SOCCER

Rooney takes a page from Beckham’s book

Wayne Rooney replicated one of David Beckham’s most memorable Manchester United goals on Saturday – with the retired star watching in the stands at London.

From just inside the half-field marker after seven minutes of a Premier League game at London’s Upton Park, Rooney sent the ball high over keeper Adrian San Miguel del Castillo, who was caught off his goal line.

Back in the 1996-97 season, Beckham famously lobbed Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan from the midfield stripe on the first day of what would be a championship season for United.

Rooney’s long-range goal put him third on United’s all-time scoring chart, 38 behind Bobby Charlton’s record 249. Beckham retired last year.

• A Premier League referee sent off the wrong Arsenal player during a 6-0 loss at Chelsea.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain blatantly handled the ball in the penalty area in the 15th minute, making a diving save to tip away Eden Hazard’s shot when Arsenal was already 2-0 down. But referee Andre Marriner instead sent off defender Kieran Gibbs.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was seen saying “it was me” to Marriner, but the referee ignored the protests.

GERMANY: Bayern Munich waited until late to grind out a 2-0 win in Mainz, with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Goetze scoring in the last 10 minutes as the team’s unbeaten run stretched to a record 51 games.

Second-place Borussia Dortmund won 3-0 at Hannover, but remained 23 points behind Bayern with eight games remaining.

Bayern can secure the quickest title in 51 years by winning at Hertha Berlin on Tuesday.

MLS: The Vancouver Whitecaps remained unbeaten with a scoreless draw against the New England Revolution at Foxborough, Mass.

Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth had two saves for the Revolution, who have not scored a goal in three games this season. Vancouver, which had five goals through two games already, had the better run of play.

TENNIS

SONY OPEN: Serena Williams overcame sloppy play to reach the fourth round at Key Biscayne, Fla., beating Caroline Garcia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Bidding for a record seventh Key Biscayne title, Williams had 41 unforced errors but finished strong.

• Stanislas Wawrinka bounced back from his first loss of the year by beating Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-0, 3-6, 6-3.

Wawrinka, who won the Australian Open in January, improved to 14-1 this year. His lone defeat came last week at Indian Wells, Calif.

SKIING

U.S. ALPINE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin failed to finish the first leg of the slalom at Squaw Valley, Calif., while Marie-Michele Gagnon of Canada won by a hundredth of a second.

Shiffrin became the youngest slalom champion in Winter Games history last month in Russia, then wrapped up a second consecutive World Cup title in that event. She also won the U.S. nationals giant slalom on Thursday.

• In the men’s slalom, David Chodounsky of Crested Butte, Colo., won his second U.S. Alpine Championships title.

Chodounsky, who also won the slalom at nationals in 2009, had failed to finish at the Sochi Olympics and finished 19th in the World Cup discipline standings.

First-run leader Tim Kelley of Starksboro, Vt., was second and Will Brandenburg of Spokane, Wash., was third.

– From news services