SOCCER
Franco Escobar’s goal in the 69th minute broke a scoreless game and Atlanta United made it hold up with a 1-0 win Saturday against the New England Revolution in an opening-round game of the MLS playoffs.
The defending champs entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference and advanced to play the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 3-seed Philadelphia and the sixth-seeded New York Red Bulls.
Escobar took a short pass from Ezequiel Barco at the right side of the box and carried a shot over diving keeper Matt Turner. It was Escobar’s second goal of the season.
FA CUP: A qualifier between Haringey Borough and Yeovil in London was abandoned when Haringey Borough walked off the field after one of its players was racially abused.
HOCKEY
ECHL: Ty Ronning had three points, including two goals, as the visiting Maine Mariners picked up their first win of the season, defeating the Reading Royals.
Tom McCollum made 44 saves, and Dillan Fox, Ryan Culkin and Terrence Walling added goals for Maine.
FIGURE SKATING
SKATE AMERICA: Two-time world champion Nathan Chen of the United States won for the third straight time, scoring 196.38 in the free skate at Las Vegas for a total of 299.09 in the first of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series.
Chen outdistanced U.S. teammate Jason Brown, who took the silver medal at 255.09, and Russian skater Dmitri Aliev, who finished with 253.55.
RUGBY
WORLD CUP: England reached the semifinals for the first time in 12 years by overwhelming Australia in a 40-16 at Oita, Japan, tying a record for the biggest margin of victory over its bitter rival.
The English outscored Australia four tries to one to match the size of the 30-6 win against the Wallabies at Twickenham, England, in 2017. England has won this matchup a record-extending seven straight times, all under Australian Coach Eddie Jones.
• Two-time defending champion New Zealand trounced Ireland 46-14 at Tokyo to move into a semifinal against England.
GOLF
PGA: Danny Lee holed a long eagle putt on the 18th hole to tie Justin Thomas for the lead after three rounds of the CJ Cup at Jeju Island, South Korea.
Cameron Smith was in third place, three strokes behind, after a 68. Jordan Spieth shot 70 and was in a three-way tie for fourth, four behind.
LPGA: Jessica Korda shot a 6-under 66 in the third round, with eight birdies and two bogeys, to take a one-shot lead at the Buick Shanghai.
CHAMPIONS: Scott Parel shot his second straight 6-under 66 for a share of the lead with Tommy Tolles in the Dominion Energy Charity Classic at Richmond, Virginia.
BASKETBALL
NBA: Pascal Siakam and the Toronto Raptors agreed on a four-year maximum extension that will be worth $130 million, a deal that starts next season.
Siakam was a breakout player last season, averaging 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists – all career highs. He’s entering his fourth season, and now is under contract to the Raptors through the 2023-24 season.
• The Atlanta Hawks exercised the 2020-21 contract options on three of their top young players – forward John Collins, and guards Trae Young and Kevin Huerter.
TENNIS
KREMLIN CUP: Belinda Bencic booked the last spot at the season-ending WTA finals after beating Kristina Mladenovic in the semifinals at Moscow.
Bencic’s 6-3, 6-4 victory set up a final with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated Karolina Muchova, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-1.
EUROPEAN OPEN: Andy Murray is in an ATP tour final for the first time since March 2017 after beating Ugo Humbert 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals at Antwerp, Belgium. Murray will face fellow three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who beat Janik Sinner, 6-3, 6-2.
– From news service reports
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