Danny Ward scored the only goal as Huddersfield made certain of their place in the Sky Bet Championship next season with a 1-0 victory over Sheffield United.

The Terriers needed a point to ensure survival and Ward’s second-half effort proved enough as Neil Warnock’s side avoided a final-day relegation battler against Reading, who tumble into League One as a result of Huddersfield’s triumph.

The result caps a remarkable turnaround since Warnock’s appointment at the John Smith’s Stadium in mid-February, with Town losing just one of their last nine league matches including five wins in the last eight.

Victory over Yorkshire rivals United lifted Huddersfield five points above the bottom three, with the final round of fixtures to be played on Monday.

The Blades, who had already secured their return to the Premier League next season, dominated the early stages and penned the hosts in.

Huddersfield shot-stopper Lee Nicholls stood tall to make a great early save and keep out Daniel Jebbison after he raced through on goal in the eighth minute.

Blades striker Jebbison squandered another decent chance to fire the visitors ahead on the half-hour mark as he headed George Baldock’s cross over at the far post.

Warnock’s charges continued to absorb the pressure as United hammered on the door, and at stages in the opening 45 minutes, only keeper Wes Foderingham was in the visitors’ half.

Sander Berge was the next Blades player to have a crack at goal, but his tame effort barely troubled Nicholls.

The hosts were the first to show after the break with their first big chance of the match.

Tom Lees rose highest at the back post to meet Jack Rudoni’s teasing corner but his close-range header was blocked.

United manager Paul Heckingbottom quickly rang the changes as he threw on Oli McBurnie and Billy Sharp up front.

Foderingham pulled off a good stop to parry Josh Koroma’s effort wide after he nutmegged Chris Basham to force his way into the box.

And the pressure told two minutes before the hour as Ward’s crucial stunning strike, a curling left-footed effort from 25 yards which nestled in the bottom corner, fired Town in front.

The goal would have come as a huge blow to any watching Reading fans and Huddersfield came close to extending their lead when David Kasumu hit the side netting after being slipped through by Koroma.

United pushed hard for an equaliser in the closing stages but Warnock’s charges held firm sparking widespread celebrations in the stands.

Alexis Mac Allister fired Brighton to sixth in the Premier League by converting a dramatic added-time penalty to dent Manchester United’s Champions League hopes.

The Argentina World Cup winner emphatically dispatched the ball into the top left corner nine minutes beyond the regulatory 90 after Luke Shaw was penalised for handball following VAR intervention.

Albion’s 1-0 win from a pulsating Amex Stadium contest moves them above Tottenham and Aston Villa, while leaving United looking over their shoulders at fifth-placed Liverpool.

The Seagulls sit just four points behind Jurgen Klopp’s Reds with two games in hand thanks to the stunning late twist.

The Miami Heat are in wait-and-see mode when it comes to Jimmy Butler’s right ankle sprain as it pertains to his status for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series against the New York Knicks on Saturday.

"No update. I'm not going to get into all the minutiae of it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said on Thursday.

"When we find out how he is feeling on Saturday, we'll let you know. That's what the deal is."

Butler sat out Tuesday's 111-105 loss to the Knicks because of the ankle sprain that he sustained late in Sunday's 108-101 win in the series opener at Madison Square Garden.

Although he never came out of Game 1 after getting hurt, the six-time All-Star was noticeably limping and played a smaller role in Miami's offense down the stretch.

Still, the Heat managed to hold on for the victory and now return to Miami having stolen New York's home-court advantage.

By sitting out in Game 2, the 33-year-old Butler also has five days off between games to get treatment on the ankle in an effort to return to full strength.

Tuesday was just the fourth game since late January that Butler sat out, and two of those were the final two regular-season games with the Heat already ticketed for the play-in tournament.

Butler has been instrumental to Miami's surge into the conference semi-finals as the eighth seed.

He is averaging an NBA-leading 35.5 points per game in the playoffs on 58.5 per cent shooting, along with 6.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists.

Napoli sealed their first Serie A title in 33 years as Victor Osimhen's strike earned a 1-1 draw against Udinese.

Having missed the chance to win the title in front of their own fans on Sunday, Napoli went into Thursday's clash at Dacia Arena knowing a point would be enough to claim their first Scudetto since the Diego Maradona era.

Fittingly, it was talisman Osimhen – with his 22nd league strike of the season – who scored the goal to claim Napoli's third Serie A crown, cancelling out Sandi Lovric's opener.

Unlike Napoli's local rivals Salernitana, Udinese did not quite have the same commitment to postponing Napoli's party, which is sure to be one for the ages.

Napoli's contingent of travelling fans were making all the noise in the opening stages, though their enthusiasm was dampened when Lovric planted a brilliant finish into the top-right corner in the 13th minute.

Aiming to snap a three-game scoreless streak in Serie A, Osimhen forced a save from Marco Silvestri soon after, while partner in crime Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a penalty appeal dismissed following a VAR review.

Osimhen went close with a header just after the half-hour, though Napoli were fortunate that Lovric had been unable to beat Alex Meret for a second time at the other end a moment earlier.

Napoli's number nine would not be denied again, though, and after Silvestri palmed out Kvaratskhelia's low effort, Osimhen slammed home an equaliser seven minutes into the second half.

Osimhen thought he had made it 2-1 with 23 minutes remaining, only for the goal to be disallowed due to a foul in the build-up.

Luciano Spalletti's tension on the touchline was clear, but his team stayed calm on the pitch as they saw out a draw that will go down in their history.

George Russell has told Max Verstappen he is ready to draw a line under their X-rated row at the recent Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Verstappen called Russell a “d***head” following a heated confrontation after they collided on the opening lap of the sprint race.

Verstappen also labelled Russell a “Princess” in a subsequent interview with Dutch media.

But speaking ahead of this weekend’s race in Miami, Russell said: “I will continue racing the same way as I always would.

“A lot has been said about that coming together, but from my side it was very straightforward.

“I went for a move, I got the move done, and moved on. Obviously he was pretty upset about it, but that is racing and these things happen. We are all here to fight. That is what F1 is all about.”

Russell revealed he has not spoken to Verstappen since they clashed in Baku.

However, the British driver continued: “There is no air to be cleared. I will welcome, and say ‘hello’ to him if he passes by. I am sure we will shake hands when we bump into each other.

“For me, it is history now and it is behind us. My views are still the same. I respect him and think he is a great driver. Things are said in the heat of the moment, but we move on.”

Asked about his relationship with Russell, Verstappen sarcastically said: “It is terrible”, before adding: “No, it is absolutely fine.”

F1 is back in the Sunshine State for the second time, and the first of three races to be staged in the United States this year.

A debut event on the Las Vegas strip will take place in November, while Austin’s grand prix at the Circuit of the Americas has been a permanent fixture on the F1 schedule since 2012.

“It is a dream for us to be in Miami and in the United States,” said Lewis Hamilton.

“They have the Miami Heat and the Miami Dolphins, too.

“They are massive sporting fans here so to be in such an important city like Miami where sport is huge – and now Formula One is part of that – it is great to see.

“For such a huge country, it is amazing that we finally have three races here. The difficult thing with Formula One is that you usually visit a country once a year. But the growth has been huge and it is such a big market for the sport.”

Hamilton finished sixth in Azerbaijan last weekend and he is already 45 points behind championship leader Verstappen.

The 38-year-old’s contract with Mercedes expires at the end of the season but there are suggestions from both camps is that Hamilton will agree a new deal.

Hamilton’s former McLaren team-mate and 2009 world champion Jenson Button said this week that he cannot envisage his compatriot walking away from the sport.

“I just want to get back to the front,” continued seven-time world champion Hamilton.

“That is what I am working on – trying to get this team back to the front.”

Joel Embiid has been set the challenge of winning multiple MVP awards by his former high school coach.

Embiid was named the league's MVP for the first time on Tuesday, edging out competition from Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Philadelphia 76ers star returned from injury against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, though could not inspire his team to victory in Game 2 of their playoff series, with the Sixers going down 121-87.

While there is plenty of time remaining for Embiid to take control of that series, Justin Harden – who coached the 29-year-old during his senior year at The Rock School in Florida – says the Philadelphia talisman must continue to improve if he is to be named MVP again.

"Well, in order to get a second MVP he is going to have to be better, right? Because that's just kind of how it goes, you have got to be better than what you were before," Harden told Stats Perform.

"And you know, Nikola Jokic can attest to that. And Giannis can attest to that. And certainly, LeBron [James] can attest to that."

Harden, though, has full faith in 76ers coach Doc Rivers' ability to develop Embiid even further.

He said: "I trust Doc Rivers and what he's done and been able to do.

"But I think he [Embiid] carries a heavy burden as it is. I don't want to add any more to it, but just stay healthy. When you have a bunch of guys flying around at your feet, it's hard to stay healthy, but I hope he does."

As for the legacy Embiid could leave, Harden hopes his former student aims for the stars.

"I think there's no question, he's a top 10 player right now," he said.

"Some would question if he's a top-five player, but if he continues to play as he's been playing, then you start to get mentioned along with the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon. 

"They are the guys who won an MVP, who were centres who also led their teams to championships.

"I hope he's able to accomplish that, because every great player gets judged by their team's accomplishments, right? And whether they win a championship or not, that somehow knocks them down.

"I think that he's going to be considered one of the greatest and when you consider his footwork, his touch, his ability to shoot the mid-range and the three-pointers, really, you've only ever seen one guy in Hakeem Olajuwon like him.

"His idol is Hakeem Olajuwon, I'm sure it's just a great feeling to know that you're being compared to your idol. So that's pretty awesome for him."

The Sixers are aiming to win their first NBA title since 1983, but first they must get past the Celtics and advance to their first conference finals series since 2001.

Philadelphia hosts Game 3 of the series, which is tied at 1-1, on Friday.

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from May 4.

Football

Erling Haaland celebrated his Premier League goals record.

Rio Ferdinand was enjoying his cake.

Aston Villa turned the clock back.

Formula One

Lewis Hamilton played some basketball as the F1 drivers took in different sports in Miami.

Lando Norris settled on a beachball helmet for this year.

Valtteri Bottas watched some baseball.

A golf helmet for Alex Albon.

Strike a pose!

Nico Hulkenberg was loving the palm trees.

Andrew Cole is thrilled to have seen Erling Haaland break the long-standing Premier League record he shared with Alan Shearer.

Haaland netted his 35th league goal of the season in Manchester City's 3-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday.

That saw the 22-year-old set the new record for goals in a single Premier League season, which was previously set by Cole, who was then at Newcastle United, in the 1993-94 campaign, and matched by Alan Shearer a year later – the duo both scored 34 times.

Cole, who spent time with both Manchester clubs in his career though is remembered best for his time at United, is not precious over his place in the record books being taken.

He told Stats Perform: "Records are there to be broken, it's that simple. When people have mentioned it to me it's not as if I'm going home and crying and saying, 'Oh no!' 

"It doesn't bother me in the slightest, I don't care - if someone deserved to break that record, go ahead, do it.

"I'm not going to sit here rocking myself to sleep. It doesn't bother me because I'm not so conceited.

"His first season at City has been absolutely phenomenal. It's ridiculous. I take my hat off to him and fair play to him."

Asked if he expected Haaland to hit the ground running in such fearsome fashion in his first season in England, Cole replied: "I'm not surprised, put it that way.

"If you look at what Man City have done throughout the years, they've been screaming out for someone who just wants to run into the box and score goals.

"Maybe the volume of goals he's scored, but it's not surprising in the slightest that he finds himself in the position that you find yourself. Because when you play for a team, like Man City that create so many chances, you just need the number nine to finish them off. That's exactly what we've got now.

"If you're playing a team that creates many chances for you, it's not hard. When I did it at Newcastle the team was built for me, being built for me to score goals."

Sergio Garcia is the only one of 17 players sanctioned by the DP World Tour for joining LIV Golf not to have paid his fine, the tour has announced.

The 43-year-old was one of a clutch of players that includes Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter to have been hit with a fine over joining the breakaway Saudi-backed tour.

A statement said: “The DP World Tour today confirmed that 16 out of 17 players have paid their fines which were imposed for serious breaches of the Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation last June.

“The players were each fined £100,000 – a sanction originally imposed in July 2022 and upheld last month by an independent panel appointed by Sport Resolutions.

“Sergio Garcia has not paid his £100,000 fine, nor has he given any indication that he intends to.

“We will therefore take appropriate action if he continues not to respect the Sport Resolutions panel’s decision.”

Garcia, along with Poulter and Westwood, on Wednesday announced his resignation from the World Tour.

Rory McIlroy said it is a shame that the trio will now not get the chance to one day captain Europe’s Ryder Cup team following their decision to quit.

Their departure renders them ineligible for inclusion when the match against the United States begins in Rome in September.

On Thursday, Westwood spoke out against the DP World Tour following the controversy, seemingly closing the door on any hope of a return in the future.

And McIlroy said: “I think it’s a shame that you’ve got the highest points score ever in the Ryder Cup and two guys that when they look back on their career, that’s probably going to be at least a big chunk of their legacy is the roles that they have played in the Ryder Cup for Europe.

“For those three guys to not captain Europe one day, it’s a shame. But as the DP World Tour said in their statement, at the end of the day that was their choice and they knew that these were potentially going to be the consequences of those choices and of those actions and here we are.

“Yeah, it’s certainly a shame.”

Europe’s captain, Luke Donald, echoed McIlroy’s sentiments and said he is sad that the three will not be available to represent the side.

Donald, who will lead the Europe team as they seek to win the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2018, felt sorry that the situation had come to this.

“It’s sad we’ve got to this point but this was always a possibility,” Donald told BBC Sport. “I played with all three and they’ve been stalwarts of, and given a lot to, both the Ryder Cup and European Tour.

“I have a little more clarity now. I know they’re not an option to play in, or be any part of my team. It is a shame. They’ve got a lot of history when it comes to the Ryder Cup.

“Ultimately this is their choice and I wish them well. They feel like this was the best choice for them and now I’ve got choices to make that are best for me.

“There are generational shifts throughout the history of the Ryder Cup and maybe this is one.

“We certainly have plenty of great players to look at and pick from and I’m certainly excited about how everyone has played this year so far.”

Donald was made captain in 2022 after Henrik Stenson was dismissed for joining in the Saudi-backed LIV tour.

He will be without three of Europe’s most successful performers in the contest, with Westwood having featured as a player a record 11 times and Poulter unbeaten in singles across his seven appearances. Garcia is Europe’s all-time record points scorer.

Donald added: “There’s great momentum with European golf. We’ve already had seven winners in the US [this season] and a bunch of people who haven’t played in the Ryder Cup have played great this year on the DP World Tour, so I’m excited about the make-up of this team.”

Everton are in discussion with possible investors as owner Farhad Moshiri seeks an injection of revenue for the Premier League strugglers, the PA news agency understands.

The team are second from bottom of the table and a point adrift of safety as Sean Dyche looks to mastermind an escape from relegation and preserve the club’s near 70-year stay in the top flight.

It is understood that MSP Sports Capital and 777 Partners are the parties being spoken to, after Moshiri said in February that he was in talks with “top investors of real quality” to invest in Everton’s new stadium, which is currently under construction at a cost of £760million.

The club’s most recent accounts showed a loss over a five-year period of £430m, significantly above the £105m that the Premier League allowed for across any three years.

Those figures include £170m of losses rocked up during the Covid pandemic, which can be written off.

Figures from New York-based MSP were present at Goodison Park when the team lost 2-1 to Southampton in January, with reports suggesting it is likely to want to be represented in the boardroom should an investment be made.

777 has already invested in several clubs in European football, including La Liga’s Sevilla and Bundesliga outfit Hertha Berlin. It also owns Genoa in Italy and Belgium’s Standard Liege.

England bowler Ollie Robinson stole the show with a seven-wicket haul against Worcestershire on a day where Sussex team-mate Steve Smith was forced to wait before he made his LV= Insurance County Championship bow with the bat.

All eyes were on Australian great Smith at New Road in the first of three games for Sussex ahead of this summer’s Ashes series, but away captain Cheteshwar Pujara decided to field first after he won the toss on Thursday.

It proved a wise decision with England seamer Robinson ripping through the Worcestershire top-order on his way to figures of seven for 59 in a pleasing sign for the hosts’ chances of winning back the Urn in July.

Worcestershire did stage a recovery from 44 for five to eventually make 264 thanks to half-centuries from Adam Hose (59), Matthew Waite (59) and Joe Leach (53), but there was still enough time left for Sussex to bat on day one of the Division Two encounter.

Smith stayed in the pavilion though with opener Ali Orr and number three Tom Alsop able to get the away side through to the close on 63 for one with the Aussie set to bat at number five on day two.

Jonny Bairstow took a positive step in his bid to prove his fitness for the Ashes by claiming three catches for Yorkshire against Glamorgan.

Bairstow, fit again after an unfortunate leg break last October, kept wicket at Headingley and produced a superb grab down the leg-side to dismiss Kiran Carlson.

Glamorgan were all out for 245 and indebted to another Australian with Marnus Labuschagne top-scoring with 65 before Yorkshire suffered a late collapse to finish on 62 for five with Bairstow not out on two.

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Elsewhere in the second tier, Leicestershire were skittled for 122 with Derbyshire’s Henry Brooks claiming six for 20, which included the scalp of England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed for 23.

Hosts Derbyshire managed to wipe out the deficit before bad light brought proceedings to an early end with Haider Ali scoring 54 to lead them to 144 for three.

Both Stuart Broad and James Anderson were overshadowed by Brett Hutton at Trent Bridge on a good day for Nottinghamshire opener Haseeb Hameed against his old club Lancashire in Division One.

England seamer Broad picked up two wickets and Olly Stone also claimed a brace as Lancashire were all out for 214 but it was Hutton who did the majority of the damage for the home side with five for 66.

Lancashire, largely through Tom Bailey with 48 not out from 29 balls, had scored at almost five an over and it allowed Anderson time to get stuck into Nottinghamshire on the first day but Hameed came through unscathed to close on an unbeaten 57.

While Anderson finished wicketless from his seven overs, his team-mates fared better to reduce the hosts to 119 for five on a good day for bowlers at Trent Bridge.

Chris Woakes caught the eye for Warwickshire at the Ageas Bowl to dismiss Hampshire for 229.

Woakes picked up three scalps but Hampshire captain James Vince stood firm with 75 not out before Warwickshire reached 82 without loss at the close with Alex Davies unbeaten on 46.

Essex saw Alastair Cook (51), Tom Westley (62) and Matt Critchley (60) all pass fifty against Surrey but Gus Atkinson’s six for 68 along with Will Jacks’ two-fer saw them all out for 314 at Chelmsford.

Rain badly affected the other Division One match at Taunton where Northamptonshire closed on 137 for four thanks to Ricardo Vasconcelos’ 70 against Somerset on a day where only 37.4 overs were possible.

Andy Murray fought his way to a three-set win over Laurent Lokoli at the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Aix-en-Provence after his French opponent had saved five match points.

Murray won 6-4 5-7 6-3 as the second round tie at the Open Aix Provence Credit Agricole turned into a marathon affair lasting two hours and 42 minutes

The 35-year-old three-time major champion – ranked 52 in the world and 135 places higher than Lokoli – shaded a tight first set on the French clay.

It looked as if the fifth seed would make short work of the contest in the second set when he broke serve for a 5-2 lead.

But Murray failed to take two match points and Lokoli, who was animated and waved his arms in the air to rev up the home crowd, battled back to make it 5-4.

Another two match points came and went for Murray in the next game with Lokoli’s drop shots proving a powerful weapon against the Scot.

Lokoli soon took the second set with Murray unable to halt a five-game losing streak.

Both players served impressively in the deciding set until Murray applied the pressure and seized a third break point to lead 5-3.

Despite Lokoli producing a stunning forehand winner to save a fifth match point, Murray eventually wrapped up victory – much to his obvious relief.

It was the first time he had secured back-to-back wins since Indian Wells in March.

Having beaten Gael Monfils in the first round, Murray will face a third French player, Luca Van Assche, in the quarter-finals on Friday.

England seamer Ollie Robinson is enjoying being in the same dressing room as Steve Smith and doubts the former Australia captain’s presence at Sussex will have a material impact on the Ashes.

Smith linking up with Sussex for three Division Two matches in the LV= Insurance County Championship gives him a chance to get to grips with English conditions ahead of Australia’s bid to retain the urn this summer.

The union between player and county has divided opinion but Smith did not play any championship matches before the 2019 Ashes and still amassed 774 runs at a titanic 110.54 average in a drawn 2-2 series.

Earlier this week, he confessed he was welcomed to the Sussex nets by having his stumps rearranged by Robinson, who sees the advantages in playing alongside Smith and Sussex and India’s Cheteshwar Pujara.

“It’s a good battle,” said Robinson. “It’s nice to bowl at him and Pujara, I think it ups my game when I am training as well, it’s great to have them batting at the other end.

“(Smith) is obviously a very good player and I think he will score runs regardless of whether he faces me or not.

“We get a look at each other, but I don’t think it makes a big difference in the grand scheme of things.

“To have the world’s best batsman and Pujara in the same changing room has been cool. It hasn’t felt weird, I know (Smith) from previous series and it’s nice to have him around.”

Smith was restricted to a watching brief on the opening day of his championship debut at New Road, where Robinson hogged the limelight with seven for 59 as Worcestershire were all out for 264.

Robinson was a constant menace, bowling with vigour and at good pace, and only when he was taken out of the firing line did Worcestershire’s batters find any kind of rhythm at the crease.

This was only Robinson’s second outing of the season after experiencing some soreness in his back shortly after his return from New Zealand at the end of England’s winter touring programme in February.

The issue was not a major concern for Robinson but with the eagerly-anticipated five-Test series against Australia starting next month, he elected to have a pain-killing injection in the area.

“It’s similar to the one I had last year,” said Robinson, who struggled with a back problem during the 2021-22 Ashes. “I didn’t have a spasm, just the joint was getting slightly irritated.

“Last summer I let it go on and on, it took until June to be playing again. This year I thought I’d get it done as soon as possible and nip it in the bud.

“I don’t know many bowlers that don’t get jabs every year. It’s one of those things. I wanted to get on top of it before the Ashes, it feels really good now.”

Robinson’s contribution put Sussex in the driving seat – they closed on 63 for one before bad light brought an early end to the day – and, at this stage, he plans to play in the south coast club’s matches against Leicestershire and Glamorgan before linking up with England.

“I’m trying to peak for the Ashes, trying to get as many overs as possible between now and then,” added Robinson. “Three Sussex games and then the Ireland Test.

“I’m about 80 per cent, I’d say, there was a little bit of rustiness there, didn’t quite get my lengths right early on. But the wicket is quite helpful so when I did get it in the right area, they nicked it.”