INDIANAPOLIS – Nothing was going to stop Simon Pagenaud from winning Saturday’s IndyCar Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix circuit.

The driver of the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet chased down Scott Dixon from more than five seconds back in the final laps and passed him on the penultimate lap to earn his first victory of the season.

Pagenaud started eighth in the 85-lap affair that featured varying levels of rain throughout the event. He charged from sixth in the final 18 laps on a slick track to hunt down Dixon, eventually beating him to the checkers by more than two seconds.

He first had to dispatch Matheius Leist and Jack Harvey, moving into second with five laps left. From there he quickly closed the gap on Dixon, who was doing his best to maintain a gap between himself and Pagenaud.

When the five-time series champion slid a little wide at the exit of turn seven on lap 84, Pagenaud pounced. He dove to the inside of Dixon’s No. 9 Honda and the two made slight contact. Pagenaud emerged from turn nine with the race lead and never looked back.

The victory, his third in the IndyCar Grand Prix, was his first in NTT IndyCar Series competition since the 2017 season finale.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- As the San Jose Sharks face the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference final, much of the attention is on 39-year-old center Joe Thornton, who is chasing his first Stanley Cup championship in a career that began in 1997. Each round, there has been focus on that pursuit, Thornton's legacy in the NHL and the impact he has had on his franchise.

St. Louis forward David Perron says Thornton had an impact on his career, too. Though not exactly a positive one.

On Nov. 4, 2010, Thornton made contact with Perron's head on a huge hit in the neutral zone. Perron was carrying the puck after a pass out of the Blues' defensive end. Thornton had just emerged from the penalty box and collided with him. Perron dropped to the ice headfirst and was motionless.

The concussion he suffered on the play ended his season after just 10 games. He wouldn't return to action for the Blues until the following season, on Dec. 3, 2011. Thornton was given a major penalty and suspended for two games in a decision that was hotly debated around the NHL.

"I think about it all the time, because I think it's affected my life a lot. I really do think that," Perron told ESPN on Friday, on the eve of Game 1 between the Blues and Sharks in San Jose. "Other than that, I hope it's not going to be too much of a story right now. It's been a long time ago."

Perron and Thornton have competed against each other on numerous occasions since the incident, both in the regular season and the postseason -- including the 2018 series between the Sharks and Perron's Vegas Golden Knights. They met in the playoffs in 2012: Perron recalled getting some measure of vengeance when the Blues ousted the Sharks in five games, as Perron scored the winning goal in the clinching game.

"The next year, when I came back, we beat them in five games. I was thinking more about it then," Perron said. "But maybe after [this series], we'll see. I want to win. It doesn't matter if he's on the team or not."

He recalled Thornton reaching out to him after the incident. "He's really respected around the league. I really admire him as a player. The skills he has, when he passes the puck -- I always try to do some of those things, and it's not easy," Perron said.

"The way he plays was awesome. But I really didn't like that other part."

That concussion was the first major one of Perron's NHL career, but far from his last. The latest one cost him 24 games this season with the Blues.

"It's harder and harder every time," he told NHL.com. "It's so hard on the mental side of it to go through. Basically, you have some situations that heal up quicker, and some that linger and there's no reason why, and that's why it gets harder on you, it gets harder on your family. You start to wonder about other things and you get in your head a lot."

The hit remains one of the most contentious of the past decade. At the time, the NHL's "Rule 48" was newly introduced, banning "lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted." The Sharks and Thornton argued that the hit was a "north/south" one as Thornton stepped in front of Perron.

"I didn't intend to hurt or do anything bad to him," Thornton said at the time. "He kind of ran into me, to be honest with you. Last night and this morning I had about three dozen text messages from players around the league saying they can't believe I even got a penalty."

They also argued that the size disparity between the players was a factor -- Thornton, at 6-foot-4, is four inches taller than Perron.

"I guess being 5-9 was Joe's only solution to avoid this suspension," John Thornton, Joe's brother and agent, said at the time.

Perron was accused by some partisans of embellishing on the play, as he did return to the game after the hit. But he missed his next game for the Blues and, in the end, 97 total games until his return the following season.

"With head injuries, sometimes these symptoms show up a little later," John Davidson, the Blues' president at the time, said in 2010. "What's really disappointing is to know there were people out there actually being critical of him and questioning the validity of it."

A lot has changed in the nearly nine years since the hit. While "Rule 48" was in place in 2010-11, the NHL Department of Player Safety wasn't created until the following season. How the league deals with concussions has changed -- it's stomach-turning to think how quickly Perron returned to that game, knowing what we know now. How the league punishes hits that target the head has changed. And how the hockey world reacts to head injuries may have changed most of all.

"It was a different time, for sure," Perron said on Friday. "We've come a long way."

Manchester United "Class of 92" members Gary and Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and David Beckham are the co-owners of a Football League club after Salford City beat AFC Fylde 3-0 to win the National League playoff final at Wembley.

Goals from Emmanuel Dieseruvwe, Carl Piergianni and Ibou Touray mean Salford are elevated to the fourth tier of English football for the first time in their history after a final between two sides who have never played in the Football League.

Fylde created the game's first danger inside the opening minute when Alex Reid was just unable to get on the end of a low ball into the penalty area.

Salford soon hit back, Scott Wiseman firing narrowly wide from outside the area and Danny Whitehead blasting over.

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They made the breakthrough after quarter of an hour, Devonte Redmond's free-kick causing chaos in the Fylde defence and Dieseruvwe profiting to slide the ball in from close range.

Fylde brought on former Salford player Nick Haughton for the injured Luke Burke in an enforced early change and almost found themselves 2-0 down when a Nathan Pond header went just wide.

Andy Bond fired over for Fylde after a neat exchange of passes had freed him inside the penalty area, but Salford almost doubled their lead within seconds of the start of the second half, Dieseruvwe bulleting a header narrowly wide after a cross from the right.

And after Lois Maynard's shot was deflected over, they took a giant step towards the Football League, defender Piergianni thumping home a header from the resulting corner to make it 2-0.

On the hour it was game over, Touray getting down the left and his intended cross sailing over keeper Jay Lynch and going in off the far post to kick-start the celebrations among the watching former United stars.

Allan Cruz and Fatai Alashe each scored goals as FC Cincinnati presented interim coach Yoann Damet with a win his coaching debut on Saturday, courtesy of a 2-1 victory over the visiting Montreal Impact.

Darren Mattocks set up Cruz's tally in the seventh minute to end a five-game goal drought for Cincinnati (3-7-2, 11 points), which was playing in its first match since dismissing Alan Koch earlier this week.

Spencer Richey denied a point-blank chance from Anthony Jackson-Hamel in the 89th minute and finished with two saves for Cincinnati, which saw the 29-year-old Damet become the youngest head coach to walk the sideline in a Major League Soccer match. Damet served as the Montreal Impact Under-18 head coach prior to joining Cincinnati.

Orji Okwonkwo substituted into the match in the 63rd minute and scored in the 75th for Montreal (6-5-2, 20 points), which has lost two of its last three matches.

FC Cincinnati ended its scoring drought at 528 minutes after Mattocks worked deep into the left side of the box before sending a centering feed to Cruz, who flicked a left-footed shot that sailed past Evan Bush (zero saves) and under the crossbar.

Cruz's goal was his team-leading second of the season. Prior to the tally, Cincinnati scored an MLS-low eight goals from eight different players.

It also marked Cincinnati's first goal since Mattocks converted a penalty kick in a 1-1 draw against Kansas City on April 7. The win was the team's first since March 24.

Cincinnati doubled its advantage after Roland Lamah weaved inside before Alashe scored from the center of the box for his first goal of the season.

The Impact trimmed the deficit in the 75th minute, as Okwonkwo's diving header bounced past Richey.

Montreal nearly forged a tie at 1 in the 40th minute after Michael Ariza's through ball found Daniel Lovitz for an apparent goal, but officials deemed that the latter player was offside.

Richey preserved Cincinnati's 1-0 advantage by thwarting Samuel Piette's bid at the post in the 58th minute.

DORTMUND, Germany -- Christian Pulisic scored a goal in his final home match for Borussia Dortmund as the club kept their Bundesliga title hopes alive before the United States star joins Chelsea in a €64 million transfer this summer.

Dortmund beat Fortuna Dusseldorf 3-2 and Bayern Munich drew 0-0 with RB Leipzig on the penultimate matchday of the Bundesliga season. Bayern, two points ahead of their rivals, can secure their seventh consecutive title with a win or draw against Frankfurt next weekend as they have a vastly superior goal difference.

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Pulisic handed Dortmund the lead against Dusseldorf with a close-range header four minutes before half-time and was fighting his emotions when celebrating.

"The goal was just perfect. Thomas [Delaney] headed it right across. I couldn't miss from there. It was a perfect way to start. I was a bit overwhelmed as well. Everything worked out perfect today," Pulisic told reporters after the match.

"Before was honestly the hardest part. They gave me a little ceremony and it hit me when I was walking to the locker room. It was really emotional. My last time. It was not easy."

"It wasn't an easy situation for Christian," Dortmund squad manager Sebastian Kehl explained. "It was very emotional. You could see that in the locker room before the match. But he can just be proud how he solved it today. And also how well he handed the overall situation."

After the restart, Dortmund came out of 15 crazy minutes with a 2-1 lead. That included one goal at both ends, a missed Düsseldorf penalty and a Bayern goal ruled out by the VAR in the Leipzig match that would have handed them the title on the day.

Germany international Mario Gotze and Dusseldorf's Dawid Kownacki scored in injury time to make it 3-2 and ensure that the title would be decided next weekend, while Pulisic was substituted seconds before Gotze's goal and received a standing ovations from the fans, who also welcomed the club's former captain Marcel Schmelzer (who could also have played his last home game for Dortmund) to the pitch.

A draw against Europa League sensations Eintracht Frankfurt would secure the Bavarians yet another title. But Dortmund vowed to fight until the final minutes of the season.

"It was a perfect last home game for me. But we will never give up," Pulisic said. "All we can do is concentrate on what we can do. If we win our game, we have a chance."

Before the match, Pulisic bade farewell to Dortmund's Westfalenstadion and its famous Yellow Wall, Europe's largest standing terrace.

"Thank you all for five wonderful years. Without you fans I would not be here. Dortmund will always feel like home," Pulisic told the stadium in German. "All the best and hopefully see you again one day."

He told reporters: "I have been here for five years. And I felt it was necessary to do it in German. It was the right thing to do to say goodbye in German."

Pulisic made his debut for Borussia Dortmund aged 17 and went on to become the youngest ever player in Germany's top flight to score two goals.

In January 2019, Chelsea signed Pulisic for €64m but loaned him back to Dortmund until the end of the season.

In 89 Bundesliga appearances, Pulisic has now scored 13 goals for Dortmund with another two in 22 Champions League matches, and three in eight DFB-Pokal games. The only trophy he has won during his time at Dortmund was the 2017 German Cup.