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Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland scored twice and set up another three goals as the hosts steamrolled past Eintracht Frankfurt 5-2 on Saturday to put down a marker in their Bundesliga opener.
It was captain Marco Reus who put new coach Marco Rose's team in the driving seat in the 23rd minute, scoring from a Haaland assist, with Dortmund fans returning in limited numbers to the 81,000-capacity stadium.
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A Felix Passlack own goal four minutes later did nothing to slow them down as Thorgan Hazard rifled them back into the lead in the 32nd after Reus combined with the 21-year-old Haaland, who had scored a hat-trick in their German Cup first round win last week, for yet another counter attack.
The hosts, who face champions Bayern Munich in the German Super Cup on Tuesday, completed their first half goal rush with Haaland pouncing on a Stefan Ilsanker mistake to charge into the box and slot in for a two-goal lead in the 34th.
Gio Reyna added a fourth goal with a tap-in on the hour with Eintracht at the complete mercy of the bursting Dortmund runs that kept on coming. Another Haaland run earned him his second goal of the evening following a VAR review.
Fellow Norwegian Jens Petter Hauge scored late on his Bundesliga debut to somewhat improve the scoreline for Frankfurt. Bayern slipped up on their season opener on Friday with a 1-1 draw at Borussia Monchengladbach.
Laurie Evans rescues tough chase to put Oval Invincibles second
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
Dak's shoulder is healing well, second MRI shows
FRISCO, Texas -- The second MRI on Dak Prescott's right latissimus strain showed what the Dallas Cowboys expected: Their quarterback is healing well.
Well enough to practice when the Cowboys get back on the field at Ford Center at The Star on Monday night for the first time this summer, or potentially see some preseason action Aug. 21 against the Houston Texans? Remains to be seen.
Prescott went through a third throwing session before the Cowboys' 19-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals without any issue. He pulled himself from practice on July 28 because of soreness and was shut down from throwing for two weeks.
He did some light throwing on Aug. 7 and stepped up his passing on Aug. 10 off to the side with wide receiver Amari Cooper before going through the pre-practice quarterback school the next day that also included some routes on air to running backs, tight ends and receivers.
After Wednesday's practice, Prescott said he has not felt any residual or unexpected pain after his first two throwing sessions, and he would like to play against the Texans.
"But I've got to keep progressing the right way," he said. "As long as I don't have any setbacks, when we get to that crossroads we'll obviously talk to the doctors and coaches and figure out what's best."
At the start of training camp, the Cowboys said they would like Prescott to get some work in the preseason so that his first live action following last year's dislocated and compound fracture of his right ankle would not come Sept. 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Executive vice president Stephen Jones said last week that would not be that important and the decision to play Prescott would also be determined by who else plays along the offensive line in the preseason game.
The strain was labeled a "baseball injury," which is why the Cowboys consulted with the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees, but all along Prescott said he could have played had the Cowboys been in the regular season.
"I think that's because people that know me, the people who know the competitor I am, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure I'm out there," he said. "But as I've said, this is something we want to nip in the bud and not let continue to linger. And I think the best way we do that is stay on the pace that I am and progress through it the right way, and once Sept. 9 comes I'll play that game and move forward without ever thinking about this again."
Fields trips, regroups for 2 TDs in Bears debut
CHICAGO -- Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields reminded everyone on Saturday that it's not how you start, it's how you finish.
Fields, the 11th overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft, entered the game against the Miami Dolphins in the second quarter to thunderous applause at Soldier Field. But he mostly struggled to find a rhythm until the end of the half, when he and the offense moved the football enough for Chicago to kick a long field goal as time expired.
"I was calm as could be today," Fields said.
Fields flipped the switch at halftime and led Chicago on a 77-yard scoring drive to open the third quarter that he capped off with an 8-yard touchdown run. On the play, Fields showcased both his strength and speed, fighting off a Dolphins defender before leaving the pocket and going virtually untouched until he crossed the goal line.
"It was awesome," Fields said. "Definitely a dream come true, first NFL touchdown and have my teammates celebrate, it was a nice moment."
He later found tight end Jesse James wide open for a 30-yard touchdown strike, the final touchdown in a 20-13 Bears win.
"I thought that Justin did a great job of worrying about today and he played smart football," Bears coach Matt Nagy said. "He made plays, and again like what you just said, it is preseason, and we all understand that there's variables involved in all that. But at the same time, if you go back and look, is he doing what you want him to do, absolutely."
Fields -- the No. 2 quarterback behind veteran Andy Dalton, who played two series Saturday -- finished 14-of-20 for 142 passing yards and one touchdown along with five rushes for 33 yards and one touchdown.
"Everybody here is super excited about the way that he played today," Nagy added. "You know, we all want the same thing. We understand the buzz. We understand the excitement. That's why we drafted him you know what I mean. That's why we drafted him.
"We want to make sure that we continue to go through this thing and we understand the process and this is one game that he came in here and now the beautiful thing is we get to get more practices in and get to see how he comes back next week, you know, against Buffalo and he's going to have another chance."
Matthew Wolff misses cut at Wyndham Championship but still wins $1 million
Matthew Wolff took home $1 million at the Wyndham Championship, the second most of anyone in the field, despite missing the cut.
That's because Wolff won the AON Risk Reward Challenge, a season-long competition on Tour that averages a player's two best scores on a designated hole, which this week at Sedgefield Country Club was the 545-yard, par-5 15th. Wolff parred the hole on Day 1 and birdied it on Day 2.
"Yeah, it means a lot," Wolff, who finished the tournament at 1 under, said. "I think, you know, obviously there's a lot of money to be made out on Tour, but I'm new out here and every little bit helps. And AON puts on a great contest, year-long contest. Just happy that I got it done. And I knew about it kind of the last couple months, so on the AON holes I was a little more nervous than I usually am, but played them pretty well and just came out on top."
Wolff, 22, averaged 10 AON Risk Reward holes this season at -1.105. Louis Oosthuizen trailed Wolff in the competition and would have needed two eagles to tie Wolff before he withdrew from the Wyndham Championship with a neck injury.
"I mean, I'm not happy when anyone pulls out," Wolff said. "If I'm going to win the challenge, I want to win it because I play the best golf, not because someone gives it to me. I feel like I did that and on those holes, I happened to play them really well. I think I was averaging like a stroke under par every single week or according to the contest, so I played those holes correctly, just got to play the rest of the holes right."
Pulisic fires Chelsea to victory over Crystal Palace
Christian Pulisic fired Chelsea to a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Saturday against Crystal Palace.
Marcos Alonso opened the scoring for Thomas Tuchel's side and it was a memorable Premier League debut for Trevor Chalobah who scored in front of the home crowd.
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"It is a dream for a boy like me being here and to play for my home club is unreal," Chalobah said after the game.
"As I was getting closer to the goal I though I might as well shoot and just went for it.
"I didn't know the ball went in, I did not know what to do. I was over the moon.
"I have been training with the team in preseason and the manager said I was playing and I was ready. I was surprised by the Super Cup game too and I have taken the opportunity with both hands."
Alonso put Chelsea ahead on 27 minutes with a free kick. He swept the ball over the Crystal Palace defence with his left foot.
United State men's national team international Pulisic added Chelsea's second 10 minutes later when Vicente Guaita saved a Mason Mount shot. The goalkeeper only managed to push the ball as far as Pulisic, though, who tapped it into the net.
Chelsea's third came from Chalobah -- who used to be a ballboy at Stamford Bridge -- on 58 minutes. He struck the ball into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.
The result means Patrick Vieira starts his tenure at Crystal Palace with a loss. The ex-New York City FC boss was appointed coach after Roy Hodgson stepped down during the summer following four years in the role.
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Josh Rymell's century the centrepiece as Essex trounce Yorkshire
David Hopps writes on county cricket for ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps
Capsey only turned 17 this week but has already made a significant impression on Knight in this competition. It could lead many to wonder how long it will be before England give her an opportunity. At Lord's in the reverse fixture, she lofted her inside-out over extra cover on her way to a match-winning 59, and here, she broke a 76-run stand by inducing a top-edged sweep.
Adams was the breakout player in English domestic cricket in 2020, leading Southern Vipers to the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy with a glut of runs while captaining the side, but struggled for form in the early rounds of the Hundred, with scores of 12, 0, 26 and 0 in her first four innings of the season.
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
Kemar Roach strikes twice after West Indies take slender lead
Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000