What the papers say

The future of Luis Diaz at Liverpool is dependent on whether Mohamed Salah agrees a new deal. The Sun reports the club would listen to offers for the Colombia forward, 27, if Salah, 31, agrees a fresh deal.

Arsenal are looking to begin talks with Italy midfielder Jorginho, 32, over a new contract, reports the Evening Standard. He has been linked with a return to Serie A.

Conor Gallagher is continuing to catch the eye of Tottenham. The Daily Mail says the club are ready to move for the England midfielder, 24, in the summer.

Getafe are keen to talk with Manchester United about a deal for Mason Greenwood. The Times reports the Spanish club are interested in another loan deal or a permanent move for the forward, 22.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Trevoh Chalobah: The English defender, 24, is disappointed Chelsea are willing to sell him in the summer, according to Teamtalk.

Raoul Bellanova: Manchester United and Aston Villa have watch Torino’s Italian right-back, 23, reports Italian outfit Tuttosport.

Auston Matthews added to his NHL-leading goal total and the Toronto Maple Leafs added to Arizona's misery, pulling away for a 4-2 win on Thursday to deal the Coyotes a 14th straight loss.

Matthews scored at 13:12 of the second period for his 53rd goal of the season - 12 more than the Florida Panthers' Sam Reinhart for the most in the league.

Matthews entered having gone back-to-back games without lighting the lamp following a five-game stretch in which he scored 10 goals.

The Maple Leafs (34-17-8) went ahead 3-0 on Matthews' goal and got back in the win column after their seven-game winning streak ended with a 6-2 home loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, their first defeat since February 10.

The Coyotes (23-31-5), meanwhile, are 0-12-2 since January 22, when they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2.

Arizona's losing streak is the longest in franchise history, and the longest by any team in a single season since the Buffalo Sabres dropped 18 in a row in 2020-21.

Matthew Knies opened the scoring for Toronto with his 11th goal of the season at 13:04 in the first period. 

Tyler Bertuzzi also scored for the Leafs, while William Nylander tallied an empty-netter for his 32nd goal of the season and added two assists.

Joseph Woll turned aside 30 shots in his return after missing 35 games with a high ankle sprain sustained on December 7.

His counterpart, Connor Ingram, stopped 22-of-25 shots, and fell to 0-6-2 with a 4.23 goals-against average in his last eight starts.

Alex Kerfoot and Logan Cooley each scored for Arizona, which has been outscored 64-33 during its losing streak.

Stankoven scores again as Stars move atop Central Division

Rookie Logan Stankoven scored in his third straight game as the Dallas Stars beat Winnipeg 4-1 on Thursday to move two points ahead of the Jets for first place in the Central Division.

The 21-year-old Stankoven didn't score in his NHL debut last Saturday, but has scored in each game since.

Stankoven's goal against the Jets capped a three-goal first period for the Stars (36-17-9).

Jason Robinson opened the scoring at 6:52 of the opening period with his 20th goal off an assist by Joe Pavelski, who 10 minutes later added his 21st goal of the season.

Roope Hintz ended the scoring with an empty-netter for his 24th of the season, while Jake Oettinger had 25 saves for his 100th win.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 32-of-35 shots for the Jets (37-16-5), whose four-game winning streak was snapped.

Winnipeg's lone goal came from Vladislav Namestnikov on the power play at 13:24 of the second period.

Predators rout Wild 6-1 for seventh straight win

The Nashville Predators extended their season high winning streak to seven games with a 6-1 rout of the Minnesota Wild.

Roman Josi had a goal and two assists, and Yakov Trenin, Cole Smith, Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly and Ryan McDonagh also scored for the Predators, who are outscoring their opponents 32-12 during their winning streak.

Minnesota's Connor Dewar opened the scoring at 9:51 of the first period, but Trenin was able to tie it up just 49 seconds later, scoring off a backhanded pass from Josi.

Just eight seconds later, the Predators (34-25-2) pulled ahead on an unassisted goal by Smith.

Nashville took a 3-1 lead in the second period on Forsberg's team-leading 29th goal on the power play.

Juuse Saros finished with 33 saves for the Predators, who had lost seven of nine (2-6-1) prior to their current winning streak.

Filip Gustavsson stopped 25-of-31 shots for Minnesota (28-26-6), which has lost two straight after losing just two of its previous nine games (7-1-1).

One game after going without a point in the first half, Stephen Curry had nine points before the New York Knicks even scored.

Curry finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds and the Golden State Warriors rode a fast start for a 110-99 win at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

The Warriors scored the game’s first 14 points, as the Knicks missed their first nine shots until Donte DiVincenzo converted a layup with 6:35 left in the opening quarter. By that time Curry already had nine points.

After failing to score in the first half in Tuesday's win over the Washington Wizards, Curry opened the scoring at MSG with a 27-foot 3-pointer 20 seconds after the opening tip. He finished 8-of-18 from 3-point range.

Jonathan Kuminga had 25 points and Klay Thompson had 16 points off the bench for the Warriors, who pushed their road winning streak to seven games. This is their longest road winning streak since reeling off 11 in a row in the 2018-19 season.

Overall, Golden State (31-27) has won 12 of 15 games following a 4-10 stretch.

New York (35-25), meanwhile, wrapped up a 4-8 February after going an NBA-best 14-2 in January.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 27 points and DiVincenzo added 16, though he missed 15 of his 21 shot attempts.

As a team, New York shot 36.8 per cent - its worst shooting performance since shooting a season-worst 34.8 per cent in a 117-100 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 20.

Wembanyama stuffs stat sheet as Spurs beat Thunder

Victor Wembanyama recorded a stat line that had never been seen in an NBA game in the San Antonio Spurs' 132-118 win over Oklahoma City, ending the Thunder's six-game winning streak.

The rookie sensation finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, five blocked shots and five 3-pointers.

He is the first player in NBA history with at least 10 boards, five assists, five blocks and five made 3s in a game.

Wembanyama won the battle of first-year big men, coming up with a huge block of Chet Holmgren in the final minutes.

Although the Spurs (12-48) have the worst record in the Western Conference, they beat a Thunder team that was hoping to move into a tie with the Timberwolves atop the conference.

Oklahoma City (41-18) had won its last six games by an average of 20.2 points, but shot just 29.0 per cent from 3-point range (9 for 31).

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced the Thunder with 31 points, while Jalen Williams scored 26 and Holmgren added 23.

Devin Vassell had 28 points and nine assists for the Spurs, who were playing in San Antonio for the first time since February 3 following a 1-8 road swing.

Nuggets hold on to beat Heat in NBA Finals rematch

Meeting for the first time since Denver captured the franchise's first NBA title last June, the Nuggets held on for a 103-97 win over the Miami Heat.

The Nuggets looked like they were going to win easily, leading by 16 in the fourth quarter, but the Heat pulled within 99-97 on Jimmy Butler's floating bank shot with 11 seconds to play.

The Heat would get no closer, however, as Denver (41-19) improved to 5-0 since the All-Star break and moved within 1 1/2 games of the Timberwolves for the best record in the West.

Michael Porter Jr. had 30 points and 11 rebounds, while Nikola Jokic had 18 points, 11 boards and seven assists.

Denver overcame an injury to Jamal Murray, who sprained his right ankle when he landed on Aaron Gordon's leg just before half-time.

The Heat (33-26) arrived in Denver riding a five-game winning streak, in which they were averaging 113.0 points, but they had just 70 points through three quarters against the Nuggets.

Bam Adebayo led Miami with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Butler had 21 points and seven boards.

A century last-wicket stand, a top-order collapse and a comedy of errors run out conspired to put Australia in control of the first Test against New Zealand.

Having had the visitors in early trouble on the first day in Wellington, the hosts saw last-wicket pair Cameron Green and Josh Hazlewood frustrate them for much of the morning session.

They then saw their top order blown away and only some counterattacking lower down got them within 204 runs of their visitors.

Having reached his century off the penultimate ball of day one, Green added another 71 runs as he reached a Test-best 174 not out – last man Hazlewood weighing in with 22 as they took the overnight score from 279 for nine to 383.

Mitchell Starc was first to strike in the New Zealand inning as he bowled Tom Latham for five before the hosts lost talismanic batsman Kane Williamson without scoring.

Williamson, who scored seven centuries in his last seven Tests, and Will Young collided in the middle of a quick single and Marnus Labuschagne’s direct hit sent the former captain packing.

Rachin Ravindra followed for a duck as he cut Hazlewood to Nathan Lyon, Young and Daryl Mitchell also departing cheaply to leave New Zealand 29-5.

Glenn Phillips hit a counterattacking 71 off 70 balls alongside Tom Blundell (33) but only Matt Henry’s 42 offered much more resistance, Lyon collecting four for 34 as the hosts were dismissed for 179.

Australia opted against enforcing the follow on and lost Steve Smith without scoring off the third ball, bowled by Tim Southee.

Southee struck again as Labuschagne’s poor run continued, caught behind for two, but Usman Khawaja and Lyon saw Australia through to stumps at 13-2 – a lead of 217.

Trainer Gordon Elliott saw his career cast into doubt on this day in 2021 after a picture emerged of him sitting on a dead horse.

The distasteful image was shared on social media and quickly confirmed as genuine by Elliott, who apologised “profoundly for any offence this photo has caused”.

Elliott, who had guided Tiger Roll to successive Grand National wins in 2018 and 2019, was immediately subjected to a full investigation by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board. The British Horseracing Authority also moved to act, effectively banning him from racing horses in its jurisdiction until the conclusion of the IHRB probe.

The organisation issued a strongly worded statement on the matter, noting: “The BHA is appalled by the image that appeared this weekend. We expect all those in our sport to demonstrate respect for
horses, on the racecourse, in the training yard, on the gallops, and wherever they have horses in their care.

“People who work in our industry believe their values – of caring for and respecting our horses – have been deeply undermined by this behaviour. On their behalf, and on behalf of all horse lovers, we say loudly that British horseracing finds this totally unacceptable.”

Bookmakers Betfair ended Elliott’s role as an ambassador but he received the support of the horse’s owners – Gigginstown House Stud. Owner Michael O’Leary accepted Elliott was sorry for “a grievous but momentary lapse of judgement” and opted to continue working with him.

A hearing on March 5 led to a 12-month suspension, with half of the term suspended, and a fine of 15,000 euros. Elliott returned to the racecourse at Punchestown in September, telling reporters: “It’s great to be back racing and seeing faces that I haven’t seen in a long time.

“I have really missed coming racing over the last few months, so I’m looking forward to getting back into that routine again.”

Jack Draper cruised into the semi-finals of the Mexican Open in Acapulco as he beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2 6-2.

The British number three is ranked three places higher than his opponent at world number 50, but the gulf between them on court proved much greater.

Draper broke Kecmanovic in the third game of the opening set and repeated the feat for a 4-1 lead, serving out to take the opening set in 31 minutes.

The start of the opening set proved a tighter tussle, the first four games going with serve as Draper survived a break point to level at 2-2.

Draper took control from that moment, capitalising on his fourth break point to win the fifth set and adding a double break to move 5-2 ahead.

He served out to love in the final game, booking his place in the last four in 80 minutes.

Draper beat both Kecmanovic and American Tommy Paul, who he defeated in his opening match in Acapulco, en route to the final in Adelaide in January.

Rory McIlroy hit five birdies as he opened the Cognizant Classic in Florida with a four-under-par 67.

A bogey on the 17th was the only blemish on McIlroy’s card as he finished three strokes off the pace on a day of favourable conditions at PGA National.

American Chad Ramey and South Korea’s SH Kim shared the opening-day lead with seven-under-par 64s – one clear of a group which included England’s David Skinns.

“It was so benign,” said McIlroy. “You’re not going to get this course much easier.”

Skinns, the world number 278 and without a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour, had a putt on his last hole for a seventh birdie and a share of the lead.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry was alongside McIlroy on four-under-par, part of a large group which also includes Sweden’s Alex Noren and France’s Victor Perez – the best placed of the final two groups who were unable to complete the final hole due to darkness.

England’s Harry Hall and Ben Taylor, Scotland’s Martin Laird and Austrian Ryder Cup star Sepp Straka were among an even larger group on three-under-par, which included American Daniel Berger who has recently returned to the tour after a 19-month injury lay-off.

Among those a short further back were Robert MacIntyre, who was among those yet to finish, and Justin Rose, whose 69 was highlighted by a par on the 13th after his tee shot came to rest against a mesh out of bounds fence.

Nathan Aspinall earned his first Premier League darts victory of the season after beating Rob Cross 6-2 on night five in Exeter.

The Asp reached back-to-back finals with wins against Peter Wright and Luke Humphries before beating Voltage to move into fourth in the table.

His victory ended Michael van Gerwen’s run of three successive Premier League darts victories, with Humphries knocking the Dutchman out in their quarter-final clash.

Aspinall was beaten 6-4 in last week’s final in Newcastle and admits he has had a slow start to this year’s campaign.

He told Sky Sports: “It was a slow start to the season, last week was massive for myself and I made the decision tonight to forget about double 16 because I’ve missed it so many times and I went for tops.

“I’m very happy, the last two weeks I’ve really dug deep. Everyone knows I’m a fighter and I’ve been down the first three weeks, but a final and then a win the last two weeks, I’m over the moon.”

Aspinall took the early advantage in the final, winning the first three legs and after a series of missed attempts on the outer ring, he eventually hit double four to take the fourth leg.

Cross struggled on the doubles and missed a double eight, allowing Aspinall to snatch the fifth leg with a 160 checkout.

Voltage pulled two legs back to give his opponent a scare, but missed double 10 in the eighth leg before the Asp swooped in, hitting double 20 to secure the win.

“I like proving people wrong, that was my plan, didn’t start off like that. I’ve been down in the dumps but I think I’ve shown my fighting spirit the last two weeks,” Aspinall added.

“Granted, I’ve not performed at the level that I know I’m capable of but by God do I dig and I’ve dug deep tonight, last week was the same. That win against Michael Smith last week first game, scrappy game but that’s kickstarted my season.”

It was a disappointing evening for Cross, who stormed into the semi-finals with a dominant 6-1 victory over Gerwyn Price, throwing a 109.69 average during that game.

Voltage then met Luke Littler in the final four following Littler’s victory over Michael Smith in the quarter-finals.

He took a 2-0 lead before Littler found momentum and the game was tied at 3-3, but after missing six match darts Cross eventually reached the final hitting double two.

Athletic Bilbao swept past Atletico Madrid 3-0 at Estadio San Mames to seal their place in the Copa del Rey final.

Leading 1-0 from the opening leg, first-half goals from brothers Nico and Inaki Williams put the hosts in control of the tie.

Gorka Guruzeta swept in a third on the hour as Athletic secured a final date with Real Mallorca.

The visitors created an early opening when Samuel Lino’s effort was straight at Bilbao keeper Julen Agirrezabala.

Bilbao broke the deadlock in the 13th minute when Nico Williams got to the left goalline and chipped a lofted cross back through the penalty area and his brother Inaki crashed home a volley.

The Williams brothers soon combined again, this time Inaki fed Nico on the wing and his shot flew narrowly wide of the right post.

Atletico pushed for a response as Angel Correa fired over the crossbar after being picked out by Alvaro Morata’s pass.

There was a brief stoppage in play around the 35th minute as a spectator needed medical treatment in the stands, but the game soon resumed.

Bilbao doubled their lead in the 42nd minute when Inaki Williams was played clear down the right and held off Atletico defender Mario Hermoso before cutting the ball back for Nico to stab in from close range.

The start of the second half saw another delay for a different fan in the record crowd of 52,061 packed into the Cathedral to receive medical assistance, eventually being carried away on a stretcher.

Athletic Bilbao later confirmed the person had been struggling to breathe, but was stabilised and taken to hospital.

When the action restarted, Nico Williams was soon involved again to send Oihan Sancet clear on goal, but his shot was fired well over the crossbar.

Atletico boss Diego Simeone tried to spark some life into his side with a triple change after 54 minutes, with Memphis Depay, Reinildo Mandava and Pablo Barrios sent on to replace Nahuel Molina, Hermoso and Correa.

Any hopes of a comeback, though, were ended in the 61st minute when Guruzeta knocked in a rebound after Sancet’s angled effort had been pushed out by Madrid keeper Jan Oblak.

Depay’s angled free-kick was acrobatically saved by Agirrezabala before Saul Niguez headed wide as Bilbao saw out the closing stages to reach the Copa del Rey final at La Cartuja for the first time since 2021.

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has hit back following criticism concerning his commitment to the club.

The 26-year-old England international has faced questions this season for issues both on and off the field.

Last month Rashford was under the spotlight after reportedly being seen in a Belfast nightclub before missing the following day’s training due to illness and he subsequently missed United’s FA Cup tie against Newport.

However, in a piece for the Players’ Tribune website, Rashford has responded to his critics, asking them to show “a bit more humanity”.

“When I make a mistake, I’ll be the first one to put my hand up and say that I need to do better,” he wrote.

“But if you ever question my commitment to Man United, that’s when I have to speak up. It’s like somebody questioning my entire identity, and everything I stand for as a man.

“I grew up here. I have played for this club since I was a boy. My family turned down life-changing money when I was a kid so I could wear this badge.

“I can take any criticism. I can take any headline. From podcasts, social media and the papers. I can take it.

“But if you start questioning my commitment to this club and my love for football and bringing my family into it, then I’d simply ask you to have a bit more humanity.”

Rashford came under scrutiny in October last year after attending a nightclub party following United’s 3-0 home derby defeat to Manchester City.

He has also faced criticism for performances on the pitch having scored only five goals in 32 appearances across all competitions this season.

The forward suggested there is a “tone” to media coverage surrounding him, which he believes may stem from his campaigning for free school meals during the pandemic in which he was made an MBE.

Rashford added: “I’m not trying to have a go at the media. I understand the game, you know what I mean? They’re not really writing about me. It’s like they’re writing about this character, ‘Marcus Rashford.’

“It can’t just be about me as a 26-year-old lad on a night out, or a lad getting a parking ticket. It’s got to be about how much my car costs, guessing my weekly salary, my jewellery or even my tattoos.

“It’s got to be about my body language, and questioning my morals, and speculating about my family, and my football future.

“There’s a tone to it that you don’t get with all footballers. Let’s just leave it at that.

“I think some of it goes back to the pandemic. I was just trying to use my voice to make sure that kids weren’t going hungry, because I know exactly how it feels.

“For some reason, that seemed to rub certain people the wrong way. It seems like they’ve been waiting for me to have a human moment so they can point the finger and say, ‘See? See who he really is?’.”

LeBron James felt like he had a "superpower" after authoring the best fourth-quarter comeback of his career on Wednesday, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a stunning win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Lakers found themselves 21 points down in the fourth quarter and heading for a third loss in four games, but the NBA's all-time leading scorer had other ideas.

James finished with 34 points, single-handedly outscoring the Clippers 19-16 in the fourth quarter, as the Lakers roared back at Crypto.com Arena to improve to 32-28 for the season.

The 39-year-old hit five of his season-best seven 3-pointers in the final frame, also finding Cam Reddish for the final dunk in a 116-112 success, with the Lakers having trailed 89-77.

Asked about his mindset during that decisive period, James said: "It's just a zone, and you can't really describe it.

"You wish you could stay in it forever, but obviously it checks out once the game ends. But during it, you don't feel anything. It's just like a superpower feeling. 

"If I'm in a lineup, if I'm on the floor, I've got to make plays. Sometimes I've got to make even more plays. 

"Tonight was one of those moments where I had to make even more plays in order for us to even get back into the game and then ultimately win the game."

James also added six rebounds and eight assists, and was supported by Anthony Davis (20 points), D'Angelo Russell (18) and Rui Hachimura (17).

Lakers coach Darvin Ham also compared James to a superhero in his post-game press conference, saying: "He had to take the cape, tuck it under his seat on the bench, I guess. 

"It was time for him to whip it out. He definitely did that, put the cape on and just got aggressive and got into good rhythm."

While crestfallen after the defeat, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged there was little his team could do to defend James in such form, saying: "I don't think that's ever happened in my career, to lose a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter.

"But LeBron got hot. We talked about it before the game, you can't turn the ball over against this team because it's deadly."

Lewis Hamilton admitted he was shocked to finish fastest in practice for Saturday’s Formula One curtain raiser in Bahrain.

The seven-time world champion has not won a race for more than two years, but he led a surprise Mercedes one-two under the lights of the Sakhir Circuit on Thursday night.

Hamilton finished two tenths clear of team-mate George Russell, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso third.

On yet another explosive off-track day for Red Bull, Max Verstappen bemoaned the handling of his machine. He finished sixth.

The Silver Arrows went under the radar at last week’s test in the Gulf kingdom, but they were quietly optimistic heading into Thursday’s running – and the second session belonged to the team that once dominated the sport.

“This has been a crazy Thursday,” said Hamilton, 39. “I don’t understand it, and it is a shock to see us where we are, but we will take it for now.

“We cannot get ahead of ourselves. We need to keep our head down and keep working on the setup.

“But I am much happier with the car. I have a better feel of it approaching the corners, and there are other areas that have been fixed and improved.

“It feels like a race car and the last two cars didn’t feel like that. It is a really good platform to work from. We have to keep our heads down and keep on chasing.”

Hamilton is gearing up for his final season with Mercedes after he elected to terminate his £100million deal 12 months early to join Ferrari in 2025.

Mercedes have carried Hamilton to six of his record-equalling seven titles. But last year marked a second straight season without a victory for the British driver – a losing streak which now stands at 45 races – and Mercedes’ first winless campaign in a dozen years.

However, Hamilton, in his radically revised car – after the design concept which failed so spectacularly for the past two seasons was abandoned – will take faith from an encouraging day.

But Hamilton expects Verstappen, who has raced to the past three world championships, will still be the one to beat.

“I think we are going to be in the mix,” added Hamilton. “We are there or thereabouts with Ferrari and maybe Aston Martin and McLaren.

“It is going to be close, but if Max is out in front he will drive off as he has done for the past couple of years.”

Verstappen had been regarded as the heavy favourite heading into Saturday’s curtain-raiser in the Gulf kingdom.

But he struggled in the first running and then failed to match the speed of the Mercedes cars later in the day.

“Everything is s***,” yelled Verstappen over the radio. “Like miles off.”

However, the 26-year-old remained confident he would be in a strong position for the 57-lap Grand Prix.

“It is very close and maybe some people around us have turned up the engine in terms of top speed,” he said.

“I’m not too worried about the gap to first, for example. It is going to be close in qualifying. I was happier about the long run for the race.”