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.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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