World Sports News in Brief

Belotti misses penalty in Torino draw as Serie A returns

Torino captain Andrea Belotti had a penalty saved in a 1-1 draw at home to Parma as Serie A finally resumed following a three-month coronavirus stoppage on Saturday.

Torino and Parma drew 1-1 in the first match of the restarted season. (Photo: Getty Images)
Torino and Parma drew 1-1 in the first match of the restarted season. (Photo: Getty Images)

The match was originally due to be played on Feb. 23 but became one of the first to be called off as the coronavirus began to spread through Italy. Serie A was eventually suspended just over two weeks later.

* Getafe's bid to qualify for the Champions League for the first time continued to unravel as they could only draw 1-1 at home to struggling Eibar on Saturday. The draw kept Getafe fifth on 48 points. They are four points adrift of third-placed Atletico Madrid, who beat Real Valladolid 1-0, and fourth-placed Sevilla.

* Also on Saturday, Espanyol sank back to the bottom of the table after being beaten 3-1 at home by Levante. Espanyol have 24 points, three behind 17th-placed Celta Vigo who have a game in hand. Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao beat Real Betis 1-0 at home to move into ninth place on 42 points, increasing the pressure on Betis coach Rubi, whose side are 14th on 34.

* First-half goals by Luka Milivojevic and Jordan Ayew put Crystal Palace on the way to a 2-0 victory at Bournemouth in the first Premier League match screened live by the BBC on Saturday.

* World number one Novak Djokovic romped into the final of his own exhibition tournament after winning both opening singles at the Adria Tour in Croatia's coastal resort Zadar on Saturday. Djokovic saved three set points in his 4-3 4-1 defeat of fellow Serb Pedja Krstin before he sank home crowd favourite Borna Coric 4-1 4-3 in front of several thousand fans at the Visnjik tennis complex.

* Adama Traore came off the bench to inspire Wolverhampton Wanderers to a 2-0 win at West Ham United on Saturday - a significant result at both ends of the Premier League table. The win lifted Wolves into sixth place, level on 46 points with fifth-placed Manchester United.

* European Athletics chief Svein Arne Hansen died on Saturday aged 74 after failing to recover from a stroke he had suffered in March, the sports body said. Hansen, a Norwegian, had led the continental athletics body since 2015 after becoming its fifth president.

* Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta described as "unacceptable" the way his side conceded two late goals to lose 2-1 at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, their second defeat since the restart of the Premier League. Defeat left Arsenal in ninth spot in the table with 40 points from 30 games, six behind fifth-placed Manchester United.

* West Bromwich Albion moved to the top of the England's second-tier Championship despite being held to a goalless draw by Birmingham City at the Hawthorns on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Swansea striker Rhian Brewster scored the first goal of the Championship's return in a 3-0 win over Middlesbrough.

* Fortuna Duesseldorf drew 1-1 with Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday to stay in pole position to secure a relegation playoff spot. The hosts moved two points clear of 17th-placed Werder Bremen, who lost 3-1 to Mainz 05.

* Erling Haaland scored twice as Borussia Dortmund beat closest challengers RB Leipzig 2-0 away on Saturday to wrap up second place in the Bundesliga. Dortmund advanced to 69 points while Leipzig stayed in third place on 63 with just one more match to play next Saturday.

* Bayer Leverkusen suffered a damaging 2-0 loss at Hertha Berlin on Saturday that all but killed off their chances of a spot in next season's Champions League as they dropped to fifth place in the Bundesliga standings. Leverkusen are fifth on 60 points with Gladbach on 62 following their 3-1 win over Paderborn.

* Robert Lewandowski struck twice as champions Bayern Munich eased past Freiburg 3-1 on Saturday to secure a record 15th win in a row and the Pole became the first foreign player to score 33 goals in a Bundesliga season. Lewandowski can still add to his tally on the final matchday but is unlikely to match Gerd Mueller's Bundesliga record of 40 goals in a season set in 1972.

* Watford's Craig Dawson grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser with an overhead kick to earn his side a 1-1 draw with Leicester City on Saturday and a vital point in their battle for Premier League survival. Watford moved to 16th place in the table with 28 points, while Leicester remained third and six points clear of fourth-placed Chelsea.

* Former Formula 1 driver and twice Champ Car champion Alex Zanardi remained in serious condition in intensive care on Saturday after suffering severe head injuries in a road accident while racing his handbike in Italy the day before. The 53-year-old Italian, who lost both legs and nearly his life in a 2001 Champ Car crash in Germany, was in a drug-induced coma and intubated, said Giuseppe Oliveri, neurosurgeon at the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital in Siena where Zanardi was taken after the accident.

* Stadiums in France will reopen to fans on Jul 11 as the country continues to lift measures imposed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, the government said on Saturday. A maximum of 5,000 fans, however, will be allowed in the arenas – a restriction that could be eased later in the summer with the new season due to start on the weekend of Aug 22.

* The Australian Football League's match between Essendon and Melbourne on Sunday has been postponed indefinitely after Essendon's Conor McKenna tested positive for the new coronavirus, the league said on Saturday.

* Verona scored twice in the first half hour but had to hang on for a 2-1 win over Cagliari on Saturday as Serie A produced a VAR controversy on its first day of action since the coronavirus stoppage. The hosts appeared to be cruising to a win thanks to a brace from Samuel Di Carmine until forward Fabio Borini was sent off in the 35th minute for a late challenge on Marko Rog following a long VAR review, infuriating the home team.

* Six-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton is launching a commission to help motorsport engage more young people from black backgrounds and drive diversity. The Briton, 35, said in a column in the Sunday Times newspaper that he had been working with the Royal Academy of Engineering to create a research partnership, the Hamilton Commission.

Reuters