AP National Sports

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer The return of near-capacity crowds fueled a barrage of goals and a bunch of home wins on the first Saturday of the English Premier League season. Fans at Old Trafford particularly enjoyed themselves. More than 72,000 spectators saw Bruno Fernandes’ hat trick and Paul Pogba’s four assists sweep Manchester

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Wisconsin transfer Jack Coan is Notre Dame’s starting quarterback. Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly announced the choice Saturday in a Twitter post after suggesting for the last week that a decision would be coming soon. Coan started for Wisconsin in 2019, leading the Badgers to the Big Ten title game.

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — NASCAR drivers got their first laps on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course in practice — and it opened to mixed reviews. Previous race winners Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch made it clear they’d rather be racing on the traditional oval. Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson didn’t

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Sports Writer PARIS (AP) — Lionel Messi smiled and looked transfixed as Paris Saint-Germain fans chanted his name before the 4-2 win against Strasbourg in the French league. PSG’s latest signing joined four other recruits who were presented to almost 50,000 fans at Parc des Princes ahead of Saturday’s kickoff. Messi

WATFORD, England (AP) — Watford record signing Ismaila Sarr has starred on his Premier League return as the Hornets held off a late challenge from Aston Villa to secure a 3-2 win. Sarr had already set up Emmanuel Dennis for his first club goal for Watford’s opener in the 10th minute before he found the

BURNLEY, England (AP) — Neal Maupay and Alexis Mac Allister scored late goals as Brighton came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 away in their Premier League opener. Burnley took the lead via a second-minute header by James Tarkowski, which stood after a VAR check amid Brighton claims that the defender had fouled Maupay. Burnley

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez’s controversial tenure at Everton got off to a strong start as his team came from behind to beat Southampton 3-1 in the Premier League. The Spaniard has plenty of work to do to convince the doubters he can ever be accepted at Goodison Park but this

LEICESTER, England (AP) — Jamie Vardy scored the winner as Leicester followed up its Community Shield victory with a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton in their Premier League opener. Vardy ran onto a cross from Ricardo Pereira in the 41st minute to flick a left-footed shot past Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa. Wolves, under new manager Bruno

LONDON (AP) — Chelsea began its bid to follow up a Champions League title with another Premier League trophy by beating Crystal Palace 3-0. The result shows the size of the task facing newly hired manager Patrick Vieira at the visitors. Defenders Marcos Alonso and Trevoh Chalobah scored either side of a close-range strike by

By CIARÁN FAHEY AP Sports Writer BERLIN (AP) — Erling Haaland has led Borussia Dortmund to a 5-2 rout of Eintracht Frankfurt in their Bundesliga opener. Haaland was inspired by thousands of fans back in the stands in Marco Rose’s first league game as Dortmund coach. The Norway striker set up three goals and scored

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Austin Cindric took the lead early in the third stage at Indianapolis and held on Saturday for his NASCAR Xfinity Series-leading fifth victory of the season. He beat pole-winner AJ Allmendinger by 2.108 seconds. Justin Haley was third. It’s Cindric’s first victory at the Brickyard —

By JOHN WAWROW AP Sports Writer BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula are committed to paying a portion of the projected $1.4 billion in their proposal to build a stadium. A company vice president released a statement to The Associated Press saying the owners have all along known the project

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Bruno Fernandes scored a hat trick and Paul Pogba set up four goals as Manchester United thrashed Leeds 5-1 to make a statement about its Premier League title credentials. On a day when Jadon Sancho made his debut off the bench and Raphael Varane was presented as the club’s second big

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer France center back Raphael Varane finalized his move to Manchester United for a reported fee of about $56 million by signing a four-year contract. The 28-year-old defender joins from Real Madrid, where he spent 10 seasons in Madrid and helped the club win 18 trophies, including four Champions League

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Baseball Writer ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adrian Beltre is now a member of the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame, a likely precursor to the National Baseball Hall of Fame when eligible for that in a few years. The multiple All-Star and Gold Glove-winning third baseman retired in 2018 after 21

By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Retired Florida coach Steve Spurrier has opened a restaurant in Gainesville. It’s called Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille. The “polished casual” eatery doubles as Spurrier’s personal museum. There are hundreds of pieces of memorabilia on display, from trophies to cleats and helmets. The rooftop bar is called

By BOBBY BANCROFT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Austin Riley homered in the seventh inning of a weather-delayed game, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 to move into a first-place tie in the NL East with Philadelphia. The announced attendance of 24,812 had noticeably diminished by the time the final out was

By CHRIS TALBOTT Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Jarred Kelenic drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 for their third straight win. Kyle Seager and Abraham Toro sparked the winning rally with two-out walks against Adam Cimber. Luis Torrens reached when his comebacker glanced

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Matt Prater kicked two field goals in the final two minutes, including a 47-yard game winner with no time remaining, to lift the Arizona Cardinals over the Dallas Cowboys 19-16 on Friday night in a preseason game. Prater kicked a 48-yard field with 1:51 left

By JANIE McCAULEY AP Baseball Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Wilmer Flores hit a three-run homer in the first, Thairo Estrada added an RBI single, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 5-4 for their sixth straight win. Giants right-hander Anthony DeSclafani allowed two runs on five hits over five innings to snap