England midfielder Keira Walsh insists the Lionesses are not thinking about the Australian hearts they would break if they eliminate the World Cup co-hosts in Wednesday’s Sydney semi-final.
Australia reached the final four for the first time after beating France in a thrilling penalty shootout, while this will be England’s third crack at advancing to the final of the global showpiece – a feat they have yet to accomplish.
The fervour with which Australians have embraced their side has grown at a frenetic pace, culminating with thousands gathering in fan parks across the country to watch the quarter-final and millions more breaking viewing records on TV.
Walsh said: “Whatever game I play, I want to win. It doesn’t matter who you are playing against. For us, I wouldn’t say we are thinking about spoiling the party.
“I think it is just another game and a massive game at that. We are just fully focused on trying to reach a World Cup final, regardless of who we are playing. I think obviously with the support from Australia it is going to be a little bit different for them in that sense.
“I think we have seen that the (England) girls are ready to fight.
“Obviously, when the whistle ends it is a different story, but I think in the game the girls are very aware of what the game is going to be like, what the stadium is going to be like. I think, for us, we are more than ready for it.”
Sydney’s Stadium Australia, where England beat Colombia in the last eight, seats over 75,000 fans, the majority of whom are expected to support the hosts.
In that sense, the Lionesses’ 2-1 comeback victory over Colombia to reach this stage served as an excellent dress rehearsal, their fans another sea of raucous yellow who equally viewed England as public enemy number one.
Walsh, who in just over a year has secured both the Euro 2022 trophy with England and the Champions League title with Barcelona, said dampening the mood with a goal or two could help the Lionesses take control of the narrative.
She said: “(The crowd) was massive for us at the Euros, especially in the final. There are those moments where the opposition could score and it shifts momentum sometimes when you’re playing, it gives you an extra push when you know the crowd is behind you.
“But also when you can quieten the crowd it is a very nice feeling. I think for us trying to take the momentum out of the game is going to be important. There are positives and negatives for both. We have experienced both.”
Walsh missed England’s third group-stage encounter against China after sustaining a knee injury in the first half of their 1-0 victory over Denmark.
At the time it was feared the issue could be tournament-ending, like the anterior cruciate ligament injuries that prevented Euro 2022 captain Leah Williamson and Golden Boot winner Beth Mead from joining Sarina Wiegman’s World Cup squad.
It turned out not to be as serious as initially suspected, and the 26-year-old returned to play 120 minutes of England’s last-16 victory over Nigeria, which the Lionesses ultimately won 4-2 on penalties.
Williamson has now made the trip to Australia and was in the stands for the Lionesses’ Colombia victory.
“It’s a massive boost for the team,” Walsh added. “To see her supporting us on the opposite side of the world, it’s not an easy flight.
“I think it kind of shows what she feels about this team. The first time I saw her she was actually standing outside my hotel room waving.
“She didn’t want to distract us on game day, so she kind of just stood outside and waved from there.
“To get the win and celebrate with her afterwards, I mean I imagine it’s not easy for her to watch those games because she would want to be playing in them, so I think for us we really appreciate her support.
“I think it shows what a good character and what type of person she is that she’s able to do that for us.”
Live In The Dream is the latest sprinter set to line up in a top-tier running of the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes later this month.
York’s Group One contest is shaping up to be a red-hot affair with the likes of defending champion Highfield Princess, King’s Stand winner Bradsell and a whole host of sprinting talent on course for the Knavesmire.
And Adam West’s charge looks well worth his place in the field judged on his efforts earlier in the campaign.
Having struck twice in handicaps early season, the four-year-old took the step up to Pattern level in his stride, placing in both the Palace House Stakes and the Temple Stakes at Haydock before being given a mid-season break by his handler.
He returned at Deauville earlier this month where he was only beaten a length when fourth in the Prix du Cercle, and West believes that outing in conditions which were far from ideal, will have blown away plenty of cobwebs ahead of his first outing in Group One company.
“I feel like the elements were against him a little bit and we had a rough journey over there ourselves,” explained West.
“The horses went OK and we had horrendous rain for the two-year-old we took over which made it really hard work and then we had really drying tacky ground with a strong headwind for Live In The Dream.
“We probably ran six furlongs rather than five and he was only beaten a length and had a good blow so it will see him right. But I do just feel we were a little hard done by.
“He’s come on really well, the French cuisine has obviously suited him and he enjoyed it. It was something different and the horse has never been abroad and it has really picked him up. I look forward to getting him out again because he looks a good 10 kilos better than what he went over there looking.”
Prior to that comeback run in France, West had been eyeing up a possible trip oversees with the Steve and Jolene De’Lemos-owned speedster.
However, there has now been a slight rethink and it is all systems go for York on August 26 where a bold showing could tee-up further big-race entries.
“We couldn’t quite pick up enough money to head to America, so we’ll head to the Nunthorpe now, the entry is in and we’ll take our chance there,” continued West.
“We’re not expecting to trouble the market principals, but if we can pick up a nice bit of place money it might be able to fund something next year.
“I’m not sure Dubai will be on the radar or anything like that, but it might be able to fund some bigger targets and hopefully he will be able to stick it out a bit better.
“We’re not admitting defeat for the international prospects, but we will probably just rein in targets and hunt pots on a bit of a smaller scale and then see what we can do and pick up some place money in some of the bigger ones.”
England scrum-half Jack Van Poortvliet will miss the World Cup to undergo surgery on an ankle injury sustained against Wales on Saturday.
The 22-year-old Leicester back was forced off in the first half of the 19-17 Twickenham win and has been replaced in Steve Borthwick’s 33-man World Cup squad by Northampton’s Alex Mitchell.
England head coach Steve Borthwick said: “It’s really bad luck for Jack and we send him our very best wishes for a swift and successful recovery.”
Mitchell joins Ben Youngs and Danny Care as Borthwick’s scrum-half options for the World Cup in France next month.
The 26-year-old was unfortunate to miss out on the original squad after making four impactful replacement appearances during the 2023 Six Nations Championship, injecting energy and tempo into England’s play.
Borthwick faces another issue at half-back as England wait for the outcome of the disciplinary hearing that will determine the length of Owen Farrell’s ban after his Twickenham red card.
Farrell’s shoulder-led challenge to the head of Taine Basham was upgraded from a yellow card to red by the ‘Bunker’ review system and he could now miss England’s World Cup opener against Argentina.
The England captain must now appear before a video disciplinary hearing that begins on Tuesday morning to find out the length of his suspension.
The mid-range sanction for a dangerous tackle is six games and – given he received a three-match ban for the same offence in January, on top of five matches in 2020 and two in 2016 – it is doubtful he will be treated leniently by the disciplinary process.
England complete their World Cup warm-up with games against Ireland and Fiji before launching their group campaign against Argentina in Marseille on September 9.
Farrell now seems likely to miss out against the toughest opponents in Pool D, while his participation against Japan, Chile and Samoa is also in question.
England continue their World Cup build-up against Ireland at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
A trip to Newmarket for the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch could be on the cards for Temporize following his victory at the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
A rare runner on the level for handler Syd Hosie, the four-year-old has made his mark on the level for the Sherborne-based handler since joining the yard from Charlie Johnston earlier in the season.
A respectable display at Newbury on debut was followed by a near-miss in a competitive heat at Ascot before finding the target on the Sussex Downs and having originally been bought to go hurdling, plans to tackle timber could now be on hold with further big-race Flat assignments under consideration.
They include the £200,000 Cesarewitch on October 14 and now rated 89, there is the possibility that Temporize could head straight to the Rowley Mile.
“I still have to make a firm plan with the owners, but I think they would like to run in the Cesarewitch,” said Hosie.
“There is a race at York, but I said to the owners if you run him and they put him up in the handicap you are taking a bigger weight to the race. So he might go to the trial in September time or go straight there.
“We bought him to go hurdling and thought we would run him a few times on the Flat because the owner wanted to go to Goodwood. I said if he runs any good at Ascot, we can go there and obviously he just got beat at Ascot. He did the business at Goodwood and then all the hurdling plans go out the window for a bit.
“When we got him he had finished second at Doncaster and he gave the winner so much weight and was still there fighting at the end of the race. That was one of the reasons we bought him.
“His three-year-old form is good as well and he goes on any ground which is nice. Hopefully he will still go jumping at some point in the autumn.”
David Gower believes the reaction of the Lord's Long Room to Australia during the Ashes was "ugly" and "out of order".
Alex Carey's controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow on day five of England's eventual second Test defeat at the start of July caused a furious reaction from the crowd at the usually reserved Lord's.
That preceded an altercation between Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) members and Australia's players at the lunch break in which Usman Khawaja and David Warner were confronted in the Long Room.
Three MCC members were suspended as a result, and while Gower embraces the rivalry between England and Australia, he also feels there is a line that was crossed in the recent series.
"The rivalry should be on the field," Gower told Stats Perform. "The rivalry should be contained on the field, where you give 100 per cent.
"Each and every man gives 100 per cent each and every day. You bowl your bouncers, hit fours, your sixes, you take people on, there's a bit of banter. That's fine. That's where it should be contained.
"Obviously, in an Ashes series for many years now we've seen both Down Under in Australia and in England now, the fans are very partisan.
"That incident at Lords was ugly, and I'm afraid to say that those members of the MCC in the pavilion at Lord's were horribly out of order."
Gower defended Carey's actions, saying: "For the record, I have no problem with what Alex Carey did.
"I just thought Jonny Bairstow was careless, made an assumption he shouldn't have made. And it could have easily been avoided if Jonny just looked behind him and put his bat down. Not out, carry on with the game. And then England actually might still have had a chance of winning that game."
Gower also believes fans should move on from the 2018 ball-tampering scandal for which Warner and then-captain Steve Smith received 12-month suspensions, with chanting referencing the incident audible during the 2023 series.
"This whole thing, I find it actually quite distasteful to be honest," Gower added.
"Yes, some years ago, they did use sandpaper. [But] they've done everything possible to get over it. They've tried ever so hard to be nice, while still not losing that competitive edge."
Celtic captain Callum McGregor was delighted to see the resilience of his new team-mates after they came through a difficult early test at Pittodrie.
Aberdeen put Celtic under pressure in the first half especially but the cinch Premiership champions came out 3-1 victors to make it two wins from two.
McGregor said: “It’s always a tough game, they’ll get the crowd involved while the pitch was sticky as well. It’s obviously something they’ve looked at, trying to slow the game down. And slow our quality.
“When you have a new season and a new start, five or six players have joined you, it starts to have a new group feeling. And at the start of every season you start with zero points.
“So to come here, it’s a massive win and it’s one you tick off.
“It builds resilience, it builds confidence and the football does get slicker. There were still some really good moments in that game and, make no mistake, we battled well.”
Polish centre-back Maik Nawrocki came through his first away game in Scottish football while fellow summer signing Odin Thiago Holm and Yang Hyun-jun made positive contributions off the bench, the latter setting up Matt O’Riley’s late goal.
Kyogo Furuhashi had earlier given Celtic a half-time lead after Dons striker Bojan Miovski had cancelled out Liel Abada’s early opener.
McGregor said: “I thought Rocki was outstanding in the game and then the other boys coming on, they were excellent as well.
“It’s always tough here, 20-25 minutes to go and you’ve got to come on and be part of the team, be part of the group and show your personality, show your mentality. And I thought it was excellent from the three of them.
“When you cross the line, you have to be together, especially in a Celtic team. Everyone is trying to beat you and you have to have that sort of siege mentality. To see that two games into the season is outstanding.
“But that is something that will progress and we will get better at as the season goes on.
“There is a lot of football to be played, there is a lot of tough away games to be played, that type of character and resilience and togetherness should hopefully stand us in good stead.”
Aston Villa and England defender Tyrone Mings is facing a long spell on the sidelines as he is set to undergo an operation on a “significant knee injury”.
Mings was carried off on a stretcher in some distress in the first half of Villa’s season-opening 5-1 defeat at Newcastle after a seemingly innocuous tangle of legs with striker Alexander Isak.
Villa have not put a timescale on Mings’ recovery but expect a “lengthy rehabilitation”, with his setback coming days after the club lost Emiliano Buendia to a knee ligament injury for up to eight months.
The club said in a statement on Monday: “Aston Villa can confirm that Tyrone Mings has sustained a significant knee injury.
“The England international was stretchered off from the field after damaging his knee during the first half of Villa’s match at Newcastle United on Saturday.
“The defender has undergone scans and will unfortunately require surgery ahead of a lengthy rehabilitation process.”
Newcastle posted on Twitter in response to Villa’s update: “Wishing you a speedy recovery,
@TyroneMings”.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe signed Mings for Bournemouth in 2015 only to lose the centre-back for 15 months when he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament on his Cherries debut.
Howe said at the weekend: “I have to say he faced that period out with incredible courage and resilience, and what he’s done since that moment, to go on and play for his country and be outstanding in the Premier League, is testament to that resilience.
“We certainly wish him well and I send him all my love.”
James Ward-Prowse’s move to West Ham gives him a fresh chance to match a Premier League record set by David Beckham.
The former Southampton captain has scored 17 goals directly from free-kicks in the competition, just one behind the competition’s highest tally set by former England skipper Beckham in his Manchester United days.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at Ward-Prowse’s dead-ball record.
World-class
Former Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has called the England midfielder “for sure one of the best in the world in this part of the game” and Ward-Prowse has the free-kick numbers to back up that assessment.
Since his first Premier League season, the only player to score more free-kick goals in Europe’s “big five” leagues is a certain Lionel Messi – albeit with a distant 35 – and Ward-Prowse has accelerated in recent seasons.
Beckham’s record Premier League tally also includes a single season high of five in 2000-01 – matched the following season by Newcastle’s Laurent Robert – and though Ward-Prowse has yet to match that mark he has twice finished within one.
He was not an immediate set-piece contributor, scoring two free-kicks in his first four Premier League seasons – both against West Brom, at home in January 2016 and at the Hawthorns in February 2018.
He scored two a week apart in March 2019, at Old Trafford and then at home to Tottenham, to signal the start of his emergence and then netted home and away against Watford in the 2019-20 season.
His first run at Beckham and Robert’s season record came in 2020-21, sparked by two free-kick goals in the same game away to Aston Villa on November 1. He scored similar goals against both Beckham and Robert’s former clubs, home to Manchester United later in November and at St James’ Park in February, but was unable to find another to match their record.
The following season brought another near miss as he scored at Crystal Palace in December, Wolves in January and Leeds and Brighton in April.
Fulham, Everton and Chelsea were on the receiving end of his trademark strikes last term and the Hammers have given him the chance to add the one he still needs to match Beckham.
On the road
The widespread perception in football may be that home teams are more likely to benefit from referees’ decisions but Ward-Prowse, like Beckham before him, has scored the majority of his free-kicks away from home.
Indeed, just four came at St Mary’s – only one more free-kick than Beckham scored at Southampton in his Premier League career, though two of his three came at their former home the Dell.
Beckham also scored two against each of Leicester, West Ham and Everton, while Ward-Prowse has made West Brom, Watford, Villa and Manchester United repeat victims.
Ward-Prowse has 49 Premier League goals in total from 343 appearances, also including 13 penalties, with the remaining 19 coming from open play.
Beckham’s overall Premier League record was 62 goals in 265 games, with just two spot-kicks along the way.
Beckham and Ward-Prowse are well clear of their nearest competition, with the third-placed total of 12 shared by Gianfranco Zola, Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The other players to reach double figures for Premier League free-kick goals are Robert and Sebastian Larsson, with 11 each, and Ian Harte and Morten Gamst Pedersen with 10.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou insists Eric Dier remains “part of this team” despite his absence from Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Brentford.
Dier was one of several senior players left out of the Spurs squad along with Hugo Lloris, Djed Spence, Japhet Tanganga, Sergio Reguilon and Tanguy Ndombele.
Postecoglou has been honest about the need for Tottenham to offload players during the final weeks of the transfer window, but he suggested nothing should be read into Dier’s absence.
Reports on Sunday which linked Dier with a move to Saudi Arabia were later shut down and he trained at Hotspur Way earlier that day, but he may have to assess his playing options now he seems to be fifth choice at centre-back.
“Eric is part of this team. We left a few out,” Postecoglou said.
“We left some players on the bench that are very good players. We need a strong squad, it’s not about 11 players.
“Eric is in the same boat as all the other boys. He’s working hard in training and available for selection.
“My decisions then are what I think will give us the best chance of success for any given game and then we reassess the week after. Nothing really unusual there.”
Dier was a regular under Postecoglou’s predecessor Antonio Conte and made 42 appearances last season.
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The summer arrival of Micky van de Ven from Wolfsburg has pushed Dier down the pecking order and despite featuring in pre-season, Ben Davies and Davinson Sanchez appear to have also moved ahead of him.
Dier joined Spurs in 2014 but was snubbed for the captaincy roles with Son Heung-min named skipper and James Maddison and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero listed as vice-captains.
Romero was part of a new-look defence at Brentford with debuts handed to goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, Van de Ven and left-back Destiny Udogie.
Postecoglou added: “Obviously we had Micky, Destiny and Vic, three of our back five, making their debut for the clubs and anyone will tell you when it comes to the defensive side of the game, the more understanding you have, the better you are.
“We obviously took a bit of a gamble throwing them all in but I thought all three handled themselves really well. It is not an easy place to come, you get put under pressure with balls coming into the box and I thought they all handled themselves really well.
“Micky has only had three sessions with us so I could have waited to put him in there, but my feeling is he will be a very good footballer for us and the quicker we introduce him to Premier League football the better he will be.”
Sunday marked the start of the post-Harry Kane era for Tottenham, but his departure to Bayern Munich on Saturday night did not alter the plans of Brentford too much.
Bees boss Thomas Frank said: “No, that is the short answer. Of course he is a different type to Richarlison. He is the England number nine compared to the Brazilian number nine.
“That we know and the only tweak would have been that if Kane drops down deep, we would have needed to be aware of his fantastic passing skills and get closer to him.
“Richarlison is more about the runs but our game plan is our game plan with the things we believe in.”
Anthony Joshua remains on course for a future bout with Deontay Wilder after he produced a spectacular stoppage of Robert Helenius at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night.
Joshua claimed the 26th victory of his professional career with a first knock-out in three years, but even before this bout all the pre-fight talk was about what next for the British heavyweight.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the state of play for the former two-time world heavyweight champion.
Was the booing justified?
The Matchroom show had been in doubt a week earlier when Dillian Whyte had to be withdrawn after “adverse analytical findings” were discovered in his doping test with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA).
It saw Helenius drafted in at the 11th hour but while there is no doubt a sold-out O2 Arena would have been happy to see Joshua in action, they clearly wanted more from the former Olympian during the first half of the 12-rounder. Joshua faced whistles and boos during round three and jeers followed after another pedestrian round saw the contest reach its halfway point. A thunderous right hand ensured the next outburst by spectators inside the London venue was applause.
DJ getting a tune out of AJ?
While Joshua was tentative early on against Helenius and did not want to initially trade off with the 39-year-old, some context must be provided. The Finchley boxer had only a week to prepare for his Finnish opponent and there is a number of inches difference between Whyte and Helenius, which would have brought out a significant adjustment for the home favourite.
Joshua struggled to land with his right hand early on but was urged to keep persevering by highly-respected trainer Derrick James in only their second bout together. James told Joshua to “keep shooting the right” and it landed emphatically during the seventh round with Helenius sent toppling to the canvas.
Wilder next?
Even before Whyte’s withdrawal, a large chunk of the discourse around Joshua was whether he would actually fight Wilder next. The former world heavyweight champions have been speculated to lock horns for several years and it would have been a unification contest as recently as four years ago.
Joshua had to block out the noise to do the business against Helenius but after he did, all eyes are now on Wilder. Saudi Arabia promotional entity Skills Challenge is eager to host the mouth-watering clash and dates in January and February are being drawn up.
So that’s that then?
We have been here many times before, not only with Joshua and Wilder but Joshua and fellow Briton Tyson Fury. It seems getting the best of the heavyweight division in the ring together is one of the hardest jobs in the sport. However, there is a lot of reason for optimism on this occasion.
A traditional stumbling block can be the fact world heavyweight champions have mandatory challengers to face, but with Joshua and Wilder holding no belts, they are free to fight whoever they wish. The money on offer should satisfy the demands of both boxers, but Wilder’s trainer Malik Scott did hint this week that his fighter would like to be active before fighting Joshua.
An October bout was proposed but even if that happens, these two generational heavyweights should still trade blows in 2024.
Lucas Glover eclipsed Patrick Cantlay in a playoff to win the FedEx St Jude Championship and claim a second straight PGA Tour victory.
The American duo were forced into an extra hole in Memphis after each completing 72 holes on 15 under par.
Glover, 43, ultimately claimed victory with a par on the 18th hole playoff after Cantlay found water off the tee.
Speaking after his victory, which comes just a week after he took out Wyndham Championship, Glover said: “If you would have told me this three months ago, I’d tell you you’re crazy.
“But at the same time, if you asked me legitimately did I think I was capable, I’d say yes, even then. It’s just one of those sad ways athletes are wired.
“We always believe in ourselves no matter how bad it is.”
Glover was ranked 119th in the world prior to the Wyndham Championship, but now sits 30th.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and England’s Tommy Fleetwood finished agonisingly close, but had to settle for equal-third on 14 under par.
Fleetwood was unable to sink a birdie chance on his last hole which would have propelled him into the playoff.
Cedric Mullins sure had a flair for the dramatic on Sunday.
Mullins robbed Ty France of a potential game-tying home run in the ninth inning, and then hit a two-run shot in the 10th to lead the visiting Baltimore Orioles to a thrilling 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners.
Two pitches after Mullins reached over the centre field wall to catch France's would-be homer for the second out, Seattle ended up tying the game 3-3 on a Dominic Canzone home run.
That set up more late-inning magic from Mullins, who had entered in the sixth inning as a defensive replacement, as his homer in the 10th scored automatic runner Gunnar Henderson to put Baltimore ahead.
Mullins' home run was his first since July 14, as he had been 0 for 9 since being activated from the injured list prior to Friday's series opener.
Shintaro Fujinami pitched a perfect 10th for his first save.
It marked the AL-leading Orioles' second straight 10-inning triumph after Saturday's 1-0 victory snapped Seattle's eight-game winning streak.
With the win, Baltimore moved three games ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
The Mariners, who managed just 10 hits in the last two games after averaging 9.7 per game during their winning streak, fell 1 1/2 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays for the final wild-card spot in the AL.
Marlins score five runs in bottom of ninth for stunning 8-7 win over Yankees
If the Miami Marlins end up making the playoffs this season, they may point to their 8-7 thrilling comeback win over the New York Yankees as the game that helped catapult them to the postseason.
Trailing 7-3 after eight innings, the Marlins scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth to stun the Yankees, winning on Jake Burger's walkoff single.
Miami scored its first two runs in the eighth on a throwing error by New York closer Clay Holmes and tied the game on MLB batting leader Luis Arraez's two-run triple.
Tommy Kahnle then relieved Holmes, and after Bryan De La Cruz walked, Burger lined a singled to left field to score Arraez and win the game.
Burger had three hits and drove in two runs, and is batting .317 with five extra-base hits and six RBIs in 11 games since being acquired by the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline.
The Marlins won for the fourth time in five games and took a half-game lead over the Chicago Cubs for the NL's final wild-card spot.
The Yankees, meanwhile, wasted a major league-leading 18th quality start from ace Gerrit Cole to fall five games back of the Blue Jays for the AL's last playoff spot.
Cole gave up two runs and struck out six over six innings before handing things over to the bullpen with a 7-2 lead.
Prior to Sunday, the Yankees were 17-0 in games in which Cole pitched and received at least seven runs of support.
Urias strikes out 12 as Dodgers win season-high eighth straight game
The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their scorching start to August with an 8-3 win over the Colorado Rockies to extend their season-high winning streak to eight.
Julio Urias matched his career high with 12 strikeouts - punching out seven in a row at one point - while allowing three runs and four hits over seven innings for his 10th win of the season. The veteran left-hander has posted a 1.50 ERA in winning his last three starts.
Miguel Rojas homered and drove in four runs for Los Angeles, which improved to 12-1 this month to take an 8 1/2-game lead over the second-place San Francisco Giants atop the NL West. The Dodgers entered August just 2 1/2 games up on the Giants.
Mookie Betts had a two-run double Sunday and has been instrumental to the Dodgers' surge, batting .367 with four homers, six doubles and 12 RBIs in 12 games this month.
Raphinha and head coach Xavi both saw red as Barcelona got their LaLiga title defence under way with a goalless draw at Getafe in a tempestuous affair that saw both sides finish with 10 players.
Raphinha came close to breaking the deadlock when his shot was saved by David Soria before rebounding off Stefan Mitrovic and on to a post, but the Barcelona winger was given his marching orders soon after.
Having been booked for dissent moments earlier, the Brazilian was given a straight red after appearing to use his forearm in an off-the-ball clash with Gaston Alvarez, prompting uproar from Getafe’s bench.
The incident on the stroke of half-time left Barcelona a man down with more than half the game to go but the sides were evened up just before the hour when Jaime Mata received a second yellow card.
Robert Lewandowski saw a looping header cleared off the line by Alvarez before, with 20 minutes left, Xavi was given his marching orders for arguing with the officials.
Barcelona dominated possession and had 14 shots to their opponents’ five on a steamy night in the Spanish capital but ultimately drew a blank in a clash that produced eight yellows and the three red cards.
They thought they should have had a penalty in the 12th minute of added-on time, with referee Cesar Soto Grado checking the monitors following potential fouls on Gavi and Ronald Araujo.
But the official saw no transgression by the Getafe defence and the hosts held on to secure a point.
Goals from Ayoze Perez and Willian Jose – in the 90th minute – secured a 2-1 victory for Real Betis at Villarreal, who had equalised through Jorge Cuenca, while Ruben Garcia and Moi Gomez were on target as Osasuna won 2-0 at Celta Vigo.
In Ligue 1, Lens squandered a two-goal lead as last season’s runners-up started their campaign with a 3-2 defeat at Brest.
Florian Sotoca and Deiver Machado put Lens two goals ahead inside 22 minutes but Romain Del Castillo’s spot-kick on the stroke of half-time gave the home side a foothold in the game.
Kenny Lala equalised just before the hour mark and after substitute Adrien Thomasson was sent off just a quarter of an hour after coming on, Del Castillo scored his second penalty to give Brest the points.
Wissam Ben Yedder bagged a brace as Monaco won 4-2 at Clermont, while Ibrahim Salah also scored twice as Rennes dished out a 5-1 beating to promoted Metz.
Le Havre, back in the top flight after a 14-year absence, had substitute Samuel Grandsir to thank for a last-gasp strike that rescued a 2-2 draw at Montpellier, while Toulouse came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Nantes and Strasbourg beat Lyon by the same score.
In Germany, Dani Olmo’s hat-trick saw RB Leipzig spoil Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich debut with a 3-0 win in the DFL-Supercup.
The Atlanta Falcons are entering the 2023 season without one of their leading tackers from last year.
In a surprise move, the Falcons opted to waive 2022 starting linebacker Mykal Walker on Sunday.
Atlanta made the decision to release Walker two days after he started and had four tackles in Friday's 19-3 preseason win over the Miami Dolphins.
Earlier Sunday, the Falcons signed linebacker Frank Ginda, the 2023 USFL defensive player of the year.
Walker played in 16 games and started 12 for the Falcons last season, finishing with a career-high 107 tackles - the third most on the team. He also had two interceptions, a sack and four tackles for loss.
A fourth-round draft pick by the Falcons in 2020, the 25-year-old Walker had 174 career tackles in 49 games.
Walker thanked the Falcons in a social media post.
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