BARBERVILLE, Fla. – Two laps was all that stood between Donny Schatz and his 300th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win on Sunday night at Volusia Speedway Park.

The Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15 was cruising through traffic, he had led since the drop green flag waved and second was nowhere to be found. Then the unexpected happened.

His Ford Performance engine lost power and slowed to a stop with the white flag waiting for him on the other side. A trip to the work area quickly solved the issue, but it didn’t take away the dramatics of Schatz’s continued pursuit of 300, which will have to continue next week at Georgia’s Dixie Speedway on Feb. 12 and Talladega (Ala.) Short Track on Feb. 13.

“It was just a defective ignition box, that thing was brand new on this engine tonight,” Schatz said afterwards. “I actually thought we cut a fuel line for a minute, because I was getting wet, but it was the MSD. It is what it is.”

Schatz’s misfortune came to the benefit of Logan Schuchart, who inherited the race lead ahead of a green-white-checkered finish. His winning move actually came three laps prior on the 25th circuit, when Schuchart cleared Cory Eliason for the second spot after a torrid race-long battle.

“It took me forever to get by Cory after that long green flag run,” Schuchart said. “I glanced forward to look for Donny once I got to second and I couldn’t see him. He was really fast, but I still felt like we had a car to beat there at the end, especially if we could’ve got some traffic. It’s not something you want to see happen, you want to win the right away. It’s also part of the game, though. For years, they’ve set the bar as far as handling issues, limiting DNF’s, and stuff that saves you championships. It’s something we all strive for nowadays because of them.”

With two laps remaining and the lead thrown in his lap, the Shark Racing No. 1S pilot still had one final challenge to complete. Perfecting his launch off turn four to the SeaFoam Restart Zone, Schuchart instantly gapped the field and drove away to a 1.447-second victory over fellow Pennsylvanian Danny Dietrich.

Schuchart’s victory put the finishing touches on a near impeccable performance by the Drydene Performance Products crew at DIRTcar Nationals. In four events on the daunting Barberville, Fla., half-mile, the 28-year-old recorded runs of first, second, second and first. He secured his first career Big Gator Championship over title contender Brad Sweet.

“We had confidence coming down here, but when it pays off like this it means a lot,” Schuchart mentioned. “When your confidence is high, your team feels good, and you perform better. It definitely feels good doing this against the quality of cars we had here. The Outlaws are so stacked this year and we’ve got a lot of good invaders joining us. My grandfather’s dream is looking awesome. I’m really proud of this Shark Racing team.”

Following Schuchart to the stripe on Sunday night was Danny Dietrich, who set quick time at 13.919 seconds. Cory Eliason rounded out the podium aboard his Rudeen Racing No. 26 after starting on the outside pole.

David Gravel recorded his fourth consecutive fourth-place finish of the week by chasing that trio to the line in his Big Game Motorsports No. 2. Friday’s season opening winner, Sweet, closed out the top five with another consistent run for his Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts No. 49.

For complete results, advance to the next page.

BRACKLEY, England – The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team revealed Monday morning that reigning Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton would remain with the team for the upcoming Formula One season.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

A significant part of the new agreement builds upon the joint commitment to greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport that was made last year by Hamilton and Mercedes. This will take the form of a joint charitable foundation, which will have the mission of supporting greater diversity and inclusion in all its forms in motorsport.

“I am excited to be heading into my ninth season with my Mercedes teammates,” Hamilton said. “Our team has achieved incredible things together and we look forward to building on our success even further, while continuously looking to improve, both on and off the track.

“I’m equally determined to continue the journey we started to make motorsport more diverse for future generations and I am grateful that Mercedes has been extremely supportive of my call to address this issue. I’m proud to say we are taking that effort further this year by launching a foundation dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the sport. I am inspired by all that we can build together and can’t wait to get back on the track in March.”

Hamilton has been a part of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team since 2013 and since then has become one of the greatest drivers in Formula One history. He’s captured six of his seven Formula One titles while racing for Mercedes and last year he became the winningest driver in Formula One history with 95 series victories.

“We have always been aligned with Lewis that we would continue, but the very unusual year we had in 2020 meant it took some time to finish the process,” said Toto Wolff, CEO & Team Principal. “Together, we have decided to extend the sporting relationship for another season and to begin a longer-term project to take the next step in our shared commitment to greater diversity within our sport. Lewis’s competitive record stands alongside the best the sports world has ever seen, and he is a valued ambassador for our brand and our partners. The story of Mercedes and Lewis has written itself into the history books of our sport over the past eight seasons, and we are hungry to compete and to add more chapters to it.”

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Gaunt Brothers Racing will keep Ty Dillon in its No. 96 Toyota Camry for the NASCAR Cup Series’ second race of the season on the Daytona Int’l Speedway road course on Feb. 21.

Dillon is already slated to compete for Gaunt Brothers Racing in an attempt to qualify for the 63rd Daytona 500 on Feb. 14. The 28-year-old from Lewisville, N.C., will attempt to make his 163rd career NASCAR Cup Series start upon qualifying the No. 96 Bass Pro Shops/Black Rifle Coffee Company Toyota Camry for The Great American Race.

The Daytona road-course race will be Dillon’s 11th career NASCAR Cup Series start on a road course.

“I really enjoy the challenge of road-course racing and I’m glad that I’ll be competing at the Daytona road course for Gaunt Brothers Racing,” Dillon said. “Ever since we announced that I’d be driving for them in the Daytona 500, I’ve been immersed with the team and Toyota. To be able to extend this relationship another week allows us to continue to feed off one another and apply all that we’re learning into on-track performance.”

Gaunt Brothers Racing plans to enter each road-course race this season, and the 14-turn, 3.61-mile layout at Daytona marks the first of seven road-course races on the schedule.

“It’s important for us to get a good start to the season and one of the ways we aim to achieve that is with consistency. Having Ty with us for back-to-back races gives us the opportunity to build on our learnings from one week to the next and apply them at the road course,” said Marty Gaunt, president, Gaunt Brothers Racing. “It’s obviously different disciplines going from a superspeedway to a road course, but the communication is the same. Ty brings youthful experience to our team and we want to maximize our time with him.”

On Feb. 28, Maddie Rooney will play at Madison Square Garden as part of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association Dream Gap Tour.

For the 23-year-old goalie, it's "an incredible opportunity" to play in New York City at the world's most famous arena. Unfortunately, her preparation for the game hasn't exactly been ideal. Since the pandemic wreaked havoc on our daily routines in March 2020, competitive action has been scarce. "To be exact," Rooney says, "since March 2020, I have played exactly seven periods of hockey. Those were at PWHPA scrimmages against local boys teams, high school teams and junior teams. Then at [national team] camp we played six games, but as a goalie I had to split that."

Compare that to the season prior when, as a senior at Minnesota-Duluth, Rooney was typically playing two games per weekend. The women's hockey landscape presents an exaggerated case, but lack of proper ramp-up time for goalies is a theme we're seeing across hockey, including the NHL in the 2021 season.

It's one of the reasons that explains why through the first month of the season, the leaguewide save percentage has been hovering around .900; excluding the lockout-shortened seasons in 1995 and 2013, the last time a save percentage was below .900 for the month of October (typically the season's first month) was 2005-06, when it was .894 while coming out of a season-long lockout.

A couple of stats help explain the slow goalie starts. Penalty kills are struggling (tracking for a league-wide worst first month total since 1985-86), and according to Evolving Hockey, shooting percentages are abnormally high (at around 8.5% at even strength, we're trending for the highest-single season rate since 2007-08). All of this comes after a significantly truncated training camp and the cancellation of all preseason games.

"The usual smoothness of getting into the game, just from my perspective watching the league, has been a little slower," says Jim Corsi, the longtime NHL goaltending coach who now oversees goaltending development for the Columbus Blue Jackets organization.

It's important to understand why live action is so critical to goalies as part of their training. "Game timing is a very different thing than practice or shinny hockey," says Ryan Miller, the veteran Anaheim Ducks goaltender. "In shinny hockey, guys are trying goofy plays, holding on to it, making extra passes. An NHL game tends to be more direct, more congested. Obviously there's great playmaking, but as a goaltender you have to stay inside of play, where you can reach some of those plays, make it challenging on a guy. You can't commit to the first situation so hard and give them something else."

Corsi said the hardest part of the game to adjust to after long layoff periods are "non-puck play."

"In a penalty kill for example, you're supposed to take a certain position if you're in the bottom of the circle and cut off a certain access portion of the net," Corsi says. "If you're just 6 inches off, guys will put that in."

In explaining why New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was uncharacteristically struggling to begin the season, longtime NHL goalie and current NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes found some flaws in his positioning. "One thing that is different right now is he's allowing goals through his body," Weekes says. "Like [opponents are] finding holes, which most goalies in the NHL don't do -- unless you're going through a rough patch. But everyday NHL goalies don't allow them very often. For that reason, he looks smaller in the net, even though he's not a small guy. I think it's a confidence thing.

"I know from putting myself in the spot in terms of positioning, and you know you're in the right spot, and somehow the puck can find a hole. If that happens once, you shrug it off. If it happens two, three times, you start second-guessing yourself, and the next thing you know you're misplaying pucks that would hit you routinely in your body."

To compensate for the lack of proper preparations, goalies have been scrambling for extra practice time through the pandemic, which proved difficult amid sweeping lockdowns. "Some goalies can't find shooters because they are only allowed two people on the ice," Corsi says. "If you get one goalie, one shooter, after 15 minutes, the shooter is drained. And I have to stay on the bench, because there's only two people allowed on the ice."

Corsi has recommended some of his players to try to find outdoor ice. Recently, Corsi sent one of his pupils, a 17-year-old goalie, and his dad, to a local rink to practice. The police came by and shut them down. In that jurisdiction, wearing hockey equipment on the ice was banned, as a measure to prevent games.

Rooney lives in Minnesota where rinks were closed for a while during the pandemic; during the second half of the summer, fellow Team USA goalie Nicole Hensley flew out, and the two were able to split on-ice sessions with a goalie coach.

Because the Ducks were one of seven teams that didn't participate in the bubble, Miller last played an NHL game in March -- meaning his first game action this season came after a nearly 10 and a half-month layoff. The 40-year-old says he has tried "to find game simulation in practice" the best he can. "We have such a limited amount of practice, so you're just trying to find situations and take advantage of," Miller says. "Get on the ice early, be on the ice late. If the penalty killer or power play is doing something that would typically be kind of tedious, I stay around and take the reps."

Corsi saw the pandemic as an opportunity for goalies to embrace more visualization work. This is something he has believed in for a while, and something he thinks "should be a bigger part of what we've been doing."

In the Blue Jackets organization, they have challenged goaltenders to watch their own video of making a good or bad play and questioning, "Can you do something better?"

"A big part of it is to visualize, with imagery, and seeing yourself doing something; that can be really helpful," Corsi says. " Psychologists have shown you can go through this visualization and see yourself succeed; that's really valuable. That can get you less body stress and more mentally prepared so when the situation occurs on the ice, your head has already seen it, so your body will react without having to process it."

That's something Rooney has begun to embrace, too. In 2018, she helped Team USA to its first Olympic gold medal in 20 years. It was disappointing that last year's Women's World Championships were canceled, and the women are hoping the event will be staged again in March 2021. However, as Rooney enters her prime athletic years, she is doing her best to continue her growth, fighting off having the pandemic halt all her momentum.

She follows a lot of goalie schools on Instagram, where she finds new speed and agility drills. Although Minnesota gyms have been closed for long stretches during the pandemic, Rooney's boyfriend owns a gym, so she's been able to get in a decent amount of strength, flexibility and rehab training.

"I also incorporate three hand-eye coordination drills, with three racquet balls, and I got through a set of drills that I acquired from other goalies over the years -- through what they've posted on social media," Rooney says. "But a really big thing has been Vizual Edge, which is vision training. You wear these red and blue glasses, which mess up your typical vision, and it helps your tracking and overall vision."

Rooney has spent more time doing vision training than ever before. "COVID definitely allowed me to branch out to resources available to me that I wouldn't have necessarily put time toward in the past," Rooney says. "I'm interested to see if it will help with actual performance."

In this month's game at MSG -- which will pit Rooney's Minnesota PWHPA chapter against New Hampshire -- she knows it will take an adjustment to the game intensity. She's traveling to Florida before arriving in New York, where the PWHPA has arranged scrimmages against local boys teams (although Rooney is one of four PWHPA goalies in Florida for five scheduled games, so "who knows how much game action I will actually get," she says.)

"The U.S. team, and the PWHPA rely on a lot of behind-the-net play from goalies, and playing the puck," Rooney says. "I haven't been in those pressure situations with forecheckers on me in a long time. So making those quick decisions, that could be an area that might be challenging at first."

She's hoping the lag time won't be too bad.

"Honestly," she says. "I'm really excited just to play in a competitive game again. It's going to feel so good to be out there."

Jump ahead:
Three stars of the week
What we liked this week
What we didn't like
Best games on tap
Social post of the week

Emptying the notebook

1. Miller, whose contract with the Ducks expired this past summer, wasn't sure what his future held when the 2019-20 season was paused in March, 2020. He decided to treat that pause as a recovery. "I tracked down a bike," he said. "I rode along the trails and boardwalks in the area; I tried to stay active, but I also really tried to do minimal stuff. I had gone through so many years of little things popping up, I wanted to see how I would recover. I stayed away from the ice for about five months, which is the longest I've gone since I learned how to skate."

2. Miller ended up returning to the Ducks on a one-year, $1 million deal. I asked him if he had considered retirement. "For sure," Miller said. "The nature of what the league is like now, and that abrupt ending with no clear path forward, I didn't know how it would work out. I was trying to think about what else could happen. But after spending some time and reflecting, I wanted to give myself an opportunity to keep going if I could, and it worked out."

3. The 2020-21 Ducks season is all about transitioning to the youth. And so fans are getting a little impatient that 2019 first-round pick Trevor Zegras, a hero for the gold-medal-winning U.S. at this winter's World Juniors Championships, hasn't gotten an NHL opportunity yet. The 19-year-old Zegras shined in his AHL debut this week, scoring a goal and two assists.

Get Trevor Zegras into the NHL yesterday pic.twitter.com/sJjAhK0KrV

— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) February 6, 2021

Miller said Zegras came to Anaheim early this summer, and the two skated together for a few months. I asked Miller for his impression of the prized Ducks prospect. "Talented player; easy-going demeanor where he wants to try anything, and he's not afraid to try anything," Miller said. "I think early on, he was trying to size me up, try to figure out how to score at a different level. He was definitely creative, he did a few things that were unexpected. But it was also fun to show him some of the things that came a little easy are not easy."

4. Auston Matthews has entered the MVP conversation. It's been a blazing hot start for the 23-year-old American, who has a league-high 10 goals in 11 games.

A couple of interesting notes on Matthews entering this season. First, it really feels like he's on the cusp of superstardom (which probably would have been achieved in the U.S. by now, if he were playing on an American team). This year, Forbes has Matthews topping the list of highest-earning hockey players, with a salary of roughly $13 millions and endorsements of $3 million. I asked around to a couple of people in the know, and folks found this list generally accurate, with some slight inflation or estimations here or there. There's plenty of room for Matthews to grow; Alex Ovechkin leads all hockey players, per Forbes, with $5 million in endorsements, a number which still pales to athletes in the NBA and NFL. The key for Matthews in 2022 will be how much he wants to put himself out there, because the marketing potential is there.

Another thing on Matthews: People keep discussing how quick he looks on the ice. This offseason, Matthews began working with Chicago-based trainer Ian Mack, whose workouts are body-movement based and focus on muscle elasticity and getting the body to move in concert. Patrick Kane began working with Mack ahead of the 2018-19 season -- and went on to score a career-high 110 points. That was Kane's age-30 season, and he also averaged a career high in ice time per game (22:29).

"I'm playing a lot more, but I feel pretty fresh every night," Kane told me in 2019, about his work with Mack. "I honestly think I feel better now than I did in my 20s. I really do."

Three stars of the week

David Pastrnak, RW, Boston Bruins

Pastrnak surprised many by tying Alex Ovechkin for the goal-scoring lead last season. But after hip surgery this offseason, some people were suggesting the 24-year-old was a prime candidate for regression in 2021. It doesn't look that way, after he scored five goals (including a hat trick against Philly) in just three games this week.

Jeff Petry, D, Montreal Canadiens

He's been an underrated breakout star of the Canadiens' sizzling hot start. Petry has six goals in 12 games this season -- including four goals in four games this week -- which is tied for the most by any defenseman through 12 games over the last 20 seasons. That's all the more impressive considering Petry didn't score his sixth goal until Game 41 of the 2019-20 campaign.

Patrick Kane, RW, Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks have been more competitive than expected, and boast three legitimate Calder Trophy candidates. But it's still Kane leading the way. He had a terrific week, scoring three goals and six assists for nine points in three games (while averaging nearly 23 minutes of ice time per game). That includes this assist on Sunday's overtime winner:

Patrick Kane feeds Alex DeBrincat, who scores overtime winner. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/pb4GvufuLQ

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 7, 2021

What we liked this week

1. In his age-37 season, Duncan Keith is proving he's still elite in sass. After a two-game stretch this week where he recorded 10 shots (he typically averages only two per game) the defenseman told reporters: "Getting the Corsi up so you guys think I'm good."

2. It's been a strange start to the Pittsburgh Penguins' season, but a bright spot has been rookie defenseman Pierre-Oliver Joseph, who is making the most of a larger opportunity, thanks to a rash of blue-line injuries. Joseph -- whose older brother, Mathieu, is also getting a larger role in Tampa Bay this season -- has the highest plus-minus of any Penguins player this season (plus-5) and scored his first NHL goal on Saturday.

Talk about ripping your first NHL goal.

Congrats to you, Pierre-Olivier Joseph! pic.twitter.com/qenWMaIJ2q

— NHL (@NHL) February 7, 2021

"He's been excellent," teammate Jake Guentzel said. "It's been fun to watch, to be honest with you. His poise and how he handles himself -- how much confidence he has with the puck. That was a goal scorer's shot. ... To be part of a first goal is pretty cool."

3. I honestly did not know Justin Faulk had this in him. The former Hurricanes defenseman is off to a great start in his second season St. Louis, looking more confident now that he has a better defined role.

Justin Faulk embarrassing the Coyotes pic.twitter.com/Riwk3LmWwk

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) February 3, 2021

4. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Senators are shopping veteran Derek Stepan. While he was brought over (as part of a salary dump trade in Arizona) to be a veteran presence for a rebuilding team, I have total respect for management for understanding what is truly in the player's best interest. Hopefully they can work something out.

As I noted on @TSNHockey Thursday, Derek Stepan was excited to get dealt to the #Sens , but the reality of not seeing his family until May 8 make the situation difficult. The couple has three children _ including a newborn _ and a visit would require 14-day quarantine.

— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) February 7, 2021

What we didn't like this week

1. The Buffalo Sabres were forced to temporarily shut down their season due to a cluster of COVID-19 cases and exposures -- including coach Ralph Krueger -- and they were quite upset about it. The issue is mostly with the NHL league office and the New Jersey Devils and surrounds the topic of transparency.

According to Bob McKenzie, Sabres players contacted the NHLPA with concerns ahead of a game against the Devils on Jan. 30, where several New Jersey players had been put on the COVID-restricted list. Kyle Palmieri played on Jan. 30, then was added to the list the next day. It was an inflection point for the league, which has already seen Dallas and Carolina weather early-season outbreaks. Vegas has also had issues, while Minnesota and Colorado were forced to pause this week. The NFL's doctors reported they don't believe the coronavirus "crossed the line of scrimmage" this season, but it's unclear if that's the case in hockey -- which is inherently different because it is played indoors, with less ventilation. Detroit coach Jeff Blashill suggested this week he believes his team was infected by playing Carolina earlier this season.

The NHL will continue to follow the advice of its medical advisors. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly told me this week the league plans to layer in more rapid testing "as we go forward," which will help with the game-day lag we've been seeing in the PCR testing that manifested with the Devils-Sabres fiasco. The NHL and NHLPA have been working on securing more rapid tests -- with the understanding that even though the results are available in 15 minutes, which is great, there is a higher probability for false positives.

I've been told that several teams have had talks with their players to please continue to exercise caution. Even if bars or indoor dining are open in a team's home market, players are being advised to stay away, as well as to continue to limit social interactions. We'll see how this all shakes out.

The league has been committed to being adaptable. As many front office folks have mentioned over the past few days, pay more attention to team's points percentage, as well as teams in the same division completing around the same number of games, with the understanding that maybe not everyone is going to be able to complete the full 56.

2. This is a sad, sad stat:

It's been 464 days since a goaltender other than Jonathan Bernier won a game for the Detroit Red Wings and I'm honestly afraid that it may never happen again

— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) February 3, 2021

3. As Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl go, so do the Oilers. While it's been incredibly fun to see them dominate (McDavid has two or more points in seven straight games) it's concerning how much the Oilers rely upon them. For example, the duo played the final 5:45 of Saturday night's game against Calgary. Yes, there were some stoppages baked in there. But 5:45! That's Alex-Kovalev-five-minute-shift vibes. Just insane.

Top games on tap this week

Note: All times Eastern.

Thursday, Feb. 11: New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. (ESPN+)

New Jersey gets back in action following its COVID-induced pause. Philadelphia, meanwhile, welcomes back Sean Couturier, the reigning Selke Trophy winner, back any game now. The No. 1 center had been out since he suffered a costochondral separation on Jan. 15, the second game of the season, but was activated off injured reserve on Sunday.

Saturday, Feb. 13: Carolina Hurricanes at Dallas Stars, 7 p.m. (ESPN+)

The Central Division has been unexpectedly competitive, especially at the top of the standings. In this two-game set, both playoff hopeful teams are jockeying for position in the standings.

Sunday, Feb. 14: Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins, 3 p.m.

It's the nationally televised game of the week. It's fitting this game is on Valentines Day, because there's nothing NBC loves more than playing up the battle between Sidney Crosby versus Alex Ovechkin.

Social media post of the week

This is the type of roast only a veteran coach could pull off. Lindy Ruff is a legend.

ICYMI: our coach is savage.pic.twitter.com/InKKphxlPu

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) February 1, 2021

Referee Mike Dean has asked to not be involved in any Premier League games this weekend after he was targeted with online death threats alongside members of his family.

The death threats have been reported to the police and Dean is still set to referee the FA Cup tie between Leicester City and Brighton on Wednesday but won't be involved in the weekend league games.

- Stream FC Daily on ESPN+

Dean and his family received the abuse after he handed a controversial red card to West Ham United's Tomas Soucek during the 0-0 draw with Fulham on Saturday.

"Threats and abuse of this nature are totally unacceptable and we fully support Mike's decision to report these messages his family received to the police," Professional Games Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) managing director Mike Riley said.

"Nobody should be a victim of abhorrent messages like this. Online abuse is unacceptable in any walk of life and more needs to be done to tackle the problem."

Dean reviewed the incident between Soucek and Aleksandar Mitrovic after the video assistant referee Lee Mason advised him that the pair had collided. A review of the video showed Soucek catching Mitrovic with his elbow in what appeared to be an accident.

However, Dean decided to send him off for violent conduct.

West Ham were successful in their appeal of the red card and Soucek thanked fans for their support.

I am glad my red card against Fulham has been overturned. I've checked it, I've gone over 200 games without a single red card. My entire career. I am looking forward to helping the team in the important games this week! Thanks for your support!#westham #whu #COYI pic.twitter.com/wANFeAFmhf

— Tomáš Souček (@tomassoucek28) February 8, 2021

"I am glad my red card against Fulham has been overturned," he said on Twitter.

"I've checked it, I've gone over 200 games without a single red card. My entire career. I am looking forward to helping the team in the important games this week! Thanks for your support!"

The incident with Soucek was the latest in a number of controversial decisions handed down by Mason and Dean, who are often paired together for games.

Last week, Southampton's Jan Bednarek was sent off against Manchester United by Dean for infringing on a goal-scoring opportunity but had the red card overturned two days later.

The pair also denied Southampton a penalty against Aston Villa last weekend in another controversial decision.

The Times is reporting that the PGMOL are considering separating the two referees for a short spell.

Manchester City have not given up on signing Lionel Messi on a free transfer this summer but will wait until March or April before sounding out the situation regarding the Barcelona forward, various sources have told ESPN.

Messi, 33, is out of contract in June and has been free to negotiate with other clubs since Jan. 1. City led the chase for the Argentina international last August when he asked Barca to let him leave but the Premier League leaders have kept a low profile in recent months.

- Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
- Ogden: Man City make title statement at slumping Liverpool
- Barca ratings: Messi 8/10, Trincao 7/10 for super-sub efforts

In contrast, Paris Saint-Germain have been making a lot of noise about their desire to sign Messi at the end of the season.

City will bide their time and see how the situation develops, even if PSG have taken a different approach, an approach which sources at Barca have told ESPN is completely the wrong way to try and seduce Messi.

"PSG are making a mistake with the strategy they're using," one source said. "Leo doesn't like all that noise in the media and even less the type of comments [which have been made]."

PSG's sporting director Leonardo has confirmed the French champions are monitoring Messi's situation, while coach Mauricio Pochettino and players Neymar and Angel Di Maria have publicly stated that they would welcome the Barca captain with open arms.

Di Maria even said there was a "big chance" of Messi signing for PSG -- which led Barca coach Ronald Koeman to brand the French club "disrespectful" -- but City will provide stiff competition if Messi does leave Camp Nou after 20 years in Catalonia.

Sources have told ESPN that City are still tracking Messi but have decided to adopt a less aggressive tactic in their pursuit of his signature.

They employed a similar strategy last year when they did a lot of the groundwork. Pep Guardiola spoke with Messi on the phone to sell him City's project, while sources have also told ESPN that a few members of the club's staff remain in regular contact with Messi's people.

After working on what was considered a long-shot for several months, with no leaks, everything bubbled to the surface in the wake of Barca's 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

When it became clear Messi wanted to leave Barca, they made their move in August, with Messi sending a burofax to the Blaugrana asking them to let him go. City had done extensive work on the numbers involved in the deal -- keeping in mind Messi's most recent four-year contract at Barca netted him up to €555 million -- and believed they could sign him while adhering to UEFA's financial fair play rules.

Barca president at the time Josep Maria Bartomeu refused to let Messi go, though, pointing to his €700m release clause. Messi believed he could leave for free but backed down rather than taking the issue to court, ending City's chances.

The situation is different this time with Messi into the final six months of his deal. However, Messi has insisted he will not make any decision about his future until the season is over and sources close to him have told ESPN that he is only focused on helping Barca end the season strongly.

Koeman's side are in good form, unbeaten in 11 games in La Liga, and have a Copa del Rey semifinal against Sevilla and the first leg of their Champions League tie against PSG to come next week.

As well as success on the pitch, Messi's future could also hinge on who comes in as the new Barca president, with the election penciled in for March 7. Messi will listen to the plans of the incoming president, with Joan Laporta, Victor Font and Toni Freixa the three candidates.

Pakistan 272 (Faheem 78*, Nortje 5-56) and 298 (Rizwan 115*, Linde 5-54) beat South Africa 201 (Bavuma 44*, Hasan 5-54) and 274 (Markram 108, Bavuma 61, Hasan 5-60, Afridi 4-51) by 95 runs

Hasan Ali's ten-wicket match haul topped stubborn resistance from two of South Africa's Test captaincy candidates, Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma, to secure Pakistan's first series win over South Africa since 2003. Hasan triggered a collapse with the second new ball that saw South Africa lose seven wickets for 33 runs and fall 96 runs short of what would have been the highest successful chase in Pakistan. They had lost the first Test, in Karachi, by seven wickets.

Despite the defeat, South Africa would be especially pleased with Markram's performance. He scored his fifth Test century - his first since March 2018 as well as the first in the subcontinent - to keep hopes of an unlikely upset win alive. Markram and Bavuma, who scored 61, shared a fourth-wicket stand of 106 runs and looked comfortable at the crease against the old ball. But neither could negotiate the fresh ball on a surface that was keeping low, and their dismissals opened up the lower order and allowed Pakistan to seal the series 41 minutes before tea on the final day.

South Africa have now lost four of their last five series and ten of their last 13 Tests and are going to have an extended break from the longest format with no games scheduled for the rest of the summer following Australia's decision to postpone indefinitely a proposed series in March. South Africa had hoped to use this season's Tests to identify a suitable long-term Test captain after Faf du Plessis stepped down last year. Quinton de Kock, who took over in a temporary capacity, is expected to be relieved from the role after managing just 74 runs in four Tests as captain.

Things could hardly have been worse for de Kock, who was dismissed for a first-ball duck chasing a full, wide Hasan delivery that he should have left. De Kock's dismissal came the ball after Markram was caught at second slip, prodding at a Hasan delivery that kept low. That was in Hasan's first over with the second new ball, and the second over with it overall, and Pakistan needed just ten more overs to finish South Africa off.

The speed of, and shot selection that led to, South Africa's collapse remains a concern - they had lost five for 37 in the first innings and seven for 87 and nine for 70 in Karachi. While the Rawalpindi pitch got better for batting as the match progressed, it kept low throughout and only Markram and Bavuma were able to adapt to the bounce on the fifth day.

Rassie van der Dussen applied himself well on the penultimate day of the match and was on 48 overnight but fell to the third ball of the day. Hasan beat his inside edge with late swing to end a 94-run second-wicket stand with Markram and give Pakistan the breakthrough early on the final morning. Two overs later, Hasan had du Plessis trapped lbw with an incoming delivery that stayed low. Du Plessis reviewed but ball-tracking showed middle and leg stump would have been disturbed.

Instead of sending in de Kock, South Africa opted to stick to the same batting order they had used in the first innings with Bavuma coming in at No. 5. Bavuma batted with more intent than he has come to be known for, and was especially strong on the back foot and the sweep. He played a strong supporting role for Markram, whose confidence grew as his innings developed.

Markam was comfortable enough to play the ball late, kept out yorkers from Shaheen Shah Afridi - who took 4 for 51 for the innings - and took on Yasir Shah, cutting him for four and dancing down the track to loft him over long-off for six. His hundred came up the ball before lunch with a single to midwicket to break a century drought that has stretched 26 innings. But his celebrations were subdued, with the knowledge there was still work to do.

He only added eight runs to his total after lunch before Hasan had the second new ball in hand and lured Markram into playing a stroke. De Kock's dismissal off the next ball meant that Bavuma and the lower-order batsmen were left with 129 runs to get. That became far too much when Bavuma played at Afridi outside off and was caught behind.

Afridi reaped rewards for his disciplined bowling in the off-stump channel and got the wickets of Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada later on, to go with the scalp of Dean Elgar on the fourth evening. But the day belonged to Hasan, whose five-for came when he had George Linde caught at point and he celebrated his usual bomb-explosion celebration to a baby-cradle one in a nod to his impending fatherhood. The entire squad did the same once victory had been completed, with Babar Azam joining Fazal Mahmood (vs West Indies, 1959), Mushtaq Mohammad (vs New Zealand, 1976), Javed Miandad (vs Australia, 1980) and Saleem Malik (vs New Zealand, 1994) in the list of Pakistan captains to win their maiden Test series at the helm.

Shah, who had gone wicketless as the pacers did the damage, finished the game when he beat Wiaan Mulder's slog to hit timber in the 92nd over. The win, Pakistan's first against South Africa in over 17 years, means they have recorded series wins over every Test side in the last 15 years. As for South Africa, it was their 21st successive failure to boss a 200-plus (they had been set 370) chase; the last time they managed one was back in 2011 against Australia. They have lost 18 of those matches.

You wouldn't normally need to motivate an international cricket team before a regular bilateral tour, but the West Indies' trip to Bangladesh has been anything but normal. Their board's commitment to keeping the FTP schedule intact has meant that West Indies have travelled the most of all teams since the pandemic began.

As much as they have provided entertainment during a tough period, it has also taken a toll on their players. Two weeks after the tour was confirmed, the West Indies selectors announced their Test and ODI squads bereft of their top names.

West Indies had nine uncapped players in the ODI side which was considerably less experienced than Bangladesh's squad. The difference was similar between the Test sides too. West Indies only had their first-choice bowlers and couple of their main batsmen retained in the squad.

In addition to their lack of experience of playing in Bangladesh and maintaining strict health protocols in the team hotel, the Kraigg Brathwaite-led side could only do net sessions for two weeks - they had travelled to Bangladesh with the ODI team on the same day - before their first practice game in Chattogram.

Seeing that there was very little in their favour, Clive Lloyd, West Indies' greatest cricket captain, wrote an open letter to the team.

He recognised the feeling within the team of being thrown into the deep end, but reminded them that this was their chance to cement a permanent place in the side. He touched upon his own Test debut experience in 1966 when he was given only a 45-minutes heads-up. He highlighted what a great Test team they used to be, but one that began with untried players under Lloyd's leadership.

Above all, he inspired them to prove to the world that they were not "second-class cricketers" and that self belief is the first step to success. After their three-wicket win in the Chattogram Test that astonished the cricket world, West Indies' hero Kyle Mayers said that they were inspired by Lloyd's letter.

"It was very inspirational," Mayers said. "He just let us know that representing West Indies is a lot, and he said don't go to Bangladesh thinking you are a second-string team. Give your all, put up a fight, and make sure you represent yourself and family. It was a very strong letter."

The captain Brathwaite said that the letter coming from a legend like Lloyd, it was motivating for the newcomers.

"I thought it was very inspirational. It was full of confidence for the guys who were coming on tour. It was nice to see, and it gave you something to go out there and play hard for. Obviously he is a very successful West Indies captain so it was very inspirational to see," he said.

The head coach Phil Simmons also held a similar tone about new players on this tour having an opportunity to firm up their place in the squad, with a busy home season coming up for West Indies.

"My rule and message to all the players here is that you are not here to fill in. You are here to give yourself a chance. You have a chance now to seal your place in the team. If you do well here, it augers well for you moving forward.

"You come here and do well in the three ODIs and two Tests, you are putting yourself in a place from where nobody can move you. Only you have the opportunity," Simmons had said a couple of days after West Indies arrived in Dhaka.

Lloyd's final words were as much inspirational as it was prophetic. The manner in which they beat Bangladesh after being outplayed on the first four days has been touted as one of West Indies' greatest Test wins. Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner, the fourth-wicket pair who added a record 216 runs together in the fourth innings, are likely to keep their places in the first Test after this tour, even when the first-choice players return.

"A positive mental attitude will see you through many tight situations which I'm sure you will encounter during this Tour," Lloyd wrote. "Lastly, success comes before work only in the dictionary. I wish you the best of luck. Please remember most people are judged by the obstacles they overcome."

Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out of the second Test against West Indies, beginning in Dhaka on February 11, because of the left-thigh injury that kept him away from large chunks of the action during the first Test in Chattogram. According to a BCB statement, the board's medical team will continue to treat Shakib, who will, however, leave the team's bio-security bubble for the time being.

"After careful consideration it has been confirmed that he will not be available for the second Test," read the BCB's press statement.

Shakib picked up the injury during the second day's play in Chattogram, when he attempted to stop a ball off his own bowling with his foot. He continued to bowl for a while longer, but neither batted nor bowled after leaving the field later that afternoon. Bangladesh, who had a 171-run lead after the first-innings exchanges, eventually lost the Test by three wickets with debutant Kyle Mayers hitting a stunning 210* to take West Indies to victory. Shakib had scored 68 in nearly four hours' batting in the first innings.

Shakib had earlier suffered a groin niggle during the third ODI against West Indies, on January 25 in Chattogram. He had left the field on that occasion too, and joined the national team's training a few days before the first Test, which began on February 3.

Despite the injuries, Shakib's return to international cricket following the one-year ICC ban has been a successful one. He was the Player of the Series in the ODIs, where he returned 4 for 8 in the first game and hit 43* and 51 in the next two games as Bangladesh won 3-0.

No replacement has yet been announced by the Bangladesh selectors, who had earlier named an 18-man Test squad for the two matches.

Welcome to our live report of the fourth day of the first India-England Test from Chennai. Join us for updates, analysis and colour. You can find our traditional ball-by-ball commentary here

*Most recent entry will appear at the top, please refresh your page for the latest updates. All times are local.

5.03pm: Stumps - India 337 and 39 for 1 (Gill 15*, Pujara 12*) need 381 runs to beat England 578 and 178 (Root 40, Ashwin 6-61)

There's stumps and while there will be some chatter overnight about England's tactics on the non-declaration, they have three sessions tomorrow to claim nine more wickets. India, on the other hand, need 381 more runs, all of which augers well for a fascinating final day.

4.30pm: Rohit goes

Rohit pulls Archer unconvincingly for four and then very convincingly for six, but he falls in the next over to a perfect left-arm spinner's dismissal from Jack Leach. Rohit presses forward to a length ball that gripped off the pitch, turned past the outside edge and kissed the off stump. That's exactly what Root was after when he threw him the new ball, and England are buoyant.

4.15pm: Leach takes the new ball

Archer and Leach share new-ball duties, with Root getting his spinner in the game as early as he can. Signs of turn early on with the hard ball, but Gill clips him through midwicket for four as he drops too short.

4.00pm: Innings - Innings 178 all out (Ashwin 6-61)

So the declaration will never come! Ashwin rips one back into Archer to bowl him and take his fifth wicket in the innings, and then Anderson chips a return catch two balls later. That means India need 420 to win in the fourth innings of the match, with 17 overs to bat tonight and then 90 more tomorrow. Questions will continue to be asked of England's strategy with the bat in the last hour, but if they take three or more wickets tonight then nobody will be doubting the strategy. Signs of variable bounce and deterioration in the pitch throughout that innings, which will interest Archer as well as Leach and Bess.

It will be intriguing to see who takes the new ball for England: Anderson and Archer are the most likely candidates, but they may decide that Leach is a good option with it.

3.45pm: Pitch imperfect

My colleague Vishal Dikshit has picked up Kohli saying "wo seedhe run bhi beech mein bhaag raha hai yaar" on the stump mic - suggesting that England have been clever in running down the pitch to help cause a little extra wear ahead of the fourth innings. There was a warning early on for exactly that, and Rohit Sharma seemed unhappy with Root poking the pitch with his bat after his dismissal.

England are 418 ahead but James Anderson is padded up in the dressing room, deep in conversation with Joe Root - who, incidentally, is still in his training kit rather than his whites.

3.35pm: England bat on

Still no sign of a declaration. Bess and Buttler have started to attack a little more, but Buttler is dismissed after charging down the track to Nadeem. India seem happy enough to keep slowing the game down, and England bat on after the drinks break. The declaration must be fairly imminent, but I've thought that for the last hour.

3.10pm: What's with the go-slow?

"India have bowled over the wicket into the rough. The only thing I can think of is that this is a time thing as to how long they want to bowl for tonight," suggests Sir Alastair Cook on Channel 4. "I think they'll want the bowlers to be fresh tomorrow morning with a hard ball that will be starting to reverse with fresh bowlers. But I've been wrong all along so I'm clutching at straws."

England certainly don't seem to be too bothered about the scoring rate at the moment, and Cook may well be right in his suggestion that the overs remaining are the crucial factor here. Given India's ability to score freely - as evidenced in their famous win at the Gabba - Root may want to ensure that the required rate starts at around four an over, to ensure that even if England don't force the win, they don't end up losing a Test that they have largely dominated.

3.00pm: All is calm

An odd lull in the game, as Nadeem bowls into the rough and Bess seems happy to pad him away. England seem content to take time out of the game at the moment, adding seven runs in the last 25 balls at the time of writing. Seems like a real change of approach after attacking so much in the afternoon session. Perhaps the main issue has been Buttler's lack of strike, with the more defensive Bess soaking up most of the balls.

2.40pm: Pope's reversal

Three reverse-sweeps in a row bring Pope two, four and then the loss of his wicket, as he finds cover-point. Quite a sensible shot, with Nadeem bowling into the rough outside his leg stump to a packed leg-side field. England aren't hanging around.

2.10pm: Tea - England 119 for 5 (Pope 18*, Buttler 14*)

England's lead is 360 heading into the interval, and you'd imagine the declaration will come around 40 minutes or so after tea. England wasted no time at all in that session, rolling along at four an over, but the most important thing to note is that the pitch is showing signs of wear, which will make life difficult for India in the fourth innings. A couple of balls from Bumrah have kept very low from a length, while the spinners found plenty of bounce and turn with the hard new ball in particular.

1.55pm: Root goes, England lead grows

It took Kohli until the 22nd over to introduce Bumrah into the attack but he has struck with his 11th legitimate delivery, trapping Root lbw with a ball that looked to have kept a fraction low. England are continuing to rattle along at four runs per over, with Buttler edging the first ball he faced to the boundary and then depositing Nadeem for six down the ground.

1.05pm: Ishant's 300th Ishant Sharma traps Dan Lawrence lbw and that is his 300th Test wicket - he's the sixth India player to reach the landmark, and only the third seamer after Zaheer Khan and Kapil Dev. A fine achievement from a bowler who has improved immensely in the second half of his career. A standing ovation from the Indian dressing room, and applause from his team-mates. Intriguingly, given the match situation, that ball appeared to keep very low from a length, shooting under the toe of Lawrence's bat and crashing into his front pad. That could see Jofra Archer come into the game in the fourth innings, as well as England's spinners.

12.50pm: Sweepology Joe Root is up and running early with a pair of sweetly-struck sweeps off Shahbaz Nadeem. With the new ball turning and bouncing, and with the form that he is in, it feels like Root will be crucial for England in this innings. If he can find some fluency and keep the strike turning over then the runs will come easily for them. It would be an added benefit for him to be able to judge the pitch while making a decision as to when he should declare.

12.40pm: Sibley falls I said he hadn't looked convincing, and now Sibley falls. Coming forward to a full ball from round the wicket, Sibley inside-edges and offers a catch to the man in close at leg slip. Brilliant new-ball bowling from Ashwin and England are two down.

12.35pm: Pressing on India have lost one of their reviews, after Ashwin struck Lawrence on the pad but ball-tracking confirmed that it hit him outside the line of off stump. Sibley and Lawrence have not been particularly convincing so far, but England's lead is nudging closer to the 300 mark with every over. India's no-ball problem is continuing, too: they bowled 20 of them in the first innings, and Nadeem (twice) and Ashwin have overstepped within the first 10 overs of the second.

12.10pm: How many will England want? Interesting discussion on Channel 4 in the UK as to how many England will want to set India in the fourth innings, with Alastair Cook - Root's predecessor - as captain, suggesting he'd like to set a target of at least 400. Perhaps most intriguing was Cook's answer to host Rishi Persad's question as to whether the prospect of criticism would enter his head in this sort of situation. "Absolutely," Cook said. "You think about if it goes wrong [and] what will happen. Maybe that's the wrong way to think about it. Maybe you should have just been thinking 'this is the positive way' and maybe that's my mindset. I went with 400 then and I've thought 'have I just gone too many?' There are so many things, so many permutations. And you've got to be so reactive. The most important thing is that England want to remain in control. If they suddenly lose two or three quick wickets then they lose that control and India come back into the game." That probably says more about Cook's captaincy and his mindset than anything else, but it demonstrates the sort of thing that Root will have to consider. He also hinted that he wished he had gambled a little more in Rajkot, in the first Test of the 2016-17 series - though that pitch was much flatter than this one.

11.30am: Lunch - England 1 for 1 Ashwin and Nadeem share new-ball duties and England lose a wicket to the first ball of the innings: Rory Burns falls to Ashwin for the second time in the match, drawn forward and offering a tough chance to Rahane at slip via the shoulder of the bat. This won't be a straightforward afternoon for batting and Root will have a fine balance to strike in the timing of the declaration - especially with India's recent fourth-innings heroics in the back of his mind.

11.15am: Innings - India 337 all out (Pant 91, Sundar 85*, Pujara 73, Bess 4-76) England won't enforce the follow-on despite bowling India out with a lead of 241. Spectacular, low, one-handed, diving catch at slip from Stokes to finish things off after Anderson drew an outside edge from Bumrah's loose shot.

11.05am: Anderson's short ball The bumper does the trick for Anderson, with Ishant fending him to short leg. According to ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball length data, that was his first Test wicket with a 'short' ball since the Boxing Day Test of 2017-18, when Tim Paine dragged one onto his own stumps. Washington Sundar is going to play his shots now, as India look to reach the follow-on target - though I think England would probably decide to bat for a session or so regardless.

10.40am: Pitch perfect This surface doesn't appear to have deteriorated much at all since the second morning, as evidenced by a ball in the 90th over. Jofra Archer drew Washington Sundar forward with an 86.7mph/139.5kph ball in channel outside the off stump, earning a genuine edge. But there is so little pace and carry in the pitch that it bounced barely six inches behind the bat, and reached Stokes at slip just before its second bounce. That will be a bonus for India, as it is increasingly difficult to see how they can lose another 13 wickets. Sundar now has his highest Test score, too. That said, there is definitely extra bounce on offer for the spinners with the new ball. Leach has his second, finding some turn and bounce away from the bat, with Nadeem steering to slip via the shoulder of the bat.

10.20am: Leach strikes Nothing much happening with the new ball for England's seamers, so Root throws the new ball to Jack Leach less than five overs after it has been taken. He strikes with his second delivery: extra bounce from a length with the harder ball which takes Ashwin by surprise as he lunges forward, hoping to smother the spin, and the ball loops up towards the vacant silly point region. Jos Buttler gets across to take the catch, and the 80-run partnership is broken. Shahbaz Nadeem, at No. 9, is still a useful batsman, but England are into the tail.

9.50am: Easy pickings Poor start from England's spinners. Too many balls were either overpitched or back-of-a-length in his three overs this morning, and India have added 27 in six overs, with Sundar reaching his second Test fifty with a cover drive off Leach. The new ball is available: if these two can survive the first 10 overs or so against it then India will grow increasingly confident that this Test can be saved.

9.15am: New ball looms A useful unbroken stand of 32 between R Ashwin and Washington Sundar last night has given India hope of avoiding the follow-on, but there are only six overs until the new ball is due this morning, and England will be hopeful that James Anderson and, in particular, Jofra Archer can break the stand when it arrives. With 15 minutes to go until we get underway, there's plenty of time to catch up on last night's Polite Enquiries below, or any of the rest of our overnight content.