Phil Foden was elated to be back among the goals following "one of the lowest parts" of his career after his double helped Manchester City to victory over Bristol City.
The Citizens cruised into the FA Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday as Foden scored twice before Kevin De Bruyne added a superb late third to see off their Championship hosts.
Foden has now been involved in 15 goals in 18 FA Cup appearances for Man City (10 goals, five assists) and made it three goals in two games after he scored against Bournemouth in a 4-1 Premier League victory at the weekend.
His goal against the Cherries was Foden's first in the league since November and marked a welcome return to form after a tough period for the Man City youth product, who has been in and out of the line-up having struggled with a foot injury of late.
After his double at Bristol City, Foden told ITV Sport: "I feel much better in my feet.
"I'm feeling 100 per cent fit now and comfortable, so hopefully I can come back into the team and help as much as possible.
"It's been one of the lowest parts of my career, but everybody goes through them, and it's how you react. The discomfort in my feet, not playing as much... I love to play football, and when I don't, I'm a bit frustrated."
Pep Guardiola lauded Foden's influence on the team, saying: "He's dynamic, his rhythm, work ethic and quality.
"Football players have up and downs, and his career was always up, up, up. Phil has always had a high level.
"His impact has been amazing. When you work like he works, it always pays off."
Wednesday's win made it six matches unbeaten in all competitions for Guardiola's men, and Foden believes Man City can kick on to end the season strongly, although he also felt 3-0 was not a fair reflection following the spirited display of their Championship opponents.
"I don't think it was a 3-0 game, to be honest," Foden added. "It was quite tight at times. They gave us a really big challenge, but in the end our quality has shone through.
"The last two games have been brilliant, and we look like we're making a step forward. Hopefully we can keep up this form now and finish the season strong."
Carlos Alcaraz confirmed his withdrawal from this week's Mexican Open due to a hamstring strain.
The reigning US Open champion, who missed the Australian Open with hamstring issues, was set to face Mackenzie McDonald in the opening round of the ATP 500 event in Acapulco.
Besides his injury frustrations, the teenager has enjoyed an impressive start to 2023, going 8-1 after triumphing in Buenos Aires and being runner-up to Cameron Norrie in Rio.
The latter event saw Alcaraz aggravate a hamstring problem, which has subsequently prevented him from building on that momentum this week.
"Unfortunately I won't be able to play in Acapulco," the Spaniard posted on his social media channels. "I have a grade 1 strain in my right hamstring that will keep me out for several days, according to the tests we did this morning.
"I'm really sad I can't compete here, but now it's time to think about recovering and being ready as soon as possible. I hope to see you all soon!"
Norrie also confirmed he will not compete in Acapulco, the British number one citing fatigue as the reason for his absence.
"Unfortunately, I have to withdraw from Acapulco," he said in an Instagram story. "It's one of my favourite tournaments, so it's really tough for me to withdraw."
Leonard Fournette wanted to leave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers once Tom Brady retired, and the team are set to grant his wish.
Not long after Jason Licht described Fournette as someone who "still has several years left in him as a three-down back" on Tuesday, reports emerged of his imminent release.
But the development was of no surprise to Fournette, who had asked to be let go, he revealed.
"I asked after the season to be [released], and they respected my wishes," Fournette told the Tampa Bay Times. "So, no bad blood.
"Winning is everything. That's all. And in my last three years here, that's all we've done. But since my guy [Brady] left... that's why I came, so my time here was up."
Brady has retired again in Tampa, and the Buccaneers do not expect him to reverse his decision this time.
With him then goes a key member of the successful Super Bowl LV team, with Fournette having joined the Bucs alongside Brady.
Between three rushing touchdowns and one receiving TD, Fournette had a score in every round of that postseason after the 2020 season.
Two goals from Phil Foden and a Kevin De Bruyne wonder strike helped Manchester City see off Championship side Bristol City 3-0 at Ashton Gate on Tuesday to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.
After Foden fired in from Riyad Mahrez's excellent cross to put the visitors ahead early on, the Robins came close in their search for an equaliser when Sam Bell headed wide in the second half.
Bristol City's hopes of producing a shock were soon dashed, though, as Foden's deflected effort found the bottom corner before De Bruyne lashed in from range to put the tie beyond doubt.
Pep Guardiola's men made it 11 consecutive away wins in the FA Cup to boost their hopes of lifting the trophy for a seventh time.
The visitors rattled the crossbar through Kalvin Phillips within the opening two minutes, but they did not have to wait too much longer to open the scoring.
Great work from Mahrez down the right ended with a pinpoint cross for Foden, who made no mistake with the back-post finish.
Nigel Pearson's men produced a spirited response with Alex Scott testing Stefan Ortega, though Mahrez saw a volley cleared off the line at the other end as Man City took a narrow lead into the break.
The hosts continued to threaten after the break as the home crowd roared them on in hope of an unlikely upset, with Bell missing a great opportunity to level when his close-range header flew wide.
Bell was made to pay for that miss shortly after, with Foden's low strike inadvertently helped into his own goal by Zak Vyner, and De Bruyne added a late third with a brilliant long-range drive to ensure Man City's safe passage into the final eight.
It is the end of an era in Chicago with the Blackhawks sending superstar Patrick Kane to the New York Rangers.
The trade, which had been expected for days, was reported by several media outlets on Tuesday.
In return for the three-time Stanley Cup winner, the Rangers are sending the Blackhawks a 2023 second-round draft pick and a fourth-round pick. The second-round selection will become a first-rounder in either 2024 or 2025 if the Rangers reach this year's Eastern Conference Finals.
Kane leaves the Blackhawks as one of the greatest players in franchise history.
He was instrumental to their dynasty in the 2010s, helping the club to Stanley Cup titles in 2010, 2013 and 2015. He scored the championship-clinching goal against the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime of Game 6 of the 2010 Finals, while winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs in 2013.
The 34-year-old Kane had spent his entire 16-season NHL career with the Blackhawks after being selected first overall in the 2007 draft.
The nine-time All-Star ranks second all-time in franchise history with 1,225 points, while his 446 goals are third-most by a Blackhawk. He also ranks third in franchise history in games played (1,161) and fourth in power-play goals (122).
As a 19-year-old rookie in 2007-08, Kane made an immediate impact in the NHL, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top first-year player.
Eight years later in 2015-16, Kane won the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP as well as the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion.
He is still performing at a high level, ranking second on Chicago this season in goals (16) and points (45), but the Blackhawks have the second-fewest points in the Western Conference and are in full rebuild mode.
Kane is in the final year of an eight-year, $84million contract he signed in 2014 and had a no-trade clause, so he had a choice in where he could be traded.
With the Rangers, who are in third place in the Metropolitan Division, he will be reunited with Artemi Panarin, who leads New York with 67 points.
Kane and Panarin were team-mates in Chicago for two seasons – including Kane's MVP and scoring champion season of 2015-16.
Paul Pogba made his long-awaited second Juventus debut as the Bianconeri twice came from behind to beat city rivals Torino 4-2 in an entertaining Derby della Mole.
Pogba, who has endured several injury setbacks since re-joining from Manchester United, appeared as a second-half substitute at the Allianz Stadium and helped Juve record their fourth successive Serie A win.
Massimiliano Allegri's side were forced to respond twice in the first half, Juan Cuadrado and Danilo cancelling out goals from Yann Karamoh and Antonio Sanabria.
Juve completed the turnaround in the final 20 minutes with Bremer and Adrien Rabiot sealed the points and ensured the Bianconeri's 18th straight derby without defeat.
Torino shook off the tag of being the only team not to score from a corner in Serie A this season after just 92 seconds when Alessandro Buongiorno flicked on Aleksey Miranchuk's corner and an unmarked Karamoh tucked away.
Juventus responded in the 16th minute as Filip Kostic found Cuadrado at the far post, with the Colombia international's effort deflecting into the roof of the net via Ricardo Rodriguez.
Torino regained the lead two minutes before the break when Sanabria poked home Ivan Ilic's low cross, but a frantic first half saw Juve level again in stoppage time – Danilo heading in from Angel Di Maria's corner.
Both sides rattled the crossbar after the break; Dusan Vlahovic denied before Karol Linetty was thwarted by the woodwork at the other end.
Allegri introduced Pogba and Federico Chiesa and the latter made an impact within two minutes, delivering a precise centre that was headed in by Bremer.
And local bragging rights were secured when Rabiot bundled home Kostic's free-kick at the far post – that goal allowed to stand after a long VAR check for offside.
The Los Angeles Lakers do not know how long they will be without LeBron James but expect it to be more than two weeks, according to reports.
James' right foot soreness appeared on the Lakers' injury report on Monday as he was ruled out of Tuesday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
That will not be the extent of the 38-year-old's absence, however, having appeared to sustain the injury in the third quarter of Sunday's win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Replays showed there was no contact made with James before he went down.
The Athletic's Shams Charania reported James would miss "an extended period of time", and ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski added he would be reassessed in a fortnight with the expectation he would not be fit to return.
There are just shy of six weeks remaining of the regular season, of which James is likely to be absent for a significant chunk.
The Lakers are running out of time to rescue their season, improving following the trade deadline but still half a game outside the play-in places.
Sean Payton is the right man to get Russell Wilson's career back on track, according to the quarterback's former coach Pete Carroll.
Carroll and Wilson reached two Super Bowls together with the Seattle Seahawks after the latter was drafted in the third round of the 2012 draft.
Wilson earned Pro Bowl honours nine times with the Seahawks and threw two touchdowns as the team beat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
But the relationship between Carroll and Wilson reportedly soured in the later years of their time in Seattle, and the quarterback was traded to the Broncos prior to the 2022 season for a haul of picks.
After signing a bumper $245million contract following the trade, Wilson's first year in Denver was one of the worst of his career, throwing a career-low 16 touchdowns as the team limped to a 5-12 record and finished bottom of the AFC West.
Nathaniel Hackett did not make it through a full first season as head coach, but the Broncos made a trade with the New Orleans Saints to bring the sought-after Payton in to replace him.
Payton won a Super Bowl during a successful spell with New Orleans before stepping away at the end of the 2021 season, and Carroll feels he could be the correct coach to get Wilson back to his best.
"I don't think you can come up with a guy better at coaching quarterbacks than Sean," Carroll told reporters. "He's proven that.
"He's had such tremendous success. He's got a great playcaller mentality to him. They're very fortunate to have him."
Reports last week stated Wilson asked for Carroll and Seattle general manager John Schneider to be fired towards the end of his time with the Seahawks.
"My response to that is a similar response to what it's always been with guys I've coached,'' Carroll said.
"I'm always going to hang with them, I'm never going to leave them and I'm going to be there at the end. All of the good stuff, all of the bad stuff, I'm still going to be there.
"[It] doesn't matter who the guy is. Regardless of what had happened, what has taken place, things that have been said. [If] you hang with them, it all comes back around. I'd like to demonstrate that faith in the relationship and the depth of what we did together, and the growth challenges it brings to us along the way."
Kevin Durant is expected to make his long-awaited Phoenix Suns debut when they face the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center.
The two-time NBA Finals MVP has not played since suffering a knee injury on January 8, and while he was recovering, he was traded to Phoenix in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and four first-round draft picks.
Durant did not feature during Sunday's narrow 104-101 defeat by the Milwaukee Bucks, but the Suns revealed they expect the small forward to debut against the Hornets.
The franchise tweeted: "Kevin Durant is expected to make his Phoenix Suns debut tomorrow in Charlotte."
The Suns sit fourth in the Western Conference with a 33-29 record.
England coach Steve Borthwick believes Marcus Smith will benefit from playing on his return to Harlequins after the fly-half was left out of his 26-man training squad.
Smith was omitted from Borthwick's selection ahead of England's Six Nations meeting with holders France next week.
While the 24-year-old has not been counted out of contention for that match at Twickenham on March 11, it does cast doubt on his position in the matchday squad.
However, Borthwick – who recalled George Ford – is confident game time with his club will do Smith good.
"The decision was that Marcus would benefit from game time at his club and having that match sharpness," Borthwick said.
"I'm not picking a squad for France. We're not in Test week, we're in a training camp week.
"George played for his club at the weekend, and this is an opportunity for Marcus to go and play.
"Marcus had very limited game time against Wales because of the nature of the game, so I thought this was a step forward for him.
"On a weekly basis, you're making a decision on what is the right thing for the player this week to be then ready to play for England.
"For all our players, I'm making those decisions. For some, it's to go and get game time, for others it's to be in the training camp here."
Ford has only just recovered from injury but Borthwick, who worked alongside him at Leicester Tigers, has not hesitated in getting the Sale Sharks fly-half into the fold.
"We are blessed with some fantastic fly-halves in this country," Borthwick said. "They all have different skillsets and different qualities, so that means it is a great position of strength for England.
"George is looking tremendously sharp and in great condition, and is clearly a very experienced player.
"That adds to the strength we have in that position. I am looking forward to seeing Marcus play this weekend, and when you add in Owen [Farrell] and Fin Smith – who I have been hugely impressed by – it shows [it's] a position where we are blessed to have a number of top-quality players."
Max Malins has been left out of the squad while he nurses an ankle issue, with Jonny May called up in his place.
Kenny Golladay is expected to be released by the New York Giants, ending a miserable two years on the team.
Reports on Tuesday said Golladay would be released on the first day of the league year in mid-March, saving the Giants $6.7million against their salary cap.
The one-time Pro Bowl wide receiver was a big free agent signing ahead of the 2021 season but never rediscovered his best form.
After being limited to five games in his final season with the Detroit Lions, injuries have again hampered Golladay in New York.
He played in 14 games in his first season but failed to catch a single touchdown pass.
Golladay did have a sole TD in 2022, yet he finished the year with only six receptions having lost his place in the Giants' rotation.
The 29-year-old will head to free agency with his stock considerably lower than when he was last on the market two years ago.
Novak Djokovic was made to work hard for his 18th consecutive victory, eventually putting away Tomas Machac in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Djokovic, who is celebrating a record 378th week as world number one, had to rely on a third-set tie-break to finally get over the line, defeating his Czech opponent 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-1) on Tuesday.
Machac is ranked 130th in the world, but caused Djokovic plenty of problems, earning 10 break points across the match, though he was only able to convert three.
Djokovic had a 4-1 lead in the deciding set before Machac fought back to force a tie-break, but the Australian Open champion ultimately had few problems at 6-6 as he won seven of the eight points played to clinch the win.
"Tomas certainly didn't play like the No. 130 in the world today," Djokovic said of his opponent. "He was giving me all kinds of trouble. But I guess when it mattered, I found another gear."
Djokovic, who is still undefeated in 2023, will face Tallon Griekspoor in the second round.
Elsewhere, fresh off two titles in as many weeks, third seed Daniil Medvedev eased past Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-2 to tee up a tie with Alexander Bublik next after his opponent Alexandar Lazarov retired hurt with Bublik leading 6-1 1-0.
Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Maxime Cressy 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-3, but sixth seed Karen Khachanov is out after he was beaten 7-5 6-2 by Botic van de Zandschulp.
The Dutchman will take on Mikael Ymer in the second round after his 6-2 6-3 win against Francesco Passaro, while eighth seed Borna Coric and Dan Evans played just four games before the latter retired hurt.
Christopher O'Connell set up a match against Alexander Zverev in the next round after he overcame Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5 6-4.
Gavin Lux's season is over before it even began.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced on Tuesday the infielder will miss the entire 2023 season due to a torn ACL in his right knee.
Lux sustained the injury on Monday in a spring training game when running between second and third base.
Needing to adjust his stride to avoid being hit by a throw, Lux's leg buckled awkwardly when he stepped down on his right foot. He tumbled to the ground and needed to be carted off the field.
Roberts said Lux also suffered damage to his LCL and will have surgery next week.
It is a devastating scenario for Lux, who was expected to be the Dodgers' everyday shortstop this season after Trea Turner left in free agency over the offseason to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.
A first-round pick by the Dodgers in 2016, the 25-year-old Lux played in a career-high 129 games last season for Los Angeles, batting .276 with six home runs, 20 doubles and a National League-high seven triples.
In 273 career games over the parts of four MLB seasons, Turner is batting .253 with 18 home runs, 38 doubles and 105 RBIs.
Veteran Miguel Rojas will likely take over at shortstop for the Dodgers while the versatile Chris Taylor can also fill in.
The Green Bay Packers appear to be ready to acknowledge Aaron Rodgers may not be their quarterback for the 2023 season.
The Packers worked hard to keep Rodgers, then the back-to-back MVP, when he appeared to be entertaining the idea of a trade last year.
What followed was a record-breaking contract but an underwhelming season as Green Bay missed the playoffs with an 8-9 record.
Rodgers, 39, has again delivered cryptic messaging on his future this year, leaving for a four-day "darkness retreat" to consider his options.
Regardless, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst would not commit to the team working to bring Rodgers back when he spoke to reporters on Tuesday.
Gutekunst's comments appeared to stand in contrast to the eagerness of previous years, as he said: "He's a great player, but until we have those conversations, I think all options are on the table right now.
"We really need to have those conversations. We want what's best for the Green Bay Packers, what's best for Aaron. So, we'll get to that once those conversations happen."
Despite last year's contract extension, Gutekunst has not been surprised by the way the issue of Rodgers' future has arisen again.
"I don't know if things shifted," he said. "I think with a player who's played as long as Aaron has and as we've gone the last few years, we realised for him it's been a year-to-year type of proposition.
"I think we've kind of known that moving forward, that last year when we did the contract it was going to be year to year. That's kind of where we're at. I don't think it really adjusted or changed too much.
"We've always kind of known it was going to be year to year with him.
"I will say our season last year certainly adjusted some things and our thinking a little bit. Obviously, it was a disappointing season. Not where we wanted to be.
"Whenever that happens, you're going to look at a number of things that you're going to change."
Gutekunst added it "would be helpful for our football team" if a decision was reached by Rodgers ahead of free agency in mid-March.
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