Chelsea's strong start to life under Thomas Tuchel continued last night, as they ran out comfortable 2-0 winners against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge. First-half goals from Olivier Giroud and Timo Werner - just his second in 20 matches - were enough to move the hosts up to fourth place, as Newcastle's slide towards the relegation zone continues. Chelsea leapfrogged West Ham in the table just hours after David Moyes's side had moved into the Champions League places themselves with a 3-0 win over Sheffield United. Goals from Declan Rice, Issa Diop and Ryan Fredericks saw the Hammers ease past the Blades, whose misery was compounded as Ireland defender John Egan was stretchered off late on. Tonight sees the Champions League knockout stages get underway with Liverpool, who have slipped to sixth in the Premier League, taking on RB Leipzig (8pm). That fixture is taking place behind closed doors in Budapest, with Jurgen Klopp's side not allowed to enter Germany due to the pandemic. In the night's other fixture Barcelona welcome PSG to the Camp Nou. Mauricio Pochettino will be without former Barca star Neymar, with the Brazilian forward once again injured in February.
The dust is still settling on Ireland's 15-13 defeat to France on Sunday - a result which realistically brought to an end any Irish hopes of a Six Nations title. And in his column this morning Gerry Thornley has suggested Andy Farrell's side could learn a lot from the free-flowing, offloading game which Les Bleus displayed at the Aviva Stadium. He writes: "France have the capacity to conjure a try out of the blue like no one else bar the All Blacks. . . But it's a skill that needs work and needs to be worked into Ireland's game more than is the case, all the more so as the emphasis on lowering the tackle should facilitate offloading." But despite Ireland being - predictably - too predictable in attack, he believes there are still plenty of positives to take from their opening two tournament defeats. "The co-opting of Paul O'Connell onto the coaching ticket has reaped a swifter dividend than could have been hoped, with the lineout and maul both much improved." Farrell is now unlikely to experiment for a must-win third round clash with Italy on Saturday week. One player he won't be able to use is Dan Leavy, with Leinster confirming yesterday the flanker will miss the rest of the season with a knee problem.
Elsewhere this morning Owen Doyle has reflected on another Six Nations weekend blighted by a red card for a dangerous clear out - this time Scotland's Zander Fagerson, after he was giving his marching orders for steaming into Wyn Jones of Wales. And while some questioned the decision afterwards, Doyle believes it won't be long before the penny finally drops: "These so-called clearouts are dangerous in the extreme, and referees - under clear instruction from World Rugby - will not tolerate them; that is the right, and only, approach. It's not a difficult message for players and coaches to understand, they must get it soon."
The clamour for youth sport to return is likely to increase over the coming weeks and months, as the weather improves and the days get longer. And last week 80 sportspeople in Northern Ireland sent a letter to the Stormont Executive urging the powers that be to take, "immediate action to mandate the resumption of youth sport in Covid-safe environments so as to begin to address the wellbeing crisis among our young people". Malachy Clerkin reports.
Naomi Osaka is through to the semi-finals of the Australian Open after she beat Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei 6-2, 6-2 at Melbourne Park. She will be joined in the last four by either Serena Williams or Simona Halep, who meet in a mouth-watering clash later this morning.
And India have wrapped up a resounding 315-run victory in the second Test against England in Chennai, with the hosts removed for 164 just after lunch on the fourth day. The four-Test series now stands level at 1-1.
