The Houston Astros have levelled the World Series after a four-run second inning and another Jose Altuve postseason home run to win 7-2 over the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 on Wednesday.
The Braves had won Game 1 at Houston's Minute Maid Park 6-2 on Tuesday, but the Astros showed intent opening up a 5-1 lead after two innings.
Altuve's seventh-inning solo blast extended the lead to 7-2, taking him to 22 postseason homers, equalling Bernie Williams for second in majors history.
The Astros second baseman, who has four home runs this postseason, trails only Manny Ramirez for postseason homers with 29.
Astros starting pitcher Jose Urquidy played a strong role with seven strikeouts with two runs across five innings, outpitching Braves starter Max Fried who allowed seven hits and five earned runs.
Urquidy becomes the fourth Astros pitcher to have seven or more strikeouts and no walks in a World Series. Eddie Rosario, who came into the game with 20 hits this postseason, had an off-night with no hits.
Altuve scored the opening run from Alex Bregman's first-inning sacrifice fly, before Travis d'Arnaud's second-inning home run tied the game up.
Houston blew the game open at the bottom of the second inning, with Jose Siri's RBI single followed by Martin Maldonado's single allowing Yuli Gurriel and Siri to get home, the latter after an Eddie Rosario fielding error. Michael Brantley's base hit drove in Maldonado too.
The Astros had five hits in the second inning, which matched their most ever in an inning in a World Series game, having had five hits in the second inning in Game 3 in 2017.
Freddie Freeman's single got d'Arnaud in for his second run in the fifth inning, before Ozzie Albies mistake on second base allowed Yordan Alvarez to score in the sixth inning, before Altuve's homered to left field in the seventh inning.
Astros at Braves
Both sides will travel on Thursday as the series moves to Atlanta for Game 3 on Friday.
Mexico's preparations for next month's crunch World Cup qualifier against the United States have been dealt a blow after a 3-2 defeat to Ecuador in an international friendly in Charlotte.
Walter Chala, making his second international appearance, scored the 75th-minute winner two minutes after coming off the bench for an under-strength Ecuador.
Both sides were missing several key Europe-based players, although that did not detract from an entertaining encounter, where three goals were scored in the opening quarter of an hour.
Jhonny Quinonez opened the scoring in the second minute when his scuffed bouncing effort beat Mexico goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco.
Mexico levelled four minutes when a fallen Santiago Gimenez, who had his initial effort blocked, flicked a ball across goal for Roberto Alvarado to tap home.
Ecuador restored their advantage when Washington Corozo worked a neat one-two with Toluca forward Michael Estrada, before bundling a shot past Orozco.
Mexico equalised again on the hour when Osvaldo Rodriguez rifled in a stunning left-foot strike from outside the box after Fernando Beltran's shot had been parried away.
Ecuador found the winner from a throw-in as debutant Djorkaeff Reasco flicked the ball back from the byline, allowing Chala to ghost in at the back post and finish with ease.
Ronald Koeman has been sacked by Barcelona after the club’s dismal start to the 2021-22 campaign rolled on.
Koeman replaced Quique Setien in August 2020 but has failed to make an impact at Camp Nou as he battled with Barca's dire financial situation, which led to Lionel Messi departing for Paris Saint-Germain.
Barca sit ninth in LaLiga after 10 games and Wednesday’s defeat to Rayo Vallecano proved the final straw.
That loss followed on from a 2-1 home reverse at the hands of Real Madrid in El Clasico, with Koeman's vehicle mobbed by an angry group of Barca supporters after that match.
Barca's form in the Champions League has also been poor. The Blaugrana lost 3-0 to Bayern Munich and Benfica respectively in their opening matches, before clinching a 1-0 home win over Dynamo Kiev.
It is the first time Barca have opened with two losses in the competition, while the defeat to Benfica also inflicted back-to-back group game losses in a single season for the first time since 2000-01, with only Louis van Gaal (five) losing more such matches at Barca's helm than Koeman (three).
After each passing poor result, Koeman has conceded his future is out of his hands, though he argued the performance against Rayo did not befit the result.
Yet Barca's board decided to cut ties, with their decision confirmed early on Thursday morning local time.
A stunned Hasan Salihamidzic felt Bayern Munich suffered from a "collective blackout" in their "inexplicable" 5-0 DFB-Pokal thrashing at Borussia Monchengladbach.
The Bundesliga champions suffered a humiliating second-round hammering at Borussia-Park, where they were three goals down after 21 minutes on Wednesday.
Ramy Bensebaini scored twice after Kouadio Kone opened the scoring in the second minute and Breel Embolo rubbed salt into Bayern's wounds with a second-half double.
Bayern were a shambles as they were ripped to pieces by Die Fohlen in the absence of head coach Julian Nagelsmann, who had to watch on at home as he isolates after testing positive for coronavirus.
The Bavarian giants' sporting director Salihamidzic was taken aback by such a woeful performance.
Asked for his reaction to the defeat, he told ARD: "Absolutely shocked. We just weren't there. We didn't win a duel in the first half, it was a collective blackout."
He added: "For me, this is inexplicable. We knew how difficult it would be here, we discussed everything. It is difficult to explain."
Dayot Upamecano endured a nightmare outing on his 23rd birthday, looking totally lost and making a poor mistake for the fourth goal from Embolo.
The centre-back was replaced straight after that error, but Salihamidzic says he put a bad night behind him.
"We win together, we lose together. We will rebuild Upa. It's inexplicable because he played really well recently," Salihamidzic said.
Bayern defender Lucas Hernandez also started on a day in which in was revealed he had has avoided jail time for disobeying a restraining order in 2017 after a Madrid court accepted his appeal.
Joshua Kimmich has also been in the headlines recently after stating he had not been vaccinated for COVID-19, but Salihamidzic says off-field issues cannot be used as an excuse.
He said: "[It is] Difficult to say. There were a lot of stories in the past week, but we got along with that in the games before that too. The lack of vaccination was not the reason today that we did not get into the duels and could stop the balls."
Former West Indies captain has been included in the West Indies T20 World Cup squad as a replacement for injured left-arm fast bowler Obed McCoy.
Nuno Espirito Santo hailed the unity demonstrated by Tottenham in their 1-0 EFL Cup fourth-round win over Burnley.
Lucas Moura's 68th-minute header proved the difference at Turf Moor as Spurs progressed to the quarter-finals of the competition for the third time in four seasons.
The visitors were made to dig deep as Burnley pushed for an equaliser late on, but they held out for victory and a first clean sheet in 11 matches in all competitions.
Nuno felt his players deserved credit for their application as they responded to Sunday's Premier League defeat at West Ham.
"We did a good job controlling the way they play," he said. "We were much better in the second half in terms of mobility and dynamic.
"The end of the match is about defending, sticking together. It's good for the team.
"We know that games require suffering and require unity, so we must congratulate the players because they did a good job."
One sour note saw Tottenham lose Bryan Gil to injury after just 25 minutes of the tie, with Nuno revealing they are still awaiting a full assessment of the damage.
Last season, Spurs were runners-up to Manchester City, whose quest for a fifth straight EFL Cup triumph was ended by a penalty shoot-out defeat at West Ham on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, Nuno was quick to play down his side's chances of going the extra step this year after booking their place alongside the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Leicester City in the quarter-final draw.
"We cannot look much further," he added. "We came here to go through; we did it in a good way and with a good game.
"Let's see the draw and wait for the next one.
"There are still a lot of teams. Every team involved in the competition is an option, so let’s focus on ourselves."
Massimiliano Allegri was frustrated Juventus did not settle for a point against Sassuolo on Wednesday, instead leaving themselves open to concede a late winner as they chased one of their own.
Juve lost 2-1 at the Allianz Stadium, their first defeat in 10 matches in all competitions and their first home reverse at the hands of Sassuolo.
The Bianconeri had recovered from Davide Frattesi's first-half opener, as Weston McKennie headed in with 14 minutes to play.
But Allegri's men went looking for a decisive second and instead allowed Maxime Lopez space to run through and score in the 95th minute, condemning Juve to their third defeat in 10 Serie A matches this term.
It was the 13th league goal Juve have conceded this season – their most at this stage of a campaign since 1988-89 – and one of the most frustrating for Allegri.
The coach, who became the third Juve boss to oversee 200 Serie A games, told a news conference his team "lost our heads" after equalising.
He added: "We have to have a different management like we had up to the 75th minute. After the equaliser, we were frantic and we lost in the 95th minute. This cannot happen anymore.
"When you can't win, you must not lose, and maybe this lost point will come to weigh heavy at the end of the season.
"After the 75th minute, the inertia was over; if you can't score, you don't concede the second goal. Then it is a goal that is also bad to see."
Juve drew 1-1 with Inter on Sunday, with that game providing an example of what Allegri was looking for, even if their equaliser at San Siro came courtesy of a controversial penalty.
"It's more a mental thing, more a balance that we have to find, knowing that we don't have to be in a hurry, we don't have to be unstable when we play games," Allegri told DAZN.
"We suffered less on Sunday. In Milan, when we were 1-0 down, we didn't even suffer a counter-attack, and today, at the end, we were immediately counter-attacked.
"Against Inter, we were more orderly in playing the ball, more relaxed, tonight instead we were unstable after it went to 1-1."
Federico Chiesa squandered Juve's best opportunities before McKennie's leveller, failing to hit the target with any of his game-high four attempts. He at least had a greater impact than Alvaro Morata, who did not have a single shot.
Allegri stuck up for Morata, insisting: "Come the end of the season, he will have scored goals and he will surely have won games."
Real Madrid missed the chance to move two points clear at the top of LaLiga as they were held to a 0-0 home draw by a resolute Osasuna.
Madrid turned in a fine performance to defeat Barcelona at Camp Nou last time out, but Carlo Ancelotti's side lacked any spark on Wednesday.
It is the third successive home game that Madrid have failed to win in all competitions, and Los Blancos were fortunate Jon Moncayola did not make matters worse when he struck the post early in the second half.
With Sevilla only able to draw at Mallorca, and Atletico Madrid and Sevilla not in action until Thursday, Madrid – who went closest to scoring when Karim Benzema hit the woodwork – must consider it as an opportunity missed to open up a slight gap on their title rivals.
The little action that did occur happened mostly after the break, with Eduardo Camavinga's effort into the side-netting the highlight of a drab first half.
Madrid out-thought Barca in Sunday's Clasico victory, but the slack nature of their performance should have been punished in the 50th minute.
Toni Kroos' tame cross resulted in Osasuna breaking at pace, with Chimy Avila sliding it across for Moncayola, who could only hit the upright.
Madrid were hardly sparked into life by that chance, with the pedestrian pace continuing until Benzema engineered space for a shot that clipped off the crossbar.
Unusually profligate against Barca, Benzema sent another presentable opportunity off target soon after, with Casemiro's effort from in his own half and a wayward Marcelo chip the closest Madrid came to scoring from then on as their recent issues at Santiago Bernabeu continued.
Jannik Sinner continued his push for an ATP Finals spot with a straight-sets defeat of Reilly Opelka in the first round of the Vienna Open, while Carlos Alcaraz exacted revenge on Andy Murray.
Sinner won his fourth title of what has been an outstanding season for the Italian in Antwerp last weekend and is only 110 points adrift of Hubert Hurkacz in the battle for the final place in the season-ending event in Turin.
Murray did the 20-year-old a favour by knocking Hurkacz out of the ATP 500 tournament in the Austrian capital on Monday and seventh seed Sinner eased to a 6-4 6-2 win over American Opelka two days later.
Sinner, who will overtake Pole Hurkacz if he reaches the semi-finals this week, won 93 per cent of points behind his first serve and did not face a break point in a resounding win and will play Dennis Novak in the second round.
Murray beat Alcaraz at Indian Wells this month, but the 18-year-old rising star from Spain turned the tables on the three-time grand slam champion with a 6-3 6-4 second-round win in Vienna.
Former world number one Murray struggled with his serve and was broken five times as he made an early exit.
Third seed Matteo Berrettini beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3 to reach the third round, while Diego Schwartzman, Gael Monfils and Lorenzo Sonego moved into the second round.
In the St Petersburg Open, defending champion Andrey Rublev beat Ilya Ivashka 6-4 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals along with Denis Shapovalov, a 2-6 6-3 6-0 winner against Pablo Andujar.
Jan-Lennard Struff also moved into the last eight, with Karen Khachanov and Marin Cilic securing first-round wins.
Ronald Koeman said poor finishing cost Barcelona at Rayo Vallecano as he insisted their overall performance meant it was "incredible" they lost the game.
A first-half goal from Radamel Falcao condemned the Catalans to a 1-0 defeat in Madrid, their first to Rayo since December 2002, and left them six points from the top of the table.
Barca had won all 13 of their most recent LaLiga meetings with Rayo, scoring an average of 4.3 goals per game, but they failed to capitalise on their chances at Estadio de Vallecas.
Memphis Depay missed a penalty, Sergio Aguero and Sergino Dest spurned good opportunities and Gavi scuffed a shot wide in the dying minutes with the goal at his mercy. They ended the contest with 2.95 expected goals compared to Rayo's 0.99.
Barca have now gone four away league games without a win and failed to score in the past three of those, something they last did back in February 2003.
For Koeman, an inability to take their chances was the only real negative about Barca's performance.
"Normally, we have players who can score. I can't complain about the team," he said.
"The start of the game was costly for us. Rayo pressed us a lot. We were better and each side had chances. The result isn't fair, although that's how it is and we can't change it.
"It's not attitude, it's not the play. It's a question of not scoring, and I can't say anything more.
"I don't know their [other] players. It could be they have more balanced squads. What we've shown is that we can compete with them.
"It could be bad luck, injuries... they are excuses. The team showed today and against Real Madrid that they were at a good level, but that's not enough. What matters is the result. Analysing the game today, it's incredible to have lost."
Barca are ninth in the table after 10 matches, having gone without a win in their first four away league games of a season for the first time since 1991-92.
Commenting on their league position, Koeman said: "That means we're not okay, that the team has dipped, we've lost very effective players.
"In recent years, those at the top have been able to strengthen, and we have not been able to. That also counts, although not for today's game.
"In spite of the absences, we played a good game, although if we don't score... that's what we're missing.
"There are many games to go. I'm worried about our effectiveness, but not our play. We played at a good level, but I know that, in Spain, that doesn't count."
Phil Foden missed what turned out to be the decisive spot-kick as holders Manchester City were knocked out of the EFL Cup for the first time in five years on penalties following a 0-0 draw in normal time.
Alphonse Areola made a number of crucial saves as the Hammers frustrated City at the London Stadium across 90 minutes, forcing a penalty shootout to settle the tie.
Foden was the only player to miss from the spot, with West Ham scoring each of their five penalties - Mark Noble netting the first and Said Benrahma scoring the last.
David Moyes' side are now through to the quarter-finals, while City's remarkable run of progressing from their last 21 League Cup ties comes to an end.
Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi continued their EFL Cup love affairs as Liverpool edged past Preston North End 2-0 at Deepdale on Wednesday.
Japan international Minamino made it five goals in four EFL Cup appearances before Origi scored for the 11th time in his 10th start in the competition with an impressively improvised backheel volley.
Having been fortunate not to go behind in the first half when Sean Maguire, Ryan Ledson and Brad Potts failed to take their chances, Minamino made the breakthrough for Liverpool in the 62nd minute.
The Premier League giants dominated possession throughout and were sure of a place in the quarter-finals for just the second time in five seasons after Origi somehow flicked the ball home with six minutes remaining.
Preston initially looked more dangerous despite seeing less of the ball and ought to have taken the lead in the 28th minute when they had three chances in rapid succession.
Adrian did brilliantly to deny Maguire from six yards after Joe Gomez was dispossessed, and Neco Williams' goal-line clearance kept Ledson out on the follow-up. The rebound fell to Potts, but he sliced his attempt high and wide.
After wasting a chance at the start of the second half, there was no mistake from Minamino with his next opportunity as he stabbed in a cutback from Williams after a brilliant pass from Tyler Morton released the right-back.
Kostas Tsimikas then rattled the crossbar with a deep cross and the ball fell to Williams, whose blocked shot sat up nicely for Origi to steer in a spectacular late second.
What does it mean? Differing displays for full debutants
Klopp handed a first senior appearance to Harvey Blair and a full debut to Morton as he made 11 changes from the 5-0 mauling of Manchester United in the Premier League at the weekend.
Blair was extremely quiet in the front three, getting just nine touches of the ball before making way for Conor Bradley in the 55th minute.
Morton, meanwhile, looked at home in the centre of midfield, spraying some lovely passes around – one of which was key to Minamino's goal.
Wonderful Williams
Making his first start since March having struggled with an ankle injury, Williams proved a difference-maker for the Reds. He made a crucial goal-line block in the first half and played a pivotal role in both Liverpool goals, though he was unable to take a late chance to get on the scoresheet himself.
Mixed bag for Van den Berg
Sepp van den Berg may be on loan at Preston from Liverpool, but he started in defence for the hosts and had a mixed outing. He gained possession 10 times, made four interceptions and two blocks – all of which were the most by a Preston player – but no other outfield team-mate gave the ball away more than him (13).
What's next?
Liverpool host Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday, with Preston entertaining Luton Town in the Championship on the same day.
Ramy Bensebaini and Breel Embolo scored doubles as Borussia Monchengladbach unceremoniously dumped Bayern Munich out of the DFB-Pokal with a stunning 5-0 victory.
It was a horror show for shambolic Bayern at Borussia-Park on Wednesday as the Bundesliga leaders were put to the sword, conceding three times in the opening 21 minutes.
Bensebaini struck twice after Kouadio Kone opened the scoring with his first goal for Die Fohlen, with Bayern at sixes and sevens as head coach Julian Nagelsmann watched on at home as he isolates after testing positive for coronavirus.
Embolo helped himself to a quickfire brace early in the second half to help Gladbach cruise into the third round, knocking Bayern out at the same stage they were sensationally beaten by Holstein Kiel at last season.
Kone capitalised on slack Bayern defending to open the scoring in the second minute, side-footing in with his right foot after Alphonso Davies gifted Gladbach possession with a poor pass.
Jonas Hofmann should have doubled their lead when he failed to hit the target after racing clear and Manuel Neuer showed great reflexes to tip Embolo's drive over the crossbar, with the Bundesliga champions all over the place at the back.
Bayern were caught napping again in the 15th minute and Bensebaini made them pay, bursting into the penalty area unmarked and sweeping in Hofmann's cutback with his right foot.
Things went from bad to worse for the Bavarian giants when Lucas Hernandez was adjudged to have fouled Embolo and Bensebaini nonchalantly slotted into the back of the net from the spot.
Dayot Upamecano was enduring a nightmare on his 23rd birthday, and he gifted Gladbach a fourth goal six minutes into the second half, failing to deal with a high ball down the middle and allowing Embolo to get on the scoresheet.
Upamecano was hauled off after that mistake, but there was no improvement in the Bayern defending as Embolo struck again soon after, beating a stunned Neuer after Luca Netz sent him clear.
Yann Sommer denied Serge Gnabry with a brilliant save after keeping out a Robert Lewandowski header and Josip Stanisic blazed over the crossbar as Bayern were unable to salvage some pride.
Danilo D'Ambrosio and Federico Dimarco were on target as Inter returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Empoli on Wednesday.
Simone Inzaghi's side had stuttered in Serie A in recent weeks, losing to Lazio and drawing with Juventus before this trip to Empoli.
However, D'Ambrosio broke the deadlock in the first half, scoring in a seventh consecutive top-flight campaign, and Samuele Ricci's dismissal for a reckless challenge after the break eased Inter's task.
Dimarco capitalised to make sure of the points and consolidate the Nerazzurri's third-place position.
Petar Stojanovic's speculative long-range effort had brought the first save of the contest from Samir Handanovic, before Dimarco tried his luck from a similar distance and was denied by Guglielmo Vicario.
The Empoli goalkeeper was powerless 11 minutes before the break, when D'Ambrosio headed into the bottom-left corner following Alexis Sanchez's dinked pass.
Nicolo Barella almost doubled Inter's lead on the stroke of half-time but blasted against the woodwork, before Ricci received a straight red card for a dangerous sliding challenge on the Nerazzurri midfielder after the interval.
Roberto Gagliardini then headed onto the left-hand post and Martinez was denied by a wonderful Vicario stop, either side of Sanchez's close-range finish being chalked off for offside.
Dimarco eventually added a second in the 66th minute, tapping in Martinez's low cross at the back post, although the visitors could have won by more, with two more goals ruled out. Gagliardini was penalised for handball and Stefano Sensi was flagged in the closing stages.
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