Morgan Whittaker grabbed a late equaliser for Plymouth as a topsy-turvy Sky Bet Championship thriller with Middlesbrough ended 3-3 at Home Park.
Josh Coburn scored the opening goal of the game for Boro and then hauled them level at 2-2 after goals from Bali Mumba and Finn Azaz had fired Argyle in front.
Sam Greenwood put Middlesbrough back in front, only for Whittaker to rescue a point in a game neither side deserved to lose.
Mumba cut inside from the left and exchanged passes with Azaz to break into the Boro box after three minutes, but visiting goalkeeper Seny Dieng was quick of his line to deny Mumba as he let fly from close range.
Any initial pressure Argyle may have had was soon forgotten as Middlesbrough wrestled control.
Matt Crooks fired a warning shot in the 20th minute and although that went well wide, Boro were soon ahead.
Lukas Engel powered in a cross from the left and Coburn finished at the near post, under pressure from Lewis Gibson, rushing back to defend his line after blocking a 23rd-minute shot.
Plymouth keeper Michael Cooper made two important saves as Middlesbrough pressed for another goal.
He palmed over Isiah Jones’ rising 27th-minute drive from the right-hand side of the box but saved his best to deny Crooks, who connected perfectly with Jonny Howson’s corner to drill a side-foot volley goalwards, only to be denied by Cooper’s reaction save on the goal-line.
Argyle responded in style, with two goals arriving before half-time courtesy of the Azaz and Mumba combination again.
Azaz threaded a ball through the Boro back-line and into the box for Mumba and this time the attacking midfielder made no mistake in beating Dieng with a measured finish.
Mumba, with a deft backheel, returned the favour four minutes later. Azaz – on loan from Aston Villa – wrong-footed marker Rav van den Berg, made space and curled a beautiful right-foot shot from 20 yards into the opposite top corner.
Greenwood sent a 20-yard free-kick just over Cooper’s crossbar in the 49th minute as Boro sought a way back into the game.
Cooper was quickly called into action minutes later, saving well low down with his feet to keep out an angled drive from Greenwood after he was put in on goal by Jones’ superb pass.
Greenwood won a penalty, drawing a foul from Argyle defender Dan Scarr, just before the hour.
Coburn’s spot-kick was brilliantly saved by Cooper, diving to his left, but the Boro striker followed up to tap in and level the scores.
Buoyed by their equaliser, Middlesbrough surged ahead again in the 64th minute with a brilliant flowing move down the right.
Jones’ pass found Crooks, whose angled cutback from the byline was stroked home first time by the impressive Greenwood at the near post.
Again Argyle responded, now in torrential rain.
Kaine Kesler-Hayden was fouled on the right and Whittaker’s 25-yard free-kick skimmed through a crowded box and past the outstretched arm of Dieng.
Tottenham 0-3 Arsenal: Gunners stay unbeaten under Slegers with derby rout
Arsenal retained their unbeaten record under interim manager Renee Slegers by thrashing North London rivals Tottenham 3-0 in the Women's Super League on Saturday.
Slegers had overseen a return of four wins and one draw from her first five matches in charge of the Gunners following Jonas Eidevall's exit, and her team managed another statement victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
They needed just 63 seconds to open the scoring through Alessia Russo, who fired across goal and in after turning on the left-hand side of the area.
Arsenal continued to dominate and only a fine block from Amanda Nilden denied Katie McCabe from eight yards, but Tottenham's resistance was broken again in the 22nd minute. Frida Maanum exchanged passes with Kim Little before slotting her finish into the bottom-left corner, with a static Spurs defence applying no pressure whatsoever.
Beth England drew a full-stretch save from Daphne van Domselaar as Tottenham briefly improved, but Arsenal killed the contest 66 minutes in, substitute Stina Blackstenius breaking onto Mariona Caldentey's delicate throughball to finish when one-on-one.
The victory takes Arsenal fourth in the table with 15 points, one adrift of Brighton, who continued their impressive start to the campaign with a 3-2 victory over West Ham earlier on Saturday.
Fran Kirby scored an 82nd-minute winner for the Seagulls after West Ham had fought back from 2-0 down to level the contest, having also assisted Rachel McLauchlan's opener. That first goal involvement took Kirby to 100 in the WSL, making her just the fourth player to reach that milestone.
Data Debrief: Fast start key for Arsenal
Tottenham improved in the middle period of the game but a slow start cost them, which will be a particular blow to coach Robert Vilahamn after they conceded within 24 seconds versus Manchester City last time out.
Russo's goal, scored after one minute and three seconds, is the second-fastest in Arsenal's WSL history, after Jordan Nobbs' 28-second strike against Liverpool in October 2014.
'It will happen in a year, two years' - Ronaldo hints at retirement date
Cristiano Ronaldo says it will be one or two years before he retires from football as he aims to enjoy the end of his career.
The 39-year-old scored twice on Friday, including a stunning overhead kick, as Portugal cruised past Poland 5-1 in the Nations League, to clinch top spot of Group A1.
Overall, Ronaldo has now netted 910 times in his career, with 135 of those coming for Portugal, including five goals in five Nations League appearances this campaign.
Ronaldo has dropped hints in recent months though that his retirement is drawing closer, with his 40th birthday coming up in February, and he says his main goal is to enjoy playing football while he still can.
"Planning the retirement of football... It will happen in a year, two years, I don't know," Ronaldo said.
"I say honestly, it's not a joke, it's enjoying the moment, feeling that I'm enjoying football. Get up and go to training and to the game motivated.
"When I don't feel that, I'll step forward and say, 'I can't do it anymore.' It's an excellent career, I haven't felt it yet."
He was a standout once again for Portugal as he finished the match against Poland with a game-high 2.06 expected goals (xG), generated from five shots, the most of any player on the pitch.
Ronaldo hit the 900-goal mark in September, with many believing he would next be targeting 1,000 as another goal in his storied career.
The forward has scored 10 more goals since then but insisted he was not actively thinking about making it to four figures.
"If you ask me if I want to reach a thousand goals... It's normal to want it. But I don't think about it," he added.
"Think game by game. In three months, I will be 40 years old. It's about taking it easy and enjoying.
"That's what I've been doing, especially in the national team, which is where I like to play the most. I like to play for the national team, and I really enjoy coming here. Scoring goals and good performances helps too.
"Day by day. Enjoy goal after goal. Enjoy the moment. The thousand goals don't matter to me at all, honestly."
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
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