Ireland lock James Ryan has been ruled out as head coach Andy Farrell makes four changes for Saturday’s Six Nations Triple Crown decider against Scotland in Dublin. Joe McCarthy returns to the line-up to replace his Leinster teammate while Connacht’s Bundee Aki returns to the bench having served a four match ban for verbally abusing match officials in January.
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Kai Havertz scored a late penalty as Arsenal came from behind to draw with Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the BayArena. The German forward who spent 10 years at Leverkusen before moving to Chelsea for £71m in 2020, slotted the ball past Janis Blaswich in the 89th minute after Noni Madueke had been brought down by Malik Tillman. Arsenal had gone behind for the first time in the competition this season when Robert Andrich headed in a well-worked Alex Grimaldo corner.
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Lamine Yamal rescued a draw for Barcelona with a 96th-minute penalty to deny Newcastle United a famous win in the Champions League. Newcastle looked to have taken control of the first leg of their last-16 tie when Harvey Barnes fired the hosts in front with a first-time finish late on. But Barcelona were awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time after substitute Dani Olmo was brought down by Malick Thiaw inside the box. Lamine Yamal stepped up and coolly sent goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way to level the tie.
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League One Port Vale’s reward for beating Sunderland in the FA Cup is a quarter-final tie away to Chelsea, while Manchester City will host Liverpool in a heavyweight showdown. Record 14-time winners Arsenal go to Southampton, eighth in the Championship. Leeds United will travel to the winners of Monday’s tie between West Ham United and Brentford.
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George Russell took a comfortable victory in the Australian Grand Prix at the start of a new era of Formula 1 after a brief early scrap with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Russell and Leclerc staged a close fight for the first 10 laps with frequent lead changes before Ferrari’s decision to stay out during a virtual safety car (VSC) period took them out of contention for the win. The Briton led home Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli while Leclerc had to be satisfied with the final podium position ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the other Ferrari.
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