes left to play

The draw hands PAOK a slight advantage going into the second leg of the play-off billed for August 29 at Stadio Toumbas Thessaloníki.