Ronaldo salvages draw for Man United against Chelsea
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND >> Cristiano Ronaldo's fifth goal in three games salvaged a point for Manchester United in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Thursday that further damaged his team's chances of a topfour finish in the Premier League.
Ronaldo ran onto a ball over the Chelsea defense from Nemanja Matic and delivered a clinical finish in the 62nd minute, two minutes after Marcos Alonso gave the visitors the lead.
Reece James later curled a shot against the post for Chelsea, which dominated the first half but found United goalkeeper David de Gea in fine form.
With only three games left to play in the league, United stayed in sixth place — five points behind fourth-place Arsenal and having played two matches more than its rival for Champions League qualification.
Tottenham is between the two teams, in the fifth spot, with three more points than United and two games in hand.
Chelsea consolidated third place and is six points above Arsenal.
Ronaldo came into the game having scored a hat trick against Norwich and another goal against Arsenal in his previous two games.
On 17 goals, Ronaldo is tied with Son Heung-min in second place in the Premier League scoring chart behind Mohamed Salah.
The buildup was dominated by reports that Rangnick was considering taking over as Austria's national team coach as well as more protests against the Glazer family's ownership.
KLOPP SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION WITH LIVERPOOL THROUGH 2026 >>
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has signed a contract extension with the Premier League club until 2026.
If he sees out his latest deal, Klopp will have been at Liverpool for more than a decade after joining in October 2015.
Klopp's previous deal was set to expire in 2024.
Klopp has won the Champions League (2019) and Premier League (2020) in his time at Anfield, as well as the League Cup this year.
Golf
WOODS HEADS TO SOUTHERN HILL FOR PGA PRACTICE ROUND >>
Tiger Woods flew to Oklahoma for a practice round at Southern Hills, the first step in deciding whether he can play in the PGA Championship.
The 18-hole practice round while walking came three weeks before the start of the PGA Championship being held May 19-22 at Southern Hills in Tulsa.
A person with knowledge of his plans, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because only Woods can
authorize such information, confirmed the practice round.
Woods made a remarkable return to golf at the Masters following his Feb. 23, 2021, car crash outside Los Angeles that shattered bones in his right leg and ankle. In his first time competing and walking a course, he made the cut for the 22nd straight time, though he tired on the weekend and his limp was more noticeable in rounds when he shot 78-78. He finished in 47th place out of the 52 players who made the cut.
RAHM PART OF FIVE-WAY TIE FOR THE LEAD IN MEXICO OPEN >> Jon Rahm chipped in for birdie and made a late eagle putt for a 7-under 64 and a five-way share of the early lead in the first round of the Mexico Open.
Jonathan Byrd, Brendon Todd, Trey Mullinax and Monday qualifier Bryson Nimmer also were at 64. Nimmer played his final five holes in 5 under, including a bunker shot he holed out for eagle on the par-5 sixth hole.
MINJEE LEE TAKES EARLY LEAD IN PALOS VERDES CHAMPIONSHIP >> Minjee Lee shot an 8-under 63 to take a one-stroke lead over top-ranked Jin Young Ko halfway through the first round of the Palos Verdes Championship.
Coming off a third-place tie Sunday in the LA Open at Whilshire Country Club, Lee had a bogey-free round at hilly Palos Verdes Estates in the first-year event that wraps up the LPGA Tour's West Coast swing.
The Australian closed with a 5-under 31 on the front nine.
Pro football
GIANTS DECLINE QB JONES' FIFTH-YEAR OPTION >> Daniel Jones has one more season at most — and only one — to prove he's the Giants' quarterback of the future.
As expected, GM Joe Schoen decided that he will not pick up the fifth-year option on Jones' rookie contract as a former firstround pick, a source confirmed.
Picking up Jones' option would have guaranteed him a $22.384 million salary for the 2023 season, per sources.
If Jones falters this fall, the Giants will be in the market for a new quarterback in the 2023 NFL draft. JAGUARS PICK UP 5TH-YEAR OPTION ON PASS RUSHER ALLEN >> The Jacksonville Jaguars exercised the fifth-year option in pass rusher Josh Allen's rookie contract.
The move keeps Allen under contract for two more seasons and fully guarantees his 2023 salary at $11.5 million. The former Kentucky standout and seventh overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft has 20 1/2 sacks in three years, including 10 1/2 as a rookie in 2019. He made the Pro Bowl as an alternate that season and looked like a budding star.
Pro basketball
BUTLER, HEAT EACH FINED $15,000 FOR OBSCENE GESTURE >> The NBA fined Miami's Jimmy Butler $15,000 for making what it described as an obscene gesture during the team's series-clinching win on Tuesday against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Heat were also fined $15,000 for turning a video of the gesture into a social media post.
Butler did not play in Tuesday's 97-94 victory, watching the game from the bench because of knee soreness. He made the gesture a few seconds after Max Strus connected on a second consecutive 3-pointer, part of a 10-0 run by Strus and a 17-0 run by the Heat that put them ahead in the game for good.
Baseball
ACUÑA RETURNS TO BRAVES >> The Atlanta Braves reinstated outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. from the injury list, more than a week ahead of the team's target date for his return from knee surgery.
The defending World Series champion Braves have struggled at the start of the season and are still looking for their first series win after splitting the first two
games of their three-game series with the Cubs. The Braves will be looking for Acuña to provide a boost to their lineup after showing in his rehabilitation stint with Triple-A Gwinnett that he has recovered from the surgery that ended his 2021 season.
College basketball
BOLTON FIFTH GONZAGA STARTER TO DECLARE FOR DRAFT >> Gonzaga guard Rasir Bolton has become the fifth starter to declare for the NBA draft.
It was unclear whether Bolton has signed with an NCAA-certified agent, which would leave the door open for a return to Gonzaga next season. Bolton, who played one season at Penn State and two more at Iowa State before moving to Spokane, is eligible for a second season at Gonzaga due to a COVID-19 waiver granted to all players who competed in 2020-21.
Tennis
RUUD DEFEATS MOLCAN TO REACH BMW OPEN QUARTERFINALS >>
Casper Ruud took his time finding his rhythm as he beat Alex Molcan 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals at the BMW Open.
Molcan built a 4-0 lead in the first set as Ruud struggled with his serve, but the Norwegian claycourt specialist fought his way back and broke Molcan at 4-4 in the decider before serving out the match.
It was Ruud's opening match in Munich after getting a first-round bye. At a career-high No. 7, the Norwegian is the highest-ranked player left in the draw after Alexander Zverev's surprise loss to 18-year-old Holger Rune on Wednesday.
HALEP AND BADOSA TO MEET IN 2ND ROUND OF MADRID OPEN >> Two-time Madrid Open champion Simona Halep and secondranked Paula Badosa will meet in the tournament's second round after opening with victories.
Halep beat Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-3 and Badosa defeated Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-0.