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• NFL: Texans bounce back, extend Cowboys' woes

  Joe Mixon's 109 rushing yards and three touchdowns helped get the Houston Texans back on track with Monday's 34-10 win over the floundering Dallas Cowboys.

  Houston (7-4) snapped a two-game losing streak behind Mixon's powerful running and a defence that sacked Cowboys' fill-in quarterback Cooper Rush five times and forced two turnovers, including a fumble Derek Barnett returned 28 yards for a touchdown that gave the Texans a 27-10 lead in the fourth quarter.

  Dallas (3-7) has now lost five straight, its longest skid since dropping seven in a row in 2015, and fell to 0-5 at home. The Cowboys have been outscored by 118 points (187-69) at AT&T Stadium, the third-largest negative differential through five home games in a season in NFL history.

  Rush did throw a 64-yard touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin in his second straight start subbing for an injured Dak Prescott, and finished with a career-high 354 passing yards with one interception while completing 32 of 55 attempts.

  C.J. Stroud threw for 257 yards with an interception for Houston, which extended its lead over the second-place Indianapolis Colts to two games in the AFC South.

  The Texans never trailed after Mixon ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive, and the veteran running back added a 1-yard scoring plunge late in the first quarter to give Houston a 14-0 lead.

  Turpin got Dallas on the board by taking a short pass from Rush and breaking free from the Houston defence nine seconds into the second quarter, but the Cowboys were shut out in the second half after pulling to within 17-10 on Brandon Aubrey's 53-yard field goal with just under six minutes left before half-time.

  Burnett's strip sack of Rush and return of the resulting fumble helped put the game away with 12:31 left, and Mixon tacked on his final touchdown of the night with 3:16 remaining to cap a 35-yard drive that began after the Texans stopped the Cowboys on downs.

   

• Jonathan David names Barcelona as dream club amid Lille uncertainty

  Jonathan David admits it is his dream to play for Barcelona as he prepares to enter the final six months of his Lille contract.

  The Canada international is into his fifth season with the Ligue 1 side but is due to become a free agent at the end of the current campaign.

  Lille have attempted to persuade David with a new deal, though he looks set to depart Stade Pierre-Mauroy in 2025 – potentially as early as January if a club is prepared to pay a transfer fee.

  However, while the 24-year-old is seemingly open to a move to Barcelona, he suggested he would prefer to wait until the end of the campaign before taking the next step in his career.

  "Going to a club midseason is never easy," he told The Athletic. "It's not like the beginning of a season where you have a pre-season, you get to know your team-mates, you have time to gel. 

  "In January, things are very hectic. It's about right now. It's tougher."

  "[Barcelona] was always the team I grew up supporting. When you grow up supporting a team, it's your dream to play for them.

  "Some people might say, 'Oh, he's staying at Lille, this is a downgrade, he's not getting better'. But for me, there's always opportunities to get better."

  David has scored 13 goals in 19 games for Lille in all competitions this season, including goals against heavyweight sides Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Juventus in the Champions League.

  Including penalties, eight of those goals have been scored via his stronger right boot, four with his left and one with his head – an area the forward accepts he can still improve.

  "Aerially, I can get better," he said. "Getting that header on target and scoring. 

  "I can get in good positions and win headers but the finishing touch, I'm still missing. With my back to goal, I can also get better."

  David is averaging a goal every 112 minutes across all competitions this season, which compares to one every 139 minutes last season and 131 in 2022-23.

  However, he still has some way to go to match the 18 goals scored in 27 league games for former club Gent in 2019-20.

  "Things are good right now because I'm scoring goals," David said. 

  "But is this the best I've played in my life? Probably not. For me, it was my second year in Belgium. That was the season of my life."

• Croatia 1-1 Portugal: Gvardiol earns draw as hosts advance in Nations League

  Croatia joined Portugal in the quarter-finals of the Nations League after the sides played out a 1-1 draw in Split on Monday.

  Josko Gvardiol equalised in the 65th minute after Joao Felix had put Portugal – already assured of top spot – ahead in the first half at Stadion Poljud.

  That goal ensured Croatia finished a point better off than Scotland in Group A1 after they earned a late 2-1 victory over Poland in Warsaw.

  In the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix stepped up by taking Vitinha's pass in his stride and calmly firing past Dominik Livakovic in the 33rd minute – the goal allowed to stand after a VAR check for offside.

  Andrej Kramaric blasted an effort back off the crossbar and Gvardiol had a goal disallowed for offside either side of the interval as Croatia pressed for a leveller.

  Gvardiol found the net again soon after, though, and this time it was allowed to stand as he got on the end of Kristijan Jakic's delivery at the back post.

  Livakovic and Jose Sa produced fine saves to deny Nuno Mendes and Ante Budimir, who also hit the outside of the post, but neither side could find a winning goal.

  Data Debrief: Gvardiol scores again against blunt visitors

  Roberto Martinez opted to release Ronaldo, Silva, Pedro Neto and the suspended Fernandes back to their clubs before this game and Portugal lacked a cutting edge in front of goal.

  Joao Felix took his chance very well, scoring his one goal from an expected goals (xG) value of 0.58 across the 90 minutes, but the visitors were unable to find the net from any of their other 11 attempts.

  Croatia's attackers were also frustrated by a mixture of the frame of the goal and Sa, but in-form defender Gvardiol was the hero as he netted for the fourth time this season already for club and country.