BORDEAUX, France – Romelu Lukaku scored twice to help Belgium bounce back from its opening defeat at the European Championship, with a 3-0 victory against Ireland.
Belgium’s victory in the Group E match in Bordeaux on Saturday came as its much-vaunted attack finally sprang to life after wasting a series of chances in the first half.
Lukaku opened the scoring in the 48th minute from a quick counterattack that owed much to Kevin De Bruyne’s burst down the right flank. Lukaku controlled De Bruyne’s square pass before driving the ball low into the bottom left corner from the edge of the area.
Axel Witsel doubled the score in the 61st and Lukaku’s second goal came in the 70th after Eden Hazard set up an unmarked Lukaku in the penalty area.
The result was a welcome return to form by the Red Devils following a disappointing first match in Group E against Italy, which it lost 2-0. Ireland has a point from its 1-1 draw against Sweden in its first match.
Both sides still have a chance to progress to the knockout stages of Euro 2016. Belgium plays Sweden next while Ireland meets Italy, which has won the group.
MARSEILLE, France – Birkir Saevarsson scored a late own-goal to hand Hungary a 1-1 draw with Iceland on Saturday in another European Championship match affected by crowd trouble.
Saevarsson turned a cross from Nemanja Nikolic into his own net as Iceland was headed for its first victory at a major tournament.
As the players celebrated the 88th-minute equalizer, Hungarian fans threw flares onto the field and into a group of nearby police officers, delaying the restart.
Iceland took the lead in the 40th minute when Gylfi Sigurdsson scored from the penalty spot, hitting the ball low and hard to veteran goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly’s right.
The penalty followed a chaotic scramble in the area after Kiraly caught, then dropped, a cross from Johann Gudmundsson. In the ensuing melee, Russian referee Sergei Karasev ruled that defender Tamas Kadar had fouled Aron Gunnarsson.
PARIS – Cristiano Ronaldo experienced a night to forget on his record 128th Portugal appearance Saturday, missing a late penalty in a 0-0 draw against Austria that left his team winless after two matches at the European Championship.
As goalkeeper Robert Almer dived to his left, Ronaldo struck the spotkick in the opposite direction but it crashed against the post in the 79th minute.
Ronaldo then thought he had netted his 59th Portugal goal about five minutes later, but it was ruled out for offside.
It summed up a frustrating night at the Parc des Princes for the Portugal captain, who is still waiting to score in a record fourth European Championship.
If his team struggles again in its final Group F game against Hungary, Portugal could be going home early. Austria is off the mark after opening with a loss to Hungary.
LONDON – Andy Murray is one win away from becoming the first five-time champion at Queen’s Club after he defeated fifth-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to reach Sunday’s final.
Other four-time winners since the tournament was established in 1890 include John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick.
Murray plays Milos Raonic in the final after the third-seeded Canadian beat unseeded Bernard Tomic of Australia, 6-4, 6-4.
Almost from the start Murray berated himself and disputed several line calls but he was able to gain the upper hand against Cilic.
Watched by his coach Ivan Lendl, a two-time champion at Queen’s Club, Murray forced a forehand error to break for 2-1, fought off four break points in the next game and broke at love to take the opening set.
BIRMINGHAM, England – Madison Keys broke into the top 10 in the women’s rankings for the first time by beating Carla Suarez Navarro and advancing to the Aegon Classic final on Saturday.
Keys, a 21-year-old American whose ferocious hitting could make her a major force on grass, won, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), against the 15th-ranked Spaniard.
“I heard about the top 10 ranking from my coach but tried to pretend I didn’t know about it,” said Keys.
The seventh-seeded Keys showed intermittent brilliance mixed with unforced errors in her fiercely uncompromising game, which Keys described as “a balancing act between going for the right shot at the right time and being more consistent.”
Keys faces 30th-ranked Barbora Strycova in the final after the Czech beat CoCo Vandeweghe of the United States, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, to make her second final in this tournament in three years.
Having played an influential role popularizing hockey across America’s southwest, Wayne Gretzky is turning his attention to a new frontier – Australia.
He’s signed on to take part in the Wayne Gretzky Ice Hockey Classic. It involves a series of five exhibition games that began this weekend featuring current and recently retired NHL players, and minor leaguers.
Gretzky will play in a 4-on-4 game at Sydney on June 25. His objective is to increase hockey’s profile in Australia, and raise money for STOPCONCUSSIONS Foundation and Brain Injury Australia.
Gretzky is no stranger to serving as a hockey ambassador after helping the NHL make inroads in California, when he played in Los Angeles, and then in Arizona, when he co-owned and coached the Coyotes.
WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Pavel Datsyuk is leaving the Detroit Red Wings with a year left on his contract, saying it’s time to return home and play in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League.
The 37-year-old Datsyuk announced his plans Saturday at a news conference at his youth hockey camp in the Detroit area. The move was not a huge surprise. Toward the end of the season, he was quoted in a Detroit Free Press story saying he would retire from the NHL, but Datsyuk later told reporters there was a chance he could change his mind.
He said Saturday his final decision came when he was on vacation with his family recently.
Datsyuk, a native of Sverdlovsk, Russia, says he intends to play in the KHL. He did not say for how much longer.
OMAHA, Neb. – Thomas Hatch threw a complete game, Garrett Benge singled in the only run in the fourth inning and Oklahoma State opened the College World Series with a 1-0 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
Hatch extended his shutout streak to 26 innings with his fourth complete game and third shutout of the season.
Hatch (9-2), a third-round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs, allowed five hits, walked one and struck out seven in his dazzling 112-pitch performance for the Cowboys, who are in the CWS for the first time since 1999.
Santa Barbara starter Shane Bieber (12-4) was just was just about as good as Hatch, limiting the Cowboys to six base hits.
Three of them came in succession in the fourth inning, though, and produced Oklahoma State’s only run. Corey Hassel singled to left, Donnie Walton to right and Benge through the middle to make it 1-0. Bieber escaped further damage when Conor Costello lined into a double play and Dustin Williams flew out.
OMAHA, Neb. – The American Baseball Coaches Association plans to continue discussions with college coaches and Major League Baseball about the possibility of moving the annual draft to Omaha and have it coincide with the lead-up to the College World Series.
“I personally think it could be a great move for us if we can do it the right way,” ABCA executive director Craig Keilitz said. “Certainly nothing is going to overshadow the College World Series, and we want to only enhance it.”
The challenge, Keilitz said, is figuring out a time frame that would not interfere with teams’ preparations. “Certainly have to be over before the first pitch is thrown on that Saturday,” he said.
The draft is conducted at the same time as the NCAA Tournament and has been held in Secaucus, New Jersey, since 2009.
College coaches have complained the timing is a distraction for prospects.
Keilitz said MLB has indicated it would like to hold the draft in Omaha, and the topic will be addressed during Division I business meetings at January’s ABCA convention in Anaheim, California.
Keilitz said having the draft in Omaha would tie together the professional and college games. But he also understands there is resentment among coaches about where the draft falls on the calendar.