Manchester United came from behind to claim a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge in the first leg of their last-32 tie in the Europa League last night. The home side took a 15th-minute lead after a quickly-taken goal-kick by former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet caught the United defence napping and allowed Emmanuel Dennis to lob Sergio Romero. However, United got back on level terms after 36 minutes via Anthony Martial. Goalkeeper Fraser Forster was Celtic's hero as they drew 1-1 away to FC Copenhagen. Odsonne Edouard's opener was cancelled out early in the second half and the home side had the chance to win it late on only for Forster to tip Jens Stage's penalty onto a post. There were also wins for Arsenal, Wolves, and Rangers. Tonight there are five League of Ireland matches, including newly-promoted Shelbourne's 'biggest test' as Dundalk come calling.
Rory McIlroy, recently returned as the world No 1, has marched to the top of the leaderboard at the WGC Mexico Championship with an opening round 65. British Open champion Shane Lowry carded a one-over 72 in his opening round, while Graeme McDowell opened with a five-over 76. McIlroy takes a two-stroke lead over Bubba Watson and Justin Thomas in to this evening's second round.
In his column this morning, Liam Toland explains why Jordan Larmour can distract England while others flourish. Previewing Sunday's Six Nations clash, he writes: "Sunday is a good time to use Larmour as a high-quality decoy as Eddie Jones will be sweating on Larmour's new role and resource the defence accordingly. Larmour can distract England while others flourish." England name their team later today, and ahead of that announcement Patrick Madden has prepared an all you need to know guide which does exactly as it says on the label. In Pro14 action tonight - Leo Cullen has made eight changes but Ospreys are still unlikely to halt Leinster's winning ways, Munster are away to Zebre with Niall Scannell leading them out for the first time having missed out on Six Nations duty, and an injury-hit Connacht face a daunting task against Edinburgh.
Meanwhile in the GAA pages, Seán Moran is reflecting on this month a decade ago, when football and Dublin changed course: "at the dawn of 2010 football was dominated by Kerry and Tyrone, who had shared the previous seven All-Irelands between them. In the league that started 10 years ago this month, Dublin fired the opening shots in what would turn out to be an extraordinary decade by defeating both counties to top and tail their best league since the 1990s . . ." Tonight in the Leinster Under-20 football semi-finals Laois host Kildare, while in the Ulster quarter-final Antrim take on Derry.
