28 Jun 2020

Today's sports news: What you need to know

7:14 pm on 28 June 2020

Latest - Scott McLaughlin made it two wins from three starts at the Sydney SuperSprint with a commanding performance in the final race on Sunday

Scott McLaughlin

Scott McLaughlin Photo: Photosport

McLaughlin had earlier extended his Supercars championship lead by holding off Shane van Gisbergen in an intense first race back from the Covid-19 shutdown on Saturday.

He finished third behind Nick Percat and Jamie Whincup in the first race of Sunday's doubleheader, then capitalised on pole position in the second to ease away from Whicup early on.

McLaughlin had a five-second advantage on Whincup when the Red Bull Holden pitted on lap 14; the Shell Ford covering that move by pitting next time around.

While McLaughlin rejoined only narrowly ahead he soon pulled away from the seven-time champion once again.

The only sign of a late challenge instead came from Lee Holdsworth, who eventually finished just 1.5s adrift of the winner to score his first solo podium since Winton 2014.

McLaughlin's win extended his championship advantage to 49 points.

-Supercars

Victories for Titans, Eels and Cowboys.

The Brisbane Broncos were upset 30-12 by NRL battlers Gold Coast Titans at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, their fifth straight loss.

The Broncos were ambushed by the Titans who grabbed a shock 22-0 halftime lead and went on for the club's second win in 18 games.

An 87th-minute field goal for captain Clint Gutherson delivered the Parramatta Eels a dramatic 25-24 golden-point NRL victory over the Canberra Raiders.

Parramatta surged to a 12-point lead with 12 minutes remaining, however, the Raiders stormed back to force extra time through two Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad tries in three minutes.

Three Eels players, including Gutherson, had looks at a game-winning field goal in the first period of extra time, but all failed to convert.

But the Eels' captain didn't waste his second opportunity, stepping up from 30 metres out to seal Parramatta's sixth win from their opening seven games.

The Eels remain at the top of the ladder, while the Raiders have lost three of their past four matches and might drop as low as seventh.

The North Queensland Cowboys snapped a three-game losing streak when they piled on an unanswered 26 points in the opening 40 minutes against the highly fancied Newcastle Knights and went on to win 32-20 in Townsville.

EPL fans urged to stay home

Liverpool police have condemned the behaviour of fans who gathered in the city centre for a second night to celebrate their team's Premier League title win and urged them to stay at home due to fears of a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool

Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Local media reported that fans launched fireworks at the Royal Liver Building, with a fire breaking out on the balcony of the landmark owned by Farhad Moshiri, the majority shareholder of the side's local rivals Everton.

Liverpool's 30-year wait for their 19th English top-flight title ended after second-placed Manchester City were beaten by Chelsea.

Thousands of fans turned up at Anfield stadium to celebrate, and Merseyside Police issued a dispersal order after crowds gathered for a second night at the city centre near the Mersey Ferry terminal.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson urged fans to return home after pictures of the crowd near the Mersey Ferry terminal emerged on social media.

"I appreciate LFC fans want to celebrate but please, for your own safety, and that of others, go home and celebrate at home," Anderson said.

Murray slams ATP tour schedule

Three-times grand slam champion Andy Murray has criticised the ATP's revised calendar, claiming it's not safe.

Andy Murray 2019

Andy Murray Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The Scot believes the crammed new scheduled, which will see seven tournaments in as many weeks, will see players forced to skip major events.

The ATP tour, which was suspended in March due to the coronavirus outbreak, is set restart on August 14 with the Citi Open, followed by the Cincinnati Masters, which will be held at Flushing Meadows before the US Open.

The men's claycourt swing will start on September. 8 in Kitzbuhel followed by Masters tournaments in Madrid and Rome on September 13 and Rome Masters on September 20, with the French Open set to begin a week later.

"It's not safe for players to go from the semi-finals or final in New York... and then play in Madrid at altitude on clay when they haven't competed for a long time," Murray told a news conference during the 'Battle of the Brits' charity tournament.

"You're going to have the potential where a lot of top players are not competing at many of the biggest events."

The 33-year-old said with events coming thick and fast changes would need to be made with respect to players' ranking points.

"It might be worth looking at a two-year ranking for the time being maybe so that guys who have done well last year and are sort of not really able to defend their points properly aren't kind of punished," the twice Wimbledon champion said.

Murray suggested he will skip the tournament in Cincinnati to get his preparations for the US Open in order.

- Reuters

Robben wants to return

Arjen Robben is seeking to make a sensational comeback to professional football after signing with his boyhood club FC Groningen for the 2020-21 season, the Dutch Eredivisie side said.

Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben

Arjen Robben Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Robben, 36, retired last year after winning his eighth Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich, but will now return to Groningen, where he made his professional debut as a 16-year-old in 2000.

The former Netherlands international, who has also played for Chelsea, PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid, has won 12 league titles in a glittering career, and 96 caps for his country including playing in the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg.

Groningen confirmed Robben has been back in training for the past few weeks in order to be ready for the next season and Robben told the club's website the potential of a comeback had been on the cards for some time now.

The Dutch season is set to start on 12 September, giving Robben more than two months of training.

- Reuters

Back-to-back F1 races a first

Four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel believes the back-to-back races in Austria at the start of the Formula One season will be decided on slim margins and his Ferrari team will need to fine-tune their racing strategy to remain competitive over two weeks.

ebastian Vettel (GER) Scuderia Ferrari SF90

Sebastian Vettel Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on 5 July, followed a week later by a second race at the same track, as part of an eight-race European leg.

"I have no experience heading back to the same track just a week after and having a second race, but I've been around for a while," Vettel said.

"I guess the level of perfection will be even higher the second weekend, the level of errors will be even smaller.

"I think there will be a chance to look at the race in particular, review the strategy and we get another chance just seven days after, so that's a first, and we'll see how we tackle that challenge."

The eight races on the initial calendar will be held without fans present and in controlled conditions due to the coronavirus outbreak.

- Reuters