Arsenal builds on lead in Premier League
As Arsenal pushed further ahead in the race for the Premier League title Wednesday, Manchester United moved a step closer to a second trophy this season by advancing to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.
The biggest celebration of the night, though, was reserved for Grimsby Town’s fans after the fourth-division club produced a famous cup upset to beat topflight Southampton, 2-1.
Tottenham was also on the receiving end of a cup shock — losing, 1-0, to second-tier Sheffield United.
Arsenal’s focus is on the league, and its 4-0 win over Everton at Emirates Stadium saw the competition leaders move five points clear of second-place Manchester City.
Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag’s team remains in contention on four fronts after rallying to beat West Ham, 3-1. . . .
Second-tier Annecy produced a stunning upset to knock out French Cup favorite Marseille on penalty kicks and reach the semifinals for the first time.
Following a dramatic 2-2 draw, Annecy won the shootout, 7-6, after Marseille’s Leonardo Balerdi dragged his shot wide.
Elsewhere, defending champion Nantes beat Lens, 2-1, in an all-first division game. . . .
Just Fontaine, the French soccer great who scored a record 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup, died at age 89, the country’s soccer federation confirmed. . . .
Osasuna showed its strength against one of the Copa del Rey powerhouses, defeating Athletic Bilbao, 1-0, at home in the first leg of the semifinals. . . .
Cadiz asked a sports tribunal to temporarily suspend the Spanish league until a decision is made to its challenge of a 1-1 draw against Elche in January. . . .
Dietmar Hopp, Hoffenheim’s billionaire backer, is ceding control of the soccer club to bring it back in line with the German league’s 50-plus-1 rule limiting outside investors’ influence. . . .
Yves Jean-bart, Haiti’s former soccer federation president, said he is reclaiming his position after his lifetime ban over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month, potentially setting off a standoff with FIFA.
TENNIS
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic
eased into the quarterfinals at the Dubai Tennis Championships by with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Tallon Griekspoor.
Djokovic extended his winning streak to 19 matches. The Serb will next face Hubert Hurkacz, who beat Pavel Kotov, 7-5, 6-1.
Also, defending champion Andrey Rublev produced a 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3) comeback win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Botic van de Zandschulp in the
quarterfinals.
Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev used an underarm serve to close out his 6-4, 6-2 victory over Alexander Bublik. The 27-year-old Russian will next play No. 20 Borna Coric.
Lorenzo Sonego upset fourthseeded Felix Auger-aliassime, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, and will face Alexander Zverev in the final eight. . . .
Katie Volynets saved a match point and grabbed the last seven games to come back and beat third-seeded Anastasia Potapova, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5, at the ATX Open in Austin to reach her first WTA quarterfinal.
Next up for Volynets is Peyton Stearns, who won the NCAA singles championship for the University of Texas last year. Stearns got past Mirjam Bjorklund, 6-3, 7-5, in a matchup of two wild-card recipients.
The highest-seeded woman left in the field, No. 4 Sloane
Stephens, beat qualifier Heather Watson, 6-4, 6-4. Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, will meet 88th-ranked Varvara Gracheva in the quarterfinals. . . .
Fourth-ranked Casper Ruud lost to qualifier Taro Daniel, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), in the round of 16 at the Mexico Open in Acapulco.
In other action, Maryland native Frances Tiafoe took down
Feliciano López, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), and Mackenzie Mcdonald defeated Brandon Nakashima,
6-2, 6-0. . . .
An exhibition match scheduled for Sunday in Las Vegas that originally was supposed to pit Rafael Nadal against Carlos Alcaraz was canceled because Alcaraz hurt his right hamstring. Nadal already had been dropped because of a hip flexor problem.
GOLF
The PGA Tour is moving toward an elite schedule in 2024 with 16 designated events — half of them with no more than 80-man fields and no cuts — along with a chance for players on the outside to play their way in.
Still to be finalized are which events get the $20 million prize funds and details for how players can earn a spot in the field.
Players were apprised of the changes in a memo from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, which also indicated the Player Impact Program bonus pool will be halved to $50 million to 10 players, with the other $50 million going to bonus pools for the Fedex Cup and the Comcast Business Tour top 10 for leading players in the regular season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Former Nevada coach Chris Ault, Washington Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen and Miami of Ohio Athletic Director David Sayler will be joining the College Football Playoff ’s 13-member selection committee next season.