Sarina Wiegman expressed her pride and relief after England qualified for the 2023 Women's World Cup with a 2-0 win over Austria.

Alessia Russo, replacing the retired Ellen White in the starting line-up, opened the scoring and Nikita Parris doubled the European champions' lead at Wiener Neustadt Stadium on Saturday.

Victory for the Lionesses sealed their place in the showpiece in the tournament in Australia and New Zealand next year with one game to spare - against Luxembourg on Tuesday.

England head coach Wiegman reflected on a job well done just over a month after her side won a first major trophy by being Germany at Wembley.

She said: "I'm happy that we qualified, that we had a win, conceded no goals, scored two, which is one more than we did in the other two games (England beat Austria 1-0 in their two previous encounters). So that's nice.

"It was again a hard game, but coming out of the Euros, not having that much rest, I'm very proud of the team that we came out like this and we just won the game. It looks so easy but I think it was pretty hard."

The Dutchwoman added: "It is absolutely a relief. We also know that if we weren't successful today, possibly we would qualify on Tuesday. But you don't want that. You want to win every game, play well every game.

"You want to show how good you can play, and I think lots of parts in the game we did that today, and we had some parts where we weren't tight enough and made some mistakes, and they created some chances.

"But still 2-0 is 2-0, we're qualified and we had a great qualification [campaign]."

Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal's great start to the season is a reward for the Gunners staying true to their principles.

The north London side missed out on Champions League qualification to fierce rivals Tottenham last season and are determined to make amends this term.

Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko moved to the capital from Manchester City and already look very much at home in an Arsenal side that are top of the Premier League with a 100 per cent record.

Arteta says such a promising start has been down to consistency in his messages to his players.

"For me, [managing a big club] is about being consistent," the Arsenal manager said.

"So when you try to bring an idea, you have a vision and you share that vision with the football club, then you take that direction and you go for it.

"And if you're not going to go for it, then do it with someone else, but try to do something you've committed to with everybody.

"Because when it starts to move in other directions, I think that brings all the time a lot of chaos, a lot of uncertainties and lack of clarity, and when that happens, normally everybody disperses and everything breaks away.

"We stick together, we believed in what we did and, hopefully, we can achieve [our goals]."

The Gunners will aim to become just the fifth side to start an English top-flight campaign with six wins when they visit Manchester United on Sunday. The last time Arsenal did so, they won the league in the 1947-48 season.

Erik ten Hag lost his first two games as United manager, but has since enjoyed three straight victories – including a 2-0 triumph over rivals Liverpool.

Ten Hag's initial struggles may resonate with Arteta, who experienced similar difficulties last year, but the Arsenal manager says challenging periods are to be expected in the Premier League.

"In this league, it's so competitive. The games are won by very small margins," he said.

"Those periods are going to happen. You have to be ready for that and understand what kind of reaction you need, and fix that as quickly as possible."

Arsenal will remain top of the league regardless of the result against United after second-placed Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Zhang Shuai went winless in her first 14 appearances at major tournaments but has turned her fortunes around as she prepares for a US Open fourth-round clash with Coco Gauff.

The Chinese tennis player was said to be considering retirement in 2015 after 14 unsuccessful attempts at grand slams, though was convinced to keep fighting by friend and fellow competitor Sam Stosur.

Simona Halep at the 2016 Australian Open was the first scalp Zhang claimed at a major before she went on to reach the quarter-finals.

The 33-year-old, who has two grand slams titles in doubles with Stosur, has not looked back from that win over Halep and has made it to the second week at all four majors in 2022.

"This year, I already have three third rounds," Zhang said after her third-round win at the US Open. "Oh my god, I won six matches! Before I couldn't win one match in many, many years. How happy!

"That's why when we meet some players who want to stop or feels sad after the match, I always tell them next match, see how you are better.

"When I started the tour, how bad [were my] results? No one was worse than me. [These girls are] much better than me, right? You guys are still young. Keep trying."

Gauff awaits Zhang in the round-of-16 as the latter searches for a maiden major success and fourth singles title.

Erik ten Hag says he will act as both "friend" and "teacher" for Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United this season.

Portugal superstar Ronaldo remained at Old Trafford despite reportedly wanting out during the transfer window due to the club's failure to qualify for the Champions League this season.

Rumours continued to swirl right up until deadline day but Ronaldo, who returned for a second spell from Juventus in August 2021, was part of the squad that defeated Leicester City 1-0 – coming off the bench in Thursday's win.

"[He stayed], as we said. It's really early in the season and we have a squad and we have more than starting 11 players and that is what you see now," Ten Hag said.

"Players who are now on the bench can play in one, two or three weeks."

Ronaldo's solitary start from five Premier League appearances this season came in the embarrassing 4-0 drubbing at Brentford last month.

Since that humiliating defeat at the Bees, United earned a 2-0 triumph over fierce rivals Liverpool and followed up with back-to-back 1-0 victories over Southampton and Leicester.

Part of the reason for Ronaldo's lack of starts can be attributed to the fact he missed much of pre-season due to a family issue.

For United boss Ten Hag, Ronaldo will be treated the same as any other player depending on the situation.

"I will be his friend, sometimes I will be his teacher. It depends on the situation," he added.

"But, as we all know, he didn't have the pre-season and you cannot miss the pre-season.

"It is a base, especially in the game we play, the way of play. We play another type in comparison with last year.

"It depends on the demands, cooperation and it demands certain positioning, in and out of position, and the other thing is fitness."

United face Arsenal on Sunday with Ten Hag having a few decisions to ponder, including Casemiro – a transfer-window signing from Real Madrid – pushing for a first start.

Forward Antony arrived in a big-money deal from Ajax on deadline day too, with some pundits questioning the reported £80.6million (€95m) fee forked out.

Defenders Lisandro Martinez (Ajax) and Tyrell Malacia (Feyenoord) also joined from the Eredivisie, and Ten Hag has no fears about any of the trio's ability to adapt to the Premier League.

"First the players who we signed are internationals for their countries," said Ten Hag, who also arrived from the Eredivisie having left Ajax.

"They performed really well in the Champions League and thirdly looking at their individual skills they are capable of playing high-intensity football, the players we selected and recruited."

Martinez could have been lining up against United on Sunday with Arsenal having been credited with an interest in the Argentine defender.

Having come under scrutiny following the Brentford setback, Martinez has excelled and won United's Player of the Month award for August but Ten Hag is confident there is more to come.

"Yes, I wanted him, he's ball-playing but also you see his defending capabilities," Ten Hag said of Martinez.

"His toughness, his positioning, his anticipation and togetherness.

"I know what he is able to do. This is a base. He is doing well but he has to do much better."

Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease lost his no-hitter bid on the last out as his side won 13-0 over the Minnesota Twins in the MLB on Saturday.

Cease enjoyed his longest no-hit bid of his career, and had two outs in the ninth inning before it was spoiled by a Luis Arraez line-drive single into right-center.

It was a cruel ending for Cease who had allowed only two base runners with walks, with seven strikeouts up until that point.

Cease became the second pitcher this season to fall one out short from a no-hitter, after St Louis Cardinals' Miles Mikolas in June.

The White Sox right-hander is the third pitcher to fall one short over the last five seasons. It would have been Chicago's third no-hitter of the last two years.

Cease instead settled for a career-first shutout, striking out Kyle Garlick shortly after Arraez spoiled his party.

Judge homers again as Yankees lose once more

Aaron Judge remains on track for 63 home runs this season after blasting his 52nd of the season in the New York Yankees' 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Judge's solo home run came in the ninth inning after the Yankees had gone 21 innings without scoring, with another defeat leaving them with a 15-26 record since the All-Star break.

Yandy Diaz came up with the decisive two-run single in the third inning while Corey Kluber allowed only two hits and no runs with four strikeouts across seven innings.

Riley keeps up streak as Braves walk it off

Austin Riley homered in the fourth consecutive game as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Miami Marlins in a 2-1 walk-off win. Riley also continued his 10-game on-base streak and seven-game hitting streak.

Riley hammered a line-drive blast left in the fourth inning to put the Braves up 1-0 but the Marlins would square it up in the ninth inning before a remarkable finale.

With bases loaded, Robbie Grossman provided the finish with a walk-off walk from Marlins closer Steven Okert.

Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone hopes goalkeeper Jan Oblak has avoided any serious injury after being forced out of Saturday's 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad due to a thigh injury.

The Slovenia international was replaced in the 85th minute after colliding with Reinildo in an attempt to thwart Umar Sadiq.

Atletico will be sweating on Oblak's fitness given the vice-captain's importance to the side, winning LaLiga's Zamora Trophy five times including in 2020-21. Oblak did not miss one match for Atleti last term.

"Let's hope that Oblak won't be out for too long," Simeone told reporters. "The doctors will tell you in the next few days."

Simeone refused to be drawn on the VAR after his side were denied an Alvaro Morata goal in the 29th minute for an apparent Joao Felix handball, while Umar Sadiq's equaliser for Sociedad also came with a hint of handball but stood.

However, Atletico team manager Tomas Renones was more forthright about the officiating, claiming the referees had a "very bad day".

"We have to understand that referees can also have bad days," he said. "Today is a clear example of a very bad day.

"The general feeling is one of great disappointment. We have seen different judgements. The referees give us a talk every year at the beginning of the season and then what is carried out is totally different.

"We have seen Joao Felix have a goal disallowed because it hits his arm and then there is a very similar play by Real Sociedad where he shoots, it hits his arm, it's a goal and the VAR doesn't intervene. I don’t understand the judgement of both sides.

"Referees can make mistakes, but the consequences are for us."

Napoli have confirmed Hirving Lozano has been cleared of any facial fractures after being stretchered off during Saturday's 2-1 win over Lazio in Serie A.

The Mexico international was forced out of the game at Rome's Stadio Olimpico shortly prior to half-time after a clash of heads with Lazio's Adam Marusic.

Lozano was taken to hospital where he underwent X-rays following the incident, with fears of a possible fractured cheekbone.

However, the Italian club have confirmed he has been cleared and was permitted to travel back to Naples on Saturday evening with the group.

Napoli fought back after going behind early from Mattia Zaccagni's opener to claim a win which moved them into top spot with 11 points from five league games.

Kim Min-Jae equalised before half-time, before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored the winner in the 61st minute.

Rafael Nadal says his third-round win over Richard Gasquet was his best of this year's US Open as he works his way back after the abdominal tear that ended his Wimbledon campaign.

Prior to the US Open, Nadal had only played once since withdrawing from the Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios in early July, losing to Borna Coric in Cincinnati.

The second seed got past Rinky Hijikata and Fabio Fognini in four sets in the first two rounds at Flushing Meadows before Saturday's 6-0 6-1 7-5 win over French veteran Richard Gasquet in two hours and 17 minutes.

"My best match in the tournament," Nadal told reporters. "Easy to say that because the other day was tough.

"But important improvement. But I need to keep going. It's a good victory for me. Straight sets for the first time. Third set had been a challenge. He increased the level.

"I went through some difficult moments. That's something that is good that I went through that and saved that moments with a positive feelings. Happy to be in the fourth round, without a doubt."

The victory over Gasquet meant he has progressed to the second week at Flushing Meadows for the 12th time in his career, although he conceded he would need to lift his level to take out the title, starting with Monday's fourth-round match with 22nd seed Frances Tiafoe.

Nadal is gunning for his third major title this calendar year in New York, having triumphed at the Australian Open and French Open.

The 36-year-old's Australian Open success in February came after minimal preparation due to a foot injury, similar to his US Open lead-up due to the abdominal issue.

"I think I played better in Australia than here going to the second week," Nadal said. "But I have zero background in terms of victories and all this stuff.

"Here I played little bit worse than in Australia, without a doubt. But the story of the year and the results on the slams have been incredible, so that helps.

"I don't know the balance, what's better or worse. But all these victories help to be a little bit more confident. It's a moment to increase, to making a step forward."

"Second week against a great player like Frances, I need to be ready to play and to raise my level. I hope to be able to make that happen.

"I know is the right moment to make an improvement if I want to keep having chances to keep going on the tournament."

Top seed Iga Swiatek reached the US Open fourth round for the second time in her career after reeling off the final five games to beat Lauren Davis on Saturday.

The two-time French Open champion, who enjoyed a 37-match winning streak earlier this year, defeated Davis 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 57 minutes.

Swiatek had trailed 3-0 in the second lap but fought back emphatically to seal her passage into the last 16 where she will face either Jule Niemeier or Zheng Qinwen.

The attention in the women's singles has firmly turned to Swiatek, with Serena Williams eliminated along with the second, third and fourth seeds.

The Pole did not disappoint, hitting 25 winners and six aces, albeit with 38 unforced errors and an apparent lack of rhythm.

Swiatek wrapped up the first set in 59 minutes but world number 105 Davis offered a tougher test in the second after breaking in the second game.

The highly favoured Swiatek had to work out to avoid a 4-0 deficit, holding her serve in a 16-point game, but she showed she was back breaking Davis to love to make it 3-4.

Swiatek won 21 of the last 25 points of the match to book her spot in the second week in New York for the second straight year.

Data Slam: Swiatek finding her hard-court groove

The win improved Swiatek's 2022 tally to 53 matches but it also moved her a step closer to becoming the first player since Serena Williams in 2014 to win seven titles in a single year.

Swiatek has not quite reached the same dizzying levels lately since her 37-match winning streak, which was halted in the third round at Wimbledon, with this victory being only her fifth from eight during the hard-court season.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Swiatek – 25/38
Davis – 12/34

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Swiatek – 6/3
Davis – 0/6

BREAK POINTS WON

Swiatek – 3/14
Davis – 1/3

World number one Iga Swiatek says she reminds herself that it is impossible to continually play at the level she achieved during her 37-match winning run earlier this year.

Swiatek reached the second week at the US Open for only the second time after Saturday's 6-3 6-4 win over Lauren Davis and has moved into title favouritism, creating a level of perceived pressure.

That comes amid a run of form where the 2020 and 2022 French Open champion has been far from the levels achieved during her 37-match winning streak which ended in July at the hands of Alize Cornet at Wimbledon.

Since then, Swiatek has only won seven of 10 matches. Swiatek's victory over Davis marked the first time since the winning streak that she has managed three straight victories.

The Pole's hard-court form line has not been compelling either but the exit of Serena Williams along with top seeds Anett Kontaveit, Maria Sakkari, Paula Badosa and Simona Halep has thrust her into US Open favouritism.

But the 21-year-old is trying not to put any extra pressure on herself with that in mind, nor re-discovering the form she displayed earlier in the year.

"Honestly I didn't even focus on that cause I still remember how it is to lose," Swiatek told reporters. "After the tournament in Cincinnati [when she lost to Madison Keys in August], I knew like it's not the end of the world that I'm losing in third round.

"It's not like the whole universe changed so right now I'm always going to be in quarter-finals or finals or whatever, win tournaments. I tried just to remind myself that it's kind of normal, that it's impossible to play always on the same level.

"Here I just took it match by match. I wasn't expecting maybe too much because of the losses, so that's good. It's not like I lost confidence or something. I still know anything can happen on these tournaments."

Swiatek admitted she lacked rhythm against Davis, who had led 4-1 in the second set, before the Pole fought back to win the final five games.

The 21-year-old won 21 of the final 25 points of the match, securing her 53rd victory of the 2022 season, closing in on Ash Barty's 57 from 2019.

"It wasn't as smooth as in first and second round," Swiatek said. "I'm pretty happy I made it through and could close it in second set and come back. That was pretty important for me.

"For sure she played totally differently than most of the players, which threw me a little bit off the rhythm. But I'm happy I was fighting till the end."

Second seed Rafael Nadal continued his staggering head-to-head domination of Richard Gasquet as he cruised into the fourth round at the US Open with a straight-sets victory on Saturday.

The 22-time major winner was irrepressible across the first two sets before Gasquet rallied in the third, but Nadal triumphed 6-0 6-1 7-5 in two hours and 17 minutes.

The victory means the 2022 Australian Open and French Open champion will face 22nd seed Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round and improves his head-to-head record against Gasquet to 18-0.

Nadal, who had been shaky early against Fabio Fognini last round, was ruthless when it mattered, hitting 35 winners for the match and winning 78 per cent on his first serve.

After dropping the opening sets in his previous two matches against Fognini and Rinky Hijikata, Nadal responded with a flawless first frame that included converting three of six break points.

Gasquet's belief seemed completely gone in the second set, managing no winners, with Nadal in control. The Frenchman ended Nadal's nine-game winning run to loud applause, raising his arms in celebration and probable relief.

Nadal broke early in the third but Gasquet responded to break back, pushing hard in the third set. But the Spaniard's quality shone highlighted by his finesse with a lob helping him claim the decisive break in the 11th game.

Data Slam: Rafa's longevity on show

Saturday's win was Nadal's 30th at night at Arthur Ashe Stadium and took his tally to 22-0 at majors this year, having only withdrawn from Wimbledon due to an abdominal injury. The triumph also saw him progress to the second week at Flushing Meadows for the 12th time in his decorated career, that includes four US Open titles. 

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Nadal – 35/23
Gasquet – 19/29

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Nadal – 2/8
Gasquet – 1/7

BREAK POINTS WON

Nadal – 7/15
Gasquet – 1/7

Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson stormed up the leaderboard in the second round of LIV Golf Boston but Talor Gooch remains on top one stroke ahead of tour newcomer Joaquin Niemann.

Johnson responded from his opening-day 67 with a seven-under-par round of 63 to move within two strokes of the lead on Saturday at The Oaks.

The 38-year-old American's stand-out day included eight birdies and an eagle on the par-five eighth hole, along with three birdies. Johnson had claimed the outright lead with three holes to play before Gooch regained it.

Gooch, who shared the lead with Matthew Wolff after the first day on Friday, remains on top at 12-under, with Niemann one shot behind and Johnson's round moving him up to 10-under.

Wolff slipped four strokes off the pace after carding 69 for the day, while tour newcomer Cameron Smith also dropped back with a one-under-par round of 69.

Anirban Lahiri is outright fourth at nine-under, with Jason Kokrak carding a five-under-par 65 to move into equal fifth with Bernd Wiesberger and Wolff at eight-under overall.

Johnson's surge along with Gooch's excellent two days means Four Aces GC are top of the standings in the team element at 22-under.

Hy Flyers GC, captained by Phil Mickelson, are second at 19-under led by Wiesberger and Wolff. Mickelson is back at three-over overall ahead of Sunday's final round.

Paris Saint-Germain boss Christophe Galtier says people should not read too much into Neymar not starting the 3-0 Ligue 1 win over Nantes.

The Brazil international has been in sensational form at the start of the 2022-23 campaign, scoring seven goals in five appearances prior to Saturday's game at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

However, he watched on from the substitutes' bench as Kylian Mbappe put the Ligue 1 champions 2-0 up either side of a red card for Nantes wing-back Fabio, with Neymar introduced in place of Mbappe in the second half.

Nuno Mendes added a third after Neymar's shot had cannoned back off the post as PSG racked up 24 goals after their first six games.

That equalled the record for goals scored by a team in Europe's big five leagues at this stage of a season in the 21st century (Manchester City in 2019-20 and Bayern Munich in 2020-21).

Galtier rejected suggestions Neymar had been dropped, instead stating it was merely a consequence of normal squad rotation.

"You say that all this is new, but it is an obligation in relation to the busy schedule for everyone," he told Canal +.

"We play a lot, every three days then every four days. Everyone understands that they will not be able to play all the 95-minute matches.

"I spoke about it twice. The first time with each player, the second with the whole group, to tell them that it was okay to be like that and that you had to have the right attitude. And also value the participation of your team-mates."

Fabio's red card was his fourth since his Ligue 1 debut in September 2018 – only his team-mate Andrei Girotto (five) has a worse record in Ligue 1 over this period.

It came following an ugly lunge on PSG midfielder Vitinha, which saw the former Porto man immediately require treatment before being replaced by Renato Sanches. 

PSG start their Champions League campaign at home to Juventus on Tuesday and Galtier is unsure whether the 22-year-old will be fit enough to play. 

"He took a big hit on the kneecap, there is no twisting, no ligament risk, we will see if he can play on Tuesday," the PSG boss said. 

"It's coming fast, it's close. We will make sure to restore him well and see how he feels. Otherwise, we'll do it with someone else."