Cameron Norrie suffered an agonising end to his Australian Open run as he was pipped in a fifth-set tie-break by Alexander Zverev after a terrific fourth-round tussle.
The British number one broke new ground with a brilliant attacking display to defeat Casper Ruud on Saturday and again showed the new dimensions he has added to his game to push the sixth seed all the way.
Norrie, who had not won a set in their four previous meetings, twice came from behind to force a decider but it is Zverev who moves through to the quarter-finals after a 7-5 3-6 6-3 4-6 7-6 (10/3) victory.
Norrie will leave Australia, though, knowing that he can mix it with the best players in the world on the biggest stage and with confidence fully restored after a shaky second half of last season.
The match was briefly interrupted in the third set by a protester, who threw ‘Free Palestine’ flyers onto the court from the front row of Margaret Court Arena before being forcibly escorted away by two spectators.
The scenes were reminiscent of Wimbledon last summer, when Just Stop Oil protesters threw jigsaw pieces and confetti onto the court during two matches, although the leaflets were swiftly cleared here and play quickly resumed.
Norrie’s tactics against Ruud came as no surprise to Zverev, who spent the off-season practising with the British number one in Monte-Carlo.
There were few rallies of any kind in the first set, with serve dominating until Norrie, who was trying to beat a top-10 opponent at a slam for the first time, was broken at 5-5.
Zverev immediately came under pressure on serve for the first time but saved a break point with a forehand onto the line, and looked to have taken control of the contest when he broke again to lead 3-2 in the second.
However, Norrie played what must be one of the best returning games of his career to hit straight back, finishing it off with a zinging backhand cross-court winner.
And Norrie was not finished there, the 28-year-old showing his new-found aggression and willingness to mix up his tactics to pile more pressure on Zverev in his next service game.
The German saved two break points but then mis-hit a forehand on the third and suddenly Norrie was serving for the set.
It was far from straightforward for the 19th seed but he saved four break points before taking it, fortuitously, when a forehand hit the top of the net and dropped over.
A poor service game at 1-2 in the third set was enough for Zverev to take it and though Norrie pushed hard at the beginning of the fourth set, Zverev managed to save two break points in the second game.
However, the Olympic champion was powerless to stop Norrie forcing a decider, the 28-year-old creating two set points at 4-5 and taking the first with a delicate half-volley.
Norrie was managing to bully Zverev, one of the most powerful players on tour, at times from the baseline, while his drop shots and short angled slices kept the German guessing.
They exchanged breaks of serve at the start of the fifth set while Norrie survived a tense game at 3-3, saving three more break points.
Both men managed to hold serve through to a first-to-10-points tie-break but there Norrie’s resistance ran out, with Zverev clinching the win after four hours and five minutes to end British interest in the singles.
Intellotto could lead Joseph O’Brien’s small but select team into battle at next month’s Dublin Racing Festival, with his stablemate Nurburgring set to head straight to the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Having shaped with promise on the Flat, Intellotto made a smart start to his career over timber at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting and is being readied for an immediate step up to Grade One level in the McCann FitzGerald Spring Juvenile Hurdle on February 3.
Nurburgring, who has already won a Grade Three over hurdles and was narrowly beaten by Kala Conti in a Grade Two at Leopardstown last time, also holds a Spring Juvenile entry, but he may now be kept fresh for the showpiece meeting in the Cotswolds.
O’Brien said: “We’re probably just going to run Intellotto in the Grade One in Leopardstown and Nurburgring will probably go straight for the Triumph Hurdle.
“Intellotto produced a smart performance over the course and distance. It’s obviously a big jump in class to go straight into a Grade One, but I think he deserves a shot at it.”
O’Brien’s Boldog made a big impression on his hurdling debut at Tramore on New Year’s Day, but his trainer revealed he is unlikely to take up his Grade One entry in Leopardstown’s Tattersalls Ireland 50th Derby Sale Novice Hurdle.
Discussing his other options for the meeting, O’Brien added: “Boldog is probably not going to go, but I have Busselton in a handicap, Solness in a handicap and I have Roedora in the Graded mares’ bumper.”
England touched down in India without uncapped spinner Shoaib Bashir after a visa delay saw him grounded in Abu Dhabi.
The Test squad was already a man down after the news that Harry Brook had returned home for personal reasons and their number was thinned to 14 by the time they travelled from their training camp in the United Arab Emirates to Hyderabad.
There was a hold-up with Bashir’s paperwork, meaning he was unable to make the trip with the rest of the squad.
Bashir, who has a Pakistani background, was the only member of the touring party to experience such problems. There were reports of Pakistani fans and media struggling to gain visas for the recent World Cup in India.
The England and Wales Cricket Board is hopeful the issues will be ironed out after calling for assistance from its hosts but with the first Test starting on Thursday, there is precious little time.
“Bash will join us hopefully tomorrow, he’s got a couple of issues with his visa coming through,” said head coach Brendon McCullum.
“We’re confident on the back of the help from the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and the Indian government that it will sort itself out pretty quickly as well.
“Things take time, don’t they? Everyone is doing what they can. It’s a process we need to go through and we’re pretty confident that we’re close. We’ve also got a little bit of support out there for him so he’s not on his own.
“We’re hoping the news will come through today that his visa has been approved, then we’ll get him to sink his teeth into this series.”
McCullum also offered his support to Brook, who left the squad over the weekend to be with his family.
There is no date for his return but the lines of communication remain open and Brook will be making the decision.
“Obviously our thoughts are with Harry and his family, it’s a tough time. It’s a privileged position to play cricket for a living but some things are more important than that,” said McCullum.
“There’s a chance he may return later in the tour but for now we just want him to be with his family and do his thing. We’ll just keep talking.
“When he says he might be ready, when that conversation starts to happen, cool. If that doesn’t happen then that’s OK as well.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan put his World Grand Prix success down to buying an air fryer and smoothie maker and not eating junk food.
O’Sullivan stormed back from 4-0 down in Leicester on Sunday to beat Judd Trump 10-7 and win his second title in the space of a week following his Masters success.
“Start of the week I was feeling a bit rough and then I bought myself an air fryer and a smoothie maker,” O’Sullivan said on ITV.
“I don’t like eating junk food. It sorts of puts me in a funny place.
“I started feeling better as the week went on. I played some of my best snooker against Ding (Junhui, in his 6-1 semi-final win) and that gave me some confidence because I knew I’d have to play well to do something against Judd.”
The Rocket, just as he had done at the Masters, had to call on his powers of recovery after Trump established early command.
He said: “Judd blasted off the table 4-0 and I was thinking ‘this could be an early night, like a 10-1 job’.
“I managed to nick a few frames, 5-3 gave me a bit of optimism, and I thought I’d just come out and try, enjoy the battle and see what happens.
“You have to battle against Judd because he’s a warrior and the favourite for the World Championship for sure.”
World number one O’Sullivan reeled off six straight frame from 7-4 down to claim his 41st ranking title and win £100,000.
“I enjoyed that. I really did,” said O’Sullivan.
“I know I’m 48, but when I play snooker I can knock 20 years off and I feel quite vibrant.
“As long as I’m feeling young at the table I don’t feel age is an issue.
“I think experience is helping me. I’ve won a lot of tournaments, been around a while and learned a lot about the game.
“I think I’m a better all-round player than I’ve ever been.”
What the papers say
German side Bayern Munich plan to test Newcastle’s resolve by offering a higher bid for 33-year-old defender Kieran Trippier after an initial offer for the England international was rejected, the Guardian reports.
The Magpies have also rejected a loan offer from Atletico Madrid for striker Callum Wilson, according to the Daily Mail.
Brentford striker Ivan Toney wants to stay with the Bees, according to the Daily Mirror, despite being linked to both Arsenal and Chelsea.
Al-Nassr are believed to have made an offer totalling £21million for Tottenham defender Emerson Royal, the Daily Mail reports, but the Saudi Arabian side have been rebuffed.
Social media round-upPlayers to watch
Hugo Ekitike: German side Eintracht Frankfurt have reached a verbal agreement for the Paris St Germain forward and are gearing up for the next stage of negotiations, Sky Sports Germany says.
Ben Godfrey: The Everton defender is shaping up as an option for AC Milan, Calciomercato reports, however Sheffield United and Leeds are also understood to be interested in the 26-year-old.
Jonathan Varane: The 22-year-old Sporting Gijon midfielder has garnered significant interest from a number of clubs, including LaLiga sides Cadiz and Getafe and Championship outfits Norwich and QPR, writes L’Equipe.
The New York Islanders returned to their winning ways in new coach Patrick Roy's debut.
Bo Horvat scored 41 seconds into overtime and the Islanders beat the visiting Dallas Stars 3-2 on Sunday to make Roy a winner in his first game with New York.
The Hall of Fame goaltender was hired on Saturday after the team fired Lane Lambert following the conclusion of a 0-3-1 road trip.
Roy, who was 130-92-24 in three seasons coaching the Colorado Avalanche from 2013-16, and won the Jack Adams Award in 2014 as coach of the year, had spent the last five years as the coach and GM of his home-town junior team, the Quebec Ramparts.
Ilya Sorokin finished with 40 saves, while Alexander Romanov and Hudson Fasching scored regulation goals for New York (20-15-11).
Horvat's goal was his 19th of the season, giving the Islanders just their third win in 11 games (3-6-2).
The Stars (27-13-6) lost for the second time in three games after winning four of their previous five.
Dallas' Jason Robertson scored his 16th goal of the season for his team-leading 48th point, while Nils Lundqvist scored his second.
Scott Wedgewood finished with 25 saves to lose for the first time in four starts.
Matthews scores NHL-leading 38th goal to lift Maple Leafs over Kraken
Auston Matthews scored in the first period in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 3-1 win over the Seattle Kraken.
The goal was Matthews' fifth in the last four games and league-leading 38th on the season.
Matthews has five more goals than the next-closest goal-scorer, the Florida Panthers' Sam Reinhart.
Nicholas Robertson also scored for the Maple Leafs (23-14-8), while Jake McCabe added an empty-net goal with 21 second remaining.
On the other end of the ice, goaltender Ilya Samsonov was sensational, making several spectacular saves.
Samsonov stopped 16-of-17 shots to earn his first win since December 9 after going 0-2-3 with a 5.32 goals-against average in his previous five starts.
Joey Daccord made 23 saves for Seattle, while Jordan Eberle scored the team's only goal - his seventh of the season and third in the last five games.
The Kraken (19-18-9) have now lost four in a row immediately following a franchise-record nine-game winning streak.
Kaprizov's hat trick helps Wild beat Hurricanes
Kirill Kaprizov scored three goals in the Minnesota Wild's 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
It was the second career hat trick for Kaprizov, who was coming off a two-goal game and has 10 goals and seven assists in his last 10 contests.
Joel Eriksson Ek had the go-ahead goal midway through the third period to lead the Wild to their third win in four games after they had lost eight of their previous nine.
Kaprizov scored his final goal - his 18th of the season - into an empty net and Jake Middleton added an empty-netter just over a minute later.
Filip Gustavsson finished with 40 saves for Minnesota (20-21-5), as Martin Necas and Michael Bunting were the only two Carolina skaters to find the back of the net.
Antti Raanta stopped 14-of-17 shots for the Hurricanes (25-25-5), who lost for the second time in three games after going 7-0-1 in their previous eight.
The Los Angeles Clippers trailed the Brooklyn Nets by three points after one quarter, 12 points after two quarters and 15 points after three quarters.
The fourth quarter, however, belonged to the Clippers.
The Clippers throttled the Nets in the final period, outscoring them 41-15 and tallied the game's final 22 points to pull out a stunning 125-114 win on Sunday.
Down by 18 points with just under 11 minutes to play, Los Angeles (27-14) closed the game on a 39-10 run en route to its 10th victory in the last 12 games.
Kawhi Leonard led the epic comeback, scoring 14 of his 21 points during the Clippers' 22-0 run over the game's final 5:17.
The Clippers shot 44.7 percent through the first three quarters before making 12-of-16 shots (75.0 per cent) in the final period.
James Harden led Los Angeles with 24 points and 10 assists, while Russell Westbrook added 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists off the bench.
The Nets (17-25) started the game hot, jumping out to 16-0 lead over the first 4 1/2 minutes.
But as hot as they started, they were unable to make a basket down the stretch with a 114-103 lead, missing their final nine shots to lose for the 10th time in 12 games.
Mikal Bridges led Brooklyn with 26 points but scored just six after half-time.
Durant has 40 as Suns hang on to beat Pacers for fifth straight win
Kevin Durant poured in 40 points to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 117-110 win over the Indiana Pacers for their fifth straight victory.
In his third 40-point game of the season, Durant did most of his damage on mid-range jumpers and became the first player in franchise history to score at least 40 points without attempting a free throw.
The 13-time All-Star made 18-of-25 shots - including 4-of-7 from 3-point range - and grabbed nine rebounds to go with a season high-tying three blocks.
The Suns' starting backcourt combined for 51 points, with Devin Booker scoring 26 and Bradley Bead adding 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting.
Phoenix (24-18) led by as much as 14 points, but Indiana used an 11-0 run to pull ahead 105-103 on Buddy Hield's 3-pointer with 3:20 left.
Durant then responded with a 3-pointer of his own on the Suns' next possession, as Phoenix closed the game on a 14-5 run.
Hield led the Pacers with 18 points, and Pascal Siakam had 15 points and seven assists in his second game with Indiana after being acquired from Toronto.
The Pacers (24-19), who were once playing without All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton due to a strained left hamstring, lost for the fourth time in five games following a 9-1 stretch.
Jokic scores season-high 42 as Nuggets beat Wizards
Nikola Jokic had his highest scoring game of the season, scoring 42 points while adding 12 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 113-104 win over the Washington Wizards.
The two-time NBA MVP was red-hot shooting, going 15-of-20 from the field and making 12-of-14 free throws.
All five Denver starters scored in double figures with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. each scoring 19, Aaron Gordon adding 11 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope chipping in 10.
The Nuggets (30-14) led by as much as 17 in winning for the fourth time in five games.
The Wizards (7-35), meanwhile, lost their fourth in a row and for the 10th time in 11 games.
Kyle Kuzma paced Washington with 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Tyus Jones had 15 points and 13 assists.
Daniel Gafford had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds in his return after missing the last two games with a head injury.
A tearful Elina Svitolina was forced to retire with a back injury only three games into her fourth-round clash with Linda Noskova at the Australian Open.
The former world number three, who has made a very impressive return following the birth of daughter Skai last year, appeared the favourite to make the final from a wide open top half of the draw.
But her back locked up in the first game of the match and she sobbed as she called it a day trailing 3-0.
She said: “This one I think I never had that before, the shooting pain like this. I had some injuries to my back before where it just was tiredness the next day of the match, but this one was really out of nowhere. I felt like someone shot me in the back.”
Svitolina, who reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon last summer, did not want to think about what might have been, saying: “I cannot say that this was an open draw in a way.
“If you take other players, they are meant to be there. You have also in the other side of the draw very strong players who won slams and played really consistent throughout the year last year.
“So I don’t want to look this as a missed opportunity, especially right now when it was not about my tennis today.”
Having beaten Iga Swiatek in the third round, 19-year-old Noskova is now through to her first grand slam quarter-final, where she will take on another Ukrainian in Dayana Yastremska.
She saved two set points in the opening set and then came from 3-0 down in the second to beat two-time former champion Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (6) 6-4, powering 38 winners.
Yastremska was ranked as high as 21 in 2020 but had not won a slam match since serving a provisional doping suspension the following year and had to come through qualifying here.
The 23-year-old tested positive for the synthetic testosterone mesterolone and missed nearly six months of competition before it was decided she bore no fault or negligence and was therefore free to compete again.
Yastremska is the second Ukrainian through to the last eight after Marta Kostyuk, and Svitolina will be cheering on her countrywomen.
“Of course I’ve been following that we all have been playing really well,” she said. “At the beginning of the tournament, seven Ukrainians in the main draw, and going that far so many of us, it’s nice in the second week as well.
“It’s great for Ukrainian tennis. Of course, now I feel very old because of my health, but I’m happy that they are doing great. It’s great for Ukrainian tennis. It’s great for the upcoming generation as well, especially now these days when Ukraine is in such a tough time.”
The Kansas City Chiefs edged past the Buffalo Bills 27-24 to reach the AFC Championship.
Bills kicker Tyler Bass had an opportunity to level the scores in the final two minutes, but his 44-yard field goal attempt missed to the right.
Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco grabbed the crucial score at the start of the fourth quarter, going in from four yards.
Travis Kelce had earlier caught two touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes as the lead changed hands five times.
Quarterback Josh Allen ran for two touchdowns for the Bills, as well as connecting with Khalil Shakir from 13 yards.
The Chiefs will now head to the Baltimore Ravens to play in their sixth straight AFC title game.
The Detroit Lions advanced to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1991 with a 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jared Goff threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns and Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 74 yards and a score as the Lions, who have never played in a Super Bowl, set up an NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers next weekend.
Ford Field was fired up before kick-off and the atmosphere went up another notch when the first Bucs drive ended with Baker Mayfield throwing an interception into the arms of CJ Gardner-Johnson.
The two teams traded field goals before Detroit got rolling behind rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, who had three straight catches of 13, two and 15 yards to get them upfield before Goff threw a nine-yard touchdown to Josh Reynolds.
Tampa Bay responded late in the half, with Mayfield hitting Mike Evans from 29 yards to get the Bucs to the two-yard line before throwing a touchdown pass to Cade Otton.
Detroit were back on top with 3:51 left in the third quarter when they went for it fourth down from a yard out, with Craig Reynolds powering through, but Tampa Bay again found a response at the end of the quarter as an off-balance Mayfield found Rachaad White with a 12-yard touchdown.
The see-saw continued as Gibbs ran in from 31 yards to put Detroit back on top and they finally broke the pattern when Tampa Bay were forced to punt and Goff hit Amon-Ra St Brown with a perfect nine-yard touchdown pass.
The Bucs were not done yet as Evans reeled in a 16-yard touchdown pass and they had the ball back inside the final two minutes, only for Mayfield to be picked off by Derrick Barnes to spark huge celebrations in Detroit.
US golfer Nick Dunlap won The American Express tournament by one shot to become the first amateur to take home PGA glory in 33 years.
The victory makes Dunlap the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson back in 1991.
The 20-year-old University of Alabama student sank a birdie putt at the par-five 16th to equal the lead of fellow US player Sam Burns at the Pete Dye Stadium Course in La Quinta, California.
Burns then stumbled on the day’s toughest hole, finding water off the tee at the par-three 17th.
At that time, Dunlap was on the green 35 feet from the hole.
He went on to make a routine par, while Burns came out with a double bogey.
The amateur took the lead with the par-four 18th remaining, while on the 18th green, South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout birdied to pull within one.
Dunlap pulled his tee shot into the right rough, but recovered with his approach to tap in for par and claim victory with a 72-hole record low winning score of 29 under 259.
He broke the benchmark of 28 under set by US golfer Patrick Reed in 2014.
Dunlap is the youngest amateur to win on the PGA Tour since 1910.
While he will not collect the 1.5million dollars (£1.18million) prize money, he has secured his PGA Tour card for two years.
Last year, Dunlap became the only player other than Tiger Woods to claim both titles of US Junior Amateur and US Amateur.
The Detroit Lions advanced to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1991 with a 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jared Goff threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns and Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 74 yards and a score as the Lions, who have never played in a Super Bowl, set up an NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers next weekend.
Ford Field was fired up before kick-off and the atmosphere went up another notch when the first Bucs drive ended with Baker Mayfield throwing an interception into the arms of CJ Gardner-Johnson.
The two teams traded field goals before Detroit got rolling behind rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, who had three straight catches of 13, two and 15 yards to get them upfield before Goff threw a nine-yard touchdown to Josh Reynolds.
Tampa Bay responded late in the half, with Mayfield hitting Mike Evans from 29 yards to get the Bucs to the two-yard line before throwing a touchdown pass to Cade Otton.
Detroit were back on top with 3:51 left in the third quarter when they went for it fourth down from a yard out, with Craig Reynolds powering through, but Tampa Bay again found a response at the end of the quarter as an off-balance Mayfield found Rachaad White with a 12-yard touchdown.
The see-saw continued as Gibbs ran in from 31 yards to put Detroit back on top and they finally broke the pattern when Tampa Bay were forced to punt and Goff hit Amon-Ra St Brown with a perfect nine-yard touchdown pass.
The Bucs were not done yet as Evans reeled in a 16-yard touchdown pass and they had the ball back inside the final two minutes, only for Mayfield to be picked off by Derrick Barnes to spark huge celebrations in Detroit.
Mohamed Salah will return to Liverpool for treatment on a muscle injury picked up while on international duty, the Egyptian Football Association has announced.
The influential forward was forced off during the first half of Egypt’s 2-2 draw with Ghana in Thursday’s Africa Cup of Nations group match, causing concern for club and country.
It was later revealed the 31-year-old would miss the Pharaohs’ next two fixtures, if they progressed to the knockout stages of the competition in the Ivory Coast.
However, he will now attend Egypt’s final Group B against Cape Verde on Monday, where victory will secure their place in the last 16, before flying back to Liverpool for rehabilitation.
An Egyptian FA statement, posted on Liverpool’s official website on Sunday evening, read: “After additional examinations were conducted on Mohamed Salah during the last hours, and after communication between the national team’s medical staff and his counterpart at Liverpool FC, it was decided that the player will return to England after the Cape Verde match tomorrow to complete his treatment, with the hope that he will join the national team in the semi-final of the AFCON if we qualify.”
Premier League leaders Liverpool initially struggled to create in the absence of their talisman during Sunday’s game at Bournemouth, but moved five points clear at the top thanks to a crushing 4-0 win earned by second-half doubles from Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.
Speaking after the victory at the Vitality Stadium, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said it “makes sense” for Salah to fly back to Merseyside from the tournament.
“That’s the plan,” the German said before the news was confirmed. “If that’s already decided 100 per cent, I don’t know. But that’s the plan.
“However long he’s out, probably everybody sees it like this, it makes sense that he’s doing the rehab with us or with our people. If that’s written in stone already, I don’t know.
“I spoke with him directly after, the night when it happened. Since then he’s in contact with our doctor. I think he will be back.”
Liverpool overcame a slow start on a soggy south coast afternoon to run out resounding victors against the Cherries in their first league match of the season without 14-goal forward Salah.
Nunez broke the deadlock four minutes into the second period and then completed the scoring in added time following Jota’s quick-fire brace as the Reds fully capitalised on a weekend off for second-placed Manchester City.
“We had the opposite of a good start,” said Klopp. “We put ourselves under pressure.
“It’s about winning the game in the end and, as long as you stay in the game, pretty much anything that happens in the game is allowed.
“Today, step by step, we found a way in the game and won it.”
Defeat for 12th-placed Bournemouth was a second in succession in the top flight following 19 points from the previous 21 available.
Cherries boss Andoni Iraola felt his side lost tactical discipline after falling behind.
“We started doing things that we haven’t done before, going too fast, not so disciplined tactically and obviously we played worse in the second half,” said the Spaniard.
“They were really clinical today. The first goal is difficult to defend, the other goals we could do more, we could defend better, react more quickly to the second balls.”
Artem Dovbyk scored a seven-minute first-half hat-trick to inspire Girona to a thumping 5-1 win over Sevilla in LaLiga which took them back to the top of the table.
Girona moved a point clear of Real Madrid, who have a game in hand, with the capital club beating Almeria 3-2 earlier on Sunday.
Sevilla scored first, but Dovbyk responded with three goals inside the opening 20 minutes before Viktor Tsygankov and Cristhian Stuani sealed a dominant win.
Isaac Romero, who scored twice on his first Sevilla start last week, netted the opener after 10 minutes.
But Ukrainian striker Dovbyk equalised in the 13th minute as he got on the end of Savio’s cross to nod in.
The game two players were involved in Girona’s second two minutes later, Savio slipping in Portu, who cut the ball back for the well-positioned Dovbyk to tap home from close-range.
And Dovbyk completed his treble in the 19th minute.
The striker drove inside from the right, cutting on to his left foot before producing a wonderful driven shot into the bottom right corner.
It took the summer signing’s tally in his debut LaLiga season to 14 goals.
After the break the hosts added a fourth courtesy of Tsygankov in the 56th minute.
Savio ran down the left and his driven pass found Tsygankov in the centre, with the winger finishing first time past Marko Dmitrovic.
Stuani scored in the 89th minute to round off the emphatic win.
Jude Bellingham inspired Real Madrid with a goal and an assist as they came from two goals down to earn a last-gasp 3-2 win over rock-bottom Almeria in LaLiga.
The visitors hit the front inside a minute through Largie Ramazani and doubled their lead at the end of the first half when Edgar Gonzalez slammed a shot into the top corner from outside the area.
Bellingham kick-started Madrid’s comeback from the penalty spot in the 57th minute and they were on level terms 10 minutes later when Vinicius Junior nudged home from inside the area.
The game looked to be heading for a draw, but Madrid snatched the points nine minutes into stoppage time when Bellingham nodded across for Dani Carvajal, who poked home at the back post.
Osasuna made it back-to-back wins with a 3-2 victory over Getafe.
David Garcia edged the hosts in front inside 10 minutes with a close-range finish and they doubled their lead just after the half-hour mark through Iker Munoz.
Getafe fought back to level terms with two goals in four second-half minutes, Borja Mayoral bringing the visitors back into the contest and Nemanja Maksimovic making it 2-2, but Jesus Areso’s intended cross from near the corner flag ended up in the back of the net via a post to give Osasuna all three points.
In Germany, Bayern Munich slipped to a shock 1-0 home defeat to Werder Bremen to lose further ground to Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
The visitors, who had Justin Njinmah’s strike ruled out in the 25th minute after a VAR check, were not to be denied when Mitchell Weiser cut in from the left and fired into the roof of the net to give them a deserved lead.
Goalkeeper Michael Zetterer denied Leroy Sane and Mathys Tel late on to earn Werder a first league win over Munich since 2008.
Augsburg came from a goal down to beat Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 at Borussia Park.
Jordan Pefok bundled home from close range to give the hosts a lead, but Augsburg hit back in the second half.
Phillip Tietz brought Augsburg level with a neat header two minutes into the half and the winner came four minutes later as Arne Engels found the bottom corner from inside the box to help Augsburg move above their opponents in the table.
In Serie A, Szymon Zurkowski scored a hat-trick to help Empoli move within two points of safety with a 3-0 win over Monza.
Zurkowski put the hosts in front in superb fashion with a spectacular volley and doubled their lead with a header seven minutes before the break before he rounded off his treble with a right-footed tap-in after the break.
Frosinone came from behind to end a run of five straight defeats with a 3-1 win over Cagliari.
Sulemana bagged his first Serie A goal to give Cagliari a half-time lead, but Frosinone scored three times after the break.
Luca Mazzitelli’s pinpoint header brought them level before Matias Soule found the top corner from a free-kick and Kaio Jorge added a third in stoppage time.
Bottom side Salernitana slipped to their 13th league defeat of the season as they lost 2-1 to Genoa.
Salernitana edged in front in the second minute thanks to Agustin Martegani, but they were not ahead for long as Mateo Retegui equalised 10 minutes later and Albert Gudmundsson’s penalty secured Genoa’s comeback victory.
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