Manchester City have extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 10 points, after they ran out comfortable 3-1 winners away to Everton last night. Phil Foden scored the opener at Goodison Park, with Richarlison quickly equalising for the hosts. However second-half goals from Riyad Mahrez and Bernado Silva helped City extend their winning run in all competitions to 17. In the night's earlier kick-off Burnley and Fulham played out a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor. In the Champions League last-16 Erling Haaland gave another glimpse of his frightening potential, scoring two and making the other as Borussia Dortmund recovered from an early setback to beat Sevilla 3-2 at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium. Meanwhile a late Federico Chiesa goal has handed Juventus a lifeline, with Cristiano Ronaldo's side going down 2-1 in their first leg away to Porto at Estádio do Dragão. Tonight Manchester United face Real Sociedad in the Europa League round of 32 - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are the away team in a fixture to be played in Turin (kick-off 5.55pm). Arsenal's away tie with Benfica is being held in Rome (8pm), while Leicester and Spurs are also in action.
Serena Williams's bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title goes on, after she was beaten in straight sets by Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open semi-finals overnight. A limited number of spectators were allowed in to witness an error-strewn affair at Melbourne Park, with 23-year-old Osaka cruising to a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the sunshine. Osaka has now won 20 consecutive matches and is one win away from her third Grand Slam title - she will meet America's Jennifer Brady in the final, after she beat Karolína Muchová in three sets in their semi-final clash. After her defeat, an emotional Williams was critical of her performance: "The difference today was errors," she said. "It was a big error day for me." Later this morning Novak Djokovic meets Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev for a place in the men's final.
Dr Éanna Falvey, World Rugby's chief medical officer, has written about how the game is trying to deal with head injuries - from sanctions against dangerous play through to treatment as players try to return to the field. "Concussion is a brain injury, and rugby takes it extremely seriously. That's why we value expert opinion and hear voices from across the globe. We welcome constructive debate and respect all opinions." There have been some high profile examples of players being punished for dangerous play during the opening two rounds of the Six Nations, including red cards for Peter O'Mahony and Zander Fagerson. And Dr Falvey says this is part of a plan to eradicate foul play from the game: "This is part of our strategy to change player and coach behaviour via tough sanctions framed by the high tackle sanction framework, and the match officials are playing their part."
Elsewhere this morning Louise Lawless has championed the need for an Ireland women's Under-20 side. Ireland's men have been successful at Under-20 level with a number of players progressing directly into the first team - however, the absence of the same age group in the women's set-up is leaving a void. She writes: "Now is the time to sow the seeds that will grow into a viable, deep squad for Irish rugby. The IRFU is doing what it can for the U18s and the seniors but now is the time to fill the gap, stop the drop and invest in the growth of Irish women's international rugby at all levels."
And Keith Earls is believed to have agreed a new one-year deal with the IRFU which will keep the 33-year-old winger at Munster. Gerry Thornley writes: "Like Earls (33), Johnny Sexton (35) and Cian Healy (33) have also been offered new one-year contracts, while Peter O'Mahony, CJ Stander, Iain Henderson and Tadhg Furlong are in the throes of negotiating new two-year deals."
