Liverpool gave their top four hopes a boost last night as they beat Manchester United 4-2 at Old Trafford. The home side took the lead through Bruno Fernandes but Jürgen Klopp's side quickly gained the upperhand with Diogo Jota, a Roberto Firmino double and a late Mo Salah goal powering Liverpool to victory. Before the game United fans had staged more anti-Glazer protests outside Old Trafford and a Liverpool bus was blocked on its way to the team hotel hours before kick-off. Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville described the ring of steel erected around Old Trafford as being like "a prison". However, both teams arrived at the ground to play the match while two arrests were made outside. In the day's earlier game Aston Villa and Everton played out a 0-0 draw at Villa Park.
On to rugby and Leinster will meet Ulster at the RDS this evening hoping to continue their impressive run against the northern province. Caelan Doris makes his return to Leo Cullen's side and while the Rainbow Cup has been plagued by a lack of a concrete format, tonight's match represents a chance for players to show their form ahead of Ireland Tests in the summer. The same applies at Thomond Park where Munster meet Connacht with the home side looking to continue their good run of form while Craig Casey is among those hoping to make an impression.
Moving to golf and Paul Dunne goes into today's third round of the British Masters four shots off the lead after a round of 69 at the Belfry yesterday. The Greystones man has struggled over the last few years with injury and poor form, slipping to outside the top 1,000 in the world, but today he has a chance to get into the mix before tomorrow's final round. At the AT&T Byron Nelson on the PGA Tour, Séamus Power and Pádraig Harrington joined the birdie-fest on the opening day yesterday with a 65 and a 66 respectively while Jordan Spieth and JJ Spaun lead the way after opening rounds of 63. With the second Major championship of the year looming at Kiawah Island next week, the top players in the world will have their eyes on the Wanamaker Trophy but the prospect of a breakaway Saudi-backed tour still remains a possibility. However, as Ewan Murray writes this morning, unlike the attempted Super League in the football world, golf has been happy enough to remain quiet.
On to GAA and Cork captain Amy O'Connor says she is pleased by the news of increased grants allocation for camogie which puts them on the same level as their male counterparts. "When little girls see that women are now treated as equal as men, that's phenomenal. It's brilliant to see. We're absolutely thrilled with it," she said yesterday.
Finally, in his column this morning, Johnny Watterson writes that the IOC have thrown in the towel when it comes to dopes and the bad guys now run the show.
