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• Neymar suffers fresh injury blow

  Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.

  Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.

  But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.

  The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.

  Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.

  He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.

• Atlanta force Game 3 against Inter Miami with 94th-minute winner

  Lionel Messi endured an outing to forget as Inter Miami suffered a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Atlanta United, sending their MLS Cup Playoff tie to a deciding third game.

  Having recorded a 2-1 victory at home in Game 1, the Supporters’ Shield winners had a chance to book their place in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday.

  However, they were punished for a lacklustre performance at Mercedez-Benz Stadium, only recording two shots on target throughout the match.

  The Herons did take a 40th-minute lead when David Martinez scored a bizarre opener, dinking his shot into an empty net following a slip from Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

  However, Derrick Williams headed a 58th-minute equaliser and Atlanta struck the decisive blow four minutes into stoppage time, Xande Silva coming off the bench to fire home from the edge of the box and prevent a penalty shoot-out.

  The teams will now reconvene for a third game next week, with Messi and Miami requiring a home win to keep their campaign alive.

  New York City also forced a decider in their series against FC Cincinnati, clinching a 3-1 home victory with goals from Alonso Martinez, Thiago Martins and Santiago Rodriguez.

  Martinez put them ahead with a cool finish midway through the first half, with Martins adding a deserved second just before the interval, taking advantage of some poor defending to score with a free header at the far post.

  Cincinnati were given hope of a comeback when Luca Orellano curled a wonderful strike into the top-left corner, but Rodriguez converted a stoppage-time penalty to ensure NYCFC kept the tie alive.

  In the last of Saturday’s games, Minnesota United recorded a second penalty shoot-out win over Real Salt Lake in the space of four days to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.

  Joseph Rosales’ placed effort gave Minnesota a second-half lead just four minutes after Brayan Vera’s deflected strike was disallowed for an offside in the build-up at the other end. 

  Emeka Eneli prodded home 15 minutes from time to take the game to spot-kicks, but Real Salt Lake came up short from 12 yards once again, failing to score with three straight kicks in a 3-1 loss.

  Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair repelled efforts from Diogo Goncalves and Diego Luna either side of Matt Crooks blazing over the top, allowing Jeong Sang-bin to score the decisive kick for the Loons, who will face the LA Galaxy in the next round.

   

• Rodgers delighted as Celtic rout Aberdeen in semi-final

  Celtic booked their place in the Scottish League Cup final after hammering Aberdeen 6-0 at Hampden Park on Saturday.

  The 21-time winners of the tournament were inspired by a Daizen Maeda hat-trick in a near-perfect performance against the Scottish Premiership's second-placed side.

  Manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the result and performance from his side.

  "It was a testament to our players and the demands they have. They play every week in big games. We have to manage this group through every game," he told Premier Sports.

  "It was up to us to decide the game and the players did that. They were brilliant today. We were more aggressive in the second half.

  "Aberdeen have had an excellent season, they will continue to work well I'm sure."

  The result was Aberdeen's first defeat in 17 matches in all competitions this season, with a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park last month the only time they had previously failed to win.

  Cameron Carter-Vickers got the scoring under way with a header 29 minutes in, before the brilliant Maeda sat down goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to set up Kyogo Furuhashi for a second three minutes later.

  Maeda then got in on the act himself on 40 minutes before the game briefly descended into farce on the stroke of half-time, with Rodgers shown a yellow card for kicking away a ball that had gone out before slipping over.

  "To be fair, I was raging because we had given the ball away," he said.

  "I have my moments, like every manager. It was just the game, even though we were comfortable at 3-0.

  "It was a deserved yellow card. The speed of the ball [was the issue]. I just wanted to keep the tempo of the game."

  Celtic and Maeda picked up where they left off in the second half to make it 4-0 in the 50th minute before Nicolas Kuhn hammered in a fifth on the hour.

  The rout was complete when Maeda wrapped up his hat-trick as he finished off a flowing attacking move with five minutes to go.

  After the match, Rodgers continued to be effusive about his team, who will face either Rangers or Motherwell in the final.

  "An outstanding team performance. You come up against a team that has been so, so good. We knew it would be a challenge," he told BBC Scotland.

  "We had to bring our A-game and the players did that, in particular during the second half.

  "We were ruthless. We worked the ball really well to create the space and made good runs.

  "It's a beautiful pitch here at Hampden. It's perfect for the football we want to play."