A last-gasp penalty from Rhys Priestland denied 14-man Australia a memorable comeback against Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

Smarting from a 32-15 defeat to England last time out, the Wallabies were up against it when Rob Valetini's red card and a 10-point deficit left them staring at a potentially heavy defeat.

However, Wales – who survived a scare against Fiji after despite Eroni Sau's red card – were pegged back and it required steely nerves from Priestland beyond the 80-minute mark to secure a 29-28 win.

Australia began in brilliant fashion as Andrew Kellaway collected a grubber and touched down, although Dan Biggar quickly reduced the deficit with a penalty, but the match swung firmly Wales' way when Valetini was shown red for a dangerous high tackle that left Adam Beard bleeding, Biggar then kicking a further three points.

Although James O'Connor's penalty put the 14 men ahead, Kurtley Beale was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on and Ryan Elias scored Wales' first try after good work at the resulting lineout.

O'Connor and Biggar exchanged further penalties and the latter converted after Nick Tomkins intercepted a pass and scored a simple try, with a TMO check allowing it to stand.

Then came the threat of a late surprise. Nic White finished a fine move involving Beale, and although Biggar's boot stretched Wales' lead again, Filipo Daugunu touched down in the corner with O'Connor's kick striking the post to spare the hosts.

Beale's kick then put Australia ahead with two minutes to play, but after winning a penalty inside the visitors' 22 in the 81st minute, Priestland kept his nerve to send Cardiff into raptures.

Atletico Madrid left it late to take advantage of a slip-up by LaLiga title rivals Sevilla as Felipe's header secured a 1-0 win over Osasuna.

Sevilla went top of LaLiga earlier in the day with a 2-2 draw against Alaves, an injury-time equaliser sending them to the summit.

But they and Real Sociedad are now just two points above Atletico, who claimed victory from their one of only two efforts on target at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Felipe rose to meet Yannick Carrasco's near-post corner and turn it home, providing a dramatic finish to what had otherwise been a dour encounter on Saturday.

Juventus eased to a 2-0 win against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday to move up to sixth place in Serie A.

A Leonardo Bonucci penalty in each half proved enough for Massimiliano Allegri's side, making it back-to-back wins in the league after they beat Fiorentina 1-0 before the international break.

Lazio were without star striker Ciro Immobile and it showed as the Biancocelesti struggled to create much in the way of chances.

Maurizio Sarri would have been hoping to do better against his former club, with his team now having won just twice in their last seven games in all competitions.

Danilo was forced off with an injury for the visitors after 15 minutes following a strong challenge from Elseid Hysaj, with Dejan Kulusevski replacing the Brazilian.

Juventus had their first penalty in the 22nd minute after Danilo Cataldi was judged to have fouled Alvaro Morata in the box following a VAR review, which Bonucci coolly dispatched past Pepe Reina.

Morata should have made it two just before half-time when Juan Cuadrado lifted a delicate ball into the box, only for the Spain striker's scissor-kick to fly over the bar.

Juve had their second penalty with ten minutes to go after Federico Chiesa rounded Reina, only to be hacked down by the goalkeeper before he could score, and Bonucci made no mistake to seal the win.

What does it mean? Juve back on track

Shortly before the international break there was slight talk of crisis at Juventus. Back-to-back defeats against Sassuolo and Verona saw the Old Lady sitting in ninth place, 16 points off the top of the table.

After victory here, they are temporarily at least up to sixth and have cut Napoli and Milan's lead at the top to 11 points, albeit with both still yet to play this weekend.

They will hope to build on three wins in a row in all competitions when they travel to Chelsea for matchday five of the Champions League in midweek, where a win will confirm them as winners of Group H.

Better week for Bonucci

Bonucci and the rest of his Italian team-mates had an international break to forget, with draws against Switzerland and Northern Ireland meaning that the Azzurri must now go through the play-offs if they are to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

However, Bonucci's penalties against Lazio not only won the game, but also mean he has scored more Serie A goals than any other defender since the beginning of the last decade (27).

Lazio lack mobility without Immobile

Immobile is one of only four players already with at least 10 goals in the big five European leagues this season, along with Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema and Mohamed Salah.

Lazio unsurprisingly missed their talisman here, with only one of their eight shots at goal hitting the target.

What's next?

Lazio face Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia in the Europa League on Thursday, while Juventus travel to Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Lionel Messi's first Ligue 1 goal helped Paris Saint-Germain beat Nantes 3-1 at the Parc des Princes despite Keylor Navas getting sent off in the second half. 

The hosts scored in just the second minute as Leandro Paredes' well-hit effort from range took a wicked deflection off Kylian Mbappe in the box and wrong-footed Alban Lafont.

Navas was shown a straight red card in the 65th minute for jumping into Ludovic Blas outside the box as the Nantes midfielder bore down on goal, with Sergio Rico coming on between the sticks and failing to deal with Randal Kolo Muani's header, allowing the forward to backheel an effort at goal that he could not keep from crossing the line.

However, Dennis Appiah deflected Messi's throughball over the goalkeeper and in before the Argentine grabbed his first league goal for PSG with a terrific long-range strike.

PSG took the lead inside the first two minutes, with Paredes taking an effort on from long range that struck Mbappe in the box and deflected past a stranded Lafont in the Nantes goal.

Nantes' hopes of snatching an unlikely result were boosted when Navas raced off his line to deal with a ball in behind in the second half, but misjudged the bounce and was sent off after catching Blas with a trailing leg.

Substitute goalkeeper Rico made a mess of saving Kolo Muani's powerful headed effort and could only get to the follow-up after it had crossed the line in the 76th minute, but Nantes full-back Appiah's comedy own goal five minutes later put PSG back in front.

Messi then stole the headlines in the 87th minute, cutting onto his left foot outside the box and unleashing a superb strike into the bottom-left corner to seal the points for PSG.

Jose Mourinho believes Andriy Shevchenko has already shown that he can be a success as a head coach in Serie A ahead of his first game in charge of Genoa on Sunday.

The Ukraine legend replaced Davide Ballardini as head coach of the Grifoni two weeks ago after a 2-2 draw at Empoli made it nine games without a win.

Shevchenko's first game in club management sees him hosting Roma and Mourinho, who was at the helm at Chelsea when 'Sheva' arrived at Stamford Bridge as a player in 2006.

The 45-year-old recently left his role in charge of the Ukrainian national team after a quarter-final defeat to England at Euro 2020.

Shevchenko enjoyed a very successful time as a player in Italy, scoring 127 goals in 226 Serie A games for Milan, and Mourinho expressed his hope that he can have success as a manager as well.

"He was an incredible player," Mourinho said at a media conference on Saturday. "This is his first job in club management, but he did really well with Ukraine.

"I think he showed he has ideas, he has leadership... but I hope he loses the first of his club management career, like I did!"

Mourinho will also be looking to improve the fortunes of his own team, with Roma having won just one of their last seven games, and he will be missing several players through injury and COVID-19.

The Giallorossi announced on Saturday that Bryan Cristante and Gonzalo Villar have tested positive for COVID-19, and join injured quartet Matias Vina, Chris Smalling, Riccardo Calafiori and Leonardo Spinazzola on the sidelines.

"We didn't do any training this morning. It will be fun for you to think about how we will play tomorrow," Mourinho said. "The work we've done in the week has to go in the bin a bit.

"It's clear we need to find new solutions and perhaps some players will have to 'sacrifice' themselves in different roles."

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United manager knows the risks that come with playing a team under a new head coach, and believes that factor will make the clash all the more interesting.

"At the very least, it's going to be an entertaining, intriguing game," he added. "The Genoa fans will be up for the game, the players will want to impress the new coach. It's a beautiful stadium and I'm sure it will be a great atmosphere."

Marcus Smith nailed a last-gasp penalty as England rounded out their November internationals with a 27-26 win over South Africa in a barnstorming Twickenham Test.

Making only a third Test start, the unflappable Smith made the decisive contribution in a match that looked like getting away from the White Rose after an enterprising performance was mixed with ill-discipline.

England outscored South Africa three tries to one but a penalty count of 18 allowed the Springboks to stay in the game and the visitors were leading until the last minute.

However, the win marks a measure of revenge for Eddie Jones' side, who were beaten in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final the last time these two sides went head-to-head.

England were dominant in the first half and Manu Tuilagi crossed after fine work from Smith opened the play for Henry Slade to make the long pass.

The nerveless Handre Pollard put South Africa on the board prior to Freddie Steward showing great power to bundle over from close range and extend England's lead.

But England's lack of composure at the breakdown meant the lead was only five points at the break, with Pollard nailing three more kicks to Smith's one, and more poor discipline saw South Africa inch ahead thanks to Pollard and Elton Jantjies kicks.

A fine breakaway score from Joe Marchant was answered by an unconverted score from Makazole Mapimpi after Will Stuart was sin-binned, and Frans Steyn kicked another penalty for South Africa.

But Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi saw yellow himself, before another penalty in front of the posts in the final minute allowed Smith to have the final say.

Smith, Steward offer bright glimpse of the future

Smith may only be in the infancy of his international career but he already looks an assured presence at this level.

Full-back Steward put in a fine performance at full-back too. The pair look a very exciting prospect for an England side who played with plenty of attacking intent and backed up a fine win over Australia last time out.

Young front row survives the test but penalties a worry

Much of the narrative ahead of this one was whether the inexperienced duo of hooker Jamie Blamire and prop Bevan Rodd could cope against South Africa's pack.

For the most part they passed the test superbly, but for all their endeavour England were guilty of giving away far too many cheap penalties. On another day, and against a player of the quality of Pollard who hurt them so badly in the World Cup final, it could have been far more costly.

Simone Inzaghi is hopeful that Inter can reach an agreement with midfielder Marcelo Brozovic over a new contract.

Croatia international Brozovic is due to become a free agent at the end of the season and has been linked with the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham and Newcastle United.

While Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez have recently signed new deals, fresh terms have yet to be reached with Brozovic as the January transfer window draws nearer.

According to reports from Italy, Inter directors Giuseppe Marotta, Piero Ausilio and Dario Baccin met with the 29-year-old's representatives earlier this week.

Inzaghi was unable to provide an update on Brozovic's future at a news conference on Saturday, but the Inter head coach says his bosses are aware of his thoughts.

"Marcelo is a great footballer," Inzaghi said ahead of Sunday's home clash with Napoli. "He's been here for many years and he's always doing great things.

"Our managers are here every day and they are the ones who discuss these issues. They know what I feel about the player."

Brozovic's importance was clear to see in last term's Scudetto-winning campaign when featuring in 33 of Inter's 38 Serie A games.

He has started all 12 league games this term and ranks first among Inter players for passes (755) and successful passes (696), while only Barella (17) has won more tackles than Brozovic's 11.

The former Dinamo Zagreb midfielder is in line to start again when Inter welcome Napoli to San Siro.

Napoli entered the weekend top of Serie A after going unbeaten through their opening 12 matches, with their last league loss coming 22 games ago against Juventus in April.

Reigning champions Inter are seven points behind their opponents and are winless in four league games this season against sides that finished in the top seven last time out.

"It'll be a very important game for our position in the table," said Inzaghi, who has lost seven of his previous 10 managerial matches against Napoli.

"Courage and motivation can make the difference. We have done well in Serie A and the Champions League. 

"We're only two points off our position at this stage last season, but it's also true that Milan and Napoli are having the kind of start we hadn’t seen in Serie A for 40 years.

"We deserved more against Atalanta, Juventus and Milan, only getting three draws, so we need to do more from tomorrow in the head-to-head clashes. The time has come to win these games."

Max Verstappen conceded Red Bull are struggling for pace after a "beautiful" lap from Lewis Hamilton saw the Mercedes driver take pole for the Qatar Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who cut Verstappen's lead in the drivers' championship to 14 points with his victory in Sao Paulo last time out, was quickest on Saturday with a blistering lap of 1:20.827.

Verstappen could not get close to that and was left to settle for second for the first Formula One race in Qatar, the Dutchman finishing 0.455 seconds off the pace.

Valtteri Bottas was third for Mercedes, with Red Bull's setback of Verstappen being unable to get ahead of Hamilton on the grid exacerbated by Sergio Perez failing to make it out of Q2.

Perez will start in 11th, meaning it is Hamilton who has a clear edge going into another crucial race.

Speaking after qualifying, Verstappen said: "[We're] lacking a bit of pace, it's been just a bit more tricky for us, again, in qualifying.

"It just shows we're struggling a bit more than normal. All to play for, but I wish we could have fought for more.

"There's a lot of unknowns, we just need to work on our start and we'll see where we end up."

The difference between Hamilton and Verstappen marked the largest pole margin in dry qualifying this year, with things looking up for the seven-time world champion after a challenging week.

"Yesterday was a really difficult day, Thursday and Friday I wasn't feeling too well, really had to dig deep," said Hamilton.

"I was here until midnight last night, working with the engineers, we found a lot of areas where I could improve. 

"We didn't have any traffic, that last lap was beautiful, this track is amazing to drive.

"I felt fantastic today, slept really well last night, that made a big difference."

Asked about strategy for the race, Hamilton added: "It's not the easiest of circuits to follow, but it's also not massively degrading on the tyres.

"It could be a one or two [stop], we'll find out tomorrow. It's nice and wide into turn one, so we'll be giving everything."

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.455s
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) +0.651s
4. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) +0.813s
5. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +0.843s
6. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.904s
7. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +1.013s
8. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) +1.054s
9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +1.201s
10. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) +1.958s

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has questioned whether Gareth Bale should have played for Wales during the international break.

Bale has not played for the LaLiga club since August after suffering a knee injury against Real Betis.

The former Tottenham forward made his 100th senior international appearance for Wales in the 5-1 win over Belarus, but picked up a calf injury in that game and is now expected to miss several more weeks.

"He had recovered [from the knee injury]. Wales thought he was fit enough to play," Ancelotti told reporters at a media conference ahead of Sunday's trip to Granada.

"Perhaps they shouldn't have played him, but we have to make sure he recovers now because he could be a very useful player for the rest of this season and we hope to have him back soon.

"Gareth is an important player for Wales and he likes playing for his national team, but he also wants to play for Real Madrid. You can see when he trains with the effort and work he puts in. Of course, if he wants to play for his national team, he has to play well for Real Madrid and train well too."

Ancelotti was also asked about Eden Hazard, who was recently described as "sad in footballing terms" by Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez.

The former Chelsea attacker has made just four starts for Real Madrid this season, and Ancelotti understands his frustration.

"Of course, Hazard, like most players who don't play often, is unhappy," he said. "To be honest, I would be unhappy if he wasn't. You want players to try and fight for a first team spot.

"He's had a stomach bug and needs two or three days rest. It's not Covid. It's like a stomach flu."

The former Everton boss also wanted to make clear his frustration at the number of games his team has to play before the winter break, with nine games scheduled in a 31-day period.

"The players, clubs and managers have all come out and said there are too many games," Ancelotti exclaimed. "Something has to change. The way football is working right now isn't good for the sport, and changes have to be good changes, not decisions that lack common sense."

The 62-year-old was also asked about the recent appointment of Xavi at Barcelona, saying: "I'm sure Xavi is going to bring something different to the club.

"I'm sure we are going to be fighting them for the title, and I'd like to discover if there is anything different with this Barcelona side as soon as possible."

Daniil Medvedev will defend his ATP Finals crown on Sunday following a commanding straight-sets victory over Casper Ruud in the semi-finals.

Reigning champion Medvedev cruised through to the final after wrapping up a 6-4 6-2 win in one hour and 20 minutes in Turin.

The world number two will face Novak Djokovic or Alexander Zverev as he aims to become the ninth different player to successfully defend this title.

Medvedev reached the semi-finals of the year-ending championship with a match to spare, winning three out of three in the Red Group, and did not offer up a single break point against Ruud, who he had beaten in both of their previous meetings.

The US Open champion took early command, breaking in game three and holding before serving to love to take the opening set.

The winner of five ATP Tour titles in 2021, world number eight Ruud was aiming to become the third debutant to lift this trophy in five years after Grigor Dimitrov (2017) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (2019).

However the Norwegian, who squeezed past Andrey Rublev on Friday, was broken twice in the second set as Medvedev surged into a 5-2 lead, before serving out to complete a ninth straight win at this event.

Should Djokovic beat Zverev, it will bring up a fourth meeting of 2021 between the world’s top two players. The Serbian beat Medvedev at the Paris Masters earlier this month and in the Australian Open final at the start of the season, but went down in straight sets at Flushing Meadows in September.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Medvedev – 20/16
Ruud – 16/26

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS 

Medvedev – 3/2
Ruud – 1/3

BREAK POINTS WON 

Medvedev – 3/9
Ruud – 0/0

Daniel Sturridge made a brief cameo off the bench and Bruno Fornaroli scored a stunning equaliser as Perth Glory began their A-League campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to Adelaide United on Saturday.

The signing of former Liverpool and England striker Sturridge has piqued the interest in Australian football, with the 32-year-old back in the professional game after departing Trabzonspor in March 2020.

However, fans were only treated to a short glimpse of Sturridge at HFB Park, where the hosts were forced to come from behind to clinch a point.

Kusini Yengi coolly side-footed home the opener for Adelaide, only for Fornaroli to level five minutes before half-time with a ferocious 30-yard effort.

Antonee Burke-Gilroy later thought he had a first A-League goal but he and Perth were denied for offside by a VAR check.

Last season's beaten finalists Sydney FC played out a goalless draw in the derby against Western Sydney Wanderers, for whom former Everton, Manchester City and Sunderland midfielder Jack Rodwell made his debut off the bench.

Indeed, Rodwell almost made a swift impact with a 30-yard rocket that Andrew Redmayne saved, as a boisterous crowd at CommBank Stadium witnessed a stalemate.

Tony Popovich made a winning start to his Melbourne Victory tenure, with stand-in captain Roderick Miranda heading in the only goal of the game in a 1-0 triumph over Western United.

Werder Bremen coach Markus Anfang has quit the German club as investigations continue into claims he used a forged COVID-19 vaccine certificate.

Public prosecutors are examining the case, with Anfang having denied any wrongdoing in discussions with the club before he stepped down on Saturday.

Werder's 40-year run in the Bundesliga ended when they were relegated in May, and Anfang was appointed in June to lead the team in their quest for promotion back to the top flight.

The four-time Bundesliga champions announced Anfang and his assistant Florian Junge had both resigned.

Anfang had said on Thursday that he had been double vaccinated and expressed hope the matter would be "cleared up quickly", but that has not yet materialised.

A club statement read: "Head coach Markus Anfang and assistant coach Florian Junge resigned from their offices with immediate effect on Saturday morning. The reason for the decision are the public prosecutor's investigations against both coaches and the resulting unrest in and around the club."

Anfang commented on his departure by saying: "Due to the extremely stressful situation for the club, the team, my family and myself, I have decided that I will end my job as Werder Bremen's head coach with immediate effect."

The announcement came ahead of a Saturday evening 2. Bundesliga clash with Schalke, another mainstay of the Bundesliga who tumbled into the second tier at the end of last season.

Werder managing director of football Frank Baumann said: "With their step, Markus and Florian take on responsibility and thus contribute to ending the unrest that has arisen around the club and the team in the last few days. We respect their decision and will now start looking for a new head coach."

It was also revealed on Saturday that Werder's head of professional football and scouting, Clemens Fritz, has tested positive for COVID-19 and would be absent from the bench for the Schalke game.

Collin Sexton will miss the rest of the NBA season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus, the Cleveland Cavaliers have announced.

The Cavs guard was injured in the 126-109 win over the New York Knicks on November 7 and the severity of the issue has now been confirmed.

A team statement read: "Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton sustained a season-ending left knee injury on Sunday Nov. 7th at New York, later confirmed on Nov. 8th after an MRI administered at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health.

"Sexton underwent successful surgery on Nov. 17th to repair a meniscus tear after additional evaluation over the past week determined that surgery was the best course of action to treat the affected area."

The release added: "His return to basketball activities will be updated as appropriate."

It marks a significant blow for a Cavs team who started the season well but have been hampered by injury issues. Six regulars were unavailable against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.

Sexton was second for the Cavs in scoring, averaging 16 points before his injury. He was also averaging 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in Cleveland's opening 11 matches.