FOOTBALL

The New England Patriots signed receiver Jordan Matthews on Thursday night according to media reports.

Matthews, who played for Buffalo last year, entered the league as a second-round pick of the Eagles in 2014.

The move comes after the Patriots traded Brandin Cooks to the Rams earlier this week.

• Punter Marquette King signed a three-year, $7 million contract with the Denver Broncos less than a week after his surprising release from the Oakland Raiders.

King said he wasn’t sure if his oft-flagged on-field antics, which included a bucking’ bronco celebration, is what led Jon Gruden to release him but he said, “the Broncos encourage you to be yourself.”

• Running back Stevan Ridley and wide receiver Justin Hunter are sticking with Pittsburgh. Both players signed one-year contracts.

• The New York Giants signed durable cornerback William Gay.

A Pittsburgh Steelers draft pick in 2007, he played in 176 consecutive regular-season and 15 postseason games through the end of the 2017 season. He spent 10 of those years with Pittsburgh, and the 2012 season with the Arizona Cardinals.

DARTS

OBIT: Eric Bristow, the five-time world darts champion acclaimed as the sport’s first superstar, has died at the age of 60 following a heart attack.

SOCCER

EUROPA LEAGUE: Arsenal took a huge step toward securing a place in the last four by beating CSKA Moscow 4-1 in the first leg of the quarterfinals.

Arsenal now goes into next Thursday’s second leg in the Russian capital in a commanding position.

WORLD CUP: A Dominican government minister says the country’s soccer federation will vote for Morocco to host the 2026 World Cup instead of the rival bid from CONCACAF counterparts in North America.

ITALIAN LEAGUE: The Italian referees association says it has been sent packages filled with bullets.

AIA President Marcello Nicchi says the parcels were sent to him, the vice president, and to referee selector Nicola Rizzoli. The development comes amid fan protests over the video assistant referee (VAR), which has been introduced in Serie A this season to mixed results.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Liverpool after its fans attacked Manchester City’s bus on the journey into Anfield for their quarterfinal.

SWIMMING

COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Australia’s 400-meter women’s freestyle relay team has done it again, breaking its world record on the opening night of the swim program at Gold Coast, Australia.

Australia, with sisters Bronte and Cate Campbell, Emma McKeon and Shayna Jack, clocked a time of 3 minutes, 30.5 seconds. That broke the mark of 3:30.65 the team clocked at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, when the Campbell sisters and McKeon were part of the team.