Digest

SOCCER

Inter edges thriller to get season off to flier

Danilo D'Ambrosio and Romelu Lukaku scored two late goals as Inter Milan grabbed a thrilling season-opening 4-3 win over a Franck Ribery-inspired Fiorentina on Saturday.

Title rivals Atalanta and Lazio also got their campaigns off to winning starts as they bid to deny Juventus a 10th consecutive Serie A crown this season.

Antonio Conte's Inter had been trailing Fiorentina with three minutes to go in the San Siro but broke through after French veteran Ribery was substituted.

Lukaku equalized on 87 minutes with defender D'Ambrosio nodding in two minutes later.

"The three points are important, but obviously you have to make the right assessment," said Conte.

"The positive aspect is to have scored four goals, obtained a lot of chances, the rival goalkeeper was very good, but we had problems. We need to improve."

Inter finished second in Serie A last season just one point behind Juventus.

Lampard vows Blues will improve after scare

Frank Lampard warned Chelsea to learn a "big lesson" from the mistakes the Blues made before Tammy Abraham's last-gasp strike rescued a thrilling 3-3 draw against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Lampard's expensively assembled side was torn apart in the first half at the Hawthorns as Callum Robinson's brace and Kyle Bartley's goal left Chelsea 3-0 down.

A bad blunder by Chelsea captain Thiago Silva on his English Premier League debut gifted the ball to Robinson for his second goal.

But Mason Mount reduced the deficit soon after the break and Callum Hudson-Odoi got Chelsea's second before Abraham equalized deep into stoppage time.

"It is a big lesson for us," said Lampard. "We will get a lot better. We're still finding our way with new players and a lack of preseason. Today is part of the process of getting better."

BOXING

Manny wants McGregor bout 'for virus victims'

Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao wants to fight Irish mixed-martial-arts star Conor McGregor in the ring next year, an aide said in a statement.

"For the sake of all the Filipino COVID-19 victims, Senator Manny Pacquiao will be fighting UFC superstar Conor McGregor next year," Pacquiao's special assistant Jayke Joson said, adding negotiations are ongoing.

The fight could be staged in the Middle East after the coronavirus pandemic abates, the aide said, adding Pacquiao would donate a portion of his prize earnings to Filipino COVID-19 victims.

Pacquiao's promoter Sean Gibbons earlier told AFP in Los Angeles that the eight-division world champion was mulling a possible comeback fight with McGregor, who last week first mooted the bout in a Twitter post.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

NFL clamping down on face-mask violations

The NFL has fined coaches and teams $1.75 million so far this season for failing to comply with mask requirements aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

And on Friday, the league sent a memo reminding teams of the rules ahead of Week 3.

"All individuals, except for active players in the bench area, are required to wear face coverings at all times on game day, including on the sidelines and in the coaches' booth," said the memo, shared by NFL Network's Tom Pelissero via social media.

The memo reiterated that the rule applies to all non-playing club personnel and "strongly encouraged "players who didn't expect to substitute into the game to wear masks.

Pelissero also reported that the NFL is investigating an unnamed team for allowing unauthorized access to the locker room.

BASEBALL

LeMahieu, Voit on verge of history for Yanks

DJ LeMahieu is on the verge of a first in more than a century of Major League Baseball: the first player to win undisputed batting titles in both the American and National Leagues.

Luke Voit is about to become a more common name atop the leaderboards but part of an illustrious list, joining Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Alex Rodriguez as New York Yankees to top the majors in home runs

"I've always admired the Babe," Voit said after the Yankees beat the Miami Marlins 11-4 on Saturday and kept their hold on the AL's No 5 seed going into the final day. Voit entered Sunday on 22 homers.

"It's just awesome company. That guy hit 700 home runs (714 to be exact)," he added. "That means I got to start hitting like 150 a year to catch up to him. So that is never going to happen."

ICE HOCKEY

Stars stay alive after double-overtime drama

Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry don't want to leave the NHL bubble just yet.

Pavelski tied it with 6:45 left in the regulation, laid out to block a shot in the first overtime before Perry scored the winner in double OT and the Dallas Stars avoided elimination Saturday night by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 to force a Game 6 in the Stanley Cup Final.

"Get one, keep going," Perry said. "We start building here and I think we're starting to do something special." Anton Khudobin made 39 saves, and Perry prolonged the series by scoring 9:23 into the second overtime. It was a manner of redemption for the Stars a night after they lost in OT on a questionable penalty call when Tampa Bay scored on the ensuing power play. Game 6 is Monday night.

Xinhua - Agencies