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Luis Suárez scored a goal and assisted on three others to lead Inter Miami to a dominant 4-1 victory over the host Houston Dynamo on Sunday night.
Inter Miami (1-0-1, 4 points) picked up its first victory of the MLS season despite the absence of superstar Lionel Messi, who remained in South Florida as the team chose to give the 37-year-old some extra rest.
"With respect to Leo, obviously we talked about it and I always say the same thing, there is no one, I don't know any player in the world that knows their body as Leo knows it," Miami coach Javier Mascherano said of his decision for Messi not to travel. "And well after three games in six days ... we thought that the best thing was to be able to rest especially on a trip that was a trip to the other coast of two-and-a-half, three hours."
Inter Miami picked up its third victory overall across all competitions and next will play in the round of 16 of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Houston (0-2-0, 0 points) has opened the season with consecutive home losses.
Telasco Segovia had two goals and an assist for Inter Miami, and Tadeo Allende scored his first MLS regular season goal of the season.
Suárez's precise passes led to Miami's first three scores. He then delivered a fourth himself in the 79th minute by slicing through Houston's defense on a stellar individual effort.
"Everything he has done in football, he's one of the best five forward centers in the world in the last 10 years," Mascherano said of Suárez after the match. "He's played in great teams, he's had a very big influence on everyone. Not only in Barcelona, but also in Liverpool, Atlético Madrid.
"Obviously, for me it's a privilege as a coach to train this type of player."
Segovia scored in the sixth minute and in the second minute of first-half stoppage time.
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The first came as a result of a giveaway by Houston in its own 18-yard box when Obafemi Awodesu had a pass deflected by Benjamin Cremaschi. The ball trickled to Suárez, who delivered a quick cross to Segovia, allowing him to fire a quick shot past Houston keeper Andrew Tarbell.
Allende scored Miami's second goal when he took a ball perfectly looped to him in stride by Suárez and, while on a full sprint, fired a high crossing shot from distance with his left foot past Tarbell.
Inter Miami's Yannick Bright, who returned from a thigh injury, stole the ball just past midfield and began the sequence that led to Suárez's cross to Segovia for his second goal and Miami's third.
Nicolas Lodeiro scored the Dynamo's lone goal in the 85th minute on a shot that bounced off Inter Miami's Oscar Ustari and into the back of the net.
Houston's Ezequiel Ponce appeared to score in the 61st minute when he headed in a free kick by Jack McGlynn, but he was ruled offside.
After the game Inter Miami defender Ian Fray got into a verbal exchange with a couple of Houston players and was issued a red card.
AC Milan coach Sergio Conceição described the pressure of fan protests as unprecedented in his career after Sunday's 2-1 Serie A home defeat to Lazio.
The hosts, who suffered a third consecutive defeat in Serie A, endured a hostile atmosphere from their own fans, who protested against the club's owners, with the Curva Sud stand empty for the first 15 minutes.
"We discussed the atmosphere and this is the first time I've experienced this in my career. Mistakes weigh heavier under such conditions," Conceição told DAZN.
"I was a player, I know when it's like that, your boots feel like they're burning. When a dribble or a pass doesn't work or you're behind, it burns even more," he added.
Matters worsened when Mattia Zaccagni put Lazio ahead in the first half, and despite Samuel Chukwueze's late equaliser after a Strahinja Pavlovic red card, Pedro netted a penalty for the visitors in the 98th minute after Mike Maignan's foul on Gustav Isaksen.
"It is not an easy moment. The players feel the tension around the club. The only way forward is to work hard, take pride in our colours, and strive to change the situation," the manager added.
Milan are ninth in the standings on 41 points, having been overtaken by AS Roma who beat Como 2-1 earlier on Sunday, while Lazio moved into fourth place on 50 points, one ahead of Juventus who host Hellas Verona on Monday.
Inter Miami CF head coach Javier Mascherano lashed out at referee Joe Dickerson's decision to show Ian Fray a red card after the final whistle was blown in his team's 4-1 win over Houston Dynamo FC on Sunday, labeling the action as worrying.
Following the end of the game at Shell Energy Stadium, Dynamo player Ethan Andrew Bartlow continuously tugged at Fray's jersey from behind before the Miami defender reacted by pushing the opponent. The referee, who was standing right next to Fray and Bartlow, immediately signaled the red card against the Miami defender.
"I saw the video. Ian did nothing," Mascherano said after the match. "He did absolutely nothing. He wants to go to the dressing room and the rival holds him by the shirt and tries to get it out once, twice, three times, and the referee is next to him, he's watching him. That's what worries me. That's what worries me, because he didn't do anything.
"When my players do nothing, I kill for them. Even if it costs whatever it costs. Today again, we were winning 4-1, the game was over, two or three fouls that were not yellow and filled us with yellows, I'm not going to shut up anymore. There are things that I'm not going to shut up about. And in this case, he didn't do anything. Absolutely nothing.
"Because in the end there is something that cannot be changed, which is reality, what you see with your eyes. And what we all see, that must be considered, that is not subjective. So I would like the journalists who are the ones who see it, also give their opinion on this. When something is wrong, it's wrong and it's over. This is how it is for me. As if we were wrong, we will also say it, but honestly, not this one, not the one with Ian."
Inter Miami trounced Houston without star Lionel Messi. Mascherano admitted he chose to rest the star forward following a conversation about the player's physical state after playing three games in the span of 10 days.
In Messi's absence, Luis Suárez stepped up to lead the offense by providing three assists and one goal to inspire the triumph.
"Everything he has done in football, he's one of the best five forward centers in the world in the last 10 years. He's played in great teams, he's had a very big influence on everyone. Not only in Barcelona, but also in Liverpool, Atlético Madrid. Obviously, for me it's a privilege as a coach to train this type of player," said Mascherano of Suárez.
"We know that Luis is in a stage of his career where we have to try to go and do everything we can because he's a player who has always helped a lot in the defensive aspect. I said it the other day, he's not only doing everything in the offensive phase, but also everything he gives us in that first pressure, how he organizes his teammates. He's a very intelligent guy, he understands the game in a very special way, and that's very difficult to find in football."
Goals from new signings Tadeo Allende and Telasco Segovia also helped the Herons to secure the three points.
Inter Miami will now shift focus to the Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16 first-leg match against Jamaican side Cavalier FC at Chase Stadium on Thursday, March 6.
Connolly replaces Short as India's spinners loom for Australia
Short picked up a quad injury against Afghanistan and would not have had time to recover for the knockout matches.
Connolly, the 21-year-old left-hand batter and left-arm spinner, has been a traveling reserve with the squad so will be available immediately. He has played just three ODIs but could come straight into selection consideration given Australia have lost Short's offspin.
Fraser-McGurk, who himself was a replacement for Mitchell Marsh, has struggled in his seven ODIs to date with 98 runs at 14.00, looking vulnerable when the new ball moves, but the selectors still see him as a player who can take on the powerplay.
If Fraser-McGurk isn't the route taken by the selectors it will require someone from the middle order moving up to the top to fill Short's role, potentially the in-form Josh Inglis.
Australia learnt their opponents for the semi-final will be India in Dubai on Tuesday when New Zealand were beaten in the final group game.
Both Group B sides who qualified - Australia and South Africa - traveled to Dubai so that the team who faced India would have time to prepare. South Africa will now head straight back to Lahore for their semi-final against New Zealand.
Australia were troubled by Sri Lanka's spinners in their two ODIs in Colombo prior to the Champions Trophy.
"It changes a little bit," Zampa said of the conditions between Pakistan and Dubai. "Potentially slower lower wickets, so there might be an opportunity to create a few more chances, we'll see."
Zampa added he felt there was room for improvement in his own bowling after returns of 2 for 64 against England and 2 for 48 against Afghanistan.
"Personally, I don't think I'm bowling quite at my best, but I like to think the beauty about me is when I'm not quite at my best and not feeling that great out there is my ability to still contribute and take those big wickets," he said.
"I'm obviously working on some stuff at the moment to hopefully get back to my best, but as I said, the ability to still do a job for the team and get those big wickets is still there, which to me is really important."
Varun keen to maintain the mystery as he makes compelling semi-final case
"Sir, basically the ball goes inside, outside and goes straight. So, you can keep it that way but there are minute changes that you can do with that also."
From a mystery spinner, you can understand the secrecy. In fact, it's kind of a boss move.
Varun, by his own reckoning, did not consider cricket a serious professional endeavour until he was 26. "Before that, my dreams were all being an architect and making movies. So, I've had different career paths."
And yet here the guy is, at 33, taking 5 for 42 in the second ODI he has ever played, making a very serious case for his inclusion in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy, which is also likely to be played on a used surface that is likely to favour him. Varun is an IPL graduate, having played only a single first-class match.
He explained how he figured out how to bowl in 50-over cricket, having initially come from the T20 world.
"In T20, my sequencing of balls - as in how I construct an over - is totally different compared to the 50-over format," Varun said. "And that I was able to figure out when I played the last two years in Vijay Hazare Trophy [India's main domestic one-day tournament]. And it really helped me to understand when I can bowl my incoming delivery or outgoing delivery or the straighter one or the top spin - whatever it is. But that gave me a sense of awareness of when to bowl what. It is completely different from what I do in the T20."
In this match against New Zealand, Varun said he didn't feel a ton of pressure, because of the presence of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.
But there is also the pressure not to reveal what he has in store for teams about to face him in the rest of the tournament. Or even for teams that will face him in the IPL to follow. Varun is not giving out trade secrets to any of these fellows, even if they happen to be in his own team.
"But he has got something different which is why he is here with us. He has been impressive in the last eight to nine months. That is why we wanted to bring him here and see what he has and what he can do for India on the big stage."
What he has done for India on the big stage is suggest he should have more ODI appearances, particularly on used pitches. The surface for the semi-final against Australia will likely be on the same pitch they had played Pakistan on.
Varun, who didn't play in India's first two Champions Trophy matches, has now made himself very difficult to drop.
NZ replace injured Hayley Jensen with Fran Jonas for ODIs against Sri Lanka
Kumble: 'Exceptional' Varun has consistently won matches in last one year
"I think Varun has been exceptional in the last 1-1.5 years, consistently winning matches for whichever team he has played for, whether it's Tamil Nadu or KKR or for India in T20Is," Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo Match Day. "And now, today, getting an opportunity [in ODIs], because obviously India had already qualified.
"But going by the pitch and the conditions perhaps for the semi-final and hopefully for India, the final, this certainly augurs well.
"And if this is the kind of pitch India will continue to play on in Dubai, then this four-pronged spin attack would be really a challenge for any team. Australia would find it extremely difficult to maneuver these four spinners."
With New Zealand chasing 250, Varun first cleaned up Will Young. Then, he returned towards the end of the middle overs to get important middle-order wickets of Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell in consecutive overs before also removing Mitchell Santner, who was looking threatening with a boundary and two sixes. One ball later, he dismissed Matt Henry to complete his five-for. India wrapped up the game in the next over.
Varun's only other ODI appearance came in the three-match series against England preceding the Champions Trophy, where he finished with figures of 1 for 52.
After Sunday's match, Varun said he was nervous early on but talking to the seniors helped him calm down. "I found out last night [that he was going to play]," he said. "I was expecting to play for the country and looking forward to it, but on the other side I was feeling a little nervous because I've not played a lot for India in ODIs.
"But as the game started progressing, I felt better. Virat was talking to me, Rohit bhai
TCU completes turnaround with 1st Big 12 title
WACO, Texas -- Those "Underfrogs" from TCU, a team that won only one conference game two seasons ago and last season needed open tryouts to fill roster spots after a series of injuries, are now outright women's Big 12 champions.
The title-clinching game couldn't have been more fitting for the 10th-ranked Horned Frogs, a 51-48 win Sunday night at 13-time champion and No. 17 Baylor.
"Baylor's been the powerhouse, the juggernaut in our league for a long time," second-year TCU coach Mark Campbell said. "So to beat them in this environment for this kind of game, it just shows you that our program's arrived at the highest level in college basketball. ... This win carries a lot of significance for many reasons."
TCU (28-3, 16-2 Big 12), which is in its 13th Big 12 season, won a regular-season title for the first time since being in the Mountain West in 2010.
Sedona Prince had 16 points and 19 rebounds for her 13th double-double this season and Hailey Van Lith scored 14 points as the Frogs beat Baylor (25-6, 15-3) again, five weeks after an 80-75 win at home that was their first win over their instate rival in 35 years.
TCU was off to a 14-0 start in Campbell's debut last season when Prince broke her finger in the opening seconds of a 71-50 loss in the team's last game at Baylor.
A couple of weeks after that, with top shooter Madison Conner also hurt, the Frogs were down to six scholarship players and forfeited two games the week they were having tryouts on campus.
"That was kind of the start of really the downfall of our season last year. And it was so heartbreaking, and it started here. You know, that bus ride from Waco back to Fort Worth was really, really rough," said Prince, this time wearing a Big 12 championship T-shirt.
"Coming in here, we've worked, built our team back up, recovered and got some new amazing pieces in," she said. "It's really, really cool that, you know, it happened to be here, last conference game of the season. Yeah, it's just very, very special."
This 90-mile trip home this time was much more enjoyable, with something to celebrate before opening Big 12 tournament play in the quarterfinal round in Kansas City on Friday. After that, the Frogs will open the women's NCAA tournament on their home floor, where they are 19-0 this season.
The regular-season finale, not only for the two teams but the Big 12 overall, was the first winner-take-all game in the league's 29 seasons.
"There have been so many times postgame when I get to come in here and, oh, it's the first time we've done this and it's the first time we've done that," Campbell said. "Well, this tops all of them. To win a league title for TCU and to bring that trophy home, it's a little surreal."
The Frogs will make their 10th NCAA tournament appearance, the first since their last conference title 15 years ago. They have never gotten past the second round.
TCU takes a seven-game winning streak into the postseason, and already has the most wins in school history. Along with two wins over Baylor, the Frogs this season beat Atlantic Coast Conference co-champions No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 9 NC State.
"Obviously, we worked so hard this whole season for this moment," Conner said. "Not only for this moment, for March and this year, so this is just a start. But yeah, we definitely celebrate a little bit."
J. Hughes exits Devils' 2-0 loss after collision
New Jersey Devils star center Jack Hughes exited his team's 2-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night, after a collision in the third period.
With his team trailing 2-0, Hughes and his brother, New Jersey defenseman Luke Hughes, entered the Vegas zone on a 2-on-1. As Jack Hughes neared the Golden Knights goal, his feet appeared to get tangled with Vegas forward Jack Eichel, eventually tumbling to the ice and into the boards behind the net with 1:48 left in the game.
"Real hard to see him go down. There's no update," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "He's going to have to be evaluated. Obviously, it didn't look good. We're going to have to take our time to know the full extent of it."
Keefe, arguing that the collision with Eichel could have been called for a tripping minor, was given a game misconduct, as the Devils fell to 2-2 on a five-game trip that concludes Tuesday against the Dallas Stars.
"It was a similar play that [Hughes] got called on earlier in the period. Not only is he injured on the play, but there's no call," he said. "I get kicked off the bench for telling the referee I felt it was 10 times worse than the one previously called on Jack."
Hughes, 23, is a former No. 1 pick who leads the Devils in goals (27) and points (70) this season. New Jersey has struggled offensively in the new calendar year, and any absence from the team's best overall player might alter its plans headed into Friday's trade deadline.
Hughes sat out 20 games last season because of injury, and finished with 74 points as the Devils failed to qualify for the postseason. The season before, he played in 78 and posted a career-high 99 points as New Jersey took the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan Division and advanced to the second round.
Incidentally, Eichel and Hughes were teammates last month, skating for the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
NEW YORK -- Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant was fined $25,000 on Sunday for throwing the game ball into the stands at the end of the third quarter of Friday night's home loss to the New York Knicks.
Morant angrily flung the ball across the court and into the seats with the Grizzlies leading 88-82 at the end of the period. He was assessed a technical foul.
New York rallied for a 114-113 victory.
Morant is averaging 20.9 points and 7.4 assists this season. Memphis entered Sunday in fourth place in the Western Conference.
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