World Sports News in Brief

Arsenal and Sevilla keep 100% Europa records intact, United win

Arsenal and Sevilla preserved their 100% records in the Europa League with contrasting victories but PSV Eindhoven dropped their first points of the campaign as the group stage reached the halfway mark on Thursday.

Europa League - Group F - Arsenal v Vitoria S.C. - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 24, 2019  Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe celebrates scoring their third goal with teammate Matteo Guendouzi. (Photo: Action Images via Reuters)
Europa League - Group F - Arsenal v Vitoria S.C. - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 24, 2019 Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe celebrates scoring their third goal with teammate Matteo Guendouzi. (Photo: Action Images via Reuters)

Manchester United claimed their first away win in any competition since March as they beat Partizan Belgrade 1-0 but AS Roma were held to a 1-1 draw as Borussia Moenchengladbach equalised deep into stoppage time.

* The second round of the Zozo Championship was postponed on Friday because of bad weather, tournament organisers tweeted. Tiger Woods posted his best score in over a year with a six-under-par 64 in Thursday's opening round and shares the lead with fellow American Gary Woodland to stand one shot in front of home favourite Hideki Matsuyama.

* Haas are talking to Polish driver Robert Kubica about a test and simulator role, the US-owned Formula One team said on Thursday. Kubica, 34, has already announced he is leaving Williams at the end of the season.

* Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas avoided an upset defeat against Ricardas Berankis when he came from a set down to reach the Swiss Indoors quarter-finals on Thursday. The Lithuanian, ranked 70th, won the first set in a tiebreak before Tsitsipas took control of his service games to secure the remaining two sets comfortably for a 6-7 (4) 6-2 6-4 win.

* Home favourite and top seed Dominic Thiem beat Fernando Verdasco for the first time to reach the Vienna Open quarter-finals on Thursday. Argentina's Diego Schwartzman, seeded fifth, also clinched a quarter-final spot, beating Sam Querrey 6-7(5) 6-4 7-6(5) despite the American's 23 aces. Schwartzman will next face second seed Karen Khachanov.

* Watford striker Danny Welbeck will be sidelined for months after suffering a hamstring injury in their 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur last week, manager Quique Sanchez Flores said on Thursday. Welbeck was forced to come off in the first minute of Spurs the game and the 28-year-old, who recently returned from an ankle injury, is set for another long spell on the treatment table.

* Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime said on Thursday that he has been forced to withdraw from the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan next month after injuring his ankle and would look to return in time for the Davis Cup Finals. The 19-year-old withdrew from this week's Vienna Open after injuring his left ankle during a practice session on Tuesday.

* La Liga will appeal against the Spanish Football Federation's decision to hold the postponed Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid on Wednesday Dec. 18. The game was due to be played at Barca's Camp Nou stadium on Saturday but was postponed following a request from La Liga due to security concerns. La Liga would prefer the game to be played on Dec. 4 and said they will appeal the scheduling decision.

* Tokyo, host of the 2020 Olympic Games, is considering proposing to start the marathon and race walking events as early as 3am to counter an IOC decision to move the races to Sapporo due to worries about heat, Kyodo news agency said on Thursday. The International Olympic Committee this month announced a plan to move the marathon and race walking to Sapporo, on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, from originally planned courses in the capital.

* English teenager Josh Hill became the youngest male winner of a tournament offering Official World Golf Ranking points, sealing the Al Ain Open title on the MENA Tour at the age of 15 years, six months and 27 days. Dubai-born Hill shot a final round of eight-under-par 62 on Wednesday to prevail by two strokes and beat the record set by Ryo Ishikawa in 2007. Ishikawa lifted the KSB Cup trophy at the age of 15 years and eight months.

* China will host the first edition of the new, expanded 24-team Club World Cup in 2021, FIFA president Gianni Infantino told reporters on Thursday following a meeting of the global soccer body's decision-making council in Shanghai.

Reuters