Anastasia Potapova won the second WTA Tour title of her career with a straightforward win over Petra Martic in Sunday's final at the Linz Open.

The 21-year-old, who is set to reach a personal high of 31 in the world rankings on Monday, saw off her Croatian opponent in just an hour and 16 minutes, winning 6-3 6-1.

Potapova dropped as low as 124 in the rankings last year, but this week's success is another reminder of the Russian's promise.

Martic seemingly represents something of a good luck charm for Potapova – she also beat her en route to her first ever WTA title last year in Istanbul.

It did not always look like going in Potapova's favour, though, as she was broken right at the start and then only just held off Martic in her second service game.

Potapova then secured two breaks that helped her seal the first set, and after Martic won the first game of the second, the eventual champion reeled off six on the bounce to emphatically romp to victory.

Marcus Rashford scored his 21st goal of the season as Manchester United left it late to beat managerless Leeds United 2-0 at Elland Road on Sunday.

Rashford salvaged a 2-2 draw for Erik ten Hag's side after relegation-threatened Leeds had taken a shock two-goal lead when the two rivals met at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

The forward continued his outstanding form by heading the Red Devils in front 10 minutes from time in a fiery Premier League encounter in West Yorkshire.

Alejandro Garnacho sealed the victory five minutes later as Manchester United moved about Manchester City into second place ahead of the champions' game against Aston Villa later in the day.

Long-serving Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke set a new record for the most league appearances of any player for the club in Sunday's meeting with Celta Vigo.

The 31-year-old featured in Atletico colours for 402nd time in LaLiga to overtake fellow Atleti icon Adelardo Rodriguez outright.

Koke is also the club's record appearance maker in all competitions, a record he set in October when appearing for the 554th time.

Spain international Koke emerged through Los Rojiblancos' youth ranks and made his first outing for the senior side in a 5-2 loss at Barcelona in September 2009.

Across his 13 years with Atletico, Koke has won eight major trophies, including LaLiga in 2014 and 2021, while also reaching two Champions League finals.

Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion were victims of "significant" human errors during Saturday's Premier League action, according to the body responsible for match officials in English football.

Ivan Toney equalised against the Gunners at Emirates Stadium to ultimately secure Brentford a 1-1 draw, but the goal should not have stood due to Christian Norgaard – who nudged the ball across goal for the assist – having previously been in an offside position.

VAR Lee Mason failed to spot it despite the goal going to a review to check if Ethan Pinnock had been offside.

Also on Saturday, Brighton were denied a winning goal when Pervis Estupinan had his strike ruled out for offside – the VAR seemingly deemed the wrong Crystal Palace defender to be the deepest player.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) admitted there were mistakes.

A statement read: "PGMOL can confirm its chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has contacted both Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion to acknowledge and explain the significant errors in the VAR process in their respective Premier League fixtures on Saturday.

"Both incidents, which were due to human error and related to the analysis of offside situations, are being thoroughly reviewed by PGMOL."

PGMOL did not comment on the controversy that occurred at London Stadium, however, where Chelsea were denied a late penalty when West Ham's Tomas Soucek handled the ball in the box.

Chelsea boss Graham Potter sarcastically praised Soucek for a "good save" after the game.

Brentford have condemned racist abuse aimed at striker Ivan Toney following their 1-1 draw at Arsenal on Saturday.

Toney scored the equaliser that sealed a point for Brentford against the Premier League leaders, though replays appeared to show that the goal should have been ruled out for Christian Norgaard straying offside in the build-up.

In a statement released by Brentford on Sunday, the club claimed that Toney was subjected to racist abuse on Instagram, and pleaded with all football fans to "celebrate diversity".

"Immediately after Brentford’s game against Arsenal, Ivan Toney received a barrage of abusive, racist direct messages via his Instagram account," the statement read.

"We are disgusted and saddened that Ivan has had to deal with this yet again.

"We will not tolerate it and we will do everything we can to pursue the individuals involved. 

"Ivan was subject to similar abuse in October last year, and the perpetrator is now facing the consequences in court. 

"How many times does this need to happen?

"We call on football fans everywhere to relish the competition and rivalry that exists between us, but to respect and embrace our differences and celebrate the diversity that exists throughout the Premier League.

"There is no room for racism."

This weekend's Premier League games saw a return of the taking of the knee prior to kick-off as part of the No Room for Racism campaign.

Last year, Toney said that members of his family had been racially abused in the stands at Goodison Park, during a 3-2 win for Brentford over Everton.

David de Gea is set to become the first non-British player to make 400 Premier League appearances for one club after being named in Manchester United's starting XI for the clash with Leeds United.

Erik ten Hag also handed Jadon Sancho his first start since a 1-1 draw with Chelsea on October 22 after the England international made substitute appearances in two of United's previous three games following a lengthy spell out of action.

De Gea started his career at Atletico Madrid before signing for United ahead of the 2011-12 season.

He helped United win the Premier League title in the following campaign, yet has only got his hands on two more trophies since then – the FA Cup and EFL Cup in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

His landmark appearance at Elland Road also makes him the first goalkeeper in Premier League history to make 400 appearances for the same club.

The 32-year-old's contract expires at the end of the season, though United have an option to trigger a one-year extension, and there have been talks regarding an agreement for a longer renewal.

Ten Hag shuffled his pack in defence, with Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw starting in the middle of the back four instead of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez.

Sancho, meanwhile, has been drafted back in following his excellent cameo against Leeds on Wednesday, as United fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with their manageress rivals.

No replacement for Jesse Marsch has yet been instilled at Leeds, with caretaker Michael Skubala taking charge of his second match.

Josh Allen should be fit for the start of the 2023 NFL season, with the Buffalo Bills quarterback reportedly not needing elbow surgery.

Allen suffered a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in the Week 9 loss to the New York Jets in November, though he was able to keep playing while wearing a brace. 

A report from NFL.com's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport claims the fact that the 26-year-old has not re-injured the area means surgery will not be necessary and further rest should see him able to line up in Week 1 of the 2023 campaign.

Allen had a productive 2022, throwing 35 touchdowns – only Patrick Mahomes (41) had more – and rushing for another seven during the regular season, throwing for an average of 267.7 yards per game.

That increased to 308.0 yards per game in his two postseason outings, where he contributed to four more touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) before the Bills were eliminated in the Divisional round by the Cincinnati Bengals.

In the Week 5 thrashing of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Allen became the first quarterback in NFL history to record 250+ passing yards, 50+ rushing yards, three or more passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, 80 per cent completions and a win all in one game.

Gudakesh Motie took career-best Test figures on Sunday to help the West Indies dismiss Zimbabwe for 115 after lunch on the first day of the second Test at Bulawayo.

Valencia head coach Salvador Gonzalez 'Voro' has pleaded with the struggling club's fans to express their "Valencianism" to help the team.

Thousands of supporters staged a protest prior to Saturday's home game with Athletic Bilbao aimed at owner Peter Lim, with Valencia in the LaLiga relegation zone.

A 2-1 defeat to Athletic meant Los Che have now picked up just one point from their past seven league games and lost four in a row.

Despite the defeat, Voro was pleased with the performance of his side, who took the lead through Samu Castillejo, only for goals from Nico Williams and Oihan Sancet to turn things around at the Mestalla.

Voro said: "The team has been closer to being able to win and has been focused except on some detail that Athletic has taken advantage of.

"The attitude has been very good and it's unfair, but football is like that. It's a sad day, but improvements have been seen and you have to compete equally to be able to win games."

When asked about the fan protests, Voro added: "The situation is very complicated from a sporting perspective. 

"We understand that the public may be upset, I respect that everyone expresses their Valencianism in the way they consider, but we need the people.

"We are in a very difficult situation, and I think that today there are green shoots. It has not given us a win, but we have lost due to specific actions, football has these things."

Valencia striker Hugo Duro understands the fans' frustration.

"It is normal for the fans to be this demanding when they are in this situation, I would be too," he said after the Athletic game. "We've had 37,000 people come out here tonight and we cannot ask for more.

"They support however they can and the rest is down to us."

England seamer Ollie Robinson says Test cricket is entertaining enough without "gimmicky" day-night matches.

A two-match series between England and New Zealand is scheduled start at Bay Oval on Thursday, although the pink-ball match could be under threat due to Cyclone Gabrielle.

Robinson has enjoyed success under the lights in day-night encounters, but the 29-year-old would clearly rather be starting earlier in Mount Maunganui.

"It's a bit gimmicky," he said. "They're trying to get crowds and change the game a little bit. But the way England are playing Test cricket at the moment, I don't think that needs to happen.

"We could stick to how we're going and we're entertaining people as we are so I'm not sure if it's necessary really.

"Just traditional Test cricket – there's nothing wrong with it to start with. I don't think we need to play these pink-ball games."

Heavy rain and high winds is set to hamper England's preparation for the first Test, but Robinson says they will be ready to go regardless. 

"We are well aware it could be tricky to get out there [to practice[," he said/

"If we don't train before Thursday I feel we've had good preparation and we're ready to go."

Robinson is relishing the challenges to come in a year that will see Ben Stokes' in-form side attempt to regain the Ashes by beating Australia on home soil.

"I think it's probably the biggest year of my career now," he said. "It's an exciting year and I think with the group and the environment we've got it's going to be amazing.

"The memories that we're going to create and hopefully the Test match wins we're going to do. I'm really looking forward to it."

Southampton have sacked Nathan Jones after just 14 games in charge.

Former Luton Town boss Jones replaced Ralph Hasenhuttl on November 10, but he has endured a torrid time and leaves the Saints rooted to the bottom of the Premier League. 

He suffered a 3-1 defeat away at Liverpool in his only game in charge before the World Cup break and things did not improve when domestic football returned.

The 49-year-old has overseen a run of six defeats in seven Premier League games since then, culminating in Saturday's dire 2-1 home defeat to 10-man Wolves.

Jones raised eyebrows in his final weeks at Southampton by declaring in the wake of his side's 3-0 defeat to Brentford that "statistically, there weren't many better than me around Europe in terms of aggression, clean sheets, defending the box, balls in the box, xG, all those sorts of things".

He angered Saints supporters after that defeat by saying he felt he had compromised his principles because of pressure from "personnel" and "fans".

In a statement on Sunday, the club confirmed first-team coaches Chris Cohen and Alan Sheehan had also left the club, with first-team lead coach, Ruben Selles, taking charge of training and preparing the team for next weekend's game against Chelsea.

Uncapped spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has been called up to the Australia squad ahead of the second Test against India in the absence of Mitchell Swepson.

Swepson, who did not feature in a crushing innings-and-132-run defeat in the first Test in Nagpur, has decided to fly home as his wife is due to give birth.

Left-arm tweaker Kuhnemann could make his Test debut at the age of 26 when the tourists set about trying to level the four-match series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday.

The 26-year-old, who made his ODI bow against Sri Lanka last June, has only played 13 first-class matches for Queensland but may get the nod in Delhi.

He said after playing for Queensland against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield: "I was just lucky enough that my passport was in my bag.

"I watched every day [of the first Test] just being such a fan. These series are so good to watch. Todd Murphy was exceptional and sort of watched how [Ravindra] Jadeja bowled. So just really excited to get over there.

"I was fortunate enough to stay with the Test guys and bowl to them in the nets in Sri Lanka so that's still pretty fresh in my memory. I learned heaps just being over there for a couple of months. If I got the opportunity I'd like to think I'd be okay."

India all-rounder Jadeja was named player of the match after taking 5-47 in the first innings and 2-34 as Australia were skittled out for only 91 on day three of a one-sided first Test, while he also made 70 with the bat.

The performance of spinner Murphy, who claimed 7-124 on debut, was one huge positive in a dismal start to the tourists' bid to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Marcus Rashford has been challenged to finish the season with as many as 35 goals by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.

Rashford hit the net for the 20th time this term as the Red Devils recovered from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 Premier League draw with Leeds United on Wednesday.

The England forward has scored 12 goals in 14 appearances since returning from the World Cup and has almost three times as many goals as United's next highest scorer Bruno Fernandes, who has seven to his name.

With Rashford on course to comfortably surpass the most prolific campaign of his career to date of 22 goals in 2019-20, Ten Hag urged him to keep aiming high.

"[There is] much more to come and we have months to play, important months," Ten Hag told the club's website. "We have to get into a position where we can win trophies. 

"Until now, where we are, Marcus has had a big impact in this season. 

"I remember at the start of the season, I was questioning can he score 20 goals. Now he has that marker, he has scored 20 goals, but now it's about getting more. 

"He has to challenge himself to get 30 or 35, but most focus has to be on the next goal and if you have that focus, you will see where you end up. But most important is that we win as a team."

Rashford travels for Sunday's return fixture at Leeds having scored twice in his past three away league games, after only netting once in his previous 18 top-flight road trips.

Ockie Strydom shot a stunning nine-under round of 63 to seal victory in the Singapore Classic by one stroke on Sunday.

The South African's final round was the best score of the day at the Laguna National Golf Resort Club and propelled him to top spot ahead of Sami Valimaki of Finland.

The victory is Strydom's second on the DP World Tour after he claimed the Alfred Dunhill Championship on home soil in December.

"It's my mindset that's changing at the moment," he said. "When you've been in that situation before you know you can do it again.

"I was thinking of not being here this week as I was hitting it so badly. My coach and wife said 'maybe it's your week' and look what happened, it was my week!"

Joint leaders after the third round, Wang Jeung-hun and Alejandro del Rey, finished in a tie for third with Marcel Schneider, four shots back from Strydom.

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