A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
'I think they played with a lot of character in the end, they pulled through'
Liverpool slumped to their third straight league defeat of the season at Portsmouth on Saturday.
The defending champions maintained their standings at the top of the league table with 31 points from 15 matches with second placed Dempo on 28.
India coach John Wright lauded the Sri Lankans on their Asia Cup success, saying they bowled very well.
A mesmeric Lionel Messi helped Barcelona to come from behind and beat Sevilla 2-1 in a thrilling encounter on Sunday as the champions kept the pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who saw off Leganes 3-0 thanks to a double from Gareth Bale.
Goals by Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic earned hosts Croatia a 2-0 friendly win over Israel in Osijek on Wednesday in a free-flowing match containing several missed chances.
FC Goa beat FC Pune City 4-2 in a high-scoring match to climb back to the top of the Indian Super League football standings, in Margao, on Sunday.
Real Zaragoza went into the semi-finals of the King's Cup, drawing the second leg 1-1 to clinch a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Edeh Chidi's goal gave the Kolkata side a 1-1 draw in the National Football League.
Nepal came from behind to hold the hosts to a draw in the under-17 Asia Cup qualifier match.
Brazil midfielder Casemiro stretched Real's advantage right before halftime with a gut-busting run to meet a cross from compatriot Vinicius, but Levante hit back shortly after the interval through former Madrid forward Borja Mayoral.
Salgaocar took their tally to 24 points below table-toppers East Bengal with 30 points, while Vasco remained on third spot with 23.
'This win is going to take a while to sink in'
"The game is still in balance if we get early wickets tomorrow. The match can be in anybody's favour. We will look to create pressure tomorrow as well. I think the game is still in balance right now," said Bumrah after stumps on day three.
Images from the EPL matches played on Saturday
Serie A witnessed some breath-taking football action, especially when AC Milan could not convert the umpteen chances they had against Sassuolo while Inter went to top. In Ligue 1 action, all the star players found the net for PSG. Here are images from the soccer matches played across Europe on Sunday.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has dismissed suggestions that midfielder Paul Pogba faces a lengthy lay-off because of a hamstring injury sustained in the Champions League defeat of Basel on Tuesday.
England beat Nigeria 2-1 in a friendly on Saturday that provided some clues as to how coach Gareth Southgate will line up his still experimental side when the World Cup gets underway in two weeks' time.
Top-class goals from Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero took Manchester City back to the top of the Premier League in a 2-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Chelsea ticked off three more points in their Premier League title quest with a 2-1 victory over Manchester City on Wednesday but Tottenham Hotspur's Houdini-like 3-1 win at Swansea means the race is far from over.
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir chose not to be harsh on his fielders, who missed chances galore in Sunday's Champions League Twenty20 contest against Lahore Lions, saying the team has worked hard in its impressive 11-match winning streak.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Alvaro Morata again proved decisive from the bench by striking a late winner against Athletic Bilbao and firing a lacklustre Real Madrid to the top of La Liga on Sunday. The Spain international has been afforded limited opportunities in his first season back at Real following two years with Juventus, struggling to usurp first choice forwards Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Morata has made just four league starts, but has scored four times in all competitions.
A toothless and haggard Real Madrid slumped to a humiliating 10th Liga defeat of the season on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at struggling neighbours Rayo Vallecano.
A late equaliser cost hosts Equatorial Guinea an opening win at the African Nations Cup finals as they drew 1-1 with Congo on Saturday before Gabon beat Burkina Faso 2-0 to top Group A.
Batting sensation Shreyas Iyer was jubilant after finishing as the leading scorer in the Ranji Trophy this season and helping Mumbai win their 41st crown in the country's premier domestic cricket tournament.
Manchester City moved within touching distance of a first appearance in the Champions League quarter-finals after a dynamic first-half display at Dynamo Kiev helped them secure a 3-1 last-16 first-leg win
Bayern Munich were left to rue a number of missed chances in their Champions League last 16 first leg against Juventus on Tuesday after the Germans squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 despite dominating for much of the game.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq paid tribute to his batsmen after beating England by 178 runs in the second Test on Monday.
Leicester City's beleaguered manager Claudio Ranieri suggested he is ready to drop some of the players who won them the Premier League title as the Italian seeks to stave off relegation just one season later.
Sindhu goes down fighting in All England semisSindhu goes down fighting in All England semis
India wasted a golden opportunity to break their 32-year-old medal jinx in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament after going down to Australia 1-2 in a hard-fought bronze medal play-off match of the eight-nation meet in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
IMAGES from Saturday's English Premier League matches.
Captain Virat Kohli and opener Murali Vijay made a mockery of sub-par Sri Lankan attack with effortless centuries as India cruised to 371 for four on the first day of the third and final cricket Test.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Tuesday
A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday.
Delhi Dynamos dominated the proceedings but yet again played out a draw in a 1-1 result against FC Pune City in a familiar show of their strikers missing chances galore in the Indian Super League football match in New Delhi on Thursday.
Jose Mourinho is starting to feel drained at having to watch his Chelsea team hang on for scrambling victories despite dominating opponents, the manager said after Thursday's 1-0 Premier League win over Swansea City.
Anthony Martial snatched a late winner to send Louis van Gaal's Manchester United into a potentially season-redeeming FA Cup final as the favourites following a 2-1 victory over Everton at Wembley on Saturday.
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