Paulo Fonseca acknowledges "there is a lot that needs to be improved" at AC Milan, following their 2-2 draw with Torino on the opening day of the Serie A season.

The Portuguese looked like he would suffer defeat in his first match in charge of the Rossoneri, who trailed 2-0 in the 89th minute at San Siro after a Malick Thiaw own goal and Duvan Zapata header.

However, Alvaro Morata gave the hosts hope when he deflected in Tijjani Reijnders' long-range effort, before Noah Okafor's last-gasp volley ensured a share of the spoils.

And though Milan's blushes were spared, Fonseca feels their overall performance demonstrated the need for vast improvement.

"I did not expect before the game that we would be perfect at this stage, but I must say our first 45 minutes was not good," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"We know what these games are like, we must continue working, because there is a lot that needs to be improved.

"I think it is a collective issue, it's not just about the defenders. In the first half, we weren't pressing high and that made it easier for Torino to attack us.

"The second half was different. We were more aggressive, won the ball back earlier and had enough opportunities to win the match."

Morata, who scored on his competitive debut for Milan, concurred with Fonseca that his new employers' start of the season was not good enough, though the Spain skipper also focused on the positives.

"It is not a great debut because we didn't win, and we wanted to send a message," he said. 

"I think we still sent a message, because the team was practically dead, and we still turned it around. If there had been another five minutes to play, we would've won it."

Dairon Blanco homered twice and drove in a career-high seven runs to power the Kansas City Royals to a 13-1 rout of the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.

Blanco, who wielded a bat painted to look like a yellow crayon, hit a two-run homer deep to center field on the first pitch he saw from Reds starter Nick Lodolo in the second inning.

Then the 31-year-old Cuban cleared the loaded bases with a shot deep into the left-field seats in the third and drove in another run with a single in the fourth. He came into the game with just one homer and five RBIs this season.

Vinnie Pasquantino and Hunter Renfroe each added three hits for the Royals, who finished with 16 and won their third straight.

Michael Wacha benefited from the big offensive night. He limited the Reds to four hits over six scoreless innings with one walk and a season-high nine strikeouts.

Lodolo was roughed up for eight runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Jeimer Candelario hit his 20th home run for the Reds, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Sale beats Angels for 14th win

Chris Sale struck out 10 over six innings to tie for the major league wins lead and Marcell Ozuna went 3 for 3 with an early three-run homer as the Atlanta Braves rolled to a 11-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

Sale allowed two runs and six hits with two walks to end a four-start winless streak. He leads the National League with 14 wins and tied Detroit’s Tarik Skubal for most in the majors.

Sale improved to 8-0 in 11 appearances against the Angels with a 1.24 ERA – his lowest versus any team he’s faced at least 10 times.

Michael Harris led off the game against Griffin Canning with a double and Austin Riley singled before Ozuna connected for his 36th home run and a 3-0 lead.

Atlanta broke the game open with a five-run fifth and knocked out Canning.

Whit Merrifield opened the inning with a homer and Travis d’Arnaud had a two-run double before Ramon Laureano’s two-run shot made it 9-0.

Severino goes distance for Mets

Luis Severino pitched his first complete game in over six years and was backed by home runs from Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso as the New York Mets defeated the last-place Miami Marlins, 4-0.

Severino allowed four hits with one walk and struck out eight to end a personal three-game losing streak. He threw a season-high 113 pitches and recorded his second career complete game and first since May 2, 2018, at Houston for the Yankees.

The shutout was the first by a Mets starter since Jacob deGrom blanked Washington on April 23, 2021.

Lindor led off the bottom of the first against Max Meyer with his 24th home run and Alonso did the same in the second, his 27th.

New York extended its lead in the third on Jesse Winker’s RBI single and Mark Vientos doubled home Lindor in the fourth.

The Mets scored once in each of the first four innings for the first time since May 26, 1995, against San Francisco.

Jannik Sinner reached the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open with a hard-fought 4-6 7-5 6-4 victory over Andrey Rublev, avenging last week's defeat to the Russian in Montreal.

Sinner was eliminated from the Canadian Open by Rublev at his last tournament, having missed the Paris Olympic Games due to a bout of tonsillitis.

He fought back from a set down to avoid a repeat in blustery conditions in Ohio on Saturday, having looked to be in trouble when he faced two break points at a set down.

The world number one saved both of those points before recovering from an awkward fall to win a 26-shot rally at 4-4, ultimately serving out the second set at the second opportunity.

Sinner then held off something of a third-set resurgence from Rublev to seal a gruelling two-hour, 25-minute victory, before expressing pride at the way he responded to adversity.

"It took a lot of mental strength today," Sinner said after his win. "It was very tough conditions, very windy. 

"In the first set he started very well and I didn't play my best tennis but in the second set, I felt I had a lot of chances. I waited for my chance. I am very happy to make the semis."

Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka teed up a heavyweight semi-final clash with Iga Swiatek in the women's draw, easing to a 6-3 6-2 victory over Liudmila Samsonova.

Sabalenka needed just one hour and 19 minutes to seal her win, reeling off 10 of the last 13 games to level her all-time head-to-head record with Samsonova at 2-2.

Data Debrief: Sabalenka joins exclusive club

Sabalenka is into her fourth semi-final at the Cincinnati Open, a joint-record at the competition among WTA players in the Open Era.

Jelena Jankovic, Serena Williams and Simona Halep are the only other women to achieve that feat.

Alvaro Morata and Noah Okafor scored in the dying stages for Milan as they salvaged a 2-2 draw in their Serie A opener against Torino on Saturday.

The visitors were moments away from a memorable victory at San Siro thanks to a Malick Thiaw own goal and a header from Duvan Zapata, only for Milan to fight back with goals in the 89th and 95th minutes. 

The visitors took the lead on the half-hour mark when Raoul Bellanova's header hit the post and Thiaw’s attempted clearance ended in an own goal.

Torino then doubled their advantage in the 68th minute with Zapata heading in Valentino Lazaro's cross from close range.

With the clock about to tick into stoppage time, Morata gave Paulo Fonseca's side hope by deflecting Tijjani Reijnders' long-range shot into the net.

Milan then launched a frantic final push for a leveller and Okafor smashed in a volley deep into stoppage time to spare their blushes.

Data Debrief: Stuttering start for Rossoneri

While Fonseca avoided a humiliating defeat in his first competitive game in charge of Milan, some lax defending ensured his reign would not start with a victory.

This is the first time Milan have started a Serie A campaign with a draw since 2011-12, when they drew 2-2 with Lazio under Massimiliano Allegri. 

They went on to finish second to Juventus that season, but improvements will be required if they are to push for a 20th Scudetto in 2024-25.

Unai Emery has said he wants to keep Jhon Duran despite transfer speculation after scoring the winner in Aston Villa's 2-1 victory over West Ham.

Duran slotted home the winner in the 79th minute after Lucas Paqueta’s spot-kick had ruled out Amadou Onana's early opener.

It was Duran's sixth Premier League goal in just 616 minutes of action in the competition, meaning he has averaged a goal every 103 minutes. That rate has only been bettered by Erling Haaland among those who have scored more than five goals.

Duran's goal was all the more fitting given he was seemingly on the verge of joining the Hammers earlier this summer, with the Colombia international even gesturing with an "irons" celebration in a social media video.

But Duran has so far stayed at Villa Park, and Emery is keen to keep it that way, although the Spaniard warned there are no guarantees.

"We were open with every player to accept a good offer and one of those players is him. But we know how much we believe in him and if he leaves it's because the offer is very good, but I want to keep him," Emery told the media.

“We believe in Duran and in his potential. We are always open to working with him if he's like he is today, helping the team and he was fantastic."

Speaking on other possible transfers, Emery suggested Alex Moreno was the most likely left-back to depart the club this summer. 

Having joined in January 2023, Moreno appears to be behind Lucas Digne and new arrival Ian Maatsen in the pecking order, and Nottingham Forest are among the clubs reportedly interested.

"We signed Ian Maatsen and we were speaking with different players in this position. The difficulty is to manage with three left-backs. Moreno is the player who is now close to leaving," he explained.

Debutant Onana headed in Villa's first goal, and while impressed with the midfielder's display, Emery knows there is more to come from the former Everton man.

"There’s still a lot of adaptation ahead, in training and in matches. Today it was his first official match with us. He was very mature, responsible and intelligent," he said.

“I think this is the first step we need. The adaptation is going to be long, because there are a lot of things we want to get out of him, but his potential is most important."

Villa bucked a poor record away at West Ham having gone without a win in their previous nine encounters away from Villa Park.

Despite West Ham’s superior 2.4 expected goals, Emery felt his side were deserving of their victory.

"The first 30 minutes were very good. We were in control of the game, with good positioning. We did'’t concede a corner until the 28th minute. We scored one and had a chance to get a second with Leon Bailey [hitting the post]," he reflected.

"They got a goal too, and we started the second half a bit softly. But we started controlling the game more again and deserved to win."

Pascal Gross believes he has room for improvement despite starting his Borussia Dortmund career with two assists in Saturday's routine DFB-Pokal win over Phonix Lubeck.

Gross teed up first-half goals for fellow new signing Waldemar Anton and Julian Brandt as Dortmund advanced to the competition's second round with a 4-1 win over their fourth-tier hosts.

He is the first player on record (since the 2008-09 season) to record two assists on his first Pokal appearance for BVB.

He also created the joint-most chances of any player on the pitch (three, alongside Brandt), while his 154 accurate passes were only bettered by Niklas Sule (191).

As Nuri Sahin's side prepare for their Bundesliga opener against Eintracht Frankfurt next week, the former Brighton and Hove Albion man believes there is more to come.

"There was no alternative but to win the match. We played a good game in the first period and showed some good ideas, but we can and must improve," he told Sky Sports Germany.

"I also have room for improvement. It was my first match, it was decent. I want to get to know my team-mates better every day. 

"My job is to carry our play from back to front, to give it a certain stability and to set our attacking weapons in motion."

Sahin's first competitive game in charge saw BVB dominate possession with an 85.2% share, with Sule (196) attempting the most passes of any player in a Pokal match on record. 

Sahin himself was the previous record holder, having attempted 184 passes for Dortmund versus 1860 Munich in 2013.

"It's important to play in a dominant way in the first round and not let anything go to waste," the former midfielder said. 

Asked about the defensive lapse that led to Phonix pulling a goal back early in the second half, he added: "We played over 1,000 passes, so concentration can sometimes drop in a game like this."

Julen Lopetegui was left feeling his West Ham side had much to improve on after losing 2-1 to Aston Villa in his first game in charge.

Villa took the lead after just four minutes through Amadou Onana before Lucas Paqueta levelled from the spot before half-time.

There would be no dream start to Lopetegui’s time at the helm, however, as Jhon Duran scored the winner after 79 minutes, before Tomas Soucek missed two clear opportunities to level at the death.

Instead, the Spaniard was left pondering improvements to his new side after a disappointing display.

"We're going to have a lot of things to improve. Above all in the second half we have a big opportunity to win the match and we lost. We have to learn and improve in the next step," he told Sky Sports.

"In the second half we started well, we had the initiative. Maybe in the last moments we didn't take the right decisions. 

"They get to score a second goal. I am not happy again because we suffered one goal in set-pieces that in these kinds of matches these little details are going to be key."

Onana’s opener came from a corner, unsurprisingly given all of his Premier League goals (four) have been headers. However, it called into question the host’s defence as Michail Antonio struggled to mark the Belgium international in the box.

But Lopetegui was also disappointed with the Hammers' lack of edge at the other end of the pitch.

"We had the last 20 minutes under control and had a good chance to score the second goal, but didn't," he later told BBC Match of the Day.

"We suffered with their second goal, but after that we had two clear chances [to equalise]. We didn't [take them] and we have to keep the good things. It's a pity for us and for our fans – we had big expectations and ambitions for this match."

West Ham's big misses were evident in their 2.4 expected goals (xG). In comparison, their opponents proved far more clinical, with their goals coming from 1.89 xG.

There was some reason for optimism for Lopetegui, however, as he handed out six debuts during the match, the most for West Ham in a single game in the Premier League since 2018 against Liverpool (also six).

"For a lot of players it was their first match in our stadium. Max [Kilman] did well. Guido [Rodriguez] too," the former Spain coach added.

"A lot of them have to improve and push the players in the line-up to be more competitive."

Roberto De Zerbi has hailed Mason Greenwood's performance after the striker scored a brace on his Marseille debut on Saturday.

The Italian started life in Ligue 1 with an impressive 5-1 win over Brest, with Luis Henrique also scoring twice on either side of Mahdi Camara's goal, before Elye Wahi rounded off the win from the penalty spot.

Greenwood, who joined Marseille on a permanent transfer last month having spent last season on loan at Getafe, settled in quickly, netting his first goal within three minutes and slotting in his second from 12 yards just after the half-hour mark.

He is just the third player to score twice on his Ligue 1 debut for Marseille this century, after Dimitri Payet (2013) and Luis Suarez (2022).

De Zerbi was particularly impressed by the 22-year-old, explaining what sets him apart from other players.

"Mason Greenwood is a player who is different from the others, he has an extraordinary level," De Zerbi said after the game.

"I am happy that he scored. This will calm the controversies that surrounded his arrival."

Marseille finished eighth in the French top-flight last season before bringing in De Zerbi to improve on that result.

And the 45-year-old was pleased that their work in the off-season led to such an emphatic start to the season.

"I'm happy. We started from a long way back, we had to rebuild a team," De Zerbi told beIN Sports.

"It gave me satisfaction, especially in the second half where the team showed mental strength to go for the victory." 

Joe Schmidt said he cannot recall ever being involved in a more "bizarre" Test as his Australia side were downed 30-12 by South Africa in the Rugby Championship.

Malcolm Marx touched down twice for the Springboks in rainy Perth to make it two from two in the tournament but the Wallabies were hit by a swathe of injuries.

Front-row pair Allan Alaalatoa and Angus Bell were unable to return for the second half and scrums went uncontested after replacement prop James Slipper failed a head injury assessment.

The Wallabies even went down to 14 briefly when hooker Josh Nasser went off injured, though they did return to a full 15.

Reflecting on the unfortunate series of events, head coach Schmidt told Stan Sport: "It's probably one of the most bizarre games I've ever been involved in.

"In over 100 Test matches that I've been involved in I've never had a situation like that before. It happened so early in the game as well. When Slips got a head knock right after half-time.

"And then we were straight down. And then we played with 14 for a period of time before the officials worked out that we were still entitled to have a full pack because of the HIA.

"But I still am proud of the way that the guys fought their way through that second half. And the way that they stayed in the fight in the first half. It could have been, and I know it could have been as easy to say, but it could have been 12-11 at half-time and that would have been a massive lift for the boys."

Australia are winless through their first two matches, both against the Springboks, and will next face Argentina in La Plata on August 31.

Junior Messias scored a last-gasp equaliser as Genoa held Inter to a 2-2 draw, denying the Nerazzurri a winning start to their Scudetto defence at Luigi Ferraris.

Messias struck in the fifth minute of stoppage time to ensure a share of the spoils, slotting home the rebound after Yann Sommer saved his initial penalty.

Genoa took the lead after 20 minutes when Alessandro Vogliacco tapped in after Mattia Bani's strike ricocheted kindly into his path via the crossbar.

Although, Inter were level just 10 minutes later as Marcus Thuram rose to head home Nicolo Barella's lofted cross.

The Nerazzurri's second-half pressure eventually paid dividends eight minutes from time when Thuram completed the turnaround, latching onto Davide Frattesi's throughball and lifting it over the advancing Pierluigi Gollini.

There was to be a late twist in the dying moments of stoppage time, however. Yann Bisseck was penalised for handball following a VAR review and, despite Sommer thwarting Messias, the Brazilian reacted quickest to snatch a point for Il Grifone.

Data Debrief: Inter's winning streak stalls 

Inter were on course to win on matchday one for a sixth successive Serie A season, until Messias had other ideas with one of the final kicks of the game.

It marked only the second time in the last 14 seasons that the Scudetto holders had failed to win their league opener, after Juventus in 2015-16.

The Nerazzurri have now drawn three straight Serie A matches for the first time since doing so under Antonio Conte in January 2020.

Julen Lopetegui lost his first Premier League game in charge of West Ham, as Jhon Duran's strike secured a 2-1 victory for Aston Villa at the London Stadium.

West Ham have spent big in the transfer market to back their new coach, but the Hammers ultimately fell short in their opening match of 2024-25.

Lucas Paqueta's penalty cancelled out an early opener from Villa debutant Amadou Onana, while Leon Bailey had struck the woodwork for the visitors too.

Substitute Duran – who was reportedly a target for the Hammers – would have the final say though, neatly finishing off a team move to restore Villa's lead with 11 minutes of normal time remaining.

Villa's win takes them into the top four, while West Ham sit in 15th, albeit both teams will not be paying too much attention to the table just yet.

Data Debrief: Villa end London Stadium woes

A trip to the London Stadium to start the season was probably not what Villa fans were hoping for when they saw the fixture list, having lost each of their last nine Premier League trips to east London.

But, they dug deep to end that run on Saturday, getting their first away win against the Hammers since April 2011 when they won 2-1 at Upton Park.

Duran proved the hero in the end - he has scored six Premier League goals from just 616 minutes played in the competition, an average of one every 103 minutes; among players to have scored 5+ Premier League goals, only Erling Haaland (85) averages a better minutes-to-goals rate

Meanwhile, West Ham have lost their opening game 16 times in the Premier League, more than any other team in the competition's history. 

Iga Swiatek booked her place in the Cincinnati Open semi-finals after coming from behind to deny Mirra Andreeva on Saturday.

The world number one recovered from losing the opening set to prevail 4-6 6-3 7-5 after two-and-a-half hours, setting up a mouth-watering last-four clash with Aryna Sabalenka.

In the first ever meeting between the players, Andreeva made a positive start as she broke her opponent in the third game, while saving two break points in the sixth and 10th to draw first blood.

That sparked Swiatek into life; a break in the opening game of the second set proved enough for the four-time French Open champion to level the contest.

The Pole broke again in the decider and, after Andreeva squandered the opportunity to break back at 6-5 by sending a backhand long, she won the next two points to advance to the semi-finals. 

Data Debrief: A perfect 10 from 10 for stubborn Swiatek

Matching her performance from last year in Cincinnati, where she was beaten in the last four by Coco Gauff, Swiatek will hope to go the extra steps this time around.

The Pole maintained her perfect quarter-final record in 2024, having now won all 10 such matches, and is now 16-1 at this stage in WTA 1000 events, with her only defeat coming against Elena Rybakina by retirement in Rome last year.

With her 30th main-draw victory at a WTA 1000 this season, she becomes only the second player after Serena Williams (36 in 2013) to reach that tally in a single year.

And Swiatek has now reached the highest percentage of semi-finals since the format's introduction in 2009 (17 from 31, 54.8%).