TIMBERS WIN ON LATE GOAL TO ADVANCE
Larrys Mabiala scored in the 90th minute and the Portland Timbers beat the host Colorado Rapids 1-0 on Thursday to advance to the Western Conference final.
Portland will face the winner of the game Sunday between Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake.
Yimmi Chara’s corner kick was deflected high into the air and Cristhian Paredes headed it into the 6-yard box for Mabiala to knock home. Mabiala hadn’t scored all season before connecting in consecutive playoff games.
Portland star playmaker
Sebastian Blanco left early in the second half with an apparent leg injury. As he tried to run to a forward pass, Blanco went to the ground, grabbed the back of his taped left leg and immediately signaled for a substitution.
Portland will be without
Dairon Asprilla for the conference final after he received a straight red card for violent conduct in second-half of stoppage time.
More soccer
Tim Hortons Field, an outdoor venue with artificial turf nicknamed “The Donut Box” in Hamilton, Ontario, will be the site of Canada’s home World Cup qualifier against the United States in January, the Canadian Soccer Association said. The Jan. 30 game will be the first home match for the Canadian men in Hamilton, which averages a high of 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-1 Celsius) and a low of 18 (minus-8) on that date.
• Manchester United has turned to renowned German coach Ralf Rangnick about rescuing the team’s season by taking temporary charge. No final agreement has been reached but discussions with United are ongoing about the former Leipzig coach leaving his role as head of sports and
development at Lokomotiv Moscow, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
• Ten-man Tottenham conceded a late goal and fell to a humbling 2-1 loss to lowly Slovenian team NS Mura in the Europa Conference League, a result that puts the London club in danger of being eliminated from the third-tier competition. In the same competition, Jose Mourinho’s Roma routed Zorya Luhansk 4-0 at Stadio Olimpico to stay in contention for the first place in Group C.
• In the Europa League, West Ham clinched top spot in Group H with a game to spare with a 2-0 victory at Rapid Vienna. Bayer Leverkusen also sealed a place in the round of 16 after coming back from 2-1 down to beat Celtic 3-2 in Group G. Monaco also won its group.
• Argentinian power River Plate beat rival Racing 4-0 to win the country’s first division title and give coach Marcelo Gallardo the only major domestic trophy he had yet to win. River had not won the title since 2014. Agustin Palavecino
in the 32nd minute, Julian Alvarez in the 48th and Braian Romero in the 68th and 78th minutes scored the River goals. River won the title in front of 70,000 fans with three rounds in hand. The Millionarios are now 12 points ahead of second-place Defensa y Justicia.
• South America has followed Europe by scrapping the away-goals rule for its club competitions, including the prestigious Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.
Golf
The inaugural season of the DP World Tour started with Angel Hidalgo of Spain shooting 6-under 65 to lead the first round of the Joburg Open before play was suspended because of bad weather in Johannesburg, South Africa. South African golfer Thriston Lawrence was also 6 under and had one hole left to play when players came off the course due to the threat of lightning. It marked the start of a new era following the rebranding of the European Tour to a title which better reflected the global nature of the tour.
The Joburg Open is one of 24 events not staged on European soil. The 2021 season ended just last week when Collin Morikawa won the Race to Dubai title.
• Two-time major winner Martin Kaymer is taking three months off for the birth of his first child, he told a German golf magazine. Kaymer expects to become a father in January at home in Germany and says he’s looking to live in Florida with his family after the baby is born.
Tennis
Before any matches were played, Elias Ymer didn’t hesitate to say Sweden could succeed at the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid despite being one of the lowest-ranked nations in the competition. He backed up his words with a great opening win, then cheered on his brother Mikael in the other singles match that clinched Sweden’s victory over 2019 runner-up Canada in Group B.
Top-ranked France and second-ranked Croatia also won on the opening day, while defending champion Spain was left without one of its biggest attractions after 18-yearold Carlos Alcaraz tested positive for the coronavirus and had to be dropped from the squad. Spain was set to open play against Ecuador on Friday in Group A.
Also
Former NBA player Marc Gasol will play for the club he founded in the second division of Spanish basketball, he announced. The 36-year-old Gasol said he will play until the end of the season before deciding whether to retire. Gasol is the owner and president of Girona, which he founded in 2014. Gasol played last season with the Lakers after spending most of his NBA career with the Grizzlies.